rjay

I hope the replacement is not someone from within AFL house. It's been inbred for too long now. Gale would be the obvious replacement from outside. He's ruffled a few feathers at HQ and that might be a good thing.

'@binman' I'm interested in your views on JVR and Howes. I watched the replay but the camera angles are not great plus you don't get an idea of work rate. Howes seemed to be out of position a lot but that may not be the case. I like what JVR does, doesn't lose many contests and works to bring the ball to ground if he can't mark it himself...nice little Tommy Hawkins in the ruck to Brown for a goal as well. Laurie is another interesting one, looks a footballer.

It was classed as intentional conduct with low impact and high contact for a two-match ban which can be reduced to a one-game sanction. https://www.afl.com.au/news/740734/from-h-s-protocols-to-vfl-ban-flag-demon-s-return-on-hold-again. Looks about right...it might be a reprieve for Tommy or Weid...then again we might try something else.

Good luck to anyone running with Ed on the wing...

My pick would be Petty back and Tomo forward that is unless JVR is showing enough to get selected. Smith despite what many will say is not a good forward...gets in the way and jumps all over team mates.

His kicking of late has been spot on...it's one of the big improvements in his game.

If he's competing with Petty for a spot he's not going to be playing a lot of senior footy. If you're talking stats Petty is 197cm v Smith's 191cm...Petty is a great foil for Lever and May taking out oppo talls and plays his role well.

Yeah, I don't go with this theory. If he still had to physically develop then yeah...but he's a strong kid. If his tank is up to it, he has a few good games and Casey and Wied/Tommy aren't performing well then get him in. As a first round pick you really develop your game playing senior footy, you should be ready to go.

Believe it or not some have suggested it...can't be bothered with a search but yes they have.

Just saying that Bowey was not the only exception...

Kossy, Jackson, Rivers...

I wish we could find a Mick Taylor to fill our forward line.

A couple more good games at Casey, unless Tommy/Weid turns his form around I would think it's all there for JVR.

It's not just last weeks game but has been consistent over the last few seasons including covid and pre covid... I only notice our team but is it across the board? Is it a trend in the VFL or is it something to do with how we are developing our players and game plan? I remember ANB going back to Casey a couple of years back and his stats were around high teens early 20's, where in his first few seasons when playing at Casey he was picking up mid 30's. Howes was interesting on the weekend, had a good first half then lucky to get a touch in the 2nd. Anyway, it's something that's been on my mind for a while now and looking at the game stats for the weekend just got me thinking again.

So, I've noticed this over the last few seasons at VFL level... Is there a reason no one is getting big possession numbers anymore? I remember when ANB first came on the scene he was getting 30's...when Grimes & Trengove were on the outer they were also regularly racking up 30's... ...but now Dunstan for example is hardly knocking the door down with 15 touches.

Us...ourselves...Melbourne Keep fit and mental on song, we win it.

I think the umpires seemed top go by the mantra of "putting the whistle away" in finals. I get the idea of letting the game flow but there were some obvious ones that needed to be given. All they did was end up with a congested game that wasn't helped by the conditions. As for the spectacle, if we weren't playing and I didn't have an emotional attachment I wouldn't have got more that 5 mins in before turning off.

This is Weid's final chance I would think. There is a kid at Casey who is already pushing his name up.

The classic case of a missed free was where Taylor Duryea flattened a Sydney player, straight in his back and the commentators to my amusement said he executed the tackle perfectly so he didn't get in his back...lol Later a Swans player executed the perfect tackle turning the opponent on his side and it was payed in the back. It was a poorly umpired game and the 7 commentators aren't helping. Free kick Hawthorn is definitely now free Kick Bulldogs...

Must have been a message from HQ for the commentators to talk up Ugle-Hagan tonight...

So far Bowey has been the best performed player in his draft year, well surpassing the hyped up no 1 pick Ugle-Hagen. EFC have Perkins running around against us this Friday and I really rate him, think he will be a player.

That is very true...The introduction of GC and GWS made things very difficult. We also learned the lesson about cherry picking with Lever, May and Langdon.

...and whilst we're talking Franklin, he left the Hawks and the sky didn't fall in. From memory they won 2 more flags. Of course we all want to keep Jackson and most likely will...

I hope your intel is good 'jnr'...