spirit of norm smith

Coaches votes Gold Coast v Melbourne9 Jake Melksham (MELB) 9 Matt Rowell (GCFC) 4 John Noble (GCFC) 3 Touk Miller (GCFC) 2 Jarrod Witts (GCFC) 2 Kysaiah Pickett (MELB) 1 Sam Flanders (GCFC) ?? Goodwin - 5. Melksham 4 Rowell 3 Miller 2 Pickett 1 Noble ??? Hardass. - 5. Rowell 4. Melksham 3. Noble 2. Witts 1. Flanders I dont Damien Hardass gave Pickett a vote. That’s a joke. 3 goals. 25 possessions. Almost single-handedly kept Dees in the contest. Witts and Gawn broke even , or Gawn might have won on a split decision. These coaches votes are ridiculous. McRae pumps up Daicos. Chris Scott gives Gus votes almost exclusively to Cats players even when they lose!!

Trade of Jake Lever for Zane Duursma… get me a pen !!! Jake unfortunately is showing extreme wear and tear on his body and I fear might only have 1-2 years left in his body to compete

@Demonland Went to the GC to the game. Some discussion items What we liked Melksham (up against a younger quicker taller opponent in “our” Mac Andrew). Melky showed his forward craft, played smart and whilst he had a few costly misses, he negated Andrews interception and he kicked crucial goals. Kozzzzy ❤️💙did his best to bring us back into the match. His crumbing goal in the 3rd qtr was a highlight. That got the family excited. Kozzzy was special in the last with 12 possessions, run and carry and hit targets , and yes 2 goals. Very excited he’s on board for the future Bowey. Again had a very good game, he was solid in defence and his disposal (25 disposals, 18 kicks) at 88% was a shining light. Definitely in our top 3 in the B&F At least we fought it out … 100 % effort to keep battling and stay in the game Heads didn’t drop Next 8 games ? we must continue to build the game plan and not be easybeats Try to get games into JVR, Jeffo, Kolt etc The bad First quarter was a disaster as we were completely outplayed. Missed tackles and skill errors only lead to the misery. The umpiring. Miller free in the first was a shocker The Dees play a zone defence style game as they guard grass in between players. It’s so frustrating. Clubs pick it apart. Lots of pointing but no one manning up. A simple rule. Pickup or at least get closer to your opponent. The Suns exposed it early until we tightened up and got into the match. Ditch the zone! Questions this week. Q1. How was the King smash of May not a reversal ? Clearly called by the commentators as warranting a reversal which would be paid 99/100. Why doesn’t this get more post match comments? how does May get fined? Q2. How does Ainsworth run 30 metres to the goal line (described as smart) and not get called for running too far? Umps lost control !! Q3. Where are we at? We have beaten the Lions at the Gabba and lost by a point to the Pies but in other games look devoid of AFL quality skill or scoring power. Q4. How do we get inside Fritta’s head? He’s effort v Lions was ripping in and 2nd efforts. It was barely par versus Suns. Two contested possessions. Small parts were ok. Goal from 50. Ok. He pointed a lot and was one of the more stagnant forwards giving no leads especially which hurt after Petty went out . His miss in the last was poor , from 25 metrs out !! Some call to trade him but goal kickers are hard to find.

SA WRAP Dyson Sharp - cemented himself as a tip 10 pick. Plays like James Worpel. Inside mid ready to play in 2026! Bombers might target him Harley Barker -just suited to the modern game - kicked a great goal and his kicking and decision making was A grade. Think Sam Cunning-definitely now a round 1 draft pick - will go around 15-19. Skill. Smart. Hard runner. Kicked a very good goal Aiden Schubert. 199vm. Ruck forward. Two goals. Strong mark. Would be a pick 25-30 likely selection now Mitch Marsh - five goals and best on ground Has the goal sense, marking and accurate left foot kick to be AFL quality Matthew LeRay- impressed again and I liked his ability to rebound and tackle and win the footy. His ability with the footy means he’s a certainty to get drafted in the top 30 Louis Kellaway (tigers father son) - Tigers will grab him even if others nominate him as day pick 15-20 His defensive run and carry reminds me of a Jayden Short type Noah Roberts-Thompson … very impressive again as a small running mid. Type of player needed as the Dees with his good kicking inside50 Jett Dahlitz - taller defender who was able to shutdown as well as use the footy. His kicking is a weapon and I’d like to see him in red and blue. Think Rivers with elite disposal. His goal from 50 out was a highlight and I think he’s now on draft boards across a few clubs.

Fox Footy. Freo v Saints. Seriously it is like watching DOCKERS TV. Pavlich is calling for Freo free kicks. It’s so biased. Saints supporters would turn the volume OFF !!!

