Red But Mostly Blue

It's only a praccy, but this is a good early opportunity to send a message for 2025. We were embarrassed by the dockers twice last year, I'm looking forward to a more positive mindset and display from the boys (not too fussed if we win - just want to see some interesting plays/something different, and pride). FWIW, I think we are going to have an excellent year, and will display the fruits of the honest chats the boys have had, a few more of the kids on deck, and our culture shining through.

I think I know who and understand the reasons for holding off - and if so, that's wonderful news. Please send positive thoughts. If I am wrong, of course, I still send those positive thoughts, just in a different direction. Please redirect as necessary haha. Love me a good news story, can't wait to hear the good news in 7 weeks or so ❤️

Agree with all of this mate. Turner will have a much bigger year, had a solid 2024, and a much improved one fitness wise. Big 2025 on the cards. JVR is a deadset jet. He has had to deal with being thrown around due to our rucking issues, but he is tracking so nicely. I bet 17 other sides would snap him up in a heartbeat. With ruck settled this year and positioning in general improved, I reckon he will kick 40-50. (Also appreciating the more positive vibes - even though I am only now slowly coming out of my usual 'holiday' from the site haha) 100% we need fast, smart elite ball users. We have the forward stocks. It's actually a really hard to matchup forward line. It's dynamic and unpredictable. JVR, Turner, Fritter (!!), Trac, Kozzie, Melk (!!), and as you say still have a few swingmen who CAN kick goals. If we can get our ball movement sorted, lowering the eyes, smart ball use etc, watch out! I think we will.

How good does Melk look!!??? PHWOAR. Seriously. He's got another year or two in him, easy, in that nick. Always been a big fan of Melk, and he plays such an important role in the team. To have him starting fit this year is such a big win for us. Maybe it's the new year vibe in me, but I am feeling pretty good about our forward line. With Fritter also starting fresh, and hopefully a little more renewed mongrel from him in the 50, I reckon we will be a tricky matchup for most teams. Melk would look even better with a big cup at the end of this year...

I'm not sure Demonland can have it both ways. Can't pin our 'bad culture'/poor performance this year on him, then deny his role in our recent success/'21 flag If both are true, to an extent, then we owe him thanks for helping return the Dees to some relevance and success. Nothing lasts forever. CEO is a hard gig. Lots of pressure and the pitchforks come out quick. Thanks for your contributions, Gary.

CEOs.... tricky prospect. If you happen to be at the top when you're winning, you get praise - even though it's arguable you didn't do much to achieve on-field success. That's on the players, coaches and fitness staff. Pert was a part of our flag in 21. How much depends on how much you think CEOs actually do in this space. If he's responsible for culture, then he was as much part of the overall culture that led to that flag, as he is to where the culture is today - again, depending on how much is true, and what you believe. There has been tangible progress for our home base, financials are good, membership is good, so there's that. And that certainly falls within the CEO ambit. Anyhoo, all that to say, we've now lost our Pres and CEO after a tough year, and that can't be a coincidence. Heaps of clubs go through lean patches and do not have change at that level because it's easier to point the finger at the coach. It's clear there is a view that there must be change. Perhaps the review was revealing that. Hopefully we trade up and bring in someone excellent who will achieve the things we have identified need addressing.

Yes, with respect to the other stuff. But given the microscopic level scrutiny we have received with everything, I hope this is bundled together with the other issues.

All the best, Tommo. Always tried hard, and had some really good games. Occasionally unfairly blamed when in truth he was not alone. Bit of a sliding doors guy. He was there in 2021 when we were flying high, and did his ACL. Up to then he was playing really well, and may very well have become a premiership player - and perhaps not in this position. Obviously hard to imagine our premiership team any different to the one we fielded, but you never know. There would not have been cause to drop him if he continued playing well, and we were winning - which we were. Anyway, he copped a bad injury, probably given slightly misleading assurances regarding being a required player. I think he still has some good footy for a team in need of someone like him. Go well, Tommo! Thanks for your time in the red and blue.

This is a really frustrating outcome. We had a need for Wade - who hasn't played a senior game yet, and wanted to come home to his family. We correctly let ANB (as a required player and within contract) go. GWS held onto Wade for no valid reason. Probably speaks more to their culture than ours - wonder if that will be examined.

