spirit of norm smith

That's life (that's life) That's what all the other supporters say Dees were riding high in April, shot down in May, June & July But we know we gonna change their tune When we’re back on top, back on top in … (ummmm I’m stuck to complete lyrics 🤣🤣🤣) … in 2025

Hunt was still a key part of the 21 premiership. If not for his ankle injury in round 21, he would have been there in the GF. His speed and determination are still there. He just wanted a fair go and didn’t get the feeling in ‘22 that he was wanted. Hunt out … Hunter in !!! What a fail the trading was in 22 and 23. As far drafting, jury still out on Jefferson and Adams, as well as the rookies. I wanted Hewett (went pick before MFC) or Binns with our first pick as a running mid. Both are yet to cement places due to injury and/or availability of places. Jeffo was seen as a need selection.

It hurts to think we are becoming irrelevant again. Glossed over. We had 3 years of being in the race. One premiership. I hate that we’re not even mentioned anymore. Hopefully this season hurts the coaches and the players and they respond.

Bumped. I agree that we have gone backwards and others have now gone past us. Some things are outside our control (Brayshaw, JS29) but some were (JJ, Grundy). I think it’s time to reset the list. I don’t think Goody had the bravery to do it. He seems very stuck in strategy and in team selection. Certainly there needs to be some tough discussions at year end. I can see Melksham and McDonald seeking another year but they are in decline and they would restrict development of others. It would be a brave move to lose experience in the sheds however it’s time to reset. Here’s my take on offseason list management Retire: Brayshaw (medical) B.Brown, Melksham, McDonald, Hunter Delist: Schache, JS29, Tomlinson, Sestan, Farris-White upgrade : Moniz-Wakefield ** thats 9 list spots available ** rookies: Hore, Kentfield, KBrown, Verrall Stuck with existing poor list management …Contracted until end 25: Spargo. Billings. Contracted until end 26: Laurie, McAdam. None were deserving of such deals. (Tim Lamb 🤯) ————————————————— Aim to bring in 1. Free agent priority : Isaac Cumming - skilled half back 2. Find a mature plan B ruckman 3. Trade in tall key defender (cover loss of Tmcd and Tomlinson) ** Trade out 2025 1st round with Freo to get 2024 pick 10-12 in this years draft National Draft. Let JT weave his magic. (4 picks likely) 1st round Two of the following- Xavier Lindsay🌟/Harvey Langford🌟/Sam Lalor🌟/Murphy Reid/Tom Gross/Christian Moraes//Toby Travaglia/Taj Hotton/Bo Allan 2nd round: (circa pick 40 - Swans pick) some potential names who might be available: Kade Gerryn , Hamish Davis , Lachie Jacques, Zak Johnson, Kade Herbert. Youngsters who could be bargains at a 3rd/4th round pick 50 ish : Patrick Retschko, Cody Anderson , Oliver Depaoli-Kubank, Zane Cochrane, Bailey McKenzie, Jaxon Artemis, Keighton Matofai-Forbes. ———————————————- Add as a Rookie: father son Noah Yze Add Cat B rookie: Ricky Mentha

@BW511 Plenty of excellent mids in this draft. Houston would be a heavy price to pay

Hinkley: “that’s not a midfield” points to Butters, Rozee, Drew, Horne-Francis “That’s a midfield”. Dees better get clearance right this week or it could get ugly. Dees need to lift. Hopefully something this week.

Harsh on Rivers and McVee. Definitely showed up and had good games. Agree and rated others as 2/10 and 3/10. Lots of passengers

Agree. Shanahan is very good. His marking and goalkicking will be highly sought after. Will be interesting to see if JT thinks we need another young key forward. We have JVR, Jefferson and Kentfield. I’m probably all in on our first 3 picks being midfielders.

Jesse Hogan 👏👏 he has had a great year and Dees still searching for a key forward !!!

Likely draft order and picks as things are now Tigers Jagga Smith **Lions Levi Ashcroft Kangas Luke Trainor Eagles Finn O’Sullivan Crows Sid Draper Saints Josh Smillie Suns Sam Lalor (depending on whether clubs bid on Leonardo Lombard) Dees need to look at first choice being between Xavier Lindsay or Harvey Langford then trade out 2025 first round pick to get access to another 2024 1st round pick to get someone (if available) like Sam Lalor/Murphy Reid/Tom Gross/Christian Moraes/Toby Travaglia/Taj Hotton/Bo Allan.

