DeeSpencer

The old man started watching in the 2nd half and thought Wagner was great. It's good to see him bounce back from a bad first half. I think the fumbles and disposal issues will sort themselves out with more opportunities and less nerves. He can kick a footy, just a matter of doing it at AFL level. Defensive ability and speed are my concerns. I think needs one or the other to be valuable. But he can get more game speed by being more confident. No issue with the way he attacked the contest once, especially once he started to win a few. That's a big positive.

I've said the same thing the whole time and if Vanders and Brayshaw are good to go then it might come down to Harmes, Matt Jones or Oliver. Oliver is the obvious choice but Matt Jones has impressed and Harmes does a lot of good as well. Less rotations means it's harder to even out the spread of game time but 70% is reasonable, the question might be for how long can he run out his stints on the ground. 70% is fine as long as he's not tiring whilst he's on. I get the feeling he's still much more suited to being on the ball than forward, yet he'll have to rest forward a fair bit.

Might be hard to fit both he and Frost in anyway and whilst both offered something I doubt either nailed a spot today. Might save the coaches from a tricky decision.

FB: Jetta Garland O McDonald HB: Salem T Mc Vince C: M Jones Viney Grimes HF: Kent Hogan Kennedy FF: Watts Pedersen Garlett Foll: Gawn Tyson Jones Int: Oliver Bugg Frost Harmes Maybe nominal sub in case of injury/after half time: Michie, Wagner I hope we learn from Richmond and have all 24 available so we aren't overtaxing anyone in case of injury. Plus I'd love to see Wagner get a full run but the coaches might go with Oscar Mc. I'd probably make both available really, just a matter of how close to round 1 conditions of 22 only they want to go.

Doesn't matter how he players, It will only be if Geelong get close and he would've been the difference maker. Which I doubt. I think there will still be a huge gap between them and the top teams.

Teams are in:

I don't think Geelong are planning to be at their best this year or even next. They know they need a couple of years for the recruits to settle in and for their kids to come good. Looking 2018-2020 by which time Stevie J, Lonergan, Mackie, Bartel and Enright will all be gone. They plan to have Selwood, Harry Taylor and Hawkins winning flags at 30+ just as the Hawks have done with so many old guys still playing at their peak. So they needed the room to give games to Cockatoo, Lang, Gregson etc instead of having Stevie J on a forward flank.

Might derail the topic a bit but oh well. Backline: Brown's a better pure stopper but Dunn offers more rebound. Frost and McDonald are about equal both can be great or terrible. We need to upgrade Garland. Reid never plays so it's really Marsh, who was good today. The Pies small defenders are an achilles heal I think, they don't kick the ball well enough. They shut down ok but they lack rebound. They'd love Salem. But we need another as well. They have more options with a bit more game experience (Oxley, Ramsey, Sinclair, Langdon) but need one or two of those to emerge, just as we need another running defender. 12 months time and hopefully it's Melksham, Hunt, Wagner, White all showing AFL capabilities. Forward: Hogan over Moore. But Cloke is still way better than Pedo obviously. Watts needs to show he's a legit 3rd tall. Gault's an interesting prospect, but their best 3rd tall is probably Howe once he comes back. Or they do have the option of playing 2 rucks that we don't. If they get Elliott, Fasolo and Varcoe in the same forward line (with Swan playing 50/50) then that's amazing. Petracca and Garlett might be a great start for us, but Kent, Kennedy and Harmes have work to do to prove they are consistent AFL players. Rucks: Would rather Gawn and no back up than the Pies 3 to be honest, but we need the King's to come on fast. Mids: They have us for experienced ball winners. Pendles, Swan, Treloar, Adams, Greenwood, Crisp, De Goey we can counter with Vince, Jones, Viney, Tyson, Vanders, Brayshaw, Oliver but besides the Pendles superstar status it's just slight edges in experience I think. The pies fell away late last season, we fell away after we beat them. We have to find and then sustain that top level with youngsters. Their biggest advantage might be Sidebottom as a top quality outside midfielder, even if he's a bit slower than ideal. I hope Trengove can be that player for us. Aish might be their next best outside runner, which shows it's not their strongest depth spot. They might experiment with Howe on a wing, we are trying Grimes and Matt Jones. Neither team is blessed. In summary I think they have us for: Ruck depth (one good trade or state league find fixes that), midfield experience (time and development should fix), backline options (if not talent) and forward line potency (which Petracca, Kent and Watts could fix if they get it together). Otherwise both sides have similar gaps. If we develop our best kids in to a couple of A graders and can fill the gaps with a few more good draft picks and then a trade or two we can bounce straight by them. When they won in the middle, pressured their backs and rebounded quickly the Dogs tore them apart.

