titan_uranus

Petterd will stay. He'll be back in the side by the end of the year for sure, he's serving his penance at Casey, and deservedly so, but he is good enough to work his way back. Bate will not be on our list next year. I'm not convinced he will be on any list, he's just not that good. Warnock I think will be retained (if he's willing) for depth. Big blokes like him might not be best 22, but if we have injuries we don't want to be resorting to kids, especially when we're pushing for finals (or better). Until last Friday I would have been happy to let Morton go, but if he plays the rest of the year like he did against Essendon he could turn himself around.

Frawley was BOG that game IRRC (unless I'm thinking of the earlier Richmond game). You're giving Dunn too much praise. Yes, his form in the second half of last year was his best ever. But that speaks volumes about the rest of his career. He wasn't exceptional. He was servicable. And now we're seeing that that kind of form (good enough to stay in the side without getting that good) has not given us any long term benefit. He doesn't mark everything (see the Carlton game), and he doesn't kick OK. Does that answer your question?

Ignorant of the fact that we managed to beat Essendon without a press. We have a gameplan. We're not doing a great of job of executing it consistently (or at all, some weeks), but when we get it right it's there. So your post was ignorant of the fact that we do have a gameplan.

The way I see it, there is a clear top four (Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn, Carlton), and the premiership will be won by one of those. Then there are West Coast and Sydney, who are thereabouts. West Coast is better, but neither is good enough to win it this year. The final two spots will be raffled between Fremantle, St Kilda (soft draw coming home, they'll make it I reckon), Richmond, Essendon and us. If we play to our potential we are more than a chance given our draw, but I'm not expecting much. Fremantle will probably get enough players back to win enough of their home games to beat us there. Essendon is probably done for the year, and Richmond won't be consistent enough to get enough wins. I'm tipping St Kilda and Freo to take the last two spots.

I remember Anthony Rocca was never really the same after his achilles injury.

I'm in exam study mode...it's tough to be happy. Maric, Wonaeamirri, whoever. Sure, he played OK, but I look back now and wish we'd never picked him so that someone else could have gained some experience. Yes, hindsight can be a wonderful thing. I wrote that badly: I meant to say virtually delisted by the fans. He had been written off on here by many.

Yeah some of them are just nasty. It wasn't as bad as Brown's, but I remember hearing Steven King's leg smack into Jeff White's face in the final of 2005. It's a creepy thing to hear when you're in the stands.

1) Insipid way to respond. 2) I hate the way people say that if you haven't played football you don't know anything. Well then, let's leave all political debate to former politicians, all commentary about the weather to meteorologists, and any reference to food should be made by chefs only. You're an idiot. Well of course, given the ages of the two groups. If you were Geelong, though, you may well take the Collingwood trio.

Dunn's 'career best football' wasn't that good, and didn't translate into a career. My point was that he played one good game, got selected, and then wasted a spot for the rest of the year that could have been given to a kid. I made that point because if we bring Petterd back it will be at the expense, most likely, of a kid like Nicholson, Strauss, Evans or Howe, and I'm not convinced that after one good game he deserves to kick out a kid. I think that's a fair call. Blease is fit now, and not progressing as well at Casey as maybe he should be, but by virtue of his injuries, he is getting off lightly, with most still believing he's going to come good. Of course, he may well, and he's still young, but Strauss was in a very similar position, save for the severity of his injuries, and he was virtually delisted 4 weeks ago.

As much as I enjoy seeing Petterd tear the VFL up, I want to see him do it again next week, and potentially the week after that. I'm not a fan of people getting picked after one good game for Casey. It happened to Dunn last year, and look how that turned out. I want our mid-tier players like Petterd to be putting in the effort at Casey before getting their reward, rather than, as has been the case for years, getting a game simply because there are spots in the side. Give those spots to the kids like Evans, Nicholson, Strauss, Gawn and Howe instead. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves here. Total rubbish. This shows you how much the commentators know about Warnock: they're VFL commentators, so they see him play VFL, not AFL. Warnock showed when he was in the side recently that he is a liability with the ball and makes basic skill errors that cost us goals. His size and one-on-one work are good, and that might appeal to clubs when they see him use it effectively at Casey, but at AFL level they aren't enough. Looks a serious prospect. Like you, though, I'm happy for him to spend a year at Casey developing.

