7 hours ago, Norm Smith's Curse said:

I heard pretty emphatically that Uze was actually a driving force in 2021 and strategically things aren't the same.

Ahh.... the smoking gun ...of sorts.

Had wondered if anyone was to mention this salient observation. Thankyou NSC

22 hours ago, Demonsone said:

They need to be bold and trade Oliver

The time to be bold was a couple of years ago when his value was high. There is nothing bold about trading someone at their lowest value.

We get what we deserve as a club for sitting still and expecting 2021 to happen again. Good clubs/coaches turn over the list and evolve their game plan constantly year on year, not only once the bird has flown and its all too late.

It’s hard to tell what the actual game plan is if we aren’t actually winning contest .

There's a leadership void at the club right now. Of those who would have been considered leaders in the flag year.

1. Gawn is a year older, and beginning to slow down at last.

2. The game is moving away from one-paced extractors like Viney, and he looks slower too.

3. Petracca showed his hand. Not saying he was wrong, because he was mishandled, but there's clearly a fracture there. A good chance to be out next year.

4. May is probably past it, at least as a first banana key defender. He was also involved in a scrap over the summer, and the first thing he did this week was whack a bloke and give away 50. You can carry leaders like this when all are on the straight and narrow, not when you desperately need calm heads.

5. Lever has failed to advance his game since becoming a premier interceptor in his early 20s. Some of his contemporaries, like Tom Stewart, have managed to remain aerial kings whilst also being able to stick to a man. Lever is more Allir - good at one thing, but error prone. This bloke should be close to the AA squad every season, but has only made it once. What does it say to young players when someone is getting so much less out of themselves than they could?

Losing ANB and Brayshaw in consecutive years was a disaster, and one the club seems to have done nothing to mitigate. Neither of them was as good as the top liners in the team, with respect to Gus who was a jet in his good seasons, but both were cultural barometers. All the cultural talk this year rings hollow when you see how disconnected the team looks on field. I thought we were bad in 23, then in 24, now I almost think back to last year warmly because it was rare the team didn't look at least relatively cohesive.

We have a huge hole in the list of players drafted between 2015-2018 - guys squarely in their prime with years to go. Our core was drafted between 2009-14, and then 19-24. The latter is encouraging, as it means we have more young talent than other clubs in our position - but who the hell is going to lead them?

Right now, its Max until he drops and then probably Lever who is still decent, but as said above, is hardly an example of a footballer who leaves everything on the field and gives everything he has every week.

With all this in mind - you have to ask yourself. Do you trust Goodwin to plug the gaps himself? Is he the kind of eloquent coach who can speak to people at their level? Is he able to drive standards whilst straddling the line between popular and respected?

The answer for me is a resounding no. As it was 6 months ago. Which makes hanging onto him and wasting this season all the more frustrating. Likewise Richardson.

Edited 23 hours ago23 hr by Pirlo

13 hours ago, William said:

On the marking issue - the coach keeps playing JVR who has a marking to attempt ratio of close to zero and that is not because Viney bombs it in all the time. He just cannot hold marks and is often out of position anyway. He is similar to Sam Weideman - high draft pick but ultimately not up to it. And he has been around long enough to demonstrate his hyped super talent. We were lucky to have Ben Brown in 2021 but he became injury prone and aged and so that bright spot didn’t last long.

And then there is the most selfish player in the team Fritsch who should be delisted.

So sick of hearing this. JVR, in his 2nd and 3rd seasons combined, kicked 58 goals. He didn't play in his first. Weideman kicked 77 across his nine year career. There is no comparison. He's had a bad start to the year, and he may never be a proper #1 key forward, but stop throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Take a look at yourself.

Fritsch is lazy. He is also a top 10 goalkicker pretty much every season. Why would you delist him, especially when clubs would have been lining up every season for the past five years with first round picks on offer.

