15 hours ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

I really hope we have a year better than what everyone’s expecting from the media.

Today on SEN Dwayne Russell essentially said we will be a steaming pile of poo, for at least a couple years. Sad to hear.

I hope they’re all dead wrong and Kingy blows them away. Fingers crossed 🤞

People were saying the same thing about Hawthorn a couple of years ago. They are an exception, as most young teams struggle after losing a lot of high end experience, but do show that a group of talented young players can improve very quickly.

3 hours ago, possiblework1999 said:

It's a fairly common opinion tbf on Dwayne. I don't think we'll do much better than 14yh but we are rebuolding

That being said, his reasoning was that we lost Petracca, Oliver and premiership winning coach Simon Goodwin

Tracc I'll concede is a loss. Although, I still think he's a bad kick, and you can have a midfields mad eup of Petracca, Viney and Oliver and at least one of them had to be removed.

The Oliver one is bizarre to me - a lot of saying we've lost on of our best players. Oliver hasn't been elite and hasn't been one of our best players for years now. And we've effectively replaced him with Jack Steele who's a much better leader and will get the same output - something these media heads have completely forgotten

Simon Goodwin going needed to happen too, I still think he's a decent coach but he was s far past it with the Dees

Not saying I agree with them but I can see there pov, we won 7 games last year and have lost 3 best 22 players including one of our very best, Gawn and Viney are both a year older again and although we did bring in some good roll players we have mainly focused on the draft. Looking at it that way you would expect us to perform worse than last year. An alternative view is we have been drafting multiple high picks almost every year since the flag and if we made the right calls things could turn and quickly, add in a new coach who is going to give us a more modern game style to contend with the teams of 2026

A grade midfielders get the ball 40+ times a game at least 4 times a year. Last year ours struggled to get to 30 in a handfull of games. Apart from Kozzie our better midfielders kicked very few goals. Our midfield was also relatively slow and after losing ANB struggled to run both ways. So losing 2 of our best midfielders really matters little on overall output.

Cf: last year - Trac squibbed contested ball and Oliver was mostly average, only sometimes excellent. We have moved these two on and have ended up with genuine midfield nous (Steele) and a raft of youngsters that add real value to the centre. First possessions are fine, but they have been over-rated if you look at the stats - we got our hands on the ball first heaps of times, but didn’t use it well enough. 2026 should be better in this regard. Then add a new, positive style and refreshed ‘culture’ and we have more upside than downside. I hope we finish 8-10th, are a team people like to watch and are a team that challenges the best, even when we dont win.

6 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I have tipped us to finish bottom 3.

In fact i see us significantly dropping similar to how West Coast did whdn they had those aging stars still flopping around. Though i dont think we will be at the point of being barely VFL standard snd completely uncompetitive like they were.

We have had too many of our main senior players sitting in the sidelines all pre season which if anyone on here have played footy previously at a fairly strong standard, will know that not having a good base under your belt will completely hinder your preparation all year. You cannot simply make up for lost time. Sports science will say the same thing.

Development year with some pain along the way this year. All about getting as much games into the kids as we can.

So of our main senior players on the sidelines (& best 23) ..I’ll give you Viney & Melksham both well over 30 & I’d still say that Melksham is more likely to come in at some stage possibly not Viney. Other senior players e.g. Gawn & Miochek (who is now in full training) will def be in the team early rounds..Gawn is super fit & again at 34 he will have no problems once his finger is manageable. All players miss a week or 2 over preseason so I think

we’re relatively healthy. The bonus is the preseason form of some of our senior players e.g. Lever & Salem. There may be plenty of reasons we may not do well (I’m a bit more positive) but I can’t see Viney & Melksham being one of the reasons.

If you're looking at 2025 alone, Steele is an upgrade on Clarrie - as disappointing as that is to hear. Also, with Trac's 'mood' I can see Langford slotting straight into his role and performing better. CJ replaces that guy that went to Freo, and if anything is an upgrade defensively - which is the role we wanted him to play. That covers the outs and is a positive for mine.