Given Petterd and Bate are playing for Casey, that leaves Bartram, and I would assume if he's fit he isn't going to sit around as an emergency, and thus he will be in for Evans (well, he could be in for Jones, Gawn or Jetta, but I can't imagine any of them making way for him). Can't say I'm surprised, but also can't say I'm happy. I'd rather Evans have kept his spot and Bartram had a week in the VFL to tune up. Moreover I, unlike others, don't see Bartram as a long term best 22, nor even a short term one, so I'm not one to rush him back in. Having said that, he plays his role, and I guess Evans hasn't exactly been dominating.

Winner of the 'stating the f--king obvious thread'. He was being sarcastic.

Thought you'd be better than that. Bate might have played well against them too. So we play him as well? Heck, Newton probably played well once, the next time we play that side too we should pick him. Petterd is not in form. One good game for Casey does not change that. We had a functioning forward line last week, why in hell would we change that to include a player who doesn't deserve his spot?

Only possible change should be Bartram for Evans. Jones, Gawn and Jetta shouldn't be chances to be dropped. Bate and Petterd shouldn't be even remotely considered for selection. I'd go with an unchanged line up, but I feel the FD loves Bartram a lot, and maybe will be wary of Brad Dick, who will surely play his one good game for the year against us.

Lying. Far out.

Hand on heart? He was making an argument. Good on him if it works. Far out people. That is not cheating. That is attempting to show up a system. If he had succeeded, it would not have been his fault, it would have been the system's. The fact that he didn't shows that we don't have place in the game for people to make weak excuses for poor decisions. That does not mean he cheated.

Collingwood is missing some stars and their fans don't care about the game too much. The weather is likely to be poor (again...always when we host a Friday night or a big Victorian side). Dunno...maybe 65,000-70,000.

With no Swan, Thomas, Jolly and Beams, we have a good chance. Of course, things would be easier if we had Jamar, Grimes, Garland, Bail, Tapscott and an in-form Davey. I reckon they'll beat us by about four goals, but I can see us being in the contest until at least three quarter time. I fear that even if we are in front at the final change, they will smash us to pieces in the fourth.

Who cheated more? Stupid question, because neither of them cheated at all. Maric legitimately thought he kicked the ball, and even if he didn't, he was entitled to 'appeal', if you will. It happens all the time. Players saying they touched the ball before the goal umpire disagrees. Players saying they handpassed the ball when they're called for a throw. It happens. Thomas hit Jones in the head. That happens too. It's not cheating.

I get what you're saying, but I disagree. Our worst this year has been too bad. Worse than it should have been. And it's not just down to 'inexperienced kids'. It's a combination of youth, no leadership, mid-tier players not standing up (Petterd, Dunn, Bate, Warnock) and poor coaching. Inconsistency is acceptable (and inherent in development). The extent to which we have been inconsistent has been unacceptable.

I thought it was obvious. But OK: Petterd's form, prior to being dropped, was pathetic. He wasn't chasing hard enough, he had bad body language, he wasn't getting involved in the play enough. Generally in shocking form. And we had Howe at Casey playing well (and just to top it off, we swapped Petterd for Howe, and Howe proceeded to play a great game, showing the running, work ethic, and skill that Petterd didn't). It's OK to have your opinion. I'm just letting you know that I couldn't disagree more. Literally. So that's why I said that was the most wrong post of the year. Which it is.

Without having read the thread: I know Brendan, and he is a very intelligent man who knows what is good for sport. But I can't agree with his plan here. I do get the argument that with more clubs comes more games, and thus the potential for more meaningless games, but the meaningless component of games stems not from the number of sides per se, but the quality of the foootball. If the expansion works as its intended, then the new clubs will promote more players to play the game, which will hopefully translate to a higher standard of football, and that will itself work to eradicate meaningless games. Moreover, I cannot imagine what relegation would do to Port, the Dogs, North Melbourne, or us. The financial implications of not being unable to win a flag for at least a year would be shocking. Richmond would be a dead club by now.

So I assume you've looked at the footage of both incidents and made an educated, rational call? I haven't seen either of them. I would assume the umpire runs into Judd, but Trengove runs into the umpire. Get over it. Well duh...

Unbelievable. Belying his terrible recent form, you actually think that, because, 12 months ago, Petterd played well, that he should be picked at the expense of Jetta, who played well 3 days ago? You, and all the others who have made the same suggestion, have NFI.

That's handy. No Swan. No Thomas (hopefully). No Beams. No Jolly. A little opening.