Diamond_Jim

Casey with its wind is not a great ground for practicing goal kicking. That said the wind doesn't look too bad today on the broadcast

Would have been interesting to see Roy George today Langford goals from 40

Fullerton.. a nice mark on the lead... 30 metres out directly in front GOAL

Other than the Yze miss the shots were from around 45 metres including some blazing on the run. Fullerton's two misses were from perhaps 35 on a 45 degree angle. Percentage wise you could expect at least another 3-4 goals

And North take the lead... Some good play by Casey between the arcs but the forward play................ PS... We got one !!

Casey open the second quarter with a set shot and.... a behind

Yze.. strong mark and hits the post from ten metres on an angle

Casey 2 goals 8 Probably should be 5:5 Bonner getting a lot of the ball

Another mark to Fullerton and a miss

Fullerton with two strong marks in the forward line but misses both. Casey doing well except up forward. Blazing away

Tis the sun no good for TV You would have thought that on a greenfields site they might have got the alignment right but no.. they couldn't even get the grass to grow

Well.... that's accurate kicking to say the least

A perfect day tomorrow for afternoon football at the empty MCG and we will be under the lights of a closed roof

Six or seven strong interstate teams this year. Going to be a battle for the 8 and once again the possibility of few finals in Melbourne. Don't think I could barrack for Hawthorn

I had forgotten that the AFL paid $200M for Docklands. While not quite broke the AFL has spent all its rainy day money and is looking to put away $100M ($20M x 5 years) to replenish its future fund. As this money has to come at the expense of someone be prepared for some hard lobbying. The article below by Caroline Wilson is a good read on where the money went and how they hope to replace it. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/revealed-dillon-s-100-million-plan-to-disaster-proof-the-afl-20250320-p5ll45.html The war chest would amount to the re-establishment of the future fund first created by then AFL boss Andrew Demetriou in 2007. That fund is now empty – first significantly drained with the 2016 purchase of Marvel and later emptied during the COVID pandemic. The AFL is also apprehensive of the current media landscape and the clubs have been warned that the game should create an insurance policy against the threat of its media backers, the Seven Network and Foxtel, struggling to honour their contracts. That unlikely but still feared prospect sits alongside a costly and unprofitable AFLW competition, the competition’s expansion with a 19th team in Tasmania, and ongoing concerns about the debt-ridden weaker clubs.

VFL should have moved to 16 a side years ago. I like the boundary idea but it could be counteractive in the sense that play would avoid the boundary in favour of the corridor thus increasing congestion. Trial it in the VFL for the first half of each year for a couple of seasons perhaps

Spargo has trained lightly over the summer. He did not participate in any of the senior practice matches. He played part of a VFL practice match last week on which we have no reports. Amazed if he plays a full AFL game but who knows Edit... Obviously I don't Good luck to him

Up against the Mighty Socceroos

And in the spirit of synchronicity it's half time in all three matches

After a strong start by the Storm Penrith coming back 14-10 Indonesia's new very expensive coach may not last long. The Indonesian league was known for some vicious fighting between fans but things seem to have cooled down a little in recent years

Big night with Socceroos about to kick off in a must win game against Indonesia and Storm playing Penrith in a GF rematch

Agree That losing practice match between Casey and Coburg can't have been his best. Surprised that Spargo is a possibility after such a long lay off. His pre-injury form in 2023 wasn't stellar

TC is the man this year Dee Zone. Bell our long time stand in when Verrall and Fullerton aren't available has gone elsewhere. With Tom Mac and Jeffo in the seniors plus the possibility of TC being held back as an emergency we could struggle against North

Attendance numbers post covid for the competition have risen but mainly due to extra rounds, split rounds (round zero) and marketing of a few blockbusters. I suspect most home and way games are showing relatively stagnant attendance figures. Similarly TV audiences are up simply because we have 9 games per weekend that don't clash. I doubt that there's much more juice in the lemon unless you can increase the number of theatre goers and lets face it they were never coming out late on a Sunday against an absolute premier sporting event such as the F1 GP. It's all about the event rather than the game. (Just ask the racing clubs). A St Patrick's Day game (Jimmy's Game) might work but you would need to invest big in the hoopla and of course don't go up against F1. When LIV golf paid a DJ $2M plus to spin in Adelaide and even F1 said it wasn't within their budget you realise how things have moved on.

You wonder who sets this fixture. An 11am start at Arden Street would have been a great prelude to the Docklands match but no we're at Casey Will be interesting to see how Spargo goes after such a long time out