2025 make or break year

[JesterTripleSix 5]

I feel how well we do this season with be the defining factor with a lot of players and contracts, top 4 we make finals maybe go all the way, no one's going to Leave

we don’t make finals again it’s going to be grim  but I’m optimistic that we can have a stellar year healthy squad and a reasonable fixture surely we got this  ❤️💙💗❤️💙

 

[bobby1554 1,261]

After the s..t storm the media have created, I would like to think there would be a bit of fire in the belly. If not, we are stuffed

[leave it to deever 17,517]

I don't feel too confident.

I'm bouyed by the fact Tracca is staying.

Will be interesting to see how our kids go.

Anb is a big loss.

Expectations are lower for me so I won't be too disappointed if we don't make finals again.

 

[Sir Why You Little 37,124]

Goodwin, S.

[Sydee 4,529]

It’s a very even and tough competition 

Lots depend on injuries and a bit of luck within games 

Hopefully things roll a bit more our way in 2025 

[adonski 12,427]

Easier draw, a version of Clayton Oliver back that resembles that pre-2024 model, and the younger guys to hit the ground running and we'll play finals

[Willmoy1947 4,140]

I'll be looking at the year as a whole. By that i think we will see a fair amount of blooding this coming season spread over the year. If the plan is changing it will need to bed in and as well we must not forget how long a year it will be.

I want to see the importance of how we are able to finish and how we start.

i go back to what i said about how important Danaher was to Brisbane throughout the year just gone, and how we could emulate that, with his long kicks into an appropriately structured forward line. 

[Roost it far 8,578]

59 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

I don't feel too confident.

I'm bouyed by the fact Tracca is staying.

Will be interesting to see how our kids go.

Anb is a big loss.

Expectations are lower for me so I won't be too disappointed if we don't make finals again.

 

Yee of little faith. If you take last years result and add Petracca, Oliver, Langford, Lindsay, preseasons into Petty, Spargo, a fit Salem, Bowey and May and then add another preseason into Windsor, JVR, Kolt, Turner and add Rivers to the midfield what exactly aren’t you confident about?

[BW511 2,688]

1 hour ago, Roost it far said:

Yee of little faith. If you take last years result and add Petracca, Oliver, Langford, Lindsay, preseasons into Petty, Spargo, a fit Salem, Bowey and May and then add another preseason into Windsor, JVR, Kolt, Turner and add Rivers to the midfield what exactly aren’t you confident about?

It might not be enough.

We will be better than last year but we are coming from a long way back. 

[Sydee 4,529]

29 minutes ago, BW511 said:

It might not be enough.

We will be better than last year but we are coming from a long way back. 

Two games away from the 8 last year doesn’t sound like that far back 

[Roost it far 8,578]

1 hour ago, BW511 said:

It might not be enough.

We will be better than last year but we are coming from a long way back. 

We missed finals by a couple of games with a depleted list. Hardly a long way back, although I’ll agree we were ordinary this year

[John Demonic 5,850]

We'll beat the Saints on grand final day at an empty mcg after bird flu has wiped out most of the animal kingdom

[BW511 2,688]

8 hours ago, Roost it far said:

We missed finals by a couple of games with a depleted list. Hardly a long way back, although I’ll agree we were ordinary this year

@Roost it far & @Sydee

2.5 games and there was 5 teams between us and eight.

Realistically, it was 3 games as our percentage was junk.

Only teams below us were Adelaide, West Coast, North and Richmond.

Love the optimism but to me, that’s a long way back. 

 

[picket fence 17,496]

9 hours ago, Roost it far said:

We missed finals by a couple of games with a depleted list. Hardly a long way back, although I’ll agree we were ordinary this year

Depleted list?? BRISBANE WON the G.F with 4 of their best players out! Dont EVER blame injuries! We had a shocking game plan masterminded by flawed coaching IMO!

