DeeSpencer

That’s a better hand ball than anything our regular key forwards have done in years. On that alone keep Petty forward

No key forwards can do anything about kicks to their opponents. That Fritsch kick that missed Petty a classic example

May needs to be banned from kicking in until he takes better options. They have to spread the talls and kick to the one Barrass isn’t on. It’s not rocket science

There’s just not much speed, bend or jump in the old legs. He perfectly read the play there to get the ball inside 9 and rush it using a team mate but bending down and firing the handball tested him. As does every contested situation he’s in. I think we’d be wise to give him a week off every now and then for a physical and mental freshen up.

That Sparrow tap on and combination from our midfield was excellent. Do that more please.

Brayshaw once again let’s his man gather easy possession from a centre clearance. It’s purely lack of concentration and poor speed. It can’t be tolerated

You stink too

It’s not too early to sub Brayshaw off. Gosh he stinks

Nonsense, he would’ve put talks on hold so his football can do the talking. We would only be offering him depth player money if he’s in the 2’s and other clubs probably wouldn’t be all that interested. Both he and the club will be able to get a more accurate indication of his value once he’s played a block of games. A player who won’t negotiate late in the season is a problem. A player striving for his spot in the side to demonstrate his value isn’t a problem at all.

Hit a record high of $2.45 after the coaches votes, but has now settled at $2.25. Work rate, strong hands and good tackle numbers are all positives. Hitting the scoreboard well. Decision making with the ball seems to have settled down. Would still like to see a bit more speed and pressure.

The older suburbs in the West are really only Footscray, Maribyrnong, Seddon, Sunshine, St Albans and a few select others. As well as Yarraville and Williamstown but they had/have VFA (now VFL) teams. Many of the western suburbs you see today: Taylor’s Lakes, Caroline Springs, Point Cook are modern inventions and people there are less likely to support a team based on location. Though the dogs will still be well represented. For other teams it’s mostly self explanatory how they grew but it’s certainly changed now. Collingwood has huge support through the Mernda and Hurstbridge train lines as they went by Vic Park. You can trace those trains on Google maps. Hawthorn capitalised through the outer east for similar reasons with Glenferrie and Waverley Park. They also had a recruiting zone in the Mornington Peninsula. The Saints bayside. North were landlocked by Essendon. Fitzroy surrounded on all sides. Carlton and Essendon do well in the Northern suburbs. Richmond went a bit everywhere. North, South East. The demons heartland you can read more about here: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/457351/melbourne-returns-to-its-heartland But Brighton, Glen Iris, Malvern, Camberwell are some of the areas that represent our wealthier fans. Some of that is stereotyping but the MCC, top end of town aspect of our club is real. The other major area that we are well represented in is in and around Bentleigh. We had the Bentleigh club, the local team is the Bentleigh demons and many of our players did live in the area.

So they still have Barrass and Hurn, and I assume they can bring in a couple of potentially good young defenders in Bazzo and Hough. Maybe even Harry Edwards too who's not terrible. Not saying they're world beaters by any means but I think key back is one position where they're at least got some options.

I haven’t been following the Eagles injuries closely but tall defenders is their deepest group, we shouldn’t entirely underestimate who they bring in. And given BBB is hopefully back in a week as well as JVR and Petty have 1 games experience I’d stick with the structure. Of course no one healthy should need a rest, but it’s a marathon season with a short break and travel next week. Someone has to miss out if we keep the same 3 tall structure and if they aren’t dropped they are ‘rested’. Sparrow, JJ, Pickett, Chandler, Spargo are all fit enough to be up and back runners. Of course there’s no good options here. If we do go small the one thing I’d be interested in would be playing Tracc heavily forward, including deep forward. I’d love to get his goal kicking going.

Melksham for Brown. We can’t overload Grundy, Petty and JVR’s plates, a third taller forward option to do some bullocking is required. Whilst I don’t love the idea of a full Melk game I didn’t see enough from T Mc at Casey. Who makes way for Pickett: Chandler - no, he’s doing his job as the specialist small Spargo - unlikely, he’s still the connector JJ - makes sense as last in, first out, but he was excellent against Sydney and I think it’s vital to get him some momentum in the side in a new role Sparrow - probably the most logical choice but he’s a super hard worker and bursting with potential. I really think he’ll break a game open soon So from a process of elimination I’d give ANB a potential rest as sub purely to give others an opportunity. He’d be straight back in next week regardless.

Samson Ryan came on at 3/4 time after Petty had completely destroyed Riewoldt in hot, windy, humid Casey weather and when the game was glorified circle work for the last quarter. Naughton had 11 touches, 5 marks and kicked 1.2. He had better stats against the Saints who held them to 5 goals for the game. Having a tall with some agility an aggression made a huge difference compared with Tom being unable or unwilling to turn or jump.

