DeeSpencer

He made strides against Freo as well. Still a bit tentative to really run and jump at the footy and open himself up to contact which is a concern but it's much better than the few weeks before that.

Small forward: Tyson Stengle kicked 6 for Tigers VFL on the weekend. But there's not a heap going around. Draft might be the option here Wing: Gaff, Polec the big names. Tom Sheridan is a guy from Freo who's going ok and might be cheap and available Those 2 positions are the ones I think are the biggest needs. We simply have to add something at those spots. The wing has been patch work all year and Garlett is the only genuine small forward on the list and is nearly done. Medium backmen: Think we need to add at least one ready to play general purpose defender to take over the Vince role. This won't be popular but if gets cut from the bombers I'm actually a fan of Matty Dea Back up ruck: Hard to convince a back up to come play behind Gawn. The current guys, in particular Mitch King might be worth giving one more year to see if he improves Midfield depth: It might be keeping Tyson, getting Maynard back healthy and not bringing in ready made help but if we make some trades we'll want a mature body. The idea of trading Tyson for a top 40 pick and adding Mitch Wallis as a free agent appeals to me

If Bugg is to tag then it's on a wing as it was under Roos where he shut out Sidebottom in one game. He's an elite runner, so out in space he can run with anyone. I doubt he has the strength or explosive pace off the mark to restrict the best inside midfielders. The half forward tag gets Melksham in to the game so he's got that role covered. And ANB has the hard running half forward spot. I thought in the preseason that Bugg had something to offer as another hard runner in the forward line and to be honest it worked for him in the North game, but he followed it up with some stinkers with the worst display of skills you'll ever see. I wouldn't completely rule Bugg out this year for that tagging wingman role against one of the games best outside runners - Gaff (although plays more on ball now), Isaac Smith, Scully etc. But that's about it.

2 games in 2 years won't be enough for Vanders. Will need at least 1, probably 2-3 more at Casey.

I've got no doubt he can still win the ball but Oliver, Brayshaw, Petracca and Harmes can win the ball and close down Danger/Ablett/Selwood at the same time. I don't think Tyson's first few steps are quick enough to prevent those guys running straight by him and that's why he hasn't been given a go in there all year.

If Viney didn't report it - he needs a serious kick up the backside If Viney did report it - the medical staff need to be damn well fired. He could've missed the games prior, had less stress and been back sooner. Fortunately it doesn't seem to have reached the stage of an actual fracture but that's more from good luck than good management by the sounds of things. Arrrgh I'm so angry.

Some over the top comments here, I don't think Jones is the big defensive liability some think. When Roos first came he sharpened his defensive work but that was because he Roos bought in other players to help win the ball. Even at the start of the year without Viney it was clear Jones was our most dangerous midfielder with the ball. Now he's back on the wing and he's not ideally suited but he spent most of the 2nd half on Ed Richards who is a very talented young player and Jones restricted his influence. It's not worth talking about Jones' career end date until he's settled in a lesser role, one which he could do for 1 year or 5 years, we don't know yet. I'm not even sure if it should be half back or half forward but I've got not doubt he's got a role in one of those positions coming up maybe from next year (we need to bring in some proper wingmen to make that happen).

I wouldn't go near Pedersen or Weideman but I think Smith is a different type of player. Instead of a bad pressure player like those two he's a good one, and the forward line functioned very well with him in the side against Blues, Crows and Dogs. Against the Power his pressure was good but he got in the way as a tall, but we also didn't have Garlett or Spargo in the side that game, we pretty much played 6 marking forwards who all got in each others way. With Garlett and Spargo flying around I think a 3rd tall could work if they decide Hannan didn't do enough. Oscar played very well the first month when Lever was in bad form, I'm not convinced he's reliant on Lever. His main issues right now are that he is losing concentration and letting his man get easy disposals in uncontested play and in the contest he's focusing on the man not the ball too much. His first half on Schache was terrible. It's not to the stage of dropping him but it's worth monitoring the form of the other Casey key defenders.

