The Chazz

I'm not so sure why we are saying Max isn't ready. He has played 5 senior games at Casey this year, and 1 reserves game. The only reason he played the reserves game was becuase they wanted him to have a full game in the ruck, rather than sharing with Pencil. Max was being picked in the seniors week after week on merit, as he was delivering what was expected of him. Young ruckmen take longer unless they are freaks. What's to say this kid isn't one? Would love to see him line up at Full Forward on Friday night, along side of Howe, Jurrah and Watts. (Would mean 3 debuts on the one night if Blease were to play too). I think one thing is for certain - Carlton will try and intimidate the hell out of us. Would love to see someone try and do that to a 208cm giant!

Would like to see it, and don't think it's unrealistic. Ok, he still needs to improve on a couple of things according to the Casey reports, but the things that he is doing well (running, creating off half back), he seems to be doing these at the right standard. I think he will be the type of player that once given the opportunity in the big league, those little areas of improvement in his game might just come in to line. With that in mind, would like to see him tag Yarran of Garlett. Would make a great statement, drop a senior/leader to substitute due to poor performance, and replace his starting 18 position with a debutante.

Where's Byron when we need him most?

I think Blease is a certain starter this week. All comments from Bailey, Rivers and our own thoughts fully understand the importance of pace off the half back line, and with Tapscott out, and Davey questionable, and the fact they want players who have shown form in recent weeks at Casey, all roads lead to Blease. Thursday night selection will be a big one. As the week gets on, I am doubting that Davey will be dropped, but as a minimum he has to be made sub. That will make a big enough statement for me, and a firm word from the playing group that we don't accept that any more/do it again you're out.

Sorry Gotzy, just want to bring you back down to earth. Gysberts may well turn out to be a great player, but at the moment, he is far from one of the best clearance players. It would be argued that he is the best clearnace player at Melbourne, I personally have Moloney and Sylvia way ahead at this stage, but that doesn't mean that they are the best in the comp. They are far from that, wlthough Moloney is possibly in the top 5-10. I doubt I'd have Gysberts in the top 20 in the competition. People need to realise that Gysberts has shown he has the potential to be a topline player, but he is atleast 2 years of consistent footy from being judged any higher.

Wow, didn't expect that response, but thanks for all your thoughts! The joys of internet forums (I din't think it sounded that stupid when I was writing it!!!). Anyway, if everyone here is happy for them to go with it, I'll go along too. The main comment made, that really made me stop and listen, was what Crawford had to say in the Herald Sun article. "They're all adults, they would all know when it is appropriate to use it, so it (phones) must be an issue, the coach must think it's affecting them. "'Clarko' can be very strong-minded and set in his ways but I know I wouldn't have won a premiership in 2008 if he wasn't like that. Maybe he has brought back that hardness from 2008 and is installing that in 2011." Just thought it was interesting to hear what other Clubs are doing, and have done, in their bid for a premiership. As I have seen, 99.9% of you would think he is going to far!

Well, I'm not sure what it would achieve Artie, but when the media experts are starting to mention it with a negative spin on it, I'm all ears. Are some players getting a bit ahead of themselves based on how many followers they have? I'm doubtful, but who knows. I'm a missionary type of guy, and would prefer our blokes to just let their footy do the talking. The Club is going through some tough times at the moment, so I'm just looking at ways that would hopefully bring them closer together to make sure they get through it more united than ever. If they feel that Tweeting every 5 minutes is going to achieve this, then go for it, but I'd be interested to know how many Collingwood or Geelong players are in the Twitter-verse.

After reading that Clarkson had a mobile phone ban last weekend in Sydney, it made me wonder if Bailey & Co should really consider enforcing a Twitter ban. While I'm the first to put my hand up and admit that I enjoy what the players do in their own time, and it does give a good insight in to the personality of them, I think it's time we got serious and eliminated as many external distractions as we can, and in a phrase that we have heard recently, get back to basics. While I'd hope that the last thing players are thinking about when they run out is what they are going to Tweet next, it raised my eyebrows last Thursday night during League Teams when Brian Taylor even said that the players should get off Twitter and just focus on their football. They make claims about how their training was spot on, how they have things to work on, and all the rest of the token lines that we hear week after week, maybe it's time for the boys to be given a 4 week ban during what is undoubtedly the biggest month of football that our Club has faced in recent times. It might seem like I'm clutching at straws, but I can't see it hurting us, especially if the media are starting to draw attention to it. A total contradiction to what I have just written, but does anyone know why Cam Schwab has been MIA on the Twitter-front for some period of time?

