qwerty7

Oliver was just on SEN and pretty much sounded like Watts is gone - basically farewelled him and wished him good luck wherever he goes. But you never know, Oliver might be just as in the dark as we are 

Having said that, I think it's pretty obvious he's gone...just clinging onto some hope that he'll stay and this will all be a wake up call to turn him into an absolute weapon

22 minutes ago, mo64 said:

I suppose the Crows angst towards Lever is similar to ours and Scully. Both had only been at the club a short time, which makes it harder to accept.

At least Lever told the club a month ago of his decision, which allowed them to up their offer to McGovern.

I just don't understand why AFL clubs and the players, have a hard time reconciling with losing a player, when every year they are all out to poach players from other clubs.

The Storm actually allowed the 4 players who were leaving the club to lead the side off the ground in their Prelim win, which was their final home game. It was so the crowd could thank the players for their service, and vice versa.

slightly different because Scully told us all he was staying, but most disgustingly, promised a dying jim stynes he would too. Scully is a rat and deserves every ounce of hate directed towards him

By the sounds of it, Lever hasn't made any promises to Adelaide this year that he knew he wouldn't be able to keep

Is this rumour about collingwood playing hard ball for him true/have any substance to it? If it does and they are offering two first rounders, this might make the deal a lot harder for us to land him. 

Collingwood are the biggest bloody disease to plague the earth

16 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

You seem very deft of word to suggest that the furphy of injuries is a myth then admit that the season was marred by unacceptable losses. You want it both ways it seems.

Without doubt injuries will colour the selection of players , but as the adage goes once you cross that line you play. This may be extended to, once they cross that line you COACH them.

It would be foolish to suggest that injuries have no play in the seasons results, but they arent  actually the major one. Its what happens on the ground by those on the ground that does.

We had the opportunity  to win games but didnt . In those instances it was poor coaching and a total disregard for location and circumstance that  cost them. Those ON the ground were more than capable of attaining wins on those days but were poorly utilised.

For the record I would be just as scorning and skeptical had it been Roos. I certainly made comments during his tenure to such effect

So it's all about the injuries ??....but maybe the selection, maybe the structures, maybe the game style, maybe the weather ( or lack of attention to it )....day game instructions..kicking , hand-balling,,bombing or lowering eyes,  guts or the lines etc.

The two things you cant control on the day is injury (prior, or even during ) and the weather. Everything else IS the game and how you play/direct it. These things weren't done sufficiently well especially when a win was there for the taking.

We will have to disagree. Funny though.I seldom hear a coach blame anything on injuries !! You  are welcome to

 

 

There is nothing deft about what I said. I simply said that to disregard the impact of injury is ignorant and that we had some losses throughout the season that were unacceptable, but every team had them. What do you think Don Pyke thought when he lost to North, Hawks and perhaps even us? They too fielded entirely capable players - ones that had won them matches in previous games - but sometimes things just don't work. It happens in every team and it happens more frequently in teams that are a) young and b) have lacked consistent team structures throughout the entirety of the year due to INJURY. 

The point of my post is that this season we lacked CONSISTENCY in team structures, which consequently led to INCONSISTENCY in our wins in conjunction with other factors.

I agree that injury wasn't the sole reason we didn't make finals - I never said that once in my post. Of course there are other reasons and the most simple answer is that we just weren't ready. Next year we should be and that is what I expect - if we don't, that's when we can come back here and start analysing what is wrong. 

For now, I think we sit right about where we are and where we should be. There has been linear progression and maybe it's not as fast as we all want it, but with patience, we will get there. 

Anyway, I was just sharing my reflection on the year, it wasn't directed at you at all.

Again, in regard to the injury point of discussion, it is a really ignorant thing to deem its impact a “furphy”.

We really suffered the curse of injury this season and it didn’t impact us only in the fact that it hit some of our most important players in Gawn, Hogan, Jones, Viney, etc., but it also affected our consistency. It should be no surprise Richmond was one of the top teams and is in the grand final given their almost non-existent injury list throughout the entirety of the season.

Having a consistent team and settled side is such a pivotal factor in having success and that is something we simply did not have all year. We were constantly having to make changes and adapt to new team structures due to injuries to key position players and a lot of them were long-term injuries. I mean, honestly, who would have thought we would be playing Tom McDonald forward and Pederson in the ruck for a large portion of the season? Simon Goodwin certainly wouldn’t have.

In what has been a truly testing and challenging season for Goodwin in his first year as coach, I think he has done an unbelievable job. If this were Roosy, I don’t think anyone would be half as sceptical.

Of course, there are flaws and our season was marred by unacceptable losses – but most teams have them and in a young and developing side, they happen more frequently. If you think otherwise, you had unrealistic expectations on what we should have achieved this year.  

