DeeSpencer

Tom "I can sum up my Port career in one second' Harley, then continues to describe his Geelong career for most of the next broad cast. Complete [censored]. And if Baz is the best commentator in Perth can you imagine the worst?

Garland McKenzie tried but probably failed Toumpas points for actually attempting to get out in space at times Can't think of any other demon who really beat their opponent Grimes showed me what he could do back at half back with some weights, skill training and a bunch of confidence. Finds the footy and mops up with ease just has no strength to break a tackle or conviction to trust his options.

Hamish McGlachlan has an Adelaide link doesn't he, besides that it was Baz Zemplis was it not and who knows who the special comments clowns were but either way I don't think they were from SA. My point is it wasn't SA pump up SA it was channel 7 who are so stupid they actually think its fitting to celebrate like crazy how good a stadium is when it's about to be decommissioned from AFL. They also didn't realise Port play a huge game there next week! They also got stuck into Watts for his trade mark goal celebration where he points and claps the guy who set the goal up for him. There are 100 bad things you can get stuck into Watts for yet they pick a good thing! Edit: Actually it was Tom Harley, ex SA, ex Geelong, now in Sydney. Obvious a bloke who has no idea what a real city is and has managed to avoid Melbourne - which is probably a good thing for the rest of us!

I haven't seen much but I would point out the obvious in that today there were more Casey players than probably the rest of the season. Very unfortunate for Casey though that Hogan, Byrnes, Strauss, Fitzpatrick and Blease all got injured last week. To lose by 2 points when just any one of those 5 (or the 3 who got promoted to AFL in their place in Rodan, Toumpas, Frawley and Pedersen) would've been enough to get the job done. Nothing beats bad luck.

Well football isn't going so well for Watts. And his lack of intensity and effort must be contributed to by a fear of getting hurt. The 2 go together commonly. If we aren't going to drop Watts we may as well change the dynamic that he plays in.

It's why I maintain a line in the sand game would be damn good for some of these blokes. We've got Jones, Sylvia, Viney, Tapscott and McKenzie who can throw their weight around. Serial pest in Dunn. Some big blokes in Dawes, Spencer and Frawley. I'd love to throw Toumpas, Watts even Blease and maybe a few others in to a modern day blood bath and for them to come out the other side and know they can survive and that their team mates have their back.

Have you seen this years FA list. The 2 legitimate stars left on it are Franklin who we aren't getting or Thomas who you'd be very careful on when he's had 3 ankle surgeries in one year. Unless you consider Eddie Betts a star their isn't much around.

We could do with some greater threads than this one though. But seriously we need both. We need to improve the players we have and recruit guys who can play a best 22 role and hope some of them are stars. Sydney won a flag last year with a midfield full of top liners who you could consider about 5 of them or none of them as stars. Freo are top 4 this year and their midfield stars are Mundy, Barlow and Fyfe. All fantastic players but unless Fyfe improves his disposal none will go down as superstars of the game. The mature age players we drafted last year were not recruited to be stars. I'm sure the club was hoping for more out of Dawes but he has played some decent footy under the circumstances. Rodan really was a one year proposition to soften the blow of losing the malcontent Moloney. Byrnes was never to be a star, Gillies was to give a chance to a depth defender and Pedersen to take a depth tall who could fill a role. We sat outside our first draft picks in last years draft for stars. Hogan, Viney, Toumpas and even Kent. The latter have shown more than enough to say they can be good AFL players. The first 2 very well could be stars. Our first pick in this years draft will be spent on a potential star I'm sure of that. If we get another priority pick we could look to trade it for a guy who will impact immediately and might get to the next level or we could double down in the draft. Same for our second or third round picks. Sydney fans will tell you Josh Kennedy is a star. Tiger fans will tell you Maric is a star.

Which games have you been watching where by Watts and Sylvia on the bench have been giving the opposition a head start. I actually think we are helping ourselves.

After 6 hours you start to experience permanent damage to erectile tissue. So unless he planned on it being his last I highly doubt this was true. So don't believe everything you read in the papers, or the AFL chargers for that matter.

