poita

Good to see Spargo maintaining his stellar scoring record from the past two years, even at the lower level. Only one tackle as well. But we know Goodwin loves him, so no doubt he'll be back this week.

We only got 28K to the North game last year when we were outside the eight on percentage. We could struggle to get 20K this week unless North supporters decide to come out in force, particularly with a forecast top of 13. Given that we fell over the line last year by 3 points when North were last on the ladder, and we were flogged in round 2 this year, this could be another tough watch.

Wasted a strong first quarter with woeful kicking and basically dropped our bundle after 10 minutes of exceptional play in the second. Never looked like it in the second half. Too many passengers (Jefferson, Tholstrup, Fritsch, Sparrow and Co), poor skills, especially by hand, and weak tackle efforts cost us a game that was there to be won. Sadly we are at full strength, with an experienced and seasoned team, so there are absolutely no excuses.

As I said during the week, something has to change with Tholstrup's role because this clearly isn't working. He needs a complete reset before next season.

I'm assuming from the lack of posts in this thread that most people are like me and are completely over this season. I don't think I've ever been less interested in a season than this one.

The best we can do after 3 consecutive losses is two forced changes. 🥱 Do better Goodwin.

The umpires clearly state that they are going to move straight back after a ball up / throw up. Yet the players continue to stand behind the umpires and try to use them to block their opponent. I have absolutely no issue with fines and / or suspensions if it makes the game safer for the umpires. It is tiresome to hear the Scott babies and Hardwick whining about every little thing that happens in the game.

So Lever has magically learned to defend during his one week holiday at Casey, just in time to take on the competition's most potent forward line. That should end well.

You don't think (conservatively) 10,000 memberships at $200 each might go some way to covering any pay out cost? The number one thing this club needs right now is hope, and a new coach would do wonders for delivering this.

He was a good contributor in 2019, then was basically injured for the entirety of 2020 and 2021. We redrafted him and (shock) he was injured again for most of 2024. What did we possibly think was going to happen in 2025, other than him being injured for most of the year? At some point the club has to recognise that guys like Hore and McAdam simply aren't built to play AFL.

Salem's aversion to contact and lack of leg speed rules him out of either option. Playing behind the ball is the only place for him to hide. If he is in our best 23 at round 1 next year, I guarantee we'll finish bottom 6 again. As with Lever, Salem is yesterday's hero and the game has passed him by.

71%. That's disgraceful and indictment on the coaches and the players.

Anyone who thinks Geelong will suddenly fall off a cliff when Cameron, Dangerfield and co retire, needs to have a look at their drafting. There is no other club in the competition that so consistently unearths players such as Dempsey, Humphries and Stewart from out of nowhere. We used to be able to do it, but we haven't trusted Jason Taylor with late picks in recent years.

Good luck to him, but we don't have a great record in this space. The worst thing we did for both Bradtke and Farris-White was to have them spending most of their first year at Casey warming the bench. At least we gave Farris-White an opportunity to get decent game time at SBMT in his second year. Hopefully Berry is playing serious minutes somewhere next year, either at Casey or in a lower league.

Tholstrup reminds me of Luke Tapscott. I wouldn't be surprised if he is a guy who has developed earlier than his peers and until now hasn't had to put the work in to make the grade. Now he is coming up against guys who are bigger, stronger and more experienced and he doesn't yet have the skill set, the work rate or the mental toughness to cope. It's pretty clear he isn't good enough to be an AFL standard midfielder. He doesn't find enough of the ball, he isn't fit enough and his decision making hasn't been up to scratch to date. So where does he fit? He currently provides very little as a half forward. Simply he doesn't get to the right positions often enough. Even from a low base in 2024, he is down on disposals, marks, goals and tackles in 2025. With Salem on the way out and McVee uncontracted, I'd be giving him a run in defence for the rest of the season. Let his opponent take him to the football and see if he can win or halve some contests. Give him a few weeks at Casey to learn the role, then the rest of the season in the senior side if his form warrants it. As an aside, it was a puzzling decision to trade up to take him at pick 13 and even more bizarre to contract him until 2028. The club has shown a lot of faith in him and he needs a big pre season to start delivering on his end of the bargain.

The only reason they would be stuck here is because neither is prepared to give up the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed. Clarry in particular could easily leave at year end if he was prepared to renegotiate his contract. But he won't be traded if we're still paying him $500K a year.

I was hoping for Neal-Bullen 12 months ago, now the cupboard is totally bare. There is not one player in the 23-28 group that warrants consideration. If Gawn plays until he is 45 maybe we can draft someone in the next few years with some leadership ability and get them ready to take over.

Bye bye Lever, don't come back. Windsor is down on form and confidence, mostly because he has been played out of position all year. Hopefully a run at Casey does him some good. Goodwin needs to make his mind up re Van Rooyen - either play him in the AFL or play him in the VFL for a month. This back and forth business is ridiculous, and does nobody any good. As for the inclusions, we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel. How do Sharp and Tholstrup possibly deserve a recall before Brown or Culley get a chance?

I see its going to be another one of those years when we don't make nearly enough changes to the list. I assume Kentfield gets another year on the back of his nine disposals over the past two Casey games - if that doesn't scream future AFL player, I don't know what does.

All of those named are already in the senior side and several are already among our best performers. Who is on the list who is going to break into our senior side in the next year or two and add something significant that we don't currently have? I don't have great hopes for anyone currently at Casey making the grade. I don't rate particularly Carlton's young talent either, but they do have Jagga Smith to bring in from round 1 next year.

There is no way I'd entertain a trade for Petracca, and it is hard to see how any trade for Oliver would improve the list. I'd be floating Lever as trade bait and see if any clubs are seduced by the prospect of resurrecting a former All Australian defender. Fingers crossed they haven't seen him play in the past three years, but apparently he has some (hitherto well hidden) leadership qualities as well. If we can get Lever's contract off the books, we would be well placed to make a play for McKay, who would clearly be an upgrade on any of our current forwards.

Except for the fact that the full deal was: Melbourne give: 2025 first round pick (currently #4, but more likely to be 7-8 with academy selections); 2024 pick 28, pick 40, pick 46, pick 54, pick 65. Essendon give: 2025 third round pick (on-traded in Sharp deal); 2024 pick 9 (Xavier Lindsay). I have no issue with giving up 2025 round 1 plus a sweetener for Lindsay, but some of those picks could have had some value to us either as selections in 2024 or to get back in to the 2025 draft. The reality is that Essendon already had incentive to trade away their 2024 round 1 pick, so were hardly reluctant trade partners.

If correct, that would be some effort given that he has missed three games. As I've said previously, May and Lever (5 losses from 6 games) should not be playing in the same side under any circumstances.

Blame the AFL for that one. People are desperate to watch a decent curtain raiser before AFL games, then they play them so early they finish more than hour before the seniors play.

That would be highly reactive and far too late. By the time we plumb those depths we will have locked in another decade of utter mediocrity. We've lost around 15,000 (> 20%) members already since 2023 and have dropped from 8th to (likely) 15th on the membership ladder since 2022. I'd guess that the loss in membership dollars is even greater than 20%, no matter how many price increases they inflict on us, with people dropping to lower membership categories. We'll be lucky to get 50K members next year if Goodwin continues.