22 hours ago, Roost it far said:

The system shouldn’t rely on all players being elite kicks. We have to utilise our strength in contest and not be afraid to kick to a 50-50 ahead, keep some speed on the ball but be defensively ready to repel turnover

At the moment we are repeatedly kicking to 2 on 1 contests,

Uber frustrating

55 minutes ago, Pirlo said:

There's a leadership void at the club right now. Of those who would have been considered leaders in the flag year.

This is ultimately the problem

Our leaders aren't really that at all.

Just now, jnrmac said:

At the moment we are repeatedly kicking to 2 on 1 contests,

Uber frustrating

These seemed to be most prevalent when kicking long which we’re not supposed to be doing. Often it was Petracca, Oliver and Viney guilty of this. We need to play a midfield with only one of these 3 in at each time. Throw Langford, Pickett and Lindsay in there.

6 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

This is ultimately the problem

Our leaders aren't really that at all.

Best culture in 40 years!

So we keep hearing that the players love the coach but they refuse to carry out his game plan? (The older players IMV)

Why aren't we blaming the players? You did so in Neeld's first year and for the whole of Roos' tenure

Actually, the ire then went to Neeld in 2013 until he was sacked ... then back to the players

The word 'Spud' was being freely used like prawns at a buffet

Edited 21 hours ago21 hr by Macca

28 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

We need to play a midfield with only one of these 3 in at each time. Throw Langford, Pickett and Lindsay in there.

Definitely. We can't go too much worse than we are at the moment. There's no need to be conservative or cling on to hopes that what worked previously will suddenly come good.

Petracca makes that easier because he's genuinely dangerous in the forward line. As others have said, Viney can work as a forward as well. Oliver seems far less adaptable.

The good thing about Pickett and Lindsay (I'd add Chandler and Windsor - who isn't quite as good a kick as the others - as well) is that they can all tackle - pressure when the tap doesn't go our way is disatrous at the moment.

The main culprits with regards to not adhering to the new game plan are Max, Viney, Oliver, Petracca, Sparrow & Rivers

Their kicks aren't pinpointing and are mostly to a contest or long bombs. That's the pattern

Yet all summer we practised the new game plan

I'll say it again, there is a lack of a buy-in and I'd hazard to guess that the main culprits don't want to gut run to present or sprint to position. They still want to play the old way

Old dogs and new tricks?

Yes, that can happen at a young age

3 minutes ago, Macca said:

The main culprits with regards to not adhering to the new game plan are Max, Viney, Oliver, Petracca, Sparrow & Rivers

Their kicks aren't pinpointing and are mostly to a contest or long bombs. That's the pattern

Yet all summer we practised the new game plan

I'll say it again, there is a lack of a buy-in and I'd hazard to guess that the main culprits don't want to gut run to present or sprint to position. They still want to play the old way

Old dogs and new tricks?

Yes, that can happen at a young age

Of course these guys can learn a new gameplan. It’s not that complicated. Get ball, get clear, lower eyes, kick or handball to player in better position. Don’t under any circumstances kick long without looking.

4 minutes ago, Macca said:

The main culprits with regards to not adhering to the new game plan are Max, Viney, Oliver, Petracca, Sparrow & Rivers

Their kicks aren't pinpointing and are mostly to a contest or long bombs. That's the pattern

Yet all summer we practised the new game plan

I'll say it again, there is a lack of a buy-in and I'd hazard to guess that the main culprits don't want to gut run to present or sprint to position. They still want to play the old way

Old dogs and new tricks?

Yes, that can happen at a young age

Rivers has been completely stiffed after training all Summer in the midfield is being shifted around into random positions.

Our midfield looked way more balanced in that practice match we played against North where Viney and Petracca were out and we had Langford, Rivers, Oliver and Kozzy rotating through the guts.

Keep Petracca in the forwardline and either drop Viney or find a new position for him.

3 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Of course these guys can learn a new gameplan. It’s not that complicated. Get ball, get clear, lower eyes, kick or handball to player in better position. Don’t under any circumstances kick long without looking.

