Dee-licious

Harmes is being moved to half back (why I don’t know) and I assume Jones will play less time as an inside mid. I just assumed that Sparrow will play a few games this year and ‘replace’ Jones in 2021 when we win the flag.

On Jordan - not to derail - but he is 2 months older than Noah Anderson and 1 month older than Tom Green (pick 2 and 3ish from this year). You have to think another year in the under 18s and he would have been taken a little higher than 33.

For me it is watching him live / online videos. Generally he is running full speed and trying to kick it 40m to a pack or 1 on 1 - it is up and under and generally in the right area but not on the chest. I don’t recall any footage of him stopping and kicking a stab pass or hitting a guy on the lead. Then again - those sorts of plays don’t really cut it as highlights when you can burst away from 5 blokes and send it 40m. Happy to have him in the red and blue.

I was really impressed each time I saw him play. Uses the football really well and has speed, both things that we dont have a lot of at the Dees. My only issue is that he would have one great quarter and then go missing for 3. I'm holding out hope that another year in the 2's with 1-2 games at senior level will set him up for a good 2021. I don't think we need him next year, but will be a good replacement for Hibbard down the line.

Id assume Browne hasn’t put 2 and 2 together. I’m sure both us and stkilda are keen - like we are both keen to ‘split our picks’ to have 2 mid-first round picks. A pick 15 wouldn’t be too high for Weightman if he tests well at the combine.

Agree both of them highly valuable for what we need. If we can get an early 20s back then Williams would complement them both nicely. Also on the Tomlinson rumour - he met with Goody mid season and my understanding is his management is talking to the Dees at the moment (well last week) about what the contract would look like if he decides to move.

Article on the AFL website with some insight here. Apparently ANB, J Wagner, Smith, KK, Baker all signed for next year.

Will be worth nothing than a fourth round so why the hell not.

I can see the issue that you are seeing here. We really haven’t blooded that many youngsters and those that have have only played a handful of games. Weid and Spargo would have been nice to get one - and if Weid had his Geelong game during the season he would have been nominated. Fritch was a month too old. That has left us with Petty, Sparrow, Chandler, Baker, Dunkley who have played for us this year who didn’t get nominations. I’d argue that none of them have really deserved one and usually you need some sustained form to get a nomination after Rd 11 and they have been in and out of the side. We have plenty of players on our list who have had nominations in the past so not worried there. I’d want out number 2 pick to get the nomination in the first 5 rounds next year though!

DEAKYN SMITH (Dandenong Stingrays) 179cm, 65kg/seven NAB League games in 2019 “Deakyn is a Caulfield Grammar boy so we haven’t seen a heap of him at NAB League level this year, but his form in school footy has been really good. He can play inside or outside the contest and his body is developing well. He got a taste of Vic Country under-16s last year.” Highlighted as one to watch for the futures game.

@Engorged Onion couldnt work out how to send it to you via PM so have attached it here. Dees Stuff.xlsx

On the number 2 pick - if it happens so be it. Yes we would prefer Anderson and yes it’s not fair but Melbourne have pick 2 (last years prelim) Adelaide pick 3 (playing finals) Sydney pick 4 (Mills and Heeney for late first round picks). Everyone else has won 8+ games. This is probably the perfect moment to give 1 and 2 without too much handwringing from the other bottom clubs. On the draft - we really cannot go wrong with any of the top crop. Anderson fast, strong and great kick forward and mid. Ash - fast and great kick outside but shown he can play inside, Young - fast and great kick outside who can play inside. Serong - small, fast(ish) great kick can play small forward or inside mid. Can we have 2 picks??? This is exactly what we need.

