Freddy Fuschia

So no open training between now and team selection?

I’m fascinated by the passing parade of people who come and go through the doors of football clubs. They make great storytelling.

Don’t want to dig their grave but 18 clubs is enough for the foreseeable future. That said, I think the idea put forward that an existing AFL club be sacrificed is not going to work. There’s a lot of infrastructure invested at North Melbourne and the AFL continues to pump money into the club. To kill it off would be a tremendous waste of existing resources.

I don't think we can underestimate the loss of Salem on top of Bowey and Brayshaw. Howes and McVee have been playing well this year but they we under siege and we really need some experience to quell the influence of McCluggage, Bailey and Cameron.

Paris? Rome? 11:30am is a great time to follow a game of footy. Great preview!

Final Score: SANFL 10.5.65 defeated VFL 7.9.51. Best player medals - Fos Williams Medal for SANFL best Jez McLennan & Frank Johnson Medal for VFL best Callum Brown

So good to see Melbourne on top of the ladder even if it’s due to extra games played. On top of that Melbourne Storm are currently on top as well!

Strange that players from Southport etc are in the Victorian Football League team.

As an alternative, wouldn’t it be better if we could identify and target an Adelaide player who might suit us in a trade?

Not related to this particular game but Mykelti Lefau who played his second AFL game for Richmond today is still a Casey story. Lefau was a development player for Melbourne Storm before switching from NRL to play Australian rules football. He played for St Kilda City and famously kicked 25 goals in an under-19s match. He then moved to the Casey Demons where he showed some promise and played a few games in each of the 2017 and 2018 seasons but never progressed and moved on. He was quiet today but took his opportunities and kicked a couple of goals for Richmond. Great persistence from the 25 year old and a lesson for those who are quick to write off players too early.

Really happy with the game so far. The young MFC Demons have all stepped up to the plate and have given the club an outstanding base for the future. Some of the new VFL affiliated players going well also - now we just have to improve our kicking at goals.

According to Sportsbet, Brisbane are strongly favoured to win at home against the Magpies. Rain is stopping and fine weather is predicted.

I watched the Casey game last week and there was a glaring problem with the rucks where frankly, our current crop of ruckmen aren’t yet physically equipped to take on the really big men in some of the stronger VFL sides. A couple of years ago the Casey Demons brought back ruckman Jake Spencer out of State league retirement for a surprise appearance to cover for a shortage of big men as a result of injuries. I think that they need to find someone like him if they want to be competitive.

If you list Kozzy as being out suspended then you should list Joel Smith as well. He hasn’t been delisted, after all.

If the AFL still believes that the head is sacrosanct (and after the Maynard hit on Angus Brayshaw, I have my doubts) then they should go for a 4 week suspension in this case. The precedent must be set once and for all that you don’t hit the head.

Really? If had you read my post properly you might have noticed that I wrote that he played senior AFL footy. The Suns of both last year and this year were a different proposition to Melbourne because they were off the pace and could afford to give the kids a game. His selection was a surprise to many of their fans including a mate of mine who lives on the Coast and disagrees with your statement that he “had a fairly strong VFL year.” In fact, he struggled to get his hands on the footy in many games as I wrote above. In my view, having a strong year entails being named in the best more than once in about 15 games. But don’t believe me, the Suns fans on bigfooty were less than impressed by him for most of the journey. Here’s an example.

In Casey’s last game in the week before the Wildcard game.

Yeah - he’s had a couple of disappointing games at the end of a long hard year for a young bloke but it’s worth reflecting that there were times last year when Mac Andrew was really struggling for a kick in the Gold Coast Ressies and he was a number 5 pick. The Suns were out of the running for the finals so they gifted him some ALF games late last season. He hasn’t set the world on fire this year but did enough for a rising star nomination. I’ll be interested to see how Jefferson goes with a full preseason under his belt.

They’re making the news in Ireland too! AFLW round-up: Donegal's Kennedy makes history while McLaughlin makes debut and Mackin features in Demons demolition job

6. Jack Viney 5. Bayley Fritsch 4. Christian Petracca 3. Steven May 2. Angus Brayshaw 1. Alex Neal-Bullen

That being the case I think Laurie will be the tactical sub and Tomlinson the travelling emergency in case a tall becomes unavailable before the game.

How gratifying it was to see Demon Sam Weideman top scoring for the Bombers with two of their three goals. Imagine what it would have looked like without his contribution

Precisely. At the time that Melbourne was being attacked for tanking, the fact that it sent some players in for surgery before the end of the season was Exhibit A in claims that the club was committing the major criminal activity of tanking. Today, it’s okay.

No, the AFL won’t make the system fairer. It will most likely use the system to engineer outcomes such as to enable North Melbourne to get access to one of the best prospects in the country Ryley Sanders who wasn’t even on any Academy list earlier this year when the AFL put out their academy lists - Red-hot WA duo among this year's NGA prospects

Great to see Disco rewarded with a place on the extended bench for his great first up effort at Casey after missing several weeks with injury. However, I’m not that sure that he will get a run against the Swans on Sunday because I believe he’s not AFL ready just yet. He’s listed at 194cm 88kg but with a big preseason and some extra kilos on him, I expect that 2024 will be his breakout year.