binman

No its not. Forrest demon is spot on. There is no mystery. Goody has said several times of late he is picking his best 22. It is why weed was dropped. Hw earnt his call up. But didnt take his chance and is dropped. Watts form (and that incorporates intensity) since coming back has not been that of best 22. The reasons for this are moot. One thing is 100% certain. Goody wants a best 22 watts in his team. As i have said how watts plays on saturday will tell us a great deal about jack. I for one am confident he will give his all and earn a recall against the pies. And lets all remember his match winning gut running and kick for goal in their ladt encounter.

Sung to the tune of " i'm still standing" by Elton John: '" i'm still dreaming, better than i ever did...."

That's a stronger base than for many of the arguments on DL (particularly the dark web)

General manager of football operations Josh Mahoney said Viney’s foot injury was different to his previous setback; “He pulled up sore in his foot, but his previous plantar fascia injury is fine,” he told melbournefc.com.au. “He’s got a different injury to his foot, which he pulled up sore from on the weekend. “He’ll have this weekend off and we expect him to be available next week.”

Great post. Interesting comments about Goody balancing the now and future development. Weed's selection is a perfect example of the latter. But the rubber is close to hitting the road. But perhaps it hasn't quite hit yet. I said in the changes thread that i think they are 50 50 on dropping Weed for frost this week. If they keep Weed it will be for development purposes and if so it is a bit of a gamble because it is must win game. The gamble is that if Weed competes well we should still win even if he plays to the level he did last game. But the rubber definitely hits the road against the Pies and it is for this reason that i agree that Watts and Salem will both come in for that game. Assuming of course Watts does not bother on Saturday. That said they would be pretty annoyed with Salem for getting reported. Both are best 22 and we want to to win a finals not just make it. I think Hogan will also come back in for the pies game.

And Plapp said this: Declan Keilty: Declan had 22 disposals, 11 marks, including eight contested, two inside 50s and one tackle. It was a big step forward for Declan on the weekend. His aerial work and his ability to be able to read the ball in flight was outstanding. He took 10 marks from opposition kicks, which must be some sort of record at VFL level. It was one of the best games I’ve seen him play, which was fantastic. He’s been building and although there are still some things in his game we’d like to see improve, it was a massive step forward for him and his most consistent four quarter performance we’ve seen him play, which is really exciting for him.

Agree on both bolded points. As i say he competed in the air and with Jessie out that was important. Also agree he does that better than Watts. Which is a bit of indictment on Watts but crashing packs has never been his go. I was happy for them to bring Weed and happy for Watts to be dropped. My comments were in response to Demons1858 saying Weeds form was better than Watts.

I'm Garry Baker

Good point. Which probably makes it more likely frost will come in at the exspense of weed as surely he is more likely to play finals as hogan (and perhaps also watts) will come back in

Bollocks. I watched the replay last night and weed was really poor. 4 kicks and at least 2 were turnovers and once was a missed set shot from 30 metres - his only score or indeed score involvement. Cant recall outcome of his 2 handballs. Yes he competed in rhe air but only took 2 marks and neither were contested. Yes he tackled ok but only laid 4. He played the entire game and only scored 35 fantasy points. That's a stinker. Watts wasn't much better against gws but he was better. And was better again against the roos - though still poor. Watts issue isn't laziness. Never has been. It is intensity. Dont gwt me wrong. Im happy for him to have been selected ahead of watts.andfinw if he pla6s this week. But this week i would drop weed and. replace him with frost. And hope watts realises how close he is to missing playing finals for the first time and plays with incredible intensity this week at casey. We will learn a lot about jack watts this weekend

Yes, good point about yoir perspective. I chose the wrong post to highlight my point. It was a pramatic choice because i wanted to agree with your selection ideas. Out of interest do you rhink they will drop weed and pick frost?

