CHF

Was interesting to hear Goodwin say that Tim Smith played a bit in the middle during his last outing for Casey and that he showed a bit. From my post on this thread on Tuesday; "Having said that, I would like to see what Tim Smith can bring to the side and I think that Etihad might just be the place to show what he has. let him lead all day out of the goal square with Watts and Wied roaming wide and far. maybe even use him the way they have Hogan and stick him in at a couple of center bounces" Had to put it up, I am not right often, just ask my partner.

For me it is a sign of the times and a reflection on the development of our list over the last few seasons that I can accept the suspension of our key forward and a senior more than capable mid fielder and still believe we can win this game against Geelong. There are very good replacements ready and willing and a coaching team to work through the best way to play it on Saturday. We will give it a good run this week. Dees by 15pts

Fair enough but I think having both Hannan and Smith in the forward 50 would be over egging the cake...

The Thompson one was not off the ball. if they are consistent with off the ball incidents i have no problem with it.

MRP did what they had to do except for the Thompson incident. Early in the season, head contact, behind the play....... setting standards so all players know what to expect. just unfortunate that it was two of our players that had to front up. Thought the penalties were a week too long but if they are consistent with this throughout the season i have no problem with it. Thompson should have got 3 weeks.

As most have said I would select Vince to replace Lewis. The Hogan replacement is a bit more of a problem and it will depend on how the match committee look at playing the game. Do we go with Pedersen or a Spencer type to ensure that we have a bigger body available in the forwards to take a defender and make sure we are not overpowered at the pointy end or do we look for a medium/small replacement that can add to the smaller faster types? I can see pros and cons for both arguments. Glad that I do not have to make the decision. Having said that, I would like to see what Tim Smith can bring to the side and I think that Etihad might just be the place to show what he has. let him lead all day out of the goal square with Watts and Wied roaming wide and far. maybe even use him the way they have Hogan and stick him in at a couple of center bounces. I like Kent in the team but with Garlett, ANB, Petracca etc already rotating in and out of half forward I do not see who we can take out to get him in the side. Maybe the question is; "Who would have made way for Bernie's return?" Harmes was a good contributor, ANB put his hand up in the last quarter, Brayshaw? Hmmm not for me, I think he needs the run to help him find his feet in the heat of the game. My team for the Cats: B: Jayden Hunt, Oscar McDonald, Jake Melksham HB: Neville Jetta, Tom McDonald, Bernie Vince C: Christian Salem, Clayton Oliver, Billy Stretch HF: Nathan Jones, Jack Watts, Christian Petracca F: Tim Smith, Sam Wiedeman, Jeff Garlett FOLL: Max Gawn, Jack Viney, Dom Tyson I/C: Dean Kent, James Harmes, Alex Neal-Bullen, Angus Brayshaw EMG: Ben Kennedy, Tomas Bugg, Jake Spencer

With Vince and Smith out and it being a Sunday game we will name 4 additional players in the squad out tomorrow. Tyson, Kent, Harmes and...... Trengove?

Two things for me stood out after quarter time. Firstly, the transition from defence into attack and the other way from attack into defence. I know it is called "run and spread" but we seem to have finally grasped that it requires trust in your teammates to do their job so that the structures remain in place to be effective. We are doing it well and more importantly, doing it fast. the right players are committing to the contest and the others are in place to provide support for any outcome. Secondly, it looks to me that while we are looking to use the corridor as much as possible we are using a very broad corridor. That may sound strange but we look to be using the lanes inside the wings as part of the corridor and that is allowing a lot of space and running room through the middle when we are on a quick transition.

Agree. The pick up by Oliver, link to Jones by Petracca and then the finish by Wied was the highlight passage of play for me.

This kid has great vision and wonderful hands. He has the ability to drop the ball into a passing runner's hands in just the right way. Looking forward to watching him for many seasons.

Tyson in for Bernie and maybe Wagner in for Smith if he is ready.

My opinion - fair call for the week off for Bernie. Silly act and not the first time he has done something like this. Make sure he knows that he will have to work to get his place back in the team.

