43 minutes ago, Dee Boys said:

He’ll already know that. Our games aren’t behind closed doors!

True. It just looks like they are 😂

Clarry isn’t the best kick, but you’d struggle to find better hands in the game. If King wants to move the ball quickly and aggressively, he will need good hands not just good kicks.

35 minutes ago, Young Blood said:

Andrew Dillon is really keen to bring in the new out of bounds rule next season (free kick in between the arcs against player who touched it last).

It's not a free against who touched it last. it's a free against the last player who kicked or handballed it out of bounds

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by lorn

1 minute ago, lorn said:

It's not a free against who touched it last. it's a free against the last player who kicked or handballed it out of bounds

Presumably we will still be stuck with the 'insufficient intent' mind-reading nonsense within the arcs?

1 minute ago, sue said:

Presumably we will still be stuck with the 'insufficient intent' mind-reading nonsense within the arcs?

Unfortunately yes. Wish they just applied the last possession out of bounds rule to the entire ground and got rid of insufficient intent completely

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by lorn

11 minutes ago, sue said:

Presumably we will still be stuck with the 'insufficient intent' mind-reading nonsense within the arcs?

I think the AFL and fans will push hard for it, but the coaches don't like the idea. Late in games that territory football relies so much on using the boundary for safety, killing time and resetting.

I agree I don't think it will come in this year but possibly in 2027 after more success as AFLW. It just makes so much sense and will continue to speed up/open up the game. Less slogs.

23 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Clarry isn’t the best kick, but you’d struggle to find better hands in the game. If King wants to move the ball quickly and aggressively, he will need good hands not just good kicks.

I actually thought Clarry used the ball OK this year. I felt there was a slight improvement. He was used more on the outside and seemed to find the ball on the spread more. Often I thought he hit the safer 15-30m kicks well.

Obviously he's of most value in the engine room as an inside mid. But if King is to bring in at least some of Geelong's run and spread game (post clearance) then I saw healthy signs that Clayton could adapt to this somewhat

Hi, I've been contemplating the assistant coaching possibilities on the train and decided to attempt to build an information base about who is actually out there.

There's an article or two which basically just says every third assistant in the league is a senior-coach-in-waiting, and if you have the patience to scroll through then wikipedia's list of current afl team squads included the full sets of coaches. There's also a page on Whirpool (that's still around eh?) which is about a year out of date but has many relevant names to digest.

I just thought it would be helpful for anyone else having the same musings, to be able to 'see the whole board', as they say in chess

https://www.zerohanger.com/the-afls-next-wave-of-senior-coaches-which-assistants-are-ready-to-take-the-next-step-at-your-club-157211/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_AFL_team_squads

https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/afl_coaches

Never seen so much positivity on DLand, even though King has yet to coach a match.

This is why Goodwin was sacked. Optimism sells memberships and tickets.

20 minutes ago, bing181 said:

This is why Goodwin was sacked. Optimism sells memberships and tickets.

Also sacked to create a circuit breaker and throw the cards in the air in the FD. e.g., hard to see Basset leaving if Goody had stayed.

You can of course restructure the FD around an existing coach, and it has been done in the past with success - but just easier to blow it all up.

10 minutes ago, bing181 said:

Also sacked to create a circuit breaker and throw the cards in the air in the FD. e.g., hard to see Basset leaving if Goody had stayed.

You can of course restructure the FD around an existing coach, and it has been done in the past with success - but just easier to blow it all up.

The senior coach is always the lynchpin in these sorts of things. Been clear for a while the footy department needed a shake up and once the senior coach goes it just makes it easier for everything else to flow from there.

With existing contracts in effect we will probably see even more movement over the next 12 months as King puts together his team.

4 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Hey... I'm happy to bin it... just sayin' 😉

We really, really need an eye-roll reaction emoji, ideally a full 360-degree eye-roll, coupled with a huge sigh.

On reflection, I have wondered why he sounds so much more positive and articulate than Goody. This is not a criticism of Goodwin.

King has stated his aims and objectives, and is a modern-day coach. He has been in a few clubs, which has broadened his footy I.Q. Goody was at Essendon and groomed by Roos as his successor. Buckly commented that he was surprised by the process because he, too, had been inserted as an assistant and groomed as the heir apparent. King's coaching expertise has been honed over many years, and it shows.

Despite what the HS dribbles on about, King made it clear that teams play to get to the finals, and while people don't like to use the F word, I like it that King said it should be every player's expectation and goal to make the finals. King is big on visualisation, which is different to the HS saying King expects MFC to return to finals. He isn't predicting it, but daring the group to aim high

His philosophy on letting players show some flair is different. We have been a very defensive-minded club, and that won us a flag, but it is no longer fit for purpose. I have thought with the exception of Pickett, who does his own thing, we have lacked flair. I remember well Mitchell telling his Hawks early in the season to stop playing safe and go out and excite and play with daring.

King has identified the deficiencies and has a plan. The alternative is we have had 2 years or more of the mids being unable to connect to the forwards

Maybe MaClure & Morris should listen back off as I get the impression they are going to get short shrift from King and Guerra. We are no longer an easy target

6 hours ago, Salems Lot said:

I do wish there could be a float mic that picked up the questions better

ABSOLUTELY HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.

Mr Guerra - can you please bring all our communications systems into the modern age - I am so sick of interviews having totally unintelligible questions. I would be happy to put in to a fund to buy a bloody mobile microphone*, and for coaches not to respond to questions not addressed properly. It is so bloody amateurish as it has been for years.

This is just plain amateur hour stuff.

That said, Mr King seems articulate and thoughtful - it just would have been really nice to know what questions he was responding to.

