Watson11

You and I have heard different stories, especially re due diligence and process. We can probably agree that what would be good is for the club and board is to respond to the article if they believed it was inaccurate rather than banning Wilson if that was in fact the reason. I don’t get why you say the board has been inabsentia for 5 years? Did you prefer the board in the prior half decade. I’d take our current board over say Kennett or Koch any day, who regularly say counterproductive things.

I’d prefer him and the board to make the correct call on key people and then be low profile. Let’s face it, the big call was on Pert, and the most important thing off field is to deliver a new facility so we become a true destination.

To me a good board is one that ensures the right people are in the right positions and then get the hell out of the way. Boards are never the only people that make companies or clubs or anything successful but they sure as hell can f$&@ them up. So by that measure our board have been very good over the last 5 years. This specific issue just seems petty and self defeating but I can’t think of too many missteps over the last 5 years. Is the Pert appointment really a captains call? I wouldn’t know but usually a Chairman has the final day on appointing a CEO. If there were differences of opinion then it is only right the Chairman makes the final call. That’s how business and footy clubs work. And it’s just hearsay similar to your sources but I heard Eddie gave a glowing reference, which considering they worked together for 11 years and delivered a premiership you would expect. From where I sit Pert seems like a good candidate, having delivered Collingwood a fantastic new facility which is one of the things we need.

Maybe Jims widow Sam is attending the breakfast as a guest of the club....

I’m Jessie’s biggest fan and think he’ll be a superstar. Our forward line can function well with 3 key forwards just like Adelaide’s did last year. Makes the 3rd matchup really hard. But to just throw another issue in the mix, Preuss wouldn’t be coming to play VFL and if we get Preuss I can see Max playing less ruck time next year. 85% ruck time this year was too much. With Preuss could change to 60% ruck time, 30% forward, 10% rest.

Geelong final was number 1 for me. A combination of the unbelievable support there is for the MFC and the players just being brutal in the contest which is what they stand for. The first 30 minutes was the perfect package. The crowd in the last quarter was unbelievable. The Adelaide 3rd quarter the second time we played them. We were under the pump that day and completely outplayed for almost 3 quarters but hung in there. Then blew away a very good football teams season in 15 minutes of unbelievable play. That was the first time I thought this group will be going places, especially coming after the Geelong debacle. Low-light was obviously Saturday. First time all season where at half time we had no chance of coming back.

Hopefully drive them to beat the WC 2006 contested possession differential record next year.

Must get Oliver's shoulders 100% over pre-season. Bl#%#%dy hell. Double shoulder reco.

Yep and it's inexplicable and the club needs to understand and review what happened during preparation etc I totally agree. I really think there is nothing Max could say but overall the article expressed how bitterly disappointed he was. But if I looked at the 8 this year, I though only Collingwood and Geelong were capable of smashing us in contested possession. I think that is what Max was expressing. He was expecting Melbourne to do that to West Coast, and after 10 minutes we lost all composure.

MFC is now a different group. Different board, management, coaches, players. They understand the history but don't have to be weighed down by it. I'm old enough to have seen dozens of mistakes on live TV by the way....

Of the top 6 I would be happy playing Haw and WCE twice. Although not happy if WCE is an NT game. Prefer Syd twice over Geelong, NM, Adelaide, Port or Essendon. BL twice would be unlucky....

