DeeSpencer

Disagree with your comments regarding Meesen. I was convinced he was a spud until the games he did play for us last year which were pretty solid and if repeated for the rest of the season would have him as a reasonable prospect to make it as an AFL ruckman. By reasonable I mean far from certain but in with a chance - similar to a Jamar 3 years ago, every bit as much a chance as PJ, Martin, Spencer or Gawn. I think his injury (stress fracture in a big ruckman) is the reason for his rookie status. I'm not yet ready to write him off, and due to the nature of our ruck stocks I'm hoping he can recover from his injury. If Jamar has a solid year and Gawn can prove anything at all I think possibly 2 of PJ/Martin/Spencer/Meesen will be let go, but I'm not willing to vote which ones.Also feel free to disagree but I don't think Garland, Blease or Watts could go straight from a Casey practice match to the round 1 side. But they will certainly add to the talent looming on anyone who dared to under perform in round 1 for us!

IIRC Saturday 4pm

These guys won't play, inadequate runs on the board without match practice regardless of how well they have recovered from injury. Garland due to length of injury, of course he's a slim chance if by a miracle he gets a run in our practice match at casey next week. - Colin Garland – Foot – 1 week - Neville Jetta – Groin – 1-2 weeks - Jack Watts – Back – 2-3 weeks - Sam Blease – Ankle – 2-3 weeks FB:MacDonald Frawley Cheney HB:Bruce Rivers Strauss C: Davey Moloney Green HF:Sylvia Bate Trengove FF:Jurrah Miller Petterd Foll: Jamar Grimes McDonald Int: Martin Jones Scully Bennell Emer from: Spencer, Maric, Wonaeamirri, Warnock, Dunn, McKenzie. With presumed fitness: Backline: MacDonald, Bruce, Frawley, Rivers are locked in the backline at this stage. With no Franklin I've left out Warnock in favour of Bennell, Cheney and Strauss. Speed and youth need every opportunity. If they flood their forward line with a ruckman, Stef Martin can follow him. I'll back him as a defender against Taylor, Renouf or Skipper (sidenote - Jamar must be a real strength in this game). I've got no doubt our match committee will go with Warnock, but I like the gamble of leaving him out. His preseason form has been average so far. Bennell has been average as well, and I'm not a huge fan of Cheney - I'm hoping someone interesting like Tom McNamara or Rohan Bail can step up in the last 2 practice games. Midfield: Davey, Moloney, Green, Grimes, McDonald, Jones appear certain. Scully and Trengove get the opportunity over Dunn or another forward. Sylvia also rotates through. Forward: I've only named the 4 set forwards - Bate, Miller, Jurrah, Petterd. Miller is needed, the other 3 are good. I wanted to get another forward in but need convincing Maric or Wona deserve a spot come round 1. Also midfield rotations are important and Green, Sylvia and Davey can play forward when not in the middle.

2-4 with wins against the Crows and the Tigers. North will beat us at Etihad, they always do. We should be a good chance in the other games, especially Brisbane. A massive upset against the pies or hawks would do us a world of good.

He's done a good job of damage control in an average team and has been rewarded by the B+F voting. Brisbane and StKilda are the only team with 2 BIG forwards, most others have one bigger guy and one more athletic guy. Such as Hawthorn with Roughy and Buddy. I'd like to see Frawley take on the role as number 1 big defender. When you do that we surely can't have all of Warnock, Rivers and Garland in the same side. I like Rivers as a natural CHB and think he's defending ability is often understated (and his zoning ability often overstated but that is another topic). Then I'd prefer Garland as the 3rd tall.

Joel MacDonald's recruitment doesn't have much bearing on tall forwards at all. I suppose we could have got Daniel Bradshaw but he had no interest in playing for us and he will only be around for 2-3 years so would in a way only delay the inevitable. We took who we rated as the best key forward in Fitzy at pick 50. The fact is good key forwards are hard to come by. But Geelong have reached the ultimate success without a great one and the bulldogs have nearly made consecutive grand finals without any at all.

