No10

Agreed. House painting? Commoner. A young CEO given the reins of a new company. Within a year steps outside the knitting of what he's inherited and stamps his authority with a bold move in... OneTel.

Exactly. Exactly. All the people here saying Goodwin is "sending a message"... The message I hear is: "I'm not a good enough coach to get the best out of a talented player. AND I'm stupid enough to give him away for nothing" Great message. Really impressed with the hard culture we're building here.

It's not really my point to say Gawn or Hunt were not good this year, it's that Roos COULD claim to have taken talented players to the top level. Unlike Oliver, Trac or ANB, those guys above and Watts all broke out after years of not quite fulfilling potential. Roos certainly challenged Gawn pre-season. He protected Watts when the media questioned him. If you listened to Roos being interviewed about Watts being up for trade, he said it clearly, it would be a mistake. Watch Watts at Sydney next year.

Yes, Watts had a poor final game. But so did Jones. What's the message they're sending? Maybe they should trade out Jones too? I'd argue he's the one I look to step up and lead in those games we must win.

Exactly this. No chance he stays. Roos said there's no way he would trade Watts. The years under Roos saw Jack's immense potential emerge. And Watts wasn't the only one. Gawn became AA and Hunt an unexpected star. All three went backwards in '17. Watts gone. This is now about Goody as a coach.

Given Mills instigated, Bugg thought he'd expect and anticipate the return contact. But Mills was completely off-guard. Was a reflex action, never expected to make solid contact. Is devastated, knows seriousness of concussion through Gus. Was in shock after the game but instinct was to immediately apologise, check on Mills' wellbeing. Still "honourable". Not trying to say Mills hit his head on the ground, or he was trying to break a tackle. You'd expect a similar result, probably a week less. But importantly that narrative is much better than "the incident that will haunt his entire career".

This is exactly right. No friends for Bugg. None. Bugg spoke to the media, said how he's friends with Gus, understands concussion and the seriousness. Nobody in his corner is weak from the MFC. Could've at least by made it about his remorse, instead Findlay sinks the boot in by saying how horrible it is and it'll follow him for his entire career! Never Findlay again. Sure, Bugg deserves the time. Fine, don't defend him at all at the tribunal. But why join the media hysteria?

Clarry wacked his chin on a players back, to explain why it was sore. Houli was breaking a tackle, pushing the player off, but somehow knocked him out cold. There was a defence here, chose not to fight it. Fair enough, but you get the maximum.

No argument from Findlay. Hope Dees don't use him if a player we really need is sent in.

Defence not going for any defences. I agree there's a reaction to provocation that could've been put. Bugg QC seems to think the honest guy approach will net the best result. I'm guessing 7 down to 6.

I have a real problem with this, because on one hand it makes sense, if Brayshaw was concussed by a punch and was forced to retire then he'd have every right. But can we really expect assault cases from a sporting field?

No disrespect to Bells, didn't seem to be taking a position either way. Would love to see Max back for WA but believe Jane is right, not happening.

Think you'll find Jane's source is of the highest authority. Max not going to WA.

No doubt I'm in the minority, but I thought TMac was good. Hibberd amazing. Jetta and Frost run down tackles and hard, tough defensive work. Vince kicking in was solid and played well. I disagree Melksham was bad too, he was the worst of the best group, but played a reasonable game. Hunt... AA. It was Harmes, JKH, ANB, JKH (who seriously selected him??)... that couldn't impact at all. The captain (Watts, he looked like the captain last night) and Oliver held together an otherwise weak midfield performance. Then Hogan pointing into the air for every entry as though he was going to out muscle the entire Richmond defence. I don't know why anyone says anything negative about the backline, they were first class.

Frost trained in the ruck group before being rolled back to defence. Frost only rucked when Watts was out on his feet. Would've been good to see Watts lift Jesse in the forward line, provide leadership and some help forward. Needed to score in the last Qtr to win, that never looked likely. Injuries are a fair excuse, but leadership lost the game. Jones might be injured, but what injury causes him under very little pressure to kick directly to Cotchin? He's not suited to the role he's playing positionally or officially.

Watts is the best at F50 entry. Not the only. You said "one of the most important" and "one of the main reasons we lost" I agree. But do you expect Harmes, ANB etc to suddenly become elite at one of the most important skills? Or in absence of Hogan, should we have kept Tim Smith to bust open packs, rather than Watts?

Watts is our best here. Can't kick it to himself.

I agree that Weid is a man down. Can't play him in the high intensity of Anzac eve. But if you drop Melksham, surely need a solid defence replacement?

He has the Garland stammer from defensive positions. But unlike Garland, I see him not having options. His field kicks aren't aggressive enough. He was always more value in tight or closer to goal. I agree Tyson isn't playing his best football, but neither is half the team. Tyson is capable of more, so he should get time after the interrupted pre-season.

Frost is a fast and tall defender. It shouldn't be Frost OR OMac, it should be Frost AND OMac. Not Melksham who doesn't lockdown like Jetta, doesn't attack like Hunt, doesn't kick like Salem, doesn't have the height like Frost.

I disagree on Tyson. He's often the only midfielder who runs to a position to link out of the backline. The midfield / high forward is currently too disfunctional to move the ball quickly into attack.

Viney's now never on the burst. There were times last year when he looked powerful and attacking, A grade potential. The system of feeding the ball backwards was figured out by Freo in the first qtr, they rushed that release player and turned it over several times. When Viney handballed backwards in the last minutes to nothing, it was the most obvious display of a system that was so broken and predictable.

ANB has been given a shot and played well, not break out, but good enough... The rest... Tyson, Salem, Stretch, Harmes... not great performances. Hunt is one of the few players with a role that suits his attributes. Oliver too. But so many players trying to play the system aren't playing their best. What role is Jones even playing? Or Viney? Everyone wants A grade players but how do you think that happens if you don't let them play to strengths. Hogan is one of the few arrogant enough to play where he wants. I agree with Jumbo, Trac should be tearing apart the competition, he has that level of ability. Goodwin is following a model that's already out dated. He has potential stars, he needs to get them firing.

The Goodwin plan is looking average. No players are going better. Viney, Jones, Tyson, Vince are all down on form. This 'system' ignores what individual attributes players offer. Jones is strong inside, but now he's floating. Bernie can lock down and then attack, now he's pure defence on nobody. Viney isn't playing at all. Roos lacked intensity to win, but he was incredible at assigning roles to players. Too many not performing well to blame it only on the players themselves.

Well that's obvious. The point is if taking Trenners was a mistake. I didn't see Watts exploding into career best form either. So maybe there's a fair question on how Goodwin handles individual players.