poita

Two real problems with this side at present: 1. The inconsistency of Kent / Harmes / Kennedy / Vandenberg. We can keep shuffling the deck chairs, but they can't all play in the same side because none of them perform properly more than once a month. 2. The inability of Dawes, Watts & Hogan to play together. Pedersen and Hogan complement each other much better, and Watts isn't forced into the ruck when Pedersen plays. Grimes deserves his chance, and I would have played him ahead of Wagner anyway. Garlett would be lucky to play on form, but we need him in the side. Surely Jones is next in line for a chance after Grimes, but perhaps not this week. Hopefully we never see Michie again at this level.

Bitterly disappointed that it has come to this. Roos' insistence on playing his favourites each week, irrespective of form and effort, costs us on a weekly basis. We can agree to disagree as to Grimes's ability, but he has never let us down with his effort. It makes me sick that guys like Dawes, Lumumba, Kent, Wagner and Harmes (until recently) are guaranteed a game each week irrespective of performance and workrate, but others such as Grimes are not given the same opportunities with far superior performances at VFL level. It is insulting that players such as Newton and Michie who have never threatened to become decent AFL players keep getting opprtunities, whilst Grimes is repeatedly overlooked. I have 32 consecutive years of membership of this club, but I will seriously consider not renewing for next year if Grimes does not get to 100 games for the club.

I've been critical of selection this year, but we lost on Sunday (a) because the Swans outplayed us in every respect and (b) we played dumb football given the conditions. Probably the number one reason we lost was Jarrod McVeigh, and the inability of Kent and Kennedy to curtail McVeigh or do anything remotely useful themselves. If we make him accountable, suddenly more ball gets through to Hogan and Watts, and he has less impact the other way.

Lumumba averages 15 possessions, Salem 16, Brayshaw 12 and Neal-Bullen 10 over the past two years, and Trengove gets potted for averaging 20 in 3 games?

Vandenberg did nothing to get back in the side, and has done nothing since he came back. He is first on my demotion list, closely followed by Wagner. I'm really tired of guys like Kent and Kennedy playing one good game a month, and then phoning it in for the next three. Both were woeful yesterday, particularly given conditions which should have suited them. Stretch's returns have diminished weekly over the past month, and Oliver's inability to run out games is increasingly a problem. Hunt needs to learn some new tricks, but at least he takes the game on. Clearly we won't make 5 plus changes, but I'd be disappointed not to see at least three.

I'd rather Hibberd than Melksham. A trade?

Harmes needs to go back to Casey and earn his spot back, just like Kennedy did and like Garlett has been asked to do. Michie had his chance and showed nothing, but is a good choice for traveling emergency. Grimes is the only one of the three who should be considered this week. Oliver will be suited to the conditions so I am loathe to drop him, even though he needs to work on his endurance further. Trengove and Kennedy should both play, which leaves Hunt (or a late withdrawal). I wouldn't have a problem with Hunt having a rest, or having a run at Casey. Having said that, Wagner is the one who should go back to Casey until his decision making improves.

Given that he disappeared for a chunk of pre season on a personal matter, when he should have been doing rehab, is anyone really surprised that Lumumba has gone missing again? I'm in no way trying to downplay any personal issues he may have, but to me he has never fully committed to the club and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he decides to move on to something else. I would be devastated if a guy like Jack Grimes is sacrificed at year end so we can manage the issues of someone who (in my opinion) doesn't want to be here.

Grimes, Oliver, Viney and Kennedy for me. Both Harmes and Kent need some time at Casey to reset, and Vandenberg, Kennedy and Petracca are all capable of playing similar roles. I understand the demotion of Garlett, but don't like it when others (namely Harmes and Kent) have done less for longer. Grimes should have been in the side three months ago, and is clearly the best of a poor bench (Viney aside).

Garlett has been dismal since he signed his new contract, and I would argue that his effort has been very poor in the past two weeks. That said, Kent and Harmes have both been worse for longer, so I can't see the logic in dropping Garlett first.

The commentary was bad, but nowhere near as horrible as the camera work. Why do they need to zoom into a one square metre patch of turf all day? So many times the ball would be knocked a few metres forward and the camera had to track forward to catch up. Often the work off the ball is more important than what is happening around the ball, but you never see it on TV.

Unbelievable that we lost that game with the best three players on the ground, as well as the dominant ruckman. No doubt Hawthorn played the conditions better than we did, but it also shows how poor our worst 8 or so players were. Amazing that Roos finally puts Vince back in the middle, and Frost down back, and both performed well. You can sure see why he earns the big bucks (even though most people were calling for both to happen ten weeks ago. Our defense made some calamitous errors, but overall did okay. Our forward line was poor again. The Dawes selection was dumb given the conditions, but more so I just don't think that he and Hogan can play in the same team. Particularly if Dawes can't ruck, and won't play near his man when we are defending. Pedersen and Hogan is a much better combination. Garlett clearly needs some incentive to perform, as he has been putrid since signing his contract. Harmes was horrible again and needs to head back to Casey. At least Kent attacked the ball this week, but his influence was neglible. I'd send him back to Casey too. I have no idea what Bugg was meant to be doing this week, but he had no impact. Wagner makes bad decisions consistently. Oliver's impact is excellent given his time on ground, but lacks the endurance at this point. Great to see Trengove make it through seemingly unscathed. He didn't have a huge impact, but he can find the footy okay. He'll be better with each game he plays. The disappearance of the kicking in danger rule is just bizarre. Clearly the AFL are waiting until someone gets a broken hand, then they will clamp down so hard that players will be scared to ever kick off the ground. If they had paid it the first time it happened, I'm sure it wouldn't have been an issue thereafter.

