DeeSpencer

Anyway, to completely buck the trend I think Howe is a wingman! He's a between the arcs player who has good endurance, great hands, and can kick the ball. He defends well at times, he can get lost forward. It's a matter of getting him in the game. I'm sick of the trade/contract stuff. Maybe I'm wrong but I'm inclined that he'll stay if we are a viable team and he's found a niche for himself. There's not really anything to gain speculating or assassinating his character for no reason. Most players are more comfortable in a set position, but Howe might be the rare type who just needs a challenge to do a particular role each week whether it's forward, back or on a wing.

Yep. Poor choices. That kick is for tight angles within 30m. But in some regards at least he was consistently wrong. A coach should explain it to him and he should work it out that if he's too far out then that kick doesn't make sense.

Some good footballers have played VFL 2's. The club are doing the right thing by Casey by not loading up the forward line with Gawn, King, Jamar etc. King constantly comes last in our running. He's a very very raw athlete. But he's also right up there with the best kicks I've ever seen for a 200cm + guy and can take a grab. No point being too excited about his Development League form but no reason to be negative either. There's no hurry with him. We can afford 1 rookie spot on a project player. I think he's worth keeping for next year and that will be the year where he has to play VFL seniors and perform.

Bail as sub I guess. Makes some sort of sense. Leave the young players at Casey where they can have some wins. Bring on one of our best runners late even if his skills are dreadful. Toumpas and Riley on the bench. 1 inside mid, 1 outside runner. Fitzy down back will be interesting. Probably takes Cordy or Boyd. Frees up Dunn and Garland to stop the Dogs midfield options. I'm not sure if Fitzy will or should 2nd ruck or if they'll leave that to Pedersen. I'd be inclined to leave Fitzy in the back 7 alongside McDonald, Dunn, Garland, Grimes, Lumumba and probably Howe.

Yeah I want to see Newton in at the clearances as well. Jones, Newton, Riley might give us a difference look in there. Wouldn't be adverse to trying Toumpas as well, just for a different look at it. He's all at see on a wing.

Hoping Riley definitely gets his chance against the Dogs with Tyson out. He still might not have the fitness for full midfield time and spread, nor the disposal for AFL but he could well be the 4th best clearance player on our list behind Jones, Viney and Tyson. We'll probably get destroyed on the outside by the Dogs but if we play 2 rucks and Jones and Riley can crunch a few in the clearances then we might get somewhere.

1. The dogs lost 2. Ayce Cordy now knows he can't even compete against Sandilands, that must be good for his confidence 3. Ayce Cordy didn't even get a game to try and work out a way to compete 4. Sandilands is a beast of a ruck but if you tried this against a ruck who can mark around the ground (Mumford? Hale? Jacobs? Goldstein) you'd see them draw a heap of footy in a game of kick to kick if matched against a 185cm player 5. Now that coaches have seen this tactic they'd be instructing any rucks to do exactly that around the ground. 6. Rucks stand up in finals. Not every year. Not every team. But through the finals series there's usually 1 or 2 of the 9 games where a ruck plays a dominant role I'd be picking Gawn if I were Melbourne backed up by Pedersen and I wouldn't be adverse to using Watts as well after centre bounces. Cross, Tyson, Howe and Vince are all taller midfielders/flankers capable of giving a 3rd up jumper. Add Watts to that list of guys coming 3rd man up. Remember our first choice back up so far has been Sam Frost for a mobile running player around the ground. But Gawn has been in lousy form as a forward and not exactly knocking the door down in the ruck. Spencer has been preferred. The coaches must have belief that Spencer one day can bring his VFL form to AFL. Roos has seen Mike Pyke do it as a raw athlete and must have similar belief in Spencer. I think it is misplaced. However, I also think we are probably 1-2 weeks away from knowing for sure. A month in the seniors without firing a shot after dominant VFL form and when approaching prime age/years of development. It's now or never for Spencer.

Any idea of the team TDI? Out of Gawn, Fitzy, Riley, Newton, Stretch, Toumpas, Bail did any particular 4 do more training in one spot or the other? You've got 2 hours to take an educated guess? Any ideas for positions of Grimes, Lumumba (Wing or half back), Fitzy (back/ruck?) or otherwise? How was the voice/energy? I hope the guys have shook off a bad few weeks and can go in confident.