Where's Tyson going to play? On ball, ahead of Oliver, Brayshaw, Harmes (tagging) or Petracca/Jones. Selwood, Dangerfield, Ablett, Kelly etc have a lot of burst speed, I'm not sure Dom could lay a hand on them. Or wing ahead of Fritsch, JKH or Jones where the likes of Duncan, Murdoch etc run off him. Including Oskar Baker and moving JKH to half forward should be an option, but if they wanted to pick Baker I feel they would've done it by now. I think Hannan survives for another week, but if not I'd probably lean towards Bull Smith over anyone else. The Cats like to leave their backline deep and play 3 tall defenders, so the extra tall could be handy and I like his defensive efforts. Doubt Vanders is even close to ready but when he is that's his spot to grab. At what stage do we talk about Oscar McDonald's declining form and letting Schache run off him far too easily in the first half? What do Keilty and Pedersen have to do to grab his spot or are they only depth?

Agree, he has the run and skills to play wing, but it's going to be hard to make sure the match ups are right because wings will get kick to 1 on 1's at some stage so they better make sure he's not matched up on a strong marker.

Looked a mile off in the first half but lifted after half time. He's not a rubbish footballer - he can kick, he can handball, he can tackle, he can read the play, fit enough and a good burst of pace. But he's small, clearly doesn't relish the rough stuff and he seems to lose confidence very easily. The spilled mark running with the flight off the ball was alarming but credit to him for lifting. Also think he's also the latest square peg in a round hole trying to play on the wing. Surely high half forward (in competition with Spargo and ANB) and even some centre bounce time is a what he's suited to more than the wing.

That's a bit too much MFCSS even for me. The more rational one that I have is that I'd love to see us set up some more comprehensive victories so we can preserve Clarry's body whilst also getting him to play forward more and develop that side of his game. He's had a heap of banging and crashing in 50 games, whilst he's in his prime for hopefully the next 150 if not more we should attempt to minimise the loads. It was nice to see Oliver, Brayshaw and Petracca all rotate midfield/forward in more even game percentages against Freo and I think that's what we need to keep doing against more sides. We need to develop Clarry's ability to find the ball in space so he can break the lines and use his kicking and work on his one on one contests forward to start taking marks. Because there comes a time in big games where the best players have to make the big plays themselves - the running clearance and lace out kick or the goal.

64.5% DE - good enough in the slip slop and for his position and most importantly only 1 clanger on the weekend. Not to be too harsh on the guy but he had a team high 6 clangers against the Saints and was caught out defensively as well. So it's nice to see him bounce back big time. Cutting out the lazy kicking mistakes that happened a fair bit at training over summer where he'd be finding the ball with ease but kick off one step or bomb the ball. It was why I understood that he was left out of the side. Still, he's bounced back really strongly from the injury interrupted years and from being left out at the start of the year and I still think he's got a heap of improvement left.

Eyes off the ball is a cue for the umpires, its not in any way illegal. Stupid commentators repeat it like it's a law and then fans pick up on it. It does my head in. For what? If the Melbourne player hadn't marked then all Hibberd did was use his body to take front position at the drop of the ball. Perfectly legal, he didn't hold, didn't shepherd his opponent out of the contest by taking him out. It wasn't "an unreasonable block that prevents an opposition player from contesting the football". What the umpires should look for when it comes to blocking is whether the player would've contested the ball if not for his team mate. And Hibberd had every right and the perfect position to contest the mark if his team mate didn't take the ball in front of him. Anyway, to get back on topic, Hibberd failing or not failing to execute a good team play isn't comparable to Lewis giving away a really stupid and selfish 50m penalty out of frustration.

You mean where he positioned himself between the ball and his man in a perfectly legal spot with legal body contact but was called for blocking because the umpire is an idiot and/or the rules have lost the plot? Punishing teams for having more players at the drop of the ball has to be one of the dumber rule interpretations of recent times.

What mongrel? A cheap shot 50 that didn't hurt and cost a goal is not mongrel. Neither is looking to hack the ball off the ground or punch it wildly because you won't put your body on the line. We need mongrel for sure. But it comes from the players who are willing to go when it's their turn. I'd like to see Vanders in the team for just that reason, but otherwise Lewis isn't provide any form of intimidation when he's the one who's running scared

Fantastic post.