That means we have to cover Langford's star quality all over the ground, and I don't know who steps up into that, perhaps Culley. Then there's Bowey which is a big loss for at least half the year. Maybe that's Taylor's first shot, and see when AMW is ready for his turn. Viney, who knows. Mihocek is a massive improvement in the forward line, but does he get on the park???? Petty into the backline would be an upgrade on 2025 Steven May, if he can keep his head out of trouble.

That leads us to the up and coming group of kids and the new gameplan and attacking footy. Most of the under 23 brigade seem to be putting in a full preseason which is massive. The preseason itself has also been massive by the sounds of it, so they should all be fitter than ever. Lindsay goes from very little preseason last year to a full job this time, his improvement could really amaze. Trelly in means we get a Pickett in the guts and still one at small fwd. Windsor in the middle sounds like he's going next level, but also means we need to replace him in the backline. Lindsay gets that role initially I'd say, all class. So there could well be improvement across the board from the younger brigade - think Hawks.

I'm quite bullish about 2026. We'll move up the ladder, but whether or not we make finals I don't know. Regardless, we will play finals in 2027.

29 minutes ago, Deestar9 said:

So of our main senior players on the sidelines (& best 23) ..I’ll give you Viney & Melksham both well over 30 & I’d still say that Melksham is more likely to come in at some stage possibly not Viney. Other senior players e.g. Gawn & Miochek (who is now in full training) will def be in the team early rounds..Gawn is super fit & again at 34 he will have no problems once his finger is manageable. All players miss a week or 2 over preseason so I think

we’re relatively healthy. The bonus is the preseason form of some of our senior players e.g. Lever & Salem. There may be plenty of reasons we may not do well (I’m a bit more positive) but I can’t see Viney & Melksham being one of the reasons.

Mihocek has been sidelined for majority of the pre season and even whilst he was joining in match simulation yesterday, he was still managed.

We're weeks away from games. He will be still well behind the eight ball with match fitness and relying to fit into a new game structure.

15 minutes ago, BigBadBustling said:

If you're looking at 2025 alone, Steele is an upgrade on Clarrie - as disappointing as that is to hear. Also, with Trac's 'mood' I can see Langford slotting straight into his role and performing better. CJ replaces that guy that went to Freo, and if anything is an upgrade defensively - which is the role we wanted him to play. That covers the outs and is a positive for mine.

That means we have to cover Langford's star quality all over the ground, and I don't know who steps up into that, perhaps Culley. Then there's Bowey which is a big loss for at least half the year. Maybe that's Taylor's first shot, and see when AMW is ready for his turn. Viney, who knows. Mihocek is a massive improvement in the forward line, but does he get on the park???? Petty into the backline would be an upgrade on 2025 Steven May, if he can keep his head out of trouble.

That leads us to the up and coming group of kids and the new gameplan and attacking footy. Most of the under 23 brigade seem to be putting in a full preseason which is massive. The preseason itself has also been massive by the sounds of it, so they should all be fitter than ever. Lindsay goes from very little preseason last year to a full job this time, his improvement could really amaze. Trelly in means we get a Pickett in the guts and still one at small fwd. Windsor in the middle sounds like he's going next level, but also means we need to replace him in the backline. Lindsay gets that role initially I'd say, all class. So there could well be improvement across the board from the younger brigade - think Hawks.

I'm quite bullish about 2026. We'll move up the ladder, but whether or not we make finals I don't know. Regardless, we will play finals in 2027.

Langford performing better then Petraccas 2025 form??

Sheesh.. I know some still have the [censored] over Petracca but let's still acknowledged that he actually still performed exceptionally well even though his output wasn't to the same standard as it previously been.

A reminder of Petracca of 2025:

582 disposals, 18 goals, 16 Brownlow votes, runner up in the BnF, number one for goals assist for Melbourne. He is a huge loss.

I like Harvey, I think he will be a fantastic player, but I think we're placing far too much expectations here on his shoulders. I think he will continue to alternate between wing and inside mid which for a second year player i expect some dip in form at times.

Can see a career spike in form at around the 60-80 game mark where he'll be the general of our midfield.

7 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I have tipped us to finish bottom 3.

In fact i see us significantly dropping similar to how West Coast did whdn they had those aging stars still flopping around. Though i dont think we will be at the point of being barely VFL standard snd completely uncompetitive like they were.

