Bring-Back-Powell

Gotta be happy with a game at Casey on a Saturday arvo against a potential contender (especially you live in the outer South East!)

A prelim appearance and one finals win. Two finals wins if we disappointingly miss top 4 after the H&A. Have to question where we are heading under the current regime if we fail to win a final this year and we have a decent run with injuries.

Have we enough money in the till to afford Kozzy?

He most certainly did. One of the most dominant match winning performances I've seen from an MFC player. Was the clear difference in a win or a loss.

Should be in direct competition with Sparrow for that half forward/mid spot if the club decides to implement an integrity of selection policy this season.

Chandler looked promising in a 2021 pre season game against Richmond at Casey kicking 3 goals as a genuine small forward including a clever goal on the boundary. I know it was only a practice match but you don't accidently play well against a mostly full strength side featuring Dustin Martin. He just hasn't been afforded the opportunity at AFL level, and the rare chances he's had, he's only played a 20 minute game coming on as a sub over the last couple of years (although he did have that 4 possession "full" game against Carlton in 2021 which wasn't great). Hopefully for his sake, he gets at least 11 games this year for someone that's been on the list for 5 seasons.

Since the VFL became the AFL in 1990, I’d argue we’ve had the second most dominant finals series to date behind Essendon of 2000. Essendon had an aggregate margin of 230 points and never looked in any doubt at any point of that finals series, while we had an aggregate margin of 190 points with just a slight scare in the middle 2 quarters of the GF before dominating. Whilst Geelong’s 2007 side had an aggregate margin of 230 like Essendon (2000), they had an almighty scare against Collingwood in that years prelim and fell over the line by 5 points. My top 5 dominant finals series since 1990: Essendon (2000) Melbourne (2021) Geelong (2007) Richmond (2019) Hawthorn (2008)

They played the Hawks there in 2016 for a praccy match but can't recall any others. Wouldn't mind a game out there myself.

Apparently (not confirmed) the practice match is going to be Thursday 23 Feb or Friday 24 Feb for anyone looking to wag work.

Brisbane have actually gotten better list wise (Gunstan, Dunkley, Mckenna) so should make finals given their home ground advantage and a decent run with injuries. I actually wasn't all that blown away by Brisbane's 2022 finals series to be honest. They won a 50/50 shoot out at home against Richmond while conceding 100+ points in a final, were quite frankly ordinary against us for most of the first half, and put in one of the worst finals performances of recent years against Geelong to finish a distant fourth from a way more competitive Collingwood. I wouldn't be putting my hard earned on Brisbane winning the flag. Sydney, Dogs and Freo are my leading candidates to miss.

Marvel Stadium would have to be a contender for this game if these unofficial games are official (if that makes sense)

Bring back the days where Guessing you weren’t a fan of the early 90’s where clubs played up to 5 pre season games when factoring in the Panasonic/Fosters cup and other practice matches.

His 4 or 5 games with us were very uninspiring, even factoring in his lack of proper AFL preparation.

Jake Lever: - good player ✅ - media performer ✅ - on field leadership ✅ - age profile ✅ - would represent the club well to media and corporates ✅ Petracca ticks all these boxes as well but Lever just seems like he was born to be a captain. I wouldn’t think May would be considered due to his age and incidents.

Unless Grundy’s physically cooked for good and we’ve bought an absolute lemon, then I’m not concerned in the slightest despite today’s disappointing training reports. It was only Anzac Day 2022 when he kicked the sealer from 50 metres out on a seriously injured knee and never played again for the year. The bloke has talent and I refuse to believe that we didn’t do our due diligence.

I’ll be really disappointed if Salem falls into that category you’ve listed below re: players that may end up being Casey regulars. Salem’s too good a player and has too good a skill set to not be automatic best 22 as opposed to your Tomlinson’s, Harmes’s, Hibberds, Rivers’s etc…

Jackson was garbage against Freo last year averaging all of 1 mark in both games for someone that’s probably taller than 85-90% of the league. If Kozzie has a stinker against Port in round 10, I’m panicking.

One of my favourite wins of all time that I have attended live, as well as the 2015 game where we given even less of a chance down there. Very rare that a trip back up the Princess HWy to Melbourne was an enjoyable one. Clearly we would’ve missed the finals after being in the top 2 mid season, had we lost that game and not arrested a 7 game losing streak.

I'd much rather keep Kozzie due to the point of difference he provides as an AFL player and the joy he brings to the fans. However, Rozee and Butters are some seriously talented players who would be brilliant pick ups. Rozee polled 14 brownlow votes in the last 10 games of the season and won an All Australian and B&F honours. Butters didn't have as great a year but is thought to have even more upside than Rozee. If there was any truth to the Kane Cornes rumour, I'm assuming we asked for Butters or Rozee in return and Port said "no way" and all bets were off. Unfortunately we won't have that luxury at the end of the year as Kozzie will be uncontracted (if he doesn't re-sign with us)

I can see Jackson kicking off his Freo debut with a 2022 esque performance of 8 possessions/1 mark/0 goals against St Kilda prompting a 40 page discussion on the Freo Bigfooty forum on whether they over paid. Then all will be well in the world when he takes North to the cleaners in a round 2 Optus Stadium soft kill. Freo to start the season 1-1.

Probably. If I were an AFL player and I knew I wouldn't be able to play a game the following season due to a degenerate knee, I'd be seeking a settlement from the club on the last year of the contract and then try to make up the balance of income forgone in another line of work, because I know that a perk of being an AFL player is the connections I've developed. In the past, players have retired before their contracts have expired.

Seems like an outstanding fella that would put the club before himself if his knee can’t withstand another year. With that being said, we’ll be a far better side next year if we get the late 2021 Ben Brown edition, so here’s hoping.

If BBB has another poor year from a form and injury perspective, then I reckon he'll retire and forgo his final year.

Me too. T Mac always plays a solid game down back, even the round 1 game last year where he was summonsed into defence after Salem went down. And we all saw what Petty was capable of in a cameo appearance in the Brisbane final. Petty will be one of the best contested markers in league footy so I'd like to see him play some minutes in the forward line this year. Thought our defence was stale, tired, injured, uncharacteristic (May and Lever arguing with each other) and out of sorts come finals last year. As you stated above, some flexibility might be in order next year.

If it comes down to those two, then it's a no brainer to go with Burgoyne. I'm assuming Burgoyne is at the very least a competent VFL standard player who will provide depth for Casey while keeping Kozzie in a good space.