DeeSpencer

'It's a new challenge' “I’m basically the new kid, no matter how well I've done at another club there's no brownie points here.” 2 or 3 years ago if we recruited Lewis he'd have been our best player similar to Bernie Vince and would've just gone about his business in the midfield. Now I think he'll have to do what Bernie did this year which was move around a bit and play some different roles as we find room for Viney, Tyson, Jones, Oliver, Brayshaw etc. Combine that with the inconsistencies of a young side without the skill level he's accustomed to and it's not always an easy transition. Goddard and Dal Santo are 2 incredibly good players who went to new clubs at a similar age as Lewis and neither set the world on fire. That's all I'm trying to say. Dal Santo probably adapted better to running a wing and doing a role. Obviously Essendon went balls up pretty quickly but even before then Goddard was a bit of a mixed bag.

I think hammies can be back related but I'm not sure backs can be hammy related if that makes sense. This back injury could be a blessing in disguise as they might be forced to fix his core for good and then prevent any future hamstring problems. If it becomes an ongoing problem that's a concern, but I'd take him missing a few weeks to start the year now over doing a hammy mid season. Fixing the back/core to prevent hamstrings is hopefully what they've done with JKH over the break. For such a quick and physical player Kent's forward pressure/tackling is quite bad as well so maybe a bit more time with core strength and agility could help him as well.

The premierships are mostly irrelevant to his actual week to week performance. The contested possession may be too if he's given a new role. The B+F finish was nice but it really shows how many of the Hawks guns had down years last year. I thought Lewis had a lot of off games and moments in games where he didn't find that next gear. Clarko thought he only had 1 year left at Hawthorn. We've given him 3. That tells me we expect him to freshen up with new training, a new role etc.

I'm a little more circumspect on Lewis as I want to see if the trade has freshened him up and if he can adapt to the new role as well as the mental challenges of leaving an experienced team for a young one. It's going to be difficult to measure his effect on other players, but I'm hoping he gets the balance of aggression and antisocial football right and can step up in big moments. It sounds like they'll either play him on the wing or in a versatile role as well, both of which he'll probably have to adapt to. Purely on field if he gets back to his best Hibberd can probably offer as much if not more than Lewis. It's just going to be a question of if he can get and stay fit. I'm a little disappointed Hannan hasn't got in to full training yet, making it hard to see how advanced he is. I think there's a spot in the side for a medium forward who has the versatility to play close to goal, up the ground and even rotate on to a wing. Maybe he gets his feet at Casey for a while and makes an impact in the back end of the season.

I was about to say he could play in all 3 areas of the ground. Although he was lucky to win an AA as a forward I think. Great players don't always make great coaches. We've seen a lot of that recently. What I like about Goodwin is his playing record rarely gets mentioned with his coaching. And whilst he's had a short apprenticeship for a senior coach he's had his ups and downs and was selected by Roos, PJ et al hopefully on the basis of merit not because he was a star.

I still rate Howe as well. And Collingwood will win plenty of games but they need to overhaul their backline and need more than just Elliott back up forward. I don't think Howe was lazy either, but I do think he was mentally checked out of playing in a bad Melbourne team and that led to some poor efforts. It's a shame he didn't have an extra year with us because I think with Goodwin taking more control and influence last year he would've suited the style of play perfectly and done really well. Paul Roos just couldn't convince him he was a defender, which is a bit odd given Roos was one of the greatest CHB's of all time! He seems to have embraced the defensive role at the Pies - probably because he had no choice but to do it given he just signed on there. Funny how things work out sometimes

Agree. I'm sure they want him to have more burst and evasion in tight. Steele Sidebottom is the only elite outside mid I can think of and he has amazing skills on both side, reads the play perfectly, is strong overhead and times his run to get to or break from contests. There's a heap of slow inside mids, most teams have one or two, but they usually have really good agility and strength. Sam Mitchell is the ultimate example of a guy with a great sidestep and really strong core who can stand up in tackles.

Of course Howe is rated higher than Kennedy. I just don't think they should be compared, anyone who is doing so from either side of the deal and/or in positives or negatives is silly. I remember when Howe nominated Collingwood Josh Mahoney was very specific about not wanting any discussions linking Howe and Kennedy together. In the end they went in the same deal with Toumpas going out and Port involved but I still think that was a matter of convenience. Howe v Hibberd is actually a far more interesting debate point. As in Toumpas v Kennedy.

