poita

History shows that back to back premiership winning teams never do it with the exact same personnel or game plan. Standing still is going backwards in professional sport, and that is where we are at. Goodwin isn't prepared to change the game plan and he is determined to run with as close to the same 22/23 from last year as possible. I'd argue that every team we have played in the past seven weeks has worked us out, but only in the last two weeks have teams been good enough to do something about it. Unfortunately for us, almost every team we play in the last ten games is at that level, so we're going to need to do something different and quickly. We've got players horribly out of form, players clearly unfit or carrying injuries, and others who just need a rest. I'd almost be tempted to rest 5-6 players this week and give them a proper break before Brisbane in round 15. Reset and start again after the bye.

I wonder how many of the people who have spent the last three years potting Tom McDonald are prepared to put their hand up and admit they got it badly wrong. He is the one player in our forward line who blocks and creates space for his teammates, and leads to different parts of the ground. It doesn't show up in his stats very often, but I can guarantee that B.Brown and Fritsch would notice when he is not there.

My question for the cheer squad is why don't they ever turn the banner around any more so that the people in the Southern Stand can see what is written on the front? All we get is the advertising on the back.

I'm surprised to see so many people want to see Rivers as the sub. He needs to get a full game with Casey, and get some confidence and form back. The last thing he needs, particularly with a bye coming, is to sit on the bench and not get a run. I'm more than happy for Melksham to be sub, as it doesn't hurt us in the long run if he doesn't get a game this week. If he does play, hopefully he pulls his finger out and contributes more than he has in recent times.

I wonder if we have another move coming as we now have more than our required 3 list spaces free.

Sunday June 12 First Elimination Final, Casey Demons (3rd) v Collingwood (6th) Casey Fields, 11:35am AEST https://www.afl.com.au/news/772045/2022-rebel-vflw-finals-week-one-fixture A curtain raiser for the VFL game.

Sounds like a really good signing, in a position of significant need for us.

Phillips to Port had a bit of the Ablett to Gold Coast feel about it in terms of providing a new challenge to a player who as achieved everything, and giving greater opportunities to the next group of players coming through. I can't see why any of their other gun players would want to leave Adelaide unless they could be paid a truck load of money. That club is set up to challenge for premierships for years to come.

Franklin shouldn't get off because the act was exactly the sort of thing that we want to get out of the game, but he will get off because there is a list of precedents a mile long where similar acts were not punished or punished with fines.

https://www.womens.afl/news/94179?_ga=2.178718948.1122198148.1653872951-1661021775.1652416813 Lauren Magee not returning and Maeve Chaplin delisted. The Chaplin delisting seems more about giving us the minimum three draft picks, so wonder if we will pick her back up if nobody else swoops in first. Our first pick would have fallen somewhere beyond 27, so no big loss. If we otherwise keep our list together bar Tarrant, Parry and Petrevski, that's a great result.

We've beaten Sydney twice since 2010, and not convincingly on either occasion. Obviously we're a vastly different side from the early 2010s, but Sydney are well coached and well led, and we're going to need to play very well to beat them. I'm surprised their fans aren't more confident.

Rosman, Laurie, Moniz-Wakefield all below 10 disposals. Disappointing that Laurie & Rosman as second year players aren't starting to string together strong performances in a good side at this level. Buntine doesn't seem to have found his feet either. Plenty of upside for Casey when these guys get going. Good to see Tomlinson setting a high standard for his younger teammates.

I wish they would check tickets more regularly in the Southern Stand and keep the opposition supporters out.

Nothing wrong with an occasional loss, but the manner of this one was very concerning. There was so little fight or willingness to compete after half time, that you hope there was some kind of illness debilitating the entire group. I've been critical of our depth for some time, but I really disappointed with how little fight the replacements showed. Melksham was invisible throughout, Weidman half-hearted and disinterested, Dunstan insignificant and Bedford disappeared after half time. All four should come straight back out this week, and will drop well down the pecking order for replacements. I said before round 1 last year that it needed to be B.Brown or Weideman, and McDonald or M.Brown. You can't play Weideman and B.Brown together because they want to win the ball in the same spots and get in each others way. Plus neither chases. Both were woeful, but I'd back Brown in 100 times before we bring back Weideman. We've been playing russian roulette with medical subs for some time, and it finally blew up in our faces. You simply can't afford to have one dimensional players as subs, and that covers all of Bedford, Chandler and Dunstan. At least Tomlinson can play a few positions, or release others to do so. The decision to play Petracca, whether made by player, coach or doctor, was exceptionally poor. I couldn't believe that we would play Spargo on the wing for the entire game when he had no influence, but to have him paired with Melksham for long stretches left us exposed on both sides of the ground. We should have tried Neal-Bullen or Bedford in the role, who are much better runners. Spargo is clearly the best inside 50 kick in the team, and our connection going forward clearly suffered by him playing our of positoin. Finally why did we front up to centre bounces with the same combination for almost the entire third quarter? Petracca was a witches hat, Jackson didn't get a single tap to advantage in the game, and Viney and Oliver were both horribly out of position. We should have thrown Pickett or Dunstan or Weideman in there for something different. Looking forward to a much improved effort, with or without returning star players, this week.