• just checked Amazon who have some for $22.09 or two for $39.76 with free delivery tomorrow, which will be plenty of time before another press conference. Please let me know how much you would like me to contribute to bringing at least small part of our comms into the 2020s

41 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

We really, really need an eye-roll reaction emoji, ideally a full 360-degree eye-roll, coupled with a huge sigh.

🤔🤔🤔 🙄

5 hours ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

Really impressed with how he spoke today.

It will be harder to impress the fan base once the losses start, and it will be hard to implement a game plan that focuses on ball movement when you have Viney, Petracca and Oliver putting the ball inside 50, but it sounds like he knows exactly what he wants tactically and also has an element of that Sam Mitchell, Craig McCrae style new age style of coaching to go with it.

I liked Goody but a fresh voice is exactly what this club needs, and I’m really buying it.

It’s funny but I think Viney, Petracca and Oliver might have put the ball into our forward line in a certain grand final we won from 19 points down in the 3rd quarter!

Freedom to play is what MMcrae brought to Collingwood!

I've been super impressed with all of King's media appearances so far. I have to admit, when it was announced, I was like "what about Bucks?". But after listening to King speak, his conviction with what he believes this team can deliver, and his confidence leaves me feeling very optimistic for 2026.

In some ways, I can understand why Buckley wasn't chosen. He's been out of the industry for so long that you've got these assistant coaches in clubland who are up to date on the latest strategies, technology, stats that only clubs have access to, which would leave someone in the media for 5 years way behind in trying to win that job.

Honestly, if Tassie don't run a proper process and just hire Bucks, they're derelict in their duties, and probably just reaffirms that it'll just be an ambassador type role for a few years like Sheedy was for GWS.

Also with King, I wouldn't be surprised after hearing him speak, someone like Petracca would start to reconsider about being traded. Unless it's someone like Hawthorn, he could end up making it worse for himself.

New Demons coach Steven King has made no secret of his expectations for Melbourne to return to finals next year. And he won't go down without a fight in keeping Christian Petracca in the red and blue. 7NEWS.com.au @cleary_mitch @7AFL #7NEWS

36 minutes ago, D4Life said:

It’s funny but I think Viney, Petracca and Oliver might have put the ball into our forward line in a certain grand final we won from 19 points down in the 3rd quarter!

Freedom to play is what MMcrae brought to Collingwood!

Also funny to note that a particular group of players had decided to throw the playbook out the window after half time. They were encouraged to do so by someone not at the club now. It took a little while to click... but we saw it.

The message... go play footy... trust your gut. There's NO tomorrow.

We haven't played like that in a while. It shows.

Imagine if we did 😉

1 hour ago, monoccular said:

This is just plain amateur hour stuff.

It's not really. For technical reasons, an extra mic in the audience adds a whole level of complication. Read time. The club press conferences (and it's the same for all footy clubs) are done with a fixed camera and a single stereo mic on the table/rostrum. As such, there's no editing or post-production, when the recording is finished they're ready to air. Once you start mucking around with multiple microphones you need post-production to sort it all out and time, costs etc. go through the roof.

On 14/09/2025 at 20:41, John Crow Batty said:

If we hired Buckley then we would have to hire his huge ego as well which might not sit well with a fragile club like ours which requires sober and selfless leadership. He still is a media man and his profile needs boosting on a regular basis. He certainly had got himself loads of free publicity and media attention in the past few weeks but his sincerity to pursue the MFC job has been questionable. He might have added more $$$ to his future Tassie contract though.

His ego is only matched by the size of his proboscis

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by picket fence

19 minutes ago, At the break of Gawn said:

I've been super impressed with all of King's media appearances so far. I have to admit, when it was announced, I was like "what about Bucks?". But after listening to King speak, his conviction with what he believes this team can deliver, and his confidence leaves me feeling very optimistic for 2026.

In some ways, I can understand why Buckley wasn't chosen. He's been out of the industry for so long that you've got these assistant coaches in clubland who are up to date on the latest strategies, technology, stats that only clubs have access to, which would leave someone in the media for 5 years way behind in trying to win that job.

Honestly, if Tassie don't run a proper process and just hire Bucks, they're derelict in their duties, and probably just reaffirms that it'll just be an ambassador type role for a few years like Sheedy was for GWS.

Also with King, I wouldn't be surprised after hearing him speak, someone like Petracca would start to reconsider about being traded. Unless it's someone like Hawthorn, he could end up making it worse for himself.

He could have a chat with Taranto and Hopper how going to Richmond worked. Even Buckley probably stuffed up not staying at Brisbane. If a player leaves for the wrong reason it can well backfire.

9 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

He's talking 💩

Embarrassing really.

1 hour ago, beelzebub said:

He's talking 💩

Embarrassing really.

It sounds very much like the AFL brought the Tassie process forward to stymie us and ensure they get their intended coach in Buckley. They made damn sure he'll coach the Devils and not the Demons.

All the nonsense in the media and from his presenter mates about a rushed process where Melbourne couldn't wait, begs the question why is it so urgent for Tasmania to lock in a coach this week? They're nowhere near starting a team.

Was it prior public knowledge that Tasmania intended to interview its anointed Candidate this week or did that materialise when he showed interest in a real team that's actually his childhood favourite and the longest club in existence?

Well played by Bucks. It must be very sweet to soon be getting paid for a few more years of media whilst he's also drawing a salary for coaching a future team.

Or else the Devils team will start in the next couple of years after all and the outrageous stadium demand will soon be quietly dropped.

After hearing him speak I'm not disappointed with King as I can believe he was the best candidate.

I am not disappointed with Bucks either because he's making hay whilst the AFL think the Sun shines out of his @rse. He'll be a good coach for Tassie and I want that club to do well.

However I am disappointed with the AFL and its proxies in the media.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Hellfire Dub
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