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These are our senior players that had uninterrupted preseasons and a good run with few injuries during the season: Gawn, Fritsch, Salem, Frost, Lewis (?), Spargo, Hunt and ANB. That's it. These players either had significantly interrupted preseasons or injury interrupted seasons: May, Jones, Harmes, Petracca, Viney, Lever, Brayshaw, KK, Hibberd, Stretch, Melksham, Hannan, AVB, JKH, TMac, Weid, OMac, Hore and Jetta. We made, against all expectations, the PF playing fantastic footy coached and managed by the group of FD staff that is now undergoing significant change. My very strong view is that most of our issues this year were bourne out of our PS and injury status, the names above show that. The major change we will have next year is a fit list and a good preseason. If we have that we can match it with anyone. Our issues this year were not those in the FD who had proved their abilities with a reasonably fit list in the previous year. I think change is good for the club, new voices and different views, but I suspect much of that change would have happened anyway. Thanks to all those that stuck by us when we were awful and helped form a serious club = Macca, Misso, Craig, Todd, Jade and others I may have missed.

Thanks for your service Todd. You have been part of taking us from a basket case to a club capable of on-field success Loves the club, his house is often littered with young demons looking for a feed I agree it is good timing to part

Whilst I think there is a lot in what you say I think it's easy to forget how good we were at the back end of 2018. We didn't lack speed and we didn't often get caught out. We were caught out this year because all of our midfield didn't have a preseason. All of them. As for our ball use going forward I think that is very problematic when you have half your team out and the majority of the blokes that deliver it forward missing most of preseason - no practice = less than optimal skills. I agree we'd be better with more pace, I think small forwards and outside pace is lacking, but you put 9 first 22 players back into the team that played NM in the final round and give the mids a preseason and we are not having this conversation. As for game plan I think it's interesting. The Doggies have come alive in the back end of the season playing our 2018 footy. Essendon played some very good footy with that style. Brisbane tried to match Geelong at the Gabba with the "down the line defensive" stuff and were losing by 20 odd points at three quarter time. They played our style footy in the last quarter and won brilliantly. I'm not convinced that our style of footy is wrong or is dead, it clearly needs fit and skilful players to execute it. We need to improve on 2018, we need to hone game plans, we need to address weaknesses in our list. But more importantly than all that we need a good PS, fit players and continuity. It's no surprise that Brisbane and Geelong finished top 2 this year. Neither club had an injury really and the 22 had fantastic continuity which is something we just haven't had, even in 2018 we struggles for continuity. Continuity is totally underestimated by most. I guess the point I'm trying to make is the wrist slashing and view that we are a horrible footy club in crisis and destitute of players is a complete emotional overreaction to a season from hell. Much didn't go right but the infrastructure is there for a very powerful rebound. I don't think there would be one club that has written us off for 2020.

If true, it is a very good move by the club. Have often said on here that he is part of the problem for a variety of reasons: Has been here since the Bailey days, for 186, for the supposed 'tanking', for the Neeld era. Not holding him responsible for all that but he is an entrenched part of that culture covering one of the worst decades in our history. imv he has a conflict of interest with his son playing at the Club. The club is now free to make list management, captaincy and match selection decisions about son Jack, if it ever felt it appropriate.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

If we're interested in trading out another first round draft pick, I hope to hell it's not to land Ollie Wines.

Gee, who'd have thunk there'd be major changes when a club goes from 4th to 17th in a year. What a bolt from the blue. Thank god for "our sources"!

1)Don't think so. 2) Various other options for captaincy. The most obvious being to leave Jones as sole captain. And Max says 'hello'. Back to conflict of interest: As List Manager Todd would be in control of any trade options. He sits on the weekly match selection committee. And involved in captaincy decisions. Therefore, he has significant and direct management over his son's career. imv that is a significant conflict of interest and his influence would restrict the club's options on Jack's career, if such circumstances arose.

