DeeSpencer

For those who CBF'ed watching what's the answers?

In summary, I think we are downhill skiing a bit right now. We sense a kill and the team lifts and we play fast, aggressive, skillful footy. We play good teams and the pressure gets to us and we become fumbly, disjointed in the backline and lazy going forward. It's ok if that's where we are at, but at least once in the last 9 games we have to grind out a 4 quarter performance against a good team to take confidence in to next year.

There's a big gap between the good and bad sides at the moment and we are in the middle. Unfortunately we've faired poorly against the Saints and Power who are in the same bracket as us. We had a good shot at North. Beat GWS playing up and down footy in round 1, which is never a true form guide. Were right in the game against an undermanned Hawthorn in conditions that suited us. Where are we at/where are we heading is really hard to measure right now. We are playing a game style that does open the game up more this year which is a huge positive. Our inability to pressure teams is a massive negative though. I know we are a young side but the lack of pressure against good teams is a huge concern for me. Then again, if we start to get pressure on against good teams we've got the talent and game style to capitalise. The last 9 games will almost all be big tests for us. 4 against top 8 teams - Adel, Haw, WC, Geel 2 important winnable games at the G that the pressure will be on for - GC, Carl 3 road (if you count Etihad) games against similar teams that we haven't won in years prior - St K, Freo, Port No more early season, expectation free games where we can just turn up and smash an out of form Rich or Coll, and if GC get players back there's no easy beats.

Matt Jones wasn't and probably never will be damaging, but we don't have an Isaac Smith on our list, and there's only a few of those types in the whole comp. And even someone like Scully who might be the AA wingman right now still has shonky as can be kicking. Stretch was in our best players against the Dogs and Lions. Was moved around a bit against Port. Did nothing wrong against Collingwood and has the bye to freshen up. I'd keep him in. I'd probably play Matt Jones as well. Start one on each wing lining up on Seedsman and David McKay who are pretty similar players, although Seedsman in particular has more kicking penetration. That would free up Bugg to play as a defensive half forward on Brodie Smith, who along with Rory Laird are the main drivers of Adelaide's ball movement from half back. The alternative is leaving Bugg on the wing and deciding between Stretch, Matt Jones and Harmes for the other 2 spots. Or Harmes coming in and dropping another half forward. I just hope we put time in to Adelaide's running defenders, and I'm not all that worried about having 2 wingmen who don't do a lot of damage as long as they do the hard running and are efficient with the ball. If they get back to help the defenders then get the ball to Kent, Petracca and Watts leading out to the wings then those 3 especially can make things happen for us going forward.

We gave Jeff a lifeline from stuck in the VFL at Carlton straight in to our best 22, but I don't want to do it now, not when he's got a 3 year deal coming up. He needs to put the runs on the board at VFL level and show that his defensive game and ball winning are up to scratch. He can have a pass for the game played out in a bog, but with Casey winning by 90 points on the weekend there's no excuse for not playing well as a small forward.

Adelaide play with 4 tall forwards. No way Oscar McDonald will be dropped unless it's for Garland, and I don't see the need for that yet. Vince probably gets a week. Matt Jones in, Bugg to half back. Otherwise it's a question of whether we need to change up any of the other bottom 6 types, with Harmes the main candidate to come in. Personally I'd go Harmes for Trengove and send Trenners back to Casey to work on his speed and spread from the contest. One more week for Vanders, Kennedy, Oliver, Dawes etc. There's not a lot pushing up at Casey and after the bye is probably the wrong time to be too reactive.

Stretch didn't have a good game, but clean outside runners who can run and break the lines are more important, not less in wet weather. They won't get a heap of ball but they can provide the scoring chances. Replacing Stretch with a plodder on the wing wouldn't have changed the result. We needed to win the ball inside to get it to Stretch more. Maybe a case can be made for Harmes instead of him but if the ball isn't coming away from the contest with any quality the winger on the outside is stuffed regardless. Oscar, we probably could've done without. But if there's a strong bodied, quick, skillful defender at Casey I'd like to know who it is. Michie, Grimes or Garland in his spot wouldn't have changed the game. Our midfield need to lift to be able to match the best, then across the ground we have to lift our pressure skills. We have to be faster to apply pressure and better under pressure. Sydney are always so quick to set up to provide options for their team mates and then they are so efficient in the way they hunt the other team with the footy whilst covering options.

The Bugg one was as deliberate as they come. He knew it, you could see the look on his face. What was the other one? I think Oscar actually was called for holding the ball not deliberate. The umpire just missed the high contact where Oscar got a whack across the face, otherwise it would've been holding the ball. The umpiring was strange. It started out with them paying absolutely nothing in the first quarter as the Pies threw the ball around and Melbourne players were infringed, then as the game went on they started paying more, particularly more holding the balls. The did an ok job. I'd prefer them to miss a few than pay too many. But there were the usual bad calls. IMO Hogan should've got a repeat shot for goal after he was slung to the ground after he kicked.

