Nascent

Can someone enlighten me on the whole Smith wanting out of the doggies situation. He's been a best 22 player since his draft year, what's he disgruntled about?

Demon debut | Moniz-Wakefield gets his moment

7 hours... Where do you live, middle earth? Just take an eagle next time.

Fairly certain Taylor's first draft was 2013 with Salem. Wasn't responsible for the selections of Toumpas, Terlich, Kent, Matty Jones etc... I actually rated Kent, shame he was just so injury prone.

Don't disagree, but we have holes all over the ground at the moment. In two years time our tall department could look like Ruck: Verrall Fwd: JvR, Jefferson, Kentfield Def: Lever, Turner (fwd?), Adams Unknowns: Gawn (34), May (34) Petty (traded?), Fullarton (best 22/retained on list?) I am assuming, but could be wrong, that we will have lost all of T-Mac, Ben Brown, Tomlinson, Schache and KFW. We could see a steep drop off in performance in both May and Gawn although if anyone can play quality footy into mid 30s it's Gawn. For arguments sake, if we remove Gawn, May and Petty from the best 22 equation in 2026 then we will have just two proven best 22 talls in Lever (30yrs) and JvR. Turner is showing promise and Jefferson is developing nicely at VFL level and should hopefully cementing himself in the side. Calls on Kentfield and Verrall are too early to make while Adams is worth developing but a way off looking AFL quality at this stage. Trading talls in would be ideal but they come at a premium and nearly every club is after these players.

I quite liked the look of Oliver off the half back line. For a midfielders draft, there are certainly a few talls developing that look like quality. Trainor, Shanahan, Faull, Whitlock brothers, J Murphy, O'Farrell, Mraz, Sims, Nicholls, Welsh could all be taken within the first 2 rounds imo.

Would be a nice experience for him to be a travelling emergency at some point prior to debut. Curiously, our seniors play Brisbane on Friday and Casey play preston on Saturday. The following week Casey are playing Brisbane reserves on Saturday in Brisbane, with the senior team staying melbourne for a game on Sunday. This VFL scheduling is something else.

It was interesting that Kynan didn't play for Casey after 16 minutes game time for the seniors, while Stephens played a full game after 43 minutes. Different ages obviously and recovery program likely a factor. Linking in with that factor is it's only a 5 day break from Casey's game to the seniors playing on Friday. Perhaps an indication he will hold his spot?

I'm in the keep and support clarry camp and seeing him in other colours would make me sick as well, but it would be foolish to deny it's a possibility. A very good source a few years ago stated he wasn't happy and was talking to Carlton, that was before he signed his massive deal with us. Wouldn't surprise if he opted for a fresh start now. I can see the media not only running with the speculation, but putting forward the dees paying part of his salary and receiving peanuts in draft picks. Luckily they don't make the trades.

He's kicking at afl level reminds me of my golfing ability. Generally goes in the right direction but spends more time on the ground than the air.

IMO, AMW needed to improve his decision making and skill execution coming out of the back 50 while a VFL report mentioned he's working on the defensive side of his game. I thought he was much improved in all aspects and looked far more calm and measured. Might need to plug away for a few more weeks but if Bowey continues to struggle I wouldn't be upset to see him get a crack at seniors. Jefferson has a lot of tools to work with and will get games next year. His marking is a weapon but he can follow up at ground level which is important for a key tall these days. Was disappointed in all of McAdam, Sestan, Woewodin and Billings though in Woewodins defence he may have spent time off in the second half and I missed parts of the 3rd quarter. Laurie does some excellent things then let's himself down with some dumb footy like free kicks against or poor kicking, he's better than that but he won't crack into the senior team on that form. Particularly with Tholstrup making a good fist of his second game. Kentfield just finding his feet and will reserve judgement for a few more weeks.

@old dee did you get a chance to watch Jeffo this week? I put the mozz on him last week but he kicked 4 goals today and took some impressive grabs all around the ground. Will be surprised if he gets a game this year but certainly a lot to work with.

Out of contract this year

Please stick around luci, your input is always valued.

Surely a huge component... he's been giving us sublime football since he debuted. One down year where everything isn't going to plan and the knives are out. If, big if mind you, he can get to a better head space and return to full fitness over pre-season, I expect to see clayton of old. Would be madness to trade unless he's off field issues become untenable.

Same here

In: Lever Out: Tomlinson I think Windsor needs a rest though I'm not a huge fan of Billings who would be the obvious replacement. Chandler laid some tackles today but not convinced he's doing enough otherwise. Hope Tholstrup stays in, unsure about Brown retaining his spot against an inform Lions squad. Interested to see if anyone can demand selection at Casey tomorrow. I'm hoping McAdam lights it up.

Well that was an ugly game. We came to an absolute standstill in the last and didn't look close to winning any contested footy. We became scared and reactive, then absolutely timid with the ball in hand and refused to put any speed on in transition. Roos fans were up and about and sadly they seemed to outnumber us, particularly where I was sitting. We are a young and different team to what we've grown accustomed to over the last 3 years, both from a personal and gameplan perspective, so I'm trying to adjust my expectations accordingly. I may cope some flack for this, but I was really disappointed in how Gawn went about it tonight. So many contests where, if he feels is been infringed on, he will look to the umpire and then take an eternity to either pick himself off the ground or return himself to general play. On one occasion he even turned his back to the ground ball contest, looked at the umpire then slowly jogged slightly away from the footy without even realising he was 5 metres from a disputed ball for the past 15 seconds.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Carlton have a crack at him, salary cap probably an issue though.

Up to 13-14 players, most we've had for a while I'd presume?

Was it not just senior team plus emergencies anyway?

If he's been told to play more like Sam Taylor he's taking it far too literally.

Apologies, brain not in full flight this morning. Thought it was a Saturday arvo game.