Even if Jamar was almost ready to come back for that game, I would be giving him the week off, especially now the [deleted]is out. Gives Russian an extra week to get over his injury.

Doesn't matter a stuff how long the Coach has been there, it's the players on the list. Wallace and his recuitment staff helped Hardwick in some regards. They had very low draft picks and couldn't not take certain players (ie Delidio, Cotchin, etc). While I totally agree that TW stuffed that list, it was a majority that he stuffed - some of it they got right.

It shouldn't matter a toss who we are playing. I too hate Carlton, but if I were Coach, and am trying to gain/maintain respect from the playing group, I would drop him. Our players like Sylvia and Jones, get on their Twitter accounts and continue to preach to us about making a stand, and that we as a Club must stand for something, this is the time to show we are like Extreme, in that we are more than words.

Since day 1, everyone (well, a lot of people) told him to watch footage of Reiwoldt, and learn how he goes about things. The thing that I want Watts to do now is watch footage of Reiwoldt again, but this time, make it Jack and not Nick. The thing that stood out the most on Saturday night, was just how confident Reiwoldt is in his ability. He believes that every marking situation he is in that he will win it. Doesn't matter if he is 5 back, he'll launch with such high expectations on himself. The thing with him though, is that he doens't drop his head if he doesn't, because he knows he has made a good contest. Watts can do this too. I said after watching the Adelaide game that every time we went forward, I just wanted them to kick it to Jack, regardless of how many defenders he had hanging off him. I had that belief that he could win some big marking contests. The belief Jack has in himself is starting to build, and he will become a great footballer if he can continue to build it, which I think he can.

1. Chris Johnson 2. Brock McLean 3. Cam Bruce They are my favourite because they don't play for us anymore. To be honest; +1

Someone summed it up perfectly in a different thread. We seem so focused on individual player development, that we look as though we have lost focus on team development. Even with injuries, it is vital that you come together as a unit. The boys spend that much time with each other each week, that they really have no excuse in this. I'm a bit like Ralphy, I have no idea if Bailey can coach. I'd like to think he can - he has got our team to put in some mighty impressive performances over the past 12 months (Sydney last year, Gold Coast in a way, Adelaide), but obviosuly it's the consistency that is crippling us at the moment. I'm also not sure what to make of this game plan. We are obviously different to everyone else, but when we have executed it to perfection, we all know the results (see above-mentioned wins). I don't care who our opposition would be, they would struggle to contain the MFC when we are "on". This thing about following the leader doesn't sit well with me, might give immediate relief, but long term can really set us back, so playing our own brand may just be the way to go, providing our team/supporters/media can appreicate there will be more downs than ups until we can execute it to the centimetre. Watching other teams play is quite a reality check. Using Geelong as an example, they are such a tight group of players, who don't accept passengers. They generally don't have to highlight this becuase it is the expectation of all players to be of that mindset. They also have such a well built team, with a number of players having such a physical presence on the field. Regardless of who is coaching us, it wont be for another 2 or 3 years until we look like that. We've seen how big Watts is getting, give him another 2 preseasons and he will be a big man. Richmond are a bigger team than us, and so they should be. The comment about us being ahead in our development is rubbish. They have been down for so many years, that they have their fair share of high draft picks, and a number of players in that 23-26 age range. I can't wait to see what our guys look like when we have 4 or 5 at that age - Grimes, Frawley, Watts, Gysberts, Scully, Trengove, but, we're talking 3 to 4 years away. Surely when that happens, that core of blokes will be well up there in the top echelon of the AFL, something that Richmond wont have. It is a big rollercoaster at the moment, not only week by week, but minute by minute. Our young guys need to look up to our old guys for belief. The belief that even though we are 4 goals down, we're still in the game. The belief that the game does not finish until that final siren. While they aren't getting this, we will continue to struggle. Even though he is a 2nd year player, the loss of Scully YTD has had a massive impact on our team. He is a true leader, has the never say die attitude, one of which I think even Moloney, Jones and Sylvia feed off. We are a better team with him in. Lastly, if Bailey is to be given his marching orders at the end of the season, there will be a coach that takes over a very good list, and will look like a hero in a couple of years time. It'll be unfair on DB to see this happen, but that's life unfortunately.

