Whispering_Jack

The only Casey Demons game on the horizon to be televised is its Queens Birthday weekend game v Collingwood VFL.

AFL 2018: Tom McDonald sent off for scans after injury scare at Melbourne training Sounds like a precautionary move but if he has to miss then Pedo gets his chance.

My research shows that Austin Bradtke's last official game was in a losing side with East Sandringham against Mordialloc Braeside in a South Metro Junior Football League Under 14's grand final in August 2014. The King twins from Haileybury College. Bradtke wore the number 25. Other teammates in that side with interesting names were Samuel Stynes and Darcy Tilbrook. I can't figure out how a team with those names lost the game.

A nice little boost for the club coming on the same day as it announced it has passed its previous membership record. Time will tell whether this speculative recruiting move pays dividends but the club’s development processes seem to be in a good way and Bradtke will have a fine teacher to learn from in Max Gawn who has coached young players in the past and is very good at it. The positive is that Bradtke did play representative football as a junior before he decided to concentrate only on basketball and he reached state level at that sport. And, at 17, he could still grow a few cm’s.

There is a bye for Casey on that weekend as well.

What’s the prognosis with Sam Weideman’s injury?

Any chance the team will be celebrating at this salubrious Thai Restaurant in Malvern East tonight?

Bad luck for the kid. Wish him our best!

What about Weid? Does a calf and he could have a couple of blokes ahead of him this time tomorrow!

Sounds like a quarter of 2 halves with Frankston getting the jump on Casey and the Demons fighting back at the end of the term. It’s exactly what worries me about Melbourne’s game tomorrow - a slow start with the opposition building on early momentum. Casey was lucky that Frankston seemed to have squandered multiple opportunities with poor kicking for goal.

The lawyers wouldn’t agree with you that the fees were wasted. And so, I advise. That will cost 1,000 Guineas for my time, thank you.

When we welcome Tim Smith back to AFL football after an hiatus of more than a full year (he was injured in the Anzac Eve clash against the Tigers in 2017), we’re going to see a fully different player to the one who made his debut in Round 3 last year off the back of Jesse Hogan’s suspension against the Blues. Smith has been around for a while, having joined the then Casey Scorpions in 2012 season as a part time footballer. I’m not sure that he was fully motivated at the time but he changed over the years and by 2016, he was made vice-captain and was the club’s leading goal kicker for the season. Since he was drafted as a mature age rookie at 25 before the start of last year, he’s suffered his share of injuries but it’s been noticeable to me that he’s been a fitter and far more mobile player than ever before on his return at Casey. In line with the Melbourne set up, he’s not simply a key position forward but he can do things around the ground wherever he’s placed. As such, he could be a real surprise packet for the club - something right out of left field.

Thanks guys. Hopefully, the down time will take place in the middle of the night and not while there’s a game in progress involving the Demons.?

I'm completely over this romantic notion of players going to the club they supported when young. The game is so professional that the lure of your "beloved" club has to be secondary to the commercial factors. If anyone needs convincing then you only need to look at Dion Prestia, who from all accounts, comes from one of the most dedicated, rusted on Demon families you can find but, when the time came to leave the Suns, he chose Richmond. It works both ways of course. At the time, he was under a cloud with question marks about his knee and we don't know what Melbourne's particular needs and player payment situations were, but if it was all about close allegiances, I would have thought Prestia would have come to us in the end.

There is so much time left in the season and so many possible scenarios available, that it's a useless exercise worrying about what outcomes best suit us. Let's just keep winning and we won't need to think about games like the exhibition match in Shanghai. I notice that Foxtel have sent Dermie over there as part of the commentary team so they're obviously treating the whole exercise with contempt.

At least four will play v Carlton. One other is likely to be held over as an emergency.

That makes five players out injured, of who two have yet to play at AFL level. One has played just 2 AFL games. Aaron vandenBerg hasn’t played since 2016 which leaves Dean Kent as the only other “out”. That’s about as light an injury list as I can recall and we certainly couldn’t use that for an excuse for any drop in team performance. The team we pick tomorrow should be just about the best we can produce from our list.

Statistics Oskar Baker 1 goal 1 behind 12 kicks 8 handballs 20 disposals 6 marks 1 tackle 81 dream team points Harley Balic 1 goal 1 behind 12 kicks 5 handballs 17 disposals 10 marks 2 tackles 91 dream team points Tomas Bugg 4 goals 10 kicks 10 handballs 20 disposals 2 marks 10 tackles 120 dream team points Jake Di Pasquale 2 kicks 5 handballs 7 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 23 dream team points Lachlan Filipovic 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 4 tackles 16 hit outs 46 dream team points Sam Frost 8 kicks 4 handballs 12 disposals 4 marks 41 dream team points Jeff Garlett 1 goal 2 behinds 12 kicks 7 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 84 dream team points Jayden Hunt 14 kicks 5 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 59 dream team points Dion Johnstone 1 behind 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 1 marks 3 tackles 28 dream team points Declan Keilty 3 kicks 4 handballs 7 disposals 1 tackle 19 dream team points Jay Kennedy Harris 1 goals 4 kicks 11 handballs 15 disposals 1 marks 3 tackles 52 dream team points Jay Lockhart 14 kicks 2 handballs 16 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 65 dream team points James Munro 7 kicks 11 handballs 18 disposals 1 marks 6 tackles 65 dream team points Cameron Pedersen 1 goal 1 behind 6 kicks 12 handballs 18 disposals 9 marks 8 tackles 10 hit outs 120 dream team points Harrison Petty 7 kicks 4 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 49 dream team points Angus Scott 2 goals 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 62 dream team points Joel Smith 1 behind 11 kicks 11 handballs 22 disposals 9 marks 5 tackles 103 dream team points Timothy Smith 3 goals 3 behinds 14 kicks 6 handballs 20 disposals 10 marks 7 tackles 134 dream team points Billy Stretch 20 kicks 13 handballs 33 disposals 5 marks 7 tackles 130 dream team points Jack Viney 1 behind 8 kicks 13 handballs 21 disposals 2 marks 1 tackles 74 dream team points Corey Wagner 1 goal 13 kicks 6 handballs 19 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 74 dream team points Josh Wagner 13 kicks 6 handballs 19 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 83 dream team points Mitchell White 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 13 tackles 94 dream team points

I’m surprised Charlie’s been sent to the tribunal. I suspect that $1k will jump out of his pocket after tomorrow’s hearing. Ed looks in a bit more trouble.

My wish for today is that the boys at Casey get through the day and that Jack comes up cherry ripe for selection against the Blues. A win against the Hawks would be an added and welcome bonus.

I used to go to some of Parkside’s home games because my parents had a business nearby. The local fans were tougher than some of the players and I remember seeing opposition fans being chased at the end of games by thugs with axe handles. That area’s changed and has become gentrified so I can imagine fans being greeted with tea and hot scones with jam at half time these days.

A glaring omission in light of the fact that young Tiernan Stynes made the South Metro Junior Football League Under 13 Boys Interleague squad this year. Definitely worth keeping an eye out for him in years to come.

As the wild and woolly weather persists in Victoria, the Demons should benefit from playing in Brisbane where the sun shines most of the time and pleasant conditions are expected. Go Demons!

Filipovic’s R & R break must be over. Good to see Harley Balic close to a return.

Really, it’s time for the team to show something of what was expected of it after last year’s heartbreak.