Fat Tony

I would be interested in Prestia, but he is not a must have IMO. On one hand, we are already very well stocked for inside midfielders, with Viney, Oliver, N Jones, Tyson, Brayshaw, Petracca, Trengove, Vandenberg and Neal-Bullen. On the other hand, Prestia is a very good player, albeit he is not back to his best. I doubt we can afford to go after Hurley and Prestia and I would definitely prefer to land Hurley. I would also prefer Lachie Whitfield over Prestia given I think our list lacks a bit of outside run and class. I would also be looking at Hosking-Elliot as an option, though he is contracted to the end of 2017.

As well as we played, I would still probably look to bring both Lumumba and Salem back into the side at the expense of Michie and Stretch. I like both Michie and Stretch, but it is getting very hard to pick a side at the moment given our depth and form. Bontempelli is the player I am most concerned with from a match up point of view, with Vince looking like the best match up around stoppages. MFC Jetta Garland Wagner Salem T McDonald Lumumba Harmes Vince Bugg Kent Hogan Kennedy Garlett Watts Pedersen Gawn N Jones Viney Petracca Tyson Hunt Oliver IN Lumumba Salem OUT Michie Stretch CASEY Terlich O McDonald Frost Michie Dunn White Grimes Brayshaw Stretch T Smith Dawes Trengove Hulett Weideman Briggs Spencer Newton Neal-Bullen Max King Huchins Munro J Smith McInerney OUT Melksham Kennedy-Harris Mitchell King Vandenberg M Jones

This idea misses the point that the power in AFL trades lie with the players and thus we wouldn't get fair compensation in any McDonald trade.

Dunn for Garland is a good change IMO. Dunn lacks the athleticism to play our zone defence. He is finished under the current game plan. Garland was poor at the start of the year, but hopefully his form has improved. Michie and Stretch for Salem and Lumumba make sense given they were both good in the VFL. Oliver for Frost gives us some more ball winning ability in the midfield. ANB is a bit stiff, but he doesn't add a lot of outside run and is inferior to our inside mids. And Michie's form has been better.

Misson explained that JKH and Vandenberg will need to miss another game due to a Casey bye

The thing that has really annoyed me over the last two weeks is the number of shots on goal we have conceded when the opposition has taken the ball coast-to-coast around the boundary line. Our forward line has applied enough heat on the ball and midfield just hasn’t pushed back hard enough. I also think the zone defence we are playing requires a taller, more athletic back six than we are playing. (The way we have set up requires defenders to play 10 meters in front and then run back with the flight and leap to effect a spoil.) As much as we like the idea of having Salem and Dunn in the backline due to their kicking skills, I am not sure they have the aerial ability required. IMO we need to bring Garland back into the side and look at playing Vince off half back more permanently. Edit: spelling

The game plan requires all defenders to play off their men and needs 'heat' on the ball carrier to work. Dunn is finished if we continue under this method because he makes bad decisions about when to push up and lacks the required athleticism.

I think we missed Matt Jones yesterday. Our midfield looks very slow and lacks run and spread. This has been covered over by Gawn's dominance and our straight goal kicking.

While Dunn's kicking is still an asset, he is incapable of playing his role in our current game plan. He makes too many bad decisions in deciding when to push up and he struggles to play in front of his opponent because he can't jump. Either Roos changes the plan back to a man on man or he is no longer best 22. I think the coaches agree judging by his switch to the forward line.

Dawes, Pedersen and Frost are all about the same. Our backline and defensive strategy was the problem today.

At this stage I would be looking at: Out: Salem (concussion), Harmes (injured/rest), Dunn, Wagner, Frost In: M Jones, Garland, O McDonald, Trengove, Oliver Dunn looks incapable of playing the formation defence we are implementing and Wagner needs a spell.

I suspect it is because Essendon don't have a proper clash strip.

I watched the first half of the Willy game on the MFC website last night. Notes: Trengove was very clean and skilful, looks very fit and reads the play very well. He looks a class above VFL. There is a big jump in pace up to AFL footy, but I went to bed with increased confidence that he can make a successful AFL return. (I was a bit sceptical beforehand.) Petracca was not all that impressive. (He was better in the first quarter against Collingwood.) His decision making was ordinary and he struggled to get involved at stoppages. He also needs to improve his transition running. He reminded me a lot of Colin Sylvia as a midfielder to be honest. In the AFL, I expect him to play as a small key position forward for the first half of his career (at least). Michie played a good serviceable game and was clean with ball in hand. Newton was also very clean and classy. Grimes and Terlich played like Grimes and Terlich. Garland made a few mistakes and is clearly under instruction to take the game on more often. He looks athletically well above VFL level. I still think he can get back to being a good AFL player if he can get his touch back. Both Weideman and Hulett look at least 12 months away from senior footy. Max King moves well and is skilled, but is still far too weak to play in the ruck. Stretch played mostly on the ball and was a little disappointing. He found the ball, but wasn’t as clean as he usually is. I actually think he is better suited to AFL than VFL, where the game can be a bit scrappy.

Gives Freo salary cap space though. I actually think it would have been better for us if he went. We don't have a first round pick either.

