DeeSpencer

Gaff and Masten are the Eagles wingers. Mitchell racked up a lot of his touches away from the stoppages, rolling in to his spot at half back and using the ball. I think those rating numbers and the possession totals came from the Eagles outside ball use. So our mids weren't really beaten for the ball. We won the contested possession by 11. The question I have is: is that because our midfielders weren't working hard enough to defend or is the problem elsewhere? Having Oliver + Salem (inexperienced centre square mids), a first up Dom Tyson and not tagging in the midfield it didn't surprise me that Mitchell racked up heaps of ball. But Masten and Gaff getting so much of it did surprise me when I'd say Stretch and Bugg are two of our better defensively minded mids - they run hard both ways. I'd probably blame it: 50% on bad turnovers that left us horribly out of position and let the Eagles sweep the ball straight down the ground for scores 50% on a lack of midfield and forward line pressure of which some blame is on the mids and some (maybe more) blame is on the forwards. I definitely agree that our midfield has to carry the side now and Tyson and Viney have to step up and play consistently well. When they both played well last year the team was at it's best.

Ideally he would've played the year and kept working on improving like he seemed to do a bit in the VFL last year, played some games if needed and kept being a good club man. But I guess the silver lining from this is he now gets a choice - negotiate a settlement and call time on his career - or give the rehab 110% and do some serious work in the gym, rest up his legs for a while etc. Long term injuries do allow a player to be mentally and physically refresh so if he chooses to play on I hope he takes advantage of that chance to mix things up a bit. Currently he's not really strong enough to be a key defender, fit enough to be an interceptor or fast enough to be a rebounder so changing up his training might help that as well as giving him a different mental challenge and some time to do other things.

I'd say tag Riewoldt from a wing this week, then float between wing and half back in subsequent weeks with the possibility of tagging on ballers. I don't believe in tagging all the time or limiting Vince to just a tagger but I still don't get the reasoning as to why Dangerfield, Fyfe and several of the rest of the top 10 mids in the comp shouldn't be minded. Bernie's disposal in the preseason hasn't just been dangerous in terms of conceding scores, it's been dangerous to team mates as well. He's mastered the Cam Bruce special at the moment.

I was hoping Bernie settled at half back mid way through last year and then went a bit crazy after the shin injury. From preseason it seems that wasn't the case and his decision making and kicking seem to have to dropped off drastically - maybe just losing half a step has him always feeling under pressure and going for too much. Salem and Lewis are the 2 who should fill the calm head role. Left footers, smart footballer and they don't panic. Bernie should be our tagger and that should start with Riewoldt. Half back to prolong his career was a good idea but if it isn't working then he'll have to do a role elsewhere.

Tall defender 1: Tom Mc Tall defender 2: Oscar, Frost, Garland, Keilty, Pedda? 3rd tall: Wagner, Hibberd*, Frost, J Smith, Garland *Hibberd ideally as the 4th tall but could be an option as a third against the right side. That's how I'd have our depth chart. Depth means you don't just replace one guy with a good option but that you have multiple players who can play a role. I think we are down to our 4th best option at medium defender but I'm keen to see how J Smith goes.

The lack of surety on the best team is a concern, but plenty of other teams are in a similar position. The good news is most of our best players (maybe Watts aside) are ready to perform. We can't be sure if the summer plans will be on display in round 1 and they often aren't for many teams given it's often a slug fest. Nor can know what exactly they've been saving from the JLT series in terms of opposition analysis and situation game plan stuff.

I see Hannan kicked 2, any other involvement? Touches/tackles. I'd just play the bloke

Individual defending: A- Team defending: B- Individual attacking: C+ Team attacking: C- Here's what I mean by that. One on one he's very good but not great, players can kick goals on him. But when it comes to the team defending his limited athleticism and size means he can't switch and rotate with other defenders and he doesn't cover the ground up and back in the zone. He also flies for too many marks/spoils when he should stay down but that's a team wide thing. When he has the ball he doesn't turn it over and has a great little side step and short kick to get in to the corridor. But he only gets 15 or so touches so as an individual he's only a C+ grade rebound defender. He doesn't take up the load as a rebounder to take pressure off his team mates nor does he run to receive or break lines (or kick goals) so in terms of being part of the team attack he doesn't contribute a lot there. Melksham might be his direct competitor for a spot and Melksham isn't a great one on one defender, but he has the height and fitness to be a great part of the zone that moves all over the field at pace. Individually the guy is a bit of a liability in that he has terrible brain fades but he's also shown a willingness to get 20+ possessions and run the ball and take on challenging kicks. The question is whether Nev has the tank and two way intensity to warrant a spot or whether the team will function better with a less stable and calm defender who can bring far more run. Personally I think the thing the McDonald's and other young defenders need is a mature head who plays within his limits but I can see why the coaches want to try guys who offer more athletically.

