nutbean

Was about to say the same. Dawes best is our best option - his problem has been he just cannot get his body right since he got to the club so for now it will be fit and in form Pedersen. I think a fit and healthy Dawes might like playing in the forward line at the moment ( sigh....fit and healthy....)

Watched some footy at Cora Lynn - they make a very handy egg and bacon sandwich

I am going to keep repeating this until it becomes a reality. The Dusty fend off is now an accepted part of folklore - love him or hate him no-one in the league does a fend off with such regularity to such good affect as Dustin Martin. Oliver will make the head high handball his own. It is like a sixth sense - he almost invites contact and a fraction of a second before it comes he lifts his body higher and his arms are already moving up. He gets tackled but the arms are always free above the tackle and he lets go precision handballs from eye level or above. He has a disproportionate handball to kick ratio but if you have a weapon like his handballing is, who gives a rats.

I don't mind Michie but he is very vanilla for mine - he gets a bit of the ball, a touch fumbly, disposes ok - he just doesn't really hurt opposition for mine. Watching Salem - even though he has been turned a few times and outmuscled in a few contest - when he gets the ball in hand he does something nice with it. FYI - I also wouldn't be upset if he got another week.

And kills my enjoyment of the game.....

The good thing is that we no longer have a best 22 - we have a best 26-28 (ish) which means form and injury will play a big part on selection and some players will be stiff to miss out - when was the last time we could say that players will be stiff to miss out. At their best ( who didn't play Saturday) , Aaron VDB, Brayshaw, Lumumba, Trengove and Salem are best 22. Then we have ANB and Dunn. Since Newton has come back he has been good in the VFL. So it begs that question - who do you leave out ? Nice headache to have.

We are now in the position to play our best 22 and I believe Salem is best 22 and his form this year has not been spectacular but solid - when we get an injuries someone like Michie and Stretch whose form has been good in the VFL comes in - but unless their form in the seniors absolutely demands they don't get dropped, they get dropped. Teams like Hawthorn - in 2014 Hartung was in and out - played great VFL footy but was not best 22 so when all players were available - he went back to the VFL even with "handy" performances in the seniors. Last year his form dictated that he be in the best 22. Duryea had the same trajectory. Michie, Stretch and ANB will continue to be stiff until their form in the seniors is so good that they can't be dropped. Neither Stretch nor Michie were that good that they can't be dropped next week. I suspect that Stretch may get another game next week as we need his outside run against the doggies but not 100% sure.

Love Ben Kennedy's hardness and attack on the contest. I was at the Coll vs Carlton game on Saturday - Howe had quite a good game as playing the extra man in defense. He has the same issue as he had with us. He marked well - he ran quite well - he tackled well - but he lacks the intestinal fortitude to want to be a player that makes a difference. The idea that Collingwood wanted to turn him into their version of Gunston will never come to fruition - Howe marks better than Gunston, Howe has a good tank, How is as good at ground level - Gunston is a better kick but the huge difference is that Gunston works his butt off - Howe is still too lazy...

A bit of whipping boy these days..... Agreed - I watched the game carefully and he was at the bottom of lots of packs - I thought his disposal was quite good. Sometime stats do tell a story - comparing him against like for like footballers - inside mids - Jones has 11 contested possessions, Jack Viney 9 and Dom 9 - and Dom's D/E was better than both of these players. This is no knock on Viney or Jones but tells me that Tyson's disposal was ok on the weekend. ( my eyes also tell me he disposed quite well)

I thought he actually played well in the second half. Again, when he was too crowded in the forward line in the first half and after he moved further up the ground he did some nice things and I love that he tackled hard and won a free and a couple of very good spillages. As much as I love Hogan kicking 7 I still have a preference for a more even spread of goalkickers. If a team drops a spare back and double teams Hogan that means that someone else is one on one and the one on one is not the oppositions best defender.

