spirit of norm smith

Satisfactory effort this week

In. Pickett out Mcvee (team balance) likely team Hibbo May Lever Bowey Petty Rivers Langdon Viney Hunter ANB JVR Sparrow Pickett BBB* Fritsch Grundy Trac Oliver int Spargo JJ Brayshaw Chandler sub Howes / Melksham *Probably Tmcd in if BBB injured or *maybe Tomlinson in if BBB injured (Petty goes forward)

6 - Oliver 5- Grundy 4- Langdon 3- Petracca 2- Rivers 1- JVR Apologies to Hunter, Chandler, Lever, JJ and about 9 others.

Really pleased to see good mix of Dees AFL listed group and Casey players. With an 11/11 combo this week , lots of good signs from youngsters at Casey. Sheridan looked like he’s going to be a good addition.

Need to make a statement today. 2022 finals loss needs some revenge. Big test today to see how we have learned against a team that plays on the rebound with pace. Goodwin cannot allow Mills to be a quarterback and rack up possessions and set up attacks. Clearances will be vital. We lost out to them as Parker and Rowbottom smashed us last year. Go Dees !

UNAVAILABLE : Round 3 Josh Schache - Concussion | 1 - 2 Weeks Max Gawn - Knee | 4 - 6 Weeks Taj Woewodin - Finger | 5 Weeks Christian Salem - Knee | 6 - 8 weeks Will Verrall - Pelvis | 8 - 10 Weeks Kysaiah Pickett - Suspended | 1 Week - available round 4 James Harmes - personal reasons - TBA Joel Smith - TBA

That’s frustrating. He could be a good player. But it could be his last year. So much potential but so so many injuries.

Swans have a good combo of pace through their lines - Florent and Blakey across half back, then Mcinerney, Gulden and Stephen’s on the wings and then Warner and Papley forward of the footy. Whilst their inside Mids of Heeney, Mills, Parker and Rowbottom are tough competitors and we will be pressed again to win clearances. It’s a hard one but watching the GF shows they are vulnerable if you can get supply into the forward line really quickly. It will start with Centre clearances where we need guns like JV, Clarry and TRAC to be af their best.

He’s at least 8 weeks away with no/little pre season fitness base. He is unlikely to be considered imv until round 14 at least if all goes to plan.

Match report on Eagles v Giants. Jayden Hunt was recruited for his speed, and on Sunday he showed his value with 23 disposals, two goals, and 566m gained.

Hawks clearly tanking but getting rid of older players like Gunston, Omeara and Mitchell. I’d back them to be 17th/18th at year end!!!

Key stats round 2 1. CLEARANCES LOST 30-60 Centre clearance 10-20 Stoppages 20-40 this was probably the worst mauling our midfield has had in the last 7-8 years 2. HANDBALLS 150 Kicks 200 Clearly overhandballing issue again, seen not as overlap running handballs but by players in close deciding to do a 30cm handball to another teammate under more pressure or in fact when free choosing to handball to someone under pressure !! When we move the ball quickly often by kicking and running and playing on, we look dangerous. Slow overuse of handball is a weakness evident in many of our recent losses through 2nd half of 2022

Freo can pickup their season but I still think they’ll be 7th/8th at best - hopefully more like 12/13th!!! If we should hold any pick inside top 10, it’s a nice bonus from the LJ departure.

It was obvious that we will need someone to support Grundy. Tmcd is not a relief ruckman any more. He’s physically not in great shape (imv) and was pushed aside too easily by the Lions both in the ruck and as a key forward. Thought it might be Schache for a few weeks but given he’s out for next week, fully support the JVR call up.

@joeboy Hunter - had little influence I have to disagree. Hunter played very well in my opinion. I was at the game. He was creative and smart with very few errors. Probably one of our best 3-4 players. 22 possessions. 15 kicks. 480 metres gained. Kicked a good goal. Hit targets. He was prominent and had influence.

It’s Brodie Grundy time. He’s here for a reason. Let’s get behind Brodie as big Max recovers.

I am liking this kid already. Knows how to score goals 👍🏻

ANW - I think he could be a player. Andy has that pace over 5-10 metres. Needs to sharpen his skills and decisions. Loves a tackle.

Steele is a player. Like to see him really b we given the chance to develop this year. Smokey chance for a rookie list selection at year end.

Casey’s midfield seems to lack pace. Dunstan Jordon Munro miss Baker and Bedford from 2022 Woey jnr also missing this week as good link runner Dogs Mids seemed quicker in practice match certainly drafting 2-3 quick Mids is on my list for 2023 draft

Five Key Questions 1- The Gawn injury update? By Monday we hope to have some answers. (Can we thrive with Grundy as sole ruckman ) 2- Smashed in the clearances. Smashed!! How? Why? Lost clearances 30-60. Centre clearances 10-20. Stoppages 20-40. You cannot win in those numbers. 3- Harmesy. Career worst game. I don’t like to single individuals but wow he was bad. How? Why? Tackling was terrible. Disposal poor. Fumbled all night. Didn’t tag so ineffective. Metres gained 40. Frees against 4. He cannot stay in. 4- Poor coaching or players ignoring strategy. Why did we play the slow and stop and wide ball movement game. Who’s coaching this? Simply allowed Lions to block the passages to goal. When we moved the footy quickly and ran, we were dangerous (especially in the last 11 minutes). 5- How good was Lachie Hunter? Very good. He was smart and creative. Looked to score and add extra defensive and attacking runs. Very good addition. Langdon looked out of sorts but Hunter proudly represented the Wingers club

Absolutely checking each hour for news. Our premiership campaign is built on many many players but Max is a very key part of the team. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞it’s only short term.

I love Harmesy BUT Harmes cracked through the ice and is on the bottom. He was terrible all night. FUMBLES. SLOW DISPOSAL. POOR TACKLING. Cannot stay in. Cannot ! Must be replaced by Jordon. Must.

Outs 🚑Gawn ( I hope and pray it’s not ACL) 🤡 Harmes must be dropped to Casey ☹️ Melksham to Casey (new sub needed) ? Tmcd was ineffective and pushed aside too easily by Payne ? Petty could benefit from time at Casey (Tomlinson was better again tonight) ins ⭐️ May must be back to battle Franklin ? JVR /Schache- depends on how perform at Casey (replace Tmcd) ? Salem - fitness test 🙏🏽 👍🏻 Jordon to come back in (why was he out?) sub Joel Smith if he has a good game

6 Lever - steady and reliable all night 5 Hunter - very damaging with the footy, smart and creative 4 Ben Brown - played CHF and key forward and kicked good goals 3 Grundy - battled hard against two opponents and reminded off his ruck craft 2 Oliver - battled and battled as a warrior all night but fumbles and turnovers were costly (and some defensive switch offs were costly) 1 Bowey- got less of the footy than others but disposal efficiency were effective and created 3 goals and intercepted well