KingDingAling

Kossie is a good little forward pocket player - nippy, sharp, skillful, crafty, necessary. But not the type of player you hand over a top 5 pick for. If we do land in the bottom 5-6 this year, then it will be a poor trade. No dodging that for mine. It would add to the collection of very poor trades by MFC in the past 5 years - Lever, May, and potentially North trade. I don't know who ticks off on these trades, but its never too late to fire these people. It won't top the May trade though. That was just an idiotic trade. We'll pay for that.

Oscar Mc was actually a reasonable forward a a junior. I wouldn't mind giving him a go at it. I thought Tom as ok up forward today, and May solid down back. No point fiddling around with May or Lever. Our strength will be in leaving those two sort themselves out down back. Hibberd was good today. The more organised May and Lever are down back, it frees up our runners, we get run that way. We need run. Attacking right out of the backline is something we need. It will come.

I mostly agree with that, and have for a while. My issue with Roos is that he appointed Goodwin to carry on his legacy, when it wasn't safe to do so.It was a risky decision. Goodwin wasn't only unproven, but he also shown poor judgement in aligning himself with Hird, and subsequently the saga (essendon drug program) that followed. I have always known what Hird was about and I am not even remotely close to AFL circles, so the fact that Roos appointed someone close to that saga is just lazy and short sighted. Roos loves a dollar. I agree that it is increasingly looking as though his appointment was a failure.

I'm not fearful, but I am frustrated by the direction of the club, and the level of acceptance to just make up numbers. If we do have a list capable of winning a premiership then we shouldn't be fearful of making moves now. Goodwin isn't the man, we know that. So we either have the list capable or we don't, and if we don't, then why did we sell our future for our current list? Those in charge at present traded away quality picks for the list we have, and not only are we no better off, they even traded away quality picks we don't have. I have supported this club also for 35 years. I know its not the red and blue that makes these decisions, and the club that I do support and have fallen in love with, will see out this period. No point changing, but I see why Norm was frustrated.

Probably. He has done his ACL twice. He had already did his ACL once prior to our diligent football department paying overs for him (and somehow not factoring that in). We kind of get what we deserve in that sense. Lever was only ever a third man up at Adelaide, an unaccountable defender, who whilst great to have, should never be acquired at the cost of your future.

Not just that, but pick 6 for Steven May who was actually a free agent at the time. Picks for Lever. Just bad negotiators. Its really cost the club now, set us back 15 years at least. When you miss out on quality talent, and you are a bad football side, you are up sh*t creek without a paddle. I have always been vocal about overpaying at the draft table. It will come back to haunt us. We had an opportunity to have the best young list in the league. Amateurs in charge of list management compromised our future, now its to the point where we are looking at a bottom 6 finish and don't even have our draft pick. Well played North though, they did exactly what I would have.

Oliver is ticking along ok. Went head to head with Cripps when we played Carlton and did some nice defensive work. So I think Oliver is passing the grade. However, he does play scared, which is frustrating to watch because he moves the ball onto the next bloke - like a hot spud. He could do with some rounds in the boxing ring just to become aware of that contact, and psychologically get over that fear, because he is a star and its a shame to see him go to waste.

The players are always rushed. They are always under so much pressure to perform, ironically, because our team consistently perform below expectations. Playing with discipline, and to a structure would certainly help. But when the players have been taught to play 'chaos football', a central pillar to that is pressure, and an unfortunate flow-on effect is lack of composure, poise, and discipline. We really need to shift our whole approach, starting with our game plan. We are in desperate need of pace around our midfield, but more importantly, pacey players who can use the football. What I would give for Brodie Smith or Josh Kelly. I'd sell the farm for Kelly. But unfortunately, due to amateur trading decisions, we kind of just have to make do with what we have now.

Trade Brayshaw. Might be able to get a second round pick for him - if we are lucky. Approach Tom McDonald about a trade, if he is willing then trade him. I'm not really sure I see much value in others. I'd move Hunt on if he was up for it, and any suitors were available. I think he could thrive in a good team. A side might be willing. We are ready for a mini rebuild just to freshen up. That first round pick we naively off loaded to North would be nice, but we will have to settle with moving some pieces around and positioning up for a couple of second round picks.

Feel for Rowell. Shoulders can be a frustrating heal sometimes. I don't feel for GC though. The AFL's baby. F em.

To be fair, Oliver probably saw that it was Lockhart. Oliver probably decided he was even better off retreating ground and kicking it to a player he had confidence in. Lockhart is barely even VFL level, so I am going to defend Oliver here. Lockhart would've most likely wasted his opportunity. In key moments last weekend it was obvious Lockhart should not have been out there.