Okay, you've tempted me in to doing this. Let me first say that a best 22 is almost impossible, it changes after every performance especially in a side so unsettled as ours. Instead I'm going to select what I see as the team I would pick each week, if I had all 40+ Melbourne players fit and firing. B: MacDonald Frawley Garland HB: Morton Rivers Bruce C: Grimes Moloney Green HF: Sylvia Bate Jurrah FF: Watts Miller Petterd Foll: Jamar Jones Davey Int: Martin McDonald Trengove Scully First point - regardless if its Brendan Van Schaik or Trent Zomer every team needs a second ruckman. It's take your pick between Meesen, PJ, Spencer or Martin. PJ + Meese have the form on the board but I've gone with Martin for his athleticism. Backline - I don't think Warnock will ever amount for more than a good ordinary player. I'd prefer Frawley, Rivers and Garland. Joel Macdonald has impressed so far, Bruce is steady off a flank and Morton has the edge over Strauss, Bennell and co. That list is near endless such as Cheney, McNamara, Bartram but I'm not keen on any of them. Midfield - Moloney, Jones, Davey the cornerstone. Grimes, Scully, Trengove the future, the latter two must play if showing anywhere near enough. The skipper still very important off the pine and I'd love Green forward (Green goes forward, Morton midfield, Strauss backline was an option) but he's still dangerous from a wing. McKenzie and Dunn might be the closest 2 to getting a spot here. But I heard Bell tagged well during the last practice game and I've heard Rohan Bail showed some nice signs on a wing. Forward line - 2 default selections here. Brad Miller - we need his presenting and size atm. Jack Watts - he needs top level experience. Sylvia plays his half forward roaming role, with modern zoning defensive it was the role he was born to play. Bate, Jurrah and Miller form a combination. Neither of the 3 can command a forward 50, but if used properly can be dangerous marking options. Petterd gets the last spot, he played good footy last year and can mark and kick goals, get up the ground and apply solid defensive pressure. I couldn't fit in a crumbing option, but Wona is straight in if he can get back to his best, it's been too long without him! Maric close on his best as well.

Jamar, Moloney, Jones, Davey, Green, Sylvia + Bate. Sorry I went 7 like others have. Jamar is an obvious one. He is far and away our best ruckman and vital this year. The other 6 are primarily responsible for clearances and forward structure. If we get those two things right we be a much better side. I'm making the presumption that with the experience now obtained by Frawley, Warnock, Rivers, Bruce, MacDonald and hopefully Garland back and young players (Strauss, Bennell etc coming through) the backline can take care of itself. If guys like Jurrah, Grimes, Scully + Trengove etc have huge years they will become our most important 6, but they won't win lots of games unless the 7 above perform.

Thought he was a bit soft in the first quarter - don't know if anyone else agrees with me? After that he was pretty solid though. Wins some of his own footy and doesn't get destroyed by ordinary forwards, carries the ball well, kicks nicely. But I think we will have days when the majority of thought will be why did we recruit this in between size soft flanker.

If our recruiters took blokes every bloke that wasn't even playing a decent grade of footy and was recommended by an aunty I think we would be in more trouble than we currently are. I don't blame them for missing him in 2008.

It sounds harsh - but anything we get from Bell both this year and into the future is a bonus. He's a good hard worker and courageous so young players should learn from that.

Bryce Gibbs played a lot of footy off a half back flank/back pocket in his first year at Carlton. People routinely criticised Pagan for it but Gibbs is going along pretty nicely at the moment. If Scully's best role in the team is as a tagger, then I'm happy for him to play there in the short term. But I'm not sure it will be.

I'll watch it in my living room thanks. I'm just a tad disappointed that we get a raw deal again.

With no Franklin playing - could we afford to sit Matty Warnock out? I know he is a very handy defender and each year surprises me that he keeps improving but maybe Frawley and Rivers could be enough up against Roughead and possibly Dowler. A lot depends on Garland - if he can play a preseason game and prove his form and fitness he must play. I'm happy with Jamie Bennell, James Frawley and Jared Rivers being locked in at the moment, then would add 4 of Bruce, Macdonald, Warnock, Garland and depending on if he's not in the midfield Grimes or possibly the best performer out of Strauss/Cheney and all the other currently spare parts backmen McNamara (personal fave), Bell, Bartram, Bail. Any chance we have of beating the hawks will need an inspired midfield performance - Jamar, Moloney, Jones and Davey and co will have the get on top of Spud Ruckmen and star midfield - Hodge, Mitchell, Burgoyne, Lewis, Sewell, Batemen, Ellis and co.

So it seems our game will start at 8:30pm Melbourne time on Sunday, which I think is just down right rediculous. I understand that Victorian sides often have to travel west in the NAB cup/challenge to compensate WA teams who have a heavy travel burden during the regular season, I also understand that it's best to start games late - ie. 5:30 Perth time to avoid the heat. I don't want our players ending up dehydrated for the sake of the NAB cup. But come on AFL, we're a club trying to attract supporters (especially young supporters) so I don't see why we get hidden away at a time that restricts young viewers and old viewers as well with the game likely to finish after 11pm. Hardly ideal to see Trengove and Scully in action for the first time. How many parents are going to allow their kids to stay up late when they have school the next day. Plus it is a foxtel game so I don't see a family outing to the local pub as being a popular option. Would a 1 hour earlier start really make a major difference to player welfare? I hope that the management of the club have voiced their concerns over this fixture as it puts us at a disadvantage to the other 15 AFL clubs (the game works out nicely for Freo who last time I checked have a predominantly WA supporter base). I would expect certain advantages in other fixtures and/or financial compensation for this matter. The only benefit is that at least if we're getting pumped Richmond style it won't attract so much attention!