Pre illness he looked to me like a young man who's bulked up a bit with much needed muscle and maybe still a bit of puppy fat, which is better than just been skinny and copping contact injuries. He might well have thinned down as the season went on. And certainly he has to build his tank but it's better than average and well on the right track. The progress of the Hawks is hopefully what Salem can do. Just a shame he's had these delays.

Grimes - finished at AFL level, a wingman if anything Garland - only tall defensive depth Michie - a midfielder sent to play a bit of half back due to lack of depth Lumumba - nearing 30 and ordinary Garland could be the only one of those 3 on the list next year. Hunt, Wagner, Vince sure, as I mentioned. White and Melksham as well. That's 5 guys for 3 spots in the team, of which 3 of them will be under 20 games of AFL experience, and the other 2 have midfield versatility. Salem can be, but he's better as a utility as he develops. I'm all for a key defender but you can't just pull them out of thin air. Hibberd's a decent option to give us defensive and attacking skills to support young tall defenders without overpaying.

It's a comment, but not really a simple one or always a good one. Terrible idea to make him captain. Terrible idea to give him 31. Shocking playing culture. Shocking development and coaching. A routinely picked younger player gets saddled with responsibility and injuries. Yes it's good we've been able to draft/trade and develop some other options but that's about all the good in the Grimes story for now. A bit sad really, his best was very promising - courageous, quick, strong over head, excellent reader of the play and work rate to provide an option and he's a ripper club man.

Update from Josh Mahoney in there. Unfortunate but I'm still very very confident with Salem and happy to wait for him to show his best. He's still only 20 years old. Just a baby in the scheme of things. Was one of may off in the Essendon game but otherwise was doing his job reasonably well despite some soreness and a concussion against the Saints and probably the thyroid issue surfacing before anyone knew it. Particularly in the wins against Richmond and Collingwood where the team gave him a bit more cover I thought he was excellent with the ball.

It was a day that had only 1 real skill that relates to AFL football and that was contested ball. Maybe mental resilience as well. Kicking, handballing, running patterns were pretty much out the window. And it was so wet and muddy that if you couldn't tackle you never will so that didn't really count. That said, from the half I watched on TV it was disappointing that a few of our players didn't adapt better so I hope they learnt from it. I'd like to have seen ANB be more effective around the contest given it's his strength. Hulett could've contested better. And Garlett was down right poor given the ball was on the ground for so long. Not much you can do about a truckload of rain but hopefully the MFC/Casey are always working to improve the ground conditions. I'd like to develop our players in better conditions if possible! Maybe some drainage work needed in the off season and more shelter from the wind is needed.

Who are these flankers? I can name 1 that I'm confident on. Bernie Vince. And we should have options so we can play him on the wing or in the midfield if required. Jetta's a back pocket. Lumumba (regardless of everything else) is about to turn 30 and probably close to the end after next year. I like both Hunt and Wagner, but they could both go either way. And right now they are best 22. Mitch White is our next best and he's the only depth. Melksham presumably comes in to this group next year, but we are still looking at only a couple of young rookie pick ups as our best depth. Chuck in the very speculative Joel Smith I guess at that's it for small/medium defenders at the club. Viv Michie has played at half back this year. If we were stacked with half backs he wouldn't get a game. With the right training and physical development Frost, Tom and Oscar can physically handle any tall forward in the league. Joe Daniher is 200cm but doesn't have a lot of strength. Walker is strong and athletic but is 194cm. Jon Patton is 200cm, strong as can be but moves like a glacier. We could do with a better key defender, particularly an experienced one as Dunn and Garland are battling and we apparently went hard for Cale Hooker, but there's only so many out there. If we bolster our backline in other ways it will make it a lot easier for the talls to develop if we head down the draft path. And if they don't come on we can trade in later. If we find players to make us better the spots to fill shrink and players will be more likely to come to us.

Took longer than Brayshaw to recover when AB had multiple concussions this year. I think we can all add 1+1 and get 2. But we aren't all desperate footy journo's. Apparently H is back training which means if things go well he can play again soon - be it at Casey - and things can progress from there. I hate the idea of reporting on a personal issue. If it's personal leave it that way. If it's family, mental or physical health, drugs, alcohol, crime or whatever that's fine, report that when the person involved has given permission or when it really is in the publics interest.