Was waiting for someone to say this. Made me laugh every time it came up before the drafts. And there's every chance we lose one of our current sandgropers, maybe even Rivers soon, which if it happens is totally fine. Keep drafting the best talent and backing in our development. If cricket is any kind of guide then WA is only behind NSW for the deepest pool of sporting talent and that gap seems to be shrinking. We should be adding WA kids just about every year.

Top 4 was pretty clear cut with the 1 votes probably coming from a list of up to 10 names. Would love to know if Goody gave Chandler the 1 voter. He's earnt it.

Had time to watch the replay and agree with others that it was a solid but unspectacular Casey performance. Probably more of a win for their system than individual player performances. The midfield was probably about even on the day. Dunstan and Munro were certainly prolific but didn't exactly break the game open. Laurie had a bit of time on ball in the first half and had some quality moments, seemed to play forward in the 3rd then leave at 3/4 time. A lot of baldy the Baldi after that. And George Gray was solid all day and I'm convinced there's lesser talents on AFL lists. Buntine, Steele and McRae the wing rotation. Buntine might be a very good coach if he's as smart as he plays. Backline were excellent. Really liked the Casey duo of Shep and Gregory. Jed Adams was tested early by Aaron Francis but battled in to it. Tomlinson wasn't perfect on McLean but he won his share of direct contests and then did very well as the sweeper. K Turner had some good moments. Whilst most of Howes' marks came from team mates I did think he looked strong in some ground ball contests especially early and he positioned well to receive the ball. His kicking was safe but quick. It wasn't quite a demand to be picked game like Hibbo's last week but it was certainly well worth taking notice of. Up forward, Sestan - classy and smart if not involved a heap. Jefferson - the 3 of the 4 goals we could actually see were as soft as they come. No idea about the 4th that occurred with the screen offline. But he had one strong inside 50 mark pinched by AMW, one mark taken by the umps for what I thought was a push in the side and a couple of nearly grabs. Speaking of AMW I thought he displayed the most talent of anyone on the ground. His ability to win a contest on the ground or in the air was excellent and he just needed to tidy it up a touch. Tommy Mc dominated Gould in the air as he should and led up well, but unfortunately his disposal was largely junk. He never takes the quick handball option and loves the big U turn or the fend and his field kicking radar was mostly absent. Good to get him some touches but probably needs at least another week to start doing something with them because he should've been dominant.

We have a habit of making Reid look very good, and he has a habit of kicking his set shots against us when he often can't hit the side of the barn. Amartey got to play the Reid role of getting some easy touches but luckily his radar wasn't on. The Swans talls - whilst capable - have often beat us because our midfield drops away. Some times at the contest against a strong and consistent Swans midfield, but more often and more dangerously when they get their running game rolling with their deep collection of skilled mids and flankers. Apart from some short periods in the 2nd and 3rd when they found space we did a good job of keeping them contained. The likes of Warner, Gulden, Florent, Mills and so on will run and gun through a lot of sides

And thinking about the gather round are we going to Perth, coming home, then flying to Adelaide? Would be a good opportunity to stay in Perth or Adelaide from Monday-Friday next week and save a flight. Anyone know if the Joondalup resort has vacancies?

Has nothing to do with the opponent for me. I don’t care if we’re playing the best or worst side in the comp I wouldn’t be taking BBB on a Perth trip with a bad back. Especially with a 6 day back up to the Dons game in Adelaide. Managing the veteran forwards will prevent them getting longer injuries which then puts too much of a load on the younger guys

Oliver wasn’t in the best 3 for me in round 1 and was busy but diabolical in round 2. I thought he was best on yesterday but Petracca was the most prolific so there’s every chance he gets the 3 votes. It’s very hard to win the Brownlow when you aren’t the clear number 1 player on a team. Tracc, a healthy Gawn and hopefully Pickett and others will chip away at his votes. But if he can win the coaches award again that will be just fine for me.

Petty and Tomlison, replaced today with Hibbo and May. We've had 7 defenders in every game, we can't pick 6 and just go with she'll be right.

Who's going to play half back? Can't be Petty unless there's another tall forward come in. Don't say JJ, nothing about his game is suited to half back apart from his fitness and discipline. Would probably have to be Hunter from the 22 named and that's asking a lot of old legs and suspect aerial work. If Hibbo is out we need to pick another defender.

Oliver might be in trouble for his sling tackle. Suspensions handed out galore today from the previous games. Might be Oliver for Pickett. If not, it gets a bit harder. T Mc or Melksham for Ben Brown, let's not put a dodgy back on long flights. I still think we need that 3rd tallish option rather than going completely small. I also think Tomlinson for Hibbo (rested) is fairly possible. If they don't miss with the height structure of Petty, JvR, one of T mc/Melk and want to bring Pickett in then it comes down to one of ANB, Spargo, JJ, Sparrow, Chandler even Fritsch making way. It won't be Fritsch. I doubt it will be Spargo or ANB, they love their roles. Chandler would be really tough and it's not really the role Pickett has been used in so far. JJ or Sparrow seem the most likely as forward/mids.