Tomorrow is a big test. Getting blown out by the saints won't end the season but it will almost certainly show we've still got massive gaps. I can't imagine a team winning 10 (or even 8) or more games with: - Slow starts - Periods of complete lack of ball movement from the backline with sub AFL standard turnovers and few attacking kicks - Terrible forward 50 entries - Inability to create forward pressure - Inability to keep up with teams on the spread - Only 2 main avenues to goal. The first half against Port and most of the Dogs game had a lot of that. The second half against Port had none of that. Time to show that against a good pressure team on their home ground that we can stand up against it and push back.

Might only be a practice match but the Hawks still look so superior to any other side. They are so good at getting in the right spots defensively and instantly going from defending to attack. Bulldogs were very good today as well and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt in the second half. Their good footy is as good as any other team but their personnel isn't as good right now. North and the Pies have plenty of talent but don't see to have nearly the same level of defensive smarts or ball movement as the Dogs and Hawks showed. Freo and Geel are a bit like that too. Not as impressed by Richmond, Sydney or Port. All had positives but I get the feeling they aren't as good as others right now. Same for Adelaide. Besides from what happens with us I'm keen to see West Coast and GWS. They should both win easily and show their class tomorrow.

How many former AFL players or experienced top line VFL players do Casey have on their books? Not many by my count. Jack Hutchins might be it from the former AFL camp and not a lot of VFL experience. I'd like to hear that a few more of our players took the game up to them but I'm not surprised Casey lost. They're going to need a decent compliment of AFL players and in particular more experience on the ball and across half forward to be any chance of beating good VFL sides.

Ben Kennedy has a lot of similar traits to Sam Gray, albeit a high draft pick not a guy who had to fight through the system. Pedersen, Grimes and Matt Jones look like 3 guys who are fighting off the canvas to get in to the round 1 team. I'm not sure if they will last that way but we can hope they can all fill spots effectively. I think both Viv Michie and Ben Newton have skills to offer the team, just a matter of them getting the opportunity to show they've done the work over summer. Obviously harder for Newton giving the injury set back. And I'm still super keen to see Max King play some regular footy, impress in the VFL and get a chance. For us to improve we really need someone like him but it sounds like he hasn't made the leap over preseason yet which is unfortunate.

I think it was Goodwin who suggested it to Viney that instead of practising on his right he learns how to move the ball from right to left as a left footer. Salem didn't need any instructions, he nailed the first one. I doubt it's even a technique many forwards use these days but they still should. From deep in a forward pocket and too far out to attempt a checkside snap, you can curve a drop punt the more unnatural way by a combination of changing your ball drop and/or arc of your leg swing, just like a golfer hitting a fade or draw. Of course there are some players (Tom Hawkins these days, David Neitz) who kick best moving it left to right for a right footer. I don't expect Jack Viney or Nathan Jones to have mastered it, but it would be nice as experienced footballers if they at least had heard and understood the concept.

Stopped by at the very end, didn't see anything much that hasn't been reported. As a long time sufferer of MFCSS I found it disappointing that Goodwin and Salem had to instruct Viney, Harmes and a few others how to get a drop punt to move in the air. Still work for our development team to do on organisation to make sure that every little thing is covered in their instructions to players.

The quicker we get out of the Darwin game the better. Just a shame we didn't get in on Hobart faster. Would've worked nicely. Roosy's contract off the books will save plenty of cash. The money is one positive and as much as I'd like to go to all the games I think reducing the number of MCG games acts as a positive by increasing crowds for the other games. Suplly v demand etc. That's been the true master-stroke of the Hawks deal I think, which is a bit of a sad thought.

FB: Wagner Garland Jetta HB: Vince T McDonald Salem C: M Jones Viney Grimes HF: Kent Hogan Kennedy FF: Garlett Pedersen Watts Foll: Gawn Tyson Jones Int (from): Oliver, Harmes, Bugg, Frost, Stretch, Hunt, Michie, Terlich, Oscar So 3 guys will probably start off at Casey and the interchange rotations will be interesting to watch.

Jones and Viney are the only automatic inclusions I think. From the rest of the group: Vince has the experience and talent so if he wants to be a leader you put him in. Tom McDonald is a standout in the way he prepares, how much effort he gives come game day and hopefully can get back to being a standout player. Gawn is a standout character, if the coaches believe he has the game and the work rate to be a leader then I can support that, he's the player others follow. Once you've got those 5 it's a matter of who else goes in and it's probably where we fall away. Dawes and Lumumba have injuries and form issues that limit their respect within the group. Dunn didn't back up his 2014 and probably lacks on field qualities in terms of consistency and focus to be a leader. Grimes just isn't good enough. Garland might not be either but he's a guy who's always given his all on and off field as a Melbourne man. He's a popular team mate and I trust him as a wise and caring club man. If he's the worst performing on field member of the group I can still understand him being a leader.