I had twelve wins as the target mark for the season to be a pass and we achieved that. We only narrowly missed out on finals and it hurt A LOT, but that is how it is. I don’t have a loser attitude, I just have a realistic one – we were never ready to do serious damage in finals and while it would have been better to just make it an experience it, it wasn’t to be.

If we go backwards next year, that is when question marks will be raised; but for now, I think we are okay. Goody is learning, but I think he has what it takes to lead the boys to a premiership.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/afl/a/37206220/jack-watts-opens-up-on-2017-season-and-trade-talk/

for all the watts trade rumours - though this is nothing concrete -  I think this is the best indication we've got so far about where he will be next year.

I'm so jealous. Why can't this be Melbourne 

4 minutes ago, brendan said:

It could be about his girlfriend too, she is a school teacher I think, could we have said we could land her a job at a pretty lucrative school who knows, would we have that sort of pulling power 

Dave Misson's wife is the principal of Melbourne Girls Grammar.....

Just now, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Atleast benken is cracking in. JKH is done, do not want. Stretch not looking good either 

agree re JKH, i don't see him being a big part of our future - has some strong games at VFL level but that's about it. Stretch, I'm still hopeful of. He was in awesome in 2016 but seems to fallen out of favour in 2017. I reckon give him another strong preseason and he could become a legitimate gun. 

what happened to brayshaw? wasn't actually a bumb was it?

i hate my life

come on crowwwwwwssssssssssss

This would be the most heartbreaking way to finish the season if West Coast wins today - almost as heartbreaking as when we sent off Paul Roos with a 100+ loss

We've won

this is [censored]

fffffuuuuudggeeeeeeeee somebody help me

Just now, Clint Bizkit said:

We' e switched off here.

Definitely. need to switch it back on dees

1 minute ago, Abe said:

Nice reminder why Jesse Hogan is still our best and most talented young player.

and how crazy is it to think people were suggesting that he be traded to Adelaide for Lever? He is a gun and will only get better - the next Josh Kennedy in my opinion.

Just now, SFebey said:

I Have NOT once said Hogan doesn't love the club. Nor can I remember saying he would be involved in the Lever trade. All I said was I wouldn't blame him if he did go home. Also all I said was it's not the first I've heard of it, plenty of talk out there about it. Use someone else for target practice lol

Lol that wasn't an attack and I wasn't trying to imply you did, but sorry if my thoughts so greatly stirred you up... I promise not to 'target' you again 

3 hours ago, SFebey said:

It's not the first time I've heard of Higan going home for family reasons, when I mentioned it a week or so back I was nailed to the cross. You can't blame the kid, big loss for us IF it happens.

I understand what you're saying, but it seems that Hogan really loves the club. We have supported him enormously through what has been presumably the toughest year of his life and I can't see us involving him in a trade unless he requested it, which I don't think he has. He seems like a quiet and reserved guy and it is probably for this reason the 'homesick' stigma is so frequently attached to him. But I think Hoges loves it at our club and has some great friends in people like Brayshaw, who also has had an incredibly tough year. 

I just don't see the club getting Lever via a trade involving Hogan - particularly given we just resigned him at the end of last year's season. 

I feel as though if the meeting did not happen, Goodwin and co. would have come out blatantly saying it did not happen. However, though he did not acknowledge it happened, he gave a very systematic answer that did not deny it and Jones voiced words that were nearly exactly the same. Goodwin doesn't muck around with the media and if it didn't happen, he wouldn't have made his answer so ambiguous. 

Undoubtedly, even if we were to finish this season with no more wins, we have improved. We know we have improved because the expectation of supporters and journalists has changed - we go into every match thinking we can win. This time last year, I would have been complacent with yesterday's loss, never really giving us a shot to win. This year, I expect to win every match and believe that we can.

The one thing that still remains unimproved since last year is our inability to win those games we should. Now I know every team has a game like that, that game that they drop because upsets do happen. However, ours still occur too frequently and going into next season, I hope this is what we amend. 

Finals are still  a possibility and if we win this weekend, I think we have a good shot. But if we don't make it, as disappointing as it'd be, I would still consider the season a success or at least an improvement on last year. I am also particularly proud given how disrupted our season has been with injuries and illnesses etc. yet we still find ourselves in a position to contend. 

Although we have been very up and down, I think we should still remember that we are a young side. It might seem like an excuse, but it's not - it's a fact. Be excited by the prospect that we still have players like Petracca, Oliver, Brayshaw, Hunt, Hogan and so on, who are only going to improve and make our side better. 

They just said on SEN that Jake Lever officially met with Melbourne FC last week and that he was apparently unhappy with the first offer Adelaide offered him.. doesn't guarantee he is leaving or anything but still very interesting

Melksham really steps up and kicks goals in these close ones - might not be a superstar but is a handy player to have. Can someone tell me how much time left? I'm in europe

Come on dees, we can't drop this game!