spirit of norm smith

I am shattered. Devastating to lose such a great player. A great Demon. He was a heart and soul player. Skills and courage. Absolutely had to put his future life as a priority. Thank you Gus. A great career. 👏👏👏

Excellent pickup back at Casey. Was very good for Werribee especially in 2023. The 25yo is ready to go as a mature player across Casey defence. With Daniel Turner having extended absence due to injury, he will slot into 3rd defender role behind Hore and Adams.

I’m not sure we can carry Ben Brown. I am hopeful he can make a difference in 2024. He’s an accurate kick and good on the lead. But his degenerative knee is causing him serious ongoing issues.

Howes is much better as a wing or half forward. I’d prefer him at half forward when he gets a chance. He can kick a lovely goal, mark and do something special. Mercurial is a word.

And this from the Age’s footy writer Jon Pierik Melbourne Improve goalkicking accuracy The Demons are desperate to atone for successive finals flame outs. Christian Petracca says the Demons have tinkered with their gameplan. One area in need of attention is connection in the forward half, as well as accuracy. The Demons produced the worst shot at goal accuracy (31.4 per cent) during the finals of any finalist since the measure was first recorded in 2002. Petracca’s shot at goal accuracy of just 32.2 per cent was a case in point.

Ok lock this in the time capsule - a bold call

A few weeks still to go. Fingers crossed on availability and health of the list.

Dislike - bombs into the forward line. FFS. Still !!!!

9 players are likely to be unavailable: l.hunter, c.oliver, j.melksham, t.mcd, d.turner, j.smith h.petty, BBB. suspension. K.pickett Round Zero (27) B: McVee May Tomlinson HB: Rivers Lever Salem C: Langdon Sparrow Windsor HF: Neal-Bullen Schache Billings F: Fritsch van Rooyen McAdam Foll: Gawn Petracca Viney I/c: Spargo Brayshaw Bowey Laurie Sub: Woewodin Emerg: Howes Hore Chandler Fullerton development. (8) Verrell. Adams. Tholstrup. KBrown. Jefferson. ANW. Sestan. Farris-White.

I was confident then. And confident for 2024. Get the goalkicking right and hit a target inside forward 50. We can win it. 2024 is our year.

As long as he enjoys his footy. No pressure on the kid.

Florent. Offer 4 year deal. $500k per year. Bang. He’d walk into our starting 18 and add more talent.

Free agents ? Only Sydney’s Ollie Florent is realistically any target in my view. Others are too expensive, too old , not good enough , not a good fit or not required. Florent has skills and pace. Offer him a 4 year deal and press the Swans into serious coin to keep him.

If BBB didn’t come up, Patrick Voss would be best option for key forwards outside of AFL right now.

Too soon for Jefferson. Needs 2024 in Casey and development of his physical strength and competitiveness. He is a prospect but key position forwards need 2-3 years development. High risk but also potential high reward strategy in drafting key forward in 1st round !!!

66 kgs. How dare that stat be published? So 2023 and so yesterday.

Is that Cameron Schwab ??

Outs. Melksham - long term injury. Oliver - indefinite. Joel Smith - suspension TBC. Kozzy missing round 0 but available for round 1. Billings may get the nod ahead of Chandler at the start. Hopefully Brayshaw and Petty are right to play. Best 44 B: Lever, May, McVee HB: Salem, Tomlinson, Rivers C: Langdon, Petracca, Hunter HF: McAdam, van Rooyen, Neal-Bullen F: Pickett, Petty, Fritsch FOLL: Gawn, Sparrow, Viney IC: Bowey, Billings, Brayshaw, Tmcd Sub. Spargo Casey B: Hore, Adams, *Freeman HB: Connelly*, Turner, Woewodin C: Windsor, Laurie, Howes HF: Tholstrup, Schache, Chandler F: Moniz-Wakefield, B.Brown, Jefferson FOLL: Fullarton, White*, Steele* IC: Shipp*, Verrall, K.Brown,Szybkowski*

AFL WEBSITE IN Jack Billings (trade, St Kilda), Kynan Brown (Rookie Draft, father-son), Tom Fullarton(trade, Brisbane), Shane McAdam (trade, Adelaide), Koltyn Tholstrup (No.13 draft pick), Caleb Windsor (No.7 draft pick) OUT Luke Dunstan (retired), Brodie Grundy (trade, Sydney), James Harmes (trade, Western Bulldogs), Michael Hibberd (retired), James Jordon (free agent, Sydney), Deakyn Smith (delisted), Kye Turner (delisted) they seem to have forgotten about Marty Hore !!!

