21 hours ago, Adam The God said:

He spoke specifically about Max, Viney and Trac all having plenty of time to win another premiership. The player he conspicuously left out was Clarry, and rightly so IMO.

Clarry is only 27. I think it goes without saying that if Max, Viney and Trac all have plenty of time to win another premiership, players younger than them do too.

Does anyone in the footy world view Clarry as an “old” player? 27 is the new 23 in footy these days.

19 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Clarry is only 27. I think it goes without saying that if Max, Viney and Trac all have plenty of time to win another premiership, players younger than them do too.

Does anyone in the footy world view Clarry as an “old” player? 27 is the new 23 in footy these days.

Isn't he 29 next season?

5 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Isn't he 29 next season?

He’s 27 at present

21 hours ago, Adam The God said:

Injury permitting, he looks like he could have 2-3 seasons left.

I have 16 locks for our 22 next year and then I have 7-8 senior players with question marks over them.

Trac, Clarry, Lever, May, Viney, Fritta, Salem and even Petty.

List management at the end of '25 is huge. As is getting a top midfield coach (Cam Bruce?), maybe even a new forward coach and a new head of footy. Possibly too much change, but we'll see.

We won't and shouldn't move on all of those senior players either, but surely 1, 2 or even 3 will go. This will also mean we need to get active in the FA market and recruiting at least 1, probably 2 first rounders in the so called weaker and conpromised draft.

There's no reason we can't be playing finals in 2026 if we pull the right levers.

As the commentators said today, kick straight the last 4 weeks and we'd have another 4 wins and be sitting on 9 wins. But as Goody said in his presser, obviously it's an outcome based industry and we have to start winning, however the really positive signs are the results against the really top teams in the comp.

Brisbane, Collingwood, Hawthorn and Adelaide. We dominated all four teams at various stages. Should have won 2, possibly 3. We've been in all these games, but it's the consistency that we haven't been able to get.

We can complain that I'm making excuses all we like, but there are genuine factors in seeing a shift in game style take place and get results.

It is not unreasonable to think things can turn quickly in 2026.

Put Petty back to CHB and Disco up fwd. Petty is only 26 in November, plenty of good footy left in him. May showed again yesterday he’s still got it.

Edited July 7Jul 7 by Bombay Airconditioning

On at least two occasions yesterday we had the ball 25 - 30 metres out from our defensive goal line and ten - 15 metres in from the boundary line , May I think had it both times and Langdon ran deeper into the pocket behind May calling for the ball, he was ignored both times. This may seem like an odd observation but how is this any part of a move the ball quickly game plan.

Presumably a standard Jon Ralph word vomit article?

8 hours ago, lorn said:

Reminds me of the death spiral we went into after the 2000 Grand Final

We actually played finals in 02, 04, 05 06… spiral into dark days 07-13

17 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Presumably a standard Jon Ralph word vomit article?

He's only repeating what many of us are saying.

I for one take none of those games for granted and hope the team doesn't.

Goodwin's no nong, he'll know the club is hamstrung and rudderless.

As much as I'd think it best for the club he signed off it'll be 26 that the torch is lit under him.

Of course if we continue to nose dive... the drums will get only louder.

We have won 6 of our last 22 games ! That is indisputable. Who is going to accept responsibility for this clearly unacceptable situation? Who is going to accept responsibility for our appalling, competition worst goal scoring efficiency? Who is going to take responsibility for the obvious unhappiness of long contracted, key players and their form slumps? Who is going to accept responsibility for the fact that the development of many younger and mid level players is going backwards ?Who is going to accept responsibility for the fact tthat we have gone from a Premiership , competitive team in a few years to near cellar dwellers ? Clearly not Goodwin , every presser is him trying to maintain that the situation is under control, we are learning a new game plan and we’ll be right . Why would anyone have confidence in this , given what has happened to our list and team performances , particularly in the last two seasons.

Edited July 7Jul 7 by FabDemon

23 hours ago, Adam The God said:

Injury permitting, he looks like he could have 2-3 seasons left.

I have 16 locks for our 22 next year and then I have 7-8 senior players with question marks over them.

Trac, Clarry, Lever, May, Viney, Fritta, Salem and even Petty.

List management at the end of '25 is huge. As is getting a top midfield coach (Cam Bruce?), maybe even a new forward coach and a new head of footy. Possibly too much change, but we'll see.

We won't and shouldn't move on all of those senior players either, but surely 1, 2 or even 3 will go. This will also mean we need to get active in the FA market and recruiting at least 1, probably 2 first rounders in the so called weaker and conpromised draft.

There's no reason we can't be playing finals in 2026 if we pull the right levers.