I'm hoping Neeld or Tim Harrington were behind the recruiting of Pedersen. The Gillies mistake in some ways I can understand and as the last person added to the list in a bit of a blind hope you can live with it. Same with Rodan and Byrnes, they've deliver most of what anyone could've expected in a lot of ways. But the 3 year deal for Pedersen is a shocker. As for the bench you do realise players rotate through about 1 per minute and don't start in positions named on the team sheet. Likely Watts will start on or be in within 5 minutes. Either way I'm more concerned about where he plays than where he starts. As for Sylvia I'd rather him on the bench and Viney, Jones and Mckenzie in at the first bounce! I don't mean to sound like a Craig apologist but I just think in a lot of ways he's damned if he does damned if he doesn't at selection. He also seems to be sticking to a consistent line up and trying to develop the team as a whole. Sounds very much like what Paul Roos would do. I can't certainly agree with that last line though BB

I don't put him in the Clark and Hogan level but in terms of key forwards/back up ruck he is clearly the next man up before Pedersen. Which is a good step for him. You'd love to have guys with Fitzy's potential coming through at ever position to replace injuries to your best 22. Unfortunately we don't.

Rodan is the hardest one of these selections to explain I agree with that but I think it serves the duel purpose of leaving kids who aren't up to AFL at this stage in the VFL and fighting for a top 2 spot heading in to the finals and at the same time is a best available selection. As limited as Rodan is and as much as I want to see Taggert I think Rodan is the better footballer as of right now. As for structures I don't think any AFL coach would be overly keen to play both Spencer and Gawn in the same side. Not with Dawes and Watts as well. Two 204+cm giants in the same team is a recipe for disaster especially coming up against just Jacobs with limited back up. Again Davis can form a vital part of a VFL campaign to save his list spot and Pedersen might just be best available. The reality is we don't have Clark, Fitzpatrick or Hogan available. Take 3 players of that class out of any side and they'll play a journeyman or inexperience kid who likely is along way off. As for Pedersen's contract I think they'd be hard up it to cut him even if they could, the AFLPA would have a melt down. But I probably wouldn't even do it if we could. There are so many list spots to fill on Melbournes list and only so many decent draft picks. Considering we have weaknesses across the board and have to pay him then 3rd string reserve defender/forward/ruck is so far down on my care factor. That said I'd be the first person setting the time machine for this time last year and saying whatever you do stay clear of Pederesn and Gillies.

I think some people in here are guilty of the following: 1. Drastically overrating the importance of VFL finals and the standard of the VFL 2. Overrating what possible selection moves a coach could make with this list. Now the way I see it their aren't too many drastic decisions made this week. By and large 4 injured players have been replaced in a mostly like for like balance to try and keep the basic team structures the same. Whilst the structures haven't been working you have to give some respect to theory that with 2 games left you dont completely throw out the style of football you hope to be successful later on. So let me take you through the changes: 1. Strauss (inj) - Frawley in. Garland and Dunn go back to playing on shorter opponents and replace Strauss and Frawley comes back in. It's hard to argue that one. 2. Davis (omit) - Dawes in. Again a premiership CHF replacing a 2 gamer who probably isn't going to cut it at AFL as a key forward The more arguable ones 3. Fitzy (inj) - Pedersen in. We all think Pedersen isn't good but he's got positional flexibility and we all know Dawes hates rucking and Davis just isn't big enough. Considering Pedersen is contracted he's worth a look. He's also 3rd string for this position behind Fitzy and Mitch Clark and there aren't any new faces to try in this role 4. Blease (inj) - Toumpas in. This one is pretty straight forward its just the matter of qualifying Toumpas for VFL finals. But VFL finals could be 2 games and over against only moderate VFL opponents. Despite how meaningless our last 2 games are I'd like to see Toumpas go head to head with some decent quality opposition. Not to mention he gets a game in his home state which is a positive 5. Byrnes (inj) - Rodan in. I know people won't be happy with this one but again Rodan is more suited to AFL at his best than Magner and I just don't quite think Taggert has been consistent enough to demand a spot. Plus we've already got Kent and Tapscott and have had Blease so how many sub par half forwards do we need. I think he's better served getting a debut after a strong preseason showing. Also it's hard to argue we shouldn't have included Toumpas to give him VFL finals but we should've promoted Taggert and taken him away from an important VFL game. The way I see it is the MFC will likely have the following guys available for VFL: Spencer, Gawn, Sellar, Pedersen, Gillies, Davis, Nicholson, Clisby, Magner, Couch (inj), Hogan (inj), Taggert, Tynan, Jetta, Bail, Barry, Rodan. I understand we could've qualified Kent, Fitzpatrick and Toumpas if we had been a little more creative in selection but I think it's been fair to Casey as well to play the guys who have been their all season and let the VFL guys at Casey have a shot as well. My philosophy on VFL finals is that if you are fit and you've played at Casey all season then you play and play well. Unfortunately for Casey they've copped a few injuries - Hogan as well as Strauss and Blease which would've given them more to work with but that doesn't mean Melbourne aren't committed to Casey finals this year.

