BigMacjnr

On a side note - Nice to see Gawn finally get back into some good form, Watts showed an improved endeavour in the second half. Hopefully that is the first domino off the rank to start getting the other players: Vince, Jones, Viney and Salem to start finding their pre-injury form...in Vince's case his pre-toe injury form. I like that by beating the WCE, we are only percentage out of the top 8, but it puts a lot of fire in the belly of the Saints players. They were playing hard off of the Nick Riewoldt, and hopefully with our key mids recapturing their lost form, we can get over the line this week.

I agree with a few posters that with the injuries and suspensions, we haven't been able to rest players, or ease players into the squad as the coaches would have liked. In saying that, anyone else think Frost is in some horrendous form? Seeing TMac in the backline for a quarter shows his class and how much we have missed not having him back there. In: Weideman, Hannan Out: Frost, Harmes If Brayshaw is truely ready I would look to rest Petracca for Brayshaw as he looks like a man who needs a week off, carrying an injury that is reducing his effectiveness on the field. Or hopefully the 8 day break will do him wonders.

AFL Match Review Panel must have looked at the vision and judged the contact as careless with low impact to the body with the sanction of receiving an apology. Bit of a joke all round. Clarry should have always received a 'slap on the wrist' for engaging the fan. Needs to mature up a bit after the drink driving, twitter war and now clash with a Carlton Fan. Keep the sledging on the field. If Clarry hadn't have reacted to the fan but only pointed him out to the security team, the fan would have been sent packing but by retaliating he unfortunately makes the would be victim into the villain.

I think the MFC and Goodwin have been a bit weak in recent times towing the AFL line and being polite. Time we stood up for one of our own. If it is true that the Carton fan purposely made uninitiated contact with Clayton as the vision indicates, even discounting the abuse, he should have been ejected from the stadium. I would like the MFC to send a please explain to the MCG and the AFL. Player safety should be sacrosanct. If the general public can get away with this, what is to stop it escalating out of control!

Agree with you DubDee. Always seem to give a hint of the selection in the Casey report. 100% depends on who they want to take out from last week. My outs would be: Viney (inj), Bugg (susp.), White, Wagner Ins: Hogan, Garlett, Kent, Maynard, (Trengove if Tyson doesn't get up) I think they put hunt back behind the ball, bring TMac back into Defense so your talls are Hogan and Pederson. I think we have performed best this season when we have had an agile forward line. Gee our back 6 would be strong with Jetta, OMac, Frost, Hunt, TMac, Hibberd

I think Lynden Dunn should also be eligible isn't he?

From what I have heard there have been 6 clubs hotly pursuing Tom this year. In saying that,should be hearing some good news on that front in the coming weeks. As well as Oscy

On a separate note, I am quite confident Tommy will stay. Thought the contract was getting closer a month or so ago but it should still work itself out.

I heard that Hurley is after pretty significant coin...just don't think he is worth approx $750k+ a season. He is a good player but not sure he is worth that. If we are going to give up a first rounder, I would prefer to trade with GWS who reportedly need to shed a minimum of 5 players and $600k from their books. For a first rounder you could pick up a couple of players like Ahern and Hoskin-Elliot. Talking potential but their ceiling is higher than Hurley/Hibberd in my opinion. If the 2017 draft is as good as the hype then I would be pretty hesitant to part with it. Really tough one, but the club is in a great place where they don't have to make any rash moves to fix the list.

That is why is would more likely be us giving pick 6, stk 2nd (freeman), pie's 2nd and for bugg, 7 and 8. Essendon won't give up their first rounder in the trade. The beauty is that the gws pick will be used on an academy player which we wouldn't be able to select anyway...so in essence pick 7 in this scenario has the same 'value to the dees pick 6.

I agree with you that free agnecy should be like it is in the nba and if a player is out of contract than they are a free agent able to sign with any list. Still have restricted free agency. The way this works so well in the US is that once in contract, that player can be shipped out without permission. No picking out a club when it is trade time. NBA also sets a max contract and gives the team that owns the player the ability to sign them for more than the competition... NBA system should be what they look at, other than the lottery system. Players need to give something to lower the age of free agency. Right now it is a half baked version.

I mean use pick 6 and howe to get an a grader...

Pick 3 - From what I have read, Francis and Parish are not head and shoulders better than Mathieson and Curnow. I thought only the first two picks were the stars in this draft. I think Mathieson and Curnow are a bit less refined and have greater upside than Francis and Parish...especially Curnow but are riskier prospects which is why they are rated as less. Howe is probably worth a late first rounder I would think in this draft and where are list is at we need either a possible A grader (Prestia etc.) or double up. My proposed trade: Howe for Suns pick 19 Pick 19 to GWS for Tomlinson and Bugg I must confess that I am basing this on what I have read and not personal knowledge. I must confess that I am basing this on what I have read and not personal knowledge.

