DeeSpencer

I don’t think it’s a good idea to mess around with a young tall too often but JVR’s ability to play back is probably what makes him more of a sub candidate. He could slot in as a back pocket, move Gus to cover an injured midfielder. That’s a way to cover forward, mid and back

Thanks for the reports. At least good to know Fritsch is back out there and on 2 feet. Unless it’s a serious set back he can hopefully progress with rehab and get in to full training fairly soon.

There's 3 big problems when it comes to Casey that make me think it won't ever be Geelong of the East, and whilst we can mitigate against them I think they are significant obstacles in the place being successful at all: 1. Unlike Geelong, the immediate surrounding area (15 minute radius) isn't an attractive place to live for AFL footballers. At a minimum they'll be living back by the bay, 20-30 minutes away. Many staff and players will probably stay towards the city and won't enjoy the commute if it's permanent. The peninsula - which is an attractive place for players - can very quickly be way out of budget for even on AFL wages. And it's not an easy place to rent (although nowhere is at the moment). There's a lot of places in and around Geelong that are the right fit for a footy players budget and lifestyle. In and around Casey it goes from too cheap and undesirable to too expensive or too far away pretty quickly. 2. We won't be playing regular men's games there. The best way to truly capitalise on a population - particularly one that either supports existing AFL teams or is new to the country and follows their own sports is to play games. VFL, an occasional practice game and AFLW don't really cut it. You don't get large crowds of potential members at those events. There has to be an understanding that establishing a foothold in the area will be very slow. 3. There's a lack of commercial opportunities involved with the site as is. Ok, you get a new facility, that's great, but if you aren't turning that investment in to a profit you're losing out. If we were to go all in at Casey there's 3 things I'd like at a minimum to stop it being a disaster: 1. A commitment by the club to house young players somewhere between Chelsea and Mornington. Whether that's by buying homes and renting them back to the players or finding host families they have to be proactive. We won't be able to run the same kind of protection Geelong gets when they stuff up in local nightclubs but at least we'll have them in the area rather than living close to the city and wondering whey they spend close to 2 hours in car all day. If we're promoting the lifestyle of coastal living and convenience we have to provide that. 2. Vic Government commitment to build the Casey Fields railway station as part of the Clyde rail link. The station is vital for growing the AFLW and VFL crowds and it's just important for the area generally. It puts Casey Fields on the map and provides foot traffic for the area. 3. Opportunity to develop the area around the train station, the stadium car park and even other parts of Casey Fields to build seemingly the only bit of dense housing in the entire area as well as a some business opportunities and a profitable community center. You aren't going to be able to run cafes or other businesses when it's suburbs full of people who jump in their cars or on trains and are seen 9 hours later. The only cafes in the vicinity are at the shopping centres. The place needs a development like Toorak Park or Caulfield Village with a minimum of a few hundred homes located next to the stadium and new train station. You'd obviously need the council and state government on board for the planning issues and cost involved. Our pitch to the Government would be that instead of further funding to build the 10th elite AFL footy facility in the state - something of very little community benefit - please direct us funding so we can help shape the Casey area with actual community infrastructure. Transport, housing and genuine community facilities.

No Daisy to work her magic any more and free passage for any player, they don’t have to rely on trades doubling the cost. Money will talk and I expect we’ll lose a couple

That’s my mistake. I’m willing to rebrand Chandlermonium as a positive

The shimmy around Tommy Mc is a classy move. I doubt he's in line to replace Hibbo. He's not a strong contested player. But I'm sure he's at least in the frame to put pressure on Bowey, Riv or Gus.

Heck yes, Goodwin wins a flag with a stack of players under 22 and there’s an idea that he won’t play kids or try new players. They didn’t throw JVR to the wolves. Hardly an unreasonable choice. They gave Bedford a decent go, he wasn’t up to it last year. Maybe, just maybe Chandler could’ve had another go but that’s about it. No other young player was worthy of games and no one was seriously clamouring for Dunstan or Sauce Baker were they.

