Altona-demon

Agree with all of this - Carlton seem to be playing the same style that we have employed for a long time, just with better forwards. For the record I think they will be very very competitive this year. Good onball contest bombing forward to those three (TDK, McK, Curnow - with some good crumbers in Fantasia and Motlop) will stand up in the pointy end. Agree Weitering accounts for maybe even spoiling of JVR's contested marks - but hopefully let's see if he can continue this form. I think a byproduct of the way we are playing (Ie to the corner, and then looking inboard for the handball to the overlapping runner) is that the original contest (ie from the 45 degree kick to the corner of the centre square) has the positive effect of drawing in a half back or two creating a space inside 30 and at a good angle to goal. I've watched the tape a couple of times - and you can see this effect, especially where JvR and Schache lead to the pocket (usual pattern) which stretches the space a bit more. Would love to see the HFs mark a lot here - granted it does take a good kicker on the run to be able to hit that up - good thing Salem is playing in the midfield lol.

A couple of summary notes after watching the game on delay last night: 1. Clear desire to make the 45 degree kick to the top corners of the centre square, win the contest, and then (even blind sometimes) play the lateral handball back into the corridor. On numerous occassions the player at the back of the contest would then run that outside (inside) lane on the corridor and pick up the loose ball. Was a very nice pattern - but was a little alarmed we showed it so many times tbh. 2. Inside50 marks - aside from the obvious darting low kicks which were commented on ad nauseam by King et co, there was a clear ability (and willingness) to find the shallow inside 50 marks - which worked well against Carlton who were very set up for Melbourne offence from 2021, 22, 23 (ie deep and to the pockets). Given the ability of our small HFs to kick over 40m quite easily (sans Spargo) this could be quite an effective tactic. 3. Now some personal perspectives on strong games: - Bailey Laurie - wow, I didn't know he had that sort of game on the inside, but his competitiveness and cleanness in the phonebox particularly his ability to get inside and just provide the short handball to Salem was on show repeatedly. Very impressed. - Pickett looks ready to absolutely explode this year - Neal-Bullen consistent again and so good as a barometer for our overall effort both ways. Very impressed. - Van Rooyen is ridiculously good for his age - we are so lucky to have him. 4. Final one - it was interesting how Christian Petracca looked in that midfield set up (Jack Viney too) - it seemed more cohesive to me - sometimes I feel like Christian is in everything a bit much and the group isn't that damaging, whereas it felt like the midfield GROUP was very very damaging and Spaz and Salem got the chocolates. I think the outside/inside balance might finally be getting there after god knows how many years lol.

Tbh we are contested heavy - and the OIiver injury really showed us that Tom Sparrow can step up and provide cover there. I wouldn't be against balancing our list with one of our midfield bulls coming out for some more finesse/tall forwards.

Chandler two misses hurt (and they were both very close). Most times Kosi kicks his two as well (that first set shot was abysmal). So that's four on my count. Plus Nibbler's goal (and set shot miss) - that's potentially six. Finally Petracca when resting forward managed to get two goal scoring shots. That means eight opportunities from smaller forwards in our line. I think that puts the team in a pretty good position. I think one dynamic we need to explore more once Clayton returns, is the impact of Petracca resting forward and what it does for defensive / stoppage / forward structure. He's really like another athletic mid-forward - and a pretty impossible match-up if we can get him one on one or near a groundball.

I think it's pretty hard to argue that Kosi had a good game against Collingwood. Spargo obvs. got subbed, and Chandler was only a bit better. Nibbler really plays as a hybrid mid-fielder anyway - and all our smalls have room to improve. But suggesting that Smith can play as a small forward ignores the fact that he is 1.91 m tall and clearly a third tall option. Fwiw I quite like the look of Petty, Van Rooyen, Smith - and I hope they give it a crack at some stage.

While the defensive aspect of a forward's game is important, so is their ability to crumb and impact around stoppage. I don't think Smith is going to replace those functions.

Let's not gloss over the fact however that the forwards clearly failed the mental test on numerous shots in this game. Fritsch, Kossie, and Smith - all failed to convert under significant pressure. Great practice for what will come in September.

I think Jordy was more making an insight (which I tend to agree with) that the quality of entries into forward 50 suffers because of the lack of connection. Numerous examples of this last night - Fritsch and JVR on the same ball springs to mind, Kossie flying rather than crumbing. As Goody said on AFL 360, this is a young forward line with some new entrants - connection and managing space and leads is going to take time. I agree with you that the quantity is not an issue.

Way off it i'm afraid. Possessions as a measure for a full back is not a good measure. If he scores high on possession the team is not functioning well upfield. The team is functioning upfield, so he doesn't touch it as much. The thing with Turner when you watch him, as I have all year, is that his class/poise and disposal are already elite at the VFL level - and without doubt stand out. You then add to this his clear mongrel bastard attitude and reading of the game, and it's really no surprise that he is in the AFL frame. Speaking of frame - his is one that can really develop in an AFL environment, and while much is said of JVRs weight gain frame etc, I think that ultimately TURNER will be bigger and stronger than him - the gains Turner has made since he came into the club looking like a McGovern type are extraordinary. I have no doubt we are looking at another country kid ala Jordan Lewis who in a professional environment (winning environment) will really really grow well. He's gone past Tomlinson - who also unfortunately has ZERO upside.

