DeeSpencer

Petracca plays deep forward because he's a difficult match up 1 on 1, is the best crumber in the side (a low bar to clear) and most importantly deep forward is where his defensive ability/liabilities are best placed. He's the closest thing we have to a zippy tackling agility type player (ie. a Rioli). He's not a great runner. So deep is better than up the ground. Spargo and ANB play higher and use their work rate. Hannan plays deeper where he can chase, crumb or get out the back 1 on 1. Petracca had some stinky moments, dropping marks or not going for them. But he set up the first goal and the crucial Jones goal. He's not the only player to not perform in their first final. Yes our forward line isn't perfect. We'll rely on a group of T Mc, Weids, Petracca, Melksham and Hannan as the deeper forwards and they probably have to kick 8-10 each week for us to win, with the half forwards, mids and half backs chiming in for another 3-5. The good news is we have 5 guys who can all take a mark or get on the end of a lead.The finishing has to be better but if we bring the ball in well we should get some good match ups.

I doubt we make it that far but if we do the sight of Jordan Lewis attempting to chase Richmond forwards will make plenty on here very keen on Hunt. Didn’t look fit at the start of the year. Got injured, came back and was far from terrible and then got injured again. Hopefully plays well in the VFL finals and carries some confidence in to preseason. Get him fully fit and he’s very much a required player

Linc McCarthy anyone? Not a pressure small forward but a super talent who would give us the crumber we need if we got his body right. I'd be keen for a 1 year deal and a token late pick trade.

The Prooster to give us a genuine back up option is a great idea IMO. And Bradtke as a cat B. Probably room for 1 more developmental prospect. Not sure if it's possible to track down games or tape of him but the Swans picked a former rugby player who had 60 hit outs on debut in the NEAFL. Sydney have an absolute eye for a ruckman so I'd track him down and give him strong consideration based on that alone. The Swans will no doubt be trying to hide him.

Richmond weren't at their best that's for sure. Should've dominated in the midfield and on transition but couldn't get anything going. Essendon did have a number of really good players though particularly the talls. Aaron Francis - far too good for VFL, will intercept all day if not negated. James Stewart - more than handy key forward at this level and surely the match up for Dec Scotty Draper - very good young ruck Nick Hind - speed machine Jordan Ridley - classy half back with an AFL future, needs to be tagged Michael Hartley - very solid full back at VFL level Will be interesting to see if Casey gives King another chance in the ruck so Pedersen and Smith can stay forward.

The commentators are unsurprisingly wrong there. It was clear we were slowing the game down as much as possible when we had possession in the last quarter. Chipping it around to get to the wing. Vanders play on (to Jetta I think) was just crazy. 5 goals up there's no need to take risks

Corey Maynard's another who would've played more games this year and maybe even developed and stayed in the side. At worst he would've been very handy for Casey right now!

Missed 2 easy goals we can't afford to miss against better sides, but yeah he was excellent. Won the ball, took the right options, excellent work rate, so often the 3rd man in to a contest. Stuck most of his tackles. Holding his tackles, not fumbling and taking the first option when it's their are the keys to his game. He does all of that and he's a good player.

What? I'd prefer him to be a stronger tackler and he can get caught in tight congestion, but in any kind of space he weaves out of traffic and uses the ball perfectly. Probably had the 2 best kicks of the night as well. One straight up the middle, another going back in to the corridor. Under really physical pressure he lacks the experience and strength to get out of trouble sure, but otherwise he was one of the few who was composed and not rushing. Salem and Oliver were rushing early, Tracc was spudding it up and Gus was typically for him burning the ball with shonky kicks. I'd prefer Fritsch on the wing and Smith in the team but Smith's errors with the ball are going to be far worse and I don't quite know who to take out.

Joel Smith is the one I'm interested in, especially with an eye to the Eagles if we do make it. He comes in, we push Fritsch to a wing/ forward flank, rotating with Vanders mostly like. Then have to find someone to go out. Spargo's two way running is great. It's worth more than possessions. He gets to the right spots that helps his team mates do likewise, both in attack and defending. Thought Hannan was the weakest link up forward but he kicked the sealer. Smith in to the 23, work out who goes out later for now.

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He's 23. I think we say to him come to us for 2-3 years when we really need a solid back up as we develop 18 year olds. You'll play at Casey but even if Max is healthy we'll at least give you a couple of games when we rest Max and maybe a couple of games together if we have key forward injuries. Plus you'll get taught by Max and Greg Stafford. By the end of the 2-3 years you'll know everything Max does. And we'll let you go to whatever club you want if you're playing like an AFL level starting ruck and have offers on the table. I don't think there's a big money contract on the table for him from any club. He's not quite good enough to get the Nankervis/Jolly/Mumford back up ruck to starting deal straight up from a team. NFL fans will be familiar with Jimmy Garoppolo who spent 3.5 years behind Tom Brady as his back up and played in all of about 2 games. He was traded to the 49ers, looked like a star and got the biggest contract extension of all time from them after 7 starts. Things are different over there but Jimmy G learnt from great coaches as the back up to the goat. Not saying Gawn is Tom Brady but he'd still be pretty handy to train against every day.

