Nasher

The stats confirmed that Oliver was very quiet: only 28 disposals and 8 tackles this week!

I laughed. Then sobbed violently.

Gawn going down mid-game has been a danger since the middle of last year and was bound to come undone eventually. Goodwin would have been well aware of this. It's a roll of the dice that we have clearly been willing to make and it has paid off for a long time with the extra run it adds. I'm not going to criticise an obviously calculated risk just because yesterday happened to be the (inevitable) unlucky day it came home to roost.

Yep. One of Hannan and Weid may make way, but I can't see both going and personally I wouldn't do either. It was different last week when we had Kent in the VFL ready to go; which AFL ready player do we have waiting to go now? I'm not interested in swapping one borderline player for another. I've seen suggestions to drop Tyson, Harmes, OMac and Melksham. I understand why some aren't fans, but these are just fanciful suggestions I think.

In: Spencer Out: Gawn. Keep the faith in the struggling young forwards. Thanks for the belly laugh to those who have put up 4 changes. Extra credit for those who included OMac.

No "bro", you drew the irrelevant and inequivalent soccer analogy, not me. I shall take you up on your offer to agree to disagree.

Better than being below average, I suppose.

Don't think I said anything of the sort, did I? The missed set shots are more like taking a penalty at goal with no goalie or defenders in the way and still missing (i.e. there's no soccer equivalent). It is massively deflating and, as I said, is worth 5 less points to the team, and gives the opposition the ball. In your ball hitting the cross-bar example, play goes on in a real hurry - there's no chance for the players to all flump and go "farrrrrk". Soccer sucks, by the way.

Onya boys. This one ought to sting a bit.

Odd timing re: the Viney criticism - was heaps better today than the previous two weeks. That miss though.

The "own goal" as you put it cost us 6 points. Missing easy set shots costs us 5 points - and gives the opposition the ball. Completely equivalent IMO.

ANB had 10 tackles according to the AFL website stats. Well on the way to being a fixture in the side now on current pace. PF wants to hang him for that one terrible error, but it was no worse than the co-captain or Kent missing easy goals at critical times.

I think you *are* basing it on that chip back alone.

After the first half I thought, even if we lose, I won't be too disappointed - the effort is there, and this game is a cauldron. I was wrong, I'm bloody gutted. Definitely one that got away. As ProDee said though, we lick our wounds and move on. The team we just lost to is vastly better than the teams we beat in the first two rounds, and we had them on toast but for our own finishing. This team is going places.

I'm loving the fact that I can just look forward to this game with genuine anticipation, knowing we are capable of winning it. In the past clashes with Geelong have been more just hoping it wouldn't hurt too much. It's early in the season, but there are no truly frightening teams so far this year.

Good post. The good thing about this version of the club, is that it can afford to wait and allow these things to be developed at the right pace - we have enough talent playing well that if someone needs extra time, it can be given, without the need to overplay the player because there's nobody else. I think Brayshaw is clearly going to be a good player, and is a good player when he's on, but I'm happy to wait patiently until he's ready to deliver it on a consistent basis.

In his interview with Burgs, Smith gave a pretty heartfelt thanks to Justin Plapp. I made a similar comment last year, but Plapp would appear to be a massive asset to the club and a core element to the recent success of the alignment. The boys in the VFL just seem to love playing for him, and when you read his player reports, he is clearly driven to try and get all his players to the next level, and he's truly part of the journey when they get there. The Tim Smith and Declan Keilty stories show that it isn't just the MFC players he strives for, but all the players under his charge. This would have to give you a lot of confidence if you were a talented footy player hoping to forge an AFL career - it probably makes Casey a destination club for that type of player. I reckon our VFL coach has a big career ahead of him if he wants it.

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.

You guys have seriously missed your calling as coaches.

That obviously depends on how Weideman goes amongst about another gazillion variables. I think the short answer is that if he has two big games they will find a way to keep him in. Putting the cart before the horse a bit though!

He looks like an absolute tank in that video. Can't wait to see how he goes now.

4 games in 1975, apparently. You must have the memory of an elephant.

No group cuddle around Smith, then.

Yep. There was a fair bit of moaning about Hawthorn managing to snare both O'Meara and Mitchell, but overlook the massive mortgage they put on their future to get it all done. This is the price of those sort of deals.

Tim Smith coming in doesn't spell the end for Pedersen. Run an eye over the Casey reports - Pedersen is still working into it after a limited pre-season. I don't know why we need to be so melodramatic about selection.