Diamond_Jim

The Jones that we saw on Sunday against GWS doesn't get another year. The level of injuries means we don't have to debate the "Drop" word at present but it's time to begin thinking about the question. How it is handled will be a measure of our maturity as a club.

a new low.... given our form we can afford to have a laugh. I wonder if he gets paid.... there used to be clauses about pay being withheld if suspended but I don't think they have them anymore.

It's probably a play off between Stretch and JKH. Assuming Maynard goes we need at least one back up mid. Stretch should get say another 2 games and then JKH can have a run of 5 or 6 games. I'd love to see them both make it but alas .......

28 degrees at game time with a relative humidity of 70%. Luckily a win or loss this week is irrelevant but this game has to go. At least it will give some of us an excuse for the Collingwood thrashing on QB.

Agree The stand alone teams are generally stronger across the board than the aligned teams where the aligned team has more than say 6 players injured. They also have the benefit of training as a team whereas the Casey listed players rarely train with the AFL squad.

Perhaps the easiest thing is to look towards the next six to eight weeks and ask what improvement we would like to see win lose or draw. For me it's relatively easy... I want to see improvement in the form of Brayshaw and Viney plus I want Tom Mac to improve his marking skills and his interaction with one or two of our small forwards. The drop off in the form of Jones is alarming and was highlighted against GWS. Did he win any one on ones? To me the finding of form by the senior players is far more important than discovering a young gem. (BTW there probably isn't one). I'll be happy with thirteenth place and eight odd wins plus some close losses. As to the wins I want to see some high scoring thrashings.... not the five odd point fall over the line wins we have achieved so far.

Apparently the player nominates his deal.... Players must submit their contract terms when nominating - A player on a short-term contract ending on October 31 the same year receives a minimum of $50,000, with a further $20,000 if they are not re-signed or picked up as a delisted free agent - A player on a contract that ends on October 31 the following year is subject to the same terms as any other player https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-04-17/midseason-draft-rules-clubs-allowed-to-test-up-to-three-players

I assume he gets a six month contract period in which to impress. I suppose the upside for him is that he's coming into a team into which it may not be too hard to impress. Good luck Kyle....

One of the special things about Australian sport has been the mixing of supporters at games. It would be a shame for it to be lost.

putting those two together does not make for a bright future. My positive spin is that in the good form of 2018 mirrored reasonable form in 2017 so it's not that 2018 was an aberration. Where that form has gone for so many of them who knows.

great theory but hard in practice. In the national draft these players would be picks 70 plus. Very hard to recognise potential at that point. It's simple ... best available but not a small please. Our depth is so sadly lacking even a project depth player would be a plus.

Tigers had a similar number and didn't fold. Third choice ruckman. Let's face it the best 22 uninjured players have let us down badly.

did they have drums for the marching season. Nothing like the Battle of the Boyne to get the tempers flying. On a completely different note if you haven't seen Derry Girls it is magnifcent television.

did I hear right on the radio yesterday that this draft is only for 19 year olds?

While I don't know him Balme struck me as the perfect director of football. Smart, able to communicate and good management skills. Scott's persona as portrayed in the media is perhaps a little more tunnel visioned than I would have wanted for the role but there is no doubt that the right person in the role provides the glue. The role of the CEO is to stay out of the football department unless systemic issues require intervention. The one role that is becoming less defined as the years go by is that of head coach.

Agree but he might be interested in a "director of football role." If we were to appoint one with a meaningful role it could help in improving the coaching standard. At the start of the season I posted that we needed to see improvement and more consistency from the coaching staff. They appear to have gone backwards on so many levels.... selection, 6-6-6, variable gameplans and of course that most important area ... psychological management. This season has been woeful not because of injuries but because of the drop off in form by so many of the non injured senior players. That strikes me as a systemic issue.

goalless quarters are relatively common... Don't despair... we are special we are aiming for goalless halves to add to all those other records we hold like biggest losing margin in a game. biggest losing margin in a grand final... I'm sure there are others like first to lose to expansion team xyz

St Kilda forward Paddy McCartin said he was desperately struggling with the symptoms of repeated concussions and could not put a timeframe on a return to AFL football. Asked how he was feeling McCartin, 23, said: ''not great to be honest, it's been a tough past few months''. "I've lost my footy identity a bit but also a bit ot my identity as a person,'' McCartin told Triple M after he was placed on St Kilda's long-term injury list. McCartin said he had struggled to ''do basic things'' whether it was supermarket shopping, going to the cafe or driving his car, and described his girlfriend as "virtually a full-time carer''. For this to happen to a young man is so sad. Get well Paddy. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/luckless-saint-mccartin-on-long-term-injury-list-20190526-p51r8j.html

At least the gameplan didn't let us down today. We hardly had the ball in our forward line for the first 3/4 so there wasn't much chance for the easy out. And to think they missed 4 easy goals in that first quarter .. this could so easily and probably should have been a hundred point loss.

Jake Lever out of the game just before half time... injured

it's the complete lack of form of the "better" players that we are lamenting. If we were saying that a, b and c almost got the team across the line etc then it would be better. Make no mistake this season has been abysmal.

21 points in favour of Casey

My worry is that the players are falling into bad habits and once again getting used to being beaten. Other clubs such as Collingwood and Richmond have heavy injury lists which explains say a 20% drop in form ... ours has been almost total.

The selection of Spargo was mind blowing. I like the guy but his skills this year have been abysmal.

each to his own but have seen it too many time times before.. Used to hang our hats on individual cameos for 30 odd years.. wearing very thin these days