Lord Nev

Mahoney today: “Our high performance manager is leaving and we think off the back of that there’s going to be a lot of big changes.” Source ?

JKH has been named in Casey's best for pretty much a month straight by the club's own staff, including today. Deserves a shot based on that, despite previous AFL performances, as that's what competition for spots is meant to be about.

Then why was he 'dropped' last year to start the season before having by far his best year? Why even have a VFL team if we refuse to put out of form players there? Why even talk about culture if players performing at Casey get overlooked for someone massively out of form but a high draft pick? Aren't we passed that kinda stuff now? We should be. JKH had 18 disposals, 6 marks and 6 tackles in the one game he played before being dropped. Gus had 12 disposals, 3 marks and 2 tackles today. If we're going to wonder why our team has seemingly gone back to being mentally soft, hunted, low on confidence and lacking intent, then I put it to you that Goodwin's consistent favouring of certain players at selection despite performance is hurting us culturally as a team this year.

I hope so. But then the question has to be asked, why hasn't he been dropped to find some form/confidence? Last year, his very good one, he was 'dropped' at the start of the season to help his development and have him readjust and it worked wonders, so why not do it this year? Why just keep running him down?

Mate, I agree with you that the assessment of Salem seems harsh, but why not just say "I actually thought Salem was good and here's why..." rather than taking a pot shot at someone on the internet that you don't know? Doesn't get anyone anywhere taking the personal approach.

Form slump for a whole season would be cause for concern in some way though wouldn't it? In one way or another. Putting the trade hypotheticals aside for a sec, my gut feel is just genuine worry that everything is ok with him tbh. Not based on anything, don't want people to get any innuendo from that in any way, but he just looks 'off' and down this year.

Just wondering, do people still think he 'bleeds red and blue' and there's no chance the club would trade him? I love him, but something is not right with Gus and if he played for another team we'd all be saying he doesn't look happy and could want out.

All the astute footy watchers make their judgments after 1 game...

Forget everything I said haha, Goody just said on radio Petty will play forward today.

Yeah that's a great point. I'd obviously prefer that, but if we're moving a defender forward it probably means we're pretty much screwed so I think all that stuff goes out the window as far as Goody is concerned. Has Petty played forward at all for Casey? I know Keilty got tried at both ends for a while, but any idea if Petty has shown anything at that end?

I agree the forwards have been poor, not letting them off the hook at all, and clearly bringing Rawlings back in (when he was very firm on wanting to coach his own team) is a big move. We see Weid and TMac often fly for the same ball, but I blame that more on Goodwin and his 'bring the ball to ground' philosophy which I think has resulted in our key forwards thinking a lot like our mids who crowd the ball. I'm not a believer in disposal efficiency as a useful stat, it has no context and it has some poor conditions to it (under certain circumstances you can give the ball to the opposition and it's an 'effective disposal'). The stat that I think is relevant to us is retention per delivery inside 50. That stat basically measures if our delivery inside 50 is going to us or the opposition. The AFL average for that stat is 46%. Some of our players, including TMac, Trac and Harmes are at average or above, but our 3 prime movers in Oliver, Brayshaw (both in the low 30s) and Viney (low 20s) are a long way below average, in fact Viney is rated as the worst in the league. Source So my argument would be, if it's purely the fault of the forward structure and the "mids aren't the issue", why is it some of our players can do well with delivering effectively inside 50, but our main 3 midfielders can't? In fact, Viney got up to double figures in marks he directly gave to Hurn and McGovern in the West Coast game. You can't blame the forwards for that. This is why our coach continually talks about 'connection'.

Would only be a 'break glass in case of emergency" kinda deal, just saying that if we move a defender forward, I think it will be him.

He's also a gun key forward, and we don't need a ton of tall defenders against the Dogs. Not saying it will happen, but out of Frost, Petty, Lever and May, I would say he's the best forward option.

May?

Yeah, I'm definitely open to the Day option, keep hearing Dees fans talk about him, have we been linked to him yet? Is Buxton (Casey) any chop as a key forward, or is he more pure ruckman? Haven't seen him play in person, but could he be an option for that kind of pickup?

If our midfield isn't the issue, why is it Harmes, TMac and Trac are average or above average in inside 50 delivery ratings, yet Oliver, Brayshaw and Viney are among the worst in the league (with Viney being the single worst in the comp)? Not saying the forward line is working perfectly by any stretch, but I'm staggered you think the midfield has no responsibility.

Who do you suggest? I'm open minded about this, just putting forward realistic scenarios.

Jenkins is on 550k a year I believe, and I would think if the Crows were keen to shuffle him out then they'd be paying a portion of that. I absolutely agree we may need to look at some key forward youth, but my argument would be having some mature depth means we can develop them more steadily and not have to throw them in when form may not demand it.

Yep, aware the Crows may be forced to pay some of his contract, seems a reasonably common occurrence in the modern AFL landscape, but was more wondering if anyone knew about contract length. I know player managers would be hesitant to allow a contract length to be reduced, but wondering if it's actually allowed or not. What I meant by that is we need more than one depth player as a key forward, hence my emphasis on "A", given we were talking about Preuss today. I think we have the same definition of depth mate, your description is absolutely in line with mine.

I guess potentially, haven't heard it confirmed that he did have a fitness test and have no idea how it went if he did. Just a rumour at this stage I guess, but did hear calf somewhere a few days ago now that you mention a leg issue.

Genuine question, but when trading in a contracted player, does the new club have to honour the same contract length? Given clubs are often paying part of the salary of a traded out player (Watts is an example), does that mean a 'new' contract is negotiated with the new club? I'm not fussed between the two tbh, so you're definitely making me lean towards Levi. I think we definitely need more than "A depth player" (Preuss) though, and our lineup today exposes that a bit, hence why I think a mature body KPF would be a handy addition to our depth.

Yep, don't mind that suggestion, my only concern is if you can't break into the worst team in the comp consistently, is there something wrong, or has he just told them he's out and so they're not keen on playing him?

With both TMac and Weid out this weekend, one of those "C graders" would be playing. That's the point both Pennant and I have been talking about, mature depth. We're being realistic here about what can be achieved in one trade period, and realistically you can't have 44 A graders on your list. I'm not saying you're doing this necessarily, but I don't understand how so many people can only think in terms of 'best 22' when it comes to trading in players. We've used more players than any other team this year, we're up to nearly 40 players which is getting close to the entire list, so I personally think a little bit of mature depth WOULD improve us.

Did anyone hear anything about Oliver doing a fitness test yesterday? Saw something about it on social media but can't seem to see anything here from any of the regular track watchers.

Who do you suggest we realistically target then?