DeeSpencer

His first quarter stank. Missed tackles, bodied off the ball, kicking out on the full, and generally just messy. But much like Rivers and several team mates he didn't drop his head and rallied well. Anyone dropping him after the first 3 weeks has no idea and whilst today wasn't great he's still surely very unlikely to be dropped.

May for Petty if he's right. If not we have a decision to make on whether Petty stays for the structure or if we roll the dice with Lever on Riewoldt and bring in Jetta (or total smokey D Smith). Or Brayshaw to half back and bring in another wingman (Vanders?). I kind of like the idea of sneaking Vanders back in for a special guest appearance and just inviting him to take as many bodies as he can. Mitch Brown out for B Brown or Weid. Good luck to selectors making that decision. Fritsch I doubt we be right. If he is then we've got a tough choice to make. Possibly Melksham goes to the sub role, otherwise Jones, Jordon, Melk, Fritsch and Jackson can share minutes on the wing and Gus can go to half back as above.

At this stage - no. We had a terrible period against the Saints. We started dreadfully against the Giants before they ran out of players, and we started awfully today and a big reason why the Hawks folded was because they're a young side coming back from Perth. We've had the absolute dream draw. We're playing better and playing in much the right style but too much of the ball movement lacks polish and we still need more system going inside 50. That's not to say I don't trust that players to give strong efforts more weeks than not (no team is ever perfect) and it's not to say we aren't making good progress but at this stage I think we just lack the polish to really be reliable. And I'm a bit doubtful on whether we can play top line pressure footy against the best sides when we're probably a couple of mid/forward rotation players short who can both pressure and provide quality with the ball. We'll see what happens with the big forwards if they straighten us up in a good way (and don't just encourage long bombs). Overall though I think Petracca and Oliver in particular need to become capable of the Pendlebury or Dusty type moments just cutting through congestion with beautiful skills not just power.

I reckon he’s gone from running under the ball in the preseason and the first 2 weeks to starting to time his leaps nicely. Next step is holding them. He does some sneaky clever things though. He gathered the ball at half forward after Pickett caught Selwood and he deliberately waited until the tackler engaged him before releasing the handball. He rarely gives short handballs either, he takes his time to find the right option. He’s not a natural forward but there’s more than enough natural footballer in him.

He’ll likely get it downgraded to a fine but it’s a clearly unnecessary bump and from the other angle it’s high. Making it a week is the only way to stamp it out.

No tribunal was ever finding Hawkins guilty. Too much doubt. Daniel easily worth a week. Jetta maybe not a fine but whatever. Cunnington the same as Zac Williams. A week for stupidity.

https://www.triplem.com.au/story/tom-stewart-undergoes-successful-surgery-41692 Tom Stewart had surgery in 2017 and missed 3 weeks. If it isn't as major as that it's possible it could just be 2 weeks.

I'd give Petty first go, but I also hope they use this as a chance to move Majak down to CHB at Casey given we've got the forwards back. He played his best footy in that role and I reckon he could be a wildcard at some stage of the season

So he's played well so now we have to put work in to him to make sure he's keen to come to us and also developing well. Yet at the same time we can't have him do too well because if he goes in the top 20 we'll lose access to him! Great system..

2:37 train from Laburnum gets you to Richmond at 3:03. In theory you could catch the 2:47 to 3:13 and sprint to the G if you've got seats closer to Richmond and just catch the bounce. Same question about whether you can sprint from the South East corner of Box Hill if that gate is open across Whitehorse road to Laburnum to cut that time down too! Overall I think the likely answer is if the quarters drag on over 30 minutes and the game takes 2 hours and 40 minutes you might have to either skip the last 10 minutes or be slightly late for the bounce at the G.

The lack of suspension to King will annoy me forever because there's just no reason to throw a boot above waist high, was beyond reckless. I think there's enough benefit of the doubt in this one because Hawkins is legitimately handballing and May is dragging him down in the tackle. The MRO seems to only issue penalties or statements that incidents were assessed. I wonder if they can go somewhere between on this one and offer some kind of official caution.

