I think we got 'lucky' that a few of our older targets fell through, because it allowed us to take maximum currency to the last two drafts, which have been good to us (I know Kolt is still a TBC, but Windsor will be a good player and is exactly what we need in terms of pace). We also got very lucky with Turner and McVee, off the rookie and mid-season drafts.

If, and I know it's a big if, Jefferson and Adams make it, then we would have done very well post 2021-2023, where we finished top 4, to get essentially a spine and midfield core group sorted. Of course the jury is still out on Jefferson and we've seen nothing from Adams, so he could be a total bust.

Had we managed to lure McKay or Houston, we would be in a vastly different list position, but not necessarily in a vastly different ladder position... although if we got McKay at the end of 2023 we could have won a second flag, as losing Petty/Melksham would have been far less significant.

Either way, what we put up for the rest of the season will largely determine where we go at the end of the season. I still think that if Goody remains coach, and that seems almost inevitable, that he will back in the senior players to go again. I can't see us trading any of Trac, Clarry or Fritta unless we get a really good deal in return, especially in a weak draft, unless we have specific targets from other clubs that we need picks/cap space for.

The club clearly misjudged where this playing group is at

They set returning to finals as a pass mark so by their own metric this has been a failed season

Clearly the messaging has changed now that finals are out of the question and it has become clear that our core group of players aren’t the ones who will lead our next flag tilt

The club either lied to supporters in their comms or showed poor judgement in assessing this list and what it was capable of this year - why some posters can’t admit this is beyond me

FWIW I’m at peace with this being a development year and am really confident in our younger players and believe some of our senior players can contribute at a high level for years to come, but let’s not rewrite history

Edited July 17Jul 17 by demoncat

7 hours ago, demoncat said:

The club clearly misjudged where this playing group is at

Nonsense. You seem to think that what they say publicly is what they say internally.

The club, like all sports clubs at this level, is a commercial venture. They need to sell tickets, memberships, merchandise, sponsorships etc. etc. Do you think even clubs like Richmond or WCE are coming out at the beginning of the season saying "well, it's going to be a shot season, we'll be lucky to win even a handful of matches and will probably be fighting it out for the wooden spoon"? Of course they don't.

23 minutes ago, bing181 said:

Nonsense. You seem to think that what they say publicly is what they say internally.

The club, like all sports clubs at this level, is a commercial venture. They need to sell tickets, memberships, merchandise, sponsorships etc. etc. Do you think even clubs like Richmond or WCE are coming out at the beginning of the season saying "well, it's going to be a shot season, we'll be lucky to win even a handful of matches and will probably be fighting it out for the wooden spoon"? Of course they don't.

At 0-5 the Club didn’t need to say a word…

2 hours ago, bing181 said:

Nonsense. You seem to think that what they say publicly is what they say internally.

The club, like all sports clubs at this level, is a commercial venture. They need to sell tickets, memberships, merchandise, sponsorships etc. etc. Do you think even clubs like Richmond or WCE are coming out at the beginning of the season saying "well, it's going to be a shot season, we'll be lucky to win even a handful of matches and will probably be fighting it out for the wooden spoon"? Of course they don't.

Reckon you must be pretty flexible with the mental gymnastics you’re doing there Bing

Saying that we have a group capable of playing finals after conducting an internal review during the most tumultuous off season we’ve had in a decade wasn’t just a PR exercise

If they genuinely thought it was a good idea to announce this while conceding internally it was unlikely we would play finals, then that’s a damning lack of judgement from the current admin

But hey I guess the promise of finals sold so many memberships this year right? Oh wait…

Edited July 17Jul 17 by demoncat

2 hours ago, bing181 said:

Nonsense. You seem to think that what they say publicly is what they say internally.

The club, like all sports clubs at this level, is a commercial venture. They need to sell tickets, memberships, merchandise, sponsorships etc. etc. Do you think even clubs like Richmond or WCE are coming out at the beginning of the season saying "well, it's going to be a shot season, we'll be lucky to win even a handful of matches and will probably be fighting it out for the wooden spoon"? Of course they don't.

So we could be worse than 8,000 members down on this time last year......sheesh.

