DeeSpencer

Geelong in Geelong and Hawthorn in Tassie are not easy ways to judge a team. The Saints weren't too bad against the Crows, should've beat GWS and took care of Brisbane at Etihad. The idea that they are completely horrendous isn't true. They struggle to score but are pretty honest effort wise. It's probably a bigger test than Essendon who have bigger holes around the ball. Play like we did in the first half against Essendon and we won't win. Play too over confidently and make silly mistakes and we won't win either.

Problem is Salem played half back on the weekend. So you'd have to move Brayshaw to half back or the wing and Tyson on ball. That's a lot of shuffling.

Probably Wagner in for Salem. Although I wouldn't be against giving Stretch another chance and moving Lewis to half back. Tim Smith really the only likely option as forward if there's injuries or if they want to drop ANB or go smaller. Maynard had the job on Steven in preseason. He'd be an option, but I think they'll stick with Harmes and Brayshaw in the midfield providing the defensive cover to Jones and Oliver.

Where exactly do you want those guys to play though? ANB's best position is the high half forward role, he comes up to stoppages as an extra midfielder and then uses his elite endurance to get out in space, I'm fine with him there, he's just way out of form. I'd give Tyson a run at half forward and some time on the ball to mix things up but really the wing might be the best spot to get him in the team and what better options do we have? I'd play Stretch more but he got 1 chance in a huge pressure game and wasn't up to it. After him who else do we have for the wing? Lewis in on the other wing and he's just as poorly suited to it as Tyson is. Oskar Baker almost certainly isn't ready. Fritsch should be one day but he doesn't have the endurance and will tire and make simple mistakes. Spargo maybe, but that's asking a lot of a young body and no good if the opposition have a pair of 6'3 wingmen. The preseason plan was for Jones and Harmes. They were the starting wings in a lot of training drills. Lewis was half back. Tyson rotated in. Viney's injury and Petracca's form/fitness has forced Jones back inside and Harmes wasn't really working and been needed forward/ruck and is another player better on ball than wing anyway. I don't like Tyson on a wing but I'll live with it until we have other mature midfielders to push him out.

His kicking continues to be a let down but his clean hands around the contest has been super valuable the last two weeks. I certainly agree he isn't a wingman. Wouldn't mind putting him across half forward as the high half forward, replacing ANB and then moving Hannan and Fritsch to the wing. Maybe just rotate those forwards and Tyson through the forward line more and try lots of different options. Or we wait until Viney comes in and then move Jones/Harmes to the wing. Not that those guys are really wingmen either, both will be too see ball get ball to really make it on the wing but at least they can break the lines and keep up defensively. Harmes had the most pressure points on the weekend. His defensive in tight speed was valuable. So I can't see Tyson suddenly getting put in that centre square role any time soon. Wing really is the spot where we have the least depth. After Lewis and Tyson it's only Stretch as ready to go back up and he had a shocker against the Tigers.

I was saying yesterday to a friend that he has to be top 10 smartest footballers in the team already. Of course the challenge is for him to keep playing his natural game and not let the over coaching and criticism that all AFL players get, plus the oppositions attention get to him and start second guessing himself. Fritsch is another very crafty player and adding just a few more smart players really helps the team balance.

I'd rather Harmes never touches the ball but his defensive work around the ground was very good today. Jones, Oliver and Brayshaw could hunt the ball because Harmes was the negating midfielder. Petracca in his spot would be adding in another attacking midfielder and distorting the tentative balance we found today.

ANB is in terrible form but I wouldn't directly replace him with Petracca, not when the rest of the forward line is mostly taller players without great pressure or fitness. One of the talls has to make way if Tracc comes back - and that's an if at this stage. I'm a Weid's fan and he was very good against Richmond and ok today - he's especially handy around the ground as a ruck. But to get Tracc back in he's the logical out as Tommy Mc builds fitness. I don't believe that Weideman is hampered by returning to Casey. He's still young enough that he doesn't desperately need games. The bench at the end of the game was Tommy Mc, Hogan, Melksham and Salem. I'd be watching to see if they are all right to go during the week. Tim Smith would have to be in the wings as well if Hogan or Petracca isn't right or if Tommy pulls up sore. In fact if the club believe Smith can do something as a midfield type player as a high half forward he might be the way to replace ANB. Double change - Weids and ANB for Petracca and Smith - that way you keep the same forward pressure and don't lose the aerial threat. Maynard is about the only other option to replace ANB. He could play high half forward and maybe swap in and out with Harmes and Tracc.

He's out of form and down on fitness by the looks of how much he's often blowing. But his pace makes a huge different both in attack and defending. We really don't have anyone to bring in for him. The backline were excellent all day and I wouldn't make a change.

