On 13/09/2025 at 14:18, Cranky Franky said:

Pretty much all our CEO's of the last 40 years present well & speak well but apart from Jackson most were pretty disappointing.

I wish Mr Guerra all the best but he will be judged on results & outcomes.

Didn’t pert bring us a premiership and plenty of success?

Spoke well again IMO.

He said the expectation is finals next year, but that’s a pretty easy thing to say in mid-September.

3 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Spoke well again IMO.

He said the expectation is finals next year, but that’s a pretty easy thing to say in mid-September.

If that’s the expectation then my guess is that Clarry Trac and Lever are going nowhere.

Just now, Jaded No More said:

If that’s the expectation then my guess is that Clarry Trac and Lever are going nowhere.

Well he was asked about Clarry and Trac and responded as he did on Saturday - they’re contracted and we’re lucky to have them (but in that order).

16 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Well he was asked about Clarry and Trac and responded as he did on Saturday - they’re contracted and we’re lucky to have them (but in that order).

The emphasis on the contract is important IMO, as it signals other clubs (and perhaps the players themselves), that we are not going to let them walk unless it suits us.

24 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Spoke well again IMO.

He said the expectation is finals next year, but that’s a pretty easy thing to say in mid-September.

Was also the expectation this past March etc. alas... 🙄🥴

We seem better run now.

Looking forward to seeing the manifestation of change.

Anyone got a link?

11 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

Anyone got a link?

Presser at 10am, too.

9 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Presser at 10am, too.

Where can we watch?

15 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Presser at 10am, too.

I have to go to a meeting. How dare they?!

29 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

He was really good again.

I think the "he's from the real world" stuff is a bit much, but from everything I've heard so far he sounds like a good choice as CEO.

Interesting in that conversation how strong he was on the return to finals and how positive all candidates were about our list. I reckon finals next year would be verging on a football department miracle. This was an awful season, but the list is middling at absolute best.

Also interesting the sneaky little mention of "second or third" on Buckley. A couple of people have mentioned in this forum that Buckley actually wasn't (as became received wisdom) a fait accompli until he couldn't commit; instead, the process was legit and ultimately he was not even in the top two. That might not be true, but I wonder if when Guerra said they got it down to two and then said "second or third" about Buckley, he was hinting that that was the case.

48 minutes ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

Interesting in that conversation how strong he was on the return to finals and how positive all candidates were about our list. I reckon finals next year would be verging on a football department miracle. This was an awful season, but the list is middling at absolute best.

I think there's a question mark on this statement. We lost ...was it 8 games? .. by under 13 points this year. Including 3 of the last 5 by 6 points. We also dropped shockers to the Bombers and Roos. Trac was in his first year back post an horrific injury and Oliver is just beginning to pick up his peak fitness. I don't know about Lever and May but if they also returned to something approaching full fitness I don't think we're thaaat far away. The truth will be exposed in 26 but Im not without hope that our list is still very good. Our depth is poor I admit.

3 hours ago, Oxdee said:

Didn’t pert bring us a premiership and plenty of success?

Think most observers would suggest that most of the spadework for the 2021 Flag was done by Peter Jackson who inherited a basket case & left a Club primed for success.

1 minute ago, Wells 11 said:

I think there's a question mark on this statement. We lost ...was it 8 games? .. by under 13 points this year. Including 3 of the last 5 by 6 points. We also dropped shockers to the Bombers and Roos. Trac was in his first year back post an horrific injury and Oliver is just beginning to pick up his peak fitness. I don't know about Lever and May but if they also returned to something approaching full fitness I don't think we're thaaat far away. The truth will be exposed in 26 but Im not without hope that our list is still very good. Our depth is poor I admit.

Yep, and assistant coaches would know better than me.

Maybe I'm too pessimistic, but it I just can't see it being anything other than mediocre. I think there's a good argument it's worse than that.