This is nor directed at you c. Just an obsevation. I have said this before in changes threads but there is often some confusion if posters are saying will happen or, in their view, what should happen. Im with you on selection. To be clear i think that is what rbey should do (frost in, weed out, tmac up forward).it makes a lot of sense. I think frost was dropped partly for form but also match ups. Unlike watts and salem intensity was nor the issue. However I think it is only a 50 - 50 chance of happening as they will be keen to give weeds another shot

All four will make the squad. I will be shocked if Jetta does not make final team. The premier small defender in the league and won't be over looked this year. Hibberd will make the squad but I'm not he will make the final team. It seems it takes more than season at the elite level to make the final cut and for this reason i dont think Oliver will make the 22 either. Agree DL that garlett's last few weeks will cost him a spot in the 22

Agree with most of this. Many young players coming into the afl these days seem to lead with their head, rather than instinctively turning at the point of impact and hitting with the shoulder - as i was taught as a kid (and as gus seemingly is being taught now). I'm not sure however it is as a result of helmets. They might be a factor but i wonder if it is more to do with the emphasis on players 'putting their head over the ball' and the praise these 'brave' acts get. I know there has been research done about concussion rates in afl/vfl but i cant recall the results. Whilst there have always been concussions in footy i wonder if back in the day they were more to do with legal off the ball heavy hits that are now banned (think pickett) or people being punched to the head than the frequent head to head clashes we now get. An obvious issue with head to head clashes is it is two heads being hurt. Whilst brayshaw might have been lucky the saints player wasn't and in addition to concussion copped a burst ear drum. The other possible problem is that the issue with gridiron seems to the thousands of small head knocks players receive rather than infrequent heavy concussions (though of course they are still problematical). Whilst a footy player will never get thousands of hits to the head, is there a risk of hundreds of small hits to the head over a career if the instinct is to lead with the head rather than the body?

Absolutely. Remarkable tbey didnt given we are near seaaons and hw has rucked that way for years. Not doing so could have cost us a finals spot given maxy's comment that he gave up rucking for fear of giving away a free kick (as evidenced by the hit out stats) and the fact that at least one free resulted in a goal. I dont normally advocate this but pj should speak to gil

He was poor. No question. Pros: competed pretty well in the air (without marking the ball) and laid some good tackles. Good general pressure. One good lead that was honoured. Cons: barely got a touch. After his nice lead turned the ball over with a poor inside 50 kick. Missed a gimme after a gift from max. That said is suspect he will play again and jack will need to perform for casey and show real intensity to have a shot of playing against the pies. I'm ok with that decision, should it eventuate. I hope jack does what he needs to do and replaces Weed for the pies game. Also hoping Hogan comes back soon.

Having a little cry won't help them much. Though i could see trac tearing up quite easily as he seems an emotional type

I agree lewis unlikely to play 2 more years after this (im assuming you mean in the senior). I think we will be lucky to get one more year of senior footy. But i very much doubt lewis will want to play out his career at casey, which is what will likely happen if he sees his contract out. I suspect he will retire before allowing that to happen. But even if he chooses to play in 2019, as will be his right, he will be valuable to have at the club given his professionalism and experience - even if he is playing at casey. Also i would think his contract is front loaded and in the second and third years has a number of performance related clauses.

It was lucky on a couple of levels. One it looked all tge world as if it was a tyson ball and he played on. More importantlt we had butchered 4 or 5 clear scoring opportunities and rge gifted goal got us rolling. Yes the saints player was unlucky but he broke the golden rule of not playing to the whistle

Disagree. Sort of. i don't think he needs to dominate in the VFL. He needs to play with the intensity demanded by Goody.

Sounds it, particularly given his AFL record was not factored in. Strange that. Still he will find hard to get back in for the magpies game and perhaps, the final should we make it. Pity as it sounds as if he played well if this comment is anything to go by: The 22-year-old collected 28 disposals, laid nine tackles and finished the match with a goal to be one of Casey's best players in its 37-point win.

Yep. And without actually saying it goody said as much in his post game presser. His response to the question about if watts and salem had donw enough for a recall was instructive. Goody could not have been more cear all season that intensity and competiveness are non negotiables as playing your assigned role. Good coaching

Broke a big team rule there. Made worse by the fact hw missed the shot

Really?

Have you seen the goodwin presser drunkn? goody gave dec a nice little pump up