Outs. Petty and Howes concussion Viney and May should definitely NOT get suspended for their actions. Ainsworth got up immediately. May gets the ball. JVR replaces Petty (need as a marking option and 2nd ruck) TMCD replaces Howes ( Dees need Turner, May and Tmcd to counter Fogarty, Walker & Thilthorpe ) That’s it !!! Play the kids again Jeffo, Kolt, Langford , Lindsay Lever had a stinker in the VFL. He has lost any aerobic ability to run to the contest. I think his ankle issues are ongoing unfortunately No one else at Casey demands a promotion. Kentfield & Mentha are still developing @Demonland Mcvee May Tmcd Rivers Turner Bowey Langdon Trac Lindsay Fritsch JVR Chandler Koooozzzzzyyyy Jeffo Melksham Gawn Oliver Viney Salem Langford Sharp Kolt Sub Sparrow

Sorry that’s harsh. Rivers ran and carried the footy and had good DE70%. Had to play back more when Howes went down early. Suns stretched us in 3rd qtr with King, Read and Walter. Apart from when Walter outmuscled Rivers in the 3rd, Rivers competed hard. Also got into the incident to support May. Intercepted 3 or 4 crucial times in back half.

Big game today. I’d expect at least 15-16 youngsters from today’s game will get drafted. Watch for SA guns today Dyson Sharp - tough inside mid - top 10 Harley Barker - tall skilled running mid/wing Sam Cunning- skill wing half forward- hits targets inside 50 Aiden Schubert. 199vm. Ruck forward. Good mark. Mitch Marsh - tall agile deadly left footer - 193cm forward. Will get his chances to impact scoreboard Matthew LeRay- underrated tall midfielder. Wins it in the contest. Always seems composed with the footy. Dees might be lucky if he was available in early 2nd round pick Louis Kellaway (tigers father son) - running mid sized defender Cameron Nairn, Noah Roberts-Thompson and Luke Candy are also likely to press for draft chances I expect Vic country to put up a good match today. They have some excellent youngsters too. Josh Lindsay - Jack Crisp type - tough and mobile who wins it and has good decision making Willem Duursma- yes another Duursma. Like his brothers, plays midfield role but has a few more abilities in the contest. Likely top 5 pick. Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves. Stingrays midfield runner who has a great eye for the goals. His footskills are elite and impacts with disposals. Of course Toby Sinnema (Dees NGA) and Tarion Ah-mu (Tom Hawkins type forward) are ones to watch Riley Onley, Jobe Scapin, Brodie Atkins, Harry Dean and Callum Smith all likely types in serious draft contention.

The May-Ainsworth incident was an issue. Dees were still in the contest. Sure it was poor by May but King started the all in !! 99/100 that would be a reversal. Commentators called it as a reversal. AFL umps protected the nepo babies. Ainsworth runs 35 metres to the line to kick the goal. No bounce. 35 metres. It was called as smart play. Smart??? 35 metres. That’s the umps having no idea. Suns got the 50/50 calls. Miller free in the first quarter was ridiculous. There was no arm chop. No grabbing. Oliver competes and marks it. Clarry was fuming. It was a sign of the umps “instructions” !!!

Kentfield was recruited as a key forward. Guess what? He showed he’s a key forward. Not a CHB. Keep him forward and let’s see what he delivers over the next weeks. Not beyond getting a debut in the last few weeks of the season.

With Howes and Petty out for next week … who to bring in??? Who was our best at Casey … honestly … yes Bonner, Hardie and Baldi. But they are not listed. So possibly Windsor, JVR and … Mentha (as the sub ).

6 Melksham. Wow he battled hard v Andrew all day. To stop Andrew intercept marks was one thing, but also to kick 5.6 is a huge day. He was 100% effort. (But his miss from 15 metres directly in front in the last was a killer!!! Forget the snap when directly in front) 5 Kozzzzzy. He’s special. He is so energetic. He’s a ripper. Loved his goals. All three were excellent. In fact sometimes he needs to just keep running. He was manhandled all day and got zero umpiring favours (unlike Daicos !!) Kozzzy is worth the $$$$ 4 Bowey. He is having a great year. Again his kicking today was a highlight. 88%disposals efficiency. He battled on as well in defence to intercept or tackle. Great game. 600 metres gained !! Now a gap 3 Gawn. Just 100% heart all day v Witts. Supreme battle. Two big guys giving it all. Gawn kicked a great goal in the 2nd. His overall ruck work was very good. 2 Rivers. Sent deep in defence as Howes went down early. But he had good run and carry and disposal generally very good. Effort today was a big lift on the port power game. 1 Viney. Yes all heart. Had some poor moments, runs himself into trouble or back into the pack but he’s efforts at the contest were tough relentless footy . Disposal again let him down. Umps didn’t reward some of his efforts Apologies to Trac … yes won the footy today and generally cracked in to win the footy to try to create….but he butchered crucial forward entries. Also his miss shot from 25 metres out in the 2nd qtr was so so bad after a great passage of play (how can you miss a snap so high and so wide!!) And plus he almost killed Chandler with a setup kick in the 3rd. His disposal is actually getting worse. His inside 50’effectiveness was poor. Salem… he gets the footy and uses it ok for a 15 metres pass to a sideways or backwards player sometimes. 200 metre gained today is low again. Was ok in the contest but as a defender , his lack of pace was caught out 3-4 times leading directly to Suns goals.