Awesome summary grazman

I think it is better for Watts if he were moved on to another club, especially one with a decent midfield where he can thrive as an outside player. A win-win would be to trade him to Richmond for Ben Lennon, who is younger and a bit unproven but has immense talent...same silky skills but can go harder for the ball. You don't let Jack go unless you get something decent for him. Watts would be in Richmond's best 22, someone who could switch between the forward and backline when needed. Where Lennon is a better fit for our best 22. Pederson will most likely be trade fodder as well. You would look to giving him to a team on the premiership bubble to help a forwardline structure. Freo comes to mind - would be good to trade for someone like Hayden Crozier, a good player who just can't get much of a chance in a strong side, maybe a swap of picks in their favour. Howe I would look to pass onto someone like GWS who have previously shown interest and bundling with a third round pick, look to get players like Tomlinson and Bugg. Gold Coast are players with maturity and leadership. Grimes probably needs a fresh start somewhere. Would trade him out for a mid 2nd rounder (shallow draft) or for a young player that has shown a bit - maybe Aaron Hall and a switch of picks. Jed Adcock is worth a delisted free agent spot on the list. Brisbane can't receive a PP when they delist a 29 year old who is in their B&F top 10. I also like that we are going after players like Nathan Hrovat, who is tough at it with speed and skills. Would be great to get him while his value is down. Not a fan of trading out a player when their value is low so I think you keep Toumpas and Dawes at this stage. All in all I'm sure we are active but just hope we are shrewd. Don't try and screw over other teams so the deal doesn't get done (Pies and bombers), but also don't give overs. Essendon will wrongly demand a 1st or 2nd rounder for Melksham. If they don't budge then take him in the preseason draft. I doubt any other team is looking at giving him 4 years so he should slip through easily. I don't think we are getting an A grader this year. We just haven't made ourselves into a destination club with our on field performance.

You would think so. Gawn has looked tired the last few matches, as have a number of others.

If the finals start next week then Grimes and Stretch are out as they haven't played enough games. That leaves 20 players barring AFL selection and emergencies.

As far as I can see the below players should be eligible: Hunt - 6 games King - 6 games Spencer - 12 games Russian - 14 games Bail - 10 games Newton - 8 games Harmes - 10 games McKenzie - 15 games Riley - 10 games Fitzy - 12 games M.Jones - 9 games Terlich - 15 games White 14 games Mitchie - 8 games JKH - 6 games Toumpas - 9 games O.McDonald - 13 games ANB - 6 games Grimes 5 games needs 1 more Stretch 5 games needs 1 more Frost and Kent both missed more than 10 consecutive matches but Frost needs to play for the seniors next week to be eligible for VFL seniors Max gawn has playeed 6 games but if he plays the last two rounds of the AFL he will be ineligible for VFL finals. May have miss read the finals eligibility rules but I believe we should have a pretty strong team to select. Only negative is the rules of the Casey affliliation which further restricts how many AFL players we can select.

Thanks KC! So we are looking at players who have played at least 6 games with Casey or they have been injured for 10 + weeks. Should have around 15 or so players if available.

KC - sorry if you have already wrote on this, but are you able to give a run down on all the MFC listed players eligible to play in the VFL finals for Casey?

What do people think about Dave Mackay? David Teague from Adelaide has came out today saying he is no longer in the team's best 22 at the Crows. Originally from Melbourne. Has pace and skills. Could be a good get for a rebounding defender.

DazzleDavey - I think you have it right with Aiden Riley. He tries really hard and is one of the best tacklers in the team but has fallen into the same problem as McKenzie with his disposals. I think you are pretty on the money for the most part. Being such a shallow draft, it will primarily depend on how many players they can get to the footy club during the free agency and trade periods. I think they will have 1-2 live picks and trade out a few to make trades. Spencer I think they will keep as ruck depth. Trengove is recovering and back running, unless a good trade comes he is safe. Depending on Salary Cap and the players coming in Terlich and M.Jones will be kept/delisted. Terlich hasn't gotten a game so he will be the first of the two to go. Unless I'm mistaken Cross hasn't been given a contract extension as of yet...which surprises me because he has played pretty well. But they may let him go to give space for youth. If they do I hope they give him a development coaching role and play him at Casey as they have done for Shannon Byrnes. I also hope they get M.Jamar as a development coach to help out if he retires as I think he has been great for Gawn, Spencer and King. I feel Howe is gone, especially if they get a good deal for him. If Garland asks for too much they will let him walk. Almost certain outs I have (in no particular order): McKenzie, Bail, Jamar Riley. Possible: Mitchie (he has shown a bit over the last few weeks so I hope not) Cross (as per above) M. Jones (as per above) Terlich (as per above) Hunt - might be rookied but I hope they keep him because he has shown a bit when not injured. Possible to trade: Howe (if he asks to go, asks for too much or if the right deal comes along) Fitzy (lost love with lack of professionalism this year) Toumpas (for the right deal) Pederson (not a culture fit) Garlo possible FA (refer above) Grimes (in and out of the side and would probably be better for him to get a fresh start elsewhere) Watts (I like him but if the deal is right they could swing a deal) Dawes (only if they get something equal to his value, not on current form and would need someone to come in to play his role - possibly Frost)

He will play Casey next year but he won't be delisted this year and re-rookied, will remain on the senior list next year.

If you would like to view a scientific review on athletes returning from ACL injuries from 2010 check this link out. It basically says that from evaluating 5770 athletes, keeping in mind that these aren't specific to AFL, around 90% returned to normal (or close to). Seems to think that the recovery rate (high) and return rates (lower) seem to suggest that there is a psychological link to those that make it back compared to those that don't. In other articles - much high risk in young female athletes and some risk factors are muscular imbalance at the knee joint (hamstring/quadriceps). Another study states a significantly higher rate of return for athletes younger than 30. Overall the scientific community still have a ways to go to understand ACL injuries. From everything I have read and from the recent medical statement on Jake Lever, it looks like he will make 100% recovery if he hasn't already and given the quality of training staff in the AFL, should reduce risk of recurrence even further. After doing the research, I am all for taking Jake Lever in the draft. And word inside the club says they rate him very highly.

That's wrong. Word is that Chip actually wanted to sign back on in the end but that MFC were told behind close doors that they would get pick 3 for him if he were to leave and so forced him out.