Older demon

Yes, I am going and I think Clarrie should win but Trac played every game and the voting system doesn't help if you miss a game or two. Watch out for Langdon who polled really well in the Brownlow and Gus.

The nagging question that I think hasn't been asked is whether the behaviour alleged to have occurred regarding girlfriends, family etc was directed only to First Nations people or to all new recruits. We have seen the go-home factor evident recently with many players. Having said that I think it is totally inappropriate to be making decisions about pregnancies etc I am not condoning any of the behaviours but can someone who has been through the AFL system comment on their treatment upon induction into an AFL club? Are you counselled on who you hang out with, who you are dating and especially for interstate recruits who are wholly separated from family and friends (even girlfriends)? It may be an uncomfortable truth that this is a standard practice throughout all clubs of all players and not based on racism but the club totally dictating your lifestyle and habits in the early years.

I had breakfast at Rocksalt a wonderful establishment in Brighton run by the Salem family. His dad was in this morning and I commented to him that the team were pretty banged up and 11 players had scans pre-Brisbane game. He smiled and said yes and his son was first in the queue and had so many X-rays and scans. No better source than Dad. The issue is you simply cannot make 11 changes to a team in the finals some of whom would be on debut. I doubt Casey could have fielded a team if they did this. It was a risk and it didn't come off. Also don't underestimate the willingness of Max, Trac and Clarrie etc to play through the pain barrier and still perform at a high level. Last year there were no injuries, this year they all came at the wrong time. Look at Sydney today who gambled on 2 injured players and that backfired big time. The cats carefully managed their kist and took no chances with their team for the GF

I listened to razor ray this morning and his discussion with Whately on all the contentious decisions. I have to admit I wasn't aware of some rule changes and clearly neither are the players. The Ginnivan 50 metre is relevant because cast your mind back to the previous week when Kossie gave away a 50-metre penalty close to the goal. The rule was changed and if you aren't in the marking contest you must stand 9 metres away from where the mark was taken. You don't stand the mark and get called back anymore if the contest is less than 9 metres out from the goals. Leon Cameron commenting on the radio knew the rule and when it was paid against Ginnivan he immediately stated that the player clearly didn't know the rule. I suspect the same holds for Kossie. For those critical of Kossie, we owe him an apology and the interpretation was correct. The next question was about a free to Stengel against Starsevitch, which seemed unreasonable as he had no time to dispose of the ball, had his arm pinged and went to the ground. Unfortunately with his free arm, he had the ball and once the ball hit the ground the new rule states he must dispose of it. God knows who thought that rule up or how one is supposed to dispose of it while pinned to the ground. The relevance relates to lever the week before where the late free was awarded because when McStay tackled him, Lever put the ball to the ground and was trying to paddle it to safety. We all thought it was paid for deliberate out-of-bounds which of course it wasn't. Like Lever, I was unaware of this ruling and the interpretation was sadly correct. Who would be an umpire? The rules aren't simple and so many nuances and clearly, the players as well as the public have no idea of some recent rule changes.

Thanks Luci! I believe it is also possible to delist someone and then re draft them as a rookie? Some of the club delistings ie McMahon at the Pies could be rocked at the same club

I think initially the club has to delist a minimum of 3. To date we have retirees in Brown & Daw, Rosman delisted and Jackson of to Freo. At this stage perhaps the club is making minimal changes this year. Chandler promised a list spot and grundy for Jacko.

Spargo or ANB or a really radical idea is to develop him into a Rioli at Richmond off half back role.

Max is in my opinion the best ruckman in the league, however this season we persisted in him sharing the duties with Jackson. It was a great succession plan which has been nipped in the bud. When Jacko went into the ruck we always fell away a bit and we all questioned why start the game with Jackson in the centre. Jacko is a 20 y.o and his best is great but often he just disappears. He would have been offered $700 K if he stayed with us. What do we lose with Grundy? He is a better ruck, good below his knees and couldn't be worse than Jackson up forward. Jackson will not peak for a few more years where Grundy is established and if we get 3 good years out of him we are in front Maybe Max cannot ruck the whole game as he has in the past. We don't know the ins and outs at the club and have to have faith in the match committee.

