demoniac

Had surgery on both shoulders, and much like Tommy Mac after his surgery on both ankles, looks like he needed to extend his preseason into regular season to rebuild his fitness base. Clarrie has no power or explosion. Tommy Mac is an endurance beast but looked like he was running on quicksand in JLT1 and as of Round 5 still looks limited.

I'd like to see some spread.

B Lockhart Frost Hore HB Jordan Tommy Mac Salem C Stretch Oliver Harmes HF Petracca Weidemann Melksham F Garlett Preuss Hunt Fol Gawn Brayshaw Viney Ic Fritsch Chandler Spargo C Wagner

Lewis a good matchup for Caddy or Baker? If Lewis is not picked in centre square then he has no role. He is not a lockdown defender and he provides no speed or run and carry. Against the Saints he was a time matched up on speedy Long and Parker who ran past Lewis with ball in hand like Lewis was a witches hat. Jones is not suited to Ellis or other Tigers who will rotate through wing. Like Lewis he is a one paced inside mid and lacks the attributes and instinct of a wingman. Ellis will run away from him.

I just don't see a role for Jordan Lewis in 2019. Just too slow to match up against most half forwards and provides little run and carry off half back. My fear is that the Saints will easily outrun us. Goody loves his inside mids and utilities. Always on about winning the contest. I'd love it if he watched the better teams of 2019 and saw their equal focus on run and carry/speed. We have too many players who choose to go into a contest when its their role to either close down an opponent in position to receive from contest or be that option for us.

I had it in my head that game was at Docklands so lucky I stopped by. Saints are running and carrying more consistently than we are. Selection will be interesting.

Both Frost and Oscar have had enough time in the system to know the basics of positioning. Presume they've been told this week in no uncertain terms that its nothing fancy and play on corridor back shoulder.

Ironically the problem is that Jonesy does not stay put on the wing! Issues 1 - Players who had limited preseasons after surgery/turned up overweight were set to play Rnd 1 when they should have missed JLT to complete their preseason loading then built match conditioning at Casey. Once you start playing games weekday training loads are reduced so its harder to increase your fitness base. 2 - Key players injured ie Lever, May, Hannan vandenBerg, Smith. Even Stretch/JKH injury have impacted as they are our 2 players most suited to the wing role. 3 - Goody's stubborness. Goody is always talking about dominating at the contest. Don't often hear him talking about spread/running. Played Tyson on the wing last year and has used Jones and Viney in that role this year. Goody fairly urgently needs to start giving an equal focus to spread/running in our game plan and team selection. How often do we outnumber opposition at the contest only for them to release to a team mate - lets call him, um, Heppell - holding their position in space off the contest? Respect the run Goody! 4 - Very short list of players in form and playing 4 consistent quarters. Some positives.. We need more small nimble types and running players. Lockhart has impressed in the ones, Chandler looked assured and clean v Box Hill - outplayed his draft profiles, Bedford and Jordan too seemed comfortable at VFL Senior Level. Spargo had a poor start to season but is still a second year player and we've seen what his best is. May and Lever are a vast improvement on Oscar Mac and Frost. Petty reads play beautfully, is still developing game and body, had poor game against Box Hill, admittedly on tough day to be a Casey defender. Hannan and Smith will give a better balance to our 22.

Fairly obvious Tommy Mac is not fit. Obvious in JLT 1 that he was not ready to play a game. Had both ankles done in off season and should not have been targetted at JLT series. Needed more weeks in preseason mode to build fitness base. Viney and Oliver, probably Jones in same boat. May too.

You can't hide Jones or Lewis at half back. Both are slow and not natural aerialists. Look at the teams in the 8 and their ballistic running off half back. Can you see Jones or Lewis running the lines? Can you see either matching up on a marking 3rd forward? If the answer is no there is no role for them down back.

His positioning and decision making when played as a winger is horrendous. Too often he moves towards the contest leaving his opponent in space. In consecutive weeks that has led to that opponent receiving the ball and setting up a goal. He repeatedly slaughters inside 50s. Also obvious he doesnt have pace to run a way or catch opposing wingers. We simply can't play him on the wing. Can he play anywhere else? I doubt it. Not all inside mids can find a role outside the centre square in the final years of their playing career. This is a real test for Goody. Jones may not have talent comparable to greats of this club but his resilience and consistency through the decade of debacle see him sit easily in their company. But Goody must pick the best 22 for the Round 4.

Just too slow. Provides no run or rebound off half back.

Outs Tom McDonald - had both ankles operated on in offseason. Looked like he was running on quicksand in JLT1 . Pre season should have extended into season. Should never have been targetted for Round 1. Alex Neal-Bullen - out of form and offering little. Nathan Jones - out of form - terrible disposal and positioning in wingman role. Ins Braden Preuss - Gawn to play as Forward/Ruck. Kade Chandler - Kicked 2 goals, clean hands, good disposal and won his own ball. Also looks like Craig Smoker. Billy Stretch/Maynard - Stretch if fit, impressed on limited minutes for Casey. Maynard was also impressive for Casey. Others Hore - Can he replace Oscar Mac or will that leave us too short in defence. Might be worth the gamble. Jordan - Looks like a running half back flanker with potential. Bedford - Another small. Solid for Casey.

I'm still happy with the trade but.... My expectation is that when the club does a trade deal for a player they know when they do the deal what shape he is in and whether that meets our standards. His work on his diet and running capacity should have started the moment the deal was done. But that did not happen so when he turns up to start of pre season and its obvious he is overweight and his running capacity is lower than our expectations he just gets told that his pre season will be extended into the regular season to give him time to get his skinfolds down and his running capacity up without overloading to lessen chance of injury. Instead he was set for Round 1, worked hard to get fit and was then struck down by successive hamstring and groin injuries.

Hibberd was great in 2017. Good in 2018. So far he's been average this year. He's been Frostified - gets the ball, goes for a run then turns it over. Needs to improve. His game might be impacted by our lack of players who can run the lines with him.

Same question as for Lewis. How many opposing small forwards could he keep up with? I'm all for members crowdfunding a statue to honour his loyalty and extraordinary resilience through a sustained period of on and off field mediocrity but he is in terrible form and the team would be improved if he was dropped. Reality is that he is a centre square player, if match committee does pick him to play that role there is no role for him in the 22. Certainly not a winger. and I doubt he'd be a success as a defensive forward pocket.

Goody will probably bring in some more inside mids to play on the wing!

sometime headband wearer.

184cm 77kg utility, can play across half back, wing or through centre square

d Not yet tweeted by Dees!

The NFL goes over 3 days so be thankful they've only expanded to 2 days! My speculative view is that that their idea was 2 prime time slots but Fox did not want 2nd night up against Fox Cricket 20/20 so its Friday at midday which means productivity will crash. Also gives clubs time to refocus given picks trades add complexity.

Bring back woolen jumpers with collars!

Its 3 years with a trigger. Get out for Hawks is that if the ankle does not come good and struggles he can retire a la Dane Swan and get a settlement of most of the following year of his contract which is not include in the salary cap.

My money is on Neale being a Lion, Hogan a Docker and May/Kolo a Demon by 8:30pm Wednesday night.

Have to package to a club in need of points for matching bids on academy/fatherson picks. 23 = 815 points 30 = 629 points 36 = 502 points Total 1976 points which is enough points to match a bid at 5 (without factoring in discounts)