Young Blood

I'm not worried about that with Clayton. When the ball is not active he's definitely got into niggles in the past but one thing that is known is that as soon as that ball is live in play he locks in. I still love thinking back to that first year under Roos where he encouraged the 'see ball get ball' to simplify the role for Clarry as a first year player/young bull. Obviously since then he's matured and become somewhat more dynamic but he's always been pretty focused and doesn't get caught up in bull[censored].

Fullarton is still a month away based off the original timeline on 29th Jan (8 weeks). We need to get used to Schache as the back up ruck/fwd for round 0. Lets just back him in as a demon ay? why not? Go dees?

If you're saying he has no talent in your opinion as a supporter thats perfectly fine. My view is any player that makes the AFL is talented. Some more then others of course. As its been preached for most its about playing a role within a club system. Something Tomlinson has done consistently well since joining us and becoming a full time backman. To say he's not good at footy is laughable. He's had to play behind or adjacent to three of the best key backs in the comp (Lever, May, Petty). He was playing fantastic football rarely losing a contest in 2021 before the injury. Petty came in and solidified his role which put Tomlinson back in the pecking order. Since then he's been professional, performing consistently as one of Casey's best each week. When he's been recalled to the main playing group its been for short stints which is always difficult to build form. He was fantastic in our KB game last year with his one on one contests and accurate, effective ball use. I think we would have seen him play more games last season with Petty swung forward but Goodwin decided to go with a smaller backline using Hibberd as the third tall for a lot of games. There is a reason the FD rate him highly and refused any calls to trade him in September. If you think a 31 year old Tom McDonald playing a role he hasn't played for five years with fitness issues is the better option thats OK to have that opinion but to simply say Tomlinson is 'no good at footy' is rather insulting.

Its likely Tmac will likely be have to be re-swung forward again now with all the injuries. As a backman I agree with the above. Its been many years since he played back consistently. Even then while he was great one on one in the air and competed well, his kicking was subpar. With how easily you can get burnt off backline mistakes these days we must ensure we have reliable kicks in our back half. Tomlinson is a much better kick and competes so well one on one. While he's not too fast he can actually still turn a corner unlike Tmac who is like a train on the tracks. As a backman that's a big liability. Its been two years since Tmac played in a premiership as a forward. Since then he's played seasons of 15 and 9 games. Last year he struggled to get into the side and even when he did was out of desperation for positional need and was one of the most disappointing in those two finals where he needed to stand up.

Pretty much identical year last year. Kicked 9 goals through the first three games, then went down with injury and struggled coming back through Casey and later in the senior side. I do hope supporters and Ben are being realistic in regards to the possibility of being back to his 'best' looks like. I'll give benefit of the doubt that we're not talking about the old Ben Brown 5 years ago, kicking 60+ and playing three full 22 game seasons in a row. Somewhere half way would be fantastic but again as I mentioned above, I think he's becoming a liability these days with his inability to do much defensively.

These games are about getting match reps into plays sans injury first and foremost. Then they would be looking to tick a whole lot of boxes in terms of implementing what they have been working on in their own match sims. Being closer to opening round there will likely be larger periods of best 22 if available. I'm most keen to see how we structure up behind the ball. See if there has been any changes to Goodwins drop tactics to allow teams to move the ball freely up until the HB line to create turnover and attack from HB through the corridor like we saw early on last week.

I wouldn't waste any time trying to read between the lines. This is just every AFL players response when dealing with ongoing injury issues. I doubt any of them comment based on what supporters would think. When the response doesn't contain details such as timeframe or rehab program/plans then its likely just a week by week assessment to see how its going. He'd likely be getting follow up scans after the clean out over the next few weeks. Sounds like a wait-and-see. He might be able to come back as depth at some point but I thought for most of the games he played last year he was actually more a liability in his inability to defend and when the ball hit the deck it was like he lost all battery power, slow and lethargic. His bread and butter was being able to gain separation off his man on the lead and in marking contests and he's lost that ability now.

Instead of being dismissive why don't you enlighten us of these other leaves on fire besides Clarry, Smith and now I suppose the heartbreak of Gus that might have some influence on the group. If you've got some facts spill the tea old Roost it! Or is it more speculation?

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1078333/melbourne-demons-star-angus-brayshaw-retires-after-long-history-of-concussion

Too upset to comment properly at the moment. Had to remove myself from the office at work as was tearing up. My favorite player just retired too soon and its heartbreaking. Take care Angus, we all care about you so much and feeling for you at the moment.

I think we're a bit spoiled with JVR as a 20yr old who has been able to impact the game and play his role well as KPF in his second season. Key forwards aren't meant to be that good so early on. Jefferson will take a little longer after kicking 23.17 in his first season with Casey he was definitely inconsistent but definitely showed really good signs. I'm actually bullish about him. I watched quite a few Casey games last year and to me he is a natural footballer. He has that similar trait to Fritta where he reads to ball so well and uses his body really well to leverage and guard space where the ball drop is. Also has great hands for marking. He will obviously need to put on size and work on his running/aerobic capacity. But he has the tools and tricks. Maybe not this year. He just needs to build on last year. But expecting a big future from Jefferson.