R1 team is still far from settled with some of the ideas that were trailed in the pre-season asking more questions that settling on answers. I expect that after Casey's trail this weekend there will be a little more clarity in some areas. We have depth that we have not had for years and we have the flexibility and versatility to cover injuries and form dips. We just need to trust our match committee to get it right to play the grounds and get the match up to the opposition teams. With St Kilda at Whatever it is called these days I hope that there has been a lot of time invested in watching how the successful teams play the ground. Not just accepting the general perceptions but some real good in depth study. If we have that intelligence as a basis along with knowledge of the St K players we can look at selecting a team to play on our terms and not theirs. As with every other game we will play this season, It begins and ends in the midfield. If we can run packs in both defence and attack we need to be relentless with our pressure, make sure our tackles stick and minimise turnovers. My Team for R1 Backs: Jetta, OMac, Garland Half Back: Hunt, TMac, Melksham Center: Salem, Oliver, Lewis Half Forward: Brayshaw, Hogan, Petracca Forward: Garlett, Pedersen, Watts Fol: Gawn, Viney, Jones Int: Tyson, Stretch, Vince, ANB EMR: Spencer, Weid, Harmes Jetta, OMac, TMac and Garland form the 'diamond' with both Pedersen and Watts able to go back there as cover if required. For me the defence is the most vulnerable zone we have on the team and we are going to need the midfielders to step up back there and be accountable. I have named Hunt and Melksham as HBFs but would expect them to spend time up the ground and for Lewis, Vince and Jones to move back into that zone at times. In the midfield I would be looking to have as many options as possible at Etihad against St K. Salem, Oliver, Lewis, Viney, Jones with a 4 man running interchange of Stretch, Tyson, Vince and ANB and rotations of Hunt, Melksham, Brayshaw, Petracca and Garlett moving in there at times. I like the way Hogan has been used at center bounces during the pre-season and would like to see Watts standing there at times as well. just a it of a cure ball to throw at St Kilda. Forward line with Pedersen taking a tall defender instead of Wied. watched Wied during the JLT and, while he has developed, I just do not see him able to do much damage at this stage. If Pedersen performs in the Casey game I would have him there and get him to relieve Gawn as required. Watts and Hogan to run all day and use the ground as much as possible, Garlett shows form in the Casey game and he is in R1 for me. Gawn to take the majority of the ruck work and to work around the ground as we have seen him do. drift forward or back as required. I am continually surprised by the way he ha the nack of being in the right place at the right time. Basic instructions: Pressure in all facets of the game all over the ground. Play smart and trust your teammate to do what is required. Be prepared to help when required. Be accountable but play ahead of the game.

Skuit, I take a slightly different view on the midfield. During the season the 'run through' midfield players will be playing as a slot in to a more stable group that act as our core players in the middle and therefore I would like to see that replicated as much as possible in these games. Identify a slightly more expended core group and have that as the stable part of the midfield during these games and then look to run the other alongside those players so they get that experience of playing within that core group. During last weeks game i found it interesting to watch who lined up for us at the center bounce. At one stage we had Viney, Oliver and JK-H. Jones and Vince were hardly ever in there but had a presence across HBF.

This is a good move as I think he has the ability to develop into a very, very handy player. It will take time though. Would not expect him to be nearing his best until 4/5 years down the track.

Looks like minimal changes for this game which surprises me as I would have thought we would use this series of games to have a good look at as many of the players as possible.

Personally I have no problems with the way this has been handled by the club. I do not think I need to know the circumstances surrounding the situation. From what has been said, Jack's performance has not been up to scratch and he is not going to be selected until it is. End of story. How he responds and the outcome will be interesting.

Agree. The Tommy Hafey look is just not right.

Dee Spencer, I am also a fan of Garlett and while I like his work around goals i think he adds a bit when he has his short runs in the middle.

Dogs at The Kennel.... hmmm would that be the Near Kennel or the Far........

As with a number of positions in the round 1 team, I think a lot will depend on form of JKH and Jeffy during the JLT series. You perform and carry out your role properly and you will get a good chance of being named first up. Just the way it should be. Developed good depth in a number of positions on the list and in a good position injury wise at this stage of the pre-season.

I will be waking up early over here and watching over breakfast. Be good to have some footy back.

I like the way or game has been progressing in the last couple of seasons but I would like to see us running as a group with the ball more often. Supporting the player with the ball with multiple options so we can run the ball through the center and give the forwards a chance to structure their leads. Even in defence, Hunt as a pack. Hit the ball carrier and support the tackler by covering any potential receivers.

I am not overly worried about the result but I am looking forward to seeing some competitive footy and having the chance to get a look at some of the individual performances from the younger players. Will be looking to see how Oliver gets up for his second season after a full pre-season. Petracca, Brayshaw and The Wied are the others i will be watching closely.

I would go along with that as long as the conferences were decided upon on the table positions at the end of the previous season. If we only had 16 teams it would be simple. Two conferences of 8 teams. They play each other twice and the teams from the other conference once for a total of 22 games. 18 teams on that basis makes for 25 games. too many for the Player's association.