fr_ap

Yep. You put words in my mouth and have a crack at the supporters but I'm weak as [censored]. Keep blaming the fans - much easier for your pea heart to take isn't it

Honestly mate, get a grip. The fact that Oliver is even playing tells you the culture is broken. If you watched him tonight - really watched him, he behaved like a petulant little kid. I don't care that he can't shake a tag. North were a man down simply because Clarry is who he is. But there was a centre bounce in the 3rd where Claz genuinely ignored the entire contest just to beeline someone and take them out. Imagine one of your three centre bounce mids not even watching the game. His head was NOWHERE NEAR the game, his team or his role. Nowhere near it. He shouldn't be playing - it's not serving the team and more importantly, it's not serving him. I don't expect Max to publicly criticise him, and nowhere in my comment did I say that he should have, and you shouldn't put words in my mouth. There were a million different ways he could have responded, and while criticism wasn't the way, neither was needless praise. It doesn't help Clarry and it doesn't help the team. There was nothing selfless about what Clarry did tonight, and Max is blowing smoke up your [censored] and taking everyone for fools in suggesting it was. We all love his humour - but he uses his charm to BS us all too. But go on - laud them all and everything they do while throwing it back on the supporters for apparently being weak as [censored] and not showing up. What's weak as [censored] is continuing to play a guy focused on anything other than football while telling everyone you run a high performance environment with the best culture seen in 30 years. What's weak as [censored] is lying to your supporters and walking past standards you say you don't accept.

Honestly getting sick of the spin from Max

Kozzie has all the tell tale signs of having a newborn. Very under appreciated factor in the footy landscape - majority of players lose 20-30% output at least in the first 6-9 months Melksham was very oddly the exception to this rule

Enjoy it mate. Won't be many more.

Entire club is scared. The players are scared of contact, scared of going when it's their turn, scared of getting in someone's way and scared of making a mistake. Coaches are scared of making difficult calls, scared of admitting how bad we are, and scared of Goodwin. Pert and Roffey are scared of being wrong. They will go down with the ship. We are barely recognisable. We have no cohesion, no hunger, no intensity and no desire. They are zapped of all confidence, not playing for the coach and definitely not playing for each other. I was embarrassed by Clarry's behaviour all night and more embarrassed that the club keeps rewarding his performances and behaviour. Standards are an absolute mess and you can see and feel it at the ground that the culture, spirit, connection whatever you want to call it is broken.

Haha...I yearn for long term decision making. That's my point. Taking that time with ANB is a piece of the flag. Maybe the flag wouldn't have happened if we didn't....who knows. The other poster pointed out ANB played more than 10 games in his first year though, which I didn't recall, so clearly I'm off base here and debuting Kynan now might be the very best thing for his development. I would like to see Andy get a go - not even in his preferred half back role as I think we could use his energy and speed in the front half. But when framed like that, Kynan has more strings to the mid-fwd bow and has actually been playing this position. All good

That's all fair enough and maybe Kynan has been meeting his brief / KPIs moreso than the others. But I just yearn for the days when we made ANB knock the door down for almost an entire year before getting selected. He probably wouldn't have made it if we hadn't have done that. Now on the one hand I'm happy they are doing that with the likes of AMW....but it's contradictory when Kynan or earlier in the year Kolt get a call up. Same rules should apply for all. Anyway clearly there is a lot we don't see

Yep. Another very questionable call at selection. Sestan and AMW far more deserving. Hope Kynan kills it and I have hope for him being a very good player - but you've got to wonder. Reminds me of when Koltyn debuted undeserved and looked very poor.

I wrote a thread about this (Culture) at the start of 2022 and got roundly smashed and laughed at. It is clear to me most here do not understand what culture is or the role it plays. That probably runs true for the footy public at large as well. The signs have been there since very early 2022 if you cared to see them, or knew what to look for. We briefly got it right in 21 (whether we won the flag or not - you could see it, feel it) but It hasn't been right for a long time. It's a reflection of the leadership. Whether it can be rebuilt under that same leadership, I'm not sure, but even if it was the list is far less in quality. I also wrote a thread before the start of this year about how the midfield was threadbare and we were a Trac injury away from missing finals. Well. I don't know how to find these old threads but it would be interesting to re-read with some hindsight

Well he wasn't cited for a mid-air shoulder to the head that ended a career. At this point he could probably go full Barry Hall and get away with it

Bowey has been a defensive problem for years. Even when we were strong he was the weak link in defensive 1v1s. Bizarre they keep him down there when we have an obvious need for his natural skills up the ground.