Someone on here said that Tom was having the metal clip removed Thursday. My source tells me he is having more scans as it doesn't appear to be a recurrence of the Lisfanc which would be great news.

Sorry cannot agree. Bedford is a keeper and his game at Casey highlights why he is worth persisting with.

Like so many here, I am pleased that JVR, Turner, Bedford, Chandler and Woewoden all showed their wares and won a VFL flag. My hope is that all of them push for a senior spot next season. Bedford should be putting pressure on Spargo and has some serious wheels. JKVR is the forward you build a team around and Turner is slight but reads the play so well. I liked Weideman's game and still has time to become a ruckman forward. Wooewoden is so balanced and must have a huge tank as he was everywhere. Chandler was also everywhere and I just hope he can cement a spot in the firsts. Southport's heavier bodies applied plenty of pressure in appalling conditions making that a meritorious win and well-deserved flag.

At the Swans game, I had the fortune to have Jeff White sitting in front with his 3 sons, which augurs well. Kalani is much older than his siblings and is seriously tall but he is a kid, and looks 16. The trend is now to draft players for the now and the next 2 seasons. Geelong, Sydney and the Hawks all bought in players from other clubs. The days of drafting and getting a 10-year, 200-game player have been diminished. If grundy comes in and gives 4 years of good service then he has paid his way. To me Jackson is a speculative future champion getting paid more than anyone else on our list. Gunston for 1 maybe 2 seasons will be worth the investment and clubs are getting smarter about how they rebuild their lists. Geelong got smashed last year's prelim have this year bought in Stengel and debuted De Koning. They introduced Holmes last year and changed Atkins role this year. Dahlhaus, Narkle, Higgins and Parfitt cannot get a game nor can Ratugolea & Menegola. 4 minor changes and Geelong are revitalised and play a different style of footy. Our challenge is to find better players than Jackson, Hunt, Hibberd, Melksham, Spargoi and maybe ANB. I don't care if they are 18, 25 or 28 just do it

A close friend was at a 40th last Saturday which TMac attended. His foot got trodden on by a Brisbane player and he told her it was very sore Saturday night and was going for scans early in the week.. It was 6 month injury which they managed to get him back in 3 unfortunate that he got trodden on. Typical of our luck this year

I hope Yze stays at Melbourne and is groomed as part of Goodwin's succession plan. All coaches have a finite time even premiership-winning ones. My question is what is the contract status of our existing coaching group? It is customary for coaches to shuffle each year and have a new role. The last few years have been difficult with the capping of support staff and I hope the club can spend more and rather than pot the existing coaches maybe the resources are a bit thin and the things that drive us crazy are due to less coaches. Geelong cleaned out a lot of long-term, who knows what is correct. assistants and the Pies restructured their entire coaching staff

The unanswered question is "What if Freo cannot produce 2 high first round draft picks". ? Does Jacko hang around for another 2 seasons?

Yes, Simon has stated the obvious and it is disappointing that despite the awareness the coaching staff seemed unable to rectify it. Rather than be critical I would like to know what impediments there were to making change because it was repeat, start, repeat start and entirely predictable. Perhaps the match committee didn't think we could change things late in the season. In the last 2 years, it has been clear to win we need 3 marking targets up forward. Two has never worked. Maybe the powers that be didn't believe that in McDonald's absence we didn't have the cattle. JVR is too raw, Weir has shone as a 2nd ruck and I doubt will ever be a forward while Mitch Brown is a good VFL player. Look at Geelong, Sydney, Pies and even Brisbane and Freo all have running half-backs who deliver the ball. Our back six in the finals were panicky, quick kick-out or bomb artists. Bowey in-form must play next year. His run and dash in the VFL prelim was elite. What was adequate in the season failed badly in the finals. Rivers, Hibbo & Jayden all had bad finals and their kicking and run was not good under finals pressure. 3 defensive forwards aren't going to win finals, you need goal kicking half forwards. ANB, Spargo and Melk play a role but don't kick enough goals and often don't lay enough tackles. There is a spot for one such player. It is mini rebuild time just like Geelong did last year. To improve Melk, Hibbo, Hunt, cannot be in our best 22. Jacko will be gone and we need more class, pace, run and creativity and the extra effort needed to develop some of the young talent at Casey.