The so-close-in-so-many-games argument has got a good run on here. I'm not totally convinced by it. One of those under 13 losses was against half of Carlton's best 22. One was comfortably one of the worst losses I've seen in 35 years (St Kilda). The main problem, though, is that in the season itself, even the 'good' close losses (Collingwood, Adelaide, Brisbane, the Dogs) weren't indicators we were returning to form. We rarely lost narrowly and then won. We were off and on all year - not with the bizarre lurching from good to abysmal like in 2024, but still inconsistent. After the amazing Brisbane in Brisbane win and the Sydney hammering, we never looked like building momentum.

I think I said something similar at the start of this year on a thread about expectations: it's not a disastrous list, but SO much has to go right for it to make finals.

I definitely underestimated how quickly Petracca would return and how effective he would be after that horrible injury. He didn't get back to his 2021 best by any means, but he was far better than I thought he'd be. I think it's fair to be hopeful he can be better again in 26, but I'd be surprised if he had a Jack Gunston-style resurgence.

With Oliver - I WANT to believe those glimpses towards the end of this year were meaningful. Again, maybe I'm too much of a pessimist, but I can't. I've been watching the finals closely, and the best midfielders in the biggest games simply don't cough the ball up like Oliver has been doing for a while now. Even when he looks like he's not labouring (which is shockingly infrequently from my observations), he's so panicked with his disposal. I can see a 2026 in which King gets more out of Oliver; but I find it so difficult to envision a 2026 where Oliver is really humming again.

I'm even less optimistic about Lever and May. May has had a phenomenal career and has been extremely good at Melbourne, but I think he's almost certainly at the very end. If we're relying on him, we have even bigger problems than I assume. Lever is younger and his slowing down may be more to do with specific injuries rather than age catching up, but I don't have him as a clear top 10 player as I once did.

I also worry that our cohort of younger players is overrated - not individually, but as a group that is obviously better than other clubs' under 23s. Langford looks excellent. I have possibly even higher hopes for Lindsay. I really like Windsor and Turner. Bowey is still youngish and I'm quietly confident about Culley. Don't know if that's way better than the numerous others clubs who've gone to the draft recently.

And the depth - yep, poor sums it up.

I'm really eager to see how King changes the way we play and how giving players more attacking license manifests. I'm hopeful that what we see next year will be mostly encouraging and enjoyable, but I think finals is a highly ambitious target for a list with so many question marks and so many holes.

18 minutes ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

Yep, and assistant coaches would know better than me.

Maybe I'm too pessimistic, but it I just can't see it being anything other than mediocre. I think there's a good argument it's worse than that.

The so-close-in-so-many-games argument has got a good run on here. I'm not totally convinced by it. One of those under 13 losses was against half of Carlton's best 22. One was comfortably one of the worst losses I've seen in 35 years (St Kilda). The main problem, though, is that in the season itself, even the 'good' close losses (Collingwood, Adelaide, Brisbane, the Dogs) weren't indicators we were returning to form. We rarely lost narrowly and then won. We were off and on all year - not with the bizarre lurching from good to abysmal like in 2024, but still inconsistent. After the amazing Brisbane in Brisbane win and the Sydney hammering, we never looked like building momentum.

I think I said something similar at the start of this year on a thread about expectations: it's not a disastrous list, but SO much has to go right for it to make finals.

I definitely underestimated how quickly Petracca would return and how effective he would be after that horrible injury. He didn't get back to his 2021 best by any means, but he was far better than I thought he'd be. I think it's fair to be hopeful he can be better again in 26, but I'd be surprised if he had a Jack Gunston-style resurgence.

With Oliver - I WANT to believe those glimpses towards the end of this year were meaningful. Again, maybe I'm too much of a pessimist, but I can't. I've been watching the finals closely, and the best midfielders in the biggest games simply don't cough the ball up like Oliver has been doing for a while now. Even when he looks like he's not labouring (which is shockingly infrequently from my observations), he's so panicked with his disposal. I can see a 2026 in which King gets more out of Oliver; but I find it so difficult to envision a 2026 where Oliver is really humming again.

