Young Blood

How has Melksham been going for Casey? Hows his pressure been? We rely so much on forwardline pressure to produce turnovers resulting in scoring opportunities. Kozzy gives you so much added pressure when he doesn't have the ball. Sure, he hasn't been good offensively the last few weeks but I was at the game on the weekend and his repeat defensive efforts to close in on the oppositions backs was still evident. I would worry about losing our fastest high energy small forward whom for the majority of the season has been a catalyst for our forward half success. Melksham has been slow underwhelming at best.

This has been my preference for a while now to leave out the other tall. Neither Brown or Weid are playing good enough footy right now to deserve a spot. Jackson has been building nicely this season. He's spent less time in the ruck of late and looks more and more imposing up forward. He's been taking strong contested grabs on the wings and I think the coaches believe this could translate to better marking contests deeper inside forward 50. Max/Jackson to spend more time on ground switching between forward/ruck. This is my favourite mix so far this season. We should see Bailey and Trac more involved as targets as well.

Tmac is expecting second kid mid next week. On standby to return if it comes early. Might miss Mondays game if thats the case. https://www.afl.com.au/news/628885/key-dee-could-miss-pies-clash-due-to-a-different-birthday

He will be in the extended 40 man squad you would think if he maintains this form. But not the best 22. Unfortunately the 'wing' role isn't of significance to the AA team as its just 'midfield' hence why no pure wingers ever really get in. Its all centre square midfielders.

IN: Lockhart, Langdon Out: Melksham, Hunt or Salem Easy

So Tmac is equal 17th with a few other players kicking 20 goals 10 behinds for the season so far. I think there's a strong argument for him being in the conversation for AA, at least the way he's tracking. If you look at it this way, out of the top 20 forwards (goal kicking wise) whom he would be best compared to this season, Tom ranks: Marks - 3rd Disposals - 1st Tackles - 4th Inside 50s - 2nd Contested Possession 3rd Uncontested - 1st Goal assists 3rd 1%'s - 2nd He's also had a decent amount of hitouts as a forward with two rucks in the team. The main things against him as an upper potential All Australian is his contested marks and marks inside 50 are on the lower end of that group. If we see more of that and obviously pushing the top 10 for goals who knows!

Yeah. Hunt's speed would suggest he'd be in the picture to play on him but I've watched Cameron a fair bit this season and he really dislikes contact and physicality. I think we'll see players rotated including Hibberd, Rivers, Hunt and maybe even Salem to make him accountable on a dangerous player.

Isn't it wonderful when you can be so wrong about something that actually ends up coming to fruition and you can sit back and just admire. All the work he put into this part of his conditioning and fitness has really been on show this season. I still think Tmac's agility/mobility is restricted, its just the way he is but he's worked mighty hard on it and its a big reason he's been able to get back into form.

Simply confidence and concentration. He does everything else right. His strength and positioning are great now. I'm expecting them to start sticking the next few games. Thought Friday was a step in the right direction. He's putting himself in a position to succeed with marking. He just has to grab the opportunity with both hands....

Loving the work Gus is doing on the opposite wing to Langdon. All the little things, positioning, winning/halving both ground and marking contests, he tackles with intent every time. On Friday it was the most obvious display but he's been consistently playing this role all year. As stated by Daisy he rarely loses a contest. The ball use at times has been the only knock but I think that comes out of being encouraged to be creative with ball in hand with his spatial awareness and vision. This is a player we thought might only succeed as an inside mid. Like Tmac, proving a lot of us wrong. Thought this might be a good place to discuss others favourite's for doing the little things/playing a less obvious but crucial role in this teams early success.

He certainly has the endurance Tom. But playing predominantly on a wing for a game? I don't think we will see it. While I appreciate the work he's put in to his body and improving his agility he's still not nimble enough IMO for that role for long periods. His speed off the mark is decent but repeat sprints after repeat sprints I'm not sure. He is relying an awful lot on the fend off at the moment in contests and as seen on Friday it has got him into trouble. Short stints of Tmac on a wing or further up the ground are great. As a whole game winger I don't think so.

While I think its a fun suggestion I really doubt they will consider Hibberd on a wing regardless of how small the ground is. The guy has been terrific down back as out solid best 6. But he doesn't have the tank/gut running. He's one I notice often with hands on knees after a few big contests really sucking it in. His role is too important down back with the way we structure to bring him further up the ground. I think Sparrow will definitely come back in. I doubt they bring in a fresh face like Bowey for such a big game and Baker hasn't showed much at Casey of late to really be an option on the wing. My guess is they will rotate players through that position. Guys like ANB, Sparrow and even some of the other mids.

On Weed. I understand there are areas of his game that need improvement like his pressure acts as @binmanhas pointed out. Not good enough at times in this area for sure. But overall I thought this was his best game by far. The two goals were nice but I thought he was creating terrific marking contests in the first half and imposing himself adequately. He only juuust dropped three or four where he really should have marked them. You could see his frustration (at one stage yelling loudly at himself as he hit the turf). The kid is really competitive and I think he now has the body and when playing with confidence to really impact the game. His decision making is improving as well. I'm actually in agreeance with a lot of MFC players and coaches who have stated that they believe Sam is building nicely. I think we discount the difficulty of playing alongside three other talls in the forward half a lot of the time competing in the air, knowing when to fly and where to lead/position yourself both offensively and defensively would be difficult. He's three games in and starting to be more involved in games. I think as the second tall option last nights game was great, he played his role and as Jonathan Brown stated post game a performance he won't be dropped for. It's great that Brown will keep pressure on his position but many on here are in the belief that he will magically become the dominant forward he was 2 years ago. I'm not so sure. Browns inability to separate off his man and his slowness when the ball hits the ground have been a real worry to me and quite possibly a liability in the senior side to be honest. I feel Weid is more agile and there's greater flexibility in his role. If BBB is the player we think he is he should really be kicking bags in the VFL and an imposing force. I hope this happens but until then... We shall see.

that sucks. Huge loss against Brisbane

Surely Sparrow gets the sub. With no Casey game this week he is the most in form and could have the greatest impact if needed. Would have loved to see Melk as sub instead urgh.

I like the positive/wishful thinking on here. I just think the dogs are a cleaner more efficient football team and I feel like we allow teams too much space moving the ball through the corridor with speed at times. I fear they could really cut us up. Our backline will be better this week. But the Crows were able really expose us with the precise quick ball movement. Look for Bulldogs to lower their eyes and move the ball inside 50 low and out in front of Naughton, Bruce and English. They play this ground so well with speed and precision, not sure if we can slow them down. HOPE I'M WRONG! Dogs by 3 goals.

haha we are a petty bunch. Don't we want to face a full strength dogs to see what we're made of? Silly question I know I know...

Don't know about others but I'm fairly terrified by how quickly and efficiently the dogs move the ball at Etihad. If this game were at the G then I understand how going taller and trying to expose their backline like Richmond did out in the elements on the larger ground makes sense. Hoping we pick the team that can gives us the best chance to get our defensive structures together the quickest. Not sure if that would include BB or staying as tall as we've been. Its a delicate balance.

Would be interesting to see what the majority of the free kicks are for. In the case of the dogs they generally win a lot more footy then their opponent so not that surprising they would win more free kicks With the way they transition the ball they would put a lot of pressure on opposition in the back half as well creating nervous defenders making mistakes with holding/pushing etc.

Yep bring the physicality. Make him feel every bump and tackle.

Melksham a kpf? hahahaha

very true! If it were an even game that would be a good strategy perhaps. But I don't know if there's be an AFL player that wouldn't go for goal with a point as consolation for the draw... when you're a point down.