I have been thinking about our injury list and also about the importance of continuity - playing games together. One of the things that makes successful teams successful is playing together, knowing what your teammates are going to do, knowing their running patterns etc. So I wanted to look at what our "playing 22" was since Goodwin took over. This is the team which have played the most games 2017-19 for the Dees. For reference the starting 18 have played more than 42 games (Fritch 42), the bench more than 36 and the emergencies more than 24. The total number of games they could have played is 66 - well done Clarry for playing all and Trac for only missing 1. Of note here is that this year, 13 of these 'best' 18 players have played more than 15 games. While Jetta and Melksham have missed due to injury, O Mac and Lewis have missed due to form. Of the 26, Vince, Tyson and Hogan have left, Hannan, Garlett, Spargo, Weideman have all missed through a mixture of injury and form and J Wagner has played 12 games. I was surprised at through the years that J Wagner seemed to be the 23-26 player called on to play. We talk about the lack of depth the Dees have, and it is interesting because we don't really have a reliable 23-26 players. Really the 2 names that came up on the interchange / emergency list year by year without a valid reason (e.g. Hogan due to leaving/injury) was Josh Wagner and Billy Stretch. If you isolate this year alone, it is Corey Wagner and Oskar Baker who are the 23-26 players (Garlett and Jetta were the other 2). It was interesting looking back year on year 2014-2019 that the 'core' didn't really change. This is the team that has played the most games from 2014-19. B Jetta O McDonald Watts HB Salem Frost Vince C Tyson Viney Brayshaw R Gawn Oliver Jones HF Petracca Hogan Harmes F Garlett McDonald Neal-Bullen Int Hunt Hibberd Pedersen Lewis Em. Melksham Kent Stretch Howe You see similar names across the lines with only 4 names changing. When you just isolate Goodwin coaching, you have Hannan (19th most games), Weideman (26), J Wagner (27) and Spargo (28) who have now become 'regulars' with Watts, Pedersen, Kent, and Howe playing more games for the Dees than this quartet if you go back to 2014. What does this all tell me? It tells me that another 12 months down the track we have a core of about 16 players that will have played more than 80 games together and that is nothing to sneer at. Week in week out we have been one of the competitions least experienced sides. As we grow over the next 12 months, these games together should help with some of the connection issues. Names not in that group include May and Lever who we know are already having a great influence on the team, as well as guys like Weideman, Hore, Petty, KK, Spargo who have all shown signs. The other thing that we need though is a reduction in injuries to our players. Isolating 'most played' 18 over the past 3 years and games missed, there are too many in the double digits which has hurt us (Viney, Brayshaw, Melksham, Jetta, Hibberd, Gawn) both on the field, and also with the game plan. Everytime that someone goes down, a member of this team is often played out of position to try and cover them. So, is this year down to not getting the cattle on the park or the cattle not being fit? This is the most played 26 this year as well as games played. This then made me think, while we have lost a lot of games to injury, how many have we lost to the main players playing? Is it more than last year? Well we had 83 games of injuries lost to our 'most playing 22' last year and 84 to our 'most playing 22' this year. What I did notice, was that the experience of the 22 running out on the park each week was below that of 2018. Last year the players in our most often played 22 included: 2018: Vince, Spargo, Tyson, Garlett, Hogan, Hannan, Jetta compared to our most often this year 2019: Petty, Viney, Lockhart, Hunt, Wagner, Hore, Weideman. Commentators talk about the importance of the bottom 6 of your side, and this year, our bottom 6 has been very young, very inexperienced, and often not very good. What I am hoping for in 2020 is that players like May, Lever, Jetta are among the most games played in our side (who knows, maybe even KK and Weid), and guys like Melksham and McDonald are playing more games. I actually think our best 22 is very good. We saw it in 2018 and we've seen glimpses of it in 2019. Now is the time to make sure everyone is right for 2020, bring in 1-2 players who can be automatic best 22 (Anderson, Langdon), get our backline out on the park (May, Lever, Jetta), get our guns firing again (looking at you Brayshaw) and hopefully Weid takes another step forward. Because if you are replacing our 'most played 22' with May, Lever, Jetta, Anderson, Langdon for guys like (no offence intended) Lockhart, J Wagner, Petty, O Mac, Lewis - things start to look a little more rosie. If you want the excel - PM me.

First - KK has shown he is a great player, not just a good player. Let him recover. Second - Melksham and Hore to come in after today.

It is sad. Like the bloke - just feels like he’s been told.

I think it is us trying to create a makeshift forward line. Really we have 1 key forward at the club - the rest are defenders come forwards. Bedford played a lot of mid as a junior. Garlett who is a forward is injured. I’m starting to agree with all the posters who say we need o draft forwards.

Negatives - just everything. Positives - Dunkley looking good? Hore will be back next week. Pruess has responded well. JKH still gets the ball. Beford can lay a good tackle.

Oh it’s so bad. They might beat the 84 points off turnovers from last night.

JKH been in everything. Bedford looking good with pressure. We miss Maynard. Haven’t seen Melksham but is named.

