binman

That's a really good point. He gets enough chances to mark it doesn't he. And so often nearly does. I cringe when I hear commentators say something like 'weed contests, but can't quite drag it in' In some ways it makes it worse for him. Why not try a glove - good idea. Maybe we can send him a demonland one.

Agree on his marking. What's that about? I remember watching him clunk marks at will in a practice match against the pies in his first year. Happened to be standing next to his dad and had a good chat - summary, the kid can play. Someone made a good point about his marking that his strength is on rhe lead, but struggles in the one on one wrestle. In hindsight all his marks that day were leading out from full forward, Dunstall style. Maybe rucking more will help. On JVR, that's the the first time I have watched him play. Definitely has something about him. Unlike weed, he doesn't seem to mind the one on one battle.

All good points Sydee. That said, brown was terrific - clunked some good marks and took his chances. He is such a smart footballer. Weed must have had mixed emotions watching brown go to work. To be fair to weed Brown played deep as a true full forward, which is really weed's natural position. Weed played higher up the ground and spent plenty of time in the ruck. The Casey set up is largely a mirror of the senior's set up in terms of players playing specific roles. Which is super smart in terms of players ready to slot into the system, in the event of injury, and play a designated role in that system. For example, daw is gawn and rosman is langdon. Using that idea, Brown played the bb role, JVR the tmac role (contesting, bringing the ball to ground, blocking and screening for Brown etc) - and weed the Jackson role ie high forward, relief ruck, up and down the ground. I think it is a good role for weed, in part because I reckon he is a pretty good ruck, but it also means when he is in the ruck he is in the game. The downside is, like has often been the case for Jackson, the role doesn't lend itself to getting high possession numbers or bags of goals. So, a tough gig for weed. Hopefully he embraces it and it helps him address some of weaknesses, for example inconsistent intensity levels.

Let's start with this thread

To be honest, I'm just going with the suggestion of inside mail on Howes. I watched the game against Sandy and thought he played pretty well, but not banging the door down well. I was a bit surprised to see Laurie play as a mid, in so far as I thought he was a Salem style hb as a junior and trained in thst role last year. Does anyone know which group he has been training with this year?

Yeah fair point. I'd like to see Hunt get another shot at it, particularly on the wide open spaces of the g. He seems to be playing a more one on one role in the two games thus far. Not really his strength, but was OK against the dogs I thought. Had one of those nights against the gc where nothing seemed to work.

That's a funny coincidence. I was just about to post the same comment about you

I doubt Lever will play. Or Hibberd. Based on the comments about Howes on this thread, my guess is one change - howes in, Hunt out. Bedford to be medi sub again.

Goody picks players who do the role they are assigned to do. If they remain in the team you can safely assume they are doing thst role to his satisfaction

Which has been fine. Which is why he keeps being picked. And will be this week.

Me too x a million. And I'd pay for it too. It would be dead easy to do as I assume all sound come in in channels. All they would need to do is not put the commentator channel through one external feed.

You are probably right, but I thought it was at the end of 2020 hw was asked to look at order options?

I can't speak for others, but I can't watch the footy without sound. I've tried muting, and it simply doesn't work for me. It feels as if I'm watching it in an air lock. It's not just the crowd noise, it's all the other ambient noise, not least the ball being kicked. I've also tried turning the volume down and listening to a radio feed. That is better than no sound, but only just. It always falls out of sync and the sound is variable. But good to know muting works for you.

On the topic of the margin, and not scoring much in the last quarter or so, a mate made these really good points: Just after the beginning of the third qtr, we had 10.1, then we reverted to type and finished with 12.10. And at least 3 of those 5 points in the last were easy shots We actually had more scoring shots in the 2nd half (12-10). It's funny, good conversion often is interpreted as playing well, bad conversion - playing badly. And yet a lot of the times the only difference is just that - conversion. Which can be quite random at AFL level - you might miss by a half a metre or hit the post - the next time you might squeak one in.

Not sure that's true. At the risk of being accused of blowing my own trumpet, I have been a big fan for a long time. I thought he was one of our most important players in 2020, in large because of the running he did and how important that sort of running is to our game plan. Was really surprised we suggested he explore his options. That said, he has gone up a couple of levels and really improved, particularly his decision making and kicking. He is now one of most reliable kicks and forwards must love leading to him. Such improvement at his stage in his career is rare.

Sold the candy, sold the whole shop!

I reckon part of it is our predicable game style is a bit boring for non dees supporters. And the predictability males it hard to come up with anything new and/or interesting to opine. I mean how often can you say the dees set up so well ahead/behind the ball or we are hard to ay against.

Agree. And to boot he keeps crappimg on when the ball is in play. They missed calling Jackson's goal as it happened coz dermot was blathering away about something. That said, healy wasn't far behind in the waffle AND incomprehensible stakes - which is weird because he was never that bad i thought. That was the worst commentary I have ever heard in a footy game - and for me, that is seriously saying something. I found myself getting angry at all 3 clallers, particularly healy and breteton. It really affected my enjoyment of the game. Not only did they not actually call the game, they were frequently dead wrong with their comments and analysis. It was embarrassing

Fair enough, well have to agree to disagree. One thing though, playing tempo, slow, controlled football is as you say less taxing than attacking.and trying to score. For one thing, when going into tempo/control they frequently hold onto the ball and stop after a mark or free, sometimes up to 30 seconds. Everyone gets chance to get their heart rate down Slowing down rhe heard rate is tge key reason players taking a shot at goal take their full time before taking their shot. And we did go into tempo, control mode. On the players being gassed, perhaps you're right and they like goody says they weren't tired. But jeez when you look at the post match interviews the players all looked completely spent And tracc and may both mentioned the heat right at the top.

This is a load of rubbish. Particularly the last para. On his role, work it out. You part answered yourself in the post I've quoted. One man's getting in BB and Fritter's way is another's (you know, like goody) blocking and selflessness.

Keith Greig played predominantly on rhe wing didn't he?

I think the tactic was about our preparation for our next game in terms of it being in 6 days time The humidity looked full on. And such high humidity is super taxing, particularly given our game plan relies so much on all players doing heaps of running. We were unusually aggressive with our ball movement in the first quarter- and paid the price. I wonder if the reason was to try to and get a jump on them early. Get an early lead and go into control mode, ie what they ended up doing in the last I reckon that tactic, something they did all last season, was aimed at mitigating against the impact of the humidity and a six day break. They did it all last home and away last season, to some degree, and I'm convinced it was way of managing fatigue. It's why we win so many games in the 3-5 goal range. The other part of that comment that was interesting was it in response to a question that framed the margin as a function of being tired. Goodies answered we weren't fatigued, which is bollocks. They looked totally gassed. But I suspect he said we weren't with an eye to essendon players hearing thst response, or more accurately not wanting to give them any ammunition by saying yes, they were spent. So I'd say his comment about us not needing to score was not so much honest, as disingenuous

.Exactly. I dont get the knocks of tmac. He played his role fine (ie the one you accurately describe) this week. And in round one, he went back and played great. I think people need to get their head around the need to look past the raw numbers and stats when assessing a player's form. The focus should be on how they are performing their role. The same conversation happens on here about kossie. It is no coincidence that when asked sbout syers his distractions mention was praising kossie's pressure. No mention of the goals.

Agree with all of the above

Not coincidentally, Schache was dropped this week