20 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

2024 

where are the improvements 

+ Petty JVR 

+ Howes + Woey + AMW + Daniel Turner 

+ McAdam 

+ 4-5 young draft picks 

and more … 

Pretty much spot on, plus the development of the talls we picked up last year

I'm going to get shouted down here but I believe Max needs to step down as captain and hand it over the Lever. 

Height and pace.

JVR to average closer to 2 goals a game rather than 1.

Kozzie to stop giving 50m penalties.

A key position fwd.

A backup for Max.

and genuine talent.

 

33 minutes ago, YearOfTheDees said:

I'm going to get shouted down here but I believe Max needs to step down as captain and hand it over the Lever. 

Not really a bad i idea as such but only if Max needed the break and volunteered it.

The better option for mine assuming he wants to continue with it...

Rick as Co-Captain

Vices Viney & May

Takes some of the pressure off Maxy and Rick is def a natural leader.

May needs some recognition imv assuming he was interested.

Stonewall down back and rarely lets the team down.

Fabulous in both finals and stands up under heat and in big games almost every time

Edited September 16, 20231 yr by Demon Dynasty

1. luck with injuries in particular Petty. He's injury prone which is a worry.

2. Find a KPF from somewhere. No idea where from.

3. freshen up the game plan. We play in a straight jacket. show some dash and dare. Rivers the only candidate in the team that shows any.

4. some new assistant coaches. We need some new ideas.

5. Trade up for GCs pick 4 and take our 2 high picks to the draft. Bring in some high-end talent. JT will work his magic for us.

38 minutes ago, YearOfTheDees said:

I'm going to get shouted down here but I believe Max needs to step down as captain and hand it over the Lever. 

47 minutes ago, YearOfTheDees said:

I'm going to get shouted down here but I believe Max needs to step down as captain and hand it over the Lever. 

Certainly time for Max to step down, could be Viney/Lever or Lever/Tracc co captains rather than straight Lever.

I’m just not fully on board with Lever if we are still experimenting with different backline set ups, which will probably will be. I expect it will be Disco Turner’s job to lose in which case it won’t be all smooth sailing for Lever

Not going to dwelve into last night's performance because I think that's been done to death.

With the list we have we simply should be contending deep into finals but the fact we've gone 2 years in a row with straight set exits is to put it bluntly, unacceptable and embarrassing. 

I'll raise a few point and see how others feel.

• Coaching restructure.

I think the likes of Stafford and Yze have done their time. I'm hoping Yze gets the senior gig at Richmond and Stafford is moved on. Since 2020, we've made zero changes to our coaching structure and if you're not careful players can get really stale with the same voice over and over again. Some fresh coaches with fresh ideas is what needed imo.

• Ruthless list management calls on senior players.

Tmac and Benny Brown are beyond cooked and still have a year to run on their contract. One or both need to be tapped on the shoulder and told thanks for your service because they're two injury prone blokes that continue to break down and clog up list space. To watch Tmac dish up that performance last night was embarrassing really. I would also put Salem up for trade. I know his form in the last two years has been poor but he'll be 29 next year and I cannot see him getting back to his standard of 2021. If he can net us a late 1st rounder or early 2nd then I'd jump at the opportunity. Another who struggles to play a full season out due to injury/illness. I'd also reward Melksham with a 1 year contract and put him on the rookie list. Trade out Jordon and Harmes for peanuts but keep Tomlinson. 

• Review our list management process.

The Brodie Grundy trade was an absolute blunder, there is no way sugar coating it. Blind Freddie could see that bringing in another a genuine number one ruck was never going to work. There were many, me included, who raised concerns regarding this decision last year and our worst fears came to fruition when we attempted to turn him into a forward which turned into another blunder. I feel bad for Grundy but Sydney will be a much better fit. We dont need to be going out and buying expensive rucks, we just need to bring in someone that come in and play a role when needed to relieve Max and even pinch hit up forward. Hayden McLean type. On other list management decisions, don't sell it to guys like Dunstan and Schache and say that there certainly will be opportunities there and then refuse to play them when we've had those opportunities open up. Goody is part of this process so he too needs to seriously reconsider how he approaches this when targeting players. We had poor Dunstan racking up close to 40 touches a game and yet we rewarded the same guys in Harmes and Jordon who were giving us absolute zero output at AFL level.

• Captaincy decision?

I'm really torn on this and hesitated leaving this one out. But is it time to make a call on the captaincy? We all love Gawn for what he's done for this footy club but he's also getting on. The two misses last night were very costly and when you're needing your captain to stand up in the moment unfortunately he just couldnt grab his chances. He also doesn't have much time left in the game and I'm starting to think maybe a fresh leader with a fresh voice could be good for the group perhaps. Still torn on this one.

Not a bad idea to trade Salem. We have too many young guns in the half back line so we are well covered if he left.

Langdon is another one that could be in danger, last two seasons have been underwhelming and I feel he is not physical or IQ enough for finals.

Keep Tomlinson agree, he was good most of the time and if we are really making Petty our KPF we need him as a replacement in the back line.