I have rarely, if ever, seen an umpire cost a team game. However, unfortunately I have seen umpires ruin far too many games for my liking. What gets right up my nose is how the umpires seem to get it right during the finals - the standard jumps up to a whole new level. Yes, i know that the best umpires umpire the finals but the mindset seems different to me. During the finals they seem to pay free kicks which are obvious and let the game flow on the 50/50 ones.

interesting to me is i don't think Reiwoldt took advantage of it - he played really well but his damage was not on the much shorter Jetta as i would have expected.

Exactly. Roos has stated that Trengove himself will tell the selection panel when he feels he is ready. It is not about talent to play in the firsts - it is about fitness and endurance - so those saying it is mistake not playing him this week - I disagree and I disagree with those who suggest he needs to wait 8 or 10 weeks. He will be ready when he is ready and only Trengove and the fitness staff will know when that is.

disagree - Don't read ANYTHING into the positions listed Dawes will not play on the HBF. I am not usuallly a gambling man but would love to put my house and first born on Dawes lining up at CHF or FF ...

Even looking over the list with this in mind - I still call meaningless list - we have Josh Hill of Eagles and Bulldogs famed rated better than Pavlich over the last 5 years ?

ahhh ! makes sense but I have just looked at the rankings for the first time - they are meaningless nonsense - James Kelly has been brilliant for all his career - he has tapered for his last year at Geelong and is now playing for $'s at Essendon. He is rated worse than Lynden Dunn. And Hogan topped our goalkicking and was high in contested marks in the league in his first season and has been ok this year yet is ranked worse than Pedersen. Whatever formula they are using for those rankings - it must have gaping holes in it. Sir..the defense rests....

I haven't looked at them but if they have Maric at 51 and Gawn at 167 and Pedersen at 266 and Hogan at 277 then they clearly are meaningless.

PM me and I will send you my postal address

When we look poor as we did last week as well it was for exactly the same reason. Commentators talk about our lack of speed - I think the conversation should be about how we tend to look pedestrian when we don't work hard enough and don't run and spread.

I am torn on Lumumba. I don't think his defending is bad. The problem for me is on his good days - he gets the ball and takes off at a million miles an hour,breaks lines and (most of the time) can put it to advantage short of long. On his bad day - he gets the ball ad takes off at million miles an hour, runs around in circles confusing everyone including himself and either gets caught, turns it over or bombs to no one in particular. He was poor against Essendon and Saints and good against North, Collingwood and Richmond. You can't have too many Lumumba's in the team ( in fact we cant afford another one !) but on his good days he is value.

I agree to the extent that if a hole can only be filled by someone learning their craft or worse, no other option, then yes - and I see a couple of those and they are "if" scenario's if Gawn goes down ( please god no !!! actually I am an atheist but you get my drift) - then we have to settle for Spencil and if it happened earlier than last week maybe KIng if we start to lose defenders then Oscar McDonald can come in However I see Frost differently to some others - we have Watts and Hogan as our tall forwards with Gawn dropping in there on the occasion. That leaves the third tall spot for either Frost or Pedersen and I see more value in Pedersen ( at this stage) - The Weed and Hulett are young and developing and I dont't include them in the mix ( yet) if Pedersen goes down with injury, Dawes is not fit and The Weed and Hulett aren't ready - then Frost for sure. Until that time i want him back at Casey making a strong case to be either played forward or back.

you have got to stop shouting - you are giving me a terrible headache..

I am not sure about the weed coming in but absolutely agree that we should not be a team that has players that need to "learn their craft" or "Come up to speed" in the seniors. ( you can make some exceptions for a player who has shown his wares and is integral part of the team - you may bring a 75% fit Vince back into the team a week early knowing what you will probabyl get) You are either a contributing member of the team or you are not. If you need to "get there" as a player - get there at Casey. Now there are team members who play specific roles and may not be as productive as others but are doing the job for the team. I am not sure I see Frost doing that at the moment. I won't write him off as I think he has upside - but he needs to show some of the upside and as far as I am concerned it can be at Casey.

why go and fret ? I'm not fretting at all. In fact I couldn't give a f****

I have always maintained that you can tell the talent of team and how far they will go, not by the first 5 picked but by the last 5 picked. Richmond's bottom end is very very poor.