Our ruck stocks are thin and have no potential at Casey. Weid has shown he isn't a key forward but has shown he can ruck. Play him there in the last year of his contract. As for depth look no further than Sydney who has Hayden Mclean 197 cm, Sam Naismith 205 cm, Callum Sinclair 199 cm, Peter Ladhams 202 cm, Sam Reid 196 cm, Tom Hickey 202 cm, Joel Amartey 197 and Lachlan McAndrew 209 cm. it is a veritable land of the giants with 8 players who could lay claim to being a ruckman.

For those interested in history and coincidence and debuts in finals.. In 1982, 40 years ago on September 11th in the 2nd week of the finals, Hawthorn debuted a young forward named Dermott Brereton who kicked 5 goals on debut against North, leading the Hawks to victory. There is certain synchronicity if JVR debuts on Friday night. Sadly the tale didn't end well. Hawthorn had been defeated by Carlton in the first week of the final and after defeating North were again beaten by the blues in the prelim. Carlton going then went on to beat the favourites, Richmond, in the grand final. Augurs well for the Swans doesn't it? The 82 final is remembered for Malthouse having a dislocated shoulder but passing all tests at the final training until coach Francis Burke caught him unawares as training finished and dislocated his shoulder again. Also notable that Brian Taylor was left out of the grand final team with a sore knee

The medical report states that Spargo has bruised vocal cords and cannot talk. I don't think you can be considered to play if you cannot talk, there is only so much pointing and sign language one can do. A friend who knows TMac has told me TMac has put his hand up to playing he believes he is right to go. I believe we definitely need another tall marking target up forward. My left-field selection would be to play Jackson on the wing a la Mathew Richardson in his day and similar to Blicavs. Indeed Geelong are happy for both ruckman, Stanley & Blicavs to be at the contest!

Here's one to get your knickers in a knot. My son supports North ( I know what can I say, my late father recruited him) and came home angry believing North will trade their pick 1. His North connection (unnamed) tells him that North will get Lobbe and Acres and possibly a future first-rounder for their pick 1 which will be traded to Freo who will then use it to trade for Jackson. That would mean MFC get to pick 1. I immediately called bulltish but he is adamant that his mate always gets good mail. North need players not first-year recruits in his opinion.

In case no-one noticed, many players were fumbling today due to the intense pressure and slipping at crucial times on the lush MCG surface. I believe T-Mac will play as long as he gets thru training this week. Lots of sore players with milk & Fritter both having knee scans. Spargo in the hospital unable to talk and Trac we all know about. The side may need freshening up a bit.

The form says the changes will be minimal. For the finals the structure was shown tonight to be flawed. You need marking targets up forward. Reid was the match winner taking marks. If we persist in bombing it into the forward line you have to have bigger targets than spurge, picket & Melksham. Finals pressure doesn't allow many lace out passes to a good lead. I would remind everyone that Hawthorn debuted Bremerton in a final with great success. Jackson is not yet a marking forward who kicks goals and neither is Max. If Harmes is suspended Melk can play the wing and JVR, TMac or Weid can come in and frankly Weid is a better bet as the backup ruck.

His foot got stood on playing for Casey the night after he was our Medical-sub. Initially thought to be ok but remained sore and recent scans showed a break. It will be very difficult to get it right in 4 weeks. Horrible timing and the worst luck.

And history is littered with coaches that had a great Powerpoint presentation that swayed the selection committee. One name come to mind Mark Neeld. I remember another occasion an applicant missed out when his computer stalled and he couldn't deliver his Powerpoint presentation. I think the bells and whistles and a good audiovisual don't make you a great coach.

Exactly the same story for me as well. Not sure how many tickets have been allocated for walk up start.