We swapped Kennedy for Toumpas and got a 2nd round pick for Howe, then within a year used a similar 2nd rounder to replace Howe with Hibberd. I'm hoping Kennedy has more to offer like he did at the start of 2016 but if he doesn't then I won't be comparing him directly to Howe. Howe wanted out, he wasn't going to perform for us, his play made that pretty clear. A 2nd round pick was a fair return for him.

They use their contacts to arrange well paying jobs for players. Mostly it's above board and legal, sometimes it's a bit suspect. There's other reasons why players choose the Ammo's though. No drinking at games = far less abuse over the fence Can play with their mates from school Not getting paid means less pressure to be the star player Less violence than some country and suburban leagues Convenience - they can train once a week and play locally in Melbourne Quality facilities and medical support The other aspect is I don't think the Ammo's has a set points limit. The points system is one to keep teams equal in country and suburban leagues where by each player is assigned a points grade. Ex AFL player being the highest number of points. But after a year out of the AFL system playing in the Ammo's a players points will go down. It can be a useful step down year before heading to the bush.

I'm trying to familiarise myself with the women before the games start so I've read all the coaches reviews as well as looking at their player profiles and draft position and put together a team for the first game. It's probably way off but at least I now have an understanding of the players and even if it's only 50% right I'm more familiar with the names. FB:#### Clifford Downie HB: K. Smith Hickey De Bertoli C: Humphries D. Pearce Randall HF: Mifsud O'Dea Berry FF: ##### Crantson Anderson Foll: L. Pearce Paxman Mithen Int: Patterson Boyd Lampard Kemp Scott Phillips E: Grierson Jolly Duryea Newman Cordner

Awesome sequence 6! Highlights the strengths of 2 guys I think both have something to offer us if they do the things they did here. Ben Ken - Acceleration, balance, steadies up, draws a man and makes the smart decision (Poor Paddy McKenna's ankles) Vanders - strong in close, physical, uses his size to get the ball out of reach, hands off to a runner and follows up with a (borderline illegal) shepherd (or tackle) of the opposition. Smart, physical team play I'm certainly guilty of pointing out the weaknesses of players, especially guys on the fringes of the best 22, but the reality is if those kind of guys play to their strengths they'll contribute regardless of their deficiencies.

I don't really care about being right or wrong. To sound a bit like Saty I want all of our players to do as well as they can and for the best team to come through. That being said here's my thinking.. I'm not convinced of Hibberd as the 3rd tall defender, he's strong in the air but really not tall enough for it to be a perfect option every week. Frost is an exciting prospect and the incumbent in that position. But he's one dimensional, panics with the ball and isn't nearly as strong in the air as a guy his height should be. Other options: Garland - nope, Keilty - doubt it, Wagner - certainly, but we'll probably have Hibberd, Vince and Salem as ball users so the balance might favour another pacy option. My current round 1 team moves between Frost and just playing Hibberd, but either way Smith would be the next medium/tall defender in line.

They went with Oscar Mc which was brave I guess. And by safe I mean the mix of Garland, Lumumba and Dunn through the early rounds of the year until Wagner was tried in round 3 and Hunt round 4. Salem was also in the side then and he always should be in the best 22, they just didn't know his health was dropping away. I remember watching Wagner train and thought he was in the best 22 but they didn't overuse him in the first two round of preseason and then he was up and down against the Saints. I also remember a report from a supporters meeting that Goodwin was really keen on Hunt. Either way, I'm not critical of how they were made to earn it a little, and I agree they certainly didn't have had a bucketload of VFL form behind them. My point is just to illustrate that Goodwin might see how they waited a few weeks to get those guys in last year and decide he not to be as patient this year.

Interesting wording but I think it means they discussed him at selection but never had him in the emergencies or close enough that they were tempted to disrupt his continuity at Casey (which was already disrupted by injury during the year). He jumps out (both literally and metaphorically) at training as a guy to watch. Really good in the air and evasive at ground level. He's also made a big change to his body shape where he looks like a footballer now. I don't think he'll have the same impact and competition for spots should be greater but I think he's not far from where Hunt was this time last year. And the coaches went the safe option and didn't pick Hunt until he put some runs on the board in the VFL and he made his debut in round 4. I'm not sure Simon Goodwin will be as conservative as Roos was. Joel Smith is very close to my best 22 and if he plays well in preseason he might just get in.

