DeeSpencer

I thing Langford has to go pick 1 (of the non Ashcroft draft) just too much good footy from a big explosive mid. Will be interesting to see if the Roos do go tall, trade down or just keep adding to this crazy midfield. They don’t have a monster big body like Smillie - but LDU, Wardlaw and Sheezel will be fine more often than not. O’Sullivan would give them extra half forward/midified run and class too. Eagles and Crows would both be suited by Draper and Jagga. Geez the Saints winning would do us a nice favour tomorrow.

His stats don’t look much but is Riak the kind of elite athlete and competitor who could be groomed as a back pocket specialist? We could really do with one.

Saints will up their offer forcing the Hawks to up their offer and the compo will push in to band 1 because the afl will feel bad for St Kilda

You’re assuming the Saints beat Carlton. They won’t, because they are St Kilda

I’d like to know who the designated finishers in the top 4 sides. Because I don’t think any of them are carrying a one way cat like the Fritsches hat!

We played 3 tall forwards, Melksham and the Fritsches Hat, how exactly were we meant to get forward pressure? The sub was Laurie, that wasn’t going to work. The next best option was Kynan Brown who probably would’ve helped team balance but is miles from AFL level. The only other players at Casey with any pace were McAdam - who ain’t playing til he does a preseason and AMW who’s been trained as back. The cupboard is totally bare for now. Petty had a reasonable season after the bye. They’ll now get a much needed preseason into him and set him to play either CHB or CHF with a new forwards coach. From the moment our season was done (GWS loss) the only thing required from Petty was to get through the year. He’s done that. Wipe the slate clean and he’ll go again next year.

I like the ‘ca’t’ which both perfectly describes Ralph’s journalism and Richo’s English. We need to add quality mature or maturing players. There’s no doubt about that. But we’ve completely botched our window as a destination club and made a huge mess of the list. We shouldn’t be afraid of using the draft for high end quality and finding the right mature guys without selling the farm. The focus has to be on adding quality pieces of the puzzle at the right price. I have zero faith in this list management/scouting team to do that.

He didn’t raise the elbow. He gently raised his forearm as you do when you’re using your hip to body someone for the ball. There is no elbow striking motion. He can’t disconnect his arm from his body.

He’s burnout and left Collingwood to take a cushy job at the afl before possibly getting involved with Tassie. I significantly doubt we change Pert, Richo or of course Goody. We have a vacancy at forward coach and I hope we add or change elsewhere in the coaching panel too. And the recruiting department.

The crucial frame is the one where Kossie attempts to contest for the footy is right before Moore throws his legs out and slides. You have to allow players to use their body to contest the ball. Otherwise the game is gone. It’s not a bump, it’s a contest. Our lawyer needs to find 100s of contests when players used their body to win the ball and then freeze frame on Kossie doing the same before Moore slides. That’s the case. Sliding is banned, it’s a free kick if you make contact with another player. There’s no reason to protect a player going to ground over the guy keeping his feet purely because the guy used his body to attempt to win the ball.

If we are really honest - zero. Windsor is a beauty but he’s a winger without an overhead marking game, not a natural inside contested ball winner and his kicking/decision making is iffy. He’s going to be good, but A grade good? Judd’s a beauty too but he’s stagnated as a half back as he learns positioning, he doesn’t bust his backside to rack disposals up and his value is winning the ball back in space. He slips and slides around contact, rather than playing through it like mids do. Our most talented young player (sub 22) is probably Jeffo. Whether we can build him in to an AFL player yet alone fully maximise his talent is obviously unknown. We’ll know more in March.

It was wet, the pies forward line brained us for pace even without Lever and we couldn’t move the ball through the midfield most of the night yet alone find tall forwards on the lead. The obsession with Jefferson is unhealthy.

You don’t reckon they haven’t been telling him for years to work harder and lay a tackle? A new forwards coach is a tiny reason for hope but largely if he hasn’t done it by now why would he at Melbourne? He’s playing like a guy who wants to be traded, so we might as well do what he wants.

I don’t really agree. The Hawthorn team that are on fire right now have a few really nice kicks at half back and D’Ambrosio on the wing. The Pies have Nick Daicos and Pendles. Then they both have some forwards who can finish. You don’t need a deep line up of really great kicks. Where we’ve gone badly wrong is the deterioration of players who can two way run, tackle, chase, win contests in space and link up with hands. When you do that the kicking becomes so much easier. We saw that in 2021. Its certainly a bit of a miracle that we won a flag without a single midfielder who’s a consistently above average kick, and we have to value skills but in terms of short term fixes we need the players and the game plan that covers a full ground.

So how deep do we cut?? Tomlinson surely goes. The case for Hore is difficult - he’s clearly not an afl level athlete even if he’s a very respectable footballer. Do we just pay out Billings? Every week he plays he shows he has no real interest in being an AFL player. Do we just pay out Laurie’s 2 year deal? Sestan? It was a fun idea. But the VFL stats are ordinary and the athleticism just isn’t there.

He can get fitter and stronger, he can get more composed with the ball, the team can move the ball faster to find him in space. But will it matter if he’s still short and insanely slow? It’s just a physical package that doesn’t make sense. If he adds bulk to play as a mid and win more contested ball he’ll just get slower? If he trims right up to cover the ground he’ll be still be slow with the bonus of also being light.

I’d have moved him on last year before the rest of the league caught on but he still has a very rare skillset as a goal kicker. A team like Freo that are right in their window, have agile talls and lacking scoring might go for him.

Spot on. Welcome aboard. It’s time to sell him off whilst he still has some value

Bill had a really good preseason. Fitter, stronger and was bobbing up really smartly as a midfielder in match sim. Unfortunately he just too slow to do anything defensively at afl level. And what’s the point of attacking skills/smarts if your team mates never play quickly and get the ball to you in space? It was a mistake to extend him purely on training efforts rather than wait to see if he could do it at afl level.

McVee copped a lesson but it was the exact lesson he needed. In patches of the 2nd and 3rd we actually hit them the other way. Asking Nibbler to hard tag Daicos would’ve been just cruel and we don’t have anyone else on the list who could do it.

He has a nice package of skills but his work rate and discipline to defend was a mile off afl footy. He’s never got close to doing a full preseason, which can be seen as a positive but also means he really has to do it now or it might be never.

He's 716th most goals in the history of the game. It's a nonsense argument that he can't be a good forwards coach. It's highly unlikely whoever we get to replace him would've kicked more goals and there's not going to be anyone who has played as a tall forward, a medium forward, a small goal kicker and a high half forward flanker. Playing experience is largely irrelevant.

McVee stiff for McKercher who I last saw running around in the 2’s. Otherwise, meh.

No but it’s Rachele so he’ll find a way to make it all about himself.

Our message to Waterman should be simple, ask the Eagles to bump his current 1 year contract up by a boatload and we’ll have a monster free agency deal on the table to get you for 2026. Trading for him this year doesn’t suit us. Not sure it suits the eagles either. They’d be better off having him available as a free agent and getting compo.