Yokozuna

They have panicked??? Are you serious??? complete opposite to panicking in my opinion. Sound and sensible thoughts to work out match ups I think. would you prefer the coaches sit there and stick with the same team just to make sure nobody is upset and to keep the fans happy cos they feel bad for bailey? if the team needs another tall, which we do, someone is going to be unlucky. it could have been any of Spargo, fritsch or tyson in my opinion, and unfortunately bailey is the one to miss out. the team setup v the weakest is better with smith, who in my opinion, was playing a super game before he got injured. I am not worried about what he did in the 2s last week, means nothing really. The interesting part will be to see how he copes with the speed and pressure this week.

Haven’t oksted for a while, and I would like to think my mail this year has been pretty spot on, as my source is very reliable. Hunt is a big, big chance to come in this week, for Tyson most likely. Want his pace and run for the big ground. not a certainty, but very possible a this stage of the week.

If he was one of our worst, according to others and not me, then we will keep on winning. EVERYBODY made mistakes last night, and I think he made 2 (and only two that people have noted). I thought he was great last night, not even close to our bottom 3. and whoever was in our bottom 3 still played their roles last night, I don’t think we had any passengers, while Geelong had several. if we had kicked straight and showed more composure, we would have won by over 10 goals.

Great game by weid, so happy to see it, especially loved his aggression. But to say we can’t fit all of him, hogan and tmac is short sighted in my opinion, just because the tigers are going well with mainly smaller forwards, doesn’t mean everyone else has too!! the game changes and develops, and new trends come and go. You just play your style and tactics and if we start the new trend of playing 3 mobile talls, and win a flag, then I guarantee everyone else will Start to ask why shouldn’t we play 3 talls.

I know he does a few lazy things, but you know what, he aint alone. I watched several players today, and in many other games, do the same. There was a goal in the second quarter where GWS got a free kick in the middle and ran forward, and you can see all our mids lagging behind, letting shiel and others run forward unmarked to hit a leading forward. You can see Oliver slowly running behind letting him go. I doubt we are all lambasting Clayton for that. I know the others may be more consistent, but I feel so many people look to see what players are doing wrong, and forgive others for doing the same thing. Petracca played a very good game yesterday, in the part of the game when it needed to be won, not the final quarter when the game was done. He WILL be a gun. He DOES need to do some extra work on and off the track, but lets look at what he does well, and if he is currently our 10th - 15th player picked, that is bloody great for us! On a seperate note, for those saying how great De Goey is, what were they saying at the start of this year about him??? It doesnt take a lot for it to click, and it WILL click for Petracca.

I believe viney will play in the VFL final when we have our bye, been given special permission by the AFL (so my source tells me, and no, I won’t name my source ?) gets through the game and he plays in our first final.

Cheers. Good mail, but just bad spelling and checking of my own writing!!

Put your money on it, Bradshaw is in! hannan emergency and the rest all stay at Casey.

Reading some of your comments on here I might as well not go and watch the game this weekend, as we have already lost!!!! so many negative comments. people asking about brayshaw, his biggest issue is his speed, so I would suggest he is up against vince/ lewis/ Tyson/ jones and Wagner for a spot. I rate him, but he will have to wait until they deem someone worthy of being dropped. frost will follow brown into the ruck. our forward line will be fine if we deliver it properly and lower the eyes. Gawn will spend more time forward too. for all the negative comments, if we play our brand of footy, of being hard and pressurising north, and then using the ball well going forward, we will smash them, I don't care who we brought in or left out. Finally, for all those saying comments about Goodwin's selections and doubting him, it is a selection panel, not just him!! They make a GROUP decision, anyone involved in coaching a senior AFL side if any standard knows it is done as a group.

Ha ha. At this moment he is still pretty calm, give it time though!!! i did write the post after I got him to sleep in the pram though. Not talented enough to write I think and watch him.

Also, both McDonald and Viney WERE running. Hibberd also didn't do the whole session. Both he and hogan were being looked after but still did some of the main stuff.

