Vipercrunch

Today is why I hate Monday night games. They take so to come around and right now it feels like I've been stewing on the insipid performance against Essendon for an eternity. All we want to know is will our hope pendulum swing back to "we're still a serious contender" or will it slip further into "we're making up the numbers and there's something seriously wrong". 7:25 can't come soon enough.

Very poor all round. I hope all the seniors play well with no injuries because so far no one is putting their hand up for promotion.

Bright start but the second part of that quarter was quite poor actually. Not super high pressure, but they just looked to be cruising and going through the motions.

All VFL and VFLW games are streamed on the AFL website and app. Should be link on homepage if the game is live, if not find the VFL in the menu.

Nice ball movement by foot this time leading to a goal by Valentine.

Woey definitely willing to take on tackles. Got done HTB once, but then later got the assist for the first goal.

First goal to Casey by Edwards after aggressive movement by hands from the wing including BBB, TMac and Woey.

Any other of the emergencies? Laurie, Schache or Disco Turner?

LJ played in our first premiership for 57 years, and many think he played a very important part in securing it during that third quarter. That’s a very significant difference between LJ and Hogan. For some the “I’ll never boo a premiership player” will be enough. I’ve always thought how well we did in the trade would be very decisive for some potential boo-ers . Looking ok right now, but in the end you’re probably right. All clubs have nuffies that will boo, some for the pantomime, some because they’re jerks.

I thought Baker was only boo’d sarcastically because the Dogs supporters had already boo’d Hunter several times, and at least where I was sitting, there was as much laughter at the pantomime as there was booing. Time will tell re: Jackson and boos.

That is nonsense. A 20 year old player and his manager aren’t responsible for the decisions of a multi million dollar, “professional” sporting organisation.

Did you expect him to cross out the $900k they put on the contract and put in $450k? He took what they offered him. No one forced them to do it.

All of that is Freo’s fault, not his. They enticed him home by making the offer and managed their list horribly. All he did is sign the contract they put in front of him.

I’ve just started watching. Are the cheers for LJ when he gets it genuine support or Bronx cheers?

Are you sure you no longer want to call him McVeigh?

The umpire shouldn’t have let Draper nominate for the ruck when he was so far away. By the time he had reached the contest, he was at full pace and TMac was a sitting duck. Very ordinary moment.

I think the recent delay of May's return hinted there was much more to it than just the player declaring they are fit. He wanted to play (basically declareing himself fit to play) but because he hadn't reached certain measurable levels or strength and speed, he was ruled out. I expect with Gawn, his return will depend on him proving certain levels of strength, flexibility and stability in his knee joint, as well as possibly having it rescanned and then after that completing a certain amount of full training sessions. As for as Hibberd, Lever and Brown, weren't they all injured during those games you mentioned and then all missed following games?

Great question. When discussing possible sanctions for Merrett in the media, delayed onset concussion was mentioned , but it wasn't made clear if that was true or just speculation.

The club, with all the information they were privvy to, made judgement calls that the sore and struggling players they selected were better options late in the season than the possibly fully fit players from Casey. It takes extraordinary arrogance to conclude those judgement calls were 100% incorrect.

Playing someone who is sore is very different to playing someone early who is at significant risk of doing further damage to an already existing injury, which is what this discussion re Gawn is about.

I don’t read everything that comes out of the club, so I obviously missed where the club admitted that. Or are you confusing an actual fact with a Demonland “fact”.

So if Gawn plays the next two weeks, you will interpret that as proof the club is panicking?

The kid thing is interesting. To me he is a kid, with all the naivety and lack of maturity and experience that goes along with that. To my son (20) and many around his age, he is a spoiled brat who has been given an opportunity that so many kids that age would die for, yet he ran home to mummy.

If a team is playing an opposition only once in the season, playing that game at a neutral venue is the most fair way to do it isn’t it?

I often think the stories about certain players that get on the MFC socials are there by design to prepare supporters for likely changes, debuts etc etc.