DeeSpencer

I was there but I won't comment on the level of training because we will find out more tomorrow than any critique of today's training. Firstly Tynan jogged laps, some set back after the intraclub. Mostly skills training and divided in positional groups. Clark and Trengove appeared briefly on the sidelines to watch training. Grimes, macdonald, davey, spencer and jamar amongst others had light sessions. Taggert, tapscott, bail, stark, Davis, Barry did an extra drill late as they aren't playing tomorrow. Sylvia looked sharp. The big Fitz moved well up forward and practiced a lot of snaps in his own version of the j curve. He'll be damn hard to stop in the Vfl I'm just not convinced about him at the top level yet.

I see your point. I thought we were looking to learn from the pressure put on Watts. That said one promo is fine, but I don't want to see Viney as the face of the club.

No Bail, Trengove, Clark, Gawn (all inj) or Davis, Barry, Tapscott, Tynan, Taggert. Or Clisby (inj) or Stark from the rookie list Seems interesting that Tapscott, Tynan and Taggert all aren't in the side. I think Tappy has been carrying a niggling injury but haven't heard anything about the other 2. Maybe the plan was to save a couple for the game next week. I see the 2 games this week and the game against Port as warm ups and trials prior to the last two NAB cup games which are much more about actually readying the best 25 for round 1. So this week I'd play the kids only for 1 match each as well as the veteran/important players. FB: Strauss Frawley Macdonald HB: Dunn McDonald Watts C: Viney Jones Nicholson HF: Blease Dawes Howe FF: Davey Pedersen Fitzpatrick Foll: Jamar McKenzie Sylvia Int: Spencer, Kent, Magner, Evans, Matt Jones, Terlich At half time I'd make the following changes: Garland (Macdonald), Gillies (Frawley), Toumpas (Viney), Byrnes (Howe), Hogan (Dawes), Rodan (Jones), Grimes (McKenzie), Jetta (Kent), Sellar (Jamar), Couch (Sylvia) FB: Jetta Gillies Garland HB: Dunn McDonald Watts C: Toumpas Grimes M. Jones HF:Blease Pedersen Byrnes FF: Davey Hogan Fitzpatrick Foll: Spencer Magner Rodan Int: Strauss, Sellar, Couch, Evans, Nicholson, Terlich

I was going to continue with the puns but I thought I'd bail out of it.

Because the first ticket listed is for NAB cup Rich/Melb/NM AFL Members so it will ask you for your AFL members details. The second ticket listed is NAB cup etc GENERAL ADMIT. Click on that one and you'll be right to go. Although you might still need a ticketmaster login for whatever reason.

http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/NAB-Cup-tickets/artist/1104163 They are $21 Plus the $6 handling fee which is a rort considering you print your own ticket and they never handle it. PS - If you are struggling to find something just whack it in google, found it in 2 seconds.

How many has he had? Obviously 1 big one last year and now 2 in a row early this year, but if it's 3 in total you might feel ok but if its more like 6 or 10 I know I'd be very concerned. Unfortunately there are no scans now to predict the future. The period of rest is obviously needed and very wise but it's hard to tell where to go after this. I hope he gets back, keeps playing if thats the decision he makes and never has another one.

He's a lawyer and has experience at what until probably the last year or two was regarded as the most professional sporting league in Australia. Based on that CV he's probably not a bad candidate. He's left the AFL in time for all the allegations into PED, matchfixing and tanking to blow up. Quite possibly he was pushing for a more in depth review whilst the more pragmatic Demetriou and McGlaughlin were going in a different direction.

You don't want one individual losing match fitness then being part of the starting 21. However if your designated sub isn't planned on breaking into the team it's not such a bad option. Admitting Davey's knee +\- work rate has permanently derailed his ability to play full games you could use him only as a sub. Then drop him back to the Vfl once a month to play a full game and keep the skills sharp. We need to see how Davey goes in the nab cup. A few decent performances and he'll change straight away to best 22 vital player. I hope you can flash!

I agree 110%. Winning is a habit and we have to get off to a good start for the year. Another 0-4 start morphs into a 0-10 start so quickly these days. It looks like we wont have Clark and Trengove but we should still have some goal kicking power and a reasonable defense. What I want to see in the NAB cup is a competitive effort across the ground particularly with midfielders winning the ball and some decent ball movement. If we can't display that then I don't see us beating Port and that would start the year on a very bad note.