It's been up for ages, so I presume the club know all about it. It's a lame video. But I actually rate this one as pretty good -

As a forward - has some potential but will only ever be a back up plan As a defender - maybe not quite up to it. Pace is great on long leads but can be caught out not reading the play. Still a great back up to others As a ruckmen - I'm excited. He has a good leap and I think he'll really learn how and where to palm the ball. I'd like to see some more aggression from him. He certainly isn't soft, but he's a big guy who doesn't lumber along, he can really cover the ground, so I want to see him use that in whatever position he plays.

The Scotch scholarships for football largely go to indigenous kids - Junior Rioli, Nathan Djerkurra are 2 of them - and do raise some publicity which I doubt Scotch cares much for as well as improving the team. But the main reason for them is to give something back to this country and try to help the indigenous people. I believe rightly or wrong Scotch believes that their education will produce better role models and leaders out of young indigenous men than if they stayed at home. In particular, Scotch has a strong link with the Tiwi islands (home of Rioli). I think giving a bunch of well to do kids a closer experience with indigenous Australians is also a positive. Other scholarships go to boys who wouldn't be able to afford the fees. No doubt a lot of the other APS schools hand them out along a similar line (Melbourne Grammar have adopted a similar tactic of scholarships to indigenous players - Stephen May who will end up at the gold coast is one of them). Haileybury received widespread criticism as their scholarships were more of a recruiting drive and did steal talented young footballers from other schools - often very good and expensive schools. I'm not sure whether they still have this practice in place, I would hope not.

Firstly, I did VCE in 2006 so I know exactly what it means, and I hope its a while until I'm an idiot parent! Scully might well have been able to work really hard and to the best of his ability in getting 59, but I have my concerns. It is just my opinion that everyone should be given a fair crack at VCE without having to train like a part time elite athlete. Because to get drafted unless you are Buddy Franklin like talent you have to commit a great deal to your TAC team, and I believe it would hinder their VCE performaces. It doesn't affect Scully so much, he has a great shot at setting himself up for life with a footy career. But what about the guys who poured a massive amount of effort into their footy and didn't get drafted. They now have less chance of doing what they want to do. That said kids out there, a lot of my friends who didn't get what they wanted in 2006 are exactly where they want to be now. And yes Hayliebury give out sporting scholarships. They bought a good chunk of their first XVIII over the last few years, and I believe its a ploy that hasn't been as successful as they hoped it would.

59 isn't reasonably well. 59 for a Hayliebury student is probably in their bottom 10% of students. Scully getting 59 is an argument for raising the drafting age so guys don't have as much work to do for footy in such an important year.

Healey appears to be a big bodied clearance midfielder. According to reports he was playing some good footy for Casey reserves before a long injury ruined the second half of the season. He seems to be at the end of the list of strong clearance midfielders behind probably Moloney, Jones, Mackenzie and Scully, Trengove, Gysberts. I'm not sure what else he brings to his game. But at the top level I think you only need 1-2 clearance mids in your 22 with others capable of winning their own ball. As he is on the rookie list he will have to really impress to get a game, but a lot can happen in a season. If Healey becomes a best 22 player in the future then I will see it as a bonus. Hughes is a very interesting type. He looks good at VFL level and if he could contribute what he does there at AFL level he would be a very good player. His problem is to me at least is that he has never really knocked the door down to get senior selection. I'm not sure what he is up to in his preseason, but he I think he's had a lot of injuries in the past. A massive preseason could see him become an AFL level player. Again he is another that seems worth persisting with and would be a bonus if he made it at AFL level.

Being picked up by Freo is awesome! Just look at Croad, McPhee, Brodie Holland, James Clement, Peter Bell, Jess Sinclair the list goes. All you have to do is stay a couple of years and get traded to a victorian club and you will have a great career.

The fact was that at the end of 2008, our key forward options for the future were Miller and Newton, with the likely addition of Jack Watts. We also knew Bate could play decent footy on a flank. We had no idea Liam Jurrah was going to announce himself as a highly promising 2nd/3rd tall forward. We had to stick with Newton, and for whatever reason decided a 2 year deal would be a good idea. The club was wrong in giving Newton a 2 year deal, but now it seems to only have cost us a rookie pick in a weak draft. We now have a player who has the following attributes. Defensive pressure - has improved to average for a key forward Strength - poor but should be improving Field kicking - average Goal kicking - poor Marking - sometimes reasonable, often poor Speed and Athleticism - okay Hunger, desperation, appropriately used physicality - non-existent Reading of the play - not too bad X-factor - might be hiding in their somewhere.

Backline - 2 decent games on Barry Hall in career. Forward - probably about 15 decent games including a good final against Freo. He will help with the development of Watts and co to come in and take pressure off them when required. Let's not try to abuse him personally. Miller at least gives his all for the club, if all of our more talented players did that we wouldn't be coming off consecutive wooden spoons.

I think Davey cut a lot of that out of his game last year. He still did it occassionally but so do Ablett, Boomer Harvey, Judd etc. Davey is now in the top bracket of players tagged in every single game, it's not because he's a superstar but because there is no-one else worth tagging. Hopefully very soon that changes.