Went from averaging 1% CBAs to 11% but went many games without attending any. I imagine this will be part of Goody's plan again to increase that number. But more likely on a need basis to either bring him into the game or give a spark. He's so so important up forward for pressure and creating. I'm more interested in him fixing up his kicking and composure in front of goal. After kicking 41-18 in 2024 he dropped last year to 37-30. Would love to see a chart of his shots on goal as well because it generally seems they're from good angles and not far out.

Sorry I should have highlighted the 'so many' part. Definitely expected some but I thought we had improved :(

I wasn't expecting so many alarm bells to be ringing on here after an average practice match...

I haven't read or heard either of those statements, is this on the demonland forum? Or other bogus media? Just genuinely curious. I've heard him referred as a premiership player and I suppose in my eyes that makes him a champion of sorts. He is a reliable key backman who has been moved forward and showed very positive signs in a small sample size. He could, IF he can find some consistency with his fitness be the key forward that could make a huge difference to this side. Far too many 'IF's' for my liking, but definitely no unequivocal statements.

Yeah I hate to say it but by all training videos and photos the high arc/ball drop remains his style of kicking. I don't think that's going to change unfortunately. It would be quite a big adjustment as Sue says for an engrained natural kicking style his whole career to suddenly change it now consistently.

Another great insight into the maturity and amount of work this guy has done off field to keep getting better. There was a moment where he pulled back when talking about taking over a game and said he needs to trust his team mates more to make the right decisions and play their part. I did notice last season there was a lack of trust at times and he took it upon himself to try to do everything. While I think this is mostly a healthy sentiment and holistically a better strategy I do hope he continues to have that confidence to go ahead in games and take the bull by the horns like he did late in our comeback against Brisbane last season. No one could stop him. My favourite part was talking about the forward line and stating the glaring issue being forward line delivery as opposed to just the forward line group being the main issue. He admitted that kicking is still an issue for him and his midfield team mates. I really hope he can improve on this and find better consistency. Also mentioned how the new recruits will help in this area as well.

Just curious is this just based on your visits to pre-season training? Or have you watched their Eastern Rangers/Oakleigh Chargers or Under 18 National Championship games? Hoping all of the above comes to fruition.

The ball drop pics are especially fantastic and really give a good indication of kicking action/result during set shots. You can see JVR, Chandler and Kolts ball is perfectly straight with the leg, body and eyes lined up with the ball before impact. Kozzy's is still looking inconsistent where he needs to adjust mid kick potentially... But I'm no expert just thoughts. Other observations which have probably been made by track watchers: - Taj looks to have put on some serious muscle - Windsor looks a pure athlete with long powerful strides and a beautiful kicking action - I'm sure all players are wearing sports watches to track their running/heart rate etc. But during match sims it seems a little dangerous no? I've seen some horrible facial fractures from watches worn in physical sports. I sometimes wear mine but with a sweatband over it so as not to cause other injury playing footy and basketball. Just another thought.

Ouch. Wouldn't it be nice to have a fit (clean) Joel Smith right about now. If we start the first few games without the players mentioned above its not a terrible forward set up IMO. But we're certainly going to be short. I've put some ideas below. F: Chandler Fritsch (Schache/Clayton/Jefferson/Kolt/Tomlinson) HF: ANB JVR Billings or Spargo (replaced by Koz R1) Regardless we're definitely going to need Trac rolling through the forward line more to start the season by the looks of it.

I think we're all mostly happy with Tmac moving down back for depth. But with such concerning injury clouds a month out from season up forward (Petty, McAdam, Melk, Jefferson, BBB) We might have to re-consider. As picket fence suggested there is always Shache...

This is pleasing indeed. Both in recent years have put on extra weight to play deep forward and on key backs. I can't help but feel with two elite runners for their size that this has impacted their fitness a lot the last few seasons. I'm fairly bullish about Tmac going back as even last year in short stints at the end of games filling in back there he was sound and steady. Loving hearing how motivated Tomlinson sounds to be to get back in the side. If he is lighter hopefully his pace is better and can move up the ground more as a marking option.

RIP James Harmes from this list

In Regards to Taj I think this statement is most valid. There is no clearly defined position or role for him at the moment. I remember ANB (the old #1 whipping boy) coming in as a pure midfielder and playing consistently there at Casey, unable to really break into the side. Then ANB was able to find a niche as the high half forward role and really own it. I hope Taj can find his niche and do the same!

I'd imagine its just a matter of him getting up the strength and size to play AFL midfield. Watched him get pushed off the ball easily and often last season. He's the same height as Viney but a lot lighter obviously (maybe 8kg's). I can see him and Woey coming in for depth and chop out but doubt they will spend a lot of time in the middle. Keen to see who will be battling it out with the mids at training the next few weeks. I understand Rivers has the size and ability but very little experience in the role at AFL level. Interesting Gus was training with the backs but might be a factor of reducing the physically contested stuff as much as possible still easing him back in.