DeeSpencer

PRO's: Fantastic trainer, senior experience in a successful team, great tackler, quality state league player Would mostly be an investment for Casey and in culture, with the slight possibility he comes in and plays as a pressure forward if we need a big kick along in that spot. Whilst he wouldn't fill a need as a best 22 player he'd at least provide the pressure to our younger forwards to chase and tackle or be replaced. I guess if we've taken 4 young kids (2 national draft, 2 rookies, maybe even 5 with a cat B rookie) and then don't think there's much else in way of talent out there we could add him to the rookie list. All things going to plan we don't need to add more than 4 young kids in because by the time they do a few preseasons we should have a strong side and be trading to fill gaps and not be blooding fresh speculative talent. Drafting speculative youth unlikely to ever get near a senior game probably weighs down development coaches and training standards. CON's: Skills are ordinary and doesn't hold a spot in the midfield, outside or forward. Isn't quick. Lewis has come in to give us another leader. Trengove is already one player who's mainly on the list as that experienced culture guy who's going to do all the right things at Casey. Garland and Lumumba are guys with leadership ability who seem more likely than not to be at Casey. ANB, Bugg, Vanders, Harmes, JKH, Kennedy, Joel Smith, Wagner, probably McKenna maybe Maynard, there's more than a few youngish guys who aren't best 22 but are very good VFL players with mature bodies.

Good for him. Hoping he gets his life back on track and can be rightfully inducted to the AFL hall of fame.

Silly boy. I like everything about Clarry but I hope the message gets through on this one even if it means a harsh penalty. Whilst in the scheme of things he hasn't really done anything whilst representing the club so I understand the argument that says it shouldn't involve any club penalty I think young guys need to learn how fortunate they are to be Melbourne footballers. Any punishment should be for their sake and not for ours.

Whilst I prefer last years I don't think there's all that much difference. This one has more red and blue in the right spots. Yes I'd rather the monogram than the logo but I'm not overly worried. Isn't popular on demonland but i think the kids will like it. Compare to last year:

I think it's a more than valid point that you made and I was a bit disappointed as well. We know Weid's didn't have a huge tank before being draft and he was running well and put a gap to Clarry and never ended up too far from Salem. The trade off for Oliver battling is that big Sam is running well. We also know Oliver had a long season starting the first NAB challenge game and going all the way through until being our best in the Casey VFL grand final in late September. So he's only had about 6 weeks and he deserves a mental and physical break in that time. He can do a lot between now and March to improve and it may have just been an off day. Last year Brayshaw came off a big first year injured and then struggled with more injuries and his weight and lost most of the season really. This off season he got things together and seems to be in far better condition. Hogan is looking fit. Petracca is training instead of rehabbing a foot/knee injury. I think these kids are on the right track and Oliver will get there too.

Yep I was planning to post that for Steve's benefit.

Super work from Brett. Great to finally see combine stats included (where available) and some footage. Getting more impressive by the year. That said, there's not many I love in that bunch. Harry Morrison, Bailey Morrish and Isaac Cumming were 3 who looked nice prospects as guys who can run and carry and use the ball. I'll be keen to read 1-25 and see if there's anyone towards the back end I hope lasts until our first pick.

ASADA are also a Government agency. So whilst sporting integrity is important I have no issue with them accepting 1 year bans for officials and 6 month bans for a young athlete in a team sport and moving on. The Essendon saga would've cost us all millions as tax payers. I would rather they not run up another huge legal bill lining the pockets of lawyers in this situation. Too many other more important things for the Government to spend the cash on. Things that will actually affect our day to day lives!

People who test positive don't even get the full 4 year ban. Sharapova anyone? Laughable that Whitfield and co would get such a lengthy ban for dodging a test that never happened after taking a substance that was specifically against the WADA code. The penalties are harsh enough. ASADA should thank the AFL for doing their job for them and save their resources for finding actual cheats.

Weideman and Oscar both look a bit stronger to me, not a heap but a difference. ANB is in ripping knick, he definitely looks stronger. Brayshaw looks a lot leaner. Hunt a little bigger but he made a big transformation last summer. Wagner a bit more cut. Hogan looks great, so does Dom. Mitch King is more defined and looks like a young colt now. Stretch was very fit and presumably isn't growing taller. Any muscle added to his skinny frame would stand out. Otherwise going through the list we just don't have a lot of skinny kids who need to add muscle. There might be some impatience with fans towards Oscar and Weid but I think they are making progress. Weid's about to do his first preseason and fitness and core strength is more important that bulk. Oscar could do with a few more kilos but Tom doesn't get pushed around and he isn't a heavy key defender, assuming similar strength with a similar body type the McDonald's might be the strong lean type of athlete. Given the way footy is going and our game plan for zone defending I think the coaches would be happy with Oscar getting fitter and stronger in the core than too worried about bulk.

Garlett's done short bursts there but yeah I think his tank is the issue. I think Goodwin will favour versatility and rotate a lot of players around.

