seventyfour

Completely off-topic but can I say that I love the Harvest Snap pea mascot at games. The mascot race at the Saints game was absolutely hilarious. I want that costume to wear to parties.

If one or two go through in 2023 we might be reigning Premiers 😔

When the heat was on early in the 2021 Grand Final, Salem was the difference. If the game ended at quarter time he would've won the Norm Smith voting unanimously. You don't just get rid of a player like Salem unless we were offered something silly like two first round picks. If we received anything less than that, the club would be taking a further step away from a flag in the next few years.

I am most interested in those who can make an impact in 2025. I want another premiership now while our generational talent is still playing and in their prime. First 22 in 2025. Rivers - A full preseason training as a midfielder and we could have something special. It might be the key to Petracca spending permanent time up forward. McVee - When (if) does the midfield move happen? It's either him or Rivers. JVR - So much of our hope for another flag depends on if, or when, it finally clicks for Roo. Windsor - Already AFL standard and should be fitter and stronger next year. Fringe 22: Turner - His position is a huge question mark. He's shown enough to suggest he would be a great third tall forward line. However, what if Tomlinson and Petty leave and McDonald retires? We then have almost zero depth with an aging May and injury-prone Lever. Jefferson - Based on talent and his improvement in 2024 you would hope he can meaningfully contribute at AFL level next year. Hugely important to our chances. Bowey - Not sure I see where huge improvement comes from, but his best is a lock for our first 22. Needs to regain his form. Tholstrup - Can he take a massive step next year? Or will he take a while? Seems the latter to me, will be the next generation. Depth for injuries: Howes, Woewodin, AMW, Brown Unlikely to play: Adams, Verrall, Sestan

It's games like that where it makes me so sad that we lost Brayshaw. I could just imagine him moving to half back and saving us a goal or two. We need to give West Coast a smacking next week and finish out the year strong even if finals are gone. Trade targets and free agents need to believe we still have a flag window open in 2025 and 2026.

Crazy thing is... the ladder is so tight, if we somehow snatched a win tonight and got the job done against West Coast at home next week, that Saturday night game against the Bombers would become a big game again, and we could jump them. Sadly with our inexperience and form we could lose all three, but I can dream. Ruining the Bombers season is one of the few things I can hope for in the rest of 2024.

or Woewodin...

Not really. We traded away all of our depth, and/or lost it to injury / retirements. The depth we kept, or traded in, sucks. It's not a rebuild, it's just the list we have.

Darcy Parish is one that is standing out for me. He is far too good to be playing VFL but Essendon will clearly continue to preference their young emerging midfielders. His contract is reported around $750k a year, similar to Brayshaw, so we would be able to make it work at least with the cap relief we get in 2025 and 2026. Essendon are terrible to deal with in trades. However, if he is playing VFL, they can't ask for a first rounder. We should be able to offer an early 2nd round pick for him. We have Adelaide's in 2024.

We all get nervous about young, first rounder key position forwards making their debut. It's because of Jack Watts. I get it. His development shouldn't get set back 6 months if he is beaten. It should accelerate it. He'll have a better idea of what AFL footy looks like and what he needs to do in the offseason to get ready for AFL footy. Petty had a bad debut against St Kilda. It's the worst debut i've ever seen. Reckon he learned from it? Absolutely, a few years later he was a crucial pillar of a premiership winning defence. Jye Amiss was dropped after his debut game for Freo. He's going alright now. Maybe we don't play him yet while finals are still a chance. But if a few more weeks and losses come to us, then we really should be giving him a go before the season ends. If he plays and gets beaten and it hurts him that badly that it hurts his development, then perhaps he shouldn't be playing AFL at all.

Thanks for this, appreciate the input. Reminds me of another defender when he debuted for us in 2018... Petty.

For the regular Casey watchers, how is Jed Adams tracking? Good size, plays every week, but we don't hear much. Just wondering if there's signs we have someone who could potentially do a decent job in May's role in a few years.

Let's stop with the TMac forward stuff. He is cooked as a forward, with many posters here reporting he has admitted to it himself. The only reason his career is alive is due to the move back, and he has been one of the few shining lights this season. Unless the suggesting is that we actively tank.

As the ladder stands currently, 8 of the 10 remaining games are '8 point games'. Other than North and West Coast, our remaining opponents are within 8 points of us. 6 of our remaining opponents are within 4 points or equal. On current form we'll lose the games and gift other teams a spot in the 8. Positively, finals are also in our own hands, not relying on others. With each win, we improve our own chances while equally hurting the chances of others. Lose to either North or West Coast and you can forget about it, if you haven't already given up.

We can all dream about getting some superstar, but the reality is that elite players rarely move while already in their prime. 2023: None 2022: Taranto 2021: None 2020: Treloar, Cameron, Daniher 2019: Kelly 2018: Lynch, Neale, Hogan, May Slim pickings. We are fighting 16 other teams for their services... or they are moving for personal reasons so we'll never even get a shot. There are players who surprise everyone to become great players (e.g. Stengle) and young players who will likely become elite (e.g. Jackson JHF) but they rare too. If we are to contend next year, we need to find they B grade players who can be A+ in their role. Ed Langdon, Blake Acres, Bobby Hill, Jack Ginnivan are recent examples of the type.

Beyond Brayshaw, there's Brown, McDonald, Hunter, Petty and Tomlinson that would be all likely be on above-average salaries and may come off the books this year through trade, retirement or delisting. Smith will be gone too, maybe Melksham, and we didn't replace Grundy's salary this year either. If we replace a lot of those players in the draft, that is a huge amount of salary freed up. The question is whether we go all-out again next year, or if use 2026 to develop some kids to get us ready for a home-grown tilt in 2026.

I don't know that Goody can go, and i'd be fine with that, but Greg Stafford absolutely has to go. I'm not sure about Alan Richardson either. We also really, really need off-field stability and need to prove to the rest of the competition - as in the players - that the culture is improving. I'd love to know that players like LDU, Yeo and Tom Lynch have Melbourne on their radar as a trade or FA destination.

Retired: Brayshaw, McDonald, Brown, Melksham Delisted: Smith, Hunter, Schache Traded: Petty That's eight changes, then there are always unforeseen trade requests or delistings. Would not be surprised if the list hit 10 players. We'll need to load up at the draft for the first time in years. Agree that 2025 might be a down year, to reload for one last tilt with the current crop. The issue there is Steven May probably won't make it to 2026, and I just can't imagine us winning the flag without him. We'd need to find a KPD in a trade or free agency.

I'll kill myself if we concede another by quarter time without getting one ourselves

Drop Sparrow for Tholstrup next week.

We're mentally cooked

We're mentally cooked

Ermmm that is not good? No emergencies?

I care more about winning this game just because it's Collingwood/Maynard than I care about the win potentially saving our season.

Anyone but Laurie, please. Has shown nothing and doesn't look at all like a player who would rise on a stage like King's Birthday. Have similar feelings about Howes, had some shaky moments in bigger games while he was in the team. Unfortunately we don't really have any other options. Billings is just as bad as Laurie.