14 minutes ago, demoncat said:

Reckon you must be pretty flexible with the mental gymnastics you’re doing there Bing

Saying that we have a group capable of playing finals after conducting an internal review during the most tumultuous off season we’ve had in a decade wasn’t just a PR exercise

If they genuinely thought it was a good idea to announce this while conceding internally it was unlikely we would play finals, then that’s a damning lack of judgement from the current admin

But hey I guess the promise of finals sold so many memberships this year right? Oh wait…

DC, remember we were told it was an external review and from it two new Committees were announced grandly in the Annual Report - High Performance and Member Engagement. How go those Committees?

Well I have consistently said that we had a good squad.

After the 21 season we had a group that knew success and knew what it took to win.

We made finals only to have our run shattered by a "football act" that was not recognised for its brutalism and impact individually or collectively.

The club was magnificent in its treatment of Hogan, Jackson, and Nibbler, recognising individual emotions are as fragile for elite athletes as any other factor in performance. I believe the football act may have contributed to this recognition. We still built a good list and renewed our performances with some exciting youth to add to the experienced core group. Another football act took out Trac and impacted on individual and collective performance.

But our playing list was still strong with a good blend of experience and youth with a magnificent leader who has continued to play at the highest level. Cameo performances by others however was not enough and we lost matches and perhaps sapped confidence. Reports of players wanting to leave seemed to be not handled well especially as these rumours were all found to be false as the players signed for long terms and professed loyalty etc. And still results did not come performance was below expectations.

The club did state at the AGM that success was expected from a good squad who were committed to playing their best. Again the results did not come. I believe inconsistent umpiring affected confidence and frustration and by extension performance but the club seemed to do nothing about this.

While it is unknown what the condition of individual players really is , I have been critical of the coach not managing the list well. No rest for underperformance and no apparent reward for performance in VFL.I thought we should have rotated the squad more to expose newer younger players to the demands of the AFL for a sustained plan based on opposition teams, not merely our own demands for development. Rigid adherence to a game plan that opponents had cracked, compounded by then changes to structures and patterns that were almost incomprehensible and reportedly not adopted fully and quickly did not win games. Poor goal conversion was obvios in many losing games. That we were more than competitive in key games served only to show that something was not working I could not identify what it was as I am not the coach The coach made the calls and reaps the results. That he now claims we are in transition is no doubt correct but it was a consequence of his own failures that we underperformed.

It aint easy, every year only one team can win

I still have great support for all our players on the list, some are aging and should be managed as Geelong has shown in the past, some younger bodies still need to be developed through exposure to what is required and rested if required, some need to learn to play through the low performance, older experienced players provide support. Not every player can play every game at maximum, No Brownlow medallist has been best on ground every match , ebbs and flows in performance must be managed. Again this is the coaches responsibility and it has not been evidenced this year. If we finish off with some development and use of the squad it may be correct to say we are in transition. I dont think we meant it and i dont think we needed it. I hope that we recognise what we need and then take action to achieve success.

14 hours ago, bing181 said:

Nonsense. You seem to think that what they say publicly is what they say internally.

The club, like all sports clubs at this level, is a commercial venture. They need to sell tickets, memberships, merchandise, sponsorships etc. etc. Do you think even clubs like Richmond or WCE are coming out at the beginning of the season saying "well, it's going to be a shot season, we'll be lucky to win even a handful of matches and will probably be fighting it out for the wooden spoon"? Of course they don't.

You don’t think their trade and free agency intentions back what they say ‘publicly’?

On 17/07/2025 at 10:17, KozzyCan said:

I already answered this but I'm really making the point about how the narrative has been re-written. The club was trying to trade out picks last year for senior players, when that didn't work we said that we invested in top end talent to help us get to finals now. The story is now that we're investing in the draft to 'rebuild on the run'.

I don't think the club planned the list management decisions with that goal in mind. They were clearly trying to get us back to finals now. The notion that we always saw this as a development year and that finals isn't the point for our team is a complete revision.

I would much rather they just be honest with us and say they misread where the team is at and we're now focussed on building our list to get back to the pointy end of the ladder.

Yeah you are right on this too. I spose they do over sell the optimism I guess, and certain coaches are probably trying to save their skin a little too