RalphiusMaximus

It'll be great to see Tapscott playing at last. He and Blease should be appearing in the seconds at Casey at about the same time, so it could be worth a trip to watch them go.

Did Fitzpatrick miss the week before? Gotch mentioned something about a shoulder injury, but I haven't been keeping track too closely so I really aren't sure whether he played that match or not.

The question you need to ask is not what the player is worth, but what the AFL will give for them? Petterd is worth a top 10 pick. He has repeatedly shown his ability and beaten some of the best in the game. Any team in the league would take him if he were on the trade table. Sadly, the AFL have no intention of giving real value for poached players. Given the criteria they are using, things like B&F finishes and games played, we'll be lucky to get a 3rd round pick for him.

If you look at Jones' trip diary he does mention recovery work being done. Quite a few of the guys had played before going, so it shouldn't have been an issue.

In the grand scheme of things, next week really isn't anything to stress about. However, it would help my tipping if we won, so I guess moderately important.

I keep saying not to get your hopes up with Jurrah this season. Nobody seems to listen. Give the guy time to get his game back together, then you can expect magic.

I can't see Brad Miller netting us a first round pick. Maybe 3rd or 4th. Probably not. I doubt another club would take him.

Big +1 here. A 2m forward who roves the pack and snaps a goal is always a good thing. He's got a long way to go, but I think he's starting to show us a bit. On the down side there was that marking contest where it looked very much like he pulled out rather than take the front-on contact... On Jurrah's game, he did have one very nice play. Took a mark on the lead at about 60m. Stepped around the man on the mark, ran to 50 and then sadly missed by a foot or so. He's still got it, it just needs some oil and a good polish.

There is no way we will make the 8 this year. Next year we are a decent chance if things fall our way, but this year we are going for upper half of the bottom 8. If we manage that I'll be thrilled.

I am very sad to see Kreuzer go down. As much as I despise Carlton, he is great to watch. He's developing into a really good player and probably all-Australian in the next few years. About what you'd expect from the player two clubs were fighting over. It would of course be even better if he walked out on them and came over to us in the PSD, but that's not going to happen. Best of luck to him on his recovery, and may he come to his senses and ditch Carlton for a decent side while he's young enough to enjoy it.

Interesting problem to have really. I think it is a very good thing that we struggle to find players to delist at season's end. We are required to clear 3 spots on our list aren't we? Here's my thoughts on possible outcomes: Delisted. PJ - I wish it weren't so. He is a man mountain with great agility, but his skills just aren't good enough. THey seem to be trying to train him for positions other than ruck down at Casey, but from what I've seen of him he's just not good enough. Bell - He's bulked up a lot since we last saw him play for the seniors. He is now something like a poor man's Moloney. Sadly he doesn't have the speed, kicking or attack to match the build. I doubt we'll see him in Red and Blue again. Miller - This one is more questionable. Most of us agree that he's not really up to it, but he is at the moment the only strong and mature player in our forward structure. I don't think that's a reason to keep him on the list, but it might be enough to save him for another year, especially if he has a good second half. Newton - Not much doubt here. Meesen - See above. Healey - Has not played a senior game and on what he's showed at Casey isn't going to. The fact that they use him as a tagger does not speak well of his ability. Retired. Junior - He's playing brilliantly, and probably could go around another season or two, but in reality he's taking a spot away from a young player who needs experience. I would like to see him retained on staff as an assistant coach or even just in a mentoring role. Bruce - A bit of an unknown here. He no longer has the athletic attributes he once enjoyed and the flaws in his game are being shown up more and more. However, he is still performing in games and doing specialised jobs for the coaches. Personally I think it is time for him, but who knows what he or the coaching panel think? Possible trades? Who knows? I wouldn't be surprised if McNamara asked to be traded. He's a pretty decent player, but there's not a lot of room for him in the side as it stands. Maric could be shopped around, but he won't have much value on the trade table given his lack of game time. Dunn may also wish to look elsewhere depending on the Petterd issue. I think there is one place in the forward line for the two of them to fill. Petterd would get the nod I would think, so opportunities may be lacking for Dunn. We will use picks to elevate Jordie McKenzie and probably Jake Spencer to the main list. I'm not sure on Hughes. He didn't really impress in his two matches so far, but has been repeatedly mentioned as in our long term plans. I have no idea where he'll be at season's end. Of interest is the form of Clint Bartram. I had him down as a certainty to be gone once his contract ran out, but he has managed to reinvent himself as a back pocket and become a starting 18 player again. He still lacks disposal skill which may come back to haunt him in the future, but for now he's gone from a certain delisting to safe.

