RalphiusMaximus

Well, that was interesting. From where I sit it looked a lot like they did to us what we do to other sides. They choked our scoring and then they an us into the ground. They worked a lot harder defensively, put pressure on our disposals and got a lot of cheap turnovers out of it. Their defence worked as a unit and dominated our tall forwards. Their midfield depth looked better than ours as well. While Viney and Oliver held up, the rest of the midfield really struggled. Petracca was all but invisible (I hear he was sick?) On the good side of the ledger for us: The usual suspects did what they usually do. Gawn, Oliver, Viney and Brayshaw all get a pass. Jordon held his own I was thrilled for Toby Bedford to get a couple of nice goals (although one of them I'm fairly sure the runner told him off for not passing) Loved seeing Rivers vs Young on the wing contesting for a loose bouncing ball. Young is every bit the gun we thought he'd be, so for Rivers to attack the contest that hard and get the win was a great credit to him.

4.5 - Gawn 4.5 - Viney 4.5 - Oliver 4.5 - Brayshaw 2 - Pickett 1 - Jordon

Fremantle has more or less followed the same pattern we have in building their side. They have dominant mids and backs and an ok forward-line. Their tall backs absolutely destroyed our tall forwards today. Part of that was the pressure from the midfield, but they also did what our own defence often does to other sides. They worked together, tied up the forwards and created space for an intercept mark. With Brown really the only marking threat to worry about it was a simple matter for them to block him out of the contest and let a teammate take the mark.

Both are supremely fit. Eventually they just run the legs off anyone who tries to stop them.

Sparrow - Career best game.

6 - Gawn 5 - Oliver 4 - Gus 3 - Langdon 2 - Sparrow 1 - May

6 - Gus 5 - Oliver 4 - Weid 3 - Langdon 2 - Smith 1 - Harmes

Great little interview from Gus there in the rooms. 20 marks for a defensive winger is a hell of an effort.

It's strange watching a game like that. We kept trying to overhandle the ball as if it were a dry day with perfect conditions, fumbled, missed targets and turned it over, yet even when the bombers took the lead it never looked like we were in trouble. You always knew that they were able to shut that [censored] down and kick away when they needed to .

Bizarre game to watch. The Demons haven't hit top gear yet this season. They just keep the score low and do enough to stay ahead.

I want to see Spargo dropped. He's not necessarily playing badly, but I saw him a number of times play for the free rather than the ball and wind up turning it over. If he keeps doing that he's going to turn into a liability. They need to remind him how to play hard footy. Much as I like Hunt, he also needs to go away and sort out his kicking. It may have been because of the humidity and slippery ball, but he was a disaster by foot. I would really love it if we could bring in Deakyn Smith and give Toby Bedford a start to replace them, but that would probably be a really bad move right now. While I think Bedford taking Spargo's spot is a solid call, Smith is probably a few names down the list. More likely to bring in one of the established defenders. I'm going with Hunt out and replaced by either Lever or Hibberd, and Spargo out, replaced by Bedford.

I had questions aver his ability earlier last year, but was rightfully corrected by those who watch the Casey games. Looking at the few times I've seen him in the seniors, it looks like he has the pace and class, but struggles to adjust to the speed of the game. That's not uncommon with young players when they first make the step up from VFL, so not a damning criticism by any means. I think he needs to get a decent run at the top level to see if he can make the adjustment and find his place in the side. If they can give him a month, we might see him having a real impact.

Well that was interesting. Carlton are clearly still lacking in some class and execution under pressure, but their workrate and contested work was first class. They were the width of a post away from blowing that game right out. Also, good on their fans for singing the song like that when they won. First time in a decade they've won in round one and they deserve to celebrate it.

Looking at the timeline, there's a good chance he was named for Chris Judd.

Good write-up. I would add that Harris looks very willing to crash into bodies. Her goal came after she just bulled her opponent off the ball, and there were several other contests where she crunched into people but didn't wind up with the ball. That might wind up being her biggest contribution, clearing space for Hore and Pearce to work in.

That should have been a thrashing. We kicked the first three goals straight, then lost the targeting somehow and kicked one goal eight over the next quarter and a bit. If Harris hadn't snapped a steadier it might have been an embarrassing loss.

He's also very much a Goodwin type of player. Big on work ethic and effort.

I maintain that Molan is the unluckiest player ever drafted. Reading his playing history is like a Greek Tragedy. The Gods were punishing the poor guy.

Just watched the repay again. Noticed a new thing, in that Sparrow was actually kind of amazing. Had at least three direct goal assists that I noted and he seems to love crashing into bodies. The kid can play. Also, how good was the whole team effort in the second half? No passengers. I don't think I've ever seen the team play better than that half.

He's our Richie Vandenberg. He carried the club through it's worst, kept setting standards and taught our kids how to be professional athletes, then took a back seat and watched them use what he taught them to win a flag. An absolute legend of the club.

Let's not forget the unluckiest man to ever pull on the jumper, Luke Molan.

I just don't get why. Is he going to be in our starting 22? I'm sure he's decent depth, but why would he come to us when he's unlikely to be getting gametime? It's basically a good pickup for Casey.

I couldn't remember why we didn't have a first round pick this year, so I went hunting. Turns out Brisbane gambled on us having a bad year. They gave us picks 18 and 19 in the 2020 draft, along with their second round pick this year, in exchange for our first round pick this year and picks 25, 68 and 69 last year. Basically gave up 18 and 19 in return for pick 18. They must be just a little peeved at us winning the GF. 🤣

I think we're not too bad on cover for the small backs right now. Deakyn Smith has looked pretty good at Casey, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if he got a look in at some point. Hunt is still around and Bowey is only going to get better.

Interesting choices. Lockhart and Bradtke are the real surprises for me. I think it possibly says a lot for how Deakyn Smith is coming along that they have moved Jay on given that he held his own pretty well at AFL level and Hibberd isn't going to play on for too much longer. Also thought Bradtke had shown a bit and as a cat B rookie we had plenty more time to work on him. I'll be very surprised if Nev doesn't make the call in the next few weeks as well. Also wouldn't be at all surprised to see Vanders wind up at the Saints or Collingwood. Both could use his power and he'd be a cheap pickup. Edit: Well [censored]. I look a few lines down the homepage and there it is, Nev has called it.