titan_uranus

Out of interest, that was the biggest non-QB crowd we've played in front of since we played, and beat, Richmond in 2011 (our last instance of consecutive wins).

Agree, although I don't think Griffiths is capable of being a huge problem against anyone, ever. I've been super impressed with Salem's development so far this year. Easy to forget he's only played 16 games.

I agree, although I just watched the replay of the free against VDB which took the ball of Tyson in the goalsquare. Rubbish free kick. Wasn't high contact, Rance took a dive. Generally though we need to avoid being stupid in our attempt to be tougher. Our toughness at the contest and at winning the ball is huge and great to watch, but no need to go beyond that.

Team stability has been a big focus this year. We're not making changes just for the sake of it, and we're not dropping players without there being stand outs at Casey to replace them. I think this is being forgotten in this thread.

Even if Roos is tempted to play a second ruckman, I think he'll be more tempted to stick to his plan this year of not bringing in players unless they're performing at Casey. I don't think Gawn, Spencer or Pedersen have done enough yet at Casey to be in that position (unlike Michie), so I think Roos' view of making players earn it will trump his (possible) thought of a second ruckman.

I only saw bits and pieces of the game but it didn't look any good. Probably due to the heavy rain, but I'd rather believe that Collingwood and Essendon are just average sides.

There was a great question asked of him in the presser last night. Right after he said 'we're good enough to beat anyone' someone asked 'based on the first four weeks, what makes you say that?'. His answer was along the lines of 'I know these boys and I know what they're capable of'. Shows you one of their key problems - he has too much faith in a very average list. Their miraculous run to the finals last year was just that - a miracle. Every other side that needed to stumble, stumbled, and they got Sydney in the final round who didn't care. Of course, for the second year running when the finals came around they got shown up as being leagues behind what's required of a real contender. So far this year they've been given four bottom 4 contenders (Carlton, WB, Brisbane and Melbourne) and gone 2-2. That's not a side who is 'good enough to beat anyone'. Anyway, I'd take two consecutive finals appearances and a 9-game winning streak over what we've dished up the last few years, but I can also see that Richmond is no closer to a flag than we are.

Looking at Fremantle's forward line for tonight's game, they have Pavlich, Taberner and probably their resting ruckman in the forward line, plus Chris Mayne. That's quite tall, so I suspect we'll need McDonald, Dunn and Garland all playing as tall defenders, and maybe Howe will take Mayne. On that theory we can't use Garland on a small, so we'll need someone to take Jetta's spot - I presume that will be Grimes. As for Kent's replacement, Toumpas isn't really a like-for-like given Kent's role as a half-forward with a major defensive focus. Bail played that exact role pretty much all year long last year, so that makes a lot of sense. But Toumpas is the one who has been on the fringe of selection this year, not Bail. Obviously what happens at Casey will dictate a lot, but I'd be saying Grimes and Bail for Jetta and Kent. I've been wondering what this is all about too. Still don't get it Nash. Help.

Definitely need to address this - Dawes tries hard in the ruck but just isn't any good at it. We got away with it today because Maric wasn't that good and Griffiths is the back up, but as you say, the next three weeks involve sides who play two rucks. Having said that, I'm not sure whether the answer is to play two of Jamar, Gawn and Spencer. Certainly the latter two aren't doing enough at Casey to say they're in good enough form to knock the door down. They could really both use a big game this week.

It's undoubtedly going to be tough convincing any of their players to come to us when you'd expect Hawthorn, Sydney, Fremantle and Port to be making similar offers. We have to show real development this year so that finals are not a mere dream, so that we can offer a young list where they'll slot into the middle and be a part of an upwards trend, rather than slotting into a side where the stars are old and nearing the end, and the side might well be hitting its peak. That's about all we've got, and we can't do that if we don't keep winning and improving.

He didn't have a great game again today, but for opposite reasons to usual. Thought he put the required effort in but his skills were just atrocious. He'll absolutely be in the side for Fremantle. We'll have 2 forced changes and there's no way Roos is going to make a third to a winning side.

Also, I wanted to give a shout out to Dawes. He copped a lot of flak this week, and the majority of it was warranted. But I thought he really lifted tonight. Led by example in the forward line, did his best work when the game was at its hottest (first quarter), and used his body to his advantage. There's still more he needs to do, but on a night which wasn't great for talls, I thought he did a much better job.