I would love to see him start on a half back flank against Carlton. Give him 15 minutes there, then put him straight up the forward line - do this for the first 3 quarters. The little team things are of concern, but he's not on his own. Starting on a HBF will hopefully make him more accountable. The thing with LJ is that what he can do in 15 minutes, can take someone else all game to do, hence me giving him that opportunity up forward in the 2nd half of each quarter. We have seen the difference in Watts when he started getting his hands on the pill more, I wonder ig the same tonic could be effective with LJ?

If the Club want to "stand for something", they must back up their comments. Drop him and we know what the Club expects, keep him in and we know what they accept. Only thing that I would consider is making him sub, but he'd wanna put in a hard week on the training track to even be considered. I don't our injury list to be an excuse. A bloke like Blease would be champing at the bit to get out there and prove himself after a horror couple of years. I get a feeling by his tweet that he believes he is a chance this week.

I'm getting over the talk of "x player isn't ready". If they are playing Casey seniors, and have done so for most of the year, and especially those that were there last year too, they are ready given our injury situation. The Gold Coast boys are far from ready, but one thing about them is that you know they are having a red hot crack. That said, they have to have shown SOME form at Casey to be considered. That's why I think Blease, Howe and maybe Gawn have to come in. I called for the dropping of Davey on Saturday night, if this doesn't happen, the call for him to become the substitute is right on the money. That would be a massive kick in the guts to him, and will give him about 40 minutes to prove himself. Sadly, given our track record, our subs are currently playing 95% game time anyway - bloody 1st quarter injuries!

1. J Reiwoldt 2. M Murphy 3. S Milne

What I am alluding to is the fact that Jurrah has obviously got natural talents that weren't developed through the traditional system, therefore, he may not have had the exposure to the level of coaching that a lot of others have. Becuase if this, and his amazing instinct, it was well documented when he first burst on the scene that he would be a hard player to coach. Numerous experts said that you wouldn't want to coach him too much at the risk of him needing to think too much rather than just doing what is natural. I totally agree with this opinion, but as a poster said earlier, the small things like body language, etc, they should be pointed out to Liam as an area of immediate improvement. Hopefully that has answered your post WA. I'd also like to know what you thought I was meaning. I have been acused of the "R" word on here before, your post had the same smell. I sent a text message to a couple of friends last night regarding MR Davey. It said something like this; "If Davey isn't dropped, we know what the Club accepts. If he is, it'll show us what they expect". From a supporters point of view, and after continually hearing about we must make a stand, there will be no better way to prove it than dropping one of our leaders for a dismal display.

What about his other games this year? Are they one-offs?

Thanks Clint. Shame there will only be 2 of us on here that think the same. Rick, I like him, the same way I like Robbo, but PLEASE...

If we sacked out coach half way through the season, I think it will = a number of steps backward. Out: Tapscott (bugger it), Davey, Newton, Bate In; Gawn, Blease, Bennell/Howe (depending who plays better at Casey), Strauss Carlton are quick, we need pace, pace and more pace. Have Bennell as the substitute, Gawn in ruck, Martin Full Forward, Watts CHF, Jurrah wing. Petterd has didged one this week.

I didn't expect you to agree with the Petterd-bash, considering he is your favourite player. But just sit back and watch his games this year. He has played a top quarter (when he was sub), but minimal sice then. He IS fast becomming our newest Robbo.

Not even going to comment on the Davey reply, apart from these words - WATCH THE FREAKING GAME! I don't understand how you think I don't agree with the coaching method. Tell me where I am questioning that, and I will hasppily respond. Didn't mention that those players didn't play well. Most of them I voted for in the POTY thread. Try again.

You pick on a couple of times when Jones got caught trying to create. How about these 3 words for Jones, words that you couldn't give to too many others; Shows Great Leadership Has a go Hold head up Good 100th game But yet, you choose to criticise him