Nasher

I am showing forum leadership and considerate restraint by posting this post about not replying instead of posting what I'd like to reply with.

Was he this good at Essendon? Easily in our top 5 players at present. He looks elite.

This feels to me like one of those topics that we heatedly argue about for ages, then he signs a long term deal with his current club in July. Surely he's not going anywhere.

He even lists a top 10. Jarrod Witts is in it. Whether the oversight was intentional or otherwise, it is credibility destroying. Hibberd is clearly performing well above most of those players and has been in our top 5 consistently since joining the team. Anyway, whatever. I'm long past looking for external plaudits. Hibberd was a fantastic trade and I couldn't be more pleased with his output to date. I knew he was a decent player but so far he's been even better than I anticipated.

Hah, Phew. I'd instantly consign anyone who questioned Petracca's body shape to the "never to be read again" bin.

I'm starting to think Oliver could be a pretty good player.

I think so long as he finds himself on the inside, he's always going to default to handballing. It's how the game is played - you don't kick from congestion because it's too risky - and it's his strength. If we want to see him getting more kicks, he needs to get the ball in space more. This really is splitting hairs, though, when talking about a 19 year old midfielder. He'll find the balance soon enough - it's not like the team is suffering until he finds it.

I'm all for a good Neeld bagging, but gee it's stiff to blame him for Cook.

Hogan has 94 in 45 games. This year, when he's been ordinary and distracted, he's kicked 3, 0, 3 and 3. I think we still underestimate what a weapon he is.

Hogan?!

Weid is in his second year and already playing AFL footy. Cook was delisted after 2 years. Weid is clearly a vastly superior player. I take your point, but if you want people to take you seriously, probably best you lay off the hyperbole a bit. Casey watchers last year said he attacks the ball in the air. We've seen first hand that he is also capable of moving the ball very quickly and involving himself in general play - see Hawks game last year. He's only 19 - you have gone way too early I reckon.

I came to terms with the fact that I don't know jack about footy years ago. Makes reading old threads much more bearable - and every now and again I surprise myself!

Makes for interesting reading. I had sympathy for the "not a priority" camp at the time, but in hindsight ProDee nailed it with his "he's better than all of them" argument. There's no doubt we are better off with him in the side. He's also a much better player than I realised.

5 minutes? Jeez, where were you for the first 4? Actually 5 minutes is probably fair - took that long for Richmond to get the ball in their half in that game. I thought Hibberd would be good but I didn't expect him to instantly hit his straps, thought he might take a while to get going. You wouldn't know he had an interrupted pre-season on top of 12 months out. How funny is it seeing Essendon sooking about their suspended players looking flat? Hibberd is going okay, maybe your players are just crap?

The first handball to space in that chain was brilliant. How did he even find space in that pack? Then he somehow ran on to it himself, received an illegal high tackle and somehow got it to Garlett. I'm pretty sure he has some kind of telekinetic power over the ball. I haven't seen another human who can do these things so often.

That's an incredibly dangerous tactic inside the top 5. They rolled the dice and lost. Sorrynotsorry.

I'm not sure if it's that or he just processes things really fast - I can't remember if it was in the JLT or round 1 but I remember one play where he was charging inside 50, looked set to have a flying shot at goal, then passed it to 20m out at the absolute last second. It's one aspect of his game I'd love to see more of - getting on the end of outside ball.

Hah, burn! It wouldn't surprise me if Clarry had a brother who was a plonker. That's a bit what Clarry looked like too, even to some professional scouts, before everyone realised what a gift he had. It's the speed in which his brain operates and can deliver signals to his hands that sets him apart. It's a one in a million trait, and without it he's just another player. Being built like a brick outhouse also helps, though that trait is a lot more common.

Lewis will play zero games at Casey. Will retire still a regular player in the MFC side.

Nothing against Keilty, but the fact that he's currently playing as first ruck for Casey makes a mockery of the couple of people who wanted to bring King in to the senior side. Not even ready to be the chief ruck at Casey yet. [Edit: that's from the round 1 report. By the sounds of it, King was first ruck in round 2.] Let's just leave our undeveloped rookies alone. This isn't an issue they need to be concerned with. We will have to make do with part timers until one of the big men recover.

A wrong being on a much smaller scale than another wrong is still a wrong. Not making it to the centre bounce as the ruckman isn't a huge disaster but it's also not a very difficult thing to get right. I don't recall ever seeing it happen before.

I would. When you're the nominated ruckman, turn up for the effing bounce. No excuses.

This is probably the thing that has me most stoked. His skills were on display last year so that hasn't come as a surprise, but I thought it would take a good few years to get up to AFL midfielder fitness - with the possibility that he may not ever. When he came back to pre-season out of condition I was thinking "here we bloody go".

I hope the coach was as livid about that as I was. Where the hell were Watts and Gawn?

It feels a little bit like nitpicking to criticise a 19 year old with his second consecutive 35 possession game, who also marks and tackles, for a bit of ball overuse in a game where our forward line was cramped and dysfunctional. I understand the criticism is intended to be constructive, but boy are we setting the bar high. I expect these sorts of issues will be resolved with experience. He's a baby still and already our best player.