DeeSpencer

FB: Howes Petty Lever HB: Lindsay Turner Salem C: Langdon Steele Langford HF: Chandler Mihocek K. Pickett FF: L. Pickett JVR Fritsch Foll: Gawn Rivers Windsor Int: CJ, Sparrow, ????, ????, ???? From: Culley, Laurie, Sharp, Kolt, Melksham, ?Matthews Still not sure what the right mix of the bench players will be. Would like to see Culley play a half in a Casey scratch match next week. Logic says pick our fittest and hardest runners so go 2 of Kolt, Laurie and Sharp. But they aren’t inspiring choices.

I wouldn’t expect Heath to be picked. King comes from the Geelong school of one or even no specialist rucks. And usually no more than 2 tall forwards. Hawkins/Cameron or Neale/Cameron The game plan involves multiple talls behind the ball but a super open forward line with as much speed and space as possible. Based on that I suspect it will be Mihocek, JVR and Fritsch. Perhaps Melk if there’s no one better for the 5th bench spot but that depends on how well Melk is covering the ground. If Jeffo was healthy he’d be the 3rd tall because he’s so mobile he doesn’t clog the forward line. Luker was a chance too but he had to win his spot with a strong performance against the Tigers. Heath as a pure ruck is a completely different scenario.

Good news is no more potential for injury, bad news is we miss out on a bit of conditioning and practice and don’t get to see X Taylor or Matthews. Positives from what we did see: Game style was consistent and stacked up JVR and Windsor were excellent after quiet weeks last week More strong performances from the likes of Rivers, Lindsay, Salem, Howes, Fritsch, Sparrow Room for improvements: Still want to see more impact both with the ball and with defensive pressure out of small forwards in Trell, Sharp, Laurie, Kolt and Chandler. Jiath had a bit of a shocker! Both Petty and Lever had poor moments. But it’s a new system playing wide open footy but trying to keep one spare torwards the back. History says it takes most of a season to fix that kind of stuff. Petty had one howler turnover and got beat up a couple of times by Lynch, which happens to most key backs. But his mobility at ground level helped clean things up a few times too. The question will be how quickly can he stiffen defensively, he can do it and lock down the full back spot, but it’s up to him.

Wind always finds out the bad kicks. Not that he’s ever good but he’s particularly bad in the wind.

Small thing but Langford needs to show way more urgency on the mark

The most significant feature of the game even when it hasn’t worked is our desire to dispose of the ball to where someone will be not where they are. The off ball movement and communication to make it happen is good stuff. Hopefully it can work against better sides

Ball movement and forward line looks excellent without any big lumps taking up space. We might need to pick a 3rd tall to go with Mihocek and JvR in round 1 to protect against injury. But equally we might not.

We got to do whatever we can to not have Lever as our deepest defender.

Luker subbed off for T Mc effectively. Wonder if he plays forward. X Taylor and Matthews the remaining subs in the warm up clothes. Hopefully see them in the second half.

I disagee. The game and rules have changed now and players have to take responsibility for their spoiling attempts. We’ve seen Maynard banned for a round house spoil. This wasn’t that bad but it was very agricultural and missed the ball by a fair way. He also chose the right arm where the left would’ve given him a chance of spoiling taking the head. There also a role for our players in preventing our own injuries. Langford has to stay out or our body between his opponent and Luker. It’s something we’ve been really bad at for a long time.

Why take away history of this man and a a classic Melbourne street for Ron? The redevelopment of the Southern Stand is sure to provide ample opportunities to name things especially if they expand over the train line and renovate Richmond station.

Of course he won’t be back at his best, at least not right away. But there’s so much time for him to build his running, do a simulated preseason, have a couple of Casey hit outs and play 10-12 games.

Crowds haven’t been great but that’s common across aflw. Only the club would know the impact on membership and developing a fan base out there. It’s not the optimal ground, but I don’t think anywhere else is better.

He has the agility too, you can see it with his tackling. He isn’t up with the pace of the game a ball winner or user. But with good coaching that can be taught, especially after learning AFL speed at half back.

Tom Stewart had a Lisfranc in mid August 2021, recovered in 3 months , did a full preseason and played every game he wasn’t suspended for in 2022 and was All Australian. There’s no reason Bowser with an early December lisfranc can’t be back training in April, ready to go in May if not June and play half the season. Good for half the season. Thats not optimism, thats a realistic injury time line.