Played all 3 JLT: Hogan, Jones, Salem, Petracca, Lewis, Viney, Brayshaw, Gawn, Oliver, Stretch, Melksham, Vince, T Mc, Weeds, O Mc, Hunt, ANB, Bugg, Spencer, Harmes Inj: JKH, Wagner, Hibberd, Frost, Vanders, King Apparently 17 to play FB: Jetta Garland HB: J Smith Hulett McKenna C: ##### Tyson HF: Kent Pedersen Watts FF: Garlett Keilty Hannan Foll: Flipper? Trengove Kennedy Int: Johnstone ?Maynard (?T Smith ?White I think have had niggles recently) I reckon there's at least 4 and maybe up to about 6 spots available for guys playing at Casey. Tyson, Watts, Garlett could just lock up 3 of them with solid performances but 3rd tall defender (Garland or J Smith or even Jetta with a smaller line up), half forward (Kent) and tall forward/ruck (Pedda) could also make a mark. Plenty to play for.

No Hibberd, Frost or Wagner so in my mind it comes down to Garland or Smith. If Smith's training well and Garland isn't then may as well go with him in round 1. He might struggle and it's a tough baptism but I'd rather play a guy who has his down moments than a guy who just doesn't have it any more.

In the 5 points you've got there you've really made only 2. 1-2: He's a good kick. Except for most of last year he was stuffing around on his left or unwilling to take shots on goal and turning it over at will. 3-5: He's a fast player capable of getting on the end of it. Which is certainly true and I think he'll play based on that alone. He needs to tidy up his disposal, not shirk contests and make sure his defensive efforts are sound to keep his spot in the team, but given the other options (Vanders, ANB, Harmes, Johnstone etc) have failed to impress or have also been injured or overlooked (Kennedy, Kent, Hannan) there's no doubt in my mind he'll play. I'm hoping he's back in 2015 form.

It was relatively interesting for such a short segment but not really an interview. Good to see Jesse open up and be honest and hopefully he's worked through some of his issues which aren't nearly as big as some people were trying to make them. The whole thing was a bit odd but I suspect it's just a little thing that club wanted Hoges to do and helps keep Barrett at arms length.

5 step plan to beat the Saints: 1. Shut down Riewoldt Bernie Vince is the man for the job. He goes up a gear when tagging and as an experienced midfielder he'll know how to hurt him the other way. We have to direct play through Vince if Riewoldt goes and sits behind the ball. Also we have to physically beat in to him - Bugg, Viney, Jones the men for this job - whenever he's around congestion. Tom McDonald takes the job if he goes forward and the other defenders shuffle over. 2. Pressure their defenders Roberton and Savage are quality ball users when given time and space but if pressured properly they can go to water. Brown, Carlisle, Gilbert/Dempster won't hurt us as much. Geary has killed Garlett repeatedly so if Jeffy plays he has to fired up. Maybe he can be sent to follow Savage to try and get ahead of the curve. Alternatively he could try and drag Geary away from the play and someone like Petracca could aim to get Savage deep in an uncomfortable match up. 3. Tempo footy We have to share the ball across half back at Etihad and wait for options or be prepared to kick to a ruckman down the line when required. Lewis, Jones, hopefully Hibberd, Salem - the better ball users have to be involved in getting the ball at half back, moving it around and then pulling the trigger on the corridor kick. The long kicks to the rucks just weren't working against the Eagles, so they need to make sure Gawn +/- Spencer are positioned correctly to attack the get out kick. 4. Isolate Hogan Carlisle and Brown give the saints far better key defenders than they've had before but Hogan can get either one of the one on one. He seems to like Etihad and the saints so get the ball to him 5. Stop their kick outs The Saints are one of the best at kicking the ball in after a behind. Often it's to Josh Bruce who runs a defender out of the zone and marks 60m out then they aggressively kick to players running to a spot on the wing. We have to study their plans and be aware of them.

