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Meh. Dermie is a punch drunk alpha who absolutely and openly loathes the MFC and will take every opportunity to sink the boots in, rain or shine. King is a statistics sycophant who flip flops with his convictions depending on the tide of public opinion like a chameleon. And Robbo, with his penchant for RTDs, can hardly string a sentence together, let alone form a coherent argument. He’s lucky to get his pants on each day. Whilst there is likely truth in their observations, I’m not placing too much weight on what these muppets opine.

Good to hear Lord Nev. I am happy for posters with contacts to post what they hear and if it’s right or wrong time will tell. At the end of the day it’s up to me whether I read or believe it or not. Keep posting LN

I was initially puzzled at the inclusion of Preuss, but looking at the other inclusions, it makes sense for a few reasons: - Provides a genuine, strong forward target, meaning it’s harder to double team Weideman. - The forward line is now packed with a mosquito fleet, which can feed off Preuss’s crumbs - Crucially, Preuss is a good tackler and puts a fair amount of pressure on for someone his size. - Obviously gives Max a chop out. Not sure how this is going to play out - Tomlinson will obviously play back with Baker on the wing. Brave selections, certainly won’t die wondering!

Hard to do anything when four defenders go to you the moment the ball comes off the boot. They knew exactly what we were going to do forward and stitched it up perfectly. He had a bad game but could do with some help.

Can we all just give it a rest. This thread is about the team changes is it not???

Finally we may not have a slow plodder on the wing for once!! Ain't it amazing to see Goodwin elect genuine wingers to play on the wing

I honestly cannot understand why so many are nonplussed by Bennell’s non selection. Even Blind Freddy’s dog could see that he is well below par, running at half pace and playing pretty much bruise free football. He was given a handful of runs to test his calves and give him a taste, but I’d think the plan was always for him to get in a full preseason next year before letting him loose.

I'm no tactical genius and I've found that the Game plans, tactics and all that jazz thread on DL to be far more informative than anything I've heard from any tv pundit this season. I wish we had someone with Steven May's presence and drive to win on each line of our team to help drive standards on game day.

How is Smith still in the team?!

Normally I’d agree with your response to the three ‘experts’ but in reality, after watching the aforementioned discussion, I think they nailed it on the head. They used words like fickle, untrustworthy, flaky, mentally weak, and actually named Fritsch, and Salem, as prime examples, and the playing of an obviously injured Jones against Sydney as further evidence i personally had no argument with their cases

You're welcome to point out all the times I've "thrown [censored]" and it hasn't stuck. I always put my hand up when I get one wrong. Here's a running list for you: Jennings gone - Correct McCartney gone - Correct Dees chasing Yze - Correct Looking at drafting Jackson - Correct Weideman injury - Correct Max Gawn lat injury - Correct Jake Lever injury - Correct Bennell leaving Freo - Correct TMac injury - Correct Dees not chasing Hill, rate the top end of draft higher - Correct Dees looking to split 2019 picks - Correct Bennell selection for Freo - Incorrect Rooke gone - Incorrect (Rawlings leaving possibly changed it) Pendlebury late out - Incorrect (Different source, no good) Roos taking a role at Blues - Incorrect. (Though did come out and say he was open to it) Mahoney likely gone end of year - We’ll see Goodwin gone if doesn’t win 9 games - We’ll see Harmes unhappy and likely to request trade - We’ll see TMac ankle injury - We’ll see Gotta be a pretty lucky "[censored] thrower" to get that many random guesses correct hey? If you don't want to read what I post, just block me, that's what I'll be doing now to save myself wasting time with your personal trash.

Smith did very well on Papley

Finally get to see Baker and Bedford. Bennell is really on the outer.

Watching Essendon is the perfect remedy for the blues I've got after Thursday's game. At least we aren't them is all I will say.

In most sports competitors are trained to replicate certain actions without thought or instinctively. We have seen games where our players hit targets, stick tackles, run and apply pressure to a high level. In other games, all of these skills either disappear totally or are inept in their application. I'll grant that one or two players can have mares but with us it seems to be 3/4 of the team not doing the basics. Surely this is on the coach?

