Cranky Franky

6. Gawn

5.  Vince

4. T Mac

3 Watts

2. Kennedy

1. Kent 

Sorry I can't join the party most teams would have belted the pies by 10 goals.  Oscar was passable but should still be at Casey - he gave away 2 goals.  Jetta, Stretch & VDB were barely adequate.  Frost & Tom McD were lucky the Pies kicking for goal was poor.  Hogan dropped 3 chest marks.  Trengove is just going.  Lucky for us Watts, Max & Bernie had huge games & the Pies were missing a few players. 

I don't find it particularly funny.  I'm not a great fan of Grimes but his form at Casey has been outstanding & he deserves an opportunity.   I don't think it does much for the integrity of the Club or the playing group if good form is not rewarded.

He's just signed a new contract & unfortunately a lot of players drop form when that happens.  A couple of years ago Lynden Dunn was in career best form during contract negotiations but his form dropped away after he had signed.  Aaron Davey was another one who played his best footy leading up to contract negotiations.

I am starting  campaign to bring back Jack Grimes.  At the moment only Nev Jetta seems to have clue about how to play properly in our backline.  Jack may have suspect disposal but he is courageous & knows how to stick close to dangerous forwards - time to bring him back.

If Oscar was at Hawthorn or Geelong he would spend 40-50 games in the VFL developing his skills & learning the game which is what should happen to  most players unless they are super talented.

How our Brains Trust believe that Oscar is a better bet in defence than Frost has got me flummoxed. 

I am very worried that we have no natural match up for Stringer.  If he is not manned up he will chop us to pieces.  We stuffed up our defensive match ups against St Kilda & I'm worried we might do it again on Sunday.   Would have thought that Dunn was the ideal match for Stringer.  Dogs have Campbell & Redpath.  We can use Garland & Tom McD on them although both are a little undermanned.  Maybe they have a plan to use Oscar McD.

First Daniher chopped us up then no Melbourne player went near Brent Harvey & he carved us & now Membrey & Riewoldt(again) destroyed us.

Who the hell is organising the defence at the Club because ATM they look like rabble.  Harry & Jetta have had to pick up players 10cm taller & nobody seems to be able to stick close to his opponent.  Dunn looks shot & Tom Mc leaves his man to chase kicks.

The defensive 6 should work as a tight unit but they are bordering rubbish.

Maybe its time to bring back Grimes & Garland who at least know how to play tight.

Jackson's most important job now is to make sure that whenever he decides to leave his replacement is as good as he is.

2 hours ago, jnrmac said:

That is not true. He had four seasons at Norf improving significantly with each one. He was targeted by Hawthorn to fill the role he is playing now. Garland did play well early on but something happened and he began to have brain fades and disposal issues.

Gibson's first 3 years at NM were statistically speaking very similar with little improvement.  In his 4th year he improved significantly.  Likewise in his first 3 years at Hawthorn his stats were just so so.  After that however his career really took off whereas at the same age Garland's career went south.

12 hours ago, Moonshadow said:

On what planet can Garlo be compared with Josh Gibson? Chalk and cheese.

Very comparable actually.  When Gibson left North he was seen as just a journeyman ie a good ordinary player. At Hawthorn he has got better & better.  After 4/5 years Garland was seen as a potential top notch player.  He played very well on Buddy Franklin early in his career & was hailed as the prototype "swing man".   Sadly since then he has stalled or gone backwards whereas Gibson has blossomed.

Both players are about the same size & have the same level of natural ability in fact Col is probably more talented.  Gibson is more aggressive & tenacious & pushes the rules ie hangs on & scrags a lot & is invariably looking to attack. 

Gibson now has 2 B&F's, an AA and is a premiership player. 

A few years ago Col was 2nd in the B&F & looked set to become an elite player.  Since then he has gone backwards, become timid & hesitant.  Maybe he could take a leaf out of Gibson's book & turn out to be the player we all hoped for.

I am glad he has been dropped hopefully it is the kick up the ars# that he needs. 

Early days but Parish looks damn good. 

We need to remember that Frost has played just 25 odd games of footy.  He was initially a rookie at GWS.  He showed promise as a defender at GWS.

I think Roos is showing poor judgement to expect him to be holding down CHF.  He needs to go back to defence, learn the game & get comfortable.  Then after a couple of seasons when he has learned a bit more about the game maybe he can be tried up forward.

