1 minute ago, Ted Lasso said:

I think one thing with Clarry that it’s worth pointing out.

of the one dimensional inside bull players that dominated the league 5 years ago, the game has basically moved on from them now. The challenge clarry has got is two fold because he has to not only get his body and mind right, he needs to add more strings to his bow.

I would even argue patty cripps who’s the best at that role has been largely ineffective this year because the game is changing.

So I agree it’s not injuries with Clarry, probably a bit mindset and a bit the game itself is changing and as a result he’s gone from elite, to a pretty good player who can be exposed

Yes and its a great mention regarding Cripps. I have watched him closely this year and he is step behind the contest now with how quick the game is going. Oliver is the same.

In terms of adding more strings, I agree once again. Issue is i dont know what exactly that would be and thats a concerns in itself.

Maybe a new coach may find other ways to utilise him but again, thats not guaranteed.

Edited 12 hours ago12 hr by dazzledavey36

15 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

of the one dimensional inside bull players that dominated the league 5 years ago, the game has basically moved on from them now. The challenge clarry has got is two fold because he has to not only get his body and mind right, he needs to add more strings to his bow.

I would even argue patty cripps who’s the best at that role has been largely ineffective this year because the game is changing.

So I agree it’s not injuries with Clarry, probably a bit mindset and a bit the game itself is changing and as a result he’s gone from elite, to a pretty good player who can be exposed

Look at who the best player in the middle is at the oppo yesterday - Ed Richards ability to monster the contest AND run, carry, and impact on the outside is the prototype modern midfielder

It’s what we need Windsor to become

I don't post much but I can't believe that so many supporters want Buckley as our coach.

He failed as a coach for Collingwood even though the Pies absolutely adored him. I was surrounded by so many Pies friends that I wanted him out year after year.

True, he almost pinch a premiership but people should inspect that season closer. Collingwood had an easy draw and did not beat anyone in the top 8 except for us during the home and away season! They were extremely lucky to finish in the top 4 which handed them a second chance after they lost to West Coast in the first finals. Then of course went to win the next two games and almost a third.

I do hope we explore all options.

30 minutes ago, worldwideweb_demon said:

I don't post much but I can't believe that so many supporters want Buckley as our coach.

He failed as a coach for Collingwood even though the Pies absolutely adored him. I was surrounded by so many Pies friends that I wanted him out year after year.

True, he almost pinch a premiership but people should inspect that season closer. Collingwood had an easy draw and did not beat anyone in the top 8 except for us during the home and away season! They were extremely lucky to finish in the top 4 which handed them a second chance after they lost to West Coast in the first finals. Then of course went to win the next two games and almost a third.

I do hope we explore all options.

Against Richmond in the PF, was that the out of the blue game where the spud Mason Cox dominated and won the game for them?

Edited 12 hours ago12 hr by ElDiablo14

46 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

Look at who the best player in the middle is at the oppo yesterday - Ed Richards ability to monster the contest AND run, carry, and impact on the outside is the prototype modern midfielder

It’s what we need Windsor to become

If you look at Ed Richards stats for his first two years at AFL, its pretty much pretty similar, so a good call in terms of player comparisons.

I’d love to see a Venn diagram of how many ‘sack the coach!’ Demonlanders are now in the ‘not that guy as coach!’ camp.

What was that thing Paul Roos said about the veil of negativity? He might have been onto something.

Rivers is the closest comp we have to Richards

54 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

Look at who the best player in the middle is at the oppo yesterday - Ed Richards ability to monster the contest AND run, carry, and impact on the outside is the prototype modern midfielder

It’s what we need Windsor to become

Two ankle surgeries and now a hammy before he turns 21, hope he can keep that burst !

1 minute ago, adonski said:

Rivers is the closest comp we have to Richards

And still nothing alike.

1 minute ago, Howard_Grimes said:

And still nothing alike.

Both are correct

:'(

Just get Roos to coach again!

Regarding comments about Clayton being a bit slow and needing more strings in his bow

Perhaps he needs to lean up (lose some muscle mass) and spend all summer just running (with the obvious strength work in the legs)

6 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

The ‘show me the process’ crew don’t seem to understand that it is near impossible to get an quality experienced coach to get involved in any public process, look at Ross Lyon with Carlton.

Being a declared starter in a public process (where they are not guaranteed the gig) is too risky to their reputation, they look out of touch if they fail.

I reckon Horse and Simmo have interest in coaching next year but going with the ‘I’m happy doing what I’m doing’ line to preserve their reputations whilst they wait for a phone call in the future.

13 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Good

Just now, beelzebub said:

Good

Well we didn't want Homer Simpson eh, but if he's ruled himself out then Bucks kinda has us by the nuts. I'm worried the MFC will offer him a 7-9 year deal on mad money with no KPIs or protective get-out clauses

40 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

If you look at Ed Richards stats for his first two years at AFL, its pretty much pretty similar, so a good call in terms of player comparisons.