In fairness Lord a lot of those news that you had highlighted were well broken by media outlets on social media before it got on here. The Luke Jackson one for example was broken first by Callum Twomey well before you confirmed it mate. Jennings and McCartney story was also first broken by Tom Browne on talking footy before any of us knew about it including yourself. I'll try not to derail this thread at all but regarding the changes. I am happy with all except Smith. I wished Jetta or Lockhart had come in for him. But hoping with a bit more speed we can really use our outside runners now more often.

One of the former players is till involved with the club a bit and passed on some things Burgess told him 1. So you're saying selection confidential info is being leaked Same person passed on Friday morning that Brayshaw and Harmes were injured, 2. Hardly earth shattering but , in any event , if you throw enough [censored], some will stick to the wall.

Love the changes this week, a real Hail Mary if ever there was one!!! May fortune favor the brave and Preuss kick 5 goals playing out of the goal square! Go you good things!

We blew our chances against sydney so how many changes are irrelevent. Good to see some pace but why is ANB playing along with Smith. Why is lockhart still out ? Same with Bennell.

Always happy to read about a tip. I like Shadow Prey in the first, no tip from some one in the know etc. Just like it. ?

From a cultural perspective what irks me is that we've cohabited with a team that has arguably the best culture across the footballing codes - the Melbourne Storm. How have we not been able to benefit from observing and adopting their standards?

I counterpoint Michael Voss. It's reductionist to link those 2 points to his capacity to coach. Besides...he's from Colac....anyways I would much prefer Fagan... who I am sure we all know, came from Melbourne with its lack of sustained success. , with a hiatus at Hawthorn, and is known as a renowned educator, rather than 'coach. Which is all about 'guiding' players rather than 'compelling/demanding' players to do things. Just like you can't demand a 14yo to do homework, similar you cannot do it to players who are learning the game (and every single player is learning/refining their game year after year anyway). Getting some ex player in, because he 'appears' to have been around success, when he was merely ONE single link in the machine is fraught.

Bugger you guys. Top five wins: Elimination Final over Geelong. Loved every minute. Semi Final over the Hawks. Just as sweet. Rd 22 vs the Eagles in Perth. Securing finals. 2017 Queens Birthday win against the Pies. Watts kicks the sealer. 2017 win over the Eagles. Tom Mac kicks the sealer.

Agreed. We [censored] ourselves under pressure and turn over too easily. Bad disposal skills are our icing on the cake

To help the Weed I would get Nick Riewoldt to have a talk with him have I listened to him explain what he did and how he went about it damm interesting, nothing to lose by doing it.

Glad to see Bedford in, he has a crack.

Just because Bennell isn't there doesn't mean he's on the outer. I expect him to be a regular in our team in 2021.

Who even keeps track of what day it is?

His intensity is a worry but he seems to be the only one who can hit a target in the fwd line

Melksham is a protected species it seems.

Not a fan of the Preuss inclusion, but... I'd rather look at what I think are the positives. Baker, Bedford and Hunt will bring some much needed pace to the side. While they aren't big possession winners, they bring that dash and excitement we need. Same goes for the inclusion of Pickett. Some real pace, dash and hopefully pressure. Hibberd back is really handy too. Only disappointing aspect is no Lockhart - did he pee in Goody's tea or something?

Bedford and Kozzie back in the same team, been waiting a while for this. We bought in some speed and fresh young legs. Dont know if we will win but I cant complain about the changes (though Melksham is very lucky still).

Teams announced on a Sunday night. We are living in strange times.

Ha ha, they are very hot or miss, mainly miss. NFL time I usually look at one multi of 8-10 games and then one of all games. Much harder.

I just one for race 1 too #10

The players looked mentally and physically fatigued. Combine that with being unable to unlock a Swans defence with two thirds of the team in their D50 and you get that result. Richmond had the same problem, by the way — being unable to score against Sydney. Are they “mentally weak”? It’s not excusable but it’s explainable. We’re not a great team this year. We’re a team that’s on the fringes of the 8 that can challenge if we get a run on. That’s who we are. All this simplistic guff about club DNA and giving Hodgey a call as some kind of DNA tonic is just that. Simplistic guff.

A truism no doubt. However, it is the coach's responsibility to have players in the optimum shape before they go on the field to give them the maximum chance of doing the job. This includes fitness, tactics, positions and attitude.

After yesterdays tip going under not sure to pass on another but Race 2 #6 at Geelong ?

