DeeSpencer

JJ played as the second main winger alongside Langdon against Port too. After Brayshaw got reassigned to predominantly half forward with some on ball minutes after his and the teams stinky effort against the Giants. I think the coaches would’ve had a pretty serious discussion about sticking with JJ in that spot. But Gus’s style does seem reasonably effective at messing with the Dogs game plan. And his experience and a bit more strength in finals type footy probably gave him the nod.

I’m not comparing them either. I think the coaches desperately want running machines with overhead marking ability. Hence Howes and Rosman. And Tomlinson. And even Fritsch in 2018. They’re searching for that complete winger. And so I think the plan would’ve been to add Smith’s running capacity for some percentage of the game on the wing and to use someone like Gus or Harmes with a bit more overhead game at other times. With match ups, ground shape, opponents etc a factor. The whole ‘defensive winger’ thing is very overrated. Langdon is a defensive winger too, he just attacks more as well. And there’s times Gus holds back attacking or sucks far too deep defensively because he knows he can’t sprint both ways not purely as a role. Its nice to have variety opposite Langdon but I see it more as Gus playing the wing in a way that suits his game and works for team rather than a defined role. If he could run like Langdon I can’t imagine the coaches would tell him just to hang back and play it safe, we’d use him as a dynamite two way runner if he could do it.

I think it’s a little of both. We needed the winger and Gus wasn’t going to be in the top 4/5 on ball options. He’s still too flat footed defensively in congestion to demand midfield time. But Smith has also played a whole lot of half forward for both the Hawks and Geelong. It’s often more important to stretch the ground vertically than it is horizontally these days. And ANB was certainly out of favour too - more so than Gus. Had we got Smith he might’ve started 50:50 half forward and wing, with Gus doing the same with possibly some versatility based on match ups.

Colvin has been very solid in her role, she’s just injured. The question with Gillard is whether they’re really going to throw her in down back, or if they’ll move a midfielder to half back and have her ruck. Or maybe both? Brown has been decent defensive depth so it’s a fairly big call to go with a teenager out of position over a solid veteran. The counter is a lot of teams have gun intercepting tall backs and we could do with one. Birch gets it done with positioning. A genuine tall marking player would be a weapon.

Cerra was signing a great value deal at Carlton due to the other Victorian clubs either having no interest, no cap room or no draft capital. We would’ve had to give a player up just to get the picks needed for Cerra. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if our interest in Cerra involved trading Gus (and picks) for him. Or at least knowing we bring Cerra in then have flexibility about players leaving at the end of the year

Played one heck of a grand final but let’s be honest he’s a role player with strengths and significant weaknesses. We can’t be paying the top market rate for him. Doesn’t mean he won’t stay but it makes sense for both sides to get a look at what’s on offer from other clubs before committing.

The Ox at CHF is the standout to me. But for one that hasn’t been mentioned we rarely got to see the best of Col Sylvia RIP. Have him play forward and swap on ball with Tracc, he’d be good for 20 touches and 2 goals easily.

Does stay there hidden under the seats or can it be dismantled and assembled elsewhere? I'd love them to use one of the asphalt velodromes around a country footy oval. The one at Wangaratta would be perfect. Something tells me that won't be happening.

Looking at the list of sports for 2018 and 2022 there's plenty of events that are held without stadiums or can be set up in any decent multi purpose venue. I'd imagine athletics gets held in Geelong as the centre piece. Any investments for netball and basketball are good for the communities as long as they don't build far too much seating. The big ones are probably Aquatics and track Cycling. I'm not sure we even have a permanent velodrome in Victoria, I guess the one for the 2006 is packed away somewhere and might be used elsewhere? And it sounds like a country town (or Geelong) is going to end up with a 50m swimming pool with a big grand stand.