McKenna - contracted and was back training at the start of preseason Johnstone - contracted, coming in to his 2nd year and we need to develop small forwards. Should be played down back at Casey to learn how to win more easy footy but more often that not his tackle numbers are up. Bit early to give up on him. JKH - received a contract mid last year presumably to give him belief to persist with dominant VFL form and break back in. Poor decision mid year but I get the logic Vanders - the club rates him as do I, with 45 on the list we can afford one long term injured player Flippers - young ruck, the club are clearly trying to develop the next ruck after Gawn now rather than later, if not him it would be another ruck in his spot Balic has a tight hammy so forget about him. Otherwise there is Hannan, Frost, Pedersen, Joel Smith, JKH, Maynard and Bugg (who was contracted) plus three draft picks in Fritsch, Spargo and even Petty all available to come in and whilst there's no world beaters there all of them (besides the young guys) have performed to some level at AFL. Also, Weideman competed just fine against the best backline in the AFL. He needed match fitness at Casey before he was ready to come in. It's too early to say he's really right to go as a long term player but aside from one terrible shot for goal he did a lot right. The biggest problem with our list is our top 7 or so A graders mostly aren't truly elite reliable performers yet and our decent B graders (say 8th to 18th picked each week) depth is a little short of what we need with some older guys (Lewis, Vince, Garlett) falling out of that category and leaving us without a good solid small forward or outside mid. No point getting caught up with the C graders who fill out the last 4-6 spots each week.

Didn't get the return for it up the field but Gawn, Oliver and Jones in particular did enough in the guts to keep Martin playing there and not able to go forward for large chunks. We kept them honest that way. And we kept Martin under pressure and bouncing from one fend to the other largely without sprinting away from contests and being dangerous with the ball. Many of his possessions went: A) Fend, fend, fend, uncalled throw Or B) Fend, fend, fend, shanked kick to no one.

We couldn't simply keep Howe. The clown thought he was a forward. Roos - one of the best defenders of all time and allegedly one of the best man management coaches of all time - couldn't convince him he was a defender. He was also very happy to pick and choose when to put in effort. We got Hibberd, a vital back flanker that we needed to fill one gap down back anyway. We gave up two first round picks and got Lever and a 2nd rounder that became Harry Petty. If they turn out to be quality 3rd tall and CHB then no one will complain about the two first round picks. Lever's contract might be more troublesome but not if it's well structured. Premiership windows are overrated. Richmond jumped right back in to one with 3 trades. We can open a premiership window with good coaching, development of young top end talent in to genuine A graders, refining the role players and finding a couple of big upgrades in certain positions of weakness.

Why can't we get the balance between who's up and who's down right in the backline: 1. most of our defenders are proficient over head but we can't seem to turn that to an advantage. Houli, Ellis and Short don't bother flying with Rance, Grimes and Astbury around mainly because they know they'll spoil but also because they just aren't that big or strong in the air. 2. We like the zone. Which means different match ups for different defenders. It's not always small on small. 3. Lack of trust in the talls. Oscar's only starting to win more than he loses now and Lever has been shaky. Eventually those guys will get stronger and more reliable. But more than anything: 4. Lack of continuity. Lever is new. Hibberd 1 season at the club. Hunt and Wagner how many games together? Oscar how many games? The 2nd/3rd tall spot might take some rotating but overwhelmingly we hopefully have a backline that can keep most of the parts together over multiple seasons. That will be a huge help.

ANB needs to just go back to winning the ball and not worry so much about what comes next. His worst mistakes have been attempted kick off the grounds and not the same clean hands (and clean tackling) as last year. He has a side step and a funny little kick that works for him and can handball pretty well, so I'll cop some bad turnovers if he can just win the ball cleanly again. Same thing is true of Jayden Hunt, just win the ball first, worry about what happens after that next.

McIntosh and Grigg run the wings for the Tigers and are high quality ball butchers. Kane Lambert plays the high half forward/midfield role and for his first couple of seasons he would spud it up as well. Castagna is a defender playing forward who can't kick for goal and makes dumb choices around the ground. Townsend is a cheat and a scrubber, nice shot for goal but holds his man all the time and otherwise does nothing but cheap shot tackles. They are strong over the ball and they are good athletes - quick, fit and strong. But otherwise they aren't exactly skilled. Stretch, Tyson, ANB, Harmes and Melksham filled those roles for us. Stretch, ANB and Harmes were particularly disappointing, whilst Tyson had good and bad. ANB and Stretch covered the most ground for us. Stretch, ANB then Harmes did the most high speed running. Harmes had our most tackles. As role players they did a lot of what they were supposed to do. I wish they were better but maybe the gap between us and the Tigers isn't that there role players are better but at the other end. Role players always look better in winning sides. Consider the top end talent: Petracca is no Dusty. Salem can't seem to keep his impact up for a full game and even he found the Tigers pressure hot after 1/4 time Oliver can't get anything fluent with Gawn and can't find a target from his kicks Hogan made some bad decisions by hand and foot and missed goals Garlett was a steaming pile of trash on a night when Higgins kicks 3 at the other end.