Went to training with my 2 year old son, so may have missed a few things, but hally to try and answer questions where I can. Hogan trained for the first 2/3 of the session, sometimes in the main group, sometimes doing things off to the side. Left the track earlier though. was told he WILL play though. The training itself was pretty basic, but they were working pretty hard and trying to work on some specifics. Could see they were working on their kicking skills, practicing all types ignored kicks in a drill. Also spent a fair bit of time in their groups, doing specific work on their areas. Such as backs doing 1 on 1 stuff and practicing punching/ marks etc. was really impressed with Oscar in those drills. Surprisingly. Jetta was the best small defender in the 1 on 1's. the final drill was more game based with 10 on 10 or so. Practicing pressing up as defenders and trying to cause turnovers, while the forwards were working on quick ball movement, short/ hard passes through the middle and getting out the back or a quick goal. They had to work really hard in this drill as there wasn't much rest. Overall was a simple session, but I was impressed with a few. Notably Oscar on defence, weideman also showed me a bit. Looked much bigger and more athletic to me. Of the current players in the side, I like harmes and petracca with their speed and power and skill and fritsch trained well too. Finally, spoke to my club source. He said that they won't change much this week. Most likely ins are frost and Kent if anything, but they need to find someone to drop (i know many of us have opinions on who that should be) and some of the borderline guys did well last week. Guys such as bugg/ Wagner etc. will always be the ones on the block. Also heard that they are very excited with weideman and his progress, so when he is fitter (considering he missed some of the pre season) he will come in as a forward / ruck. Apologies for any mistakes as this was done on my phone while the son sleeps!!

Many good points on this discussion. Out of interest, how many people on here have coached a high level AFL side before? not saying people can't have an opinion unless they have coached, but it may help understand some things better. One of people's arguments about him being a poor coach is his demeanour when the camera is in him. That is a load of crap, it means nothing. Just cos Clarkson is demonstrative, does that make him a better coach??? others point out the poor play by players and some of our tactics like bombing it forward to nobody. Do you honestly think the coaches tell players to get the ball and bomb it to nobody??? The tactic of starting with extra defenders running through is great, but the players need to be smarter with who they kick it too or be more patient. overall, I like what the coaches have done in the past two years, the development is going really well, for those who think the last 2 rounds are showing players haven't developed, you really jump to conclusions too quickly! Wait until mid season and see where we are and how we are playing and then people can probably justify there positions.

I know this is a generic reply, as I am being lazy and can't be bothered re reading and finding the people who have written the comments such as "we need to demand more" and "we should expect more" etc. I really find these comments amusing!! How do we demand more???? What affect does that really have?? do you think the people involved at the club, such as the players and coaching group, don't want more and aren't working hard to improve and be better??? Of course they demand better from each other. i am sure after a poor game that the coaches go back and say, good effort, we are really happy with that close win, let's keep going like that and we will be fine!!! just as I am sure all the better performed teams play better because their fans demand and want more and don't accept mediocrity. these sort of statements mean nothing unless you actually have a way of doing something about it.

I honestly don't know if I should take some people seriously, or whether people actually watch football properly, or actually have a solid grasp of football, other than being passionate supporters of a club. firstly, people need to calm down. It is round 2, and yes we haven't played great, but we haven't been shocking. And we WON. secondly, before the season started everyone was talking up our depth and individuals, and now some are saying we have little to no depth and these individuals are suddenly no good after 2 games. thirdly, you need to give the team and players a few games in the real season to get a gauge on how it is all going. Obviously we need some work and to play 4 quarters, but wholesale changes will not happen. Fourth, there are no shocking teams in the AFL, so nothing is a given. Look at the results so far this season, so take the win and move on and see the improvement. in terms of changes, I would like to bring in frost and Bradshaw. in no way would I drop Salem. Watch last weeks game again everyone, other than one poor tackling effort, he was really strong in my opinion. I also think harmes has played well, has broken the lines, tackled well and got plenty of the ball. i would drop bugg as I think we have enough of his type in the team already, and they are better than him (Garlett, ANB, melksham, fritsch). i would also drop one of Lewis or Vince as I think we have too many slow guys, if you include jones and Tyson with them. It won't happen though, as Lewis is seen as a leader and Vincent is doing a run with role. So I would say it is either an injured/ sore player or Wagner (who I think has been better than expected), but he is the last one selected in my opinion.