Try Woewodin and other youngsters on the wing and half forward.

I think Spargo also needs to be back in our best 23, his decision making is elite.

We need to be very smart come draft time, should have picks 4 and 5; the club needs to select based on the gaps in our list not necessarily  best available (we are short on leg speed and elite kicking).

I’d be stoked if the club had the chutzpah to trade out Salem and Langdon, just can’t see it.

23 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

 

• Captaincy decision?

I'm really torn on this and hesitated leaving this one out. But is it time to make a call on the captaincy? We all love Gawn for what he's done for this footy club but he's also getting on. The two misses last night were very costly and when you're needing your captain to stand up in the moment unfortunately he just couldnt grab his chances. He also doesn't have much time left in the game and I'm starting to think maybe a fresh leader with a fresh voice could be good for the group perhaps. Still torn on this one.

Interesting topic. There has to be a leadership GROUP transition at the very least. Tracc, Brayshaw and Lever will all be 29 heading into the 2025 season and I think that's the last opportunity to make the big leap to a new leader, knowing that players bodies don't hold up so well 2+ years on from there. I think big Max deserves another year at it though. 

Having said that, making the 'tough decision' to give Tracc the captaincy next year, might be the spark or fire that takes his game to another level. If that's even possible.

 

Edited September 16, 20231 yr by John Demonic

3 hours ago, jacey said:

Ironically we have Ben Brown, Jake Melksham, Tom McDonald to add to JVR and petty who are all excellent set shots but unfortunately none played last night.  

Ironically because three of them should retire even if they have to be paid out.

And we don't actually know how good JVR might become,nor Petty on a sample of 3 or 4 games forward.

Edited September 16, 20231 yr by IRW

1. Replacements for hunter and Langdon. Desperate for better disposal from the wingers.

2. A gameplan that utilizes different skill sets. A big reason Toby Bedford is excelling at GWS is due to game style. We need to adjust our game plan to utilize fast ball movement.

3. Stafford needs to be relegated to exclusively ruck coach or gone completely to manage soft cap.

4. Rivers in the guts full time to utilize his kicking.

5. Draft for elite kicking mids with pace.

4 minutes ago, John Demonic said:

Interesting topic. There has to be a leadership GROUP transition at the very least. Tracc, Brayshaw and Lever will all be 29 heading into the 2025 season and I think that's the last opportunity to make the big leap to a new leader, knowing that players bodies don't hold up so well 2+ years on from there. I think big Max deserves another year at it though. 

Having said that, making the 'tough decision' to give Tracc the captaincy next year, might be the spark or fire that takes his game to another level. If that's even possible.

 

Maybe the captaincy fixes Trac's kicking 😅

1 minute ago, John Demonic said:

Having said that, making the 'tough decision' to give Tracc the captaincy, might be the spark or fire that takes his game to another level.

I don't think the captaincy would suit Trac at all. Reckon it would weight him down.

Max is captain until he retires. Yes he missed kicks last night but he has never been a good kick. Maybe someone like Rivers in a couple of years could be a good option once he has more experience.

Just now, ElDiablo14 said:

Maybe the captaincy fixes Trac's kicking 😅

Having a forward line to kick to might do that too

Just now, John Demonic said:

Having a forward line to kick to might do that too

I meant goal kicking, not so much the field kicking.

2 days a week, for 6 months of extra field and goal kicking practice for everyone.

We talk about having generational players in our team, but i'm sorry, you cannot be generational if you cannot hit a target. 

 

23 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Not going to dwelve into last night's performance because I think that's been done to death.

With the list we have we simply should be contending deep into finals but the fact we've gone 2 years in a row with straight set exits is to put it bluntly, unacceptable and embarrassing. 

I'll raise a few point and see how others feel.

• Coaching restructure.

I think the likes of Stafford and Yze have done their time. I'm hoping Yze gets the senior gig at Richmond and Stafford is moved on. Since 2020, we've made zero changes to our coaching structure and if you're not careful players can get really stale with the same voice over and over again. Some fresh coaches with fresh ideas is what needed imo.

• Ruthless list management calls on senior players.

Tmac and Benny Brown are beyond cooked and still have a year to run on their contract. One or both need to be tapped on the shoulder and told thanks for your service because they're two injury prone blokes that continue to break down and clog up list space. To watch Tmac dish up that performance last night was embarrassing really. I would also put Salem up for trade. I know his form in the last two years has been poor but he'll be 29 next year and I cannot see him getting back to his standard of 2021. If he can net us a late 1st rounder or early 2nd then I'd jump at the opportunity. Another who struggles to play a full season out due to injury/illness. I'd also reward Melksham with a 1 year contract and put him on the rookie list. Trade out Jordon and Harmes for peanuts but keep Tomlinson. 

• Review our list management process.

