At the break of Gawn

After 2011, the number 186 took on it's own meaning and meant visceral pain to Melbourne supporters. Now in 2025, 46 has become a new number that will haunt this club for years. I've never been more embarrassed to be a Melbourne supporter. I was just lost in a daze when the final siren sounded. I just couldn't believe what happened. I was incredibly disappointed in the outcome of a draw but I couldn't even fathom a loss. How could we lose in 8 seconds? 186 led to a sacking and there just has to be consequences for that loss. I'm a Trident member and I can't bring myself to not support the club, but by God I would donate more than I can afford for the club to sack Goodwin.

Real stench from North tonight. Could be a coach killer. I know there's no Xerri or Larkey but geezus.

I have a relative who works in strength and conditioning at an AFL team. He basically said you'd easily find 10-15 players who don't like the senior coach (hint, it's the ones not getting picked).

He's an excellent footy manager. Him and Greg Swann have turned Brisbane into a powerhouse. Matthew Boyd and Hayden Skipworth I'd definitely go after as assistant coaches in waiting. Collingwood are easily the best trained side (Fly is just a people manager) so you'd assume those guys have a big say in their program.

Just recalling Goody's presser a couple of weeks back, I think the whole reason Petty played VFL was just for match fitness. I didn't think it would have mattered if Petty had only 2 touches, Goody clearly thinks he's a lock in the 23. Regarding Jeffo, one thing I hear Goody say over and over again is developing players in the "right way". What I think he's alluding to is that his philosophy is that you can't just keep a player at the AFL level if they're not performing and it can stunt their development. He believes it's a journey of zig zags with multiple promotions and demotions. One other thing, does anyone recall the SEN morning interview a few weeks back? I heard him talk about the unwanted pressure the 0-5 start put on the club. I wonder if we had started better there would have been more risks taken with positional changes and tweaks of game plan that he wanted to do, but the pressure of getting wins meant he had to play it safe with some decisions. I just thought it was a really interesting comment talking about unwanted pressure and he seemed to dwell on the point a bit.

I wonder if all this bubbling tension of Curnow wanting to leave was put to rest last week which led to Curnow's uptick in enthusiasm against us. If we had faced them a week earlier we probably would have rolled them by 3 goals.

This would have been 100% Petracca's decision. The Drs would have asked him if he was feeling well enough to play and he would have put his hand up and said yes. I can think of at least two other occasions where Trac has played with the flu. Some players decide they can't pay and some push themselves through it. It's how Crisp and Stynes get to ridiculous consecutive match streaks.

Thankfully Dan Butler (aka Cyril vs us) and Issac Keeler (aka Wayne Carey vs us) both aren't playing. It'll be an interesting Judd McVee watch on Higgins though.

Don't get beaten by what you know. Wilkie dominated us last time and Melksham was no threat at all. I'd be bringing in AJ for Tholstrup and play with an extra tall. It'll be a dry game and Wilkie is too good for Melksham even with all his smarts. AJ can take Wilkie and be an aerial threat. This will leave Melksham to play on someone like a Stocker. Sharp to play a lockdown role on NWM. Petty to come in for May Ins: AJ, Petty Out: May, Tholstrup

Baffles me how the Saints have a pretty expected loss to Geelong down at GMHBA and there's 3-4 articles about Ross, yet we lose to half of Carlton's VFL side and no Criticism on Goodwin except a 1 min snippet.

After watching the Presser last night, I'm starting to wonder if Goody is starting to lose some of the players. That's now a couple of really poor starts where he's indicated that the players effort and intensity were to blame. Goodwin is banging on about not wanting to waste a minute of this year and set us up for next year but it seems to me the players just aren't buying that message.

Just watched the last qtr of the Freo win. I can't believe Maynard intentionally shoved Reid into the bench and no one at Fox mentioned it. Also, loved the post-match interview with Serong and how he mentioned all the confidence he has in his team's fitness. Reminds me of us in 2021. A far cry from our deplorable fitness program in 2025.

Unless he miraculously turns things around next year or in 2027, his selection will go down as one of the most baffling I've seen. I still don't see what his strengths are.

Another nothing game.

Surely the media goes hard on Goodwin this week. I'm absolutely over his spin. We may be building towards our next premiership team but it won't be under him.

I still have PTSD from "Up goes Acres! Goal! Goal! GOAL!" I'd be happy with a win of any margin but if we can beat them in a thriller it'd be extra nice. In all seriousness, they have a lot of key outs and May always dominates Curnow so this is a game we should be winning. A loss will just continue to put more doubt on Goodwin. 2021 was built off the back half of 2020. Collingwood won 4/5 from their last 5 games at the end of 2024 and brought that into this year. Let's try and build momentum into 2026.

I was reminiscing about the 2021 grand final and re-watched some old interviews. Garry Lyon pondered whether there had been a greater midfielder at the MFC than Clarry after 2021. I know his last 50 games aren't what we would have thought, but you surely can't find a player who had a better first 150 than he did. Congrats on the 200, Clarry. Whatever happens with the rest of his career he's always going to be a MFC legend.

The draft bio I read compared him to a Cam Zuhaar but he's 190cm and can play as a third tall with his leap.

If I had to try and compare him to someone it'd be Cam Rayner. Similar height and potential to be a high impact, explosive player. That's who he should model his game off but also to be 10x more consistent than what Rayner is. As a first round selection you want a player who can have a significant impact on the team.

The mediocre side that is on one less win than us that also beat us by 5 goals? Wilson is still having a far better year than Kolt (who I can almost guarantee he'll get dropped this week). He's an elite runner who finished 4th in the rising star last year and had had games of 3 goals. Put simply, at this stage, the Saints chose the better player.

I really can't understand his draft selection if I'm being completely honest. He's not skillful, he's not quick, he's not tall, he's not mercurial, so what were his strengths? His draft profile says he is a fierce competitor with an enormous work rate. Did Kolt win our 3km time trial in 2024? Because Darcy Wilson did at the Saints. To me, he seems like another Goody selection where he's valued competitiveness over what's required in the modern game. I thought by the 2023 draft we were done with this mantra but perhaps it only hit home in 2024.

Credit to Goody and the coaches. I thought at half time we were going to be overwhelmed with North's use of the corridor and drive off half back from McKercher and Daniel. However, they really put the clamps on them and we shut down their flow. Really impressed with Fritsch's game higher up the ground, Trac and Oliver's clearance work was the best I've seen in months and Langford is a star.

Tholstrup's efforts have been diabolical. Not sure how he didn't get subbed.

North are the second most accurate kick for goal in the comp. We should poach their skills coach.

Roos have had 10 day break. Watch them run all over us