Interesting there's near consensus on WC, Adelaide, Hawthorn and Geelong. I wouldn't tip against them either but I feel like one of those sides misses the 8. The saints are in year 4 of the same coach with mostly the same playing group and played like a top 8 team for a lot of last year. They've added key defenders in Carlisle and Brown and Jack Steele as a rotation midfielder but are really the same core. Gresham and Steele are their most inexperienced players and both can play roles. We are in year 1.5 of Goodwin really and are still being aggressive with the best team turnover. We've added Melksham, Lewis and hopefully Hibberd. We're still trying to decide on Spencer or Weeds in to the team and then work out how to get Watts to back up for another year. Oliver, Brayshaw, Petracca, Hunt, Stretch, Wagner, Oscar, Weeds all haven't played much footy yet and there's a chance as the year goes on we add a couple more debutants in Hannan and Joel Smith in to the mix. We'll get comparisons to the Saints given we were both down the bottom in 2013/2014 but really I'm not too worried about what they do.

Was there a thread or match report for the hit out the guys had on Friday?

His JLT 1 was great, JLT was pretty average. If he plays well I'd think of pulling the trigger but if he doesn't look that impressive then it would be a fair gamble.

Two players side by side, 5m apart. Ball gets kicked out in front. Players move towards it and together, jump and attempt to mark. Most of the times one player slotted in ahead of the other player and got to the ball first, as far as I could tell there wasn't a designated front or back player. A couple of times elbows or arms went towards head and neck, no real harm done there. Watts and Hulett happened to get together at the ball at the same time. Hulett's about 193cm and 95+kg, Watts looks like 196cm and 90kg. They collided hip and shoulder together, Watts probably had less momentum and less weight and ended up getting shifted as I said. Like a heavy paint tin crashing in to a light paint tin - inertia. As far as I could tell Hulett did nothing wrong. The point of the drill was to attack the contest with strength and body control in the air. Either way, looked like a stinger. After a bit of time on the deck Watts got up, could move his arm, got checked over by the physios and walked off. He might be a little sore but should be able to play for Casey and play through it. If not, then it's more a question of whether it was a worthwhile drill than any concern over Hulett or Watts' actions.

I got there late so I missed the rehab group. Watts hurt his shoulder near the end and didn't finish the session. Looked like a stinger but I guess time will tell. The forwards where doing a drill where Chaplin kicked the ball up to 2 players from about 30 out and they both flew for the mark. Hulett came in from one side and shifted Watts in the air with his body and he landed pretty heavily on his shoulder. Too be honest it looked to be a pretty dangerous drill so I wasn't all the surprised when someone went down. Goodwin spent a long time with Oscar McDonald near the end of the session getting him to spoil Max one on one. He actually did pretty well, made some nice left hand spoils, held his ground and put his body in. Then Goodwin and Oscar were practising rapid fire short kicking on both sides of the body. They've often taken Oscar aside for some agility stuff before, so it seems the senior coach is continuing that theme of getting him moving. He has the skills so he just needs the intensity. Petracca, Brayshaw, Tommy Mc, Kennedy and Oliver did a kicking drill together. Kent provided some energy in the match simulation drills (10 v 7 using the corridor only). When it's on his kicking is a weapon. Hannan still a chance for rd 1 IMO, just offers something different to the rest of those in the half forward mix. Garlett training well, mostly with the main group but also did a few laps at good pace.