A) Tom's kicking. B) Tom's limited lateral mobility. C) Tom's marking runs very hot and cold. D-Z) Tom's kicking. He's a forward and will stay in the side until Brown and/or Weid have earned their spots. After that we might try him on a wing where his tank creates mismatches, but not the backline.

I don’t always love the shoulder dip move, it can abandon you if you the umps catch on. Spargo’s positioning is what makes his game. Watch as we turn the ball over he’ll always be the first to move to get out to space. He understands how to stretch backlines. He gets front and centre. Add in the strength at the contest and with tackling and that’s a proper AFL player.

Probably his best game for the club today. Passed one off. Dropped one just outside the square too. The mark and goal in the last was all class

They used Jordon on a wing against Blicavs after Gus went down back, but ended up preferring Jones and then had a full midfield rotation with Sparrow. Melksham wasn’t good but I still think until Brown or Weid come in we need a proper forward more than extra mids. I think it will be 2 out of 3 of Melk, Sparrow and Jordon with the 3rd the sub. Petty or Hibberd depending on conditions and opponents to replace May.

6. Viney 5. Petracca 4. Gawn 3. Fitsch 2. Lever 1. Oliver Last week was a team effort with almost everyone being solid. This week was about our best players being the best on the ground. Any of the 6 could’ve got the votes in any order. I thought Viney had the most vital moments.

From previous years when a player at my club was a VFL player they’d do all their training at Casey apart from the occasional captains run type session on Thursday night at the local club if they were playing with us. But it might depend what grade their local club is in and how much VFL footy they’re actually playing

I think it was either going to happen for him 2-3 years ago or not at all. He’s off to a super star line up at St Kilda City

Pretty much all of those issues you mentioned were tackled with COVID changes last year. Majak played a scratch match with us last year! If the player agrees to go and the club agrees to let another side manage them for a period of time the benefits outweigh the negatives. State league call ups are probably the safer choice but you’re then impacting a state league club and you’re also having a mid season draft type exercise that could be harder to police. Purely for rucks I think the loan makes sense.

There’s no reason for clubs to carry more than 3 rucks and a forward/ruck. All 4 of those are out for the Suns. There absolutely has to be a system to allow them to add a ruck until the mid season draft. If a loan is the best way for that to happen then so be it. Id happily send Austin Bradtke up there for a chance to play for 7 weeks or so.

The second tier doesn’t interest me, but grass roots footy does. I’d invest in regional areas and work place laws so that people still have weekends and still live in the country. So many fewer young blokes play footy these days because they don’t have the time, money or inclination. Eddie’s plan on spending probably close to a billion dollars in the next decade for a Tasmanian AFL team is crazy. Imagine if that money was spent on country schools, country hospitals, country jobs in Tasmania. And a few bucks directly on ovals and change rooms. I get they need a team but the team should grow from the grassroots up, not from monumental investment.

20 round season - ok, whatever Final 12 - terrible Nt / FNQ team - unfeasible ‘Breakthrough team’ - a joke 40 million combined funding annually - ridiculous Brand new stadium in Hobart for 7 games a year - lol Brand new stadium having a roof because its cold outside - jump in the Derwent

Could be a 6 month post surgery scan

Petracca and Viney missed training according to the news, but Gawn said it was just precautionary normal stuff. Petracca can always play more forward, but if Viney isn't right that could be the change to get Melksham in, run him and the young mids on ball more. Jack played very well on the weekend but he's still probably a bit underdone from his minor break in training and we need him to find his absolute best form. Otherwise I'm still think Jones makes more sense as the change for Melksham if everyone is 100% ready to go. We need to keep that defensive heat to force mistakes from Geelong and get the game on our terms. Otherwise they'll just settle in to their kick-mark game with the backline staying deep and we'll struggle to score.

Would you light money on fire if you were him? That's pretty much what committing to staying does. It also probably becomes more of a story than the cliches. The cliches are useful because they really mean nothing. Until the club puts an offer on the table and rival clubs do the same there's no point worrying about any comments.