The POSITIVES

1. Max Gawn. The GOAT. 8 x All Australian ruckman. Will win 2025 B&F. Another great year.

2. Kozzzz$$y Pickett. Showcased his talent with some 5goal/20+ possession games. 40 goals. Had some high and lows . But retaining Kozzy on a long term contract was a definite winner winner.

3. Beating the Lions at the Gabba. Absolute underdogs and it was a huge upset v the reigning premiers. The last quarter dominance showed we still had the capability to compete and beat the best.

4. Harvey Langford. He’s our Rising Star. His composure. His decisions. His kicking. He will be a cornerstone for our midfield in the future …and … Xavier Lindsay, with a very limited preseason, showed he belonged straight away and has a huge future both as a half back/wing but eventually also in the midfield.

5. Trac and Clarry getting back. Both had forgettable 2024 seasons and the media had them traded out. But we held them and they showed they are A grade players. Trac had a good year and it must have taken mental courage to get back after his injuries. Of course Clarry had issues to overcome too and we saw him grow and glimpses of his return to his talented best. I’m holding firm on retaining both as the new coach regimes and improves them to become elite.

6. Dismissal of Goodwin. I mean it ended the constant speculation and media circus. Ultimately whilst it hurt to see how it ended, I agree with the decision although the timing might have been questionable. Were we spooked given the potential for Voss to be also removed? It’s never easy given Goody is our premiership coach and we respect and thank him for that.

7. Improvement to players like Bowey and Turner. I see him as regulars going forward and part of the backline did next 5-10 years.

8. Beating Freo to record our first win. Again another upset win when we had been kicked down and kicked again by the media.

Other postives ?

The late career renaissance of both Melksham and TMac. Melksham with a career best goal tally and wasn't TMac leading in one-on-one defensive contests at some point of the year?

1 hour ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Beating the Lions at the Gabba. Absolute underdogs and it was a huge upset v the reigning premiers. The last quarter dominance showed we still had the capability to compete and beat the best.

Watching this live with my daughters, partner and my brother and sister in law and their kids who travelled up from Melbourne, was the highlight of the year for me 💙❤️

I feel for Melkie. 2023 was his and Brayshaw's injuries away from potentially being a premiership player.

Wish he was about four years younger but you can trust him to take a mark, to field kick smartly and to kick a goal more often than not.

The Gabba and Freo games show it's still there. The st Kilda game showed there was problems underneath that there.

Love Langford. Fast becoming a favourite.

The Negatives 💔💔💔💔💔

1. Losing to the Saints after being up by 46 points at 3/4 time. It hurt. It was embarrassing. We were the LAUGHING STOCK, ridiculed. The amount of dumb moments to lead to this disaster was unbelievable.

2. Losing so many close games. The Saints, the Pies twice, the Blues, the Giants and the Dogs. We snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. As Max Gawn said, we have to learn how to win !!

3. The Steven May decision. 3 week suspension. 90% of the media and footy public saw this as a footy act, unavoidable in a contact sport as players compete where a ball bouncing can be unpredictable. But not the AFL and not the 30+ year magpies member Jeff Gleeson the Tribunal chair. A reasonable player can predict and react in 0.25second. If ever there was persecution and bias, this was it.

4. Goodwin getting sacked. Yes the demise of a premiership winning coach. It hurt. Whilst I agreed that his time was up, the decision and the leaking the media again showed the club as unprofessional and without good leadership.

5. The appointment of a new CEO. October 2024 Pert announced he will move on. The search and decision takes 6 months only then to have the ignominy of Guerra not starting for another 4/5 months until September. The whole season to have a vacant CEO.

6. GOALKICKING. It went from the absurd to the ridiculous and it cost us games. The 7.21 v Saints in Alice Springs (1.14 after half time) was a horrendous way to lose a game. In the majority of games , the Dees inability to hurt the opposition with scoreboard impact was a key problem and hurt our chances , as well as morale.

7. The AFL, MRO AND UMPS. It was a farcical circus for most of the year. The MRO inconsistency was clearly a problem. It often depended on the colour of your team jumper. The umpiring was shown to be terrible in so many way. From free kicks paid, or not paid to bringing the ball, the crowd became frustrated even more than ever. And finally the AFL choosing Snoop Dogg. Wow. How bad can they get !!!

8. KICKING AND SKILLS. I’d say that alongside the Blues, Eagles and Bombers, the Dees are the worst for hitting targets and transitions the footy. At least we tried to move it quicker as the year progressed so the signs are better for game style, but missing targets or inability to kick to a forward was a horror show. A don’t think Petracca hitting a forward in 20-30+ forward50 entries.

9. The media. The Dees were the whipping team all year. From the ridicule of the promoted “love” culture , to the lack of a CEO, to crowds, to media leaks, to the interim president to the Clarry and Trac to be trade them push !!!

10. The fixture. Dees had a tough run but when you are in the non preferred tier of clubs, the AFL shuffles you in to suit others. Trip to Geelong. MCG games v low drawing teams like Freo, GWS, Suns. Short turnaround and interstate trips. It’s par for the course for clubs like us and we can do little to complain.

    probably a few more negatives ?