I doubt ANB will suddenly add more skills but he’s shown in 2018 and 2021 that when the team is humming his decision making and ball use generally hums with it. I do think he’s right on the fringes if they want midfield flexibility from the half forwards. Of course ANB also has midfield flexibility himself but it doesn’t seem like the coaches are keen to give him an extended run at this stage. I’d actually love to see him go back to Casey and have 35 and remind everyone he’s got more to his game. Spargo’s decent upside comes if other players give him the ball when he’s open. He can add 4 or so decisive possessions per week if he’s used more often by a team willing to take more chances and play faster.

The following is roughly how he gets in the side: C; Langdon Petracca Hunter HF: Viney T Mc Spargo FF: Fritsch Bbb Chandler Foll: Gawn Oliver Pickett Int: DEF, Grundy, Sparrow, Harmes Overlooked: JJ, ANB Don’t get caught up on the names but just for an indication without injuries he probably has to pass 2 of JJ, Harmes, ANB, Spargo, Sparrow. The indications to me are they’re keen to use midfielders (including Pickett) as the HFF. Personally I doubt Spargo gets moved from the other flank given how much the coaches rate his inside 50 kicking. The criticism for the coaches not picking him last year is a bit misplaced because he doesn’t play the role ANB and Spargo were asked to play. And he wasn’t going to get picked over Pickett. If there’s a reshuffle of Pickett’s role (and Fritsch’s for that matter) it’s a different set of circumstances for Chandler. Not sure it will be enough but it’s different to have him try to do ANB’s job straight up

Give me $$$ amounts people, I want to see the level of belief

There seems to be consistent praise from coaches, team mates and track watchers for Kade Chandler in recent weeks. And in addition to Grundy and Hunter it seems he has a genuine opportunity to be a fresh face to make the best 22, with Kossie moving to the midfield rotation. Pros: He’s physically ready now, 23 years old, solid endurance base and muscle. He found consistent form in the VFL last year and broke open the VFL grand final. He can mark, he’s a willing tackler (as evidenced by his sling tackle ban) and he has an accurate left foot kick. Cons: whilst he can mark overhead he’s very much a small at 175cm so won’t be out marking too many defenders. He has quick lateral movement but not blistering speed to burst clear or chase down tackle. And maybe most concerning is that in previous years he’s very much attempted to fend or break through tackles and struggled to do so at AFL level. He likes to take it on and kick rather than use first option hands. When it works he can create goals, but trying too much without the strength or speed to get out of trouble is a receipt for turnovers and angry team mates. How about a little game. If $1.00 reflects the share price for a depth player on a 1 year deal and $2.00 is an established role player worthy of 2 years, and so on, then what value are you buying Chandler shares at? I think he came in to the preseason at about $1.30 but given recent good forecasts is now trading at $1.65. I’d have him about a $1.50. Who’s buying? Who’s selling?

We’ve practiced all year with a mix of teams. It sounds like they went with the best side for a half in the intraclub, well worth it to get them some cohesion. Then they mixed it up for the second half to get a more even contest and some quality v quality match ups. If you’re on the outside of the best 22 I think you’d want to know now rather than get a surprise come round 1 too. Hopefully those guys are really keen to impress in the practice games

Some people set the bar too high for JVR. At best he’ll be a Mihocek style hard worker this year rather than any kind of star. The big challenge for our forward line is the lack of ground level mobility for Brown, McDonald and a resting ruck. We might sacrifice goals for JVR’s defensive hunt, and it might be earlier in the season than the coaches think.

I despise Ginnivan’s on field game. And just about the only thing McRae got wrong last year was sticking up for him to the level that he encouraged him. He ripped at the seams of the game with blatant simulation and the footy gods might well have taken their revenge. He even played the mental health card last year too - although that might’ve been because he wasn’t told to can it earlier in the year. I’ll give him credit that he hasn’t done so in this case as is willing to admit to his stupidity in getting caught. As for footballers doing drugs in general. Well, I really don’t care as long as they’re as safe as they can be to avoid ASADA clenbuterol bans, the sensationalist media and addiction. They’re young, wealthy and deserve to have some relaxation time especially over the summer.