As the commentators said today, kick straight the last 4 weeks and we'd have another 4 wins and be sitting on 9 wins. But as Goody said in his presser, obviously it's an outcome based industry and we have to start winning, however the really positive signs are the results against the really top teams in the comp.

Brisbane, Collingwood, Hawthorn and Adelaide. We dominated all four teams at various stages. Should have won 2, possibly 3. We've been in all these games, but it's the consistency that we haven't been able to get.

We can complain that I'm making excuses all we like, but there are genuine factors in seeing a shift in game style take place and get results.

It is not unreasonable to think things can turn quickly in 2026.

We've kicked like [censored] for four years. The odds of that improving under the current coach are minimal. He clearly doesn't see it as a priority, or he would have done something about it.

18 minutes ago, FabDemon said:

We have won 6 of our last 22 games ! That is indisputable. Who is going to accept responsibility for this clearly unacceptable situation? Who is going to accept responsibility for our appalling, competition worst goal scoring efficiency? Who is going to take responsibility for the obvious unhappiness of long contracted, key players and their form slumps? Who is going to accept responsibility for the fact that the development of many younger and mid level players is going backwards ?Who is going to accept responsibility for the fact tthat we have gone from a Premiership , competitive team in a few years to near cellar dwellers ? Clearly not Goodwin , every presser is him trying to maintain that the situation is under control, we are learning a new game plan and we’ll be right . Why would anyone have confidence in this , given what has happened to our list and team performances , particularly in the last two seasons

It really depends how committed Steven Smith is to the job. We have spent a season treading water under Green who has no leadership or corporate experience. Standards at the club are slipping, nobody ever takes responsibility. We hired a CEO in Guerra and were caught by surprise by his notice period AFTER WE HIRED HIM. What does that say about the board in its current state? If they can't sort back of house out, its no wonder they've decided to believe Goodwin and his spin rather than make proper hard decisions about the football program. At the start of the year, Goodwin would have laughed in any journalist's face who suggested we would be 5-11 and have lost five in a row twice. For a guy who doesn't come across as particularly intellectual, he has a peculiar talent for selling himself. Even Roos initially said he only took a meeting with Goodwin out of politeness rather than thinking he had senior coaching chops. The guy can sell himself. And hey, we won a flag, which I'll always be grateful for, but its been four years and we get worse every season.

Smith needs to get the whole joint back into line. I personally expect next year to be a lot like 2007. The playing group has talent, sure, but their standards are pretty shocking. A world away from the early starts culture in 2021, now they spent the off-season lobbying for "fewer contact hours". It is up to Smith and Guerra, the latter who we just have to hope is the right man despite having no footy experience, to turn this ship around. That includes shuffling off any coaches and senior players who are not committed to elite standards.

Edited July 7Jul 7 by Pirlo

51 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Presumably a standard Jon Ralph word vomit article?

For starters, how disrespectful he is to call those teams easybeats, or any team for that matter. Very unprofessional

3 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

For starters, how disrespectful he is to call those teams easybeats, or any team for that matter. Very unprofessional

As distasteful as you find it the ladder supports his view.

1 minute ago, beelzebub said:

As distasteful as you find it the ladder supports his view.

He’s a professional sports reporter, not a local yob at the pub on a Satdy arvo.

27 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

For starters, how disrespectful he is to call those teams easybeats, or any team for that matter. Very unprofessional

It will be far more disrespectful if we lose to those Teams…

1 hour ago, FabDemon said:

We have won 6 of our last 22 games ! That is indisputable. Who is going to accept responsibility for this clearly unacceptable situation? Who is going to accept responsibility for our appalling, competition worst goal scoring efficiency? Who is going to take responsibility for the obvious unhappiness of long contracted, key players and their form slumps? Who is going to accept responsibility for the fact that the development of many younger and mid level players is going backwards ?Who is going to accept responsibility for the fact tthat we have gone from a Premiership , competitive team in a few years to near cellar dwellers ? Clearly not Goodwin , every presser is him trying to maintain that the situation is under control, we are learning a new game plan and we’ll be right . Why would anyone have confidence in this , given what has happened to our list and team performances , particularly in the last two seasons.

Super post

On 04/07/2025 at 21:45, Ghostwriter said:

With respect, you only addressed “culture” in your last paragraph, and even then you defined it as “mates having your back. All marching to the same beat” which imo isn’t an accurate definition.

Perhaps it’s open to interpretation, in which case I’d take into account (among other things) the fact that Kozzie and Judd have re-signed, the young brigade (Kolt, X, Harvey, Leb and Luker) don’t regret being drafted by us, nor do their parents. Our Cat. B rookie Oscar Berry chose us from six interested clubs and Kalani is looking extremely likely to choose us over the GCS. Even Toby Sinnema wants to be with us. For mine, that’s proof of a good culture.