Casey in the finals

Main ones for me:

Positives:

• emergence and continuing development of younger players (Bowey, Turner)

• emergence of a new game style. Didn't always work and we still have to learn to win, but by the end of the season we were mostly competitive most of the time and a big improvement on 2024.

• new admin/governance in place going forward

Negatives:

• More than a few, but the main for me would be off-field instability and the vacuum in leadership - which if truth be known has been an issue since 2021.

• Still don't have the key position forward(s) that we need. Have to cross our fingers that at least one of JVR, Kentfield, Johnson, Jefferson or Petty step up big time because it's been our biggest Archilles' Heel since the flag.

• Still haven't really overcome the loss of Angus Brayshaw and what he meant to the group/club.

On 30/08/2025 at 12:48, spirit of norm smith said:

Trac and Clarry getting back. Both had forgettable 2024 seasons and the media had them traded out. But we held them and they showed they are A grade players. Trac had a good year and it must have taken mental courage to get back after his injuries. Of course Clarry had issues to overcome too and we saw him grow and glimpses of his return to his talented best. I’m holding firm on retaining both as the new coach regimes and improves them to become elite.

I think this is very flattering and a bit of a stretch. Based on the kick rating stat (note: this is not kicking efficiency) which takes into account expected hit rate and degree of difficulty, Clayton Oliver and Trac were ranked as third and fifth worst midfield kicks in the league (Viney was the eighth worst). It's fair to say that neither of these two have ever been elite, but in a season when our disposal was one of the major reasons for our demise (read: multiple reasons exist, but disposal was a significant contributing factor), to say that Petracca and Oliver were back to their best is a gross oversell of their seasons. Personally thought Oliver came on in the last 6 weeks or so (and I think he had a better season than Petracca), but still if we're saying their 2020 - 2023 form was 'A grade', they were both a fair way off.

Positives?

Lindsay, Langford, Gawn, Melksham, Turner, Pickett (though he definitely tapered towards the end of the season). I'd probably throw McDonald in there too.

Kentfield's recovery and VFL form is also a massive positive, hoping we can get some continuity and see this translate into the AFL next season.

I'll be in the minority on this, but I thought there were some positive signs for Jefferson too. Yes, they were momentary, but maybe he'll come on. I'm probably more on the agnostic side with this, and maybe I'm more seeing something in hope more than anything else, but I'll carry this into the 2026 season before making a definitive judgement.

At times our ball movement started to look cohesive, but I'm still extremely concerned about the lack of genuine elite users in our side.

I'd also agree that Goodwin's departure was a positive. Regardless of what you think of him, the constant commentary was a distraction and this definitive decision allows us to move past him and the situation without it dragging on for another year.

Edited Wednesday at 00:253 days by BLWNBA

8 minutes ago, BLWNBA said:

I think he had a better season than Petracca

Oh that's interesting.

I thought Oliver showed some encouraging glimpses towards the end of the year, but much of his season looked to me not a huge deal better than 2024.

Perhaps I set my expectations far too low for Petracca (I remember thinking there was zero change he would even be available in Round 1), but I thought he was pretty good throughout. Way down on goals, and as you've said, making inconceivably bad kicking decisions, but still contributing.

1 minute ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

Perhaps I set my expectations far too low for Petracca (I remember thinking there was zero change he would even be available in Round 1), but I thought he was pretty good throughout. Way down on goals, and as you've said, making inconceivably bad kicking decisions, but still contributing.

There's probably some truth to this too, and I'm not seeking to bash Trac or Oliver. I actually think there's a spot for them both under a new coach and I'd rather have them playing with us, than against us (unless there is a decent return of draft capital). Interestingly, CD rated Petracca as the 74th best player in the competition this season (his lowest return since 2018), with Oliver ranked 232 (last year he was ranked 244).

Negatives: one of the oldest and most experienced lists in the competition finished 14th for the second consecutive year, winning 4 less games than the year before.

Opportunities to rejuvenate the list will be massively limited by the lack of coach, no first round draft pick and ridiculous contracts held by fading senior players.

We're a shambles off field, with no home base, and are therefore completely undesirable to any prospective players,

Positives: Langford is a gun. The win against Brisbane. No more Goodwin.

1 hour ago, poita said:

Negatives: one of the oldest and most experienced lists in the competition finished 14th for the second consecutive year, winning 4 less games than the year before.

Opportunities to rejuvenate the list will be massively limited by the lack of coach, no first round draft pick and ridiculous contracts held by fading senior players.

We're a shambles off field, with no home base, and are therefore completely undesirable to any prospective players,

Positives: Langford is a gun. The win against Brisbane. No more Goodwin.

Jeez Poita you’ve got it bad, that is as negative a post as you could deliver?

Positives: Langford, Bowey, Turner, Lindsey, Oliver, PICKETTTTTT, New direction, good youth base, Clean out and a restart, MAX!!!!

Negatives: Goody couldn't get it done, key forward, Casey, fringe players, close losses, skills

@Travy14 ”casey” as a negative … you mean the venue!!! Yes it’s a 52km country trip down a busy highway to Cranbourne East. It’s a major issue , highlighted by Goody in his closing remarks.