I think a lot of the criticism of Brayshaw this week is a touch unfair. He is really copping it because we had almost 22 contributors, which is very rare, and he played an ordinary, but still serviceable game. IMO the half forward role is probably the hardest role in footy today. It effectively means you get a hard tag and you also have limited opportunities due to being stationed away from the play at stoppages. I think, for this reason, expecting Brayshaw (or any player in the role) to be a high possession winner is unrealistic. The role also has a significant defensive element. This is not to say he shouldn't be omitted this week if the replacements deemed to be better, but, personally, I would be a bit hesitant to drop him for the second time in a month. He has, after all, been playing a role in a side that has kicked 36 goals in two weeks.

Assuming there are no changes to the senior side, this could be the Casey side to run out against Essendon on Sunday. Terlich O McDonald White Stretch Garland Smith Grimes Trengove M Jones Newton Dawes Petracca Hullett Weideman Neal-Bullen Max King Oliver Michie Munro Huchins McInerney T Smith

A lot of posters are keen to drop forwards Brayshaw and Frost, but it needs to be noted that we have kicked 36 goals in the last two weeks. While neither has had a major impact with ball in hand, they both apply great pressure and are designated to play lesser roles at stoppages. I would be reluctant to alter with the mix of our forward line too much. My view is that if we are looking to pick a side purely for St Kilda, then Matt Jones (if fit) is the first player to come into the side. He offers great transition run and a point of difference to our midfield. And if we are looking to pick a side with the longer-term future in mind, Brayshaw shouldn’t be dropped. He is still young and inexperienced and needs games to get used to the pace of AFL footy. But in saying this, Petracca and Oliver are in the same boat. We have an incredible amount of depth at the moment. Casey by 10 goals

I watched the first quarter of the Collingwood VFL game on the MFC website and thought Petracca looked a really good prospect. He looks to read the play very well, wins a lot of contested ball at stoppages and takes a great mark. The issue he will struggle with at AFL level is covering the ground. This will obviously improve through time, but I doubt he will ever be a strong runner. Even if he doesn't improve this significantly, I have no doubt he can make it as a forward who pinch hits in the midfield. The other comment I would make on Petracca is that he was a little sloppy at times with his skills in the parts I watched, albeit he had a lot of the ball and looks highly coordinated. As an aside, I thought Grimes was really good in quarter I saw.

I agree with your overall opinion that Matt Jones lack class, but he has been playing well for two months now. I think he would be incredibly stiff to be dropped. I also think he helps bring balance to our midfield, which is stacked with inside ball winners and lacks run and spread. This ability to get out in the open is particularly important this year given the new style of footy and rule changes. I see Billy Stretch as his most like-for-like replacement and I have Jones ahead at the moment.

The more I think about this, the more I feel Jayden Hunt should be omitted this week. I understand why other supporters would be reluctant to drop a player coming off a solid debut, but to my mind, he is clearly 22nd best player who played in last week’s side. And we need to maximise our chances of winning against Richmond. The other omission is much more open for debate, although I wouldn’t like to see Brayshaw being dropped again given he looks to be getting back to his old self. I also wouldn’t like to see Matt Jones omitted (although he may miss through injury) because I feel he is currently our best outside midfield runner. This is a tough choice and it will be interesting how Roos goes.

Considerations: Vince and Garlett (if fit) are automatic selections. Our bottom seven ranked players in terms of Supercoach were Hunt 40, Oliver 41, Brayshaw 57, Lumumba 62, Kennedy 64, Matt Jones 65 and Dunn 69. I didn’t think Dunn played very well on the weekend and looks out of form. Petracca is clearly showing he will be an AFL player in time but his fitness is still a weakness. Oliver will need a rest or two at some point during the season and the coaches may see this as a good opportunity to give him one. Hunt had a solid debut but is probably first in line to be dropped. Matt Jones may be injured. Vandenberg may also be fit, but I think he will need to come back via the VFL given our current form and short injury list. I think we will see Vince and Garlett come in for Hunt and Oliver (rested).

Jetta Dunn Garland N Jones T McDonald Vince M Jones Oliver Salem Kennedy Watts Kent Vandenberg Hogan Garlett Gawn Tyson Viney Brayshaw Frost Lumumba Bugg In: Brayshaw Lumumba Dunn Out: Pedersen O McDonald Harmes Dunn for Oscar McDonald. I think we are too tall up forward and have gone for Frost over Pedersen in a toss-up based on Frost’s speed and pressure over Pedersen’s marking ability. Lumumba in for an unlucky Harmes because I want to get our best side playing together. I think still we lack an outside runner with class and would like to see Salem pushed up to the wing. With the rule changes, I think we need to have at least one of Vince or Jones at half back. I think the tight interpretation of deliberate out of bounds means that dual sided kicking players will be at a premium, particularly out of the backline.

Each of those games were with extended benches. I am not saying Frost's tank (or Oliver's) is good or bad, but you cannot read that much into the preseason TOG stats. And I feel with the reduced rotations, we need the extra runner rather than playing both Pedersen and Frost.

This is my 22. Matt Jones plays because we lack outside run and he has had great preseason form. Frost over Pedersen because he tackles and chases better. I don't have both in the side because we need to maintain our pressure in the forward line and GWS are pretty quick. I think Hogan, Frost, Vandenberg and Watts provide enough targets. A fit and in form Lumumba is in my best 22, but his preseason has been short and Matt Jones and Harmes have been playing good footy and deserve a game. Oliver and Brayshaw are too good to be in the VFL.