Nasher

Isn’t it? Given how harshly you’ve just judged him. I don’t think it’s true that he can’t defend 1:1, although hopefully with a solid team defence there should be little need to do that, and for someone who is constantly run down, zero occasions of that happening stick out in my mind. Everyone thinks they’re objective and unbiased, but we all make up our minds on a player and confirmation bias does the rest.

Easily, hands down the most successful coach we’ve had since the golden era of the 60s. One injury decimated year of being non-competitive in 7 is outstanding. I’ve seen posters that still prefer Northey or Daniher and it makes my head spin. It really amazes me how little recognition he gets.

In: Hibberd, Smith Out: Bowey, Brown

Looks like North going to go down. So disappointed for them. To be honest I was mostly in it for the lols at the Saints, but I feel bad now.

Trying to look through the stress a bit, I actually thought that was a high standard game. Would have been really good to watch as a neutral. Most heart warming moment for me was Woey Jr kicking it down ANB’s throat in the third.

How much does it warm your heart to see young Woey kicking it down the throat of his teammate ANB?

I want that composure to stay in the backline. He’s a natural defender I think. Happy with this nom, it’s a great bit of acknowledgment of his efforts this year.

That’s it! The bench seats 23-30 are about the worst viewing at a supposedly AFL standard ground you’ll ever see. I miss North Hobart oval! Bring on the new stadium.

Is that in the stand, or in those crapola seats by the hill? Ponting Stand or bust for me personally.

The footy industry is brutal, so many entitled people out there all too happy to ignore the fact that AFL footballers are human too. There are a lot of examples of players coming out of the system quite damaged as a result of constant criticism with no way of escaping it. I like Weideman and I hope things turn for him.

Surely what Dunstan offers is known. I can’t see any scenario where Dunstan plays that doesn’t involve Viney being injured at the very least.

True, although Melky celebrated his previous one similarly - and I’d say with 33s on the clock after the last goal, the game was far from sealed.

How about the contrast in celebration between Viney and Melksham for their respective goals. Viney gives a couple of low fives, nods to his teammates and strides back to the middle. Already focused on the next play. Melksham goes straight to the Dees fans with fist in the air. Wants the adrenaline shot and buzz from the roar and interaction with the crowd. No less focused on the play by the time it resumes, but needs that kick of energy first. I love both. Neither are right or wrong, just indicative of different player personalities.

I was out and missed the game. Checked scores with 15 minutes to go and 👎. Found out what happened when my phone started blowing up! I watched the replay of the last quarter when I got home, and even knowing the result I was still in shock! Huge.

Love the touch of having Yze announce it. Special. Loved his old man back in the day - preaching to the choir here obviously. Can’t wait to see how Taj goes. I love the way we build our young players in the VFL and let them loose when the time is right. It’s common in this team now for players to be well im to their second or even third year before they get picked. Great development.

They didn’t record who kicked behinds early on.

Ironic thing in that Cox footage is seeing him get told to cool it by Brayden Maynard, who when it’s game on is one of the toughest buggers out there. There’s a time and a place.

Exactly. I legit lol’d, love it, but don’t want to see it all the time. Have a laugh, pay the fine, move on.

Well put WJ. While the club obviously isn’t responsible for what happened to Daniel prior to his coming to the club, there is definitely a question of if we did enough while he was here and, while acknowledging it was a long time ago, what can we do better to support our players that might have this type of issue in the future?

It’s a terrible headline but a legitimate issue that deserves some focus. I recommend reading the ABC article as linked above that goes in to the specifics. I hope Daniel is able to get the help he needs.

In: Petty, Spargo Out: Schache, Jordon, Harmes Sub: Jordon

Steven May is a tough bastard with absolutely no sense of humour when across the white line. I wasn’t particularly bothered about the last few minutes but he was absolutely filthy with it and I loved it. He’s fast becoming one of my favourite Demons ever.

I only just saw Sunday’s game this morning, and I was thinking he’s really coming on as a midfielder, and it would be great to see him re-sign. Then I saw this news. JvR mentioned in a previous interview that Rivers had led the WA boys in their training programme over the break too - leadership potential. The fact that he and Jackson were best mates when they arrived is just a sweet cherry on top. Really happy with this signing!

Burgs was a print media journalist and rusted on MFC fan who had to build the club’s media presence from scratch, and stayed loyal after he was given the heave ho. I reckon you could have said Gibbo did a great job without saying anything about Burgs.

Really for Casey rucks, there are two strategies that are both valid, depending on circumstance: 1- a "ready to go" senior ruck and a developing ruck. Pros: player immediately available to backfill if a senior ruck gets injured. Cons: ready to go (and probably AFL NQR) ruck hogs all the game time at Casey, seriously impedes the development of the developing ruck 2- two development rucks, with the better of the two getting the lion's share of gametime at Casey. Pros: bets are hedged if one of them turns out to be no good. Cons: both could turn out to be no good. With Gawn and Grundy both in the side, strategy 2- makes the most sense to me. It's a position of luxury, really. We don't really hurt too badly if one of the seniors gets injured; we just make do with TMac or Schache playing second ruck. If they both go down obviously we're stuffed, but I don't think having a Daw like player really mitigates that anyway. When Jackson was on the list, developing rucks weren't a priority. Jackson was the development ruck, it just so happened that he was good enough that he could do it in the senior side. Now the only rucks on our list are on the wrong side of 30 (edit: whoops, I've added years to Grundy. Oh well, point remains the same). I think finding the next one is a pretty urgent priority and it's risky business putting all our eggs in one basket.