Nasher

It was 8 goals to 2 and in the first half the "breeze" (wind) definitely favoured one end. At the ground it was clear those kicking to the river end were kicking worm burners (not to mention hoofing goals from outside 50) while the team going the other way were constantly kicking unmarkable floaters. I am presuming you saw the second quarter as well? The breeze died down at half time and was much less of a factor in the second half.

6. Viney - was the clear most influential midfielder across four quarters for mine, You can just count on him to bust a gut - usually it's in heavy traffic but his involvement in the 'slingshot' (involving Jetta at HB and Hogan in the middle) that resulted in himself getting the goal was a bloody outstanding piece of 'outside' work. Brilliant. 5. Gawn - not often you'd say the second best player was someone whose opponent kicks 5 goals, but his work in the ruck was the chief reason for our competitiveness. Just love the way he has come on this year. 4. Hogan - worked hard, and was involved from start to finish. A very welcome return to form. 3. Vince - more on sheer volume of involvement. Did an awful lot of blindly hoofing forward with mixed results - a bit more careful use of the footy would have had me ranking him higher, but he got it heaps which is half the battle. 2. Lumumba - had a horrible q1 (with plenty of friends) to the point where I'd already penned my "changes for next week" comment in my head at quarter time. Really lifted after that in terms of contested work. His kamikaze approach to getting through traffic is enough to give one a coronary, but it turned out to be effective later in the game when the wind died down a bit. 1. Oliver - said it before, but he's the best in traffic player I've seen. His handballs are exceptionally clean, and he always seems to instinctively get in the right place. Loved his work in front of goals today. Influential. Players I couldn't find room in the votes for but wanted to comment positively on: Salem - has a toughness that belies his baby-faced appearance, and was probably our most consistent user of the ball. Would have been close to best on in the very disappointing first quarter Watts - getting too much criticism for that stuffed pass to Hogan when he should have kicked the goal IMO. He was not the only one to make a terrible mistake in the last quarter - Kent's pass to a North defender while running towards goal was another, as was Bugg's pass to Stretch (when Watts was in the clear to the other side). Watts also dropped a couple of vital marks, but I think the thing that stood out was zero failed attempts at going, and a number of seriously tough efforts that resulted in goals. I thought it was another solid game, was just a shame about that blunder. Kent - had a quiet first half, but came to life in the second half. Too large a gap between best and worst at this stage. Jetta - seems to play at the same level every week. Just such a dependabe player. Jeez, I'm still filthy about that high tackle on Goldstein that was paid against him. Harmes - as I said in the post-match thread, some polish in traffic is the only stops him from being a permanent fixture in the 22 - the odd fluffed kick or fumble etc, but he marks, he attacks and he tackles. I thought he was impressive today.

That is a harsh piece of advice to a poster who is never anything but completely civil. Especially since you are barking up the wrong tree regarding what incident it was.

Just saw that on the news. Elbowed a player in the head. Should get a week I'd think. The hip and shoulder on Ziebell was ripper.

Look I really hate it when people post things like this, but I've got to question whether anyone who wants to drop Harmes saw the game. You just don't drop players who get 10 tackles.

Harmes and Kent definitely not in the gun IMO. I'd be happy with no change.

Harmes was excellent I thought. If his disposal in tight was cleaner there would be no question about him being first 22 IMO. He attacks ball and man fiercely, and he takes grabs - he took a clear pack mark right in front of me in the last quarter that wasn't paid. He is credited with 10 tackles on the day which outstanding.

Non-factor I thought as we mostly had control of the ball. Some costly misses - the Hogan and Kent ones - and poor choices with the ball, e.g. Bugg had Watts out the back on his own but went for Stretch instead. Our best players were on the ground and didn't look out of legs to me.

Just got home. I have no voice left. Just thinking about how that game was umpired makes me furious all over again. For me it almost ruined what was a thoroughly entertaining game. Wind was a massive factor in the first half. The ball held up and was almost unmarkable when kicking to the non-river end (not sure what they call it). I think the score imbalances did reflect conditions - our intensity looked okay to me in the first quarter but we just couldn't score. Viney best on by miles for me.

That and all the other amazing things that happened can be discussed in the Casey vs Frankston thread:

Yeah - Gawn has turned out to be such a disaster. The gramps ruckman that has done two knees, that has turned in to a class ruckman, and happens right now to be the only fit ruckman on our list. Have another gold star.

Let's just pretend the thread was bumped to recycle this ^^ joke.

That Tynan, Taggert and Sellar were better players?

Can we just enjoy seeing their faces rubbed in to the dirt for a minute before you remind us that it's probably temporary?

It's a bummer, but I feel worse for Mitch King. Not exactly the way you want to start your AFL career. Trenners is just a minor setback I reckon.

I'm pretty sure it is true, but like you, I have no evidence other than "I'm pretty sure...". I hereby delegate you the task of keeping track of this every time we play on a Sunday this year. Enjoy Ed: if it's not a strict rule, it's generally a good enough rule of thumb to go by in any case.

I've unpinned this, as I think people seem to tune out of the pinned topics and it is being missed. Anyway, I've got night shift before the match so I'll be an exhausted zombie, I have crap seats, the weather is meant to be ordinary, the team selection makes no sense and I'm still in a god damn bad mood with the MFC after last week. The only variable that make things better is if the team plays good on the day. It's all in your hands, MFC!

Gone to Freo I reckon. Jack Viney had already well and truly signed by now. (congratulations Mr and Mrs Jones!)

Yeah look, apparently he's orright and I can't imagine this thread going anywhere good based on the last few posts. Closed!

Nah, you're confusing two different people. Skills32 was the eccentric, overzealous moderator from Demonology.

His alias was "Dees Dayz", he changed to "Tigers Dayz". That wasn't a dignified "I've had enough" like this one though, it was a spectacular nana spit, and if I remember rightly, it was over Demonland members arguing with him rather than anything happening on the field. The whole thing was pretty sad. Ed: wrong quote. Please pretend I quoted BA and not jumbo.

What are you on about mate? Heard of Angus Brayshaw or Clayton Oliver? They both came straight out of the draft room and into the seniors. We clearly treat them on a case by case basis. Weideman spending time in the VFL isn't because of some unwritten rule or because we're Melbourne, it's because our coaches think it's the most appropriate course for his stage of development. I think he'll play sooner rather than later, but I'm in no hurry and am quite content to let him hone his craft at Casey first. If he's good enough he'll be picked. Ed: spelling. "Weniors", really?

Not really, Neeld was a complete disaster introduced by incompetent administration. This is the byproduct of what I believe is fundamentally a good plan. The players love Goodwin and want to play for him by all reports, which has probably happened ahead of time. With Neeld our club was in freefall with no exit plan. That was a truly terrifying period to support the club.

The problem is there's no point asking Roos the hard questions because he can't really be put under any pressure. His role all along has been quality builder and heat taker. The problem we have now is we're ready to take the next step with our new coach, but for this season we've still got the coach whose brief basically allows him to ignore or shrug off poor performances. Goodwin should be in command of the side, but he's not so I think we're just going to have to live with it.

Me too, special. At 32 I'm just not sure I have the years left.