While we got to finals last year, with a fitter list and playing chaos footy, the new rules changed things and we were exposed. IMO, as the rules now stand, 6-6-6, with no outside pace or small goal kicking forwards, we will improve with a fitter list, but cannot improve to win enough games to make finals. That is why we are chasing the likes of Langdon and others to fix these deficiencies on the list. Also, again IMO, the game style of last year will not succeed now and needs tinkering with, not wholesale changes. That could be why we are changing Assistant Coaches, who can bring in a slightly different approach to the way we play. So IMO the 3 things needed to succeed for us are: . A strong pre season, with a good injury run during the season. . A modified game plan, not totally reliant on contested possession, but incorporating improved, uncontested possession. . Some better players with pace and skill and a few small, goal kicking, pressure forwards. A softer draw will also help if we get the above in place.

Maybe the full scope of Alan Richardson's role and his associated title is not settled just yet with the other staff changes still happening e.g. Jade Rawlings and now as mooted Todd Viney exits? But no - it's been more than 10 days now and you're overdue for a tantrum.

Is that Damian Barrett.....

I thought you said you asked direct questions, so you didn't get a direct answer, it was implied Every season there is a turnover of assistant coaches at clubs, we were pretty steady for a couple of years, we needed to be, now is the opportunity for change which is happening You seem to be the only one surprised But there is not much talent out there looking for a change, so hopefully we won't go overboard

Jingle bells, Ablett smells Selwood ducked his head Dangerfield whinged and squealed Hawkins laid an egg. *I’ll see myself out.

This is the reason I’m going for the Filth, I can’t stand Geelong’s sense of entitlement.

Don’t know if it’s been said before but I actually dislike Geelong more then Collingwood. Tonight is a good result.

This game needs a Hannan 50 metre 3 bounce run and goal.

Collingwood showing that pace and spread from the contest to dominate uncontested possession is the important thing in the modern game. We need to go hard after Langdon and others with pace and running power.

The roar for Stephenson by Collingwood fans is puzzling. The guy was placing bets on himself and his own team for games he was playing in.

Go and watch his 2 finals matches against Geelong and Hawks last year I think he knows about finals intensity Last night would have taught him SFA Don't bomb in high and slow to the Eagles defence You need to apply pressure at the ball carrier to prevent the Eagles from playing their kicking game Essendon lack inside bulls and until they address it they won't be any good in September Don't play to many injured players

I'm hearing that Richo and Goody are already at loggerheads and Richo is also on the brink of walking out. He says Goodwin is too stubborn and has never seen a single Dees loss - he thinks they're all just bad days! If only he'd taken a leaf out of Norm Smith's book - Norm watched endless replays of the '54 GF defeat over and over again, analysing where the Dogs picked us apart. Made the team bullet-proof for a decade. Goodwin had the same opportunity to win 5 premierships in 6 years and completely blew it.

righto Viney won the BnF in 2016 and deserving of co-captaincy in 2017 imo. unfortunately he's had couple of years of injuries and no preseason. he put a full year together finally this year (although didnt play great footy) and with a preseason we will see our inspirational leader back next year. Max would not be the player he is today if he was weighed down by captaincy in 2017/2018 imo

Todd going (if true) confirms to me that Pert is calling the shots; Mahoney is the conduit and public mouthpiece. No sacred cows, anymore.

I understand where you are coming from, and also have my worries that the key members of the Football department are yet to realise the err of their ways. However, raising Jack Viney's time off just doesn't make sense to me. Mental health experts and Elite performance experts will all profess to the importance of 'switching off' from the workplace, regardless of whether you are an office worker or a professional athlete. This year has been a horror show, and to think that the players haven't experienced that is nonsense, as is the belief that they should be made to refrain from a break as some sort of punitive action. I understand that these players have more time off than most, but they are also dealing with a level of public scrutiny and interaction that few others experience. To not allow them an escape is setting players up for burnout after a short time in the system. I would much prefer that anyone not required to be at the Club is away and clearing their head in order to come back fresh and ready to go, and that includes the Captains.

Nic Nat was brilliant last night and set the tone for the game. Don't underestimate what he brought to the game, the numbers don't always tell the story.