The thing to remember is Champion Data is 49% owned by the afl and have seemingly no desire to open the stats up for wider use. They drip feed some stuff to the herald sun or fox footy as required. Making sure it’s often provocative enough to sell some papers. Clubs get access to far more of the data. And have data scientists to interpret it. But it’s qualitative, it’s not just counting. Their kicking rating stuff was really interesting. And I’m sure they’re tracking all sorts of things with players running patterns. They just decide they’ll keep the good stuff to paying customers and release silly stuff to the public.

Salem’s one of my all time favourite players but his ball use is far more focussed on efficiency (especially under heavy pressure) than it is damage. Overall his kicking is overrated and all the other aspects of his game underrated. His defensive efforts, contested ball, tackling etc are exceptional and separate him from other half back flankers far more than his kicking does.

The Williams inclusion is strange. I wonder if they lump his midfield games in to backline and so he gets bonus possessions. Saad wasn't elite last year either. But the message might be less about defending which they struggle to quantify and more about how much they value elite half back ball use. There's a number of half backs in this list and the common thread is they either kick the ball really well or are aggressive runners from the backline to take the game on.

I don’t really get the hate. They clearly state they list the elite players in each position, not overall. They’ve decided Gawn was just behind the best rucks. The likes of Darcy and Hickey don’t have back ups. Gawn does. No doubt that impacts his statistical value. Nic Nat is a clean hit out machine. That gets him huge stat points even if he does little else. Because clear centre clearances are worth gold, as we learned in the granny. Its ok to see what they do and don’t value, it can be a way to learn about the game.

They're a bit different to me. Baker has one excellent trait which is lovely burst speed. But has otherwise been too flawed with a lack of tank, suspect field kicking and poor contested ability and pressure. He's been working hard on those deficiencies though and the standout trait is still dangerous and rare. Chandler doesn't really have one standout trait. He's got a bit of a leap and burst and tackles pretty well but overall he's just got a number of solid attributes to play half forward. Pretty similar to someone like Spargo. Spargo had a bit more of a tank and smarts but really it took until last season for his clean skills at training to shine through on game day. ANB took even longer to start making quality decisions across half forward. It's the trickiest position to play especially when using the ball and finding that balance with how much you can take on is tricky.

That’s the best our hand balling has been. Starting to take quicker options and move the ball by hand. That’s our best way to score. Her kicking still needs work but Westy was great by hand. Mithen on the windy side wing was very handy, might be worth persisting with her there and using Sheriff at half forward to get more run/pace. Really liked Fitzsimon’s forward pressure too

Closing space to the ball carrier then blocking them from running on is a key part of our game and every other side. Viney doesn’t go high, the ball is nearby and Rivers has had 3 steps to gather himself post disposal so it should be considered a down field free kick. Rivers is ready for contact and comes off worse. The umpire made a mistake

Signed with Casey. Pretty normal to add Casey players to the practice games

From the highlights video a few things stood out. 1. Clarry is such a transition weapon 2. Luke Jackson isn’t done doing crazy things for a guy his size 3. Howes is getting a rude initiation to the core strength required for afl footy. Not a bad thing. 4. Weid is clearly hungry, but defenders also know they can take him on out the other way. 5. Chandler sets up 2 goals despite botching them originally. He’s got tricks to get out of trouble. Now he has to learn to stop getting in trouble so much

I don’t think Trent will want to be any closer to Viney that he already is. And regaining his spot in the first choice backline should be his immediate aim!

Matt Buntine

Petty was on crutches but not in a moon boot and was weight bearing, so hopefully whatever it was it's minor.

A higher profile for player managers is probably the last thing we need. But if they are favourable to us I guess we should take it. It would be interesting to know what made the Saints so toxic for Dunstan. Clearly the coach didn’t love his game nor guarantee him a best 22 spot but it seems there was more than just being a fringe player that upset him. Goody’s sell was surely around valuing and improving his game more than a spot in the side. We’ll soon get to see what improvements he’s made.

Back on topic. Our defensive work rate and contested ball was good against the Suns. And there was signs we started to handball more effectively. Clean crisp handballs to runners on the move is the only way our running game will come back, which in turn is our biggest weapon.