Massive drop off of McVee? That’s ridiculous. He’s been one of the very best this year!!!

Dambrisio. Chol. Amon. Frost. Meek. Impey. Ginnivan. All 7 having very good games. All picked up with loose change draft picks. Hawks kept first and second round picks then topped up with other club recruits for key roles. Its a simple game footy.

Observations Giants kicking for goal v Dees straight v hawks inaccurate!!! Daniels miss from 15 metres out in front FFS Umps favouring hawks clearly. Hawks have been holding the ball several times. No free kicks. FFS. But Hawks do take on the game and run. Guess what? Open forward line. 1-1 contests. #AreYouWatchingGoody. It’s a simple game !!!! Dees slow and wide. wtf. Then it’s a kick to a contest. FFS.

Changes? out. May ( injured) in. Option 1 Tomlinson… unlikely given Goody has shown he has little faith in Tomlinson , who presumably will walk at seasons end to explore other options in. Option 2. Jefferson to debut … Petty to go back to being a key defender 🏆 JVR, Turner & Jefferson forward (Melksham as sub) in. Option 3. Fullarton might have earned a shot … Petty to go back to being a key defender 🏆 JVR, Turner & Fullarton forward (Melksham as sub) in Option 4. Hore. Clearly one of the few players at Casey who is AFL ready and capable. Showed good form prior to injuries perhaps option 2 is most likely but have to see if Fullarton might get a chance.

@layzie interesting observation re fitness. We were a strong fit team in 2021 under Burgess. Running games through and winning 2nd half contests. Unfortunately we are falling short in 4th quarters (even goalless in some recent games). Lots of hands on hips and tired MFC players. Chasing gets exhausting when others are winning contests. Not sure if it’s conditioning, or the fact when you chase or are beaten at clearance, defending wears you down.

Round 22 likely Steven May - ribs / season Christian Salem — hamstring / season Caleb Windsor — ankle / season Charlie Spargo — Achilles / season Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

Wow. Power. 45. Swans. Nil. Qtr time.

edited with scores Gawn - busted his guts 9/10 Viney - had no impact 4/10 Rivers - played with heart 8/10 Sparrow - was trying alot 4/10 Bowey - has lost momentum 2/10 Langdon - tried all night 8/10 Fritsch - some limited moments 4/10 Van Rooyen - was rarely involved 2/10 Neal Bullen - season worst game 3/10 Tholstrup - out of depth 4/10 Chandler - small man syndrome 2/10 McDonald- frustrated and frustrating 3/10 Pickett - has tuned out 3/10 Oliver - was embarrassingly incompetent 4/10 Lever - showed no leadership 2/10 Howes - not a backman 3/10 Woewodin - little to commend 2/10 Turner- little to admire 3/5 Melksham - age has wearied 2/10 McVee - rarely found space 6/10 Petty - was uninvolved again 3/10 May - hopefully back soon 4/5 Moniz - Wakefield - regularly amateurish disposal 3/10

SIMON Goodwin has admitted Melbourne was "nowhere near the level" to compete with the Western Bulldogs on Friday night. Goodwin's Demons lost by 51 points, with the Dogs' return of 15 goals from 35 scores saving Melbourne from a larger defeat. The Bulldogs won the first 10 clearances of the match, and despite the final metric of 41-36, the Demons were soundly beaten at the contest for the duration. They dominated around the ball and were able to score way too easily. So, incredibly frustrated with how we started the game, and in patches we were able to bring that back… but overall, just nowhere near the level required." Goodwin noted that Melbourne's clearance game "hasn't been anywhere near the level for a period of time now", with typically dynamic duo Jack Viney and Kysaiah Pickett combining for just three clearances and 21 disposals.

