The Panglossian

Laurie has looked a class above at Casey. He hasn't impacted at AFL level....but has he had much ground time? The big chance he did get was when Brayshaw was pole-axed in the Final. He hardly touched it that day.Let's not write hom off for that. But I see a very constructive and skillful footballer when I watch Casey. I think he has a tank too, since he apparently was a middle-distance runner. Let's see how he goes with another chance with more ground-time. Howes also is way over VFL standard, and is an excellent replacement for Salem.

This is the crux of the argument.

Unethical practice by the doctor, succumbing to pressure from the club to delay HIA for the Club's benefit. That's why there have been so many calls for independent medical assessment of suspected concussion. It was blatantly obvious that Mackay and Wettering required urgent and thorough assessment, not a remote opinion from the edge of the ground, then a delayed test .

The problem was plain to see. Numerous experts have expressed their surprise that he wasn’t taken off and assessed immediately. What do you mean by “ sour grapes”, Demon Disciple.? If you had a son playing football and he was staggering around with his eyes rolling in his head, would you want him to stay out on the field? That’s when players are most vulnerable to repeat head trauma.

The Carlton doctor should be censured by both the AFL and the Medical Board( AHPRA) for his gross neglect of Mackay’s condition at the weekend. They considered that it was more important to keep their best players on the ground than consider the likelihood of concussion, and CTE down the track. This policy won them the final v Melbourne last September when Wettering was concussed( accidentally) by Smith, who actually helped him to his staggering feet. They chose not to assess such an important player when the game was in the balance. If they assessed him ,he’d be off the ground at a vital time, and would probably be unavailable next match. It was Wettering who intercepted Viney’s wayward kick, and who set up the last minute final attack and winning goal. Reprehensible neglect of player welfare.

The Dees couldn't kick straight to save their lives. Kelly slotted one for GWS from 65metres very near the final siren, to snatch a game we should never have lost.

Impressive cherries, though.

I like the guy…..he had a fight with Skunkhead Maynard.

Where is Dennis Jones mentioned here? He coached us to a Spoon in '78.

What about Essendon’s third ruckman, Bryan? He monstered our back-up rucks at Casey, and won’t get much of a gig behind Draper in the near future.

I thought Laurie, Howes, Tomlinson and Billings looked very good on Sunday. Now our injury list is so much shorter, the Casey team looks much stronger. I thought Ben Brown moved pretty well,and Kynan looked effective, though his stats don’t reflect it.

That young boy later played footy for Footscray, and now works at the MFC…..I’m not sure what role. Jimmy Plunkett, I think.

If Daryl Hair was umpiring, they Cripps wouldn’t get away with any of his “ handballs”.

I think one tactic which would earn us at least a goal a game would be to NEVER take a player off the ground as soon as he kicks a goal. All teams do it, but it’s lazy. The time break after a goal allows them to make an interchange more easily. A player’s confidence is higher after a goal, and he’s in the frame of mind to do it again! The goal-kicker is often not exhausted. The ball has probably arrived quickly and he’s goaled without too much running around. He is, however, puffed out after sprinting from the forward line to the interchange bench. We could gain a slight edge over the competition if we abandoned the conventional wisdom that it’s a good idea to remove players immediately after a goal.

Daniher and the umps must have thought it was rugby too, when Daniher grabbed Nibbler’s foot. The trip occurred 2 metres in front of one of the umpires.

A lot of AMW’s possessions at Casey have been playing on in kick -ins.

I thought Petty showed promise of a return to form tonight. Also,he has a bit of nastiness about him that few of our players have. He gets on the nerves of the opposition, and I like that.

Chandler who? Turner who? You know some people with weird first names!

I thought of the possibility of Surnames that are also first names, but discounted it since I've never heard of anyone with the first name "McLean". (and I actually met Lord MacLean at Duart castle on the Isle of Mull in 1977) I guess there's some Rap singer or drummer called MacLean Smith or something!

If Collingwood received the raw deal North got in the last few minutes, the Media would be calling for a Royal Commission.

If a media person wants to improve his popularity rating, it doesn't pay to be critical of Collingwood or Carlton. There was ENORMOUS pressure on the umpires from the all-Collingwood crowd in that noisy stadium. They succumbed weakly.

Collingwood seemed to get a lot of goals from free kicks.

So don't pin your hopes too soon!

I remember those two terrible weeks well in 1998. Who would have thought we’d beat the eventual premiers in the semi by 8 goals,then slaughter StKilda in the qual. final.? We were then wrongly allocated to play Friday night specialists, North in the Prelim., when by rights we should have played Footscray, who we would have murdered, then played Adelaide again in the GF. We could have been premiers after abject failure in mid-season.

I think Grundy is about 204cm. Kentfield turns 19 in September. Any chance he could grow a cm or two on to his 194cm? I doubt it....he looks like a boy who has matured early. He reminds me a bit of Jack Darling, who was overlooked in the first round of draft by all clubs because , at 194cm he wasn't considered tall enough to be a KPF.