DemonDave

Went completely missing in the last half. I was hoping the AFL website would have qtr by qtr stats to appease myself, but they dont yet. Once he and Cotchin disappeared, the Cats midfield ran riot...

Anyone know why Joel MacDonald wasnt picked in the side this week? Mystery injury?

For mine yes, easily gets a game next week. Lead strongly all day, sometimes with less than stellar service, particularly up the scoreboard end where we tended to kick too deep into the outer pocket rather than kick into the goalface against the breeze. He cluncked plenty of strong marks, and was usually pretty quick with his recovery if he didnt win it. Without Clark we need a genuine leading marking forward, we cant rely on a resting ruckman to kick us goals.

Also worth mentioning that gillies got injured in the second quarter and didnt return so we were one man down in our rotations for most of the day. To sit behind the interchange as I did for the Essendon game two weeks ago gives you an idea of the frantic nature of having four bench players coming on and off constantly. Davey looked a long, long way off earning a recall based on today's efforts. Would have had no more than ten possessions for the day, much more is expected of a senior experienced player.

dawes and fitz the dominant Big men on the ground some great contested marks

Will be heading down to port oval tomorrow. Let's hope all the asbestos removal that has been going on down there is properly finished. Has there ever been a player on our list that has relatively escaped scrutiny as Troy Davis has? This is his third year on our senior list and he had never looked like getting a senior game. Matt Fieldsend to play his first game against his old side, let's hope he doesn't do a Moloney and run riot against us!

Have a look at this shot on nba.com that Curry makes in the warmup! http://www.nba.com/warriors/video/2013/04/28/GameFourPreStephmov-2462153?ls=iref:nbahpts He is shaping up to be one of the next big stars in the NBA the way he is going...

Well I'm thoroughly exhausted by that 3 day extravaganza. What a mammoth sized event the draft is in the US! (Not to mention the Combine as well). The television coverage was excellent, plenty of entertaining and insightful interviews with both the players and coaches involved. Well done to Jesse Williams, Brad Wing and Alex Dunnachie on finding homes, albeit not in the draft range/method they wouldve hoped for. Williams will be a steal for an already imposing Seahawks, apparently he's almost fully fit again after knee cleanouts meant he missed the combine. No real surprise the two punters werent drafted they rarely are, Dunnachie will have to compete with two other punters on the Jets roster. In fact, a lot of players drafted over the weekend dont even make the final roster once depth charts are settled on before the first game, so this is a real speculators market. A much less glamorous draft class after last years vintage crop, and certainly a very even one. Absolutely rapt from a 49ers perspective that we took the risk with Marcus Lattimore. I still remember watching his injury on ESPN the day he did it, a truly horrifying sight. He was widely regarded as the best running back before that day that would be eligible this year, and we have enough depth at the position with Gore, James, Dixon and Hunter that we dont need to rush him along. Hurry up offseason and be over with, Im just about fed up with the AFL already!

I think Chip got unfairly criticised for the GWS game, his opponent Cameron had his first posession in the 3rd quarter! Frawleys decision makng was a bit poor at times, but so were just about all 22 of our players in what was awfully scrappy and poor standard first 3 quarters. In contrast, Tom McDonald had Five goals kicked on him by Setanta O Hailpin, an average footballer at best. I dont see people calling for his head.

Also looking at the news section of the Glenelg website, their 2013 membership bumper stickers are going to be replaced due to fading! Good to see we arent the only ones to have suffered this affliction!

Just read this weeks match report here: http://www.glenelgfc.com.au/home/juniors/under-18s Six goals and 34 possies isnt bad!

Saw Barry Mitchell having a chat with Paul Couch at the Casey game on the weekend..

Condemned 84, that wasnt you I spotted in M15 last week with a Bradford top on at the Dees-Giants game was it? Certainly someone near me had a Rams top on!

I heard this on SEN earlier as well. Given that, its virtually a certainty Black wont play on Sunday, which for us is a plus as he's torn us to shreds the last couple of years. Hanley out through suspension is also handy for us.

Anyone wanting Kent selected this week clearly didnt see the Casey game last week, he was ordinary at best, I'm with BRFE on this one. Based on that game: Ins-Rodan, Blease, Strauss Outs-Clark, Viney, Jetta Spencer would be a deserved callup, but I dont think we can play three ruckmen and Pederson in the one side. Similary all those that say Fitzy isnt good enough also havent been watching his improvement at Casey. Last week was his first game for the year and he was fantastic. Sellar isnt good enough thats been proven, Dunn will need a run in the VFL before a recall, McKenzie unlucky after last weeks efforts. The good teams this year are cutting teams apart with pace (see Geelong with Motlop/Varcoe/Stokes, Hawks with Hill/Smith, Blues last week with Garlett/Yarran). Blease and Rodan offer pace and ball-carry, while McKenzie is the exact opposite. Anyone also notice Stefan Martins dwindling statistical returns in the Home and Away season this year after being hailed as a boom recruit during the NAB Cup? Hes averaging a whopping 4 kicks and 3 handballs a game.

Quite a good read this .... Demons winners, just not yet

Without having seen the updates, are Gillies and Stark mentioned? As they have also been missing through injury of late..

When you read stories about Melbourne possibly trading Sylvia, Frawley and Watts, you shake your head. These are the guys at the pointier end of our experience table, we cant keep doing this every year. All the other ex-players at other clubs makes me shudder. Here's Geelongs top end for games list: Joel Corey 257 Corey Enright 248 Paul Chapman 247 Jimmy Bartel 229 James Kelly 214 Steve Johnson 198 Josh Hunt 186 Andrew Mackie 177 Jared Rivers 152 Joel Selwood 139 Mathew Stokes 135 Harry Taylor 116 Hamish McIntosh 107 Tom J. Hawkins 105 Travis Varcoe 104 Tom Lonergan 101 James Podsiadly 64 Mitch Duncan 55 Trent West 45 Taylor Hunt 45 Allen Christensen 40 Steven Motlop 31 Those 22 player total 2995 games! The 16 youve listed above tally 1675 games..