It actually reminded me a little of the first couple of pre-season games he played. He seemed to be very out of sorts and uninterested at times. He went for a few spectacular things (a couple of big mark attempts, a kick for goal over his head...) but was not putting any effort into basic play. Needs to drastically up his workrate this year.

Hell no. He didn't have a chance in hell today, but he's clearly not ready. There was no defensive pressure from him at all today. I was constantly noticing him standing watching while the play went on nearby. He needs to get himself back to real match fitness and start using that speed to chase guys down before we put him back in.

We saw the return if not the excitement. Happy he got through the whole game without further injury. On a day like that it's about all you can say.

I say again, don't hang your hopes on Jurrah this season. He's coming off a long injury layoff and has had no gametime for months. Ig you expect him to come out and win games for us you'll just be disappointed. It's great that he's getting back into it, but I don't expect much this year. Next season with another pre-season into him we can expect the fun to begin.

The pass was awful, but his clean pickup was pretty great. I just wish he'd followed it up with a pinpoint pass to a teammate at half forward rather than what he wound up doing.

Interesting. I wonder how long that would keep him out of the team? Will they rest him for the next game as a precaution or is a week and a half long enough?

I may be way off base, but it looks to me like Jack's gone and gotten a tattoo to mark the occasion.

I think he takes a little too long about it to be a great field kick. He's a very nice set shot, so when he takes a grab in the forward 50 I prefer to see him take the shot, but in general play he's better off giving off to someone a little quicker.

No rush to debut Blease, Tapscott and Gawn. Nor Fitzpatrick for that matter. Let them have the benefits of a full pre-season and see how they go next year. We'll have less new faces around the club next year anyway, so there won't be so many waiting in line for their chance at a first game.

I prefer a draw to stand as a draw. 2 points each is a fair outcome. After the game we saw on Monday I don't think either team deserved to walk off knowing that they'd blown it in extra time.

Aside from the top two in Jamar and Moloney this is a hard one to pick. Lots of very good performances. 6. Jamar 5. Moloney 4. Morton 3. Garland 2. Frawley 1. Bartram

I couldn't agree more. Both of them were outstanding. We saw today what Morton is going to be like if he continues to play on the wing. I suspect a few opposition coaches took note of his game today. And Garland is beginning to get his game back together. He could well be dominating by the end of the year.

Watch the game again and note his handballs in traffic. That's where he picks up the ball and passes to a teammate in the same action. His hands are almost as good as Scully's.

I can see that people are going to focus on that one moment of idiocy, aren't they? Watts was pretty fair for most of the game. Not dominant and probably nothing that another player couldn't have done, but he was pretty decent up the ground. He kicked a stunning ball to Dunn for the goal, once again showed his clean hands and took a couple of good marks. Sadly, a few times he got lost and nailed in the tackle. While his lack of awareness was evident, it was also evident that he had absolutely nothing to pass to and was waiting for something to present itself. Aside from the commentary on Watts, I honestly can't think of a player I wasn't happy with. Green was wayward with his set shots which cost us badly, but otherwise was good once again. We had some nasty mistakes in the back half, none worse than Grimes' attempt to punch the ball through which dropped short and was kicked through By Dick, but overall the team as a whole was great and a few players were outstanding.