Colm

Given the overall standard of this years crop is thought to be very poor it’s a bit of a concern that neither rates highly at this stage. Hopefully Sinnema can have a good champs series and move up the ratings.

Height issues with the roof. Not a retracting roof like Marvel.

The roof is the big issue for me. We should have told the AFL where to go when they demanded a roof. No other expansion team or any team for that matter had such a demand put on them. Weather here is ok to already play 8 games a season without any roof. We get less rain than NSW and Queensland. Yes it’s colder and maybe a bit windy. Deal with it. Roof also means that no cricket games could be played there so it would just be around 8 AfL games a season as o assume 3/4 would be played in Launceston.

I’m in the same boat as you beelzebub, I’m finding I’m able to enjoy watching us playing a bit more when I’m not as concerned with the win/loss ratio and percentage. When we were kicking poorly for goal in the second last week I didn’t get nearly as annoyed as I would normally as I’m finding it pretty easy to take the positives at the minute in terms of how we’re are playing and direction we are going in, if we play finals great but if we don’t so be it. As long as we have a game plan that is taking shape and wins us some big games, a functional forward line and in a good spot to reload for 26 I’ll be happy.

Thank god he still has 2 years left on his contract. Puts the club in a strong position. I hope we are currently putting another contact in front of him. He’s worth as much as anybody at the club or any other club and his pay should reflect that. Maybe a good offer that front loaded a bit over the first couple of years might be enough to tempt him. An extra mil in the bank would surely give him something to thing about.

@binman I know it’s getting a bit of topic for this thread but I wonder if the opposite might be true for Collingwood heading into the Kings birthday game. They have a 10 day break before that game and a 12 day break after. Would you be thinking that they will ramp up their loading ahead of our game and look to put in a really good block over that 22 period? They are top and can afford to risk losing one or two to be cherry ripe for the business end. We might be getting them at a good time is what I hoping for.

I’ve stated elsewhere I think the Duke is building into form and will star this weekend. Same for Viney as I think he plays well fresh. Salem and Oliver probable both just played their best game of the past two years maybe longer for Salo. Trac is getting very close to his best. May and Lever are both a fair bit off their best but at least they are fit. No guarantees they will be fit in 4 months. All in all I’d be pretty happy if that group was playing as well in 4 months as they are now. Another point to factor in- clubs will start to go to work on our new game plan as they haven’t had a proper chance to nut it out yet. The above does sound like I’m struggling to find the good in where we currently find ourselves. Let me be clear nothing is further from the truth I’m absolutely stoked with how we are travelling and how Goody and the boys have turned things around. I’ll be even happier if we make finals.

I just think it will be a bridge too far. The comp is very even and any bad luck with injuries or deep in form or fitness levels can derail our finals chances. Even if we were to make finals our chances of being able to hold form for them as well is very slim. If we can get to the end of the season with a new game style that’s as good to watch as it was over the weekend, a properly functioning forward line and be in a position where we can attract new players to the club and reset for a red hot crack next year I’ll be over the moon regardless if we make finals or not.

We would still have a chance for sure, I think we would need to have a very lucky run with injuries from now until the end of season to make the 8 though.

AJ to stay in for the next two game for me. Give him a few games to settle in and I think he will make less mistakes. His energy and crash and bash against the pies will be useful. Viney to come in for Spargo, I think JV normally plays very well after a freshen up and I’d expect a massive game from him. The Duke has quietly been finding a bit of form in his new role and I think he’ll have a cracker of a game against the saints too. I don’t think we make finals this year but if we can continue our current trajectory against the saints and beat the Pies I’ll be very satisfied with how we are tracking.

I have been thinking we have a far greater percentage of our good ball users in the back half at the min. Bowey, Salem, XL, Judd. I wonder if we brought Sestan in if we could move Bowey into the role Spargo has been playing. If he could continue his good form up the ground it would certainly improve our ball movement inside 50.

