Fat Tony

Who plays forward? Petty, Salem or Hunt? Or Jordon with Brayshaw to the wing?

He's not an animal He's not an animal He's a unicorn!

Do longer stops still exist?

I have not wanted to switch Brayshaw from half back to the wing, but I would this week if Jordon is out. Bowey or Hunt could come in at half back. Spargo on the wing has not really worked.

Cadman's highlights show he oozes class. While Jeremy Cameron has been used as a reference point, he doesn't look quite as strong in the air to me. (He would go #1 or #2 if he was as good a mark as Cameron.)

I don't see courage as being Weideman's weakness. Agility, reading the play, lack of height and strength and clunking marks are his issues.

I have a different perspective. Brown regularly gets blocked or pushed under the ball. They are similar in terms of contested marks and Brown averages 1.9 spoils per game versus 1.3 for Weideman. But Brown gives away 1.1 frees per game versus 0.8 for Weideman. And at least we can have more trust Weideman to put his body on the line for a ground ball.

Weideman and Brown both offer similar amounts offensively. Why does Brown get a leave pass? Brown can compete better in the air when he gets a run and jump but both get moved off the ball too easily. We can't play both in the same side and our best side might be with neither. We played exceptional footy at the start of last year with TMac and Jackson.

And the Dockers kicked only 7. 10 goals might be enough!

Ben Brown and Weideman offer about the same, so Brown being out is no loss IMO. (Can't play both IMO.) I love Salem but I wonder if he is safe? Bowey plays the same role and is more dynamic at the moment. N.B. The argument that Salem has been thrown out by Brayshaw being in the backline is a load of bollocks IMO. And Jordon has been fantastic this year on the wing.

Our form has actually been ok but we have faced good opposition and had a few loses where lady luck was against us. That said, we are too predictable, which has allowed opposition coaches to trial things and work out the best way to beat us. We need some variation in our ball movement from the back half and inside 50 (not every time but 1/3 of the time) and in how we set up for stoppages around the ground. We also need Max to get back in form. May was better on the weekend but has been mediocre since Entrecotegate and Salem has lost his drive.

Goodwin was confident on Brayshaw staying though.

Fritsch, Brown and Weideman are obviously poor pressure players and need to contribute on the scoreboard to be accretive. Gawn is also a pressure valve when he is at full forward. I don't think they aren't fully trying. (Although Brown could give a bit more effort at times.) They are just not very capable to chase and tackle because they are slow and lack agility. But I wonder if our forward pressure and pressure overall is also due to our efficiency inside forward 50 (which is good at converting entries into shots at goal) and the way we defend when they have control by foot (i.e. we fold back). We do have the lowest total points against in the competition which is what counts and second highest percentage. If we put more emphasis on forward pressure it might result in turnovers and scoring goals, but it might actually lead to being opened up on the counter attack.

I also hope that is the attitude of the players. It needs to be. But the coach needs to re-think our system as well because it is predictable and other teams now have a blueprint to beat us if we aren't perfect.

I know we played very well, but Brisbane played terribly and would have lost to 12 other sides that night.

I think that is a revisionist view. I think this year that the opposition are testing us with plans that we have not faced before. Apart from the second half against Freo (when May was subbed out and Petracca was ill) and the last quarter against Collingwood (when we were injury struck), I haven't felt like our effort has been sub-par.

Is it realistic to expect to play your best game of the year every week? I don't think so. It takes a combination of luck (uncontrollable) as well as application (controllable) to have your best game. My view is that application has not been an issue. Last year we had games when our application was an issue against Collingwood and North, but this year is has been a pass mark every week. Rather, it is our game plan being worked out and, as premiers, the opposition are up for us every week. As I said, the solution is to be a bit more unpredictable with our ball movement and plans around stoppages.

I think Stokes is taking a lot out of Fritch being a goal hog. I don't see too much wrong in terms of us being team first. We have had five losses, four of which we had a bit of poor luck. Freo - May injured in the game, Petracca sick, Dockers played their best game for the season Sydney - May out, Petty injured for 20 mins, Sydney played their best game for the season and had a great run with the umpires in the last quarter Pies - May out, Turner concussed, Gawn injured in game, Pies played exceptionally well Cats - Thrashed around the ball and we should have lost by more WBD - Lever out, very even & high standard game, Dogs played their best game for the season, kicked 17.8 and had a great run with the umpires That said, I do believe our predictability is a weakness now and we need to mix things up. Firstly I would like to see us chipping the ball around the backline a bit more and using both sides of the ground and the corridor. We also need to push more numbers to the stoppages to neutralise the outnumber. We need to get better output from Gawn, Jackson, May and Salem in particular.

Petty was impressive in 2019 as a key forward. I think he is a more natural defender but we have great depth there. The question is if Petty is a better key forward than Weideman and/or Brown and how much we lose by including Tomlinson or Turner to replace him. I think we could ask the same question about swinging May forward.

Not the time for wholesale changes for me. We were pretty good and unlucky to be beaten by a team which played their best. Lever for Tomlinson would be the only change. The forward line functioned better with Weideman.

72%

That was a killer turnover by May. We were great in centre clearances but got a hiding at stoppages. Naughton’s goal out of the ruck was terrible. At least Fritsch looked to pass.

There’s a fair bit of young talent in the Casey side today. Turner, van Rooyen, Wowoedin, Bowey, Laurie and Howes returning.

I think Weideman will do better as the sole forward rather than alongside Brown. At least he will know it’s up to him to compete every time.

I hope we look to top up our list with some veterans who are flag chasing like Goldstein, Cunnington, Boak, Robbie Gray, Breust and/or Gunston. They aren't key forwards but they could be the difference in 2023. As much as we need a key forward to replace Ben Brown, he has two more years on his contract and the top key forwards will cost an enormous amount in salary cap space and picks. I think we should be looking at getting another gun small forward either in the draft or trade.