Questions. 1- what is our new style of play - it’s become boring at times - compared to the Dogs for example Dogs. Fast. Direct. Waves. Running. Dees. Slow. Indirect. Wide. Static. Though when we go more direct, it’s actually positive amd leads to goals. Surprise!! 2- Rock solid defence? Not anymore. Freo and the Dogs had a party. Giants kicked goals in bursts. Lever and McDonald are leaking goals. Not sure they are agile enough anymore. Lever especially is having a bad year. He has lost athleticism and struggles now with a 1-1 contest. And his loose handball was horrible. McDonald cost us two goals in the 1sr qtr. 3. Tackling ineffective…we are letting players get handballs away to keep the ball moving. Certainly obvious last night and the prior few weeks v Freo and GWS. Clearances are a huge problem. Freo smashed us. Dogs smashed us. Games being lost early through stoppages and centre clearances. Contested footy…That WAS our strength!?!?! 4. Depth in the list. Loss of 4/5 players and Brayshaw retirement. Too many passengers getting games. I think our lack of depth has hurt our desperation and desire. Sparrow. Bowey. Chandler. Salem. All have really underperformed but get match after match. Finally we saw Sparrow dropped and he reacted. 5. Goodwin. Coaching style and strategy or lack therein. Enough said on other posts. We simply cannot say we are learning and we are working on forward connection Accountability?!?!!!

Questions. 1- what is our new style of play - it’s become boring at times - compared to the Dogs for example Dogs. Fast. Direct. Waves. Running. Dees. Slow. Indirect. Wide. Static. Though when we go more direct, it’s actually positive amd leads to goals. Surprise!! 2- Rock solid defence? Not anymore. Freo and the Dogs had a party. Giants kicked goals in bursts. Lever and McDonald are leaking goals. Not sure they are agile enough anymore. Lever especially seeks to struggle with a 1-1 contest. And his loose handball was horrible. McDonald cost us two goals in the 1sr qtr. 3. Tackling ineffective…we are letting players get handballs away to keep the ball moving. Certainly obvious last night and the prior few weeks v Freo and GWS. Clearances now being lost. That WAS our strength!?!?! 4. Depth in the list. Loss of 4/5 players and Brayshaw retirement. Too many passengers getting games. I think our lack of depth has hurt our desperation and desire. Sparrow. Bowey. Chandler. Salem. All have really underperformed but get match after match. Finally we saw Sparrow dropped and he reacted. 5. Goodwin. Coaching style and strategy or lack therein. Enough said on other posts. We simply cannot say we are learning and we are working on forward connection Accountability?!?!!!

@WERRIDEE I agree with most but it’s going to be a brave move to lose so much experience in the sheds. Also thought it is harsh on Marty Hore. He has again shown he’s a class above at Casey. Somehow stuck behind Lever and had a few injuries this year. I’d invest in him again. With Tomlinson and Tmcd going, he’d be needed to assist the defence. Retire: Brayshaw (medical) B.Brown, Melksham, McDonald, Hunter Delist: Schache, JS29, Tomlinson, Sestan, Farris-White upgrade : Moniz-Wakefield ** thats 9 list spots available ** rookies: Hore, Kentfield, KBrown, Verrall Poor list management …Contracted until end 25: Spargo. Billings. Contracted until end 26: Laurie, McAdam. None were deserving of such deals. (Tim Lamb 🤯) ————————————————— Aim to bring in 1. Free agent: Isaac Cumming - skilled half back 2. Trade in mature plan B ruckman 3. Trade in Harry Edwards (West Coast) key defender ** Trade out 2025 1st round with Freo to get 2024 pick 10-12 in this years draft National Draft. Let JT weave his magic. (4 picks likely) 1st round Two of the following- Xavier Lindsay🌟/Harvey Langford🌟/Murphy Reid🌟/Tom Gross/Christian Moraes/Sam Lalor/Toby Travaglia/Taj Hotton/Bo Allan 2nd round: (circa pick 40 - Swans pick) some potential names who might be available: Kade Gerryn , Hamish Davis , Lachie Jacques, Zak Johnson, Kade Herbert. Youngsters who could be bargains at a 3rd/4th round pick 50 ish : Patrick Retschko, Cody Anderson , Oliver Depaoli-Kubank, Zane Cochrane, Bailey McKenzie, Jaxon Artemis. Keighton Matofai-Forbes ———————————————- Rookie: father son Noah Yze Cat B rookie: Ricky Mentha

Seriously strong draft this year. Lots of high quality midfielders. I know I have mentioned that a lot but it’s time for JT to load up with the first 3 picks on quality ball winning mids. We should look to trade our 2025 first round pick into this years first round. Others will see and think of a MFC demise and believe next year could reap a top 5-8 pick. I think we can bounce . Reset away from our comfort zone that seems to have infested our list and coaching staff.

6. Gawn 5. Langdon 4. Rivers 3. McVee 2. Sparrow … the rest. Meh Lots just doing bits and pieces.

Unlikely. He’s a rookie pick. Cat B rookie most likely.