The Dogs: - Completely changed the way they played - Won a lot of games and beat some good teams - Lost an elimination final I don't think we will change the way we play so drastically. There just hasn't been enough of a talent overhaul nor has their been a radical coaching change. I don't think we will win a lot of games, but who knows if every thing does go right then finals must be a chance. And if we do make finals then who says we can't win one? We'll have a lot of momentum and I think we've got some guys who are built for the big stage.

Hard to get a read on. I was watching the spreading from a contest drill they were doing and he was in space, balanced up and kicked really well, but couldn't quite see him out and running enough to work it out. He looked balanced and skilful today, I find it hard to think that he won't at least be a good VFL player if he doesn't break down. I don't think we'll know about his pace until he's back at AFL level.

Most of the problems with Etihad will be solved when the AFL buys it. The fact that Etihad disrupts the Docklands precinct is really only relevant to the unfortunate people who live or work there. We should keep Etihad for the rest of it's functional life (20-30 years?) and have the roof closed, clubs making good value for crowds and better value seating distribution. Then why not built a repeat without many of issues just further along the rail lines in the West. E gate as it's known or somewhere near North Melbourne station. Works perfectly as a spot for fans of the Dogs, North and Essendon and will eventually be valuable land as it's in a gateway between the city and the growing Western Suburbs. Absolutely crazy to have 2 stadiums next to each other on the same side of town.

Got there just before 11, left around an hour later. Very muggy. No sign of Dunn, Vanders, Brayshaw, Newton, Dawes, Spencer, Terlich, ANB, Weed, Hulett, King, King or White by the time I arrived. Maybe a separate Casey training group this week? Everyone else who was on track was involved fully as far as I could tell. Including Petracca and Trengove. Usual group drills focussing on quick hands, spread and kicking. Then more positional drills. Talls doing marking. A group of backs doing kicking. Midfielders practising quick handballs up with pressure approaching. The forwards had to lead up for a mark with token defensive pressure before doubling back in an arc and leaping for a mark on top of the speccy bag. Petracca had a hell of a ride pretty much sitting on top of the poor coach with the bag which had everyone laughing. High fives all around for the poor coach who was squished. Was the highlight of the session aside from seeing Bernie Vince sail a drop punt goal through from about 60 on his left. 8 or so players finished with session with boxing. Hogan, Lumumba and Wagner went with Rawlings for a drill where they led in to space either side of the 50. Was more to get Lumumba and Hogan some extra work I think. Kent did goal kicking with Brett Allison. Very much a focus on keeping balance and a straight line through the ball. The first few was rusty but after that he seemed to find his confidence. Tyson, Jetta and Ben Ken did a series of 200m sprints. Kennedy led them out early before Tyson took over as the repeat efforts continued but Jetta and Kennedy weren't too far behind. Oscar Mc and then later his brother were doing extra kicking practise. A focus on fast feet getting some agility around cones before steadying and kicking low to a target. Oscar struggled, not sure why he's kicking is down, but then got better. Tom was kicking fine, it's just not the same pressure as game day. Gawn spent most of the session just with Stafford doing ruckwork before Frost and Pedo joined him a bit.

Happy with Salem and Vince being a bit rusty and turning it over in practice games with ambitious kicks, that's part of finding their groove. Happy for Tom McDonald to do that occasionally as well. But not when he's shanking it consistently. Same goes for Grimes with his indecisive decision making. And Watts when he does lazy things like not get back from the mark and getting the ball smothered. If he has time and space to run and kick to space then I'll live with McDonald turnovers should they come. If he's taking risky options under pressure or spraying the ball off the boot then there's no excuse.

It's a bogus attempt to justify them as promotion instead of league run and to deflect blame for when they [censored] off the clubs (or the league itself). They are paid for by the league and it's such a waste of money. The clubs could do their own promotion much better and the clubs, junior development or just giving it to the players would be a better way to spend the money.

Definitive statement about how he wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Token line about considering the free agency process. And this is the headline they create. Bad enough from an independent media company, but pure drivel from the AFL's own media department.

I'd love to see him learn to kick from scratch on his left foot. Teach him from the very basics like international recruits are. There's a controversial idea. Because there's a limit to how proficient he'll ever be on his right due to his technique and lack of feel with the foot. He's rarely balance and too often shins the ball in an attempt to not sky it. Anyway, I was just thinking he was pretty ordinary against Freo, the Dogs and Essendon last year in the NAB challenge. I remember Pav and Daniher getting hold of him and him getting caught with the ball. He then played a great half season before reverting to poor form. So now I'm not sure if he'll suddenly go from poor form to good form when the season starts like last year or if last years first half was just a mirage.