Yep

He's not alone....Oppo players walking through one armed tackles left right n centre

Square ups do and will always matter. They matter at all levels of sports and can literally change the outcomes of games. I've dished it out and been on the receiving end myself, so I know what I'm talking about. ESPECIALLY when coming off the worst loss in years and down on confidence - bring some aggression and get on the front foot. If the ball isn't bouncing for you, channel it into something else, as a team, getting behind a common purpose etc. You can disagree, that's fine. But you're just wrong mate.

Nailed it

Not going to happen guys. No chance in hell unless Simon himself calls it. Even if we finish bottom 4, he will get at least next year. Pert and Roffey are joined to Goodwin at the hip. While they're in charge, nothing will change. They'll continue to parrot that we are close and in 'win now' mode, and sacking the coach would be counter productive. By repeatedly defending him and protecting him, they have hitched their own outcomes to his and ergo - as long as it's their decision, nothing will change.

You've clearly never played competitive sports mate. It is about making a stand, showing you won't be [censored] with, and standing up to someone. It either distracts, imparts fear, sparks aggression, or makes them think twice next time, all of which are valuable tools in sport. It's a highly emotional game and the emotional state of players and fans can and often does influence the outcome. If you drink the Kool aid from the club that 'picking each other up off the ground ' or 'not making fun of each other's builds connection, then moments like these are 10x more powerful. It isn't mutually exclusive either - those saying it wouldnt have helped or they'd rather focus on our shortcomings don't understand that this is one of them. It's beyond obvious the spirit of this group has been broken and they're going through the motions ignoring a coach preaching the only lessons he's ever given. I was disgusted, embarrassed and downright sad that no one at least stood up for Gus or the fans. Let's hope Maynard never gets another premiership medal - I take solace in the fact that this Coll group have the same number as us - 1. And I know which one was more convincing.

Bingo. Galvanised for one year free of outside distractions and look what happened....reverted to type at the flag celebration at the G

Broadly agree with this except Petty out, Tomlinson stays back with May and Tom Mac goes forward.

Sharp? We had interest in his draft year I wouldn't go down this route mate. Impossible to defend our work at the trade table

This is a very very good call. They recognised what was possible with Heeney and added the support around him via Jordon and Adams. Between Jordon and Grundy, we have significantly enhanced their side (potentially to a premiership level) for extremely little in return.

That doesn't absolve the list management team of anything. If there is no money for the 2nd / 3rd stringers that hold the team together and allow the stars to do their thing,that's a major problem. Honestly, this isn't hard to understand. Oliver was rewarded for his very questionable off season with a Rd 1 berth. He and Viney get picked every week regardless of their output. Sparrow likewise. They get games because there is no one else. Show me the incentive, and I'll show you the outcome. None of these guys have anyone trying to take their spot. They've reached the zenith before and know how hard it is. They're taking home 1m a year for a long time as reward for that, whether they perform or not. They know they'll get picked every week regardless. They're rocking up to work and going through the motions. Culture and standards Culture and standards Culture and standards Roos, his coaching team and Josh Mahoney set all of this up. Goodwin managed to harness it for a time, but since that amazing day it has fallen bit by bit by bit. Natural ageing, tiredness, staleness and most importantly the recruiting of questionable types with little competitive edge & poor standards (and then the rewarding of those players regardless of form) has tipped this team over the edge. The environment and connection is a complete shadow of what it once was. This happens slowly...and then all at once.

Feel like I'm in la la land. I wrote a long thread about this in preseason and was widely shot down. It was really really really obvious this was coming. And I wrote that before Gus retired. It's been obvious for weeks or months now, certainly for anyone who went to the Brisbane game in the flesh.

If you actually understand footy and know what to look for this isn't surprising. List has been monumentally mismanaged since the flag and standards have been poor for a while now. Club is arrogant, stubborn and to boot, dumb. We play players through injury, we don't reward form, we do reward mediocrity and the list management team have made a number of very soft calls. All these little things add up. 21 is all we're seeing folks. I hate it and it makes me sad.