Deeoldfart

My heart says Dees 100%. My head says 50 / 50. I'm attributing 50% of the latter scenario to chronic MFCSS, so Dees 100%.

Now that we are clearly out of finals contention, it's a good opportunity to have a decent look at a few players who have been consistently amongst the 'bests' for Casey for a while, but may or may not be in our jumper in 2017. The ball is now in their court to prove their worth.

I get the impression from this snippet from Roosy, that Chris Dawes won't be on the plane to Darwin: Media conference: Roos on Dawes

Assuming that there are no perceived 'weak links' I reckon it will be important to keep most, if not all, of the current coaching team together for Goody's first year in the senior gig. Goody will obviously bring his stuff to the table, and that should be filtered throughout the panel, but a strong sense of stability will also be important if the transition is to be seamless.

6. Watts - worked his azz off playing both forward and back, and giving Max an occasional chop out in the ruck, and was a significant contributor in all roles. Surely one of our most consistent players in 2016. 5. Jetta - back to the Nev we have come to value so much, after a couple of lean weeks. The perfect role player, and unlike some others, his disposal and choice of option under pressure were excellent. 4. Hunt - electrifying, courageous and desperate, and really starting to find his feet at this level. Not a high posession getter, but some of his efforts yesterday do not show up on the stats sheets. 3. T. Mac - one of his best games for the year imo. Played on one of the best KPF's in the business and curbed his influence to a fair degree. Took some telling defensive marks which undoubtedly helped contain the final defecit. I love that his first instinct is to take the attacking option, but ........ 2. N. Jones - a high posession game but didn't make the most of them. To be fair, most of his possies were under pressure in the guts, where he was battered from pillar to post, but his ordinary disposal did take some of the gloss off what could have been a stellar game. 1. Garlett - adds an important dimension to our forward set-up and it was great to have him back and in form. Was always a threat to kick a goal and his defensive pressure was solid.

Completely agree. His awareness of who is around him, and his ability to hit them with a quickfire, handball or tap from conjestion is sensational. One of the key reasons he's a 'standout' is that he's not your more typical, one dimensional KPF. Further, he is double or triple teamed every time the ball goes near him in the forward half, and while that prevails, he can't be expected to kick too many large bags. I can't wait until he's only one of two genuine quality KPF's in our attack. Hope we don't have to wait too long!

My eyes seriously welled up when I saw the photo of Jack ....... but the reality is that if we want to become a ruthless and hard-edged footy team, we will have to use that same ruthless hard-edge at selection. It's a tough, tough business.

Max King named in both the senior and Development squads. Probably as much a statement about the high quality of our developing talls as it is about Max's progress, I guess.

Great story of opportunity, persistence and hard work. Nev has become our most reliable defender, and l'm thrilled for him and his family, the footy club and all of us supporters who have grown to love him.

38,831

Yep, and the departure of Frawley fairly early in Roos' tenure left a hole for a kpd that will take time to fill to that level of competence and experience.

Good thread! Player development is another critical element which will determine how far we can progress with the current list, and I think most of us agree that the signs are very positive on this front. We have already seen the likes of Gawn, Viney, Watts and Jetta come on in leaps and bounds under the current program. If this scale and speed of development / improvement can be replicated by our talented youngsters (Salem, Brayshaw, Oliver, Petracca, Hogan and probably Hunt), then we will quickly have a bona fide 'finals ready' list, assuming we can retain all or most of them. Add a few untried but talented kids with (apparently) high ceilings, who are currently being 'developed' at Casey (Weideman, Hulett and maybe White) and we will have a list which could take us deep into September in the not too distant future. Of course there are lots of 'ifs' and 'buts' about this scenario, but imo, if we continue to teach and develop our current core list, while bolstering the known deficiencies discussed elsewhere on Demonland, we'll find ourselves in a very good place in 2 or 3 years. I'm loving the ride right now, and have high expectations!

Good stuff Demonland and Demonlanders. The standings for the top half dozen, and the margins, are spot on. Gee we are good!

Excellent summary Ernest ............ fools and buffoons all 3 of them.

Nice: Brayshaw shines in Casey comeback

It's impossible to be satisfied with a loss in any circumstances, but going into the game I was hoping for a four quarter contest, and probably expecting a small loss (as per the recent Hawthorn game). Sadly, we did not deliver on that expectation, and let them play like millionaires in an embarrassing last quarter. We were out bodied and outplayed by a more experienced team for much of the day, but there are absolutely no excuses for the late capitulation. Too many passengers on the day, but some positives from a few of our youngsters, particularly Hunt, Frost and Wagner.

6. Vince 5. Hunt 4. Watts 3. Gawn 2. Jones 1. Petracca

Very good article about a kld who is still finding his feet in the man's world of AFL football. The mind boggles at the heights he could reach in the next few years. A bloody ripper, that's for sure. So happy that he wears red and blue when he seemed destined to be a Saint.

I'm remarkably relaxed this morning, which is most unusual on game day, and even more so with so much riding on the result for us. I don't quite know how to interpret this new gameday feeling, but I'm putting a positive spin on it, and assuming it's a good omen. Illogical I know, but Dees by 9 points in a low scoring affair.

29 disposals, named in the best, a couple of goals and presumably on reduced game time after a long lay off. Seems like a pretty fair effort from Gus.

'Strange' would not be my choice of words.

Based on a couple of reports from training this morning, Training - Friday 17th June, 2016, it seems like 'no change' to me, with Michie the travelling emergency.

Might be a good ploy at the SCG next weekend Ralphy.

6. Gawn 5. Vince 4. Kent 3. T. Mac 2. Jones 1. Tyson

I remember a Herald Sun headline after a QB clash many, many years ago. Melbourne had defeated the 'colliwobbles' (as they were known back then) and the header the next day read "From Magpies to Feather Dusters". I'd like to see that header repeated tomorrow please.