An absolute master stroke by Goody to send him up forward in round 17. A move none us keyboard heroes would've contemplated in a million years. That's why they pay him the big bucks.

Chris Scott will need this...

Here's my list assessment: Backline: A couple of years ago I was lamenting that we had too many half-backs on the list - now we don't have enough. IMO Hibberd is finished, Josh Wagner is conclusively not AFL standard, Lewis is gone, Hunt and J.Smith have been moved away from there, Jones is no good there and Fritsch has moved forward where he does his best work. We need 7 backs in the 22. I have faith that Nev will get back to at least near his best which was THE best in the AFL. May and Lever are no-brainers. Salem has to stay back here, Petty is too good to stay out of the team and will benefit from another pre-season. In this line-up Frost has to take a small which I think is fine. Hore is the next best back-line player on the list but I don't like the mix that he offers to that existing 6, we need more run, not more intercept marking. We need to trade in a running half-back, the only other ready-to-go player on the list that I think could succeed there is Hannan who would be worth a try if he can get over his injury issues. Otherwise it's Hore or Hibberd as 7th back. Jetta May Lever Salem Petty Frost Bench: ??? Depth: Hore, OMac, Hibberd Developing: Nietschke Mids: We need 8 mids in the 22 including the ruckman - and we're short on quality here. Gawn, Oliver, Brayshaw, Harmes are my go-to starting centre square set. We've got nothing on the wings - we need to close the Langdon deal and for one of KK or VDB to get fit to play. Petracca and Viney can rotate through and I've got them in the forwards. Despite the protestations on Demonland, Jones is still an AFL standard mid, just not in the starting set. I think it's pretty clear Billy Stretch is not up to AFL standard. JKH is just OK and is probably our only mature midfield depth standard. We need one or more of the development players or a new draftee to make big strides over the summer and cement a spot - it's not an unreasonable hope, you'll find all the finalists this year have 1st or 2nd year players in or near their starting 22s. Gawn Oliver Brayshaw Harmes Langdon KK/VDB Bench: Jones, ??? Depth: Preuss, JKH Developing: Jordon, Sparrow, Baker, Lockhart, C. Wagner, Dunkley Forwards: Surpringly, given our poor conversion this year, this is the area I think we're best served. I acknowledge our over-supply of inside mids and our under-supply of small forwards - moving Viney forward solves both these problems in one swoop - he's genuinely quick, a true contested crumber and will deliver ferocious defensive pressure. I have faith in TMac and Weid as marking targets, particularly with the progress of Fritsch. We need 7 forwards in the 22 and a couple of them in Petracca and Viney who can rotate through the middle as required. I think it's clear ANB is not up to AFL standard. We need one of the Smiths to get fit as depth. Petracca TMac Fritsch Viney Weideman Melksham Bench: Hannan Depth: Hunt, T.Smith, J.Smith Developing: Spargo, Bedford, Chandler, Bradtke So in the wrap up: Delist: Lewis Garlett Stretch ANB J.Wagner / Keilty Maynard Walker? Trade out: Hunt? - probably the only depth with any trade value, pick 3 in a pick swap with GWS Trade in: Langdon, running half-back or quality mid (maybe in a GWS pick swap deal) Draft: best available, but it would be nice to have a 1st rounder and get some more young mid or half-back quality onto the list

Yep. i've heard he's got a lot of people offside just being incredibly stubborn, unable to take critisism and unwilling to change. it's players, assistants, staff. Buckley and Hardwick were similar but they changed. Goodwin either needs to change or go in my opinion because we can't lose good football people over this in my view,

I have posted this before, but my son saw Cook training with us pre season and came home and said to me that he would never play for us in the Seniors. I laughed at him as he was an AA CHF . I stopped laughing very quickly. The point of that was, how can full time recruiters get it so wrong, when an amateur can see that he wasn’t up to it in one training session. Worst of all he was our first pick .

It was the wrong move to get rid of him after we lost Hogan. He would've been good depth at worst, and likely would've been our best forward this year had we given him another year. Another [censored]-up by the club. Glad to see Pedo doing well and still enjoying his footy. Good bloke who always gave his all for us.

