Go the Biff

I think you've earned the position @binman. I was also a fan of Spud, particularly his work in the back pocket where his marking saved us many a goal. Reckon it was Bobby Skilton who said Spud could have been a terrific CHF if he's only got off his arze and put in a bit at training. An old workmate of mine used to play in the DVFL and would occasionally get called up to play for Preston in the VFA. Big unit he was. Ruckman. One such occasion he played against Williamstown when Spud was ruckman in residence. I asked him on the Monday how he went and he described rucking against Spud as spending an afternoon hurling yourself at a brick wall.

Yes, you do have a rampant Omac confirmation bias but I think your observations are spot on. Also liked his repeat efforts

I'd be interested to read observations from regular Casey watchers. Especially with regard to any games he played forward. Did he display an aptitude for forward play at the lower level ? Did he get many opportunities ? Plenty are clamouring for him to play forward but I can only note two bits of supporting evidence. 1) Smith can jump. 2) He kicked four goals in a practice match against Brizzy. Others obviously consider that significant but personally I discount that game as being compelling evidence that Smith is a gun forward in waiting. A couple of the goals were decent - one he slotted on the run from 50 plus and another was a good snap having sharked the ball off a marking contest. In the last quarter he was the beneficiary of one of the dumbest free kicks you'll ever see (thanks Mitch Robinson) and his final goal pretty much fell into his lap while on his own at the top of the square, his opponent apparently having nicked off to get a pie & a drink. The point being that none of them came from Smith displaying any "tall forward" tendencies. The gap between his best and his worst has been conspicuous and I think this is why he's out of the side. He has actually defended quite well for the most part but when he gets it wrong it's a train wreck Someone previously mentioned the Jeremy Howe role (apologies for not quoting). I like this idea as he has the physical traits to play this role, is a safe if not brilliant kick and he can run like the clappers. The additional benefit is that his mistakes are less likely to result in a shot at goal. Whether the has the footy nous is another question. Hawthorn mucked around with James Sicily for years before settling him in this position where he's gone on to be an accomplished player. In an ideal world Smith could be preparing for this role & honing his skills at Casey. It's really unfortunate for him that now that he's finally got his body up & going, his opportunities to develop have been severely restricted

I used to have a theory that if Neita slotted his first shot at goal, he was in for a good game I've a similar theory with Omac. If he takes an overhead mark early, he's in for a good game. The more he catches the pill the better because he does use it well.

Dogs v Caaaaarlton is quite entertaining so far

That was a decent report. He still looks like the work experience kid though

Quoting myself, or cutting & pasting myself from the Teams thread which is probably poor form (how do you quote from another thread ?). Anyway..... With regard to Viney, something Ross Lyon said in the past week or so resonates. "Play what's in front of you" It's simple advice but it would make Viney more effective. If he emerges from a contest and has his back to goal he should be looking to dish of to a runner heading towards goal. No point trying to swing around - he's hopelessly one sided (like a lot of left footers) so everyone knows where he's gonna go if he keeps possession. Give off the ball. Attack the chaser if there is one. Shepherd. This approach would capitalise on his strengths and mitigate some of his weaknesses. It's also been noted that he's been slipping over - a lot. Something else I hate. But I'm wondering if whether Viney has a limited choice of footwear due to his history of foot injuries. Either way, Jack - play what's in front of you

You have a cunning plan ?

With regard to Viney, something Ross Lyon said in the past week or so resonates. "Play what's in front of you" It's simple advice but it would make Viney more effective. If he emerges from a contest and has his back to goal he should be looking to dish of to a runner heading towards goal. No point trying to swing around - he's hopelessly one sided (like a lot of left footers) so everyone knows where he's gonna go if he keeps possession. Give off the ball. Attack the chaser if there is one. Shepherd. This approach would capitalise on his strengths and mitigate some of his weaknesses. It's also been noted that he's been slipping over - a lot. Something else I hate. But I'm wondering if whether Viney has a limited choice of footwear due to his history of foot injuries. Either way, Jack - play what's in front of you