What are we going to give up to get these guys in? Our first round pick? Our second round pick? Trade? Who? Howe's probably all we have in terms of currency. Let Garland go in free agency? I think we should chase budget smart acquisition free agents but otherwise stick to the draft. We aren't going to get a trade deal on our terms for a good player. Cheap free agent Pre season draft/delisted free agent Possibly trade Howe if he fetches top 20 draft pick value Toumpas or Watts for steak knives if we no longer want them? 3rd or 4th round picks That's our currency. We need to keep our first 2 picks and find high class players with them. We have to build around our 18-23 year olds - Hogan, Tyson, Viney, McDonald, Salem, Brayshaw, Petracca, Stretch etc.

I don't think it's that simple. The dogs are playing outstanding team football. Their inside midfielders aren't much but they do all the basics around stoppages right. They're forwards aren't all that special. Their backs not that great. But as unit they produce high level pressure and high level ball movement by running and trusting their skills. They lost 2 mids against the saints and the pressure around the ball dropped and their ability/confidence in ball movement fell away and they lost a 50 point lead. For us to beat them we have to play really good team footy as well, which means our skills standing up under pressure and our defensive work rate being good enough against a team with a heap of confidence to move the ball. I really don't like our chances. On form the Dogs will beat us by 10 goals.

lol. We've got McKenzie, Michie and Riley doing the job of dominant VFL, not up to AFL mid just fine thanks. We should've combed the state leagues for a mature outside running player to compete with Matt Jones to fill any spots for when we need extra running players. And we should've fixed Dean Terlich instead of making him worse because we now have no one to compete with Grimes for half back depth. Plus you know, the years of poor recruiting and developing doesn't help.

I'd be happy for Stretch to stay in the sub role. Coming on a 1/4 time is not easy for anyone. If he can come on in the second half he might make an impact. I don't think he's as unready as you think. When he gets the ball he uses it well. He runs to good spots. He's not adverse to laying a tackle. I think Gawn will play if it's dry which means the Gawn, Hogan, Pedersen, Watts combo has to find a way to work. 3 talls works pretty well for a lot of teams and it's a matter of Watts getting on his bike and playing as the running player that he is. If it's wet then I think Riley will play.

I'd start with Dunn at FB, McDonald at CHB as per usual and Garland picking up the 3rd tall. Which would mean: Dunn - Boyd McDonald - Crameri Garland - Stringer But I'd be open to swapping them around. Stringer is the most dangerous but I'd be concerned he's a bit too quick for McDonald. Boyd has the size that McDonald can deal with but if he's stuck deeper it could take McDonald out of the game. Someone (Grimes? Lumumba?) will need to do a job on Tory Dickson. Stopping Bob Murphy at the other end will be a concern. We don't have a defensive half forward of quality nor do we have the dangerous half forwards to test his defensive ability.

Out: Toumpas, Salem, Bail, Dawes In: Riley, Newton, Harmes, Hogan Can swap Jamar for Spencer as well, I'm not fussed. FB: Grimes Dunn Garland HB: Howe McDonald Lumumba C: Newton Jones Vince HF: Brayshaw Hogan Harmes FF: Garlett Pedersen vandenBerg Foll: Spencer Tyson Cross Int: M Jones, Riley, Michie S: Stretch - Howe has to stay and play back, without Jetta and Salem we just don't have capable defenders. Lumumba and Grimes are already a concern back there - Newton back in on a wing/7th defender to provide more skill from behind the ball - I'd leave Watts out for at least 1 more. We need to let him bash the door down at Casey for a while yet and it will build team mates confidence in him - Hogan back, rest Dawes. Play vandenBerg as the 3rd tall forward - M Jones, Michie, Riley offer more than Toump and Bail as peripheral half forward/midfield types although they aren't perfect - Give young Harmes a go as a half forward and see if he can provide some pressure and ball winning efforts

We can increase our rookie list by 2 more and then draft 4 late round/PSD picks. 10 battlers making 200-400k per year out = 3 million. 6 late round/psd/rookie picks at 60k each = 360k 4 spots for 2.6million. The issue is we can't attract those players. Vince, Dawes, Lumumba the best we've done. We have to draft and develop and just keep on doing it.

His name is Brayshaw not Bradshaw. Toump also struggles to get the ball due to the team. Anyone who plays outside midfield or forward in the Melbourne team struggles for opportunity to get the ball. In my opinion Stretch is getting very little of it but he's using it well, competing really well, he tackles nicely for a little guy. 3 touches in 3 quarters is not a good sign but Toumpas' 11 were no more effective. The dogs are a young team and a young midfield, there should be many more opportunities for Stretch to find the ball and if he does I think he'll use it nicely. I can't say the same for Toumpas.