Edited December 8 by picket fence

[watchtheeyes 1,422]

I don’t think we’re in anywhere near as bad shape as many would suggest. Given the disruptions of last year, I fully expect us to make finals this year.

But if not, does it herald a grim few years of rebuilding? Not at all in my view.. I’ve been very enthused by the talent we’ve added over the last few years in particular, and seen us rebuilding on the fly.

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,939]

1 hour ago, picket fence said:

Depleted list?? BRISBANE WON the G.F with 4 of their best players out! Dont EVER blame injuries! We had a shocking game plan masterminded by flawed coaching IMO!

Exactly.

I don’t think Brisbane get enough credit for their flag with three genuine best 23 players out with ACL’s and then their gun ruckman missing a GF! imagine if we lost Gawn on GF day.

Meanwhile Fremantle miss the finals after being 12-6-1 and their supporters simply blame injuries.

[deelusions from afar 1,861]

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Exactly.

I don’t think Brisbane get enough credit for their flag with three genuine best 23 players out with ACL’s and then their gun ruckman missing a GF! imagine if we lost Gawn on GF day.

Meanwhile Fremantle miss the finals after being 12-6-1 and their supporters simply blame injuries.

I'm optimistic (it's December!) but then I think of the two beltings Freo (who did not make the finals) gave us where we were about as competitive as we were in '97, '08 or '13!

[Katrina Dee Fan 3,893]

49 minutes ago, deelusions from afar said:

I'm optimistic (it's December!) but then I think of the two beltings Freo (who did not make the finals) gave us where we were about as competitive as we were in '97, '08 or '13!

Are we?  Three weeks before the end of the season there was still a chance of making finals.  We only finished 14 because it was such a close season. In 2021 GWS had exactly the same win/loss numbers as we did this year, and they finished 7th.

[Demon17 5,202]

22 hours ago, JesterTripleSix said:

I feel how well we do this season with be the defining factor with a lot of players and contracts, top 4 we make finals maybe go all the way, no one's going to Leave

we don’t make finals again it’s going to be grim  but I’m optimistic that we can have a stellar year healthy squad and a reasonable fixture surely we got this  ❤️💙💗❤️💙

 

I like your style.

Each season there are approx 3 drop outs from the 8 and 3 new finalists.  (2.75 is the actual average)

The Dees will be one making the 8 in 2025 for sure.

The other two not so sure.

My view is based on the revitalisation going on, maximum pre seasons for the list, injury position now, A Graders back on deck in excellent shape, MAx and Jack as our leaders, JT's recruitment performance in November, resolution of 2024 issues, the media will find another few patsies to hound for the year instead of Goody et al, ...........................

[VNightCityLegend 97]

Easy draw, and get the sh*te teams like St Kilda and West Coast twice. North will be tougher with a more refined squad and depth of both talent and experience, but on paper, we SHOULD still win both the encounters.

Oliver, Petracca, Lever, May, Viney, Gawn, Petty (down back again) all fit and well managed should ensure we right back in the mix of things and still important to our overall setup. 

Mix them in with an extra pre season with the likes of Rivers, McVee (Both can make the 44 of the Australian squad), Tholstrup, Windsor etc should provide a lot of optimism. 

I just have 110% belief that after yet another diabolical season, everyone will be hellbent on genuinely correcting past wrongs. 

[The Taciturn Demon 578]

2 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

I don’t think Brisbane get enough credit for their flag with three genuine best 23 players out with ACL’s and then their gun ruckman missing a GF! imagine if we lost Gawn on GF day.

Meanwhile Fremantle miss the finals after being 12-6-1 and their supporters simply blame injuries.

Very good post.

They covered their big injuries incredibly well. We covered ours inadequately or just forced badly injured players to keep grinding.

Will we do it better this year? I hope so, but every single best 22 I see for Melbourne has Melksham in it. If you put the widespread love for him aside, the fact is, if a 33-year-old 8-touches-a-game C-grader is a lock in your Round 1 team, your list depth may not be as good as you think it is. 