We have had too many of our main senior players sitting in the sidelines all pre season which if anyone on here have played footy previously at a fairly strong standard, will know that not having a good base under your belt will completely hinder your preparation all year. You cannot simply make up for lost time. Sports science will say the same thing.

Development year with some pain along the way this year. All about getting as much games into the kids as we can.

I don't disagree with any of that.

SEN interviewed a Fox Sports journo (Ben Cotton) last night and he mentioned that Gold Coast have essentially one person in the rehab group and that's Charlie Ballard who's recovering from an ACL. Meanwhile we've had half a suburb frequent the rehab group this summer.

We certainly haven't given ourselves the best chance of success if a collectively good pre season is the key indicator to a good season ahead. 2019 anyone!

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Bring-Back-Powell

2 hours ago, stinga said:

A grade midfielders get the ball 40+ times a game at least 4 times a year. Last year ours struggled to get to 30 in a handfull of games. Apart from Kozzie our better midfielders kicked very few goals. Our midfield was also relatively slow and after losing ANB struggled to run both ways. So losing 2 of our best midfielders really matters little on overall output.

No A grade mids in the AFL last year then? Best results were Nick Daicos and Bailey Smith with 2 x 40+ games - are they B graders?

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by old55

8 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Yeah Liam Pickering on SEN last night was also extremely down on the Dees for 2026.

He rattled off an exercise where he would list every club’s A and B graders and tally the total up.

I think he had Brisbane up top with 14 or 15 A and B graders. Then right at the bottom he had Melbourne, North and West Coast at a stinking low 6 A and B Graders combined. Even Richmond had more.

I can’t remember exactly who the 6 were but Gawn and Kozzie were A graders and Viney, Melksham were B. Mihocek may have been another?

Maybe these media blokes are correct. Maybe we’ll be bottom two with 3 or 4 wins.

Pickering picking 'A' graders is a humorous part of pre-season predictions! It led me to pick an MFC player that he wouldn't have, to compare him to a few that he would have.

Goals in the Past Four Seasons:

Charlie Cameron 189

Fritsch 170

Gunston 156

Elliott 148

Higgins 148

6 hours ago, BLWNBA said:

Agree, it was and still is a pretty perplexing move at the time, IMO. I'm a pretty big believer in Taylor but I still don't understand the need to reach for Tholstrup like we did. From memory we moved Pick 18 (I stand to be corrected on that - memory could be off on that one) into Pick 13 for a player that was widely tipped to still be there at our original pick. On top of that, Tholstrup's output and lack of development is a concern.

I don't think he exhibits anything of note and he's lacking in many areas. His kicking is relatively poor and he really struggles to insert himself to games. I also find it staggering that we extended his contract out to the end of 2028; personally I don't see him being on any AFL list post expiration of his current contract with us.

There's many people on here who don't agree with this assessment, I definitely expect to receive some contrary replies to this but I just don't see anything in him - even with a player such as Jefferson, I've seen a few things to suggest that there's something to work with, but sadly I've essentially written Kolt off.

Interesting. I tend to agree. im more in the 'he may or may not make it' category but maybe thats more wishful thinking. I would say he does have 'clever' attributes but it hasnt clicked at all for him as yet.

34 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Mihocek has been sidelined for majority of the pre season and even whilst he was joining in match simulation yesterday, he was still managed.

We're weeks away from games. He will be still well behind the eight ball with match fitness and relying to fit into a new game structure.

Langford performing better then Petraccas 2025 form??

Sheesh.. I know some still have the [censored] over Petracca but let's still acknowledged that he actually still performed exceptionally well even though his output wasn't to the same standard as it previously been.

A reminder of Petracca of 2025:

582 disposals, 18 goals, 16 Brownlow votes, runner up in the BnF, number one for goals assist for Melbourne. He is a huge loss.

I like Harvey, I think he will be a fantastic player, but I think we're placing far too much expectations here on his shoulders. I think he will continue to alternate between wing and inside mid which for a second year player i expect some dip in form at times.

Can see a career spike in form at around the 60-80 game mark where he'll be the general of our midfield.

