Realistic hopes for 2024

[DubDee 24,110]

I have zero expectations. Clearly we can’t get anything out of the year from a success point of view

Try to firm up some sort of game plan that could be successful next year

Work on team unity and getting that hunger back

Try some kids but not many knocking the door down 

Continue to Try guys in new positions 

[beelzebub 23,125]

1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

- Kolt to play and look comfortable
- AMW debut
- Laurie to hopefully start to show something and get some midfield time
- JVR to have a purple patch 
- The entire team to begin to embrace/understand flowing ball movement and the basic concept of the fat side 
- Fritsch to sub or Casey

Oliver, Viney, ANB, Pickett, Salem, Rivers, Kolt, Laurie, Chandler all to see centre bounce time.

Thats actually not too shabby an outlook.

The thing that oftem bemuses me, and concurrently annoys me is for the most, and the many we ALL want success...not just a few wins on the trot, not just escaping the grim reapers sense of 'injury' humour... but success and if not at least respect.  We all ,often seems, have differing viewpoints but the ideal is tge same... a competitive and successful team.

Currently that's an illusion. Cutting through to reality we need to be maverick. Need to be honest enough to understand where we are and brave enough to let loose those we've brought on board to help us. Is the timing ideal ?? Hell no but it reminds me a little of when someone asks when are you ready you have kids... reality... never.  It will happen. You will adjust You persevere.... you fake it til you make it ..    And so we must as a club embrace the youth, shepherd them as best and see what happens.

Time to roll a die or two and mix it up.

Otherwise, just atm, all we are likely to see is same same same. And why would we not ? 

Again...as much as it surprises some zi actually liked Goodwins left field ideas early in the day ( the getting there was one thing ) .He demonstrated a flair ...   he needs to again. Currently we are devoid of any.

[Little Goffy 13,903]

Pfft.

We're two games out of the top 4.

Eight game winning streak to finish the season, including wins over Essendon, Port, Freo, Bulldogs and finally Collingwood to steal their top-4 spot.

Refresh from the bye round, a nothing-to-lose reset of the midfield and forward line, and get on out there.

[640MD 3,290]

Garçon. I will have a glass of whatever he is having. Merci  gratsi 

[Moonshadow 17,420]

I'd like to see Juddy McVee and Rivers given lots of opportunities in the midfield for the next 5-6 weeks. 

I see McVee as criminally underrated for his decision making, positioning, awareness and disposal. I'd almost go so far as to say he's the most talented player in our current 'best 22'.

Rivers gives our midfield dash and, like McVee, is a better kick than Viney, Oliver or Gawn

Depth through the midfield: Kossie, ANB and Sparrow

Back 6 of May, Rick, Tmac, Howes, Bowey, and Salo.

Perhaps it's AMW time???

Edited June 16 by Moonshadow

[Deemania since 56 6,542]

1 hour ago, London Demon said:

I’m sorry but I don’t see us winning many games at all for the rest of the year. Down on form and belief, and probably spirit too. Bottom 4.

The sun will come out tomorrow, the birds will chirp. The cold, southerly will still blow for the Dees. Time to re-invent - game-time, where learning is relevant.

[beelzebub 23,125]

3 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

The sun will come out tomorrow, the birds will chirp. The cold, southerly will still blow for the Dees. Time to re-invent - game-time, where learning is relevant.

Ahhhh   "Learnings" ......

[Jerry Lundergard 420]

Finish 7-8 and win one final. That would feel more successful than 2022 & 2023.

[Sir Why You Little 36,459]

4 minutes ago, Jerry Lundergard said:

Finish 7-8 and win one final. That would feel more successful than 2022 & 2023.

The irony, but correct 

[Deemania since 56 6,542]

58 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Ahhhh   "Learnings" ......

The  very crux of the issues, imo, from those that can teach, advise, validate and maintain with appropriate adjustments over both short and longer-term scenarios. 

[Superunknown 4,009]

Zero expectations now except for hopefully Rory winning tomorrow.

I’d like a strict rule of rewarding VFL form and not rewarding poor AFL form.

The strategic imperative should be a focus on who can cut the mustard in 25/26 (leveraging Max, CP5, May, Lever, Oliver etc ) whilst turning one’s mind to what lies beyond 26.

If this results in a dip down and high picks (waves at 2019), then so be it. 

[TeamPlayedFine39 8,344]

Make the finals and win in the first week.  That gets the finals monkey off the back and then we reset, refresh and have one more crack next year with Max and May.

 

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,268]

I've lost all trust in the playing group and the coaching staff and hierarchy.

We were told pre season our actions on the field will be our response to an off season from hell.

Something deeply amiss behind the scenes.  We won't be moving forward anytime soon until whatever it is that's festering away behind the scenes is resolved.

