buck_nekkid

That I can agree with. The ability to make the decisions that put us to advantage at each contest is a critical skill.

Where results are based upon a series of unpredictable decisions, and where individual poor decisions are ‘expendable’, I see this as useful. However, where we are looking for coordinated outcomes and poor decision making can be costly, I’m not sure the logic applies Example: the half back makes a snap decision to go through the corridor. It catches everyone out, including our players further up the field. Our players are out of position and we get back to a 50/50 contest, rather than one favour. If, however, there are a hierarchy of team rules, applied flexibly, then rapid decision making and execution against those rules is more predictable for us, as we are better drilled in them, and turn such contests 70/30 etc. Helter Skelter OODA will catch everyone out. If you win more 50/50 contests, and can tolerate the cost of poor or ineffective decisions, then it may apply. I still think it is less effective than structured, flexible rule based operation where team and coordinated action is required.

To simplify: have a set of decision rules. Each decision rule is specific enough to be applied instinctively, but flexible enough to be altered if conditions don’t apply. for example: half backs should look to kick at 45 degree angles - where a player has a reasonable chance of receiving it. If not, run like you are being chased like a bear. The kick in example above might have a rule: don’t kick out to formed packs. If pack is formed, the kicker should look for alternates, whilst other players should see the pack and know to create other options. a team with simple, applicable decision rules that are well drilled becomes a very strong team. Teams that can follow their rules look like Adelaide in the GF.

Ok, so this sucks. The player, the club and supporters all caught in some weird limbo. No formal complaint has been made, or charge laid. You Can not prove your innocence (or defend your actions) for something you haven’t been properly accused of. And now it’s ‘closed’? it would have been a pretty crappy Christmas for that individual player At what point is this all formally closed, or does it remain open indefinitely? it was important enough to be reported in all the papers. Be nice if it has been ‘closed’ for some statement so this is not left hanging

Ok, so this sucks. The player, the club and supporters all caught in some weird limbo. No formal complaint has been made, or charge laid. You Can not prove your innocence (or defend your actions) for something you haven’t been properly accused of. it would be a pretty crappy Christmas for that individual. At what point is this all closed, or does it remain open indefinitely? it would be best if the person concerned was able to resolve their position and move ahead. Then we can get from innuendo to facts, to resolution (and justice if needed). Up until then, it is limbo time.....

My biggest problem: the umpire love for these three is ridiculous. We won’t catch a break until junk time square ups. Gonna have to play against these goons with their fan club holding the whistles.

This will be challenging for the MFC. We need to start with two key principles: Protection and support of the victim to get justice and recovery from the incident; and The presumption of innocence until proven guilty for the player concerned. Sometimes these two principles seem at odds, and all involved have to juggle these. Once the legal and moral aspects of the case have been resolved, we then get to how the club responds. Can they ‘sack’ the player when what they (allegedly) did was during time off, overseas etc? Are there clauses for ‘disrepute’ or similar in contracts? Should they have variable rules for their response based upon the profile of the person involved and their ‘importance’ to the club in 2018? What processes can they put in place around support, training , ‘punishment’, reparation, etc for the individual, if they are proven to be guilty? At what point in the ‘scale’ of potential actions does this shift from a ‘minor’ to a ‘major’ infraction? All of these are critical questions that will determine how the club responds, what they want to try and achieve, and how their response will be perceived. The club has done nothing wrong so far. They are left now with a series of challenging circumstances in which to respond. I hope the board is meeting and making some clear process decisions regarding how they will respond, so the MFC can do so quickly and competently in line with the club’s values as things in this story are made known or resolved.

Satire. Humour. Self. Get over.

I think it was an opportunity missed. Having Hocking, and Christian speaks to old boys and club favouritism. Would have been a perfect role for an independent, non football person. Provide them with expert advisors (one medical, two from the game who have either played or coached at more than one club, and have no media commitments). They submit their review to the tribunal who hand out the penalties against a known and logical schedule. No penalty of the week. No playing favourites.

