Dee-licious

I think he was also the one who delivered the inside 50 for Watts to Tyson

Watch the replay. I thought Garlett had a bad game but his pressure acts in the last quarter really helped the win. Pedo for Hogan that will be the only change unless someone needs a rest.

If he doesnt play another senior game this year (and plays every Casey one) he qualifies.

re-watching. How good is Stretch!

This is so hard. I am really struggling but see how I go. 6 - Gawn - Every week he puts a greater gap between him and the rest of the competition. His intercept marking was outstanding. 5 - Viney - Keeping it in! Tackling! Clearances. Just an outstanding game from a real leader. He and Wines are ready to be the best 2 inside players in the comp next year. 4 - Tyson - Really had a huge impact on the game. The goals were good but his contested marking on the wing was outstanding. 3 - Jones - 11 tackles. Just had a ripper of a game and usually a game like that would have him 3 votes. 2 - Watts - 3 goals and composure. Great tank and hitting Pedo was great. 1 - Oliver - sorry Stretch but Oliver had a terrible Q1 (1 touch), got knocked down and then woke up. 23 and 11 tackles and he kicked. HM - Stretch, Weiderman, McDonald x 2,

Wahoooooooooo

Good work starting this up!

Got to think even 3.2 would have gotten Pedo a gig next week. It's tough because there is some really good depth (B grade) at the dees now. It's just we don't have those class A graders (yet) so guys like Pedo, Grimes, might be making way as a stepping stone (eg and extra pick to add to a deal) or a smokie. #WeedvWeid round 22

I cannot believe that I am reading this on demonland. I hope Watts has a read! No one has outlined who is in it at the moment. I'd say it would probably be the same as Dunn, H, Dawes and Garland were removed this year weren't they? Can't imagine anyone is in there that hasn't been playing well this year.

It is a really good read and quite interesting. I found myself disagreeing with you and then reading your opening post saying it is on this year and going, well actually you are pretty right there. I think Kennedy has been given the raw end of the stick here as really he has had a good season - it is just the expectations on him are far beyond those of Harmes, Hunt etc. Well done and a great read!

What has made me a little more relaxed about some of the bad kicking is how pin point it is to the opposition's chest. Like a bullet. That's telling me he still can kick and kick at the highest level, but the pressure is getting to him, which is understandable being such a long season.

A big part about it in the past was injuries (which we havent had a heap of this year) and dropping players back to the 2's and giving exposure to others so we lost eligibility. The eligibility is a little confusing, but seems that you need to play at least 6 Casey games (if we dont make AFL finals.....). Also I cant find the number of AFL players we are allowed, but I think it is 16? I looked back on some past years and our players who were eligible was quite low compared to this year. So that leaves us with 14 who have played 6 Casey games and I dont think any are under any injury clouds that we know of. White Dunn Garland Smith Terlich Newton ANB Grimes Hulett Weiderman King Spencer Trengove Michie And then possibly (with 5 games to go) Played 5 - Pedersen, O-Mac, Brayshaw Played 4 - Oliver, Played 3 - Jones, Dawes, Petracca Played 2 - JKH, Bugg, Kennedy, Stretch, Garlett Played 1 - Salem, AVB I think Pedersen and JKH will get their 6 with Oliver being a possibility. I'd expect that Brayshaw, Petracca, and Garlett will play the rest of the season with the Dees, that Bugg, Kennedy, and Stretch wont play enough in the 2's to make up 6. Dawes and Jones are anybody's guess. Salem and AVB would need to play the next 5 consecutive games at Casey which I cant see happening, because if they are not rested they'd be elevated by the Carlton game. Hopefully we'll have a strong 16 out there each week. Who knows, the Casey Grand Final square might line up Brayshaw, Oliver and Trengove.

Throwing a cat amongst the pigeons (or demons), but we are in the need for a forward / ruck and that Mitch Clark fellow seems to be on the outer at Geelong. Wont cost a lot to bring in.... He is really what we are missing down forward.

Just left a really interesting meeting with a mate who is well connected in the Bomber sanctum. I thought that Hurley is a pipe dream and he'll stay but apparently not. There is thought that Hibberd and Hurley who are mates and not training with the others are a package deal. The Dons believe that they are either both staying or both going to the Dees. Right now, they dont know which way they are leaning but are confident that it is a two-club race. The Dons do not want to let them go for free and will be looking for a trade worthy of two All Australians (Hibberd apparently was close in 2013 or 14?). So they are keeping an eye on the McDonald and Hogan contract situation and see if we get anything that they want. Wholeheartedly will screw their boys over if they try and walk. BomberBlitz are reporting on our thread here. Nothing interesting to report bar the fact they all believe that Hibberd is worth a first rounder but he's not good enough to be offered a 3rd year on his contract.