Yeah I think it does but then again in a lot of ways he hasn't really been part of the Casey crew all year and averaging 30 touches a game the last 2 weeks he needs AFL experience. He's got VFL covered. As for Taggert he only had 15 touches last week. 5 goals for sure but I don't think at any other AFL club that would be enough for an AFL game. It's a shame that means Rodan gets a game ahead of him but I do see why they don't want to gift Taggert games. Pedersen is in ahead of Davis because (apparently) Pedersen can ruck. That's the way I see it anyway. I'd rather Davis but he isn't up to AFL as a forward either and he's much too short to ruck.

Or they've told Magner he isn't needed next year and he's expressed a desire to stay with Casey for the rest of the season. That's the best explanation I can give. Now Gawn either after he had 60 hit outs. FB: Dunn Frawley Garland HB: M. Jones McDonald Terlich C: Toumpas Jones Trengove HF: Kent Dawes Davey FF: Howe Pedersen Tapscott Foll: Spencer Viney McKenzie Int: Sylvia Watts Grimes S: Rodan

With AOD apparently in some state of flux and the Essendon players likely heading to avoiding penalties it looks like Trenners will be ok. I'm slightly more concerned we never got to the bottom of who did what in engaging Dank. Were Misson and Craig in the know or was it just the doctor. I can see why Hird is upset. He's been duped and he feels targetted. But I'm sure the AFL don't want his head on a plate they just want a sound result that sends a warning to the rest of the comp. Maybe he saw their potential punishment as completely unreasonable considering he thinks he was as much a victim of Dank as anyone else. But he needs to get over it. Hird is suffering a narcissistic injury.

I don't mean to be a negative nelly but it could very well be Casey have won their last game for the season already. If they lose this week it would take a huge effort to beat Geelong in the first final and then they'd be coming off 2 loses in the second week of finals. Let's hope I'm wrong and they can win this week. Absolute crucial game.

Ablett, Prestia, O'Meara, Swallow, Stanley, Shaw and with Jack Martin to be elevated he'd have to consider whether his future would be better with us if all they are offering is a one year deal on low money. That said I wouldn't be rushing in with a 2 year deal in any hurry. Lets see how he goes the last 2 rounds.

Lot of injuries and can't hold a spot for the suns. I wonder if he's too far over the hill like a Rodan. Depends how deep our cut is I suppose. If we look to chop the list right down and need whoever we can get for free then I'd have some interest. If we just want to make a decent amount of changes we might be better sticking to what we have and finding a younger player with more potential even if we have to give up a second or third round pick. Like Port with Monfries or Dogs with Koby Stevens. Just out of interest who was the last 27 year old or older who couldn't get a game for one club and had battled injuries but then made a big impact at another. It's a tough ask.

Has been a reliable defender shutting down all sorts of opponents for the last few years but this year the penny really did drop after the first few weeks that it's not just enough to do some defensive work and that he has to impact the game a lot more. Some of his efforts in intercept marking, coming third man up and also running the ball out of defense have been a joy to watch. I'm really hoping we can improve in the midfield next year so our defenders get the recognition I think they deserve.

It's fair to say he isn't at the level to get the game as just a primary forward at the moment so we will have to keep working on his rucking. At least unlike some like Pedersen he does have the right height to become a good back up ruck. His pace would also be handy around the ground. Means he can go with the more mobile rucks and defend against them.

Overhead wires have done a fantastic job getting rid of the majority of the birds. Unfortunately they can't count the birds in our attendance anymore. Mick Malthouse seems to be about the only person who is worried by them anymore.

- Matthew Green – Chief Operations Officer Is listed on the website of current head of finance/admin department. So I guess either the new guy comes in ahead of him or he's moved/been moved on. de Crespigny could well be a successor to PJ long term if things go well. Resume looks pretty good.

Imagine Jack Viney. Even if you hit him in the head 5 times he'd keep coming back at you. Clark would be scary because if he boxes like he moves on the footy field then he's fast but he also has long reach.