A good hard fought end, but we couldn't get the chocolates. Yes the umpires were killing us, but the lack of polish by our VFL listed players really killed us. They are so good at tackling and being hard at it, but when they find themselves on the outside, there is a lot of turnovers. O Baker – had a really good 2nd and 3rd quarter. His speed was really important today and the pace of Marvel and the Dogs meant that he stood out a little bit more. The most obvious one for a call up if needed. C Wagner – Another really good game. You can see why he is often the emergency or coming back into the AFL side, he owns VFL players and is too quick and big for them. His delivery inside 50 was fine, his finishing much better. I don't know where he fits in the AFL side though. Could he play on the wing and make an impact? Can he play Melksham's role? J Jordan – started like a house on fire and then was moved out of the guts in preference to Maynard, JKH and Wagner. You can see that he is getting to a lot of contests and often is being pushed aside by more experienced opponents. It I starting to come together and he will be a really nice player. His kicked is fantastic and he is a big tackler as well. You can see him and Baker on either wing and actually having an impact on a game in the AFL. McDonald – Good and bad. He looks so much better playing deep in the VFL as the final defender. His experience was really important down there. A couple of issues when him and Hutchins going up together and not working well enough as a team. He was swung forward with about 10 minutes to go in the match. We went to him a couple of times but not great entries. I don't really see forward craft here though. JKH had a lot of touches but was not influential the way Wagner, Baker and Jordan were. His game has so much to like about it, but it doesn't seem to translate to the AFL level because he doesn't get to play the in and under role. Maynard – started really slowly and made his way back into the game in the second half. He is a long way off the guy we had over the last 2 years who was a clearance beast. I really thought that we could see him come on this year but the injuries have seemed to cruel him. Keilty – Drunk’n said that he has no confidence and it shows. He marked beautifully and got into great positions, but 0.3 and all kickable says all you need to know. I really want to keep him around in the rookie list for another year as you can see he is developing nicely, but there are kicking issues that need to be worked out. Bedford and Chandler – they are the same player and you just want to see another 12 months to see where they get too. Great tackling game from both. They played that Spargo high half forward role for quite a lot of the game. Would have been nice to see them deep in the forward line more often to see their goal game. Bedford great crumbing goal. Bradke – 2 goals, there is a lot to like in here but he is too slight to really have an impact on the game and not good enough when it hits the ground to make up for it. As a positive, he marks well and kicks well. So there is a lot to work with there.

Size, speed and class of the dogs is hurting us. There are too many AFL listed players in good form and with serious AFL experience against a Casey side which has 6 players who have played AFL (Oscar, Oskar, Maynard, Corey, JKH, Keilty). It does not scream experienced. Oskar has been really good. He has looked like an AFL player in a VFL side. His run has been important and would be useful in the AFL side today. Looks like he could come in next week really easily. Best on for us by a mile now. The one twos he does are something that we dont have a lot of in our team other than maybe Salem. Jordan has been quiet on the disposal count in the last 2 quarters but he has had 9 tackles and his pressure acts around the ball will be quite high (not available on the app). I'd expect him to have a debut against the Swans or North in the final 2 rounds to see how he goes. Considering he is the youngest on our list - really good prospect. A little like Baker last year, you could see that it was there even though there were quiet games. Wagner - Does what he does. He is a very good footballer, and worth keeping around for another year and see what he can do for us. He is quick, can kick, and is smart. Bradke - Did nothing until a good mark in the final few minutes of the quarter. Such and nice mark and kick (goal) but he is a giraffe. Hopefully will develop over the next 3 years. JKH - I am feeling like he isn't having the impact that he should be. I assume tagged as he has had a lot of attention off the ball. Maynard - tagging job on Wallis and done a good job (9 touches) but Wallis has got forward and kicked 2 goals. McDonald - depending on how you see McDonald is how you see his game. You can focus on how he has lost a couple of contests badly, you can talk about how he is coaching out there, you can talk about him (or Hutchins) getting in each other's way, or you can talk about his clean disposal. Feels weeks away. Chandler and Bedford are the same person. They tackle and are never in positions to kick goals as they play too far up the ground.

And another goal assist for Baker with Mitch White.

Our two goals have been huge efforts by Oskar Baker. That one from the backline, bursts through and sends it to the advantage of Wager for the goal

Oscar much better when he is the last line of defence. I dont know why we ever let him out of defensive 50. Jordan tackling his way to a debut.

Jordan playing in the guts and starting to play well. Needs to lower the eyes a little more (or possibly people need to give him better options? Hard to know on TV). Has a good kick on the boy. Playing on Mitch Wallis apparently. Baker does look too good for this level, but needs to be in the game a little more. His defensive efforts have been good in the first quarter. Got into the game as the quarter went on but his stats were padded with 3 touches in the back half in the last little bit of the quarter. JKH doing what he does - in and under getting the ball. When he makes a mistake, he goes and fixes it. Bedford once he puts on some more muscle will be a nice small forward. C Wagner is not as dominant as he has been in the last few weeks. Oscar is in frame but hasn't really done anything? He has lost one contest for the quarter (resulted in a behind), has disposed of the ball nicely. But he isn't playing last line of defence and that might also be an issue we need to fix up for Q2. Our VFL defenders are really in trouble. If they get some space, our defenders are left miles behind. When we are going forward they tend to put it on the head of White. I'm not sure who has been getting the inside 50s - I'd say 50/50 for VFL/AFL listed. But lets face it, there arent a lot in the VFL who you'd want delivering to you as a key forward. You can see why Jordan, JKH, Wagners and Oscar have been our emergencies lately as there isn't a lot there.