The Brodie Grundy trade was an absolute blunder, there is no way sugar coating it. Blind Freddie could see that bringing in another a genuine number one ruck was never going to work. There were many, me included, who raised concerns regarding this decision last year and our worst fears came to fruition when we attempted to turn him into a forward which turned into another blunder. I feel bad for Grundy but Sydney will be a much better fit. We dont need to be going out and buying expensive rucks, we just need to bring in someone that come in and play a role when needed to relieve Max and even pinch hit up forward. Hayden McLean type. On other list management decisions, don't sell it to guys like Dunstan and Schache and say that there certainly will be opportunities there and then refuse to play them when we've had those opportunities open up. Goody is part of this process so he too needs to seriously reconsider how he approaches this when targeting players. We had poor Dunstan racking up close to 40 touches a game and yet we rewarded the same guys in Harmes and Jordon who were giving us absolute zero output at AFL level.

• Captaincy decision?

I'm really torn on this and hesitated leaving this one out. But is it time to make a call on the captaincy? We all love Gawn for what he's done for this footy club but he's also getting on. The two misses last night were very costly and when you're needing your captain to stand up in the moment unfortunately he just couldnt grab his chances. He also doesn't have much time left in the game and I'm starting to think maybe a fresh leader with a fresh voice could be good for the group perhaps. Still torn on this one.

Terrific post. If we don’t shake things up we’ll literally be the definition of insanity.

I’d make Brayshaw captain - think he could do with the extra responsibility. But Trac would be terrific too.

Definitely need coaching panel changes to bring in new voices and ideas. Perhaps Dew or someone else who has sat in the chair? And a sharp up-and-comer.

Tomlinson must stay - and needs to be paid more respect - and I don’t understand the point of Schache and Dunstan. Not up to it. Really, really need some pace and elite kicking. Heartbreaking watching Bedford put on the afterburners though I’m super happy for him.

Very much looking for coaching changes.

1 hour ago, Demons11 said:

You are kidding mate.  This team although inaccurate absolutely give their all every week and there is no way people can question their effort.  They are a brutal footy team and we just need a key forward.   A fit Petty will slot in down back again next year and if we can wrench a ready made power forward from somewhere to stand with JVR we will back bigger than better 

There's no doubt they give it a red hot go..but sans poise,skill and elite decisions.

That's more than needing one key forward.

16 minutes ago, BDA said:

I don't think the captaincy would suit Trac at all. Reckon it would weight him down.

Max is captain until he retires. Yes he missed kicks last night but he has never been a good kick. Maybe someone like Rivers in a couple of years could be a good option once he has more experience.

That's skipping a generation! And just feels like a backwards Dyson Heppell type of captaincy move that promotes disharmony in the senior ranks. No offence to Trent or anything, but he's 22 and has 4-5 years of development in him and I dont expect Max or Viney to be around by then, and in two years, will probably be injury prone more often than not.

Maybe if we'd been able to draft Noah Anderson instead of LJ, we'd be having that discussion in year or two though!  

Edited September 16, 20231 yr by John Demonic

My concern is that Goodwin doesn't like change and won't make the major changes to the game plan that we so desperately need

37 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Not a bad idea to trade Salem. We have too many young guns in the half back line so we are well covered if he left.

Langdon is another one that could be in danger, last two seasons have been underwhelming and I feel he is not physical or IQ enough for finals.

Keep Tomlinson agree, he was good most of the time and if we are really making Petty our KPF we need him as a replacement in the back line.

Try Woewodin and other youngsters on the wing and half forward.

I think Spargo also needs to be back in our best 23, his decision making is elite.

We need to be very smart come draft time, should have picks 4 and 5; the club needs to select based on the gaps in our list not necessarily  best available (we are short on leg speed and elite kicking).

I see Woewodin as an upgraded version of Jordon.

Wouldn't be surprised if he has a break out year next year.

If Yze goes then that at least prompts a coaching change. We need someone who can fill the midfield coaching/assistant coaching role he fills. I think we need to either get a complete unknown and take a risk or do what we did in 2021 and go poach the best assistant in the business. Who those are, I'm not too sure and would love to hear suggestions.

Brad Miller was a top forward's coach for GWS and is now at the Suns, Dimma is cutting people left and right, make an offer and bring him in.

Trade - Need a ruckman to come in for Grundy. Reckon we stay far away from Chol as he is a terrible pressure based player. Matt Flynn just screams ideal candidate due to being basically free, 26, big body, above average in most metrics. A few preseasons would develop his tank and allow him to take a bulk of the ruck work post Gawn.

Draft - Need to go hard for the Suns pick 4. If we can't get the Suns pick 4 we need to find a way to get all our picks inside the top 30 post all the academy, F/S and North comp picks which will be difficult. 

If we can get Pick 4 as it is now, think we draft McKercher or Duursma depending on who is available at the time (Hawks and North are both keen on Duursma). Then with Pick 5, grab O'Sullivan. Might be a bit overs and people will say get Watson instead but I think we need to seriously get ahead on the replacing Steven May plan and I think he will be a jet. 

If we have 1 or 2 picks inside the top 30 post that, I think we see if we can snag another Mid-sized defender with pace to replace Hibbo and a winger as Howes can't stay fit long enough to apply any real pressure to Ed and Hunter.