Well Kent didnt do much at all at Casey on the weekend, so I'd hope we aren't considering giving him a game based on his NAB Cup form rather than his current form.

Cols final quarter was the catalyst, he willed himself to dominate in the middle. I watched him really closely in the first quarter, when the ball wasnt necessarily in his general vicinity, and he was working so hard creating lead after lead and was continually ignored due to players taking the easier sideways option. When it did come his way his ability to use his body strength to get in prime position was a feature.

An insulting post. Were you there today? No Fing idea.

First game I've been to this year, and was very impressed with the overall team play of Casey. Welsh mentioned "DI's" at the final change, that we needed to have 600 for the game and we were right on track. I assume this stands for "defensive involvements" or something similar, and right across the board the pressure acts, smothers, sheperds, chase and bumps applied universally across the ground was evident that this is a well drilled team playing for each other. Best for mine easily was Jake Spencer, and he epitomised this ethos, not only winning hitouts with monotonous regularity with a mix of timing his jumps against his opponent, but also good body work and tremendous understanding with where his midfielders either were standing or about to run to. His pressure acts around the ground, chasing, tackling, harassing opponents, for a guy of his size was fantastic. He offered an option when resting up forward too with his leading. Its a shame that he may struggle to get a game now that Gawn has been rewarded, he certainly deserves a crack at it again. What odds he coming in for Jamar anytime soon? His partner in crime, Fitzpatrick had a very good game also. He is certainly progressing along nicely as a forward/relief ruckman. Hes now becoming very hard to beat one on one due to his size and speed. Just needs to work on busting packs a bit more. Three goals for him was just reward for effort. Rodan was very busy, however he tried to do far too much at times. This undid a lot of his good work. It was reminiscent of early Nathan Jones, just trying to do too much and getting pinged on the third option rather than taking the first or second. Still, his workrate was first class and he will come under consideration again. Blease had a similar game to Rodan, very flashy and a couple of times while surrounded by opponents simply accelerated out of imminent danger. A mix of clever and wasteful use of the ball was his only markdown, I think they will give him a go before Rodan due to his greater upside. Its probably a bit unfair to group them, but McKenzie/Couch/Magner not only are all very similar players, but all had equally impressive games today. Couch kicked a beautiful goal from one of the difficult pockets where he knew he was going to get run down, took the time to size up the kick dribbling around the corner and just got it off before being dumped. He has a very good football brain just lacks that yard of pace. The trio combined to completely dominate stoppages and centre clearances. Hogan was immense. Despite his young years, he has a presence out on the field that is hard to ignore. Smart higher leading early in the game got his fellow forwards involved, and as the game wore on he became more and more dominant deeper. Even when he had a breather in the last quarter, he grabbed a footy from the bench and was handballing and bouncing it to himself, you can tell he loves the contest and wants to be involved the whole game. One thing to note is his odd run up to goal, he takes off, takes a sharp veerto the left for a step or two then straightens up. Its very odd but effective. Strauss was good today, his use of the ball is well documented and came to the fore today. He's obviously fighting for the same spot as Jetta, who offers a better option in the chasing and tackling department, but his foot skills may give him the nod going forward if he keeps this form up. Taggert, given that he was only a late call up, was also very impressive. He is very big across the chest area now, and his ability to swing from half back to half forward was a feature, as was his kicking both for goal and in general field play. I really like the look of him. Lets hope he can string together a few more like this. Tynan was solid without being spectacular, but was part of a very stoic half back line that was almost impossible to pass after quarter time. Clisby was also OK on the half back line as well, still not sure what his standout attributes are as this is the first time Ive seen him play. Davis similarly had a fairly serviceable day. He was matched up against Daniher most of the time and managed to get a few timely punches in against a significantly taller opponent, but a feature today was he was the instigator in a lot of our rebounding chains. Kent disappointed me. Of all the listed players, he and Clisby probably had the least impact. He kicked a goal, but just didnt look to be working hard enough up forward, where the ball spent a lot of the day. Of the Casey players, Panozza was rock solid off half back as was Riseley as usual. A couple of the newer players caught the eye, Nathan Page while small in stature was very busy and involved off half forward, and Jake Best also showed a bit of dash. Under Age player Ben Kearns, while very skinny also threw himself into the action admirably and was rewarded on the scoreboard. It was a pleasure to watch Hogan up one end, and Daniher up the other go about it, these two will be features up forward for their two clubs for many years to come, and it was certainly refreshing to enjoy watching a game of football again!

Bate played and had no more than 6 out so touches for the poster that asked. He looks to have dropped 6 or 7kgs since last year, very fined down

spencer and fitz have been dominant in the ruck, and around the ground their 1 percent and pressure acts have been superb. Spencer easily bog at half time for mine I taggert has done some very nice things is a very good size now. blease,rodan both been busy. hogan has taken some nice grabs on long leads. daniher shaded him so far, reminds me of Paul salmon.

Being a Spurs fan I was fully expecting us to be matching up against the Rockets, how on earth did Lakers get up into 7th? I havent been keeping track of the other teams this week. Good to see Patty Mills get a nice points haul against Golden State yesterday, and also from an Aussie persepective I hope Bogut and the Warriors get thru to the second round as well. I guess its up to Howard to really step up for LAL now, I watched the game against Spurs the other day, was a great contest v Tim Duncan. I'm not so sure Steve Blake can carry you that far in the playoffs though. Go Spurs Go!