bing181

Even with a new midfield coach. Not sure these mids are ever going to get it, not in their DNA.

Same old same old. Still too many players who just aren't reliable when the ball comes near them. Hunt, Harmes, Tomlinson etc. Jetta off the pace. Clayton Oliver - surprised to see he'd had 18 possessions. Needs to do more damage. And on today's performance, I'd be playing Daw (if fit?) over Jackson, who just looks a bit lost.

Rusty. Still a few out there who are poor disposers/decision-makers ... Tomlinson and Hunt notably.

I’ll hardly get any sleep either - but for different reasons. Match starts at 3:45 a.m. for me.

Yes, oddest thing about this thread. He's not playing any differently at Carlton to what he did at Melbourne. A different position, maybe but even there, no different to when he played forward for Melbourne at the back end of 2019 (when our other KPF's were injured) - and where he probably would have played out the season until being injured himself.

Any player who can play a half of AFL footy and manage a dozen or so disposals, a few tackles, a few marks and a couple of goals is by definition AFL standard.

Is all you needed to say.

Yes, but that age figure is a bit deceptive. It's list age, not team age, and I'd be surprised if many of our elderly citizens play much (or at all) this year. Our 4 over-30's are Jones, Mitch Brown, Daw and Jetta - a far cry from having the likes of Dangerfield or Riewoldt. I think a more relevant stat would be the age of your top 10 players, as that's where it counts - and where we're still comparatively young.

And that's putting it kindly.

We have two members of the Board who played at the highest level, one who also worked as an assistant coach. We have two ex AFL coaches, one of whom won a premiership and both of whom also have extensive experience as assistants. We have one of the highest-ranked assistant coaches, not to mention other members of the FD who played AFL or who have been working in the AFL for years. Yet at the centre of all this, our head coach is a "fraud"? Do you even think about what you write?

If you lose x% of your best 22, by definition you're going to underperform, and that's true even if you win. Whether that underperforming team will be enough, time will tell.

I have his enthusiasm - but I'm also a realist. With the key injuries and other interruptions over the pre-season, I'll be pleasantly surprised if we win one of the first three.

It's Demonland, we don't need no ******' evidence.

All a bit weird this. The Casey site has info on the Casey v Bulldogs practise match from Monday, but not this one.

Anyone know if Petty played? (No team sheet anywhere for example?)

Surely it hasn’t been publicized because they don’t want anyone there?

Jesus.

I'd take Spargo over Chandler any day, though I like what Chandler showed against Richmond.

A thread where lots of people use words to say that words don't matter.

They're not an excuse, they're a reason. Events have consequences.

Getting them on the field is only half of it.

I'll get this out here now: think we're going to really struggle in at least the first part of this year. We've got our two main talls out of the forward line, so not only will they miss a lot of training, the crucial point is that the rest of the team will have missed a LOT of training with them. Systems? Mid-Forward connection? Forget it. Add to that, similar comments for the absence of Kozzie, Brayshaw and Viney, where the lack of training time together will have consequences on the whole team, regardless of how the individuals can get back into shape. Finally, throw a few others into a similar basket: Melksham and Hibberd, but also players like Salem. Sure, we can eventually get these players back on the field. But we can never make up for the lost training TOGETHER.

Bad coaching?

Agree with most of the above. Biggest issue for me is still disposal and decision making - or lack of. Really missed Salem, and to a lesser extent, Hibberd: no drive off half back. Feel like we have to play Bowey. He'll get beaten more often than not, but he needs to be fast-tracked.

Not just missing our entire key position forward line, plus first choice mids (Viney, Oliver, Brayshaw), but the clean disposal that is Salem. Just too many out there who can't hit a target, and worse, too few who can.