DeeSpencer

Just a guess, but I think: Going: - McCarthy - off to WA - Patton - Essendon circling, not sure he's really best 22 at GWS - Tomlinson - can't get a game, Carlton keen Possibly - Marchbank - with big money he's out of contract - Stewart - Pickett and Ahern - top 10 talents who have both had injuries - Hoskin-Elliott - seems not to be first choice - Finlayson - tall defender with a bit of talent I reckon Marchbank will cost a heap (both in terms of cash and draft picks) with plenty of clubs after him. Not so sure about the others. With Weideman and Hulett I wouldn't want a tall forward from them. Finlayson might be worth asking about. Otherwise see if anyones available cheap to a good home like Bugg.

Yep. Always played better down back. Seemed to get upset that it meant occasionally having to spoil, man up, punch from behind and tackle - and all too commonly watch the ball sail over his head. But it was by far his best position. Took Buckley only a few games to work out exactly that. I'd have preferred to keep him over Melksham as a half back, and I think if he got his head around the fact he's best suited as a back he could find consistency and be very good down there. But hey, the cocahes can only suggest it so much, and if a player spits the dummy for a trade then so be it.

Out; Oscar In: Jetta Out: Michie In: Salem Out: Oliver (rested/corkie) In: Tyson Out: ANB or Newton (unlucky) In: Pedo, Dawes or (probably not) Spencer FB: Jetta T Mc Garland HB: Salem Wagner Vince C: Stretch Jones Bugg HF: Petracca Watts Kennedy FF: Garlett Hogan Kent Foll: Gawn Tyson Viney Int: Harmes Hunt ANB/Newton Dawes/Pedo I'd love to play Clarry but I think if he's got a nasty cork then a week off is a good idea. Need another tall forward in I think. Jetta is a lock, no need for 3 tall defenders. Salem has to come back in I think. We need his composure with the ball. I thought Garland was decent today, certainly better than he had been. The only question would be whether Dunn should be back in for Charlie Dixon. None of them are the righ height but Dunn has the size. Tommy Mc could go to him as well, but isn't really playing much better.

There's a need for a younger 3rd tall defender if the match up is there. No point playing Dunn, Garland and Tom McDonald regularly. But it would help if whoever gets picked from those 3 and others had more composure down back to support Oscar.

Pretty ordinary today. Just didn't seem to have any of the confidence he's shown at various times in other games. Except maybe the last quarter. He wasn't reading the ball in the air well (but not many were) and he lacked belief in his disposal. That said, maybe if his brother didn't always think he was Heath Shaw running off half back he'd be a better player. I've seen enough positives from Oscar to think he'll be a player long term, especially up the ground when he can run and attack contests. But it wasn't his day today.

I noticed it since preseason and I like it. Usually teams follow the half backs up and then it becomes 4 v 4 down back with the Dees defenders in perfect position to win the ball back and our 2 half backs are aggressive up the ground. What concerns me is whether the plan B is there. Riewoldt followed the half backs up against the Saints and shredded us in transition, as McDonald never got back on him and Lumumba and co were confused. I also think it highlights the need for versatile defenders. Every defender has to be a strong aerial defender, strong intercept mark, good reader of the play and good at ground level. Jetta, Hunt, Wagner, Lumumba, Salem and Vince all have good attributes to play this style but they also have weaknesses. Tommy McDonald's endurance and ability to attack the ball in the air and mark is made for this game plan, but he has to be reading it well and jumping for his marks. On the days he has confidence issues he turns a strength in to a weakness. The less said about Dunn and Garland the better.

Bernie is a little lucky, but really he was only kicking in danger and was playing the ball. Bit silly from him but it wasn't a bump in any shape or form and the Dogs player was fine.

Got to appeal that Jetta ban. Just have to, even if he risks another week. A 3rd man in to a gentle bit of push and shove who approaches from behind shouldn't get any benefit of the doubt. Not to mention that the force was insufficient and very little intent. It's baffling.