I'm not expecting finals this year after our last month. Happy to get games into kids but not all at once. 

[picket fence 16,591]

Realistic hopes...Um ..not die would be a start!

Edited June 16 by picket fence

[Jibroni 4,905]

Young Jefferson makes radical improvement and earns a rising start nomination.

[bing181 8,837]

3 hours ago, Hellaintabadplacetobe said:

Something deeply amiss behind the scenes. 

Or not.

Plenty of obvious reasons as to why we're struggling at the moment.

[Chook 14,987]

I think our fitness is just absolutely stuffed, leading to terrible disposal due to fatigue from already poor disposal players. Petty, Oliver, and now Petracca have been cruelled by injury and will need a full preseason to return to something like their best. On top of that, our gameplan relies on good disposal which we don't have, and our defence has finally begun to wilt under the intense pressure of an unfit midfield and noncompetitive forward line.

Finals would be a good result, but we're simply making up the numbers if we get there.

[John Demonic 5,454]

Gold Coast, Footscray, Fremantle, Brisbane, Hawthorn, St Kilda and Adelaide to play two months of great footy

Edited June 16 by John Demonic

[Rab D Nesbitt 8,065]

With our current % we'll likely have to go 7-3 in the games we have left to fall into the eight. As we're Melbourne we'll win 6 of them then get rolled by Collingwood in the last game as they lock in a top 2 spot and we miss finals on %. 

[layzie 32,564]

18 hours ago, Wells 11 said:

We now have no Trac, no Brayshaw and an Oliver and Petty  on half rat power . On top of this  we have maybe 3 players or more  hobbling through their final season ....and no Joel Smith. So I wonder what there is to realistically hope for in 2024. We aint winning a flag without Trac and the rest of the above...that much is clear.

So on one hand I could say what would be theoretically best is a full capitulation, a clean out and some good draft picks a la 2019 and maybe a good FA or trades. But there's a looong way to go in 2024 and I don't like the feel of that enough to hope for it. 

On the other I think we could still push for a finals birth and, if we got there and won one, I reckon that would be impressive with the reality of our 24  list ... and we could at least get that "straight sets" monkey off our back. Barring that I'd like to at least see them refind their mojo, energy  and connection and build for a decent 2025 shot. Maybe see a few younger players tried and assess with more clarity?

Any thoughts? 

If we can somehow make finals and win a final it would be beneficial. Can't give up 

[Tracca 778]

14 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I'd like for guys to be actually rewarded for their VFL form and guys getting dropped for poor form.

AMW, Kolt, Laurie to play an extended amount of games instead of chopping and changing.

I'm no Fullarton fan but reward him for his consistency at VFL level. Ridiculous that Turner gets a game up forward over him.

Get Brown in for Petty. 

The inconsistency in team selection this year has been utterly bizarre. 

You had me until you mentioned brown for petty. That's like robbing the rich to give to the poor. The rest you are bang on

[Wells 11 5,234]

10 hours ago, Jibroni said:

Young Jefferson makes radical improvement and earns a rising start nomination.

thats my wish for 2025. Wont happen this year.

[Neil Crompton 5,268]

Realistic hope? If we are able to get our act together we can still make the finals. And if we do, we will do some damage in September.

Realistic? I hope so.

[Demonstone 21,497]

1 hour ago, Tracca said:

That's like robbing the rich to give to the poor.

We could try Robin Hood at full-forward.  His kicking is apparently straight as an arrow.

[The Taciturn Demon 330]

I would be stunned if we made the finals. Our form isn't just poor; it's fallen down a crevasse; we have bone poking through leg skin. Our form is starting to smell a little like almond. 

My only hope is we ditch the dour conservatism at selection and in games. Three times now we've been comprehensively beaten by teams who for one reason or another have played plenty of kids. And several of those kids have made really good contributions. We, on the other hand, have looked slow and staid, a team of plodders on tram tracks. We treat Billings and Hunter as if they're vital cogs in the machine, seem excited by the prospect of ANB as a tagger, give Taj Woewodin the James Jordon treatment, don't seem to know quite where Sparrow fits.

Playing Kozzy more at centre bounces is great; could we leave him there for longer?

Petty as a forward seemed like a sensible experiment, but it hasn't worked, and we're getting massacred at centre bounces. Is Fullarton really that far off AFL form?

And, as others have already mentioned, playing McVee, Rivers and Salem in the middle seems like a trial with very little downside at this point. 

I haven't watched as much VFL as I did in previous years; maybe there really is very little there worth considering. But a bit of dash, some decent sideways movement and the ability to occasionally hit a target, puts you ahead of a few in the seniors at the moment.