And what happens if we trade our first round pick to get Charlotte Wilson or others, but don't lose any more players to expansion clubs?

I can't believe this is even being discussed. Darwin's population is about 40% of that of the City of Casey. The entire NT population is about 65% of City of Casey. Why don't we upgrade Casey Fields to AFL standard and have the 20th team play out of there? That is a much bigger, largely untapped market than Darwin. That said, I agree that 18 teams is too many and that ideally we would be consolidating, not expanding, given shrinking junior participation numbers.

https://www.womens.afl/news/94530?_ga=2.146405172.1273122696.1653516399-1661021775.1652416813 "Blues defender Charlotte Wilson is set to add to reigning Grand Finalist Melbourne’s hopes of a maiden AFLW flag. Wilson, a 21-year-old intercept defender who has impressed throughout the early stages of her Carlton career, will then head to Melbourne as the Demons look to strengthen key pillars at either end in their chase for a maiden flag." Key defence is one of our weaknesses, so anything we can do to bolster that part of the field is a good thing.

https://www.womens.afl/news/94410 New story on the AFLW website regarding likely player movements, with as many as 60 movements expected in the coming weeks. As we know, Tarrant to Sydney, Parry likely to Geelong and Petrevski to West Coast. Tahlia Fellowes from Casey VFLW has been signed by Hawthorn. Not sure if we've missed one there. The article also says "Jordan Ivey is expected to land at Melbourne". I don't know much about her, other than that the Geelong website says she is 29 and was vice captain this year. Key Dates AFL expansion signing period 24 May 2022 Sign and trade period 31 May 2022 NAB AFLW draft 29 June 2022.

I just realised that's a full month of football with no home game in Melbourne, and three games outside Melbourne in a row - how does that happen? Thursday night football is the absolute pits. It would be nice to get some 1pm Saturday or Sunday games to allow kids to go, and to deter the derelicts who spend the whole game drinking.

The lack of support for umpires is evident at every level of the game, from club juniors through to the AFL. The Caroline Wilson article makes it clear that the AFL's attitude towards umpires is the worst of all. At least junior comps can blame lack of money and resources, the AFL has no excuse. How do they possibly expect to attract and retain the best umpires if they won't support them?

Having a 10 game season is just ridiculous. It would be like ending the AFL season after this week and thinking that is a fair fixture. I'm guessing the rationale is that the AFL want to limit the number of opportunities for weaker expansion sides to be thrashed by the stronger established sides. Expect to see Adelaide/Melbourne/Brisbane/Fremantle all playing against each other, and with the bare minimum of games against expansion sides. I struggle to see how the AFL will promote this AFLW season with the early rounds running against AFL finals. You'll be lucky to see more than one game a week on Channel 7, and heading out to venues like Casey for twilight or night fixtures in September is not an attractive proposition. Good to see some more money available to players. Hopefully it allows the stronger teams more scope to keep their lists together.

Hard to blame any of these players for seeking regular game time, particularly when they have come from interstate and uprooted their lives for a wage that is hardly life changing. Hopefully our list management team have some aces up their sleeves in terms of replacements. I'm amazed that none of the expansion clubs have come after our second tier players (Zanker, Mithen, Gay, etc). Or maybe they have and they've been knocked back.

The number one issue the AFL has at the moment is that they are devoting all their energies to a group of people who are only worried about the "experience", and this is coming at the expense of traditional fans, including local and junior football clubs. Yes, you'll get a big TV audience and a few extra hangers on by having a night grand final and providing fireworks and music and gimmicks, but few of these people will ever become members or put money into the game. The people who actually care, who volunteer at grass roots level, who encourage their kids interest in the game, who become members and buy merchandise, actually get turned off by all this crap. We sit in M15 and we are surrounded by people who spend their time playing on their phones and getting up to buy drinks. They come to games a couple of times a year and watch about 10 minutes of football each time. I really don't know what they (or the club) get from the effort, other than a few pictures on their Insta pages.

The next step in the evolution of this competition is to allow for longer term contracts. The stronger teams are extremely exposed having most of their lists come off contract each year. It's not right that you can put years of development into players and expansion clubs can come in and grab them for nothing. At the very least you should be able to offer 3-4 year deals to a small number of players (say 5) Parry has been linked to Geelong I believe.

Steven May has been brilliant over the past three years and deserves every bit of praise he gets. That said, Naughton and Wright both kicked multiple goals against him this year. What is the definition of a defensive 1v1?