Like make you believe a movie is real life.

I always thought Nibbler was named for his resemblance to the Futurama character.

Pig Hibberd Porter McDonald Killer Watts Nut Harmes Need some more creative for the new boys I think

Atlanta 24 - Seattle 27 Pats 24 - texans 16 Chiefs 23 - Steelers 20 Cowboys 16 - Packers 31 Seattle to run the ball and win it with defense. Pats to be too good but Texans D to challenge them. Cowboys offense to grind to a halt at Dak struggles and Rodgers takes over. Chief/Steelers the toughest one. I like the Steelers young D to hold up the Chiefs. Bell will run for 150+. Big Ben has been so up and down. If he plays well the Steelers will win by 7+. If the pass rush gets to him the Chiefs might have 4 picks. Berry and Peters to grab 3 between them

Very early for a trade rumour but stuff it. Tim Taranto who was drafted by GWS with pick 2 is/was a massive Demons fan and still yearns to play for the Dees. Now that usually means nothing for most kids when they get to a club and especially when they play some games but most kids don't end up at GWS deep in the pecking order in Western Sydney. Taranto was apparently such a Dees fan he had to be talked out of getting a demons tattoo. Only 21 months until he's out of contract, I'd have the offer to him already.

Only going off glimpses in the main drills more so than any detailed look at them or anything from Friday but probably the best thing I can say about all of these 3 is they haven't looked like first year players in the drills. Petracca burst passed a would be tackler the other day and Keilty slid across and tackled him. Really good agility for a big. His kicking has looked solid and so has his decision making. DJ has a neatness about his decision making and disposal that is similar to Billy Stretch. Kicks the ball low and hard and on both sides. Tim Smith has found the ball and moved it on smoothly. None of the 3 have really jumped out with blistering pace or racking up the ball which are the 2 things that stand out in the match simulation training and the contested aspect of drills has mainly been in tight which doesn't favour a key defender or two forwards. For reference with Clarry this time last year all I could see was he had a bit of agility, his decision making looked decent and his skills were good enough to get the ball where it needed to go. It wasn't until the first intraclub that there was really any way of judging what he might do at AFL level.

I've mainly seen him in rehab and light skills work, keen to see more. He's got a good frame for a young ruck, runs pretty well and his handballing and kicking is better than expected. What have you seen from him?

Jetta has had patches of games where he doesn't contribute a heap in attack and he isn't ideally suited to the zone system. So he's not quite a complete lock, but I don't see anything there that says he's out of favour either. Just the understanding that Hibberd coming in + Hunt, Wagner, Smith etc means he'll have to play consistently.

Depends on your definition of elite but Grimes did have very good endurance. Endurance, work ethic and above average reading of the play were his strengths. If he was coming through the system again I'd see him somewhere like a Billy Stretch or ANB. Stretch looks like making it because he's got the physical traits of above average endurance and speed and is very neat with his disposal on wing. ANB isn't quite as quick and is messier with the ball, much like Grimes he's had a few injuries as well, but not nearly as much as Grimes had as a young player. If Grimes was trained in efficient kicking action and decision making from a young age and avoided the injuries he might've got to a level where he was a consistent AFL player. He certainly showed he could find the ball as a young player before regressing as the competition evolved and his decision making and disposal didn't hold up. I think his comments show he knew he wasn't up to it any longer But in some ways that makes him even more of a fantastic guy to own that fact and not resent the club.

Agree. You can see his kicking and confidence dropped off when he had plenty of tape on his knee and he wasn't doing much training besides the warm up and some laps in that time. Back in the main group now after a quad issue and I think he'll be pushing hard for a spot. Assuming Oscar gets the nod as the 2nd tall defender it's going to be a really interesting choice between Frost, Joel Smith, Wagner and just going smaller with Hibberd as the third tall. For smaller teams I'd be going small, but for upside Frost and Smith are both guys I want to see at AFL level, maybe not at the same time but I want them to play and Wagner should get more chances to show he belongs.