3rd @Demonland ☠️forward entries - poor - too many 9 irons into the air !!! ☠️umps lost control - should have reversed then ☠️Salo ok at sideways 15 metre kicks but is too slow now in defence - gets exposed ☠️Trac is officially the worst kick into 50 ☠️Ben King is a [censored] weak [censored] [censored] 👏kozzzy goal 👏Fritsch goal Too small in defence Walter. Read. King. All in field !!! Drop Lever … bring in !!

@binman Salem on Ainsworth. One of Goodys worst thoughts !! Salo too slow !!

2nd 👍🏻kozzzy at the footy 👍🏻Melksham goals 👍🏻Viney inside contest 👍🏻big Maxy battling ☠️umps are killing us Frees 15-9 (7-7 in 2nd) ☠️Trac airball from 25 metrs out after great team run and handball ☠️Salem is lost and is too slow inside 50s 10-10 in 2nd qtr Team HAS THE STOP THE GRASS GUARDING - noble and Rioli have time to dissect it and hit targets ! Jeffo looks lost - watching it live and he’s not instinctive - just reactive to the kick - needs the aggro pills desperately

1st 37-1 Suns 21-6 inside 50 Suns 8-2 frees Suns tackles 19-8 Dees too many handballs 🤮 Dees missed tackles 🤮 Dees slow with footy🤮 DEES forwards are stagnant leading the midfield hold the footy too long DEES GUARD GRASS IN ZONE - MAN UP !! Ffs

Very poor today. Kentfield YES Mentha YES Hardie YES if only he was on the list Others … hmmmm not depth to enthuse from today’s effort

First quarter. Well what a scrappy mistake fumbles quarter in beautiful dry sunny conditions. Two late goals to the Suns. Footskills are poor. I think Kynan Brown unfortunately will struggle in his career. 100% heart but has serious kicking issues. Culley is so laconic. Hard to know if he really could make it. 240volts needed at the quarter time address.

That surface is ridiculously poor. Great match but that ground area is a disgrace. Players slipping and falling over in that forward 50. It’s going to cause a bad knee injury soon !!!

Really went to see him forward for the next few weeks at Casey. He’s a more natural forward. I’m not seeing him as a key defender. Let’s see him as a big marking forward. That’s why we drafted him.

Harmesy 💙💔still love ya Great stuff. Harmesy and JJ. Harmesy and Grundy. Dees bond always there.

Derksen. Yes. He can play key forward or key defence. Would bf good alongside Turner in defence. Dees will likely go again this year to get him. Trade a future 3rd and get Giants 4th round back. Just a dry biscuits trade. Gruzewski. Yes. Though I think Giants will try to hold him

17 AFL Dees listed. Powerful line up. Only missing Spargo , Johnson & Sestan. 6 Casey listed - Deakyn Smith, Baldi, Hardie, Bonner, Sruk and Craven. Unfortunately Cross is injured as he has been very good and kicked crucial goals Tough game actually as the VFL Suns hold a good record at home but expect Casey to get the win.

Ok Lever out … certainly not 100% right So bring in Tmcd who was in good form before he was squeezed out … and Suns have three tall forwards in King, Walter & Read … but no ?!?!!?! is he now done and heading to retirement Ok Windsor out … needs to return to the wing. Get some run and run at Casey. He’ll be back !! JVR out?? Why ?? He needs to be played. He’s playing 2nd ruck so a puzzle why he’s out. Jeffo in … ok. Needs a go (but I would prefer JVR, Petty and Jeffo to be given a chance together) Kolt in … ok. Unlucky to get dropped after the Pies clash. Perhaps we’re looking at the future Sharp in … hmmm maybe he is in for matching up to tag one of the Suns half back runners like Rioli or Noble or likely he’s the sub again. My call would have been Out Lever Windsor In Jeffo Kolt Mcvee May Howes Bowey Turner Salem Lindsay Riv Langdon Chandler Petty Fritsch Kozzzy JVR Jeffo Gawn Trac Clarry JV7 Langford Melksham Kolt Sub Sparrow