In the second half of the year Langford kicked 10 of his 14 goals and Petracca kicked less with 6. Petracca was more dynamic but Langford had the better results. Even in the games Culley played Culley kicked 3 goals and Petracca 4 Even Harry sharp kicked 6 in the second half of the year.

41 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Mihocek has been sidelined for majority of the pre season and even whilst he was joining in match simulation yesterday, he was still managed.

We're weeks away from games. He will be still well behind the eight ball with match fitness and relying to fit into a new game structure.

Langford performing better then Petraccas 2025 form??

Sheesh.. I know some still have the [censored] over Petracca but let's still acknowledged that he actually still performed exceptionally well even though his output wasn't to the same standard as it previously been.

A reminder of Petracca of 2025:

582 disposals, 18 goals, 16 Brownlow votes, runner up in the BnF, number one for goals assist for Melbourne. He is a huge loss.

I like Harvey, I think he will be a fantastic player, but I think we're placing far too much expectations here on his shoulders. I think he will continue to alternate between wing and inside mid which for a second year player i expect some dip in form at times.

Can see a career spike in form at around the 60-80 game mark where he'll be the general of our midfield.

I'm not one to go big on young players, but happy to throw my chips in on Langford. Exceptional talent and game sense, he will be an absolute star. Of course there's 2nd season blues a possibility, but he's just so professional. The whole issue with Trac was his want to be more midfield than forward, we wanted the opposite. Langford, in 2026, will be more the blend we wanted from Trac, and for that reason I think he'll at least match Trac's 2025. So if that means I'm saying runner up in the 2026 BnF then so be it, happy to revisit halfway through the year on his progress (with or without egg on my face)

For what it's worth, I don't think he'll match Trac's 2026, unfortunately. 2027 and beyond will be a different story.

8 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I have tipped us to finish bottom 3.

In fact i see us significantly dropping similar to how West Coast did whdn they had those aging stars still flopping around. Though i dont think we will be at the point of being barely VFL standard snd completely uncompetitive like they were.

We have had too many of our main senior players sitting in the sidelines all pre season which if anyone on here have played footy previously at a fairly strong standard, will know that not having a good base under your belt will completely hinder your preparation all year. You cannot simply make up for lost time. Sports science will say the same thing.

Development year with some pain along the way this year. All about getting as much games into the kids as we can.

Just wait until we go on a whopping 10 loss run and watch the output from the seniors fall off the face. i firmly put us bottom 4, with 5-7 wins. Possibly less. The pups still need another 2+ years to mature.

1 hour ago, BigBadBustling said:

I'm not one to go big on young players, but happy to throw my chips in on Langford. Exceptional talent and game sense, he will be an absolute star. Of course there's 2nd season blues a possibility, but he's just so professional. The whole issue with Trac was his want to be more midfield than forward, we wanted the opposite. Langford, in 2026, will be more the blend we wanted from Trac, and for that reason I think he'll at least match Trac's 2025. So if that means I'm saying runner up in the 2026 BnF then so be it, happy to revisit halfway through the year on his progress (with or without egg on my face)

For what it's worth, I don't think he'll match Trac's 2026, unfortunately. 2027 and beyond will be a different story.

I see his 2nd year trajectory similar to how Finn Callaghan was for instance.

Another solid year of just building and developing.with the big spike coming around the 3rd or 4th year.

1 hour ago, stinga said:

In the second half of the year Langford kicked 10 of his 14 goals and Petracca kicked less with 6. Petracca was more dynamic but Langford had the better results. Even in the games Culley played Culley kicked 3 goals and Petracca 4 Even Harry sharp kicked 6 in the second half of the year.

Yet Petracca was still averaging more disposals, number one for goal assist s and score involvements for our team.

We can nitpick all we want, but the reality is Petracca will be a huge loss for us.

Him leaving had to happen unfortunately and it was best for both parties especially as we now start our mini rebuild under the King era.

Hard to place us this year. Are young players need more games.

Our backline and our forwards should improve if players remain fit.

Our mids are the worry this year but may surprise?

We may have some surprise improvement from a player or 2. Eg Culley, AMW ETC