I can see a lot of internal improvement from the current list over the pre-season and into next season. Wied - A few more kg of muscle and a bigger tank and he'll be even better than the last 5 weeks. Gawn - We just need backup so he is not spent at the end of September. Viney - A full season to get back on track. Oliver - Bit more upper body strength if he needs it. For our team balance does he need to develop into an elite outside mid. Would be far more damaging than Jones and has the speed and skills. Jones - Won't get better but I'd like to see him playing in his natural position which is as an inside mid. He is still best 22 but perhaps not when on a wing. Brayshaw - Should become more composed by foot with more experience next year. AVB - Improve composure by foot with more game time. He has been good considering 2 years out. ANB - Improve disposal with experience. Lever - Will make a huge difference when fit. Hogan - Only thing he needs to work on is inside 50 pressure when he doesn't have it. Is not as bad as some posters claim, but not in Kennedy or Buddy's league . Hopefully he will learn that pressure results in turnovers that results in easy goals sometimes to him. Harmes - A full season like his last 8 weeks. Spargo - Strength and endurance will improve with another full pre-season. Frost/OMac/Smith - All will improve again. Salem - Another year building on this years. Will benefit with Lever down back. Jetta - Same again please. I could go on. Game plan wise, not much to change. Just need to improve execution and execute for longer over games. The two main things to tinker are better quality inside 50s, and improve further on shutting down rebounds out of our forward 50.

I'm sure they will. Tired, over-confident, complacent, happy with year, who knows. All I know is they haven't lost contested ball all year, were smashed at it, and unlike Hawthorn the week before WC made them pay big time.

There are so many small things that can lead to a debacle like Saturday in hindsight. I suspect Max had to fill some news and didn't know what to write.

We didn't execute our gameplan. Coaches tried to mix it up when things started going badly. Our gameplan is not to lose contested possession and not tackle. That's what happened and who knows why. Coaches tried everything, including throwing TMac back in the first quarter to stop the onslaught.

Totally true. But for the optimists plenty of sides have been humiliated in a final and recovered. Just a couple of examples. 2009 prelim. Geelong 17.18 v Pies 6.11. Pies won 2010. 2000 semi. Carlton 23.12 v Brisbane 10.9. Brisbane won next 3 flags.

Ken Hinkley f%$&'d up the Port culture the year after their great run in 2014. He decided to put a senior individual player (Kane Cornes) before the team and the club, defended the decision to the hilt, and Port have been a shadow since. The tough decision for us will be knowing when Jones is no longer best 22 and handling it in the best interests of the club. I don't think it will be a factor in 2019. Clarkson does it better than anyone and Hawthorn tend to over-achieve because of the culture he has built, unlike Port who have been consistent under-achievers for 4 years. Goody also appears to be prepared to make tough calls (ie Watts).

I'd be happy with a premiership in 2 years and 3 in 6 years but not missing finals next year!

Considering the ball only went inside our 50 about 7 times in the first 1 1/2 quarters it was irrelevant. Nearly all the scores came from turnovers. Halfway through Q2 WC had scored 50 points from turnovers out of the 57 points they had scored. And the ball spent most of that time in their forward 50.

Agree it is important and will burn a hole in their thinking but more important is what got them there. The score resulted from -15 contested possession at half time, only 17 tackles in the first half, and eagles scoring something like 56 points out of 69 points from turnovers to half time etc. For a side that prides itself on contested ball (No 1), pressure (No 1 in last 4 weeks before prelim), tackling (No 1) they will have a lot to motivate them over pre-season. But as Neale D would say about next year, it's not about what you say it's about what you do so I'm looking forward to what they do in 2019.

Agree but would add that we had a big problem at the MCG until the last 4 weeks. We fixed that by defending rebounds out of our inside 50, and beat 3 top 8 sides at the G including smashing GWS who arguably have the best outside runners in the league. Add Lever and I'll be disappointed if we don't finish H&A top or second in 2019 if Max is healthy next year.

Picket fence. Yesterday was a shocker. No defending that. Plenty of young teams have been smashed in big games and gone onto bigger things. Some have been smashed and disappeared. I’ll be there cheering us to go onto bigger and better things. That’s why they call people like us “supporters”.

PS Collingwood played an almost identical contested possession game plan last night and exposed Richmond’s weakness.

Execution of game plan today for whatever reason. WC were 17-0 this season when they lose CP by 11 or less or win it. We were about -20 first half. End of story. All the bad luck, bad turnovers etc were on the back of us having zero experience of losing cp and under so much pressure because of it. We’ll be back and better next season.

Can’t agree. Our game plan is contested possession to get the ball forward and then protect it coming back. But we were smashed in the contest in the first half.