I think we have enough forward firepower next year. It's actually a pretty dynamic and dangerous lineup. JVR has developed nicely, and one of my frustrations was having him rucking so much. Useful, but not as useful as him continuing to develop his forward craft. We have brought in extra ruck assistance for Max, which may free up JVR. Disco had a good year and a mostly clear run with injuries, which has helped. He will continue to develop next year. He's just a kid, who's been converted from the backline. He's a great kick and gets into some good spots. With some mentorship and another year, again, he will be useful, Add to that Fritta, Melk (both elite kicks and smart players), Kozzie, Chandler and Trac floating in alongside Max, to get a chopout from ruck, I think that looks pretty good. The issue was the midfield and delivery. We were owned in the midfield most of the year, and still have not mastered the art of lowering the eyes and spearing passes to guys like Melk, Fritta, JVR and Disco who are pretty good at making space. They can't kick many goals if they aren't getting delivery. We need to keep working on midfield, delivery and playing smart.

Well, that was certainly refreshing. I’ll take some good media, thank you very much. I think there are more positives than this, how young the team is, Viney having a bigger year etc. The reference to Clarry may have an asterisk depending on whether you believe what’s still being said. Who knows, but if he is playing for us next year I’m sure it’ll be a huge year. I think we’ll have a good year, we just need to be smart about some trades/recruits and off field stuff

Not a bad approach! haha might be a good way to condense a lot of nonsense into 2-3 minutes of things that actually happened, rather than days of conjecture and hyperbole.

Never said he was squeaky clean. Other clubs have similar 'issues' and yet don't have to go through this!! Therein lies my issue. If Clarry/Trac had issues, fine, but we could have internalised them better to protect OUR brand and ability to obtain fair compensation should we trade either of them.

100% ??? How do you know that?? And we don't know whether Clarry has gone "off the rails"? That's a rumour I wouldn't be pushing... It could be he has had some missteps (as originally reported, at the Brownlow/doc appointments), who knows? We don't know the magnitude and we still don't know who is actually pushing it. What I do know is that the trade talk has seemed at odds with Clarry's very recent comments in this space. So the leaks, and the way we have "shopped" him has been very poor. Whether he deserves to be traded or not (and I agree, club comes first), you look after the club and ensure we get the best return possible - which WILL NOT happen in this case. With Trac, it would appear some was driven by branding/diva attitude, but again, how to tell? We had so many mixed messages from the club. Seems he had some issues with the club - which given how things have gone/are going, maybe deserved to be heard? Probably should have been aired out better, but it doesn't mean he was wrong.

For sure. Don't get me wrong though, I am more lamenting the situation of (potentially) losing Clarry. Despite Brad's assurances. And 100% - while I think we have handled both cases very poorly (with Clarry, some of our acts have contributed to us having zero bargaining power), I do not absolve Trac or Clarry of blame. Both have contributed to the situation, and ultimately our inability to bring in important trades. Not everything is true, but some of it certainly is. and ultimately, I just want this all to settle down and have a normal, maybe even 'boring', uneventful offseason where everyone just puts their heads down, to focus on a flag in 2025. Or at the very least building back some trust, consistency and momentum towards success, on and off the field.

This is relentless. Exhausting. Disheartening. MFC: Just tell us what we're going to do and be done with it. If we're going to give one of our greatest ever players the old heave ho, for nothing, for reasons unknown because the comms team is a mess/messages are mixed/bins are on fire everywhere - then whatever. Just do it. Clarry is my favourite player and I'll be gutted if it goes, but I am tired of all this that I almost don't care anymore. And the opinion of us long-term members doesn't seem to matter. They don't listen. It's their job to run the footy club. But in my humble opinion, things are not being run well, and there is plenty of proof. Trac and Clarry debacles are recent examples. It's like the plane has been going down for a while now, we've had the oxygen, but now we know nothing's going to change so I'm just going to stare out the window until it's done. What a sh*t show.

Clarry is going to build upon his health and happiness with a HUGE preseason to start next year FIT and FURIOUS. He'll take this holistic wellbeing to bring out the midfield beast we all know and love in 2025 destroying oppo everywhere, and likely claiming, another, Bluey, AA and AFLCA. He is not going anywhere except for the gym and a few rounds of golf with the lads. You can take that to the bank.

Exactly right. I think people have already forgotten that we have very little depth. Our #2s finished 17th and can't really say anybody there was banging down the door on a regular basis to perform better than Clarry. While Clarry was certainly not fit, I think his performances were judged against his prior years - which is obviously a crazy high bar.