Yep but the new game plan requires a lot more gut running and sprinting to position so therefore, a lot more work

Bombing it long with a follow up of pressing forward and setting up a zone defence is easier on the legs

2 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

Rivers has been completely stiffed after training all Summer in the midfield is being shifted around into random positions.

Our midfield looked way more balanced in that practice match we played against North where Viney and Petracca were out and we had Langford, Rivers, Oliver and Kozzy rotating through the guts.

Keep Petracca in the forwardline and either drop Viney or find a new position for him.

I agree

Viney can be persevered with as a small forward ... but he'll need to be coached in a specialist way on how to play the position

And that means Viney has to buy-in

Edited 21 hours ago21 hr by Macca

15 hours ago, William said:

The problem with these discussions is that you have to criticise players who are people and have feelings. But then they are on high pay relative to the rest of the workforce and should be accountable.

The senior coach should never have been renewed. He is inflexible in his thinking and after we won the premiership, rival teams started working us out, which is why it has been downhill since until now when we have reached near rock bottom (two 10 goal losses to teams that were below us - particularly North).

He also picks favourites.

He kept playing Spargo who cannot kick further than 30 metres and is slow off the mark and the consequence of that is we lost Jordan and Bedford to other clubs and they have become very good players, much better than Spargo. If Spargo had not been injured, the coach would not have played Chandler who at least can mark and tackles well. So he probably would have been lost.

On the marking issue - the coach keeps playing JVR who has a marking to attempt ratio of close to zero and that is not because Viney bombs it in all the time. He just cannot hold marks and is often out of position anyway. He is similar to Sam Weideman - high draft pick but ultimately not up to it. And he has been around long enough to demonstrate his hyped super talent. We were lucky to have Ben Brown in 2021 but he became injury prone and aged and so that bright spot didn’t last long.

And then there is the most selfish player in the team Fritsch who should be delisted.

How can the coach keep playing these poor performers and hope to improve our prospects.

The reason is that the depth below them has been hollowed out by players leaving and poor recruitment.

But surely the senior coach has to ultimately take the responsibility for the decisions of the football department.

He should resign gracefully and be known as a premiership coach.

Couldn't agree more.
Well I could if you added the overrated Salem and his "elite" 20m lollipop passes.

100% should still have Jordan who he didn't even manage to sub onto the ground during the GF and Bedford who also only managed sub games.
Enticed Grundy to the club and then gave up on him after about 3 games.
Treated all 3 players like garbage.

1 minute ago, Fork 'em said:

Couldn't agree more.
Well I could if you added the overrated Salem and his "elite" 20m lollipop passes.

100% should still have Jordan who he didn't even manage to sub onto the ground during the GF and Bedford who also only managed sub games.
Enticed Grundy to the club and then gave up on him after about 3 games.
Treated all 3 players like garbage.

Grundy was such a disaster and should have been a massive red flag to the admin that our footy department was out of ideas.

On 31/03/2025 at 18:55, Macca said:

The new game plan is a work in progress

Previously, our game often eventuated with a long bomb to the pocket

So I'd say we are now trying to move the ball in similar ways as the better teams

Quick ball movement, corridor use, leg speed to complement, crisp delivery by hand or by footy, 45° diagonal kicks cross-crossing the ball forward. Lowering the eyes and so much more

But here's the thing, I'm not part of the inner sanctum so there's probably a lot in there that isn't transparent

The fact that the above isn't happening yet doesn't mean that the endeavour and goal isn't there to make it work

What complicates things is the turmoil in the off season and the constant references to Petracca, Oliver & Kozzie perhaps wanting out

What would all the other players make of all that?

I'd say it slows down the buy-in to the new game plan

So if people here reckon there are problems at the club, the above is probably the reason

My view only ... if a player acts like a Prima-Donna they immediately become commodities only and we'd be better off with those types on the trade table

No sentiment, it's all about the team

First mention I've seen in reference to the endeavour to make the new gameplan work but also the buy-in levels.

We've heard all about the players buying into this style over pre season, it's another thing to trust it when the whips are cracking. If they buy in during training but then revert back during the season, is that really buy-in? What is preventing that last bit of brain re-wiring and trust?