Just wondering when Judd re signed

9 hours ago, Pirlo said:

It really depends how committed Steven Smith is to the job. We have spent a season treading water under Green who has no leadership or corporate experience. Standards at the club are slipping, nobody ever takes responsibility. We hired a CEO in Guerra and were caught by surprise by his notice period AFTER WE HIRED HIM. What does that say about the board in its current state? If they can't sort back of house out, its no wonder they've decided to believe Goodwin and his spin rather than make proper hard decisions about the football program. At the start of the year, Goodwin would have laughed in any journalist's face who suggested we would be 5-11 and have lost five in a row twice. For a guy who doesn't come across as particularly intellectual, he has a peculiar talent for selling himself. Even Roos initially said he only took a meeting with Goodwin out of politeness rather than thinking he had senior coaching chops. The guy can sell himself. And hey, we won a flag, which I'll always be grateful for, but its been four years and we get worse every season.

Smith needs to get the whole joint back into line. I personally expect next year to be a lot like 2007. The playing group has talent, sure, but their standards are pretty shocking. A world away from the early starts culture in 2021, now they spent the off-season lobbying for "fewer contact hours". It is up to Smith and Guerra, the latter who we just have to hope is the right man despite having no footy experience, to turn this ship around. That includes shuffling off any coaches and senior players who are not committed to elite standards.

Hallelujah

Standards at the club slipped after 21. I called it then and it continues to slide.

9 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

It will be far more disrespectful if we lose to those Teams…

Yeahhh... wouldn't want to be..... them !!!

Just now, picket fence said:

Separate issue! Stick to the thread!

Goody should be cactus delecti

20 hours ago, SFebes said:

After listening to Goodwins presser, it feels like he genuinely believes his own spin. At the start of the year he talked up finals as the bare minimum, now we are "building" (re-building) for the next flag. He is hoping for the best and has no idea, he relies on effort to keep us in games.

He depends on Petracca/Oliver (who don't even look like they want to be here) to be the competitive beasts and lessen the likelihood for a beating. He seems to think they are the nucleus for the next flag, when IMO he should try a half/game where Rivers, McVee, Langford, Lindsay, Bowey are the frontline mids. The beasts of old will find their mojo out on the flanks, they are done in the midfield. Viney as a defensive forward full time (and leave him there).

To think we have had a relatively easy draw, pretty good run re injuries the fact is many have regressed. He is a limited coach and we need a fresh voice. I guess the same people who were excited by yesterdays presser, was excited re finals talk before the season and excited for all the other spin of last few years. 6 wins from last 22, 2 x bottom 4/5 finishes incoming, all with a fair chunk of premiership players on the list. No first round pick this year either.

Believes his own spin is understating it. He is more delusional than Davros!

4 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Believes his own spin is understating it. He is more delusional than Davros!

There's only one thing worse than Goody believing his own bs..

The club believing it !!

Ralph's not wrong.

Where do we go from here if we go 0-4 against North, Carlton, St Kilda and West Coast? Because we sure as goat's droppings not beating Dogs, Hawthorn or Collingwood.

On 06/07/2025 at 21:51, Demon Dynasty said:

I doubt this board is capable of making a critical call on this in terms of it being unacceptable. Voss will probably go long before Simon so is the amount of heat he's under.

As with all things MFC, the board often wilts under pressure and signs existing coaches too early and too long. Usually to the club's detriment. Rather than playing the wait-and-see game which was what we should have done after the second straight sets exit in 2023.

What we are witnessing now is a club in a slow motion death spiral, on and off the field.

With the MFC board, as it so often does, having gone to ground with its head in the sand. Not a peep from any of the top brass about this consecutive year of horribilus.

At some stage they'll be presented with the financial and 2026 fixture impact though.

$ issues usually cut through and clarify things and force outcomes, even on the most complacent.

And with Carlton acting long before us means the baggers "get first draft picks" of a new coaching team before us.

We seem to excel at procrastination

15 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Ralph's not wrong.

Where do we go from here if we go 0-4 against North, Carlton, St Kilda and West Coast? Because we sure as goat's droppings not beating Dogs, Hawthorn or Collingwood.

We will run Carlton and Saints into form North and west coast know they can beat us

Goodwin is the master of telling people what they want to hear, no matter how ridiculous the dribble he spews.

I'm not sure what's worse - that he truly believes what he says, or that people still give him the benefit of the doubt after the past 18 months.

And yes, we'll do well to beat more than 2 of the 4 so-called easy beats in the coming weeks. Not because they're better than us, but because we're the masters of finding ways to lose the unlosable.