I'm a Wagner fan but he didn't win the ball, didn't punch with conviction, doesn't tackle, doesn't intercept and how often does he break the lines and attack? I like Wagner but he seems to have won guys over by just returning to a basic level of competence. Hibberd, Hunt and Brayshaw offer more as flankers and I think we need Jetta, Lever and 2 big guys against Essendon. I also don't want to see James Stewart kick 5 on Lever and have to start him right back from the start. Maybe Vince and Brayshaw go in to the midfield and that frees up a defensive spot for the tall. Or maybe they just back Lever in. I'm not sold on it like the forwards changes but we the allowance for a 2nd tall I think we have 7 defenders better. With the short break it might come down to who's up and running, I certainly have concerns with Hibberd and Jetta but I'm hoping they are right to go.

He's small and light so I get he doesn't want to take the ball in the middle of heavy traffic but the problem is he's now extended his range of 'close combat' to about 15m from an opponent. He had a chance to run in to an open goal in the first quarter and now can't even manage to paddle the ball and keep it moving to pick it up. He's done.

Richmond at the MCG are the fittest, fastest and easily best team in the comp. I watched Geelong, Adelaide and GWS all play the same game we did against the Tigers last year in the finals. Want to spread it more against the Tigers pressure and work rate, good luck. Reacting to slippery conditions and a bad game where we over possessed the ball last week we were always going to play pretty safe but at least we had the ball moving faster. The 3rd quarter (and parts of the first and 2nd) showed it's not actually a cardinal sin to go long down the line if you have the talls and smalls in the right spot. Our hands aren't slick enough around the contest and we don't have the class on the outside to nail the kick that opens up the play. Besides that we need to work on our team work with men up and down but the side has and will keep changing and it can't all be fixed over night. Tonight was far better than the Hawthorn game obviously and not out of line with our first 3 weeks. Heck it might even have been better.

Out: Kent (inj), Garlett, Wagner In: Fritsch, Spargo, Petty Need the extra tall down back against the Bombers and really I don't see the point of playing Frost. Given the young kid a chance. Desperately need to change up the small forwards. Harmes and Melksham can stay deep, give Fritsch a chance to roam the flanks and use his class. I'm frustrated by ANB and Stretch. I wish they were doing more and making less mistakes. But who do we have at Casey who can run? No one! The reason we stayed with the Tigers for 3/4 - because Stretch and ANB were out there running all game. I'll take that over the other options which involve loading our midfield up with guys who can't run! Tommy Mc can go to Casey and get some form in limited minutes if he's right to play. Weid's was very good tonight and deserves the chance to show what he can do again.

He's been garbage since mid year last year and feasting on a bad backline when we were moving it in regularly and with ease doesn't change that. Has to go.

Far far better tonight playing a lot of half back. That's where he should play. Let the game come to him, win some contests, make smart decisions with the ball. Can move on to the wing in the second half. No idea why he wasn't given the half back spot to start the year after 3 promising games to finish last year but hopefully he stays there now. Some mistakes, but also a lot of really strong contests in the air and on the ground and some smart footy.

The backline are very much under the pump but Wagner and Vince are probably doing as well as can be expected given the stage of their careers and talents.Hopefully the midfield can pick up their defensive work rate and Hibberd, Jetta, Lever and Hunt can find form. Second half v Geelong, long periods v Brisbane and the majority of the North game our backline was rarely troubled. If we find the right match ups and the right pressure up the field they can look good but when it's bad it's awful. Petracca is in and out of games both mid and forward, but I wouldn't say he's not playing well (outside of Sunday). Salem is building pretty well in the midfield. Combined with Max, Jones and Oliver it's a start of a decent midfield but there's not the same talent on the outside. Tyson played ok but the wing doesn't seem right for him. Harmes and Gus aren't really suited on the wing. It's a mess. Hogan is in form as a forward. Kent seems to be back in much better form than he showed last year. Melksham was never reliable at Essendon and is a big disappointment right now. Fritsch is new. Bugg and Garlett would combine for a great footballer but otherwise they are what they are. Bugg is full of effort but no skills or smarts, Garlett has the talent but is afraid of contact. We might just struggle all year finding a reliable 2nd key defender, hard running wings and trustworthy small forwards.

His skill level was never great last year but he had his hits with his misses and that made him a good player overall. Needs to pick it up this year but I think this thread is fair to say good on him for running his backside off. The Hawks aren't just masters of pressure, skills and team work, they run hard through the midfield as well. If the rest of the midfield could run 17km in a game including some hard and smart defensive running our backline surely wouldn't be under so much strain.

Sure but he has to play somewhere and contribute otherwise it may as well be back to Casey.

First quarter was great but after his legs got heavy and his kicking went off. I don't know what to make of him. He's not overly quick and I know the team was getting steam rolled but in wet weather as the game goes on the pace should go out of the game and he should come in to it more. He knows where to go to get the ball and he can do things to win the ball and make decent decisions, but apart from that he looks a long way off. This is pure speculation but maybe the concussions have impacted his ability to maintain focus and energy for 4 quarters. I'm struggling to see where he fits in the team and really the only spots that look likely to me are the high half back role that Vince is in where he comes up to the back of a stoppage and can play up the ground and zone from a man. Or as a tagger against the right type of opponent.