DeeSpencer

Initially felt sorry for Clarkson, but after seeing the vision and the full on Hawthorn media blitz with little repentance really my overriding thought is that both the Port idiot and Clarkson deserve each other.

That wasn't a great play though. Bombing it long to JKH is very low percentage when he had vandenBerg streaming through the midfield inside him for a handball that could've then seen a pass or running shot from 50. The best bits of Tyson's game where the quality clearances he won in the 3rd quarter when pushed up to a stoppage as a high half forward. The way we broke from the clearances with sold enough (given the wet) ball use and getting it to advantage as the ball went forward was much different to the way the Tigers were under constant pressure and going forward without any fluency (Shane Edwards aside)

I'll need to watch the replay but Griffiths was either injured or ineffectual. Astbury probably could've followed Dawes in to the ruck to relieve Maric but the Tigers didn't lose the game due to Jamar getting on top of Maric, although it didn't hurt our causes. The sub warming up at half time is a smart idea. 5 minutes down a rotation at the end of the first half is no excuse and whatever half time messages were given could be relayed after he had warmed up. So instead of just doing a few run throughs and stretches the sub can get a good kick of the ball and feel of the grounds atmosphere. Again, they didn't lose the game because the sub who came on and played back pocket wasn't playing to the game plan. Especially not in a wet weather game. The game was pretty much even at half time and then flooded with rain after that. Hardwick's failings in this game weren't tactics. They were in failure to prepare his players to do what was required to win the game.

No problem with your post and I think you're right! But vanders is now forming part of the midfield rotation. Playing wing, half forward and in the guts! Not sure who that means he's keeping out but it's bloody brilliant. He's rotating with the likes of Newton and Michie (when he was subbed on) and giving Brayshaw the freedom to develop on a half forward flank.

Can't believe the speed of him. Ran straight passed Grigg who's not exactly slow. You can't be 190cm, probably 90kg, strong, fast, hard and with decent endurance and be playing in the NEAFL. That's just not freaking fair. I get how he had 60 touches, now I just don't get how he didn't have 60 a week!

Still need a bit more smart running to make the handball flow. Lumumba the main culprit last night. Watts the man who shot out the most silky handballs I thought. A bit more vision wouldn't hurt, we missed a few simple ones to open runners.

Very good inside. Strong and tough. Still concerned about his pace and 2 way running ability. Keen to see him in the dry.

Yeah I think a few Melb and Rich supporters need a lesson in the proper behaviour. A lot of hats left on.. And from my seat in the MCC bottom level I could hear a lot of noise from the bars. Would be nice if they stopped serving at say 7:00 and made sure the bars were quiet for the official ceremony. The ceremony itself was very good.

Half fit he's better than the next option. But not at the value of harming the rest of the year. Week off to get him right. The back 6 loses the nice balance without him but there's options to cover. Good chance for Salem to do a defensive job on a gun small.

KC might correct me but I don't thin there are. Not for the regular season anyway. But as you said ANB is coming back from injury, Oscar is competing with Panozza (the captain) and Hutchins (ex Gold Coast) for a tall defender spot and is lightly framed, King is behind Gawn, Spencer and Pedersen for a ruck/forward spot and will get his chance as the season goes on if he stays in good 2's form and White is obviously not far off the seniors and has a few decent guys ahead of them. I don't want those 4 stuck there all year but I'm sure they'll get a chance. It's certainly good culture building stuff for the Casey guys to know selection is on merit. The Dogs have a strong team in, but will take at least 5 out for their AFL bench plus emergency. Will be interesting to see if they've dropped Minson. Wouldn't surprise me.

Anyone know how many touches he did have in 50% game time? He was a really solid performer in he SANFL as an 18 year old and I respect how in the video he didn't get ahead of himself saying he'd be an automatic upgrade to Casey 1's after a full game this week but I hope he plays well enough so he does get upgraded. Along with Neal-Bullen I think Stretch, Harmes and Toumpas are 4 young midfielders who can contribute at AFL level at some stage this year. The reinforcements for the 2nd half of the season who provide a bit of fresh energy if there are injuries or some of the others lose form.

Disappointing. Just hope we don't have a key defender injury by then. The ruck-forward thing was a worth experiment but I really want to see Frost as a key defender and to give us some depth in that position.

Fascinating contribution DD. Do you think Michie will make more impact than Bail as sub? I don't. If we aren't winning or halving the inside ball regardless we won't be winning the game. But when the sub comes on we'll need run to break the game open.

I'd much prefer Bail over Michie as sub. Last quarter and the game opens up a half forward with a great tank is more likely to take advantage of that than another inside midfielder. I'd be upset if Bail starts over Michie, but as the sub I think he'd be a smarter choice. In fact I'd have Bail in considerations to being a permanent sub for most of the year.