They're right...and it feels like hope is starting to fade for the club to ever change the attitude to competing. I mean, you watch the St Kilda game and yeah it was good to win, but it looks like the players got as carried away with it as Demonland did. When you watch that game back, so much of the way we executed basic skills was lazy. Those saying we might be short on quality and depth may well be right...but we didn't lose on Thursday to the Swans or to the extent we did to Port earlier in the season because of our talent or depth. Those results were born out of a straight up lack of competitive intent. Sitting 18th for tackles is a damning indication of how desperate this group is to be successful. The clear inability for this playing group to drive the change that is required at the club is why I would have no issues with us moving on from almost any player other than probably Gawn and Oliver to bring in new blood and see if new blood can drive the club's future upwards.

I am impatient as well but Have come to accept that the list is where it is meant to be. It’s just not good enough yet. We got on a hot streak at the end of 2018 (we were 8 and 6 at this time of 2018). We had a nightmare preparation in 2019. In 2020 outside of the Swans game and the Port game we have beaten the sides below us, won more than most around us and are mainly competitive but lose in patches against the top 5. This is away from home in a shortened game style that does not suit us. We have a strong backline and inside grunt but we need to add further dynamic run and polish to the midfield and half forward line. We still have too many roles not locked in to provide us stability that rotated through by players that have been here long enough to sustain it if they were good enough. I suspect over the coming 12 months we will only lose Jones, Melksham and Hibberd from our best 22 but most will still be in development and maturing years. The eldest players will be May and Gawn at 29 with Trac, Oliver, Langdon, Lever, Salem and Brayshaw in the 24-26 window. The TMac of 2018 has been cruelled by surgeries so we must see continued development in our Tall forwards in Weid, Jackson and Petty. All of LJ, Kozzie and Rivers looks like they have high ceiling potential, at minimum Petty, Sparrow and Jordon should develop into good soldiers. Another good lot of kids and some shrewd trades and we should be taking another step in the right direction and closing the gap above us.

We can be trusted. Our results vs the top five, who IMO are a cut above the rest of the comp, are 0 wins and 5 losses. The rest of our season has been 7-2. That's basically bang-on for a team fighting for a spot in finals, which is exactly what we are.

Win

I watched this & it’s so damning & basically they are saying we lack Steel, soft and can’t be trusted as it’s due to our DNA. Would be great to have Goodwin, Pert & Bartlett get interviewed by these guys & ask the hard questions.

Ok, this is a load of bollocks. A lot of games for us this year have been so called line in the sand games. We've won more of them, Hawthorn (they were still a threat when we played them), Collingwood, St Kilda, Adelaide (I know, but how many expected we would be the ones to lose this one...well done Hawthorn) for example...than we've lost. Sydney is the only gimme we've lost this year. The big issue we have is no depth on our list and not enough spread of talent across the ground. When we have to run out with the likes of Smith, Spargo, Omac, Melksham, Tommy Mac, Jones, Hannan, ANB, AVB, Lockhart etc.. then we are going to get mixed results. It means too much is left to too few and those too few get tired of carrying the load. The secondary issue is with the FD and selection of the team. I don't think they've used the limited resources very well. I think probably a bigger issue is their building of the list.

Would be great to hear from Jordan Lewis who come from winning 4 flags plus 3 in a row as to what he saw/felt were the differences in culture between the clubs..

Until it doesnt. Plenty of examples where that is the case.

Not sure I fit the category as “good standing” ha ha Yeah I needed Houston and Amon to have a good second Half, Houston got his 15th late in the last and 4 that I had for 15 ended on 15 or 16. I missed one earlier this year, 13 legs, last leg was Hill for 15, 12 at 3/4 time vs the crows and got 0 in the last. Killed me.

It was steaming home on the outside too... Might be one to follow into the spring

Northey had the solution. It's called a red hot go.

Learnings for players AND coaches Goodwin has been outcoached by Beveridge and now Longmire. When defending - put players (at least one) behind the ball and look to run the footy. Keep possession. Know which side of the player is most likely. ie. Defending v the breeze. Stay goal side of your player. Forwards must be in front. When attacking - Don’t expect the breeze to kick it. Setup for higher contests around the 30-40 so you can take contested footy and still hit the goals. Need to allow for the breeze and keep a player to run on to the footy in attack. Mostly the windy conditions SUIT SMART FOOTBALLERS WITH GOOD DECISION MAKERS AND ELITE SKILLS. That’s not the 2020 Dees!!