Put money on it: tyson and bugg for hannan and maynard. A few others on notice, particularly garlett. I personally want brayshaw and frost in the team too. I would drop one of lewis or vince as i think we have too many slower/ older types, especially if we bring in tyson and have jones too. I would also drop wagner for frost, but i do think wagners second half last week was the best he has played in a game for us.

We don't CURRENTLY have a 1st round pick next year, but do Yu think we can't get one ny trading for it next year? not sure how and who, but I am sure they would be thinking about it already!

I have no evidence he has been told to cut back, but I do know he is a lover of the ingot life and is out and about a lot. He is not alone there, but he is visible and it is not a great look, especially when he rocks up to pre season as he did last season! I would be shcocked if he hadn't been told to pull his head in on more than 1 Occassion.

So many things to say about this entire thread. let me start by saying I actually like watts and have no issue with him staying, as we could do with an elite kick on our team. 1) I can't believe jack is surprised, and if he is, that is a worry in itself. Yes, he started he season in good form once he got over his Poor pre season, but his late form was poor and he has been on the list for 9 years without being a consistent, really good player. Stop making excuses as to why he was poor for the first 5 years! 2) people all know his poorer qualities, and complain about it all the time, but once he gets put up for possible trade, many forget them and focus on the fact he is a great kick. Pretty sure we need more than just a great kick from him. The fact he rarely tackles, doesn't sprint like one of the fastest players on our list and can be seen as soft, and that hasn't changed in 9 years, is what needs to change. 3) for those saying we need to improve and bring in new players (such as lever), but we need to keep watts too, we do need to change our best 22 players, so for those saying, get rid of Kent etc. that won't be opening a spot in the actual team. i know people will say guys like vince will be gone soon and other bit part players like ANB and harmes etc. can be taken out for him, but I hope you know what I mean by getting rid of some in our best 22 in order to improve. 4) I also can't believe people who think this will ruin Goodwin. Clubs do this all the time, not always in the spotlight, but it does happen. This will not ruin Goodwin, and he is not the only one who feels this way. This is a football department decision and he is just the figurehead talking about it, and if you don't agree with me there, you are delusional. I also know for a fact the players and the club love jack for what he is, but popularity doesn't win games! if we keep the same squad we had this season, we aren't going to win the flag, so some change needs to be made!

I can tell you now, he isn't putting enough mayo on it. i heard the same story the other day from a very reliable source. the Adelaide bloke asked us for our offer and we said our piece, he then came back with "give us two first round picks", we said "no" and he just got up and left. Came back 10 minutes later and they spoke again, he asked for 2 first rounders again, we said NO and he got up and left again!!!! no BS, exactly what happened.

You know what i meant, i hope so anyway. He may be 190 but has plays as a small/mid forward, not a tall marking forward. Either way, my point was that he is soft, no matter his height, and he doesnt know how to tackle or put on pressure.

no Menzel please. We do need another clever, small forward, but i would prefer someone who actually knows that football is a 2 way game and that you can actually make physical contact in the game of AFL!

well, i have mail (from 2 sources in and around the club mind you) and they are very confident Lever will be in the red and blue next season. and for those worrying about his pay and being the highest paid at the club, you need to spend some money to improve, and 800k in a couple of years wont be seen as a huge salary anyway. and who else is demanding all our money anyway??? according to some on here, we have depth issues and not enough players, so we can afford to pay him more to get him here while we are paying the younger/ less talented players less at the moment. If you dont want Lever for 800k a season in our side, i guess you are happy with us being in the middle of the ladder every year?

I like tyson, and when he shows patience and uses the ball well, he is one of our best. BUT, i am just telling you what i know from inside the club, and if he doesnt play up to his best standard, he could be one to miss, as unlucky or unlikely as that may be. He is not quick, and to have him, vince, lewis and jones (all who are not quick) all in the same team does make us a little slow, so he needs to do what he is good at, but if he doesnt, he could be the unlucky one.

First post in a while: Put your house on this happening (from a reliable source!!!) Watts and Salem IN Wagner and Stretch OUT And for those thinking about who gets dropped for VINEY in the coming weeks, Tyson better not play and run like he did last week, as he looked as though he was running on a treadmill a fair bit on the weekend.