Ted Lasso

Keen to see how Weiderman goes, i reckon he's already catching the eye of the coaches so hopefully he keeps that form up

I wonder if the father son rule could be changed to a legacy rule, where by a child of a player who's played 100 or more games at a club can be signed on to that club early, with the female league coming in i think a few daughters might be keen to follow in their fathers footsteps! it's a great time in the AFL

What difference does it make if the Casey coaches are MFC employees and they're playing our game plan and we're pulling the strings, the only difference is it's much cheaper to stick with Casey and the jumper they wear.

I think we should just attack, our boys know how to defend, now if they win the ball they should play on and move it as fast as possible, our aim should be to give Hogan and Garlett as many one out opportunities as possible per game because while Hogans form isn't great at the minute, any defender is going to be nervous one out against one of those two

Very good news!

Jesse isn't helping himself, every man in his dog will write an article every time he says or does anything, that's just what his career is going to be like, but when he doesn't lead, chase, tackle and constantly looks for free kicks, he just gives them ammunition

Biggest thing that stood out for me today, aside from the rubbish Weather, is i think a lot of people have forgotten just how good a player Jack Trengove is, he looks starting 18 at least on training form, and clearly played well for Casey! he has the class, smarts and skills we're desperately lacking.

Definitely, but i think the free'd up money would go straight towards someone like Michael Hurley and we'd have a couple of good picks or a good player and picks as well, so while it would be disappointing i don't think it'd be as bad as some people are suggesting. I rate Weiderman extremely highly, he might well end up being as good as Hogan, Daniher and co anyway

the club wanted two more first round picks, was really keen on Weiderman a long way before the draft and expects to rise up the ladder quite a bit this year, to me it was a logical decision, the pressure is now on, if we finish bottom 4 we still come out of it okay because imo both Weiderman and oliver look like 200 game players for the club

I don't mind the footy show, but only in small doses

i don't believe the club is doing enough to protect Jesse at this stage, keep him away from the media he has enough on his plate. I am not of the opinion anything major has changed with Jesse's commitment to the club, clearly he has a few things on his mind outside footy and i'm sure they're playing a role in this, but a good number of AFL players do at some stage. Jesse will be fine when he returns to doing the basic things, we all know how good he is and he knows how good he is, once he gets back to playing his role, the team will be fine. I think we're missing Dawes a fair bit out there, he has the leadership to keep Jesse Leading and so on when he falls into these slumps. He'll be fine.

It makes it harder to find a trade, GWS will still demand at least one first rounder for CM, so if they want Hogan as well they better be willing to hand over some good players.

Agreed, MFC will not accept two picks between 10-18 for Hogan we will say Fyfe, or Neale and a couple of picks or something like that!

As i am sure you're aware this has far more to do with the horrible efforts of the midfield and half backs bombing the ball long and high over and over than any one player, Wayne Carey would struggle with the delivery we were serving up so i don't think it's fair to judge the way the forward line structure works until we see it with the midfield delivering the ball well, the biggest difference you'll see from the last quarter against the Giants isn't as you suggest based on the fact they cleared Pedo out, it's based on the fact we actually kicked the ball to targets instead of bombing it long. Neither Pedo or Garland is totally to blame for our efforts, as a team we're not doing the basics well enough, often enough

I really rate Stretch, i had him in my best 22 before the year started, i'd like to see him come into the side and give us some run off half back, allowing us to move Salem up the ground where he might have a bit more of an impact

The other thing to this is i think that's the position he'll play long term, Weiderman is far more of a deep forward player, he's not as mobile as Hogan but he's just as capable of taking a big contested mark, when he develops his body it will be like having a Pavlich&Hawkins combo Jesse just needs to get his hands on the ball a bit and get back to playing his role and not trying to do to much or thinking to much.

I agree totally that it would help and i know he's been in touch with Carey once and Jonothan Brown a few times, i really think the issues Jesse is having are between the ears, he thinks he needs to be a match winner because he knows he's good enough, but he's forgetting to do the little things that made him such a good player like, Leading hard, repeat leads, chasing, harrassing, Tackling, getting to a heap of contests and at least bringing the ball to ground. He still has the magic touch where those handballs always seem to set up goals, he just needs to work on the basics and get those right and he'll bounce back very strongly.

That's the thing, the forwards crowd the forward line to try and create space, but if they do force a turnover there is no space for Hogan so we don't score easily from it.

Agree'd! he looked very good, not as good as Oliver but i don't think we'd have any regrets if we did pick Parish over Oliver

If i were in charge the changes i'd make are... Bring Lynden Dunn back in right away, we need his experience and leadership down back desperately. Move Salem onto a Wing/half forward, he isn't a great defender and we really lack quality delivery inside 50 Move Hogan to CHF, his mobility is his strength so let him use it. Play one of Pedo/Frost/Dawes in the goal square with the simple role of either mark the ball, or bring it to ground and give Garlett/Kennedy/Kent a chance. Move Vince back into the midfield for more of the time, yes we're building depth but he has just won the bluey and we saw last year, he can kick long goals and delivers the ball well inside 50, we need Watts, Vince and Salem delivering the ball inside, not bombing it long. Bring in Billy Stretch, he is consistent with his effort, uses the ball well and has the pace and outside class the side desperately lacks, especially while trying to move the ball faster. have a team rule that if a young player isn't 100% fit he doesn't play, Brayshaw was clearly underdone and is a class player, we need to make sure he's right to go so we don't overcook him, same with Petracca, Oliver, Weiderman add good ball use, speed and decision making to the key aspects we're looking for in recruits for next year. play on at every opportunity, the faster we get the ball into Hogan, Watts and Garlett the better we're going to score, only go to the top of the goal score if there is no other option, always prefer high % inside 50's

I have mentioned on here before, my best friend is good friends with Jesse and i caught up with her this morning and she said he thinks he's " overthinking it" and forgetting to do the basic things well, getting a bit frustrated it's not happening for him while still understanding that's because he's not doing the basics like leading hard and so on. The coaches are telling him just keep it simple, try and get to as many contests as possible and try not to be outmarked, if he brings it to the ground it gives Jeffy a chance. we saw in the last quarter against the Giants how good a player he is, but you'll notice there, he is much better when the forward line isn't packed and we're delivering it to him not bombing it on top of his head.

Agree with basically all of this. Tommy Mac will be fine imo Hogan is suffering under the weight of media scrutiny and pressure of being the " Great white hope" club could do more to protect him.. he did three interviews last week. Tyson i rate but don't think he works hard enough yet, when that clicks he'll be a good player for us Salem, i see as a mid, i don't like him as a defender Watts has been great all pre season but if we move the ball like we did yesterday we give him very little chance. Gawn gets hitouts but not many to real advantage

I think the two things i have learned from the first two rounds are, 1. the % of fitness a player needs before being selected is now going to be much higher, underdone players will become liabilities under the interchange cap. 2. the days of young players playing all 23 games are probably over, even Hogan is going to need to be rested this year imo

Roosy gave Matt Jones a huge pump up last week, there is no chance he'd drop him after one average game.

It's built on an indian burial ground, but don't tell anyone, it explains the way we have performed over the last ten year...