I meant a chance to play a few games here and there if he improved. In terms of being a regular in the 22 he's a fair way off. As the only appropriately sized forward/ruck on the list it's possible for Max King to be both close to a game and close to delisting at the same time. Despite missing most of his first year recovering from an ACL Gawny played 4 games in his second year - and in a pretty decent (if up and down) side. Missed his entire 3rd year with another ACL but in his 4th year played 13 games. I'm not sure how that equates to tracking the same way as Max King who is yet to debut in his 3rd year

Goodwin has Macca as his right hand man. Ben Matthews or Rawlings might earn the designation of senior assistant and probably stay in their roles as midfield and backline coaches respectively. Craig Jennings has worked with Goodwin and Macca and you'd think would stay in his strategy role. Allison in development. Shannon Byrnes, Andrew Nicholls, Michelle Cowan do their development stuff as well. I think Goodwin has been coaching the forwards this year whilst Daniel McPherson has been shuffled back to some kind of development/ball movement coach across the team and at Casey. It would be logical for McPherson to take over the forwards again. If that was the case then we'd be looking at adding in a new development coach (or coaches) to work their way up. I don't mind the idea of starting off a few high quality former ex players in that role, to add a bit of confidence and winning belief to the group. A good former player who's williing to start at the bottom and work their way up is the right kind of cultural fit I think. If there's a reason that Rawlings or Matthews go or McPherson isn't preferred to coach the forwards again then I'd be looking to bring in a quality assistant from a top club in need of a new challenge, but if not keeping a core group of coaches together for Goodwin's first year isn't a bad idea. Finding that balance between continuity and turnover is probably a difficult task for coaches. They need fresh voices and ideas but you don't want to be losing good people you work well with.

Clarko would've played with Yze for only 2 years and not at all with Bruce. Neitz he would've known better. I think he's either hired former players for: 1. Coincedence 2. The were the best applicants - Bruce an internal hire, Neitz a part time tall defender coach with links to Frawley, Yze a marvellous kick 3. To stick it up the Dees - his Hawks have always save a little extra for us.

Yes. He's a forward/ruck not a pure ruck. 3rd year on the list. Hasn't developed his body to the standard. Can't regularly impact VFL games up forward the way Hulett and Weideman can in year 1. If he could halve a few more contests in the ruck and get involved more as a forward he'd be doing very well. I'm not saying he should be playing regular senior football, but for his own sake Max needs to start playing consistently well at VFL level. His VFL reviews - whilst often positive - certainly hint at that.

Max would be loving the fact he's got the same bloke to pants at training every week. So much of Gawn's improvement came from getting his body strong and confident. Spencer has the strength, but probably not the confidence. I hope he can develop it with a good run of footy, even if I don't expect much. Spence really has had a rough run with his body but he's getting to the stage where I'm not sure he's ever going to get through a preseason without something going wrong. I'd love to be playing 2 rucks regularly but I can't see Spencer and Gawn ever been anything more than needed in case of emergency. Not unless Spencer improves so much in the ruck that he's worth playing >50% in the ruck, as he'll always be below average forward. Gawn is probably only just average forward, and better sneaking forward from the ruck than starting there. The King's are the great hope for Gawny. Mitch is a long way off. Max is a chance but needs to get physical in the ruck and be way more consistent forward for Casey.

The ability to stage a strong comeback and win against GWS and the North game are the 2 games more than the others that give me confidence in our form. Punishing bad sides is a good indicator but not really anything definitive. The Saints are travelling as well if not better than we are but they didn't get the win against GWS or North (or Port, Haw or the Dogs). It's hard to work out if we are going to be an 8 win team with a lot of work to do to compete with the best or if we can push as high as 12 wins and be right in finals contention.

We've played 4 of the bottom 7 teams in Rich, Coll, Ess and Gold Coast (given injuries). We've played 1 other 9-11 team in St Kilda. And 2 top 8 teams in GWS and North. 5 games - Bottom 7 teams left: Bris, Coll, Freo, Gold Coast, Carl 3 games - 9 - 11 teams left: Port twice, St Kilda 7 games - Top 8 teams left: Dogs, Haw - twice, Syd, Adel, Geel, West Coast If we can pinch another 1 or 2 from the top 8 sides to counter the 1 or 2 that we will invariably lose from the bottom 7 teams then our season probably comes down to showing we are better than Port and can put in a better effort against the Saints. If we truly are the 9th best team in the comp then we've got more games against sides below us on the ladder left than games against sides above us. So whilst the draw gets harder it's likely we only have to beat the sides below us to keep our spot. I'm not convinced GWS have the experience required to win the flag or that North are good enough. I do think the flag winner will come from the 6 teams we are yet to play in the 8 and that's kind of exciting that we get to serve it up to them all.

I don't get the rush. I would've waited to see if anyone else was keen on a cheap trade or a state league bolter started looking the goods. But anyway, it is what it is. He was always more likely than not to be kept for 2017. Max King needs to pull his finger out, although he will always be more of a forward than a ruck IMO. Mitch King is injured and will take a few more years at least. At some stage I think we will have to trade or use free agency to find a better version of Spencer. It looks like that won't be this year and it's probably to keep the cash and picks for more important priorities than a depth ruckman.