The game was done once players weren't allowed to dive on the ball. Once you had to keep your feet, it was curtains for our great game. I said to my old man at the time "the game had a good run now its finished". He thought I was getting ahead of myself, but years later he understood. To know the game of Aussie Rules, once you play around with the most basic aspect (contests), then it reshapes the whole game. The AFL played around in the name of safety, and they were not experienced enough to understand the damage it would do.

Both Fritsch and Tmac should be leading up the ground as far as possible in order to open our forward line up. Weideman or Petracca should be playing deep one out, and the other making an initial lead. Gives us two options, kick it to the lead up bloke, or kick it to the space behind him where another forward will be deep one out. This way we can go inside 50 without having to bomb it on the head of 20 blokes and wonder why we aren't converting for all our grunt work up the ground. Open it up, have a two pronged forward set up of Petracca and Weideman, have one lead up, the other sit in the square, and implement a mozzi fleet. What we are doing at present is simply not working, and its not just broken, it has been for many years. This sh*t has been happening since Moloney/Jamar.

Play your best mid in the middle. Not rocket science. When the chips are down and a player needs to step up - its always Harmes. Harmes, Petracca and Oliver is a hell of a midfield. Wouldn't be beat often. Harmes runs both ways, Oliver is starting to as well which is scary.

Successful opposition teams play with structure, and an organised game plan - we have neither of those. So its hard to see us making the top 8. If we were able to implement a successful game plan then we would have some nice role players to compliment our quality. We do have a lot of quality, but its hard to see it when they are asked to do too much too often. We are blessed as a team to have the best ruck in the game, and best tap ruck to give us that advantage out of the centre - in theory. We also have a quality extractor in Oliver, and a capable tap gatherer in Petracca (who has clean hands also). But we waste our advantages because we do not have a coach who knows how to use them. Bombing the football into a crowded forward line may sound like a good strategy when you are in under 11's and goals do not matter, but in reality it doesn't provide the best chance to kick goals consistently, and if you do not kick goals consistently, then you don't win games, and you end up closer to the bottom of the ladder than the top, which is our reality. Makes our list appear as though it isn't in the window, when it should be right in the window.

Tmac can help our forward line out immensely if used correctly. He does however need to be fit and able to make long leads up the ground all day, creating space behind him, which opens up our forward line. He isn't he answer for us as a goal kicking forward, but he can still be used to improve our forward line. Just have to use him right. Keeping him out of the 50 not only opens it up, but drags out an additional defender that only becomes a burden when we do bomb it in (which we do all day). If we are going to continue to bomb it into our forward 50 (which nothing suggests we won't), then we need to open it up and give ourselves a chance. Otherwise its just more inside 50's that go no where.

He has needed time to physically fill out and develop. He has a different body to Jackson, but plays somewhat similar in that he has a dip. A conservative approach shown with Weideman will preserve his career, and give us a longer window of a prime player. Things will work out fine. I don't expect Weideman to set the league on fire this year, but he should improve immensely to have his best year. Next year onwards should see him really progress into a dominant forward.

I don't think an untried coach is the answer. Clearly hasn't worked with Goodwin, or Neeld for that matter. This club needs to find an established coach with a good track record. We have the list. The list just isn't playing consistent football for the coach. Every single player can come out in the media and sing Goodwin's praises, he is probably a great bloke. But unless he can find a way to get the list to perform consistently - then we desperately need to explore other options, even if that means paying him out early. I suspect he will get to the end of the year, but if we were to miss finals he should be moved on. That is a bare minimum pass mark for a side that made a prelim two years back and was expected to trend upwards.

We don't need any more one dimensional inside mids. Green is - and will be - a good extractor. But we aren't exactly deficient in that area. I was always on the fence about drafting Jackson, but I see the merit in it. Green, not so much. We need speed around stoppages, not more extractors who become a weakness when they don't have the football.

Actions speak louder than words.

He will come good. Just needs to find his niche in our midfield. But he can adjust. Ideally we could boost his value before years end and move him on for a first round pick.

The players either need to show they are willing to really play for their coach, or the coach needs to go. Really p*ss poor effort for most the game on the weekend, against the worst team in the comp, not even nearly good enough. Buck stops at the coach.

His skills stand out above the others already. Has poise. I think opposition sides would've watched him last night wishing they had him. Just levels above most blokes in the red and blue already. I actually wish Rivers took all the kick outs. May and Salem need to never take a kick out again.

Exciting times. One of the most gifted players to ever lace up a boot IMO. If he could remain injury free and get back to consistent football, he could really change our fortunes. Its a big "if", but he is now out there amongst it. So very happy and excited. Good luck to Harley.

Probably not, but risk well worth taking in this case. Outside of being a rare athlete when up and running, Bennell would have better skills on his left foot than most our players had on their preferred. There is a reason why this cat is being given his full nine lives. Nothing lost if this experiment fails. Its one of my most supportive moves the club has made.