At the start of 2021 you could really see how much the team bought in to the gameplan. They were doing everything and more to show that they trusted the process. They would even go beyond the basic mechanics of the gameplan and give that extra 5% for each other, the memory that often sticks in my head early that season was Jayden Hunt leaving a man and committing full bore to a 50-50 contest in a close game. This showed that they had drilled down this model so well that they were even able to do things outside of the system if needed.

I think you make a great point about the outside noise and distraction. We had no-where near that level of distraction in early 21. Now players reportedly want out, boards shuffles, front office staff shopping players around and more. How can we expect this to be drilled in if off-field stability isn't 100%?

4 hours ago, Pirlo said:

So sick of hearing this. JVR, in his 2nd and 3rd seasons combined, kicked 58 goals. He didn't play in his first. Weideman kicked 77 across his nine year career. There is no comparison. He's had a bad start to the year, and he may never be a proper #1 key forward, but stop throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Take a look at yourself.

Fritsch is lazy. He is also a top 10 goalkicker pretty much every season. Why would you delist him, especially when clubs would have been lining up every season for the past five years with first round picks on offer.

Pirlo, well said. This was on the AFL app today talking about most and least accurate goalkickers per team:

Most accurate

Jacob van Rooyen - 61 goals from 96 shots (63.5 per cent)

Daniel Turner - 18 goals from 29 shots (62.1)

Tom McDonald - 169 goals from 279 shots (60.6)

Least accurate

Trent Rivers - 9 goals from 31 shots (29.0)

Clayton Oliver - 55 goals from 145 shots (37.9)

Jack Billings - 112 goals from 291 shots (38.5)

2 hours ago, Roost it far said:

Of course these guys can learn a new gameplan. It’s not that complicated. Get ball, get clear, lower eyes, kick or handball to player in better position. Don’t under any circumstances kick long without looking.

Under no circumstances are they to "Roost it far!"

1 minute ago, Hellfire Dub said:

Under no circumstances are they to "Roost it far!"

Exactly

Well Goody spoke openly at his presser today about the strong review and needing a response. Also that players will be sent to Casey etc.

This is fairly unusual for him to be so open.

If there is no response, it will be telling

49 minutes ago, layzie said:

First mention I've seen in reference to the endeavour to make the new gameplan work but also the buy-in levels.

We've heard all about the players buying into this style over pre season, it's another thing to trust it when the whips are cracking. If they buy in during training but then revert back during the season, is that really buy-in? What is preventing that last bit of brain re-wiring and trust?

At the start of 2021 you could really see how much the team bought in to the gameplan. They were doing everything and more to show that they trusted the process. They would even go beyond the basic mechanics of the gameplan and give that extra 5% for each other, the memory that often sticks in my head early that season was Jayden Hunt leaving a man and committing full bore to a 50-50 contest in a close game. This showed that they had drilled down this model so well that they were even able to do things outside of the system if needed.

I think you make a great point about the outside noise and distraction. We had no-where near that level of distraction in early 21. Now players reportedly want out, boards shuffles, front office staff shopping players around and more. How can we expect this to be drilled in if off-field stability isn't 100%?

Yep, the stuff in the background has to have an effect, especially in such a team sport. Hasn't gone away either (IMV)

As for training, some players just can't transfer that to match day. It's like those who dominate a level down but in the seniors, they struggle

3 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Well Goody spoke openly at his presser today about the strong review and needing a response. Also that players will be sent to Casey etc.

This is fairly unusual for him to be so open.

If there is no response, it will be telling

Agreed it appears as though a few last warnings were issued as he is now on record.

Personally I think he should have pulled the trigger on Fritta (and he still might) but there are many others that are in the same cohort so it would be unfair to isolate him.

Also it’s the second time he’s mentioned a “response” I don’t think you get another go after this week. It there is no response, then I’d expect a pile on MFC of epic proportions examing all aspects of the club. And it will be deserved.