One year we should invent a player on here, hype them up and see if the media run with it. Edit: just saw it was Harmesy with the pump up and the footage of the nice move Judd put on T Mc. Very keen to see how he goes in practice games

haven’t seen a mark like this is person yet but the ability to get hands on the ball when you least expect it is what I’ve seen at training

Unless it’s a more complicated illness it’s the other way around. Low thyroid is quickly corrected via simple medication, just got to dose it correctly. Overactive thyroid requires more complex medication and takes a bit more to sort out. The challenge is knowing when he’s steady enough to ramp up his exercise without effectively throwing out all the work they’ve done getting the balance right. Hopefully he’s still able to keep his fitness ticking over which then means less of a ramp up

If he spent all summer training with the Tigers the indication is he'd have played for the rookie minimum. Skills are good but he just hasn't proven to be an AFL athlete with the endurance to play midfield. Tigers stripped 8kg off him to get him in to a running flanker and still didn't end up going with him. Probably as he'd be small and not pacey enough to be a flanker either.

Onballers: Oliver, Petracca, Viney, Pickett, Sparrow. Wings: Langdon, Hunter, JJ/Gus Not sure where Harmes fits, played a bit forward when he was making his way back from rehab in the green hat. Haven’t seen enough match sim since Apart from JVR, Sparrow has probably been the standout improver, possibly on par with Pickett, whom from what I’ve seen can’t be limited to a cameo mid.

The thing I like most about him is I think he can be developed in to pretty much every backline role aside from manning the tallest monster forwards or being the pure rebounding back flanker. 194cm tall, he's already running in the 2nd to top group so he has a strong endurance base and he seems to have some very good speed and agility. So there's a lot to work with physically. He's sharp in handball drills and solid without being spectacular or pretty in his kicking and seems prepared to lower his eyes. It's hard to see him getting games as a genuine tall back in the short term with May, Petty, Lever, a healthy Tommo and Disco Turner. But we didn't replace Hunt who played 20 games, we had Hibbo play 12 and Joel Smith played 7 and might be going forward if rumours are true. There's every chance to be opportunities for a back pocket or even a hard running more defensive back flank ala Hunt the last 2 years. I expect both Turners to push to fill those games.

Kye should get someone from the crowd to read over them first 😂

JVR is just about a lock given a full year of health. McVee, Deak Smith and Woey are our small defensive depth right now. Almost by default at least one of them might get a go. McVee stood out early in preseason and I’m sticking with him. Deak Smith has a chance to be the primary back up to Hibbo. Taj will put his name forward with form. All could be 50:50 to get a go. Howes might need a bit of luck. He’s still pretty raw to my eye. But he has the tricks to really take off. I’d have him just slightly below 50:50. Laurie and AMW are our small forward depth after Chandler and rotating mids. Both should impress at VFL but they aren’t quite physically ready. I’d be pleasantly surprised by either. Jefferson would also be a surprise but I don’t think he’s a giant long shot either. He was giving Disco Turner a bit of grief the other day. If he stays healthy I’d expect him to put a couple of good VFL games together at some stage (with a lot of inconsistency). We know Brown and T Mc are both injury risks. If it gets to a stage where we’ve got a vacancy in the side and a bit of a free hit kind of game then throwing Jeffo a debut rather than a random Schache came could be on the cards. Adams, Verrell, KFW, Sestan would be shocks.

I haven’t seen good or bad with Burgoyne. He’s built in to his time and had more chances once back in full training and match sim. But I really haven’t seen enough of anything. Pressure, skill or ability to find the ball. I don’t know what others have seen with Kye Turner but I think he’s been fairly consistent. At times he gets beat, other times he’s marked or spoiled. He shows very good recovery once the ball hits the deck. His kicking doesn’t look great but isn’t terrible. Does he read the ball in the air or hit the contest hard enough for afl footy - I’m not sure. But I think he’s pretty close and and might be only one good training away from locking it up. We are deep with tall defenders but light on for mediums and lock down players. Particularly if Joel Smith trains as a forward

We should’ve got the paperwork to him over the weekend and poached him before St Kilda had a chance. For nothing else but to mess with them. Ross Lyon would appreciate that. I was a fan of Hudson O’Keefe too, but we made our picks of young rucks already

Hmm, would've liked to have taken Eagles 1-6 but I got to mix it up from JV7. I love Mahomes so much, but I'm just feeling the Philly feeling. Eagles 31 - Chiefs 23