Famous last words. He's a big man with a good leap. Wouldn't want Dawes (or Pedersen really) anywhere near him at a centre bounce. Which means Russian has to do all of them. He'll also have a good advantage at around the ground ball ups. Any good key forward should be able to compete at boundary throw ins though. Much easier to win the tap or at least get enough pressure on to get the ball forward and down.

Why does everyone want Pedersen? Give me Gawn! Younger, faster, taller, actually a decent ruck. He brings energy and enthusiasm to the team. Yeah his kicking can be bad and he can really struggle forward in a lot of games but we have to keep giving him chances surely. He'll free up Jamar to play forward more and Jamar is more likely to take a grab than Pedersen as well.

Don't think so. Brisbane's 3rd round pick that year was Rhan Hooper. Murphy might not be much more than a solid B grader these days but I didn't see Rhan Hooper winning the ALFCA and Age footballer of the year in 2011.

I'd rather Yarran or Henderson if Carlton are having a fire sale.

I hate these threads, as I feel it's just such hubris to declare us smashing anyone. So I've changed my opinion of the word smash from a big victory to the meaning of smash in being physical and disciplined. In that regard, then yes I agree we should smash Richmond. We had 80 tackles against Adelaide. I'd love to see 80 in the dry against Richmond. As long as we still win the ball. Richmond have a lot of talent, it's our job to go and pressure them like the Dogs did.

I was a pretty terrible local footballer. I find it hard to reliably hit targets kicking. Only rarely could I consistently take a good grab and I certainly didn't have any athletic gifts. Effort and intensity is what I think should be easy for an AFL player. Vince showed some great tackling and anticipation skills that helped him do his job, but the main thing he brought was effort. Dawes might not have had a big impact on the game but he brought the ball to ground when required and chased and pressured. Contested marks and contested ball winning are as much a skill or natural talent as any other part of the game. Hours and hours training wont turn Jordie McKenzie in to Joel Selwood or Chris Dawes in to Jono Brown. Every time the ball is kicked to Dawes I don't know if he'll mark it but I know he'll fight for front position, attempt to mark, likely bring it to ground and then try and win it and get it out to a team mate. It often isn't pretty but I don't doubt his effort or willingness to put his body on the line. A kick to Watts seems to produce a moments of hesitation where you just don't know if he's going to give his all. Maybe he's not scared of being hurt but it's a mental thing of not having confidence in if he'll win it, or maybe he's planning on what he'll do with after he gets it and gets caught waiting. Either way it's a terrible trait that should've been corrected by now.

Haha so Watts is soft and you're ok with it? The play might have worked but it relied heavily upon the Crows defender missing the contest. That's too much risk. His round 1 flick back on the goal line was footy smarts, this play wasn't. Of course you need clever players who bring pace, skill and smarts to the game, just as you need players without perfect skills but with grunt who can win contested ball. But the old rule is when it's your turn to go you have to go and that's the one Watts fails. When you've dropped 2 simple marks and haven't won any physical footy all day it's time to go even harder. I blame Watts and the coaches for never seemingly getting that message across to him. Bernie Vince had a bad game in round 2 and look how he played on the weekend. It's pretty simple stuff.

Come on. He didn't plan that. And if he did it's incredibly lucky to have worked. You can't go half assed up at the ball and hope it clears the pack and drops in you lap. Why can't he take that mark? He's 6'4 and 90 odd kgs. It might not be a strong part of his game but he has to attack the ball in the air like any other player and even more so after he's dropped a couple of sitters. He attacked a few balls in the air v GWS and dropped a few. I think it ruined his confidence. But he has to be mentally strong and keep doing it. He's not so quick or skilled as to not be able to take a grab. Publicly Roos has reached for the carrot, but I really hope privately he's gone for the stick. We can't keep waiting for AFL intensity. It should be a starting point for any player getting a game.

Start with Jeffy then work on Hoges. But he kicks fine in training. It's a game day thing.

See that's where I want to make the distinction. I don't think we have a better 2 key forward than Dawes. I don't think we have a better 2nd ruck than whoever comes in for Frost. Using Dawes as the 2nd ruck is possible but not ideal. Watts though, has no real bearing on either. He is a forward who can lead well at times but in no way is he a tall marking player. Bringing in Michie to the midfield mix and using Brayshaw and vandenBerg forward more might be better than playing Watts. Both of those 2 have taken as many strong grabs in 3 games than Watts does is 10.

That's the problem. Despite his height we can't rely at all on Watts to make a contest in the air when required (which Dawes at least does). Nor can we rely on him to take simple marks. So he's judged against the other small/medium forward options. If we need a 2nd ruck, Dawes, Hogan, Garlett then that's 4 spots. There's probably only room for 2 or 3 other forwards and we need them to show defensive pressure, goal kicking, tackling, creativity, speed, midfield rotation ability, ability to work up the ground to the backline. In the greater scheme of things Watts only ticks a few of those boxes.