McAdam obviously as a mature player should play from round 1. Woewodin is looking good and a big chance for round 1, likely off the bench. He looked good in limited opportunities in 2023. Really hoping Blake Howes gets to showcase his talent. A big pre season to get his body right and fitness to peak standards. He also loves a goal which could add to our scoring power.

Melksham long term injury. With Oliver and Joel Smith missing likely through the early parts of 2024. Billings may get the nod ahead of Chandler at the start. Hopefully Brayshaw and Petty are right to play. @WERRIDEE Quite optimistic on Caleb Lewis. He’s a talented youngster but not sure he’s the type for the high possession midfield role. B: Lever, May, McVee HB: Salem, Tomlinson, Rivers C: Langdon, Petracca, Hunter HF: McAdam, van Rooyen, Neal-Bullen F: Pickett, Petty, Fritsch FOLL: Gawn, Sparrow, Viney IC: Bowey, Billings, Brayshaw, Tmcd Sub. Spargo Casey B: Hore, Adams, *Freeman HB: Connelly*, Turner, Woewodin C: Windsor, Laurie, Howes HF: Tholstrup, Schache, Chandler F: Moniz-Wakefield, B.Brown, Jefferson FOLL: Fullarton, White*, Steele* IC: Shipp*, Verrall, K.Brown,Szybkowski*

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1059777/eye-on-the-future-10-draft-prospects-to-watch-in-2024 predicted top 10, with 9 midfielders Ashcroft and Welsh go as father son picks to lions and crows respectively just outside top 10 are … Camporeale twins also to the blues Sam Marshall is another very high academy pick as a huge bonus gift for Lions 😡 Archer Day-Wicks is a very classy left sided mid and one to watch across this year Zac Johnson and Harvey Langford are highly likely top 10 types that I think would be ideal for the Dees , and again both young guns are midfielders Jonty Faull is probably the only key forward type available around the mid to late first round. Will be highly sought after

The nucleus of the team surrounds Mitch White, Tom Freeman, and Roan Steele, with these 3 expected to play majority of games. They’re backed up the next 12 players likely to get some games depending on MFC availability, being Riley Baldi, Jack Bell, Paddy Cross, Tyler Edwards, Tom Freeman, Max Gregory, Ned Moodie, Harvey Neocleous, Charlie Peters, Tom Sheridan, Ziggy Toledo-Glasman, Ryan Valentine. All showed the ability although very limited action. ARRIVALS: Leo Connolly should be a consistent place in Casey’s team across half back. Youngsters like Szybkowski, Shipp and La Planche should get their opportunities throughout the year. La Planche had a very good 2022 and was unlucky to not get drafted. He is a taller rebound defender. Kai Windsor is a good midfielder whose injury problems have restricted him. He has the talent and it’s nice to see him join his brother at the Dees. Jack Billings, Tom Fullarton and Marty Hore are likely inclusions in the early stages of the year. DEPARTURES: The loss of Munro and Grey are big, big outs at Casey. Grey especially was on the fringes of a potential rookie place and matched up against any AFL talent. Goonan, McRae and Briggs were serviceable but only very limited games so little impact. Departing of Harmes, Dunstan and Deakyn Smith weaken the carry over depth.

MFC TOP 5 MARKS 2023 MFC TOP 5 GOALS 2023 Our top five marks & goals of the year are in.

AFL WEBSITE COMMENTS Melbourne may take a short-term hit to its tall defensive stocks, losing both Birch and Wilson, as well as Gay across half-back, but injury replacement player Hill provides a bit of depth. West had been squeezed out of the midfield late in the year, while the loss of Sherriff will hurt across half-forward. The Dees may have taken one step backwards in order to go two steps forward, hitting the draft hard for the first time since 2020. Pisano could play straight away in the forward line, the Demons pushed hard to lock away raw but exciting half-back flanker Wotherspoon, and father-daughter pick up Rigoni will provide plenty of pace on the wing or flanks. Hose will sit out the year with a torn ACL. We lose 4 best “21” players in my view. Gay. Birch. West. Sherriff. Wilson was on the fringe but still a loss. Opportunity now for some others to push through. Yes I think Pisano plays straight away. She’s a talent and will play half forward role. Others are 2025. Rigoni has great pace but skills need improvement (kicks like Ingo!!) But huge future ahead and will bring excitement.