On 07/02/2026 at 10:09, Fork 'em said:

I was surprised about the embarrassing garbage we served in the Prelim tho'.
Disgraceful.

I wasn’t we looked tired in the last quarter against the Hawks in the qualifying final.

I thought we were also coming off 2 emotional highs.

I predicted a 10 goal loss, the surprise for me was the way it occurred, I expected we’d put up a fight early but get over run as we tired.

The big positive is that we embarked on rebuilding the midfield in the 2023 off season and have continued on that path.

It's as if we saw the departures of Oliver & Petracca coming (and foreseeing the long term injury to Viney)

If we had rested on our laurels and kept faith with the old breed, we'd be in real trouble. The replacement midfield lacks experience but a base of Steele, Kozzie & Rivers gives us something to work with and add-to (along with, down the track, Viney)

However, the other 2 areas of concern is a functioning forward line and to a lesser extent, the backline. But we've recruited players to strengthen both areas

I reckon we'll be ok down back if Lever, Turner, CJ, XT, Petty, Howes, T-Mac (back-up) & Salem can all stay reasonable healthy. If not, we might leak goals

A more mobile forward line will probably see us play only a maximum of 2 bigs in the forward line (Checkers & JVR) ... the rest need to be fleet-of-foot and constantly presenting. A 3rd tall up forward is unlikely

Checkers plays the traditional key forward role but JVR needs to play a more roaming CHF type role (similar to a HHF)

Fritta, Melk, Chandler (HHF) & Latrelle the mainstays with Culley, Kolt, Kozzie & Langford pushing forward as add-ons

And the delivery into the forward line needs to be crisp & precise. But it's a work-in-progress so it's going to take a bit of time to get right

If we can get all 3 areas functioning well (or at least reasonably well) we can win 10 or 11 games

And build from there

As @Bombay Airconditioning mentioned above, there are a lot of middling teams that are quite beatable

We may not be pushing for a top 4 or top 6 spot but neither are the Saints, Blues, Bombers, North, Tigers, Port, Eagles or Pies, in my view

And I'm not convinced that the Crows, Freo, Doggies, Giants or Sydney are genuine premiership threats

We can beat a lot of those teams if we can bring our best and have a good run with injuries

Edited 18 hours ago18 hr by Macca

20 hours ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

Alright there, negative Nancy.

Facts.

5 hours ago, Macca said:

A more mobile forward line will probably see us play only a maximum of 2 bigs in the forward line (Checkers & JVR) ... the rest need to be fleet-of-foot and constantly presenting. A 3rd tall up forward is unlikely

Multiple training reports have spoken (surprisingly perhaps, but nonetheless) of the development of Jeffo. What if ...

10 minutes ago, Big Col said:

Multiple training reports have spoken (surprisingly perhaps, but nonetheless) of the development of Jeffo. What if ...

What I can clearly remember was when we played 3 tall forwards in round 1 last season against GWS ... between the 3 (AJ, Jeffo & JVR) they accumulated a total of 10 kicks & 2 marks. Epic fail

GWS waltzed the ball out of their backline on occasions and the match was decided by one kick

If we play Heath as a 2nd ruck we then have the 3rd tall forward covered (if that's at all needed)

In my view, Jeffo will need to bide his time unless Checkers doesn't come up or if he is somehow preferred to JVR (unlikely)

Edited 12 hours ago12 hr by Macca

42 minutes ago, Macca said:

What I can clearly remember was when we played 3 tall forwards in round 1 last season against GWS ... between the 3 (AJ, Jeffo & JVR) they accumulated a total of 10 kicks & 2 marks. Epic fail

GWS waltzed the ball out of their backline on occasions and the match was decided by one kick

If we play Heath as a 2nd ruck we then have the 3rd tall forward covered (if that's at all needed)

In my view, Jeffo will need to bide his time unless Checkers doesn't come up or if he is somehow preferred to JVR (unlikely)

To be fair it was pissing down iirc

1 minute ago, Madz said:

To be fair it was pissing down iirc

I don't remember that but if so, all the more reason for a late change (or 2)

It was a monumental stuff up and set the tone for the next month of losses

Also reckon playing low skilled tall forwards lends itself to long bombs forward from the mids. Take the talls away and the mids need to find more mobile targets

Edited 11 hours ago11 hr by Macca

Anything outside bottom 4 would be a good effort. New coach. New game plan. Old faces moved on. And fox footy calling it "AFLs worst pre season" (referring to injuries).

Buckle up and enjoy the ride.