The players had a significant concern about how the camp may affect them. They raised this concern. The club is then stuck on the horns of a dilemma - if they went ahead with the camp, and players were unduly injured doing non football tasks, or they reported that their conditioning was negatively impacted, then the club has knowingly put the players (who are contracted to play football, not carry backpacks of bricks) at risk. This would bring liability issues. imagine if PwC made all of its accountants do a ‘boot camp’ to improve their accounting performance, or the Daily Planet asked the same of their employees. in the end, the club had to make the call of what they could reasonably ask the players to do as per their job descriptions. if they don’t have buy in, then it is worse than useless. It would also be interesting to know what specifically the club aimed to achieve with the camp- what characteristics were they going to build or discover in individuals and the group? Things like this rarely have any more than a short ‘fizz’ of team bonding. Once they have worked out that they are a group with a combined purpose, and they have sorted out internal competence and control issues, the next step is them developing a deep and open sense of trust in each other. I would suggest that the camp may address part 1 and 2 really well. however, how they have acted, and how the club has responded, may just be a sign that the third stage to group performance has actually happened. The fact that the group worked together to challenge the authority, and trusted each other enough to do it, suggests the camp would have been useless, and potentially taken them backward, in terms of group development. This event could be the makings of the team.

This is like a Warnie delivery - spin it left, spin it right - still gets the crowd up in arms! One side can say something like the inmates are running the asylum, and the coaching group have lost control. The other side can say that we have a maturing bunch of footballers who felt seriously enough about the program and its lack of benefits that they went to the club to raise their concerns. The AFLPA could have given them guidance in how to do this. Which is right? Who knows. I would prefer them to do sports specific training that they buy into, rather than non-specific and potentially dangerous training that they do not. Goody can make them gut run and chuck on Gosch’s all week now.

I guess it goes through phases - you have to give the kids a taste of the big time at some point. If they have a strong belief that a player can step up to the level - and over a block of games deliver value to the team whilst getting in key development experience- then that is great. We have never been in a position like the old Hawthorn teams where guys would play multiple seasons and not get a look in. We were thin across a number of lines, had a swag of developing players who may have been on the cusp of selection - and with an eye to the future, getting some game time into them so they know what it is like (and what they can go back and work on) - seems like a good idea. If we are now moving beyond that - we have enough capability and depth on each line, and we are not looking to fast track particular role players - then that is great. Saying 'Weiderman was crap and the Pedo came it and was awesome' also reflects a scenario of timing - maybe Pedo was less ready than Sam, but when Pedo was ready he came in??? Pedo had to fight his way in, and perhaps was better for doing so. Lots of revisionism going on here at the moment. Suggest we simply take away from all of this that Goody will base his team selection not on 'past glories' but on what he wants and expects - current performance, likelihood to succeed in a role and even 'development' or 'exposure'.

Jack Watts new interview: “You know”, says Jack, “this is a team that is more likely to carry me to a flag. It was a great decision- I had to be responsible, train hard and do the team things at Melbourne. I think they were forgetting I am number 1 draft pick. I am number 31 draft pick here, and these idiots think that is better. Anyway, I have hooked up with a bunch of guys and, provided I say the right things, will get a free pass all the way to September. What is even better is they recruited a bunch of flakes lazier than me. By the time Motlop and some of these other guys have been made the whipping boys for the season, I can get a few possies, sell some boardies, smile for the kids and grannies (I hope they don’t smile back, they have no teeth and their breath reeks like the Alberton sewer) and think about going over to Toumpies house for a beer or 3.” Interview ends.

Awesome. Much appreciated!