The development of Hunt makes me really excited to see what we are going to get out of Hulett (bare with me....). Hunt's body at 16 really didnt work for him and that stopped a player who at 15 matched it with teammates Josh Kelly and Christian Salem. He has had 5 years of injury plagued seasons where he has shown glimpses of that underage form. What we are seeing now is that 187cm, hard-hitting mid who can break away from packs with blistering speed. Now while he doesnt have the disposal of a Danger or a Parker, what he does have over them is pace, and a similar work ethic to Parker, Danger etc. He gets from contest to contest and seems to have a tank which is rare for someone of that speed. He wants to be at the contest and while I'd like him to have more possessions, the smothers, the tackles, the pressure acts are good enough for me at the moment. Does he have it in him to be a Kelly or a Salem - talent wise I dont know, his passing needs work but as we all know, he has a cannon of a boot. What is not under question is his drive to become as good as Kelly and Salem, or for that matter Danger and Parker. I dont think he will become a bonefied centre clearance mid (due to our glutton of great CC mids), but contests around the ground, I love having him there. Heath Shaw is what I'd love him to become (player, not person). But what we are seeing now is faith in a young man who had all the tools early on and the desire to be great, but his body let him down So how does this link to Hulett, Same story as Hunt but he is a key forward. I've spoken to a heap of under age coaches about Hulett and they have all been unanimous in, if he gets his body right, you have a top talent. Someone who at 15-16 looked like he was going to be a start before injuries got the better of him. What we are seeing at Casey with Hulett at the moment is what we saw with Hunt. A desire to contest, work hard, and ensure that he makes it in the AFL.

1%ers update: Against Collingwood the 1% count: 10 T. McDonald 7. S. Frost 6. O. McDonald 2. some others and others at 1 and 0. I know that it is no surprise that the defenders are leading the 1%ers but great to see those three up there once again. And O Mac with a couple of contested marks as well. O. Mac also played the most minutes out of anyone on the ground which is great to see from a 2nd year player (95% TOG).

Frost did look great. Our 3 tall backs looked like they knew what they were doing (mostly). A lot was the lack of forward pressure but you can only play who you are against Listening to SEN and Collingwood supporters talking about who is out. Pretty sure we also have 4 players who would be best 22 out.

6. Gawn - just huge. Didn't like not being in people's mid year all Australian. 5. Vince - leather poisoning. Also love that his touches are kicks. 4. Jones - worked tirelessly all day and showed a heap. 3. Bugg - just made Sidebottom look second rate. 2. Tyson - do we have a midfield or what. 1. Kent - one of his best.

And there is Ben-Ken recall.

6. Vince - one of his best games for the year. Really had an impact on shifting the game our way in the 2nd and 3rd. 5. Tyson - Big game. Big numbers. Lewis and Mitchell were beaten by these boys. 4. Jones - He really stepped up again. Just tries all day and wills us closer. 3. Watts - Big first term, got us back in the 2nd, really establishing himself. 2. Hunt - The effort and 1%ers are outstanding. Just having a great 3rd year. 1. Gawn - really struggled with the 1 vote as I thought I could throw a blanket over a heap but he does have such a big influence.

Found this quite interesting. While I dont take much notice of the AFL player ratings, look at who the 4 are who are at the bottom, who usually are at the top. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cjh2ph6UUAAOE7A.jpg:large Viney, Jones, Tyson and Vince. The dots are their season average. Says a lot about how we play when our engine is not effective (even if they are getting the ball).

6. Gawn - a lot around the ground and dominated in the ruck 5. Jetta - just wanted the win and did so much to impact the contest. 4. Watts - kicked 2, great hit ups throughout, doing a lot in the ruck and looking good around the ground. Just has made his way into our best 6 players this year. 3. Hogan - Dominant key forward and wont kick 3.4 too many times. 2. Jones - I feel bad having him so low down but I thought he accumulated rather than impacted. The other 4 seemed like they could change the game. 1. Stretch - In the first quarter I thought he was going to have another game like last week, died a little but becoming a very important player and if I was Kennedy I'd be worried. Special mention to T. McDonald, Hunt, Bugg, Vince, and Viney for also putting in today. Everyone else, where were you?

Our issue with early on in our goal kicking. If we were 7.2 (what we should have been), instead of 2.7, we would have rolled them. They would have been down and out and we would have been able to ski downhill. We had a bad day in front of the sticks and that hasnt happened this year so far. We are not good enough not to take our shots. I know that OMac was in our bottom 10 today (Kennedy, Newton, Garland, ANB, Tyson, Harmes, Garlett, Kent) but I don't see what we are loosing playing him at the moment. He leaves his opponent well and impacts the contest. He is not good one on one yet because he still needs to develop but he has a future unlike Garland. Hunt continues to do the right things and impact contests. Gawn did a lot around the ground which was the issue in the last few weeks. Hogan had a great game and wont kick that badly for the rest of the year. Watts is getting better and better. We have a long way to go and we should be winning these games (and St Kilda and Essendon). But we are at least developing.

OMac has 6 1%ers so far and Hunt has 0..... I feel I think 1%ers are different that the AFL.

We are making up for all of those goals we kicked in the first couple of rounds...