We just don't know this, though. We don't know ALL the facts, and likely won't. What if it isn't as easy as that? What if it is Pert acting alone? And we just hand over one of the best players we have EVER had, and we only find out later it was a colossal stuff up? We can't reverse trades. It wouldn't be the first time a club, or even our club, has done something stupid. As with almost everything, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Clarry has not been perfect, but seems to be trying, as attested to by all at the club throughout the year, but maybe he's offsided someone and this is personal. What I am saying (aside from my personal preference to keep him, giving him the benefit of the doubt - as I have seen him improve this year and looks happy and healthy - something to work with in the offseason) is that if we were to trade him, it should not have been done like this, because the poor way the club handles this will give us ZERO for him - we may as well keep him and see what we can do. By all accounts he does not want to leave. We can (in my opinion) deal with him and his 'issues' professionally, as other clubs seem to do without trashing their stars and reputation. Group the boys together, reset and commit together. No player is above the club. Agree. And we DO have to fix and improve our culture. But given we don't know everything about what has happened, it doesn't mean we just throw Clarry to the curb, for nothing, assuming it will fix things.

Yep. If nothing else comes of this, I would hope someone sends every single relevant person at the Club back to school to complete Negotiation 101. The basics.

Whether you think Clarry should, or should not, be traded is not really the issue here. This has been handled ATROCIOUSLY by the club - again. Like last year. And Trac this year. IF there is an issue - you DON'T destroy the club's bargaining power. It's as if we love entering into these situations (off our own bat) with the weakest hand possible. A self-inflicted handicap. Do we love the challenge? Personally, I want Clarry to stay. The notion of giving him (and his potential next year after a big preseason) up for a future pick in the LATE TEENS, plus likely paying some of his salary (to save for whom? Because of all this [censored] WHO wants to come to our club?? WHY?) makes no sense. If our window was not already closed with Gus gone, Trac a question mark for next year (either because we're just not sure when he will play, or his level due to injuries), then it will certainly be closed with Clarry gone. We have NO depth, and because of this mess cannot trade or recruit to fill gaps. Furthermore, any kids we get will need guys like Clarry to learn from. If Clarry has issues, still, fine. Apparently this has been known for some time. Like every other club we deal with it. If there have been mistakes made re other players - you acknowledge it - get everyone into a room, talk about it, clear the air and remind these guys that we are a FOOTY CLUB, a once great club, now apparently focused on drama and dirty laundry. You get on the same page about trying to snag a flag next year. If Trac and Carry are on the park, and we can somehow, perhaps through prayer lol, convince some talent to join us and fill a couple of gaps, we have enough talent to do some damage next year. BUT - everyone has to be on the same page. Clear the air. Put the mistakes behind us. Learn. FOCUS on what is needed to correct course next year. No more silly emails. Just good footy. I want Clarry in the red and blue next year. He needs help to focus. I get it. If there was an offer of 2 first rounders, or 1 first rounder and a solid player, fine. Maybe you say ok we cut our losses. But that ain't the case. Dropping Clarry for nothing at all, just to 'save cap space' and a future F1, for the Cats, will be late teens if we're lucky. Pointless. Meanwhile the Cats do what we should have done/do, sort Clarry out, and he helps them to win another flag next year. Stuff that. Let's fix this. Shake hands. Build together. Snag a flag. #SnagAFlag

And all for a bag of chips!!! It'll free up space.... and space for another person. WHO??!! Clarry is a jet and has clearly required extra attention. Provided it does not unduly divide the group, and they can find some common ground, and work towards a common goal in 2025, together, HE STAYS!! Wins the ball for us, not the Cats. Stuff that.

So what happened to our stupid email today? You know the one. The crappy, everything’s fine, don’t know what you’re worried about garbola.

This is the biggest issue for me. Or at least the equal biggest issue. The loss of Oliver, one of the best to ever wear the colours, is immense. Generational talent like that is… obviously rare. His likely loss will also be compounded by Tracc likely going as well. These things have cascading effects. Other team members see this, as do prospective trades and recruits. Why would they stay/join? It took us SO LONG to return to building some respect and redefining our culture… and through some bad luck yes, but mostly mismanagement we are looking at a dire 2025 - can’t see us doing better than bottom 4, we were very close with both Clarry and Tracc playing although admittedly to different degrees. Beyond that, HOW are we going to build for the future? Why would talent want to come to us? The reality is half of what has been said about us is likely not true, but it doesn’t matter, it’s perception. Talent will have the option of another safer stabler team likely with better talent and not their midfield obliterated, and us, which may be plagued by talk of culture, crappy Comms, board drama etc. prospect of years at the bottom. So. How will be recover from this? Seriously. And I’m sure we will. Some day I guess. But will it take another 10 years in the doldrums? We had a real chance to finally stamp our return to relevance and I fear we have blown it. What a waste.

Looks like we're going to lose one of the 'bangs' 😢