DeeSpencer

I don’t know if Juddy will cut it in the midfield, still plenty of water to go under the bridge there. But he has incredible balance, I find it hard to describe just how smooth he is.

6- Oliver 5 - Grundy 4 - Langdon 3- Petracca 2 - JJ 1 - McVee Honourable mention to Rivers who was fantastic and easily could’ve got votes but I loved McVee’s game and I don’t really mind if Papley kicked a few.

With a pair of key forwards practically on debut and our veterans with big question marks. But I’ve always thought our mids and backline play a monumental role in our scoring. Only have to look at the patch in the 3rd when we kept bombing it to Grundy from kick outs compared with the rest of the game where we took aggressive options.

Started well and that clunk in the last was handy. Got away with some classic Petty make them earn it tackles which I love. Trying to get a kick on the Swans backs is really hard, especially with the amount of holding they get away with. He’ll have it far easier against other teams. The big question is do we need a 3rd tall down back or can Hibberd, Brayshaw, Rivers hold up. Can Lever defend consistently (I doubt it)

I don’t agree with you on the speed of Tracc, Viney and particularly Sparrow. All are plenty fast enough it’s just a matter of getting them in positions to run and use the ball and cover off defensively. I was in favour of 1 key forward when we had peak Gawn, peak LJ, peak T Mc and they could all play big minutes and I could live with Fritsch being outmaked at times. Nowadays we have Grundy who isn’t at 100% match fitness, JVR on debut and an ageing BBB who needs manageing. We have to play Tommy or go with a medium marking target like Melk or Joel Smith. If/when JVR settles in to afl level we can really consider a medium option, heck I’d even consider Smith this week. But it’s more like we give the kid a chance before we up the load he has to carry.

Many of the disposals and marks came in the ruck in junk time. Maybe Goody’s keeping his cards close to his chest but he didn’t mention JVR in the ruck. That will add a few more touches to my prediction

7 disposals, 2 marks, 1 behind. He’ll be a handy workhorse forward or a good key defender in a couple of years but he’s a still a fair way off. Schache would’ve played if he didn’t manage to get himself concussed in a very Schache way.

Petty was very good in preseason and I thought very solid against the Dogs and one of the best forwards in the game in Naughton. Everything went wrong last week, but it's 1 week. So I'm not buying the idea he's struggling. Nor do I suddenly have a great opinion on Tomlinson who did a great job v Rory Lobb but didn't set the world on fire last week IMO. That said, our key forwards didn't fill me with confidence even with Gawn/Grundy helping out. BBB is in decent nick but chances are he'll have rough patches through the year. Tommy Mc is battling away. JVR hopefully gets his chance this week but his Casey game wasn't all that flash. His best period was late in the game when he got an extended run in the ruck. We'll know more after Sundays game but I still think Petty forward has to be a genuine consideration if things don't stabilise over the next few weeks.

Goodwin did what he thought was the right thing by not faking a sub. Of course Geelong had no such issues a year later and now the rule has changed. But JJ was a valued member of that side, he has nothing to worry about.

Grand Prix crowd might be 130,000 people. Let’s say 50% of them are footy fans, and 10% of that number are Melb or Swans fans. Suddenly you’ve lost 6,500 from the Sunday crowd. Not to mention people will choose to stay home so they have 2 screens going. Its a stitch up of a fixture.

The impact on Gawn I’m most worried about is when he goes to CHF and provides a magnet for quick long kicks. We should be able to cover him in the ruck and it’s about time our backline stood up without him too. The point I’m making is I think it’s a ‘must play well’ and I want to see our system hold up. If we come up a few goals short but play the right well I won’t be too worried because we’re missing a couple and it’s April. If we play stodgy defensive [censored] and fall short I’ll be worried nothing has changed from last year.

I don’t 100% agree because I think Gawn and Pickett are 2 huge inclusions that both make us a lot better and help us play the way we want to play. That said, Sydney move it fast and spread teams out. If we look completely incapable of defending against that style of play as we did at times late last year it’s a bad sign. We also have to be able, or at least willing, to take the game on and move the ball. Funnily enough if we flame out playing the right way I’ll be more confident about our future than if we grind out a narrow loss.

Was emergency last week and took 8 marks and consistently hit up well at Casey. It’s unlikely but the point remains we need athleticism in the front half and JVR will have his plate full if he’s in the ruck even 5 mins a quarter

The little plane is a nice touch, the rest is gimmicky rubbish really.