Howes is every bit that player tbh. He looks very special in the way he reads the game. Just has a knack of popping up in the right spot. Good over head, good kick - just need to work on the tank.

I selected n14 - and it gave me M14 - grrrrr. Still got my tickets GO DEES!

How many things can this bloke win - it's getting ridiculous.

You are amazing - thanks mate ! So so helpful! GO DEES!

Can anyone help me - i'm wondering how to orchestrate a whole bunch of non-member Dees and Member dees sitting together. How would we go about this? I've got membership, but my other seven friends don't - can I purchase a whole bunch of tickets togehter and they pay me back?

Can I please ask a question of tonight's pod crew. " Have we shown our hand too early? It was clear from the game that the Dees were playing a different style of attack going into forward 50 and also exiting defensive 50 (shock horror May kicked to different points of the ground often to Langdon's wing). On numerous occasions entering f50 we took the dangerous inboard kick into leading lanes (vis-a-vis our usual mode of operation kicking into the pocket for contest). Does this help or hinder us? Or was it a good chance to give it a hit out before we deploy the similar style against Sydney? "

That's the right attitude. I've rustled up 8 Dees supporters to come along - go dees!

Link?

No I don't think he has trained with that group - I think this is a much longer term piece for Jake, if he stays at the Dees.

I think they see him and Bailey Laurie as replacements for Neal Bullen and Spargo - I am just not sure that either of them has the running capacity of ANB to be able to work up and down and help the half back in defence. There is no doubt in my mind that they would be able to link as well as Bowey. The really exciting one is Howes, he looks very special.

Is there a disadvantage to kicking the ball straight over the man on the mark? In golf, there's a theory of choosing an "intermediary target" between your ball and the hole when putting. The theory goes, if I can get the ball to "roll over" that much closer - and easier- target then I the ball should continue on to wherever you want it to eventually go. As long as the players can line the man on the mark up with the centre of the goal, I am unsure why they wouldn't use it as a "helper"?

A few observations on the mental "strength" of our team: 1. Gawn seems to have the yips, and never looks confident kicking set shot. 2. The above applies equally to the following players, Petracca, ANB. I don't think I am projecting when I say that these players appear to have zero confidence. 3. Resilience to finish off games - when ahead - mental drop offs. 4. Attitude/body language at times appears off or "flat" - which is unnecessary. Does anyone on DL know whether the team has a staff Sports Psychologist, or if this is indeed something that can be worked on. I don't believe our lack of ruthlessness is physical or system based, I think its between the ears with our team. Do the professionals put effort into this area, or are they putting too much effort into it? A couple of parallels (in the set shot space) in other sports, which i'd be intrigued on whether anyone has insights on: 1. Penalty taking in soccer - arguably higher pressure - same dynamics as a set shot - What Percentage of Penalties are Scored? [Stats Breakdown] (sqaf.club). Some interesting insights appear that there is a statistical skew towards older shot takers, kicking with medium power. 2. Conversions or penalty shot taking in rugby - is there anything we can learn here from mental attitude of players who can kick at 80%+ when in a routine set shot? I'm not sure any players can kick at this level in the AFL?

I'm a strictly numbers man mostly myself, but couldn't help but feel like there was some footy god intervention in that Collingwood game. I felt like we dominated the game for long long periods - but things would refuse to fall our way - an errant miss, Collingwood goes the other way and kicks a 50/50. It was uncanny. What was worse was a deep seeded feeling that we weren't going to win, and tbh it's something i've felt throughout the year. So, what have we done to anger the footy gods? And how can we turn it around ?

This is on the money - I was at the game, and you could see them set up for the kick. Honestly, it's that predictable that teams are setting up for it now. People are making a large amount about the lack of f50 tackles by our forwards. These tackles are a direct result of splitting aerial contests - if you think it through it's hard to tackle a player in AFL unless you are in close proximity to that player. Close proximity occurs in two scenarios in AFL - stoppage, and crumbing situations. The reality was that we were repeatedly unable to bring the ball to ground in predictable ways for our crumbers to either win possession or make tackles. That fault has to lie a lot with Sam Weideman, as this is his role when playing forward of the ball in our system. It's also the main reason why he doesn't look good in our system - i've no doubt in a different (say Carlton model) he would look a lot better.

He's very much ready - i've been thinking about pulling together a highlights package for people here on DL so they can see what is getting a lot of us regular Casey watchers very excited about him. He's a brief summary of some of things that he did on the weekend which were really exciting: 1. Strong physical tackling, repeat efforts - was unlucky not to have HTB paid on one occasion, narrowly missed another. He's a great tackler. 2. Ground ball gets, he's better below his feet than Weideman 3. He's competitive, angry and hungry - he slapped the ground really hard when he missed what would have been a 1% tackle. 4. He's physically strong under the ball - he took a match sealing mark where he basically threw the player off and stood his ground. 5. He's splitting contests to advantage, he crashed a pack and hit the ball to advantahge of chandler to a goal. He rarely is getting outmarked. 6. His engine, he's rucking and roving all around the ground showing a good engine. He's ready for debut - but because of our team - he won't play AFL this year.

Like a lot of these young Vic players coming out of TAC - he gets a lot of it, but doesn't do much with it/hurt you. Of the youngsters McVee looked more accomplished with less of it. Baker was great in providing an outlet from defenders in d50 "the Langdon/Jordon" role. He played this very well and was running all day hunting ball. He is criminally underrated here on DL.