But we were told it was just pre-season injuries ....now we find out every coaching position bar the senior coach has been changed...I just don't know who to believe anymore..

Surely you are joking. I have seen plenty. Dad’s as coach of their son’s sport’s team, among the worst examples.

Now Bin, we picked Toumpas, enough said.

Nick Kyrios needs a new mentor...

Agree, on Paine. I'm glad he made runs, technically he looks the best of all the batsmen, he just doesn't make runs consistently. The Aussie tail can usually be counted on for at least another 50-80 runs. I like Paine's captaincy (except when it comes to DRS), he makes good field placements and backs his bowlers in, he's calm and measured and he has personally taken a lot of the spite and arrogance out of the way we play. A lot was made of the issue of momentum and recent Ashes history over there, but the team has walked the walk. The Poms have been extremely lucky not to be three nil down in this series and the Aussie team know that the Poms can't keep riding that luck and getting away with it. We just need to bowl well now. I'm glad that they picked Starc, just get him to bowl 25 overs to create some footmarks for Lyon to bowl into.

I was told to be ready..

I'm also hopeful that we add Yze to the coaching mix as well. While we're hoping for a few wins in terms of the players we bring in, I think our biggest change for 2020 may be what happens off the field.

We should be able to push for victory now. Still got to get another 19 wickets but at least we can't lose the game now. If England were to score 300 they'd still be 200 behind. And if we bat again there won't be any generous declaration. We hold all the cards and just have to bowl & field well and the Ashes are there for the taking. We've fought back exceptionally well after the 3rd test loss. Smith is a freak and even the luck is on his side. He can't put a foot wrong. Excellent support by Paine, Starc & Lyon too.

Brayshaw was incredible at times last year. Unless he is completely unhappy and there's been an irreversible fallout, it would be a very questionable move to trade him. He's had one down year and is about to come into his prime along with many of his team mates.

Melodrama central! i know nothing, but if we don’t start with a ‘Sky is falling’ point of view, then maybe North, who need a new assistant, figured Jade to be the best available and made him an offer? After 8 years at one club, it would also make sense to be exposed to other systems as you work toward your own senior gig.

Whoever had the idea of playing Fritsch down back for first 30 games of his AFL career should be sacked, we all knew Fritsch was a forward and if left there could kick 40-50 goals a season

Gawn tapped to all those names bar Ollie Wines this year, how did it go? Unless we have some serious plans to restructure our forwardline and wings, I just couldn't fathom why the club would want to bring in Ollie Wines given the current balance of the list. It is a completely nonsensical move when looking at our weaknesses as a list in it's current state. Hopefully Barrett is just filling in fluff for our column.

Best session for Australia,,, yes on reflection we had the luck A double hundred for Smith and a possible 100 for Paine and then England two wickets down at stumps. Goes some way to softening the memory of that last test. Heading for a draw unless the Australian bowlers can pull off something special. Imagine if the openers had done their job with say a 90 stand

No Ball ? oh Yeah. Make them pay now...

That is in stark contrast to what I have been told, and if some idiot inside the club has told you that he needs to be kicked out.

I wish Jade all the best, but it is time to clear the decks. From what i heard today, there is till more to come... i will pass on what i hear as it comes....

I met him in a cafe yesterday and asked him about his and the club’s future. He distinctly said he had another year of contract ahead??‍♂️ I asked him if he had any explanation for our abysmal year and he put it down to the horrendous preseason . He said he’d heard nothing about any player unrest, though obviously he wouldn’t have admitted anything to me

This is a bit disappointing.

Jesus there have been some rippers on Nathan Jones lately, just a few point out a couple: - Shouldn't be on a family holidays, instead at home curled up watching every minute of every finals. - Deserves to take a pay cut because he is selfish - Needs to be delisted - Needs to retire - Shouldn't be captain of the club because he doesn't even care.. Only at Melbourne do we absolutely tear strips of a club champion and heart and soul player ?‍♂️