I hope we slide this one in under the radar but geez he really is incredibly stupid. Exhausting all your demerits takes a decent run of bad driving, especially when you're an AFL player who only has to get to training on time and one game a week. Maybe this is a case against Casey! The silver lining is he can split the ubers with Lachie Hunter.

FB: Hibberd May McVee HB: Bowey Petty Lever C; Brayshaw Oliver Hunter HF: Langdon J. Smith ANB FF: Fritsch Brown Chandler Foll: Grundy Petracca Sparrow Int: Rivers, Viney, JVR, Spargo S: Harmes Do I except Tommy Mc to be dropped - no. But geez I’m sick of watching him and we need athleticism. Smith doesn’t have talent or forward craft but he hits up hard on a lead and chases with intensity. I’d love a look at him across half forward to see if he can be a viable option. I’d keep it simple for JVR, some ruck minutes, some time deep and not too much work as the down the line target up against a pair of McCartin’s. Midfield really need to crack in properly and just get the balance right between handballing and kicking to advantage. Don’t panic, find the runners and kick to advantage and things will look better. Gus back to wing/5th on baller, mostly to get him out of the backline but also to use his ability to find possessions between the arcs. Backline needs Hibbo’s defensive ability and his willingness to run to the fat side and take the game on. Our defenders don’t trust each other or themselves to actually run and take the game on. Hibbo has never had that problem.

2019: Jackson, Pickett, Rivers ✅✅✅ 2020 Bowey✅ Laurie❔Rosman❌ 2021: JVR - probably debuts this week. Howes - has the talent to put a run of good form together. Woey - showed a bit in preseason McVee - a genuine nomination chance AMW - debut not entirely out of the question. Without a lot of good picks I like this draft class. It might be 0 from 5 in rising star noms any time soon but all could be part of the side from next year or the year after. 2022: 4 developmental talls and Sestan We only took the 3 picks in 19 and 20 as list sizes shrunk, with no rookies. Then we’ve had both a good team and a pretty young team for a contender over the last 2 years. It’s time for Laurie and the second year kids to start pushing for games and they are. Drafting a pair of key forwards was an investment in the future more than present too.

Bummer for Fitzmagic2.0 getting in to the mystery injuries. Hopefully Disco just misses the one week, would like to see him build some great form

Playing on Brayshaw, an absolute gift for any decent forward flanker

Hibbo had a field day across half back. The 4 primary Casey on ballers were Dunstan (29), JJ (28), Laurie (29) and Munro (12 with 16 tackles). Everyone else roughly lines up with the disposals you’d probably expect on a day you’re controlling more of the play. Defenders had good numbers and forwards all got involved. JJ had more handballs than kicks but Dunstan and Laurie both kicked the ball more than handballed. I think in previous years with Mitch White being a kick first player and a dominant tap ruck in Daw they’ve played fairly direct footy. Otherwise I didn’t really notice much of a change in game plan.

Yes. Or at least there was. Coates Talent league app.

1. 45m kick 45 degree angle in to the breeze sails through narrowly left 2. Sharks the subsequent kick in, probably nervous about the wind and the miss, plays on and gets partially smothered. I’d imagine he would usually go back and nail this one, just a rush of blood 3. Quality quick snap in heavy traffic that doesn’t catch the breeze, not a bad effort 4. Long range set shot with the wind that probably started just left when he needed it just right of the goals. Not a bad kick, made the distance easily Not sure what the 5th was.

FB: Hibberd May McVee HB: Bowey Petty Lever C; JJ Petracca Hunter HF: Langdon J. Smith ANB FF: Chandler Brown Fritsch R: Grundy Oliver Viney Int: Rivers, Sparrow, JVR, Spargo Sub: Brayshaw Out: May, Brayshaw, Gawn, McDonald, Harmes In: Tomlinson, Hibberd, JVR, J. Smith, JJ JVR for Gawn, May back if fit and JJ in seem the most likely. But I’d consider up to 5. Smith for Tommy is very unlikely but if Tommy is purely a lead up target he’s not offering enough mobility to justify that spot. My guess is they’ll back him in to start holding some marks.

Schache had 2 stints in the ruck at Casey prior to his injury. He was used in the ruck before JVR was.

Just a guess but they might have the young talls on 15 game contracts and rotate them. They all have a heap of work to do on their bodies and don’t need to play 20+ games Not sure if they got KFW linked with a lower level. Or if he needs it