Check out what the assistant coaches thought of every Melbourne player this year in the first of an exclusive nine-part season review


Sam Blease
Sam had a good year, and finished up playing sixteen games, which was great reward for effort. His ability to take the game on and hit the scoreboard was a highlight.  Sam’s accuracy in front of goal was good, and his all-round development was fittingly rewarded with a NAB rising star nomination. - Leigh Brown (forward line coach)

	G	Rank	K	H	D	DE%	CP	UP	M	G	SA	I50	T	C
2012	21	54	8.5	4.1	12.6	59.2	4.3	8.3	2.8	1.2	0.3	2.8	2.1	0.9
Career Average		55	8.8	4.3	13.1	63.6	4.5	8.7	2.6	0.9	0.3	2.6	1.8	0.9

Brad Green
Brad finished off his career in some good form. He hit the scoreboard regularly, and continued to work hard on the lead, no matter the result. Brad’s teammates benefited from his knowledge and understanding of the game, and he has made a valuable contribution to the side, right to his last game. - Leigh Brown (forward line coach)

	G	Rank	K	H	D	DE%	CP	UP	M	G	SA	I50	T	C
2012	13	60	7.4	3	10.4	68.1	4.3	5.8	4.2	1.5	0.6	2.3	2.2	0.2
Career Average		80	10.3	5.9	16.2	74.5	5	10.9	5.2	1.4	0.6	3	2.2	0.9

James Strauss
James has worked incredibly hard through his rehabilitation from a serious broken leg to work his way back into the AFL side during the back half of the year, and play seven consecutive weeks. After surgery in the first half of the season to remove screws from his leg, James’ movement increased significantly and he was able to return to Casey and play solid VFL football, before earning his recall to the senior side against Fremantle in Round 16. - Andrew Nichol (back line development coach)

	G	Rank	K	H	D	DE%	CP	UP	M	G	SA	I50	T	C
2012	7	48	4.3	6.7	11	83.1	3.1	8.1	2	0	0.3	1.1	2.7	0.1
Career Average		47.5	5.9	5.7	11.6	80.9	2.8	8.2	2.1	0	0.2	1.1	2.7	0.3

Colin Garland
Colin had a very strong patch of form between Round Two and Round Nine, playing on high quality small forwards.  He was very consistent, and was forced down forward through our injuries.  He had an immediate impact.  Colin was very much a flexible player for us in 2012.  His leadership improved immeasurably after he was thrust into the leadership group.  He is very popular among the playing group, and will once again really attack the pre-season next year and look to increase strength and speed and endurance. - Jade Rawlings (backline coach)

	G	Rank	K	H	D	DE%	CP	UP	M	G	SA	I50	T	C
2012	22	71	9.2	3.5	12.8	77.6	4.4	7.7	4.5	0.4	0.6	1.4	3.3	0.5
Career Average		67.4	8.5	4.9	13.4	78.5	4.1	8.5	4.1	0.2	0.3	0.8	2.6	0.4

Lucas Cook
Lucas was unable to complete a full pre-season and did not play his first game until Round 5 in the VFL Reserves side. After an initial patch of good football in the Casey senior side, where his marking and ball usage was very good, he has had to work very hard off the field to enable him to compete week in, week out.  Lucas has gained experience playing on some accomplished AFL defenders this year (consisting of stronger, mature bodies), which has tested his thinking to get separation and space and how he works in games. His ability to increase his strength will be important to Lucas going forward. - Paul Satterley (forward line development coach)

	G	Rank	K	H	D	DE%	CP	UP	M	G	SA	I50	T	C
2012	14	57	5.9	3.6	9.5	70.7	4.4	5.1	3.8	1.1	1.1	2.1	1.8	0.1
Career Average		57.5	6.05	3.95	10	73.1	4.25	5.65	3.95	1	1.15	1.75	2	0.2

Games = G, Champion Data Ranking = Rank, Kicks = K, Handballs = H, Disposals = D, Disposal Effeceincy = DE %, Contested Possession = CP, Uncontested Possession = UP, Marks = M, Goals = G, Score Assist = SA, Inside 50 = I 50, Tackles = T, Clearances = C