At the break of Gawn

The Crows had the hardest fixture out of anyone. They actually had some decent form the back half of the year. Surely Burgess still studies this stuff to improve. His approach of the May hamstring in the 2021 finals seemed almost academic in nature.

It’s absolutely crazy how much legs this story has got. If we break it down to just facts, we know 1) It was reported on the 12/08 that he was disgruntled with the club and its direction. Mail goes around that he’s also concerned about his brand. 2) He returned to the club on the 19/08 and presented at a players meeting and it was a positive thing for Trac. It seemed that some bridges were being repaired. 3) 23/08 Trac was supposed to do an interview with 7 but it was pulled (supposedly on Trac’s side) 4) 26/08 it’s reported that at Trac’s exit meeting he tells Goodwin that he wants to go to another club but he has not formally requested a trade. Fascinating to see who will speak next. When is Gawn’s radio spot or did that finish at season’s end?

Just a hypothetical, but if we had beaten Brisbane, Port and GWS in those close games and playing finals next week, would this story have occurred? Or would it have just happened in October? Makes you wonder…

What if we gave up pick 5 and Petracca for Nick Daicos? Who says no?

Isn’t Trac getting married over the summer? Imagine bringing all this upon yourself when you’re supposed to be looking forward to the happiest day of your life. This has totally backfired on him.

Absolute rubbish. The Pies had woeful crowd numbers in 2016-2017 when they were playing poorly. Melbourne even had a higher home crowd average in 2018 when the Blues were poor. Dees supporters will turn up if we start playing exciting football. This whole crowd discourse all started gaining traction in 2022 when after winning the flag, the media was disappointed with our crowd attendances at the start of the year, however attendances were down across the board because of COVID restrictions/fear and non-physical ticketing. By the time the Covid fear was gone, we were a team limping to the finish line while the Pies and Blues were riding waves of momentum with winning streaks bringing in massive crowds and sparking these comparisons.

I still can’t believe the situation can’t be salvageable between Trac and the club. I’m not buying the Oliver thing either, I recall Trac giving a really honest and empathetic interview on AFL360 about him only a few weeks into the season. All my mail has been around him trying to put his brand first - playing at a bigger club to help his brand. I also heard a rumour he was unhappy that Nick Daicos won some sponsorship deal ahead of him and the reason he was told was because Daicos played for Collingwood. Really interesting to see if the club will put out a statement though after tonight’s events.

What if the club meets half way for Christian. Yes, we will trade you but only to a club that we believe have the absolute right capital. Maybe that’s West Coast? We were extremely keen on Reid. Maybe it’s North? LDU and pick 2? Christian won’t get everything he wants if he ends up leaving.

Where’s it coming from? Because Morris is reporting that his manager is shopping him around

Sam Edmund on SEN confirmed McClure’s story is true. Cornes is urging Melbourne not to trade him as we have all the power.

I wonder if @goodwindees has any mail…

Carlton already has a stacked midfield and McKay is a club favourite. It will cause some real disgruntlement amongst their group if they trade him.

As it stands is more about the 5 years. Goody also said last week, and I quote, “I can guarantee you, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver will be in the red & blue next year”. I would absolutely expect the club told Christian today he will not be traded despite his request.

Was very poor last night I thought. Why wasn’t it just him in the ruck?

One spot off bottom 4 is pretty damning, but 11 wins is still decent.

Safe to say Richmond, North and West coast will all struggle again next year so that could be 6-0 for us.

Absolutely hate this season. Carlton missing out would have been a great consolation. Instead they’re probably going to beat Brisbane with all their players back and the media will fall in love with them again when all they’ve done is beat North and West coast over the last 6 weeks.

I think within 5 years.

Looking at some of these results and it’s crazy how accurate the Pies have been in some of our games.

A bit late on this, but surely Xerri can’t be considered for the AA ruck considering how bad North have been the last 4-5 weeks. I know he had 13 clearances but they meant absolutely nothing yesterday.

Thank you! Thought as much.

Watson’s second half of the year has been really good. I wouldn’t be surprised if he finishes 2nd in the rising star.

Clearly our worst season since 2019 and I’d rank 2017 and 2016 over it too. It’s probably on par with 2015. Even though we looked good after winning those 2 games in Adelaide, the midfield problems were starting to show.

@WheeloRatings wondering if you can help me out. Is this our worst season in a long time of not winning the possession count per game? Feel like we’ve only won possession count a handful of times this year but we regularly won it during 2021-22.

As I said on another thread. List mgmt value the wrong things. They look for contested players but brush over on the required foot skills. We need to put skill execution at the top of the list as the most important factor on recruitment.