Your brilliant article led me to check out the latest from sports news first just for a laugh. They didn't fail to disappoint. On Cale Morton "Early indications are that the potentially high-flying, loping midfielder and handy forward has tweaked a knee cartilage. The one-time highly regarded number four pick from the 207 national draft crossed to West Coast through last year’s trade period after Morton managed just 33 games in the past three seasons at the Demons. Morton will contest for a berth in West Coast’s highly efficient small and crumbing forward battery or even for a spot on a wing. Morton is also up against the likes of other handy opportunist forwards Josh Hill, who bagged 36 goals from 22 outings last season, Ashton Hams, Brad Dick who is also recovering from significant injury woes as well as Wellingham and Cripps who offer West Coast similar versatile forward and midfield credentials to the former Demon." No wonder Morton didn't succeed at Melbourne! We never uncovered his potential for high-flying, trialed him as a crumbing or opportunistic forward and he must be really old if he was drafted in the 207 draft.

The thing about intraclubs is if it is a free flowing skillful affair then you have to be concerned about the players defensive pressure. If it is scrappy then you worry about the skill level. What we should see is patches of both and an improved intensity. The training I've watched this year hasn't impressed me in terms of skill level but has impressed me with a better intensity. Especially the likes of Dawes, Dunn, Viney, Rodan, Byrnes and a few others are training at a high intensity which should improve the team. One thing we can't tell until the season proper is who has actually improved individually and whether all the improved individuals can combine to form a better team.

Petterd had punctured lung, OP, Achilles, shoulder and probably more injuries. I hope he does well as he needed some luck. I don't blame the club for letting him go though. Although sometimes I wouldn't mind the club rookie listing guys like Petterd instead of just delisting him. Not for now but if we ever do become a flag thread I could see Petterd being like a Mitch Morton and bobbing up randomly in a grand final. Thread hijack over I await the Byrnes show version 2.0

The club has said training back on the field in the next few weeks. From that timeline I'd say it would be another 3 weeks until training with the main group. That takes us to round 1. From there I'd think he'd need at least 2 matches in the vfl. One to play a half then another to play more of a match. So all things to plan we are at 8 weeks which means back around round 3. The thing to watch for are progress. If we see him out their training properly that means he's graduated a step. After that look for him making the main group and so on.

The bulldogs gave me both hope and fear last night. A bit of me thought well at least if we get Clark and Dawes out there together we will have tall targets and our kicking can't be worse than the doggies. Then I realised nothing can shock me with how bad Melbourne can be and they at least have Boyd, Griffen and Cooney for some spark in the midfield. Still I'm looking forward to watching us next week to see if we can be at all sharp with our ball winning and movement whilst also pressuring the opponents. That's what you want to see from NAB cup.

I do like the sound of Kent. I mean who doesn't love Kent.

This is the problem with the inequality in the draw. We dont play on Friday night this year, therefore we don't get exposure to draw new supporters and consolidate current ones. The end result is we get less crowds and therefore a worse stadium deal. No amount of compensation can adequately compensate for that disadvantage. The AFL must realise they exist for all the clubs and serve the clubs and not be an organization focused on profits and maximum dollars. If we don't get on top of this issue soon then a salary cap and draft won't be enough to keep the competition fair and we will end up with an EPL style completion but it will be a farce.

Got there at half time. Family day for the players it seemed. Miss McKenzie taking some photo, all families getting handout folders. Chris Dawes' old man to boost match day pie sales. On field I watched a drill or two before they went into a full ground match practice with whites v blues. The blues featuring most of the starting players. Except Dunn, Watts and Strauss in white. The drill primarily seemed to be about ball movement. One team would bomb it to the their forward line and then let the other work it out under pressure. Bit messy especially at the start but picked up a bit. Byrnes and Dawes working nicely up forward. Dunn controlling the white back line. Toumpas made a couple of errors early. Most of the class players got involved. Howe seemed to roll his ankle and from my vantage point it looked like he did it trying not to take a hanger! He had Tynan in front of him and instead of flying over him try to reposition to out body him. Seems to roll his left ankle. Might of been better just taking the hang! Got up and walked to the sheds after being assessed. Promising to see Clark and Trenners running but not with the main group. Big Gawn was also on track and then after training did some kick to kick and leading with a staff member. Moved and kicked well. I'd think he'd be within reach of getting back to the main group and playing VFL practice matches if not nab. It's very hard to judge how far the other 2 are away but at least they are running.

I don't want to seem like a CC apologist but I believe Molan was a Daniher decision and was the all in for a flag list management decision and the poor development that followed was really a club wide problem in the late Daniher into the Bailey years. He had his fair share of reasonable selections - Frawley, Garland, Davey, Jones, Grimes. I feel others like Rivers, Miller, Sylvia, McLean and Bartram could have made it in the right sides. I might be way off the mark but to me he was an average recruiter who then brought guys into a less than average team in terms of development. I think it's a big call to link him to any ACC dealings. I wish him good luck and seeing as though Richmond seemed to find some kind of steady period under his recent direction I'm always happy for them to resume shooting themselves in the foot!