Turnovers against a zone defense kill you. But turnovers against any form of defending are nearly fatal these days anyway so I assume the theory is better off being aggressive and getting the defending up the ground and in space so they can win the ball back. I do have some concerns about the backline being over coached and overly aggressive instead of using smarts to know when to hang back but overall I'm still a huge fan of zone defending. Hawks won 3 flags in a row with it then Dogs beat Sydney purely because they got more turnovers in better areas of the ground. We know we need better defensive pressure from the forwards and that's been a focus of the preseason. We know we need to cut down the turnovers and I'm not sure that's been fully worked out yet. One thing I'd like to see is the players take note of Pav's comments about 'fast ball movement' and how waiting one or two seconds is still fast movement. Go quickly, don't rush. The other thing we need to do is sort out the forward line leading patters. The players just don't work together well enough yet and there was too much looking for the over the top or deep bomb in against the Eagles. I'm hoping some of that was a Subi thing and players just not judging the kicks. Petracca tried to launch a kick about 70m over the Eagles defenders at one stage which I'm sure was a ground dimensions thing.

The question is how much Spencer should ruck. If Gawn can still ruck 70% then that's almost ideal as he can still run around in the ruck and be in the game and is only forward for about 20% - really just a short change up, maybe when Hogan is either off or on the ball so the 2 don't get in the way. That would mean Spencer rucks 30% and probably plays forward for no more than 50% of the game. Can he grab a mark or a free and kick 1 or 2 goals and not get in the way deep? Will he chase effectively and efficiently or just give away free kicks. I kind of want to find out. The Swans and Hawks are 2 teams that play 2 rucks most of the time including some pretty ordinary forwards (think Ceglar/McEvoy etc) and they manage to just get their rucks out of the way up forward. I'd love to learn how they get their ruckman just to sit on a forward flank whilst the ball gets directed to the star forward. The other thing playing Spencer does is allow Watts to stay forward, maybe with a little change up on the wing. The ruck was good to get him involved in games last year but it really isn't his go and if he's down on intensity and physicality will it really help him? Without the 3rd man up even against Josh Bruce he'll be in trouble in the ruck. I'd laugh at the idea of picking Spencer even a month ago but he's fit, he's training better than he ever has, he gives his best, he's physical. It goes against everything I think about round 1 which is to pick a fit running side, but I just think Spencer is the fit running player compared to Weeds.

I think too much gets made of the v the Saints and Etihad factor. Sure they are quick and it's a fast and small ground but plenty of teams win games there against them with a tall line up. They'll probably be playing Carlisle and Nathan Brown who aren't exactly speedy rebounding defenders. The talls can chase the talls and the smalls can chase the smalls! If it comes down to Weed v Spencer playing as the 2nd tall (with Watts rucking or not) then I think Spencer has done enough. If we don't want to pick Spencer for concerns about pace and run then I wouldn't pick Weed either and I'd go with Hogan, Watts and hope Petracca can compete in the air.

I agree with Chris above that the rule needs a name change. Bernie had 2 options: 1) Shepherd it over and let it run out 2) Attack it properly and keep it in I've got no problem with players getting pinged who run the ball over the line even if they then disguise a handball to keep it in. Either way I'm angry at Bernie for his lack of awareness and desperation and for generally floating around like the 3rd McDonald brother. He needs a rocket put up him before round 1 (and then to be given the job on Riewoldt).

I didn't mind any of those decisions: Wellingham - don't shank it straight out under minimal pressure, that's time wasting. Give us the free. Vince - probably shouldn't have been deliberate given how close Viney was for the handball but the mistake Bernie made was being aloof with the boundary line and then hand-balling it over. Much like the rest of Bernie's game last night - going half pace and fooling around won't get the umps on side. Had he chased after the ball and been in the mood to keep it in he probably would've nailed the handball up the line. McDonald - paddling the ball 25m until it gets out of bounds will always be deliberate these days. He had a number of options - pick it up and fire off a fast handball whilst getting tackled. Paddle it away from the boundary line. Hover over it and let someone else pick it up. It wasn't entirely his fault that he ended up in such a difficult situation - in fact his brother had just skipped over the ball, but the new rule punishes individuals for their teams leaving them one out under pressure.

I hope that was just plan A for defending kick ins and we have plans B + C in the bank for the real stuff. Agree it was a disaster. The saints are one of the best kick in teams in the comp so we'll soon know the answer.

He runs to space well, is an ok mark and a nice tackler, he's more of a forward than Oliver, Viney and Tyson so whilst he builds his tank he plays there I guess. Oliver's just too good to be anywhere but midfield, although he'll have to be managed during games to run them out. I'd probably start Brayshaw forward but I'd certainly give him a decent run in the midfield most games.