Agreed with a lot of your post but not sure about the strength of the list. I think to have a good list we need more depth. I think Sydney’s list is in a fairly similar position to ours. I count that they had about 6 best 22 players out injured over the weekend. We had one in Viney. It’s no coincidence that our form has improved as we have had nearly a full list to pick from. If we had to bring in another 5/6 from Casey we would have struggled to perform nearly as well. Pies ran over the top of north yesterday without 8/9 of their best 22. North smashed us when we had 5/6 out. Of course there are other reason to for our improved form as our new game plan beds in and some key players finding form. I’m still very confident about JVR and the Kolt will be in our best 22 at some stage this year and clearly the same goes for an aging Tmac and Viney. I just don’t think we have enough quality beyond that to cover our best 22, we need our good fortune with injuries to continue for the remainder of the season.

Doesn’t look like he played for the Stingrays over the weekend. Does anybody know if he’s injured and if so what it is?

I also thought Judd McVee probably had his best game since returning from injury. Is it just me or does he look like he’s lost a few kilos? His frame looks like he did when he first joined us. I thought he almost looked unwell, has he had any other issues other than the hammy?

Two player observations from yesterday’s game. Disco Turners form over the past few weeks has been as satisfying for me to watch as the quick progress of Langford and XL. I was expecting our two new recruits to shine but not so much Disco. I’ve been thinking he was a solid 3 tall either up front or down back but if he can continue his current trajectory he could end up being a genuine A grade key backman. Having Lever and May back might help him improve even more over the coming weeks which would be a massive win for us.

Yes thought he was good yesterday. Has definitely lifted his game in terms of his defensive output. Took 3 good marks yesterday,2 from directly in front. His goal kicking is still a fair way off his usual high standards. Just squeezed one in from directly in front and 20m out. His reaction afterwards I think showed his unhappiness with how he’s kicking it.

Ah that explains a few of BTs comments during the game. At first I thought he was having a crack at Melbourne supporters but then he was saying you really have to be at the game to get a proper feel for the crowd. I flicked over to fox during the adds but after less than a minute of listening to Breteton I had to switch back. My god he is painful.

His interview afterwards was interesting. Said he's happy and loves playing for Freo but failed to say the rumours were untrue or that he intends to see out his contract. I’d be worried if I was a Freo supporter.

I think with the F/S and NGA they should scrap the 20% reduction if the club decides to trade out their pick that would have been used. Otherwise it’s just double dipping. How many times have we seen the Suns get the player and a first round pick the following year. So for example Collingwood have traded out their first round pick this year knowing they have a top 10 pick coming through. If anybody bids on him in the first round then they must match the full points value.

Thought Melksham had a great game. The commentators on fox said we were using an extra forward which meant Brisbane didn’t have a spare interceptor. For those who are more across the tactical side of things than me( probably most), it’s this a new tactic and if so how did we manage to do it while still winning the clearances?

The overall talent isn’t meant to be as good as other year and then it compromised by F/S and academy players. We also have a F/S and academy that at this stage look more likley to be picked later in the draft. Leaving the Jackson stuff aside I’d say our chances of trading into the first round will be very high as teams with quality F/S and NGA picks could find themselves in the same position as the bombers last year and our future first pick will be more attractive than most.

It’s a fair point about how highly we rate our new young brigade. I do think we have a great young bunch coming through but so do most clubs in the comp. If you look at North, the Suns, Bombers, Richmond, eagles even the likes of the lions, cats and the filth they all have some great talent coming through( and more coming via F/S and academies) that you would love to have in your side. Most clubs do . Casey doesn’t seem to have the next lot waiting in the wings if we are to get back to contending for flags we need to get a lot of decisions right over the coming months and years

Agree with all of this. Do you think the possibly availability of Jackson will change this rebuild strategy though? I assumed we would try to add more quality via the draft this year but if Jackson wants to come does this throw that strategy out the window a bit? Unless we also lose Pickett in which case we have future picks to trade into this year.

I think if we brought in Jackson we could hope to get 2/3 years out of Max if he doesn’t sustain a major injury. He’s still running other rucks into the ground and covers and amazing amount of ground. He’s work rate is off the charts. LJ would allow us to greatly reduce Max’s work load and I could see him being around for a while yet.

If in the event both players want to be traded I assume the value of their contracts will decide who has the greater trade value. Both clubs will be aware of the amount each player is willing to accept at a new club.