I think we should all be genuinely excited about Langford. Probably Lindsay as well. (Windsor looks an absolute ripper.) But every club's supporters are swooning over their players chosen inside pick 20 or 30 of this year's draft. And most supporters of every club who missed the eight have excuses and theories on why they're going to make a huge jump this year. Fremantle is the best and most laughable example. Missing from 12-6-1 is a spectacular failure. 

I like the way we're rebuilding the list without dipping into wooden spoon territory. As others have said, I think we've been a touch too cautious so far, and I think the people in charge believe the list is in better shape than it might be. Even knowing some big names will be gone or very close to the end by then, I have more hope about '26 and '27 than I do about next year. Mainly because I can see us relying far too heavily on very young talls - mostly forwards - and that's a recipe for disappointment, even if our ball movement makes life easier for them. I also have no idea what to expect from Oliver who, until recently, has really been the player we've relied on for consistent brilliance for more than half a decade.

I'd be surprised if we made the finals and quite shocked if we finished in the first six. I hope I'm completely wrong, but I suspect an almost impossible number of things would have to go right - Oliver back to A-grade, Petracca untroubled by his injury, May and Max holding steady, Neal-Bullen comfortably replaced, someone like McAdam or Fullarton coming good, two or three Casey regulars putting intense pressure on AFL spots - for us to have a top 4 year. 

[deelusions from afar 1,861]

1 hour ago, Katrina Dee Fan said:

Are we?  Three weeks before the end of the season there was still a chance of making finals.  We only finished 14 because it was such a close season. In 2021 GWS had exactly the same win/loss numbers as we did this year, and they finished 7th.

Not sure what you meant by "are we?".  My point was that we had a number of losses where we were absolutely smashed which is a change from the previous 3 season00s where we were almost in every game.

This year we had Freo x2, Bris at the MCG and obviously a few late in the season eg Dogs where looked miles off it.  The compeition is very even so even the best teams haved a howler or two.  For us, it was more than one or two.  You take away our early wins to the dogs and hawks (before they got going) and what was our record against the top 8 like - despite being not far off it in terms of wins, we finished 14th for a reason.  Had we somehow made the 8, we wouldn't have troubled anyone in the finals.

I'm hoping it is the combination of a number of things that have been (hopefully) resolved since the season finished - disunity, instability off field, injuries etc

[Katrina Dee Fan 3,893]

TBH I didn't think we'd have a good season the minute it was announced Gus was retiring, given how late it was in the season.  Then when Trac got hurt that pretty much sealed the fate for us.  Last summer was a sh*tstorm, which was very disabling for the team.  This year I don't see that same climate.  Clarry is in a much better headspace than he was last year, Trac has worked hard to get back to where he was before his injury, they've drafted well and the kids are developing nicely, and for me the biggest factor is the court case looming over Goody is gone, and he seems much happier and more focussed.  I have optimism for next year.

[58er 6,558]

17 hours ago, leave it to deever said:

I don't feel too confident.

I'm bouyed by the fact Tracca is staying.

Will be interesting to see how our kids go.

Anb is a big loss.

Expectations are lower for me so I won't be too disappointed if we don't make finals again.

 

You need to sit down and list the PROS and CONS and if you look at it critically and intelligently you will come up with twice as many PROS than CONS for a return to Finals or even a Top4 finish with Flag possibilities.

Your usually half glass empty so I am not surprised of your general pessimism. Dont in any way share your view so if you act on my suggestion how you go. 

[58er 6,558]

15 hours ago, BW511 said:

It might not be enough.

We will be better than last year but we are coming from a long way back. 

Rot/ rubbish,  the bottom 3   are the only ones being along way back. Look at the ladder and we are virtually equal with sides below Freowho finished 10th. L With all that happened including 7 points in four games losses some with weakened sides at the end.