6. Jones 5. Vince 4. McDonald 3. Hogan 2. vandenBerg 1. Brayshaw

Also, I hate Richmond, and we pulled their pants down on a national stage. So that's good.

So proud of that effort. We got better as the game went on. We played our best third quarter of the year. We were so much tougher than they were when the rain came (dear lord they were soft as butter) and we used the ball smarter. McDonald was superb yet again (that's Riewoldt to add to the list, with Cameron and Walker), Salem's really settled into his role, Jones and Tyson were so much better than the last fortnight, and we have Brayshaw, vandenBerg and Hogan to give us genuine hope. Might be a hellish five weeks coming up (after the Dogs we have Port) but at least we have shown we can do it and if the wins don't come in the next 5 weeks, we know we have a second half of the year full of games that we genuinely can win. Edit: forgot to mention Michie's performance. Good on you lad. Took the opportunity with both hands and gave us another mid rotation. He could be a surprise additional cog in the midfield wheel.

There is so much at stake in this game. Conventional wisdom says it's our last chance at a win for a month. Being in the primest of prime time means a good performance gives us the most positive exposure we're going to get all year. It also leads into some home games, finally, to help us sell memberships. They've got a few outs, we're looking alright on paper - I'm not confident (MFCSS) but I do like our chances. I really hope we can get the job done.

GC blew that game. They had so many possession chains which looked like certain goals but fell apart with a bad decision inside 50, a dropped mark, or a missed shot on goal. Geelong did well to stay in it in the last quarter down two on the bench, but they are not a finals side this year, far from it IMO.

^Encapsulates how important forward line efficiency is.

West Coast are the biggest bunch of downhill-skiing, soft, flat track bullies I've ever seen. I can't stand the way everyone creams themselves every time Naitanui goes near it, which is probably because he only goes near it twice a game so people get excited. Hopefully Fremantle goes on with it and absolutely flogs them. Meanwhile Gold Coast has suffered from the same issues as us yesterday - they have had their periods of dominance but weren't putting goals on the board (missed easy kicks and didn't even get shots they should have had). Geelong's now stepped it up and converted (something like 5.2 from 8 inside 50s) and ruined Gold Coast's hard work.

Richmond's played Carlton, WB and Brisbane so far. That's two of the four worst sides in the comp, and against the only decent side they got comprehensively beaten. They are not a good side yet. I have confidence that we can beat them, but in order to do that we have to start like we did against Adelaide and we need to convert our scoring chances. That involves straight kicking (Garlett and Kent have to learn to kick set shots) and getting enough inside 50s to get enough scoring shots in general when we're on top.

From the Casey reports I've read, I'm not sure anyone was utterly dominant to mean we just have to bring them in. Accordingly, I don't think we'll see many changes. If Frost is injured then I think we'll bring in Pedersen - as much as I'd like us to use another runner instead, Dawes is useless in the ruck and if Watts plays in there I suspect we'll damage both the midfield and the forward line. Pedersen can play on Griffiths and ruck when he rucks, play CHB when Griffiths moves to CHF. I'm not happy with Dawes' output so far but I think Hogan benefits from him being there. I don't think he should just be given some sort of indefinite free pass to keep playing though, needs to pick up his form. If no one was so good as to warrant automatic selection from Casey, I'm happy with giving Toumpas/Grimes/Michie/Gawn/Spencer more games to prove it wasn't just a one off and they are building consistent form.

Wasn't able to see the game but the fact we aren't bemoaning a team-wide lack of effort is already a step up from last week. The other big difference is the scoring shots; last week we were -10 but even this week. Shows the real issue with this side - once the non-negotiable effort is there, it all comes down to our mistakes; the more we make, the more we lose. Missing goals is part of that. Good to hear the positive words about Brayshaw and Hogan, some genuine hope in those two. Edit: also, loving McDonald's form so far this year. BOG Round 1, our best Round 2, probably our best Round 3. If he holds Riewoldt next week, that takes us a long way to a winning position.

Hearing a lot of Brayshaw, which is nice. Feels like we've evened things up since they kicked those quick early goals, but we don't appear to be doing much with any such 'momentum'.

8.4 to 5.6 doesn't help - just one fewer scoring shot but 16 points behind. I haven't seen all the misses but I suspect we've missed one or two easy set shots, as has been happening all year.

Sigh. Two goals in two minutes to start the third quarter.