One of vanders or Brayshaw could/should be the sub then. Stretch looks fine to me. Just hard to find the ball as a hard running Melbourne wingman with no ball movement. Spencer might need to be dropped because of his sheer ineptitude. Another goal line stuff up this week, so he's 2 from 2 in what should be the easiest job a ruckman has.

Fat [censored] can't see passed his own irony. If the media stopped talking Jack Watts then maybe the every day people would as well. They built him up not social media. He's just using this article to bemoan the hammering he gets on twitter because he's so dim-witted.

Winning or losing the clearances are certainly important, but our lack of run and flow with ball movement is still appalling. I don't trust Tyson. He's lost his nerve. Viney's not that type of player. Vince is hacking it forward all the time. Billy Stretch can't find the ball much but he does seem to think his way through trouble. He isn't quite a line breaker yet though. It's not good for results but protecting Stretch and Brayshaw this year will be important because they both look like they'll be key parts of the future. I'm keen to see Alex Neal-Bullen and really want to have a look at Harmes as well. The simple test for draft picks if we are going to focus on need is looking for mids who can run and hit a target. It's fast become an infuriating stat but we badly need a few 'metres gained' players.

Cons: Slow, kicks a fair share of points, doesn't chase or crumb the ball and is only the bare minimum of stop gap ruck backups. Pros: He can tackle (if not being reckless), kicks better than a lot of others and can take a grab when he's in form. Maybe we could've got him in to the side earlier but really I think he was finding his fitness at Casey. For better or worse he's the type of player who needs to work his way in to the season and build fitness. The following forward line could actually produce results if given any kind of decent delivery: HF: Brayshaw Hogan *resting mid* FF: Garlett Pedersen Watts

Out: Spencer, Bail, Toumpas, Dawes, Michie, Salem, M Jones In: Jamar, Watts, Harmes, Hogan, Viney, Jetta, Newton FB: Jetta Dunn Garland HB: Howe McDonald Grimes C: Lumumba Jones Stretch HF: vanders Hogan Brayshaw FF: Watts Pedersen Garlett Foll: Jamar Vince Cross Int: Tyson Viney Newton S: Harmes Stick with Billy Stretch. He does a lot right. He isn't getting the ball because team mates can't get it to him! I'd love to drop Howe. But we don't even know if Jetta will be ready and it looks like Salem will be out. Someone has to play half back and I think it may as well be Howe for another week at least.

Yeah I was wrong. I thought I would be when I heard Tom talking about aiming to improve his speed over preseason at the end of last year. It gave me a clue that he knew he had to work on his glaring defensive weakness. When Salem was moved to the backline and Grimes got dropped before round 1 I thought hooray, the coaches have realised we can't keep blindly turning it over from half back as well. All credit to Tom, he's done a great job. Now maybe he can get some of the others to join him. There's a long list to take his spot. He could start by getting his key defensive buddy Lynden Dumb to play a little better. He's gone right back to gross stupidity and brain fades.

4 players had to go out. We brought in the next best 4. I'm not fussed.

In: Jetta, Viney (presuming fitness for both) FB: Jetta Dunn Garland HB: Salem McDonald Howe C: Lumumba Jones Vince HF: Watts Hogan vandenBerg FF: Garlett Dawes Brayshaw Foll: Spencer Tyson Cross Int: Viney ???? ???? S: Stretch Stretch was lively. Maybe back to the sub for a week against the Hawks then a full game against the Dogs. Spencer may as well have a second go despite his atrocious first quarter Watts can start again. The cycle continues Take your pick from Pedersen, Newton, Toumpas or JKH. You can chuck Matt Jones, Bail, Michie, Riley, Gawn or any others from Casey in as well. I'm usually totally opposed to Matt Jones but I'd get it if he was picked. Especially if Viney is back to add another inside mid we certainly needs outside run. I'd shift Vince in to the role and get Lumumba back on a wing (which is made easier by Jetta in to the backline). But if it's not to be that move then either Toumpas, Stretch or both stay or Matt Jones comes in. There's just a desperate need for that outside run and balance around the contest.

Gold Coast might be keen to sell him if he keeps stuffing up. He's a mess. (But I still want him)