18 minutes ago, Farmer said:

In the last quarter, as Pedo  was out marked by  Lobb, I wondered why he had gone back and not Frost.

i still can't understand why he can't play SOME role in the ruck. Stynes was able to play all day in the ball, because for much of the time Schwarz did the ruck work on the forward line. From recollection he never contested in the centre of the ground, but was very effective at boundary throwins. If Frost could take some of the workload from Max it would help our cause greatly.

overall, however, with his size and athletecism, I favour giving him a decent run in the team

The fact is that coaches despite the fact they have a lot of knowledge occasionally get it totally wrong.   Eventually the penny will drop & Frost will go back to defence. 

5 minutes ago, Forest Demon said:

To expand on the one game stats comment, last year he averaged 8 disposals and 2 tackles from 3 games, in the pre-season this year he averaged 7 disposals and 1 tackle from 3 games, and add that to the 7 disposals and 0 tackles on the weekend.

The Brains Trust have got this badly wrong.  From the highlights of Frosts time at GWS he is a natural defender so put him back there.  Plus we are desperately in need of another Tall in the backline - someone to take on the 195-200 cm forwards. Lobb was virtually marking at will during the game, lucky for us his kicking was off. 

Jack took a step in 2015.  That was when he started to be more aggressive in contests and learned to dispose of the ball effectively when being tackled.   He had a very good patch of form for about 10 to 12 games before falling away.

He just needs to learn to play like yesterday week in week out.

After last year's last minute loss to the Saints I read comments by big Max.  He said in hindsight he should of just tapped the ball to his feet & tried for another ball up again and again to use up the time.

Yesterday 10 seconds to go & he taps it down the throat of a GWS player who banged it forward where they had a chance to take a mark.

Looks like not much was learned.

4 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Maybe he's just one of those players that gets himself up for a contract year.

Watts is in a contract year and look how well he's started it.

Round 23 vs GWS last year was perhaps a sign of things to come when O Mac took his spot in defence and pushed him up forward.

I think you are correct - a lot of players fire up in their contract year. interesting comments about Dunn from Roos I this year's guide " Its really now about him grasping what we want him to do with regards to the game plan and making simple decisions"

18 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Oscar McDonald concerns me.

Concerned is not the word - Disaster is more like it.  He was dreadful in the first NAB cup game & barely competent in the last one.  A decent forward will cut him to pieces.

54 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Scully's proved to be a gem of a marquee signing.

 

At the time Robert Walls wrote an article telling Scully to take the $$ because what GWS was offering was a ridiculous amount & Scully would only ever be a good ordinary player.

For what GWS offered up they should have got a player of the calibre of Swan, Pendlebury or Dangerfield.

2 hours ago, S_T said:

After NAB 1 and 2 I thought that, but I think his performance in NAB 3 (which I thought was quite solid) has put him right in the picture to play.  I really didn't think he would be to AFL standard for the first half of the season, but I think things are looking good for him to debut this weekend.

I think he offers some real creativity and vision off half back, and I have a feeling he is playing the role the coaches give him very well.

All 3 NAB games and being part of the 18 running through match day scenarios on the eve of the season start?  I think he's very likely.

It'll be a great half back line this week with Hunt, Oscar McDonald & Wagner

1 hour ago, goodoil said:

You are right but it seems Vince is going to be more involved off half-back and I just think going into round 1 he is an awful long way off playing and would be in the mid-30s on the list of players in line for a round 1 game.  Obviously that can change quickly and not writing him off as a footballer.  Just think the club will play a lot of players ahead of him in the short-term on the evidence of his two NAB games and that they didn't play him NAB3.

Don't think Redleg will be fazed by some discussion about his opinion - he's a Demonland warrior and comments were not in any way intended to be an attack in any case.

I know its all fun and games but seriously I wonder whether some of the Demonland posters are on a parallel universe or are taking strong medication.

Hunt is a million miles from playing senior football he has not even played good consistent footy at Casey.  I've even seen people suggesting Oscar Mac & Hulett are champions where in fact they have yet to establish themselves in the Casey firsts. 

2 hours ago, Redleg said:

Unless Hunt is injured, I think we will see him debut next week with Oliver. If he wasn't in calculations and is uninjured, he would have played today.

He certainly has the pace we need off half back and HL might not have done enough yet.

Are you serious or having a lend of us ?  Hunt barely touched the ball in the 2 games I saw him play.  He is a long way from his debut.  

55 minutes ago, jayceebee31 said:

Agree....But.....he will play Firsts at Casey and has a long way to go, like his brother.....but I still l believe he will still become a gun...look,at Gawn as an example...

 

another example is Dunn.

Gawn, Tom McD, & Dunn all showed some talent & ability from their first few games Oscar has not.  He was at Casey reserves for the first half of 2015 then got 2 charity games at the end.

In the NAB games this year he has been awful and pretty much completely lost.  He has no strength or physical aggression, poor vision and ordinary disposal.

I sincerely hope he makes it too but lets keeps some perspective.