At the break of Gawn

Chaplin acknowledged this and said that people will be drawn to this same old story but it hasn't been a problem the last 5-6 games. Hawks are currently the second best defensive side in the comp at the minute. It was more about how good Hawthorn are (plus the conditions) and less about us.

Stats say otherwise and both Chaplin and Goody have said it, but ok.

The Hawks have got their game in great shape and one of the best defensive sides at the minute. Collingwood are struggling going forward and their defence has tapered off. We'll be throwing the game away if we don't put some work into the Daicos boys as this one is very winnable. Both teams also coming off 6 day breaks.

It's because we were number 1 without the footy and number 1 in contest. The old "Contest and defence". Being excellent in those 2 areas can get you into finals/top 4 but you're not going to win the whole thing if you can't move the footy and score. Goody realised this at the end of 2023 which is why we started to change our style to try and be better at moving the footy and scoring. Unfortunately, our defence fell away as a byproduct of this transition which has ultimately led to the losses and then Goodwin's job. Whoever takes over as coach needs to continue the progress of moving the ball but also sure up our defence and I think we'll be competing again. Our defence is our biggest problem, but the media (and a lot of supporters), still concentrate on our connection going forward but we've made significant progress in that area this year.

Murray Davis is someone I hope applies just as someone to potentially consider if Danny Daly isn't interested. Listening to Fagan on SEN and he said from a pre-season game against Adelaide he could see similarities to how Adelaide were playing to Brisbane and even heard them use same lingo amongst the players. I guess it shows the immediate impact he's had and now Adelaide is sitting first.

Or Kozzy gets suspended to delay the start of his next season. Him missing the first 3 games of our season absolutely [censored] us this year.

Liam Ryan going to the Saints. They're becoming a destination club ahead of us...

No Bobby Hill helps our chances I think. His speed troubles us. If somehow Howe doesn't get up I'd almost be confident of a win.

Overall for the year we're 8th for 'with the footy' and 11th for 'without the footy'. For an overall season, 8th is the best we've been 'with the footy' since 2022. We were 10th in 2023 and 13th in 2024 for comparison.

I get that our win/loss record has been atrocious this year, but per this picture below we're 5th for with the footy now over the last 5 games which shows why Goodwin was bullish on our progression. Our defence has clearly let us down this year and I think it was the next thing Goody was going to focus on, but that's the best we've been 'with the footy' since 2021.

David King calls Trac the million dollar slaughterman and you can't really argue with him. His kick damage rating is regularly 30th on the ground each week. I think the only way out of this for Trac is to change his body shape and become an elite runner like a Bailey Smith type. I just can't see him changing his kicking style with that huge ball drop he has. Whether that happens with us or someone else I guess we'll see.

Glad I'm not the only one. Called this out on the game day and the pregame thread that we were really up against it. The AFL needs to balance the Thursday night fixtures much better next year.

No thanks. Only flag he's been involved with as a coach was Dogs in 2016.

Reminds me of a certain final 😭

Sparrow is taking the [censored] if he thinks that's the right kick

Not watching but why can't we stop their uncontested marking? Wonder if it's the 6 day break.

The bottom 2 teams have skewed the 8. West Coast 1 win is almost unheard of. In 2021 for example, 17th finished with 6 wins and 18th with 4.

Hawks are in really good form and one of the best pressure sides. Their 4 talls will really stretch us I think if we allow them time and space when entering the 50. The good news is that with those extra talls we should be able to rebound from their D50 pretty well. Feel like Melksham on Sicily will be pivotal while I really hope we don't tag Newcombe again and allow Clarry to play an attacking game. Dees to be competitive but fall away in the last given the Hawks are coming off a 9 day break and us only 6.

It's actually very possible that Freo could sack JL if they miss out on finals. Melb might not be the only club looking for a coach in 2 weeks time.

Hopefully Pickett kicks a few tomorrow. Would absolutely cement his position in the AA side.

Anyone else feel like some of these Thursday night fixtures are giving some teams a bigger leg up in terms of longer breaks? Round 19 Blues had a 9 day break against us while we only had a 6 day break. Round 22 Dogs had a 10 day break going in against us and kicked 6 goals in the last. Round 23 Hawks have a 9 day break against us while we're backing up off 6 days. I wouldn't be surprised if scores are close at 3qtr time and we get run over again. And before you say, "swings and roundabouts" for those Thursday night teams, if you play a Thursday night game your break is usually 5 or 6 days before so you often just get a 1 day difference between the two teams. For the week after, there are some teams getting 9-10 day breaks vs an opposition getting 6 days.

I honestly can't work out the Jobe Watson selection. The guy has been out of club land for years, wasn't part of any successful era at a club, his media commentary has been less than impressive, and I'm unaware of his involvement with other panels. Does anyone have any insight on this? Feel like they missed a trick not asking a Jimmy Bartel or a Jason Dunstall type.

Meanwhile, the Saints somehow have year on year membership growth despite going backwards with a coach who's the biggest spin doctor in the game and deflects more than anyone. Honestly baffles me how Saints supporters are lapping up what Ross says.

I think it's pretty irrefutable that Goodwin and the board weren't on the same page about his position being under consideration. The board didn't communicate that to him and that reflects poorly on the board. If he had known it was under consideration, I think Goodwin is someone who would have said so and not used words like "no inkling". I understand why the board came to it's decision, but I'm disappointed how they kept Goodwin in the dark that his position was under serious threat.

Just be aware he left at the end of 2021 and wasn't at Geelong in the recent successful period where Chris Scott learnt to actually win finals.