Windsor may be the one, but I actually think Bowey would be closest thing we have to Richards, both developed as half backers. Bowey hopefully is on similar trajectory!

Just now, NeveroddoreveN said:

Windsor may be the one, but I actually think Bowey would be closest thing we have to Richards, both developed as half backers. Bowey hopefully is on similar trajectory!

Yeah true.

Bowey hitting Petty up inside forward is something we've been screaming out for so long.

Just the poise and ability to lower his eyes is something I want the club to utilise Bowey more playing more mid/high half forward.

Just now, Hellfire Dub said:

Well we didn't want Homer Simpson eh, but if he's ruled himself out then Bucks kinda has us by the nuts. I'm worried the MFC will offer him a 7-9 year deal on mad money with no KPIs or protective get-out clauses

Not so sure Bucks is a slam dunk.

He's keen , it seems, and that's good. ( you don't want someone who isn't lol )

Intrigued how this plays out, who is spoken to... who gets the gig.

I would assume this is a lot further along than many realise, I’m sure we’ve had a pretty good idea what our options are for weeks if not months and all roads seem to point to Nathan Buckley.

if it’s going to be him, I hope they just rip the bandaid off and appoint him right away so he can get to work on attracting the best players and coaches and staff and launching into 2026

1 hour ago, rpfc said:

It’s a fair critique though isn’t it?

You don’t have much of a process if there is a preordained pick as some on here believe (or perhaps know).

Personally, I have always liked Coach Buckley but guess what I would prefer to do?

Just because Caroline Wilson hasn’t reported that a panel has been formed which includes a  ‘respected ex player’ doesn’t mean a ‘process’ hasn’t occurred /is underway.

Just like player punch-ons at steak restaurants, some things are best kept under wraps.

1 hour ago, whatwhat say what said:

Look at who the best player in the middle is at the oppo yesterday - Ed Richards ability to monster the contest AND run, carry, and impact on the outside is the prototype modern midfielder

It’s what we need Windsor to become

I've been hoping the Rivers would become this but I do agree on Windsor. Hope there is a lot of inside mid time these last few games.

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

When you say hes missed so much footy, exactly how much are we talking about? Because so far this years hes only missed one game this year off the back of two last year. So a total of 3 games in two years so far which is really a solid effort.

He missed half of 2023 with the hamstring, came back for finals and injured his knee but kept playing.

Missed the entire 2024 pre season, for both publicly known reasons and also reasons a lot of the public doesn't and will never know.

Came back to play round 1 2024, and broke his hand. His hand was so badly broken he couldn't lift weights for nearly the entire year. It was insane to not put him straight into surgery, but there were reasons why we wanted to keep him playing and focused on footy. It was not good for him physically, but actually it really helped him mentally which was rightly the priority.

He also injured his PCL again at the back end of 2024.

So essentially he's had no continuity with his body for 18+ months.

He completed a full pre season this year, but as we know from guys like Tmac, Viney, Lever etc when you miss so much footy with persistent injuries especially entire pre-seasons, it takes a really long time to get back to peak fitness.

The problem for Oliver is that to play his role effectively he has to be 100% fit aerobically. Not 99% fit, but 100% fit. Until 2023 we never saw him battle injuries that impacted his fitness. Yes he had ongoing shoulder issues, but they didn't prevent him from running, doing weights and so on, and he didn't miss entire pre seasons as a result.

I think it is a credit to both him and Trac for doing so much work this pre-season to get through a whole year without any soft tissue injuries given how much footy they missed. Although in the grand scheme of things Trac missed 6 months, but was very fit prior to injury. Clarry has battled for almost 3 times that long with a variety of issues that impacted his fitness.

As the year has gone on you can see that Clarry has naturally improved his fitness due to playing more and more games, and that has really improved his game.

I agree that footy is moving away from needing multiple contested beasts, but you always need players who can win the ball and use their hands to release others out wide. That will never change, and it will be even more noticeable come finals.

Viney is at the back end of his career and his skills will never get better. Trac has his own mental demons to deal with, and we have no idea if he will ever over come them. Clarry also has mental demons, but from a physical point of view he is only going to get fitter (unless injuries stop him of course). I am not sure who wins us clearances if he leaves, when we all agree that Viney and Trac need to play predominantly different roles in the future.

Do I think Langford, Lindsay, Kosi and Windsor will be good mids? Absolutely. Will they ever get to the contested winning abilities of Clarry? That is a big unknown.

Is part of the appeal with Buckley that he still has the aura of a champion/huge name around him and so will help us attract players?

I get that he'd be on our list. I'm not sure I quite get the idea (I know it's just rumour at the moment) that we've put the blinkers on and he's the one.