Be intersting to see who gets a run in the preseason games (who potentially is close to pushing their case for a spot in the seniors) and who starts out at Casey. I reckon this will be a significant ‘form guide’ as to who the club is seeing as most likely to crack a debut in the season proper. There seems to be some serious competition for spots, and if the rumour is true that the coach doesn’t have favourites (well, apart from his ‘favourites’...), then there is a lot of opportunity for the side to look very different in 2018. Sounds like most of the old brigade are doing everything they can to keep the youngsters at Casey, too. This can only be great for the club, for development and for our future.

It might be that as a 'tall' he needed more time to develop... Realistically, now we have Lever, there is quite some pressure on Omac and Frosty to step up and demand a spot. With TMac, Kielty and even Pedo able to play tall roles down back (not including our new draftees), We should be able to craft a really strong back 6 (Add Hunt, Jetta and Hibbard, as well as Lewis, apparently!). If Oscar is going to be the giant killer, then the work on skills and size will be well spent. It may be that he now gets time to develop in a better, more competitive environment to become the player that the club thinks he can be. I think he really came a long way in his development last year, and with Lever and the coaching team helping him further, I look to see where he gets to with much interest. Perhaps he might spend time back at Casey as part of this development. Last year it was obvious that we had some 'holes' in our list, including down back. Lets see where Oscar is at the end of the year.

Would I pay more money to stabilise the club? I think this is the wrong question. I think the question should be "If the Demons presented a cogent future vision of the club, would I pay to buy in?". I watched Richmond sell a shed load of absolute crap merchandise. I saw their fans dancing on wheelie bins in Swan St. We have no natural home for us to celebrate our flag, for our fans to race in and buy the merchandise. Dogs, Carlton, Collingwood, Richmond, Essendon and Geelong all do, even hawks have Waverly. Where do we have?? Don't tell me Casey Fields, or I will spew. If we had a home and a presence, we could build out a brand that resonated in the community. This would create a footprint on which to build something special. Add to that on field success (or, at worst, a reduction in the onfield vomit of most of the last decade) and the club would stabilise itself. A proper base, a proper sense of self, and success would all deliver success (and maybe even a Friday night game).

What a gem. Great post, thanks for sharing.

He is one of a group of players on the list that are going OK, but still have significant upside. If he can continue his development, he is certainly a best 22 player, and potentially a genuine high value player. As we start playing bigger games, and he and his team mates grow into them, we should start seeing these guys stepping up. I think ANB will be a 'quiet achiever' that we all love to have on the list - that gets things done in his role, but can do them really well. These are the foundations of premiership sides, these blokes. They make the superstars look good.

Was that just a kick it in and contest type drill (bragging rights type stuff)? I hope they are preparing the boys for such drills in terms of what they want them to develop in each practice. I would like it if they also gave instructions to the defender of how they wanted them to play on that forward and vise versa. This speaks to the good old fashioned coaching you mentioned in para 1...

Great stuff, enjoyed the interview. Thanks guys!

Gold Coast, Brisbane, ....tumbleweeds.... when teams like the Bummers, Hawks , Tigers and Sydney are on the up, they will bring crowds. Perhaps why certain teams are gifted Friday night games and we aren’t. might be the biggest tv product, but it is crafted that way.

Sword fish wants to get as far away from the plumbers crack as possible. Obviously not Don Bourke.

I know Saty is a fan boy. I can read his reports and not need to attack him for his positivity, his enthusiasm or love of his team. I welcome his reports- I get a different insight. If he has stopped posting because the crap he cops to do so, then we are the poorer for it.

1. He is not on track, he is in the gym and on the anti G running machine. 2. He looks in good nick. May not be doing loaded running yet, but probably very fit just the same. 3. Sounds like a cautious approach, to temper his personal desire to rush back. Knows he needs to be healed, then loaded, then he can ‘go’. 4. The last 2 seconds of the video- looks like he could kill someone with his laser beam stare. My god, wouldn’t want to get in between him and something he wanted. 5. Why the panic? A nice op ed piece, feeling good, progressing well. Why would you read more than this into it?