Stopped by for a quick look at about 10:40 for just under an hour. Couldn't see Lumumba, Kent or Hogan (obviously in WA). Clarry and Matt Jones doing run throughs. Salem, Viney and Brayshaw in full training. A lot of time divided between their groups working on craft. Forwards marking on the speccy bag and kicking goals. Ben Kennedy the highlight. He really launches at the footy and took a heap of mark of the week contenders. Macca and Wattsy were having a laugh about some of Macca's kicks being on the money and Watts' marking attempts. Mids mainly doing stoppage work. Ben Newton looks a little quicker and stronger than last year, I think he'll get a chance soon. Backs working on their spoiling and intercept marking. Vanders trained fully and did some extra touch work at the end. JKH was doing everything as well. Grimes trained with the forwards from what I saw. Don't want to derail the thread but maybe if Kent is sore then Grimes could be an option on the wing/rotating forward to give us a hard working defensive player and push Harmes forward. Just a thought, might be as simple as just wanting to try something different for him. If Hogan is having the week off - I'm not sure he is - then there wasn't any indication from the player group or Weideman or Hulett themselves that they were in line for a debut.

Given he was drafted to be a wingman and uncontested ball getter I don't think it's all that relevant. My issue with Toumpas is his decision making in traffic and lack of athletic stand out quality - be it pace or endurance. He might build the endurance over time and is above average in that regard but seems a long way from elite. Scully and Whitfield are lighting it up at GWS. Hill and Isaac Smith have been vital players to Hawthorn's premierships. I don't have an issue drafting an outside player with a top pick, as long as the realisation is they might not impact much in a struggling side, but it needs to be one with elite skills/athleticism. Stephen Hill has been very good for Freo, he was pick 4. Jared Polec was pick 5 and when he's been fit and healthy at Port he's been fantastic and Jono Brown calls him the best kick to a lead that he's played with. I think in some shape or form the Toump will still make it and will play a decent amount of AFL footy as he gets fitter, stronger and tougher, but he lacks the weapons to be a top line player.

Agreed. I'm hardly a great wordsmith but to me allowed implies a sense of permission where as enabled implies that we actively did something to make it happen.

Might be hypocritical when back to the OP I've decided Oliver was pushed in to contact but looked to me like Garland got him off balance but Wright had time to pull up and thought better of it. Not worth a week though so no real issue.

Yep, should've been a fine IMO, or at least noted by the MRP. Pretty nasty cheap shot given he hit him right down the middle. Good to see Garland give it to the big lug.

Yep, should've been a fine IMO, or at least noted by the MRP. Pretty nasty cheap shot given he hit him right down the middle. Good to see Garland give it to the big lug.

A bit too left field I think. If I were the Pies I'd try him back there, but I'm not sure he has the agility and it's unlikely he has the desire to learn a new position at his age.

Goldy is still going well. For Max it's about consistency. Drew with Goldy. Clearly edged Mumford. Hickey probably got close to drawing with him. Leuenberger nullified him, but the team was asleep. Rich, Coll, GC he played well. Nic Nat, Sam Jacobs, if fit Sandilands, Stef Martin, Tippett, the Geelong duo, the Hawks duo around the ground, there's a few challenges left for Max. Historically Tom Campbell has used his height and strength pretty well to challenge Max around the ball and has got forward from the middle to test him. I like that we played him forward a lot in the last quarter on Saturday, it seemed his was tiring. Pedersen's ability (or lack of) to go in to the middle and hold his own when we play teams with two rucks is very important. Around the ground his kicking for a big bloke is quite handy and he marks and moves well but particularly at the rare centre bounces he's in for he has to break even. I really liked the way he sharked a hit out from the centre bounce on the weekend, could be a handy tactic.

Agree it was a bad decision. But Ben Kennedy's right foot goal should've been a handball inside to Kent. Then I think Harmes burns Ben Kennedy moments later. Bugg went back in to traffic on multiple occassions. There's plenty of non perfect decision making floating around. Not that you should practice mistakes but if there's a time to make them it's junk time in a blow out loss and Garland needs to practice quick ball movement, even if it's wrong at times. I think it's easier to refine quick ball movement than it is to go from slow ball movement to perfect smart efficient footy. Positioning, effort to run both ways and then one on one spoiling/marking is what I want to see from Garland more than skill with the ball and I can't judge that without being at the game. I know Dunn's positioning and effort was a long way off, even if his one on one work is superior to Garland's.