Nasher

The AA team always makes me a bit wistful about this being the only country where our sport is seriously played. How good would it to see these guys get pitted against an elite team from another country? Oh well, never going to happen, but it's a nice dream.

Delist: Dawes, Grimes, Newton, Terlich, White(R), King(R), Michie(R) 1 year contract: Jones M, Pedersen Rookie retain: Wagner, Smith Trade in Hibberd for second round pick. With 4 senior delistings, no rookie promotions and Hibberd traded in we'll have three spots, so expected picks will be Pick 44, 62, 80 (or thereabouts). I'm no Matt Jones lover but I don't see the value in delisting him for pick 96; I expect he will still have a role to play in our 2017 season. If he doesn't it will mean we have improved more than incrementally, or we've had another dream run with injuries. You could debate a case for any of the three rookies, particularly King with the big men take time argument plus the fact that he occasionally slows glimpses, but I have all three gone (pending Redleg's signature ;)). I don't see Michie or White offering anything that couldn't easily be found elsewhere. I'd love to see us somehow trade back in to the second round, but I can't see what we have that would make that happen now without giving up something we'd want to keep. Would also entertain offers for players such as JKH or ANB who may be interested in a move, but I doubt we'd get a lot in return. First time in a long time that we won't be a player in the pointy end of the draft.

Fair enough. Do you feel better or worse for having watched them? Did you feel you learned anything valuable that you didn't already know, given that we were already aware that Neeld stank as a senior coach?

If you were Port, why would you ever accept a pick in next year's draft in exchange for a player of clear quality? You'd have to sit out a whole year before you even got your hands on the player recruited to replace the one you traded out, let alone started developing them. It would be crazy; you might as well keep Hartlett for the season and get some use out of him, then just trade him the following year for the same pick. It's easy to get excited about splashing trades about for a player we probably want, but if you want to have any hope of getting the deal done, you need to give some consideration about what the counter-party is trying to achieve as well, otherwise they're just going to tell you to go jump. The same goes for offering up borderline players like ANB. Unless they specifically want him and were intending on trading him in anyway (which would surprise me greatly), those kind of offers add nothing to the exchange; if anything they devalue it since.

That's an empty platitude in this case. Review history when there is something to be learned from it. There is nothing to be learned from watching these YouTube clips.

A lot of calls to promote Wagner in this thread. Personally I would be in no hurry to do this - he's a first year rookie playing in a position where spots might be tight next year with Melksham, possibly Hibberd etc being added to the mix. While he played most of the season, he didn't get to the "automatic selection" level that we saw vandenBerg get to the year before, and I don't think it gets any easier for him to get a game next year. Wagner has had a promising first season, but he's by no means a certain thing yet. He gets his second year on the rookie list for mine and no more.

For sure. Regurgitating ancient history purely for the sake of reminding us how painful it was doesn't help anybody though.

Nice. Has Declan been spoken to by any AFL clubs that you're aware of? I haven't seen him play but a few of the regular Casey goers on here have been impressed.

Only played 3 VFL matches, doesn't qualify for finals. (Is that the question, or were you meaning what happened to his form/injuries? Vague question is vague.)

They haven't done a lot of losing this year, I doubt they're interested in starting now. I don't think the woes of dropping games we've seen in the Melbourne team applies to Casey. This is a solid team full of players who excel at this level, who will be choc full of confidence, have momentum, and will be hungry. It's only a danger game in the sense that every final is a danger game.

*pats Ron on the shoulder*

Fair enough, thanks for that.

They might have pulled the pin on JKH given the injury history this year. Good to see the MFC not pulling the piss this year and allowing the players who got Casey to this point the chance to finish the job.

Jealousy only ever gets you in trouble mate.

Time and reading a lot of your posts Redleg, has taught me that if I disagree with what you've posted, I'm probably wrong.

Tarrant.

I think the regular Casey seniors (Hutchins, Smith, Morris etc) will all find a spot anyway over MFC lessers like King or Smith. Other than that, it's a bit of tough luck - they would know what they signed up for when signing for an AFL aligned team. All the MFC players eligible to play have contributed to the strong Casey season so far anyway.

Playing Oliver last week when he clearly could have been in the Melbourne side was a strong sign that Melbourne intend on allowing players to play Casey finals this year. A shot at a flag would be a great reward for the players who have been busting a gut there all year, just to remain on the far fringe on the main side. Especially for those who won't be in the AFL system next year.

He got lucky 41 out of 62 times? k.

He did come close again - the next week week he kicked 4.0. His career tally is 41.21, which suggests that the kicking issues are overplayed. He's probably just not good enough in general. I feel a bit sorry for him for some reason. It would be hard to spend your junior years dominating and being pumped up, only to learn the hard way that it doesn't translate at senior level and you don't have it. I put Toumpas in the same boat (despite the impact it had on us).

You don't have to look very far back in to our history to see any actual evidence anyway. Shannon Byrnes and David Rodan were the types of players we were picking up not very long ago.

You saw that Gary Moorcroft mark video kicking around on social media too, huh? I was surprised to see he's still playing. Had one very forgettable season on our list too.

If Thompson had been here this year under Roos, would he have taken the spot of Bugg, or (say) Oliver? Bit of a philosophical question I suppose, as I know what you'd do if you were selecting. I'd share your view if I could be sure that Thompson was taking the spot of a lesser player, but I'd be concerned that his place in the side would be at the expense of junior players we need to continue the development of; a similar dilemma Brad Scott alluded to in his conference re: Brent Harvey. This needs to be balanced up against our young midfielders needing senior players to aid their development, but I don't think Thompson is this player. He'd be here probably for a year only. I love Thompson as a player, but I'm leaning towards no, reluctantly.

And therefore one less year he has to work for the average worker's salary after footy. These are the sorts of things professional football players would have to think about if they've got any sense. The extra 70k would make stuff all difference to their existing lifestyle, but has massive future implications. That's why I'm hesitant to ever refer to footballers who seek good salaries "greedy".

Line development coach seems to be the entry point these days, like Brad Miller was doing (not sure who's in there this year). A rookie senior coach with rookie line coaches scares the juice out of me. Bailey had Josh Mahoney and Neeld had Leigh Brown, both players fresh out of the game held in high esteem for their demonstrated potential in coaching and mentoring, but were given far too much responsibility too early. I'd hate to see Dawes go down the same path. Going off topic now but I'm hopeful the (experienced) assistant coaches Roos brought with him - McPherson, Allison, Mathews etc all stay to work under Goodwin.