I'm even less optimistic about Lever and May. May has had a phenomenal career and has been extremely good at Melbourne, but I think he's almost certainly at the very end. If we're relying on him, we have even bigger problems than I assume. Lever is younger and his slowing down may be more to do with specific injuries rather than age catching up, but I don't have him as a clear top 10 player as I once did.

I also worry that our cohort of younger players is overrated - not individually, but as a group that is obviously better than other clubs' under 23s. Langford looks excellent. I have possibly even higher hopes for Lindsay. I really like Windsor and Turner. Bowey is still youngish and I'm quietly confident about Culley. Don't know if that's way better than the numerous others clubs who've gone to the draft recently.

And the depth - yep, poor sums it up.

I'm really eager to see how King changes the way we play and how giving players more attacking license manifests. I'm hopeful that what we see next year will be mostly encouraging and enjoyable, but I think finals is a highly ambitious target for a list with so many question marks and so many holes.

well reasoned…. i just hope your wrong!

3 minutes ago, Wells 11 said:

well reasoned…. i just hope your wrong!

I very often am. I hope that I am once again.

On 13/09/2025 at 14:04, Jaded No More said:

No mention of King being the best presenting coach he’s ever seen in 40 years? 🙄😂

Guerra has been in the role for a week, and in that time we appointed a coach with 0 leaks, and he’s told the negative buffoons in the media to put a sock in it.

10 stars for the first week in the role for mine.

Well considering he never had a coach present to him until last week id say King is the best presenting coach h's ever seen.

What I got out of the Guerra interview this morning was life after Gawn, a replacement, and the need for better on field leadership.

4 hours ago, rpfc said:

Since he is not from The Footy World © , he probably doesn’t know Kane is baiting him. And with our media team - he would be blissfully unaware and unprepared and earnest.

He is certainly not unprepared, on the way I have heard him answer questions, in the interviews I have heard so far.

He actually sounds very prepared and there is not an er, um, ah in any answer, nor does he give the old chestnut of many interviewees, “ I will get back to you on that“

2 minutes ago, Redleg said:

He is certainly not unprepared, on the way I have heard him answer questions, in the interviews I have heard so far.

He actually sounds very prepared and there is not an er, um, ah in any answer, nor does he give the old chestnut of many interviewees, “ I will get back to you on that“

I was making a pointed facetious remark about the Comms and Media teams performance.

Guerra seems to be earnestly answering questions and I applaud that.

2 hours ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

He was really good again.

I think the "he's from the real world" stuff is a bit much, but from everything I've heard so far he sounds like a good choice as CEO.

Interesting in that conversation how strong he was on the return to finals and how positive all candidates were about our list. I reckon finals next year would be verging on a football department miracle. This was an awful season, but the list is middling at absolute best.

Also interesting the sneaky little mention of "second or third" on Buckley. A couple of people have mentioned in this forum that Buckley actually wasn't (as became received wisdom) a fait accompli until he couldn't commit; instead, the process was legit and ultimately he was not even in the top two. That might not be true, but I wonder if when Guerra said they got it down to two and then said "second or third" about Buckley, he was hinting that that was the case.

I don’t see how we are that far off, when we win 7, lose another 9 by under two goals and run one of the flag favourites to 1 point and 6 points in two games.

5 minutes ago, rpfc said:

I was making a pointed facetious remark about the Comms and Media teams performance.

Guerra seems to be earnestly answering questions and I applaud that.

Sorry, my error then.

3 hours ago, Cranky Franky said:

Think most observers would suggest that most of the spadework for the 2021 Flag was done by Peter Jackson who inherited a basket case & left a Club primed for success.

Pert had 3 years as CEO when we won 2021. Ridiculous to say he didn’t have a massive impact on that premiership

On 14/09/2025 at 10:22, damienjr said:

Which part are you selling as waffle?

There is a bit but this was my favorite

“Nathan is a standout person and coach”

So much so we didn’t offer him the job.