Didn't stay for all that long. Later start to let the ground dry out a bit. Tyson back. In the rehab group doing run throughs with Viney (brief appearance), Vanders, Melksham, Hibberd, Mitch King, JKH, Tom McDonald. Kent and Petracca joined them after the warm up with the main group. Casey young boys back training. They did what looked like a 10 minute run time trial. ANB (in ripping shape) pulled away from Mitch White late. With a decent gap to Smith ahead of Salem. Then Weideman who isn't exactly bulked up but might be a little more solid and has a big frame to fill, he stuck on well. Then another 30m or so to Oliver who batted around unfortunately. Then the same to Hulett. Vince was back and in the main group and moving beautifully. They were doing a lot of in close ball movement drills as always. Gathering the ball under pressure then 6 on 3 getting the ball in a 40 by 40 square over to another coach. Brayshaw looked like a standout, clean below his knees and making quick decisions. Maynard impressed with some basketball style vision on a long looping handball. Watts, Gawn, Garlett, Garland, Pedersen, Lumumba, Trengove the only guys I've yet to see on deck at some stage. Nath Jones the only other who wasn't there today. Edit: And some mature recruit bloke by the name of Lewis. Yet to see him either.

KC Dallas Cincy Nightmare week for tips. People tipping the Bears shows how bonkers it is.

Majak got rookied for an off field incident that was nearly a decade old at the time. Young Gach seemed to be delisted for off field and on field incidents that were happening every week. There's not a lot of similarities.

Hawks won in 08 with a couple of home breeds in Robbie Campbell and Brent Renouf. Max Bailey was crucial in 2013. After that in the middle of a flag window they topped up with McEvoy for 2014/15. Ceglar had done a couple of years at Collingwood but was still a young developing ruck when he went to Hawthorn. If/when we get in a flag window we should look to trade if need be, but for the time being there's no reason not to keep adding young rucks with late picks or rookie picks.

The more I see of him the more I want Tony Olango. He's got skills and athleticism. Yeah he'll take a while but I'd love to see what he'd become with 5 years of professional development.

I don't think Salem getting lost down back is a worry, more so that he was overthinking the game plan change that had our backs being overly aggressive early in the year. Then he wasn't fit with the illness returning and was running out of puff. If he's fit I don't think he'll struggle with positioning down back. He didn't look all that confident in his defensive work in a couple of games but overall he's easily good enough to spoil, tackle, mark etc across half back. But I don't think he's the answer to our outside run. He's a guy you want positioning himself to find the ball not doing the hard running out wide. Be that forward, midfield or back. Hunt is too good defensively and gets more bang for his buck with his change of pace coming from half back so I don't think he's the answer either. I think it will be a mixture of Melksham, Lewis and Vince taking up one of the wing spots this year and hence I still think it's a weakness long term. Edit: And of course Buggy to keep them all honest for a spot as well. He has his flaws but when in form and for the right match up his run and competitiveness can be handy.

Very much doubt he'll be re rookied. I expect the number to have a rest for a year. There's a thread on numbers on the main board. If you search around you'll find it.

Spencer (form), Melksham (ban), McDonald (injury), Jetta and Jones as leaders have fronted up. Not blaming him for not coming early, just a gut feeling. Wouldn't be the worst idea from Bernard but he did play every game he was available for last year. Again, no issue with Lumumba staying away, just a feeling the club might not be telling the full story.

All of Melksham, Hibberd, Viney, JKH, Mitch King along with Crossy were doing a drill located at the Northern end where they were just leading and marking kicks to each other in different combinations within an area about 60 out from goal. I assume it's conditioning their bodies to footy style movements - kicking, marking, bending down, jumping etc. Wouldn't really impact where they play. Hibberd clearly has a powerful left. Melksham has very good penetration on both sides of his body. His body is very sinewy and he kicks like a guy with long levers, not always pretty but it can travel. JKH is one of the most balanced kicks in the team, from a technical and aesthetic component I'd say he's the best kick of that group. We all know Viney isn't the greatest kick but one thing he does make look easy is taking difficult marks. He plucked a ball one handed that should've gone clear over his head. He was jumping and scurrying around and not showing any signs of restriction in his movement.

More opposite foot kicking in the 2 sessions I've seen than in the last 2 decades. Players went off to the tan hills. Apparently Stevo has that later. Melksham (just leading) from Viney put a fair old gap in Piggy Hibberd in their interval runs. Without the restrictions of neck surgery this year Nath Jones looks like he's done a lot of strength work. Looking at his nuggety best.

Still hasn't fronted to training when a lot of players in similar scenarios are coming back early. Combined with a bit of interest in the press. Wouldn't shock me if just gave it away now. I doubt Goodwin is as interested in the softly softly Roos approach.

I thought he was good in the prelim thrown forward to do a job. Then the Dogs forwards probably didn't suit him in the grand final but he wasn't terrible. Rookie draft seems more likely all the way as not many mature players get drafted in the national draft unless they are dominating state leagues. I don't think the finals series would've made a huge difference to his draft stocks.

The last training before Christmas as well as the intraclub match have now turned in to somewhat marquee training events with open sessions and a demon army BBQ. And obviously the players spend a bit of time with fans on the summer camp in Queensland. Plus the family day. I'm not sure if/what more we can do, I just encourage the club to do things properly when they do advertise open sessions for fans. In the last few years that seems to be trending in the right direction.

Slightly bigger (if no more athletic) than Pedersen and 3 years younger. I could see him fighting for or taking the 2nd ruck spot in 2016 and maybe holding it for a year or so. But that's assuming we don't think some combination of Watts or Weideman can do that job for us in the short to medium term. And it doesn't help us find the long term solution either. So I'd rather use the spot on a guy we think can be a long term solution. If there's no one better and we think we desperately need depth then I wouldn't hate the idea. He's bad but not completely useless. But there's a few state league and young tall prospects who are genuine ruck size/athleticism and have at least some forward ability as well.