I only saw the second half. Lots of guys not out on the track then - the indigenous guys, Hogan, Viney, Toumpas, Tapscott, Bail, old Macdonald, McKenzie, Sellar, Taggert, Jamar, Gawn, Spencer and probably more. I presume most of them were off getting supplements. Only training with the goal posts, likely the point posts have been vandalised by soccer fans, they seem to enjoy things like that. Some pretty shocking kicking by almost everyone in a kick the ball out of the backline drill late. Stark (I actually dont mind the look of him and when he kicks it fluently its fine, when he sprays it its unbearable), Kent, Nicholson, Tynan, Couch all making errors. Likely some impact of long session on a warm day. Matt Jones also with some really poor misses, I'm not convinced about him. Towards the end Fitzy and Pedo had some ruck work practice. Pedo much stronger, Fitzy with extra reach. Also after the main group finished Frawley, Pedersen, Watts and Troy Davis (another who can't kick) practiced their body work in a one on one jack in the pack style drill. Got a coach to kick it up and too turns trying to mark and spoil. Frawley and Pedersen were clearly superior but when Watts trust his positioning he isn't easily overpowed. Fitzpatrick practiced kicking snaps for goal, which I guess is fair enough but I'd be worried more about him making the easy ones first. Gillies trained well. And I'm now on the Lynden Dunn bandwagon. It's hard to tell if he'll transfer it into games but at least at training he is running hard and kicking very well. In a drill designed to replicate ball movement from the backhalf he was the standout along with Watts and Strauss. Those 3 are pushing hard to secure the spots around Frawley, McDonald, Garland. Main points of session: I'm happy we will know the game plan and no doubt we look fitted and a much more balanced list but the footskills aren't going to be elite overnight. Agree about Byrnes looking handy, seems to enjoy himself out there. My only concern about Dawes would be if we have stripped him a little light to be a monster forward. That said I think he'll play up the ground and will benefit from moving well. He seemed to be everywhere there today. That said he stood out without the starting rucks or Clark or Hogan.

Dear Australia, outback Australian indigenous communities are seriously ****ed. See Liam Jurrah for another of the long list of sad stories. I don't have a clue how to fix this mess and the AFL have tried to play a small part but it doesn't seem to have worked. If anyone has any genius ideas I wish them well.

In what games? Every team has a defensive forward and therefore they need to play on someone and at times went to Watts, but I can't recall one game when Watts was causing grief to any opposition coach. He certainly wasn't with his 30 touch performance against Sydney when we lost by 100. Watts needs to step it up just to cement his spot in the side. That's the truth.

+1 to that. How can we judge how bad his knee has been? I don't think he's given it his all as last year he was losing to big Leigh Williams in the endurance running but that isn't to say his knee hasn't been very serious. We saw Bartram retire due to a degenerative knee and a host of others slow down with knee troubles. I hope he's turned the corner and got his knee up to a level that lets him compete and if the side is bettered structured this year he'll actually be able to play at the feet of big blokes (Dawes, Pedersen, Clark) and make an impact.

HF: Byrnes Dawes Howe FF: Davey Clark Pedersen Int: Tapscott Wing: Blease Midfielders capable of resting forward: Sylvia, Rodan To me as above is ideal but all of it depends on Blease, Tapscott, Byrnes and Howe proving capable of playing periods on the wing at which time Sylvia and Rodan can rest forward. The benefit of the scheme is it allows the guys who do the bulk of the midfield work (Jones, Grimes, McKenzie) and the young guys (Viney and Toumpas) more time on the bench. Rohan Bail gets left out due to his lack of class and finishing but if any of the above aren't up to scratch I think we'd find him back in the team. The other interesting ones I've left out of the forward/midfield mix are Matt Jones, Taggert, Jetta and Barry for varying reasons. I'm not convinced about Jetta in the backline but the club seem to want to persist with it. Train him with the forwards and I think you'll find him right up their in this mix of players. It's funny how we've gone full circle on the mid sized marking targets, not too long ago we had them everywhere (Robbo, Green, Dunn, Bate, Petterd, Jurrah) and now we've only got Howe left in that spot. Tapscott and Sylvia are both strong in the air as well. It's important to have enough forwards who can keep defenders honest both in the air and on the ground and not just be defensive.

1. Should find a list of Casey players on their website. Id say at best 5 Casey guys play but throw in injuries and the number is back to 11. Neeld said last year players will play at the level needed so don't be surprised to see guys In the Casey reserves if battling!2. The coach (welsh) is in charge of the players come game day however the players primary employer is MFC so overall they take priority. In the past the vfl coaches have had official roles within MFC but if that's not the case then they still have an unofficial role. These days the line coach and line development coach go and see casey games when possible and that lets them provide a constant message. The alignments in general and very fluid bit like inc!!!