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First time I've posted in a long time. We have shown great faith in Sam ever since we grabbed him in the draft. He was supposed to slot in beside Jessie as an attacking key to a succession of premierships. Sadly I'm afraid that he has shown us absolutely nothing. He might have played 2 good quarters with Casey in 2 years. Hulett who has been delisted was certainly no worse He doesn't get the ball and he has no onfield presence. On present indications- he's on his way to the flop club to join Lucas Cook and Luke Molan. I'd love to be proved wrong - but for all it's brilliant recruiting efforts over recent years - the FD is still prone to serious errors!

Ditto to that !! Cant believe the hypocrisy in the Hun from the editor down/ In the middle of last week the editor extolled people to "leave James in peace" while he recovers his health. On that very day he/she gave Allan Hird headline coverage.Then on Saturday 3 pages were devoted to Danny Corcoran's views on the victimisation of his good mate. All part of a concerted effort to stir the pot - and reignite the emotions that James is struggling to manage. It is the AFL that is showing compassion right now.. Fitzpatrick and McLachlan have worn damning criticism and innuendo in an effort to leave him "in peace.. Hird's mates are the people preventing the football world - and Hird himself - from moving on

Why would we want to shelve the connection we have started to build in that community? Why burden the relatively small group of supporters in our heartland with the cost of a team in Casey . Let's do all we can to bring Casey/ Springvale families and businesses into the fold i'll go with rjay on this one...

There are "lies","half truths" and "spin". I'm sure his limited availability last year was the source of the problem - so you can say " concussion " But I reckon the fact that he was told he wasn't pencilled in to our best 22 was a factor. If nothing else he's a proud man. That makes it a "half truth " - but a reasonable one in the circumstances. Just annoyed that we've effectively lost a position on list . Don't reckon that's good management.

This is precisely the reason I have been frustrated that we finalised our list without understanding H's situation. The odds are against picking up useful players late in the draft or in the rookie draft - but most successful teams have one or two. Look at Hamling and Papley this year - or Dalhous and Picken. Actually throw in Morris and Dickson - and the premiers had 5 !! I'd also like to think that we are sufficiently close to all our players to know which ones are going to hit the training track on Day 1 - and which ones are not. Perhaps he did a back flip the night before - but it's reasonable to assume that he had some doubts for some time. Reckon most supporters would prefer.a speculative pick over an empty slot

There are clearly many twists and turns in this story - and in the end the club may have done very well to avoid a damaging public backlash (including damaging payout headlines ). They may also have done well to protect H from further injury. Having said that I don't understand why all this came to a head after final lodgement of our 2017 list.The issue first came to light when someone noticed that Jordan Lewis wore #8 to training. Where's H? I don't understand why player and club didn't get to the bottom of the health situation until November. We've wasted a position on our list . Might only" have been an ultra-speculative late pick - but you can't afford to waste anything in this ruthless competition Somewhere along the line we let this issue slip a month or two longer than it should Anyway - best wishes H.

Not sure this is practical - unless Casey- listed players number from 50 onwards - as Melbourne players do now. Perhaps a long term possibility-- but might be one blow too many to the Casey roots of the affiliation to do it now.

Agree absolutely- we employ the coach ~ Plapp is on our payroll - and our development coaches are heavily involved on match day.It sounds like a similar structure to the Box Hill Hawks - which is effectively a subsidiary of the Hawthorn FC The Casey name gives a community flavour - at the entrance to Gippsland. The team will wear our Jumper - and the cry will be "Go Dees" Sounds like it's getting very close to the ideal mix Really positive long term development .Well done PJ , again !

Makes me ill too.. Sorry Gill - when the man is right - the man is right! If Hird's puppets have to be allowed back , they should have to sneak down the race under cover of darkness. Switch the lights off when they run out for the first game and ban the theme song!

Don't think we should underestimate the importance of having a good leader and a good trainer at the club at that time. His willingness to run and tackle set a fine example for all our talls. If we did lose out - then it might not have been on the trade - but on Gosch's paddock a couple of days after the trade! Reckon he is a good bloke who should always be welcome at our club.

Don't mind the article- it is retrospective after all . Strangest thing about it is that Lewis isn't ranked higher. It does two things 1. Puts more pressure on Collingwood/ McGuire/ Buckley 2. Reinforces the message to us : we have to improve - which means we have to work harder!! Two excellent outcomes!!

At the time , I reckon most of us would have said that H for Mitch Clark was a reasonable deal. Over recent times I think we'd all agree that our list management has been pretty sharp. But Mahoney and/ or Viney (?) have made a slip here. How did they let a string of list lodgement deadlines pass believing that H was raring to go ? Out of the blue on 1st day of training the press come out with "Where's H? " Somehow H's status should have been resolved months ago. I'm happy to forgive the FD for this one list management slip-up - but it looks as if it sat in someone's too-hard basket until it was too late to free-up his spot on the list. Clearly he's not an easy man to manage - all the more reason to force the issue sooner rather than later. Guess he might prove us all wrong by helping Casey take the extra step this season !

Reading between the lines - and taking into consideration the pride of the man - I reckon all was sweet until someone told him , truthfully, that he wasn't a lock-in to our best 22. Confronted by this he worked out that his contract might not be renewed for 2018. All of a sudden he's confronted with a season in the VFL -and the end of his career " Hang on - I'm a Premiership player and I came to this club as a leader. Now -your telling me I might be washed up.... that's not what we planned when I signed up ..." He's a sensitive man - and he might have found this reality difficult to deal with. The unfortunate thing about this is that his status stayed in limbo- and didn't become an issue until the list management plan had been finalised This should have been sorted in September/October - so that even if we had to absorb a payout we would have had the extra slot on our list to play with. Prior to locking away Hibberd did we see the Prince as an important part of our defence? If not - then we should have given him a reality check long ago. I saw him at the VFL GF telling a few fans that he was looking forward to 2017. Whatever changed was nothing to do with concussion!

Yeah all the celebrations around the return of Dank's hird of guinea pigs does make my blood boil. I guess you can understand Essendon trying to make them war heroes - but the media shouldn't join in. For all of that- the fact that they were rewarded for their mass suspensions with the No 1 draft pick annoys me more. Defies law logic!! Truth be told the AFL couldn't of a way around it . Banning them from the 1st Round altogether would probably have been seen as one punishment too many. So what was the option? Maybe position on the ladder to a lower limit of around pick 6 ? So if they'd finished 9th they get pick 10 - but if they'd finished 13th and below - they'd have to be satisfied with pick 6 - even if they'd snapped up the wooden spoon, Sounds contrived - and I guess it is. But to see them boast Mc Grath just snuck me as ludicrous Penalise a team - and then reward them for the effects of that penalty How can this be?

Agree on McInerney. Did a couple of nice things in the VFL finals but only when he was given time and space. Didn't work hard to get to the contest - and was pushed aside when he got there. The most interesting point on this thread is the apparent news that we are only taking 2 Cat A rookies when nominally we could take 3. The only reason I can think of is that they may want to leave open the possibility of promoting Joel Smith ( who really has some talent) from B to A ( if there's any benefit in that ?) I'm sure there is a good reason. Guess it's possible they don't expect any sort of prospect to be around when they get to the 3rd round. No point in tying up Development Coaches with players they don't rate. I'd like to see them add at least one ruckman from somewhere- maybe Will Minson? Good back up - and a positive mentor. Like everyone else I would certainly wonder if they leave some young big men behind . They often don't take off until until they're 24 -25 Mc Inerney can stay at Casey