No question he went half hearted a couple of times but the fondly remembered Pedo did a lot worse & managed to redeem himself. So I'm kinda happy he's receiving a message but not thrilled he's dumped. Wing play has changed from the days of Stanley Alves, Robbie, Stinger & Matty Febey. Brisbane's Mitch Robinson wrote an excellent article on the subject and the stuff you do without the ball is nearly as important as what you do with it. Admittedly we're all limited because we can only see what the TV screen displays but I think Tomlinson has improved us structurally and is being underutilised, especially on kick-ins. Was disappointed that he was moved from the wing last weekend to ruck & play forward. At the same time I was heartened thinking that Goodwin had finally conceded that his one-tall forward structure doesn't bloody work. His defensive positioning and work rate was been really good. We can all recall how often we've been scored against by a switch to the fat side followed by a kick over the back of our defence in recent years. I'm of the view that the positioning & work rate of both Tomlinson & Langdon has reduced that pressure on our backline. He's also been burnt several times by May on kick-ins. He's made good position to May's right but Steven appears to have eyes only for the long kick to his left to Max (usually outnumbered), or a cheap dump off to Salem in the pocket. Finally, that exhilarating bit of play against Carlton where Rivers streamed through the middle & hit the leading Hunt lace out for a goal. Doesn't happen last year. Any our makeshift 2019 wingers would have been sucked towards the contest. Tomlinson had the discipline & awareness to hold his position & be the outlet which put Rivers into space. He's no Stanley Alves, Robbie, Stinger or Matty Febey. Nor a Brad Hill or Isaac Smith. But I think he's the second best winger we've got. Hope he learns his lesson & fights back into the side.

Excellent observations

I don't see anything in Smith that would make a forward aside from the fact that he can jump. I know he kicked four in a low pressure pre season game but a couple of them he got standing on one leg alone in the goal square. Baffles me why people think he's a solution up forward. Nev I'm not sure about. Despite what some track watchers tell us, I reckon he was playing hurt last year. For about five years he'd been one of the best one on one players in the comp. Last year he was getting beaten in one on ones by players who previously weren't fit to tie his bootlaces. So if he's back to pre-2019 Nev, get him in. But if he's still lacking the zip & power he displayed last year & the limited displays of 2020, I'd not be bringing him back. And as said, I'm convinced the FD have determined to settle this defensive lineup. So I don't see Nev or OMac getting a look-in just yet. On Jones, if he's still not fit I'd think (shudder) ANB would get a run for workrate & pressure on the young Suns defenders. Won't help our disposal issues though. Further with Jones, other posters have mentioned his habit of mindlessly bombing it in and they're right. However I reckon this occurs mainly when his bringing the ball out of centre clearances. Forward of centre I believe he's a bit more judicious with his "shot selection". Which is why I'd play him at half forward.

My wishlist for this week Out (all forwards) : AVB - want to see a sign of a bloke completely out of form ? Watch him overrun the ball four times. He's out of touch Hunt - like his uncle Andy Moir, Jayden will play one good game then disappear for weeks. His next good game isn't due for a while yet Melksham - effort was deplorable. His best is quality. Dropping him may make in realise he's not a walk-up start & needs to put in more In : Weideman - desperately need him for structure if nothing else. Also, even when he's not clunking marks, he's rarely outmarked Bennell - even with 50% game time offers more than my three omissions currently. Play him at half forward Jones - also primarily at half forward. While I still don't rate his field kicking, he is a scoring threat from anywhere around the 50. I've still got serious reservations about Smith as a footballer but I suspect the FD is wedded to this defensive mix. With Hibberd over the last two weeks showing that the "Hibberd role" doesn't need to be taken by anyone else just yet, I'd leave Rivers in, freeing up Harmes for a midfield role. I thought Pig was immense on Sunday.

If you wind it back a few seconds you'll also see that Viney should never have had the ball in his hands. Salem received a handball & chipped a kick to Viney (barely 15 metres). McDonald was already free & should have been hit up by Salem with what was a pretty easy kick of about 30 metres in no traffic. Poor vision or poor decision ? Or did he just feel pressure & dump it off to the nearest cheap option ?

Genuinely LoL'd. Reckon he'd have a decent arm too.