Max rested behind the forward stoppages against the Saints as well, but Weeds did the ruck work. An effort to pull the backline zone back to avoid the costly over the back goals that plagued us against Port and to open the forward line. I did enjoy Jesse doing the ruckwork. Boundary throw ins aren't very dangerous and they are an opportunity for talls to get physical. Every big guy needs the occasional chance to push and shove and demonstrate they are strong. Hoges really looked to have regained some of his physicality tonight which is vital for the rest of the year. Plus Max gets an extra bit of on ground rest.

The missed punch of the ball that went for a deliberate when it was 3 on 1 was one of softest things I've seen on a footy field this year. Of course Derm and the rest of the crew covered for him but any Demon fan who has been watching closely knows he was afraid to gather that ball and to get tackled.

Joel Smith - thought he was ok down back but looked to be hobbling and was sent forward, where he did some good and some bad (getting in the way, what's new). Can't carry injured guys coming back from Darwin Lewis - Same old, same older ANB - needs a run in the 2's for his own sake, just no confidence right now Melksham - another game without a tackle, just drifting around, needs a rocket put up him to get back to the form he was in a month ago In: Vince - in Lewis' role Hannan - in for Melksham, playing up the ground using his run, his intensity at Casey today was excellent, a cut above with speed JKH - in for ANB, couldn't be any worse Baker - in playing wing/forward, move Harmes to half back as they did tonight Not sure how may of the 4 should happen, and the safe option is probably just Vince for Smith, but there were 4 guys tonight and really for 3 of them over the last month who haven't been up to it.

I don't mind Wagner, always had more time for him than a lot of others have, but if he does get a game I think it has to be as high half back and the slowest defender. Given Vince is nearly certainly done at the end of this year and Lewis shouldn't be in the side either we will have plenty of spots in the team/on the list to fill so I'm not concerned about giving him another year. I think he can kick, mark and read the play at AFL standard and has good endurance, just isn't quick or overly strong so can get caught out. Playing up the ground with some athletes around him and he can do the job. I also think there's a strong chance they draft his brother based on his VFL form and attributes so far this year so keeping Josh over some other bottom of the list players makes sense. Harmes - still not convinced by him on the wing, but he has physical attributes to play well on ball, at half forward and to me at half back. If he's 22nd picked we'll have a very good team. How much his decision making can improve in this next contract will determine if he plays for a very long time after or not. 2 year deal is interesting, maybe we only wanted to commit at good money for 2 years, or maybe his manager is chasing a big contract and trying again in 2 years.

I'd like to see him played as a forward to see if he can provide some speed but I get why the club are keen to develop him as a wingman and to play that role at AFL level I think he needs at least another preseason for fitness and he needs to work on his kicking. Right now the ball lobs of his boot and that can mean a lot of missed targets at AFL level. Stretch is the safer option if we want an outside runner. Spargo and/or rolling the dice on Jeffy for a forward. Only if they want to really make big changes would Baker come in and play a bit wing a bit forward I think. Hopefully he stacks a few good games together though so the coaches are forced to look at how he could improve the side.

I hope we keep close tabs on Cyril Rioli. Could even sign him and leave him up North until the season starts then get him fit. He's what we need.

He played well against Brisbane and snuck on the end of a few against North but his games against Geelong, Hawthorn and Richmond were about as bad as I've seen from an AFL player. He wasn't getting front and centre to the packs, he wasn't tackling and particularly against Richmond and Hawthorn where he had 6 and 5 possessions he didn't even want the ball. There were moments in both of those games where he had a chance to run on to a loose ball under very little pressure and refused to do so. The coaches aren't going to just put a guy straight back in after they've done that. And Garlett has been doing that since about half way through last year when a near AA season turned in to very poor form and bad habits in the second half of the year. It's also worth noting that whilst he's probably better suited in a different role that Hannan has actually done the job more weeks than not until recently. He had a poor game against the Pies but bounced back with a good pressure effort against the Power (as did the entire side) and had 5 shots on goal. Had an absolute stinker against St Kilda and it might cost him his spot.

His decision making should improve with more games at AFL level and he has the athleticism we so desperately need. Aside from getting caught under the ball at one stage I though his defensive positioning was quite good. He couldn't quite execute the kicks or decisions needed but his athleticism stood out when the game opened up in the last quarter, he was running the ball and getting it forward. Stick with him because he has some special tricks that we'll start to see if he gets confidence at the level.