His versatility is pretty important to them and he's still likely their starting choice CHB. I'd expect Port to dump ageing guys in Schulz, Carlisle and maybe Monfries, Matty White, Butcher before losing Trengove. I also think he's a pretty similar player to Tom McDonald so unless Tom goes I wouldn't be interested. Edit: Matt White just signed on so it won't be him. Tom Clurey is one who fits more of a 3rd tall role at 193cm and hasn't had a lot of opportunities with Port. Highly rated as a junior IIRC he has great endurance and can do a job.

His work rate is great. To shut Sidebottom down whilst still getting the 20 or so touches we need from a wing is great. And unlike most wingmen he's adept at going in to the clearances and tackling or winning contested ball. Yeah his kicking is a bit hit and miss but his decision making by foot is usually solid. His main weakness right now is being one sided especially by hand. If he gets the ball running to his right he's more likely than not to spin round, slow momentum and get back on his left side. Tyson and Kent have the same issues, pretty standard for left footers. Interestingly Wagner can handball on his right and kick on his left so as long as he has an option he's not so bad. Viney just bulldozes forward. If we end up with the depth of talent at wing/half back/tagger to force Bugg out of the side we'll have a very good side.

Hibberd makes sense to me. Just hope it doesn't mean Jetta is going anywhere. Melksham then could tag/wing or half back, handy depth otherwise. Vince can play more midfield. Salem can play forward/mid where he'll be most damaging. I'd love a 2nd ruck but maybe draft/develop is the best option. 3rd tall defender is a needs position. Oscar/Tom/Frost tall defensive combination has merit but they don't kick it well. I'd rather those 3 fight for 2 spots. Then to have a Josh Gibson or Easton Wood style player next to them. Imagine those 3 fighting for 2 spots. A gun 3rd tall with Lumumba for depth. Jetta in a back pocket. Vince floating from a flank. Plus Hunt, Wagner, Melksham, Hibberd fighting for 2 spots, that's proper competition for spots in a backline with a good mix of pace, skill and defensive ability. If there's not a 3rd tall available then I'd hit up the draft for one as a priority.

I'm sure they always knew Frost was a backman. The priority was to give Pedersen some competition up forward, to make sure that Hogan had some help and to score more. Whilst also having some leadership down back in what is a young backline. If Dawes had been fit the whole year and had the footy department known Dunn and Garland would offer so little then they never would've tried the Frost experiment. I'm mainly disappointed Frost wasn't moved back against St Kilda. Aside from that, he contributed something in the early season wins. Hopefully Weeds and Hulett keep developing and he doesn't have to go forward in the future, but I'd also like to develop our talls with the ability to be swung to the other end. If it was up to me both Hulett and Weeds would spend some time down back at Casey this year.

Matt Jones might actually be closest to a game of those who didn't play in the 22. He'd give us the other wingmen alongside Stretch, so if needed we can throw Bugg back/Vince midfield if needed and give us another speedy running player to get out in space. Stretch can play as the high half forward as well. The balance between strength and run seems to be our biggest issue against top teams at the moment. With so many young players it's hard to do both.

I agree with that, but I don't think it's best for him or us for him to be in the team non stop as he gets the pace of the game back. Just like a young player going to Casey where he can play full time in the midfield and get 30 touches is probably good for him. Finding a role in the midfield or at half forward in the AFL side probably won't come before he has a few different cracks at it. If he stays fit between now and the end of the year I can't see him not getting another year on the list and a chance to do a full preseason. Time will tell, but right now I don't think him playing another month at half forward/wing is going to achieve the big break through. Time will tell.

I expect at some stage Harmes probably comes back for Trengove. I love Trenners, but the speed just isn't there right now. At the SCG against a contested ball team in Sydney I'm sure he stays. Swans might bring in a ruck and Sam Reid, so the 3 defenders stay. Wagner's made a few mistakes but I can't see him going out for Grimes. Grimes is a midfielder/wingman now. Should never play again at half back. So unless Grimes came in and Bugg went back I can't see that happening. Mitch White might come in for Wagner if he was eligible for promotion from the rookie list but as far as I know he isn't.

His ruck work is no different to Pedersen's, his disposal and goal kicking isn't better than his, yes his work rate is better but that only matters if he does what he did today and held his marks! A beauty at half back in traffic and several other good ones around the ground leading up and marking out in front.

If we can teach him to body spoil - he really should have learnt some of this by now - then it's a matter of composure for him I think. The skills can come, the effort is there, he moves well and reads the play. Still would love to see a backline general type help him. He was on Pendles whilst Hunt was on White at one stage and they didn't swap (maybe for structures) and Pendles set up a goal. The mistakes like that are mental errors that a young backline can fix so they'll all benefit.

One more chance I think. But he's had more off days than on days this year, even if he has a skill set most of our players don't. Cuddle or whack is up to the coach. Either one starts with explaining the mistakes and why they aren't tolerated and from there it's a matter of how you get the best out of him.