Don't agree with a lot of that Jaded. The back of the square thing was pretty much done 2/3's of the way through the season. We'd stopped doing it before finals, probably because opposition sides had adjusted to it. And it's my view that 666 did bugger all. It's impact is greatly overstated. It applies to centre bounces only which make up what ? Less than 5% game time ? Our gamestyle doesn't suit some of our players but with a few structural tweaks I believe we can improve significantly. First of which is getting rid of this "small forward" setup. It's been successful once - Richmond 2017 who fell into it by accident more than design. And they themselves knew it wasn't sustainable & moved heaven, earth & Collingwood to get Lynch from the Suns. If only we put the same effort, planning & thought into F50 zones & structures as we (& other teams) put into defensive zones

Love the Ox but this is just venting without a lot of substance or consideration. Wears his heart on his sleeve though & is a great Demon. Has anyone ever seen The Ox and Pickett Fence in the same room ?

Yeah ? I think he's aiming higher. Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw...and probably Trac

So much stupid in this. As well as over committing to his left side, Viney has brought the man on the mark into play by not getting back far enough. It reduces the angles & area he has to work with and means any kick over the MotM has to be a lob. One of my pet peeves this. Basic footy, basic error. Trac is one of our worst offenders at this but he has plenty of mates. In this case, 2 or 3 metres back & the kick to McDonald is easy, even for Jack More stupid. WTF is Hunt doing ? His lateral lead will bring him right in line with the MotM. How the hell is Viney supposed to get the ball to him ? If Hunt had worked a mere 10 metres further towards goal & dragged his defender with him he could have doubled back and led into the space they'd just vacated. This happens so often with our blokes - leading into a spot protected by the MotM - not just up forward either. Hunt is also about to block any space for those forwards on the goal line to lead into. Before I'm accused of being overly negative, a bit of credit to Langdon. He's pushed up where he can be used and can run on to be a scoring threat but not so far that he's in the way. We are world's best practice at flooding our own forward line so good to see him show some positional awareness. Max gets a tick as well as it appears he's focussed on blocking their ruckman to keep him out of our F50 and away from the path to McDonald. I can only assume TMac farted. Inexplicable elsewise as to how he found that much space in a dangerous F50 position. But Viney, by not getting the basics right, has made him inaccessible There's more (e.g. goal line blokes - WTF are they doing ?) but typing this out is just making me crankier because I see it every bloody week. It's one snapshot but it illustrates so much that we get wrong

We need to complete his transition into an inside mid who can't hit a target. Or an undersized KPF. Then his transformation will be complete

Agreed. I obviously have no idea what his instructions are but he needs to be on the move if playing FF. He is built like a coat hanger and will never be much bigger. Body on body against Blicavs he may as well have been running into a wall for all the impact he had. The "other" Kolo - who is a fair sized unit - absolutely rag-dolled Fritsch. So yeah, he needs separation. Even better, don't play him as a KPF.

That would appear logical but it seems they're wedded to this dumbarse forward structure for the short term at least.

I believe Fritsch could - and should be - a one for one replacement for Watts. His foot skills are comparable to Watts. He is clearly superior in the air to Watts. Neither of them are a key forward though and Fritsch is already developing bad habits (playing from behind) from being outsized. His two set shots today came from his opponent over committing which is not a great basis for creating scoring chances. We are gonna ruin the kid if we persist with him as a KPF. Kent & Hannan to me are much the same player. Both have good highlight reels but go missing for huge chunks in games. Kent wanted his three year deal & St Kilda gave it to him. Good on him but I think he'll finish his career having played many more games for us than them. Anyway, I doubt you'd want both of them in the same side so Kent going doesn't hurt us. I wonder how many games Weid & TMac have played together both as forwards. Don't think it's many so it's suprrising that the post-Hogan model hasn't been given a chance with any real continuity. Yeah we do miss Hoges. The one key forward is not gonna work. Soooo 2017. Even Richmond after winning a flag with it, realised it's not sustainable. Mind you, the way we set up, Lockett, Carey & Dunstall would struggle to get the pill. That's a rant for another day.

I think so. He did a lot for us structurally as well as being a scoring option.

Put her on the ground !