It seemed to me that Watts was doing the ruck work that Dawes should have been doing, and Kent was doing the pack crashing that Dawes should have been doing. Hence I have no idea why Dawes is in the side. Our forward line has functioned well for most of this year, generally with Hogan, Pedersen and Watts as the talls. As soon as that mix changes we fall apart.

His game against St Kilda was as bad as any I have seen by an experienced AFL footballer, but I don't think that means we throw him to the kerb. Especially when the next in line is just learning to put his big boy pants on. Unfortunately we have a coach who plays favourites, and form is not a consideration.

We don't have too many midfielders, not by a long shot. We have too many utility / flanker types such as Kent, Harmes, Kennedy, Michie, Newton, M.Jones who are not capable of being genuine midfielders. What we need is midfielders who can play forward or back at times (eg Hodge, Martin, Dalhaus), not flankers who aren't good enough.

Well, it is a much better balanced side than previous weeks, but the personnel is as ordinary as ever. Roos' love for Dawes is difficult to fathom, Frost and McDonald are unproven, Vandenberg has no form or match fitness, and both Kent and Harmes are extremely lucky to retain their spots. I'd love to know if Roos has flat out told Grimes (and Terlich for that matter) that he won't be selected this year, or if he is just stringing him out with lame excuses. How Newton, Vandenberg and Michie have jumped Grimes in the queue is baffling. I can't wait until Lumumba comes straight back into the senior team after 8 weeks with no time at Casey as well.

So happy for Jack. He is a very impressive young man, and I wish him all the best for Saturday and the rest of what is hopefully a long and productive career.

This will be interesting. I can't see us winning, but anything under 6 goals would be a good result. Hawthorn are due for a good performance, so anything up to a 20 goal loss is possible if we don't select the right side, and / or persist with stupid tactics and / or don't come ready to play. Hopefully all the C graders that have been clogging up the team sheet for the past month are shuffled back to Casey this week.

It seems to me that we just don't have the players to play this style of football against decent sides. Too many of our players are too lazy, too stupid or too inconsistent. I'll leave others to decide which players fit where, but Dean Kent is in all three groups. There are certain times and oppositions where it is appropriate to play in this manner, but teams such as Hawthorn and West Coast who use the ball well will cut us to shreds. We will lose by 100 points if we play the same way against Hawthorn that we have done for the past month.

Totally agree. Oscar needs at least 12 months more in the VFL, taking the opposition's number one forward each week. Then, and only then, should he be considered for AFL selection. He has only just turned 20. He can have five years developing at Casey if he needs it (this being his second), and still have a ten year AFL career.

Grimes is a better player than at least half our of current side, and will at least give 100% effort each week. I'm sick of players such as Kent and Harmes who only bother trying when it suits them. Sadly he seems to have run over Roos' cat, or committed some other unforgiveable sin, and hence cannot be considered for selection.

The lack of changes last week was shameful, and any less than five this week would confirm that Roos has left planet earth. All of Kent, Newton, O.McDonald, Hunt, Neal-Bullen, Kennedy, Wagner, and Harmes should be seriously considered for a trip down to Casey. Plus Viney is out. Kent, Kennedy, Newton and McDonald should be certain outs. We need experience, toughness and heart. In: Pedersen, Grimes, Trengove, Oliver, Terlich and White. Would seriously consider Spencer to give Max a proper chop out, but I assume Roos will find a way to get his love child Dawes in instead.

We are still far too reliant on our best 6 - 8 players to be a decent side, because our bottom 6- 8 players do not consistently play at AFL standard. On the weekend Viney, Vince, Garlett and McDonald had zero influence, hence we lost badly. The likes of Harmes and Kent come to play once a month, and until those guys become consistent footballers, or we find guys who can stand up consistently, we will remain an average side. The thing that bothers me about season 2016 is that our five wins have been against sides we beat last year, and our five losses have been against sides we lost to last year. We are playing a different style of football, but our results show to me that we haven't improved on last year (yet).

It is just plain dumb not to go in with a tall on the bench. God forbid if Gawn gets injured in the first quarter. Then what do we do? Watts in the ruck, spelled by Hogan? I can see that ending well for all concerned. Port have gone taller and we should have too.

There was nothing tough or hard about Pickett. He was a sniper at best, and gutless at worst. We paid massively over the odds for him and he did nothing in return. He was the biggest waste of space ever to grace the MFC with his presence in my 32 years as a member. Viewed the club as his superannuation only. Rarely got out of 3rd gear on or off the field, and resembled a keg on legs by the end of his time. Probably fast tracked the departure of Neale Daniher.