The Great Pretender

6 Hore 5 Hanks 4 Purcell 3 Lampard 2 Pearce 1 Heath

A mate of mine who today is a very jubilant North fan is going to Casey today but isn’t confident. Tells me that by his reckoning, the Kangaroos have only 7 AFL listed players and Casey should win easily. I’m not so sure.

If Ben Brown’s injury woes continue I think the club definitely needs to have a conversation with him regarding retirement from the AFL. He could play next year with the Casey team or take on a coaching role. After all, aren’t we being constantly told that we need a forward coach who has played in the role, rather than a ruckman presiding over the forwards.

Christian Petracca said on AFL360 that he didn’t think his last shot at goal against Carlton was touched and Toby Greene agreed with him. Interestingly, the vision shows Weitering arriving at the scene late and slapping the goalpost. I’m not sure if this was raised previously but I bring it up because there was an element of post slapping in the case of Keays’ disallowed goal for Adelaide, the sound of which is said to be a possible reason why the goal umpire might have believed the ball hit the post. Anyway, both incidents are now water under the bridge.

6. Jake Melksham 5. Jake Lever 4. Jack Viney 3. Trent Rivers 2. Angus Brayshaw 1. Christian Petracca

Clarkson sure to go with youth.

Anyone have an idea when the teams are announced?

Why didn’t Gold Coast play like this against Fremantle?

James Harmes was the sub last night but only came on in the last quarter and had 16% time on ground. Given the minimal time on the ground, is he eligible to play today?

Chris Cavanagh in HERALD SUN Online - “He played the first half entirely as an onballer, attending every centre bounce for which he was on the field. However, close checking from Bulldogs opponents limited his ball-winning ability as he went into the main break with just five disposals to his name.“ Moved around in the second half. Spent some time forward and then half back in the last when he did a couple of nice things. It seems that playing of half back is where the good young players get their start these days.

Match of the round next week has to be Freo v Hawks. The outcome will answer all the questions that we’re asking on this topic.

A big win tonight and a Collingwood loss tomorrow could see us on top of the ladder. Question is whether we want to be there at this early stage of the season?

Melbourne has selected a squad of 26 for the Eagles game. Will all players travel to Perth or will a couple stay/return to Melbourne to play for Casey on Sunday?

The graphic is for the VFLW and not the VFL.

The Sydney vs Hawthorn game is reminiscent of Melbourne’s dark days. There’s a world of pain facing the Hawks over the next five years.

That’s just a hop, skip and a jump away from Mansfield where our boy Oliver Sestan celebrated some big goalkicking feats last year. I’m expecting a big session from him.

Wish I could make it - look forward to reports on the young kids and how they’re traveling.

Not convinced he’d get as good a run at Casey than he did with the Suns. He showed some promise at Gold Coast but my info is that it wasn’t enough to earn a call up from out of their VFL team for last four games.

On what planet would a club like North Melbourne which finished last and got extra concessions not be better placed to claim a win in this non existent competition?

Beware. Sometimes, the media and so-called experts overhype players. This seems to be the trend this year with a number of South Aussies like Keeler, Lemmey, Munkara, Scully and this bloke.

It seems that a number of draft experts are suggesting that we’ll go for Jefferson with our first selection but if he’s such a speculative key forward selection, then perhaps there are others who we could go for with our second selection who might turn out just as good in the end.

There has to be something in the Harry Lemmey story that we don’t know about. Touted as a top five pick before the season started and now outside everyone’s top 40.

Definitely on what he showed early in the season. If he’s still available for selecting at #37 he would present value based on that form alone.

I think the big fix is in for two players in this draft. Elijah Hewitt - originally though of as a likely selection in the top half dozen and now sliding on everyone’s lists. Why is this? Has he been a naughty boy? Is he considered to be a flight risk? He’s played well at senior WAFL level and impressed playing for WA at National Carnival level - if he’s there at #14 (where our first pick is likely to be) do we pick him? Anthony Munkara - impressed early this season and suddenly withdrew from sight to deal with “personal issues”. He’s an Essendon NGA and represented the AFL Academy v Collingwood VFL. If he’s still there at #37, I say we grab him.

Finn finished with 17 touches for the night. Not a bad effort in a team that was completely crushed but I agree, it’s not likely on that performance that he would be picked up in the top 40 in this draft where there are a number of medium/small players available for selection.