6. Harmes - what an effort 5. Weids - sensational breakout game 4. ANB - I'm not always a fan and he missed some easy goals (who didn't) but his work rate was out of the world, he made clutch tackles and he always put his head over the ball. 3. Gawn - impact doesn't really show up on the stat sheet, every contest he's in from a long kick - ours or theirs - is massively altered, and we dominated clearances especially in the middle 2. Viney - welcome back 1. Oliver - looked nervous but what a machine Salem - poor first quarter kicking cost him, otherwise a superb game Brayshaw - just too many easy clangers still from him. Does a lot right but has to start kicking it to our side or it will be costly Apologies: T Mc, Hibberd, Jetta, Fritsch, Lewis, Frost

I'm amongst his harshest critics. Still will be. But he's certainly deserved his spot in the side the last 6 weeks or so. Dropping his head under a high ball tonight was bad. As were a couple of tackling efforts, but by in large he did enough to break even in contests. Some better tap ons and things like that. Not as many panicked kicks or handballs. Helped control the tempo pretty well. Wasn't happy that he couldn't call a mid or defender in to Hawkins' space at times but credit the Cats there as well. He's more than holding his spot which is far better than when I thought he was actively harming our chances. A big test coming against the Hawks though because they'll try to drag him deep repeatedly and they'll big right in to him if he takes a backwards step. They know his weaknesses.

If Hannan plays he probably plays pretty close to goal, a move that worked very well against West Coast where he was able to exploit smaller opponents. The Cats are going to have a big backline that is very strong defensively in the air. I'd probably favour getting Petracca deeper where he can get 1 on 1's in the air and swoop on to loose balls and get Viney, Spargo in there as well pressuring and crumbing. They'll also drop back and make us bomb to Weed/T Mc/Melk in which case the crumbs matter more than the one on ones. All up JKH might make more sense as a flanker/wing option to provide more run and versatility up the ground. Viney's inclusion should also see Oliver and Brayshaw playing some deep forward minutes as rotations. I'm surprised to say this because at times I've been as big a Hannan fan as there probably is but I'd lean towards JKH if I were picking between them.

Ben Cousin's never tested positive to a banned drug. No ASADA test ever caught him. I fully support the AFL's illicit drug testing policy that tries to stop young players getting caught up in dangerous drug taking behaviour. If it were in place earlier in Cousins' career it might've helped him (and several team mates) from going down the path they went down. Cousins' was out of control and deserved to be deregistered from the game for a year. If you think every AFL player who's done illicit drugs deserves harsh suspensions then be prepared to watch AFL games with about 4 players in each side and not very many people in the media available to cover them! Heck if you banned the crowd as well there'd be a big drop in attendance. Drugs have never been my thing, but our society is plastered with caffeine, alcohol and sex as well as a huge number of people addicted to seriously dangerous drugs like heroine and ice. I'll spare a 20 year old doing cocaine on his day off from my indignation.

I can make it appear faster than that!

I'm not suggesting they'll trade him, everything I've heard is the coaches really like him. But I think it's logical given there's no rumour of outside interest, and there's no reason he'd move for the common reasons (playing time, go home factor, success) the most likely reason is a dispute over value. The club has been very quick to sign up players they value, which I assume is because they offer a fair market rate and get the deals done. A strong finals campaign will change my opinion on Oscar pretty quickly so hopefully he can deliver. It's all off topic. My main point is good VFL games doesn't mean we're locked and loaded at key defender. Glad Petty played well, thought he was tiring after a long first season, hopefully with a bye he can have 2 more great finals. Also glad Keilty played well, he's fighting for a spot on the list and does a fair bit right, a consistent end to the year would surely see him given another year, which would be great for him and for demonland!

Part 2 was released at the same time as Part 1 (or close enough to), it's just over on Sal's Against All Odds Podcast and not on BS'.

If the AFL left the WADA code and weren't punished by the federal government then I think they could easily convince the NRL, Netball and other major sporting codes to form an Independent doping panel that recommends punishments. Pretty much just modify the WADA code so the punishments fit better with a domestic sporting league compared to international events or competitions. The AFL's integrity department is far better staffed than ASADA as is and were on to the Essendon stuff way before ASADA were involved. Really the AFL just use ASADA's testers and follow the code, maybe with more funding ASADA can police things but at the moment it's not like they are investigating AFL players all that heavily. As for Essendon if the AFL were in charge - Dank banished from the game, Hird suspended a year, team removed from finals. All that stuff happened well before ASADA had finished their investigation. The players are either spared or offered and take a short term suspension rather than missing a year long after the alleged offences occurred.

Without getting too far off topic all I'll say is if the club really loved Oscar wouldn't he be signed up right now? Only regular best 22 player out of contract.

Oscar - still not sure he's up to AFL level as more than depth Lever - still not sure he can stop an opponent Frost - in great form, will it last? Huge test this week Petty - played 1 AFL game and it was a stinker, I'm a big fan, but it's too early to tell J Smith - another I'm a fan of, but is a 3rd tall option Keilty - never been given a shot at AFL, VFL form has been up and down for 2 years on the list If there's a chance to upgrade from Oscar to Steven May at the right price I'm taking it

Drink driving and get caught in a booze bus - lose your license for a short period (only recently has that become strictly enforced), education session, relatively small fine etc. Kill someone drink driving - 5+ years in prison. That's how justice works. Murray will get a similar ban for a trace amount of cocaine as someone would get for juicing themselves up with anabolic steroids. It's like that because the Olympics and sports like cycling have basically no wriggle room, for the sake of their reputation they can't afford to. The AFL doesn't need to have such drastic punishments. We don't subscribe to the same draconian criminal laws as the US and Asia and other places when it comes to illicit drugs, why do we sign up to the same sporting rules as a world body for a domestic sport?

Very happy with that Mack trade. Getting back a 2nd round pick makes it not much more than giving up a 1st round pick. Done. Bears D just went from solid but unspectacular to very exciting and capable of really shutting down other teams. Week 1 in GB might be too early for that but should be able to cause some trouble as the season goes on. The NFC is loaded.