Gawndy the Great

Kozzy has had a great year and has developed nicely. still has flaws in his game and lacks defensive presence. Would hate to lose him as we would lose a major scoring avenue but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Would demand a top 5 pick in return.

Bad habits. I’d love to know what they think it is. Funny he mentioned Goody has to do some homework as well. Is that an admission of game plan failures? Im actually a bit disappointed that he is not as disappointed as I want him to be.

If that’s the case we have the right coach to rectify the out of date game plan for 2023. Now we just have to get rid of Goodwin. I wonder if Hirdy wants his old senior coach back.

We finished 2nd in the H&A due to a 1 point victory with 12s to go. I think it’s fair to say that we probably lose that game 9/10 and the result then becomes 5th which is where we ended up.

So the theory that an easy run into finals series is not preferred over a harder fixture is BS?

I actually think that would be a good thing for the sport. It would mean teams compete harder and longer at the fear of being relegated. It can also help implement a system where a portion of the seasons fixture (after Rd 17)is determined by the ladder position - the problem being what do you to keep competition high for those teams circling the bottom 4 - 6. There are however many other issues that will make this near impossible in the short term.

But he'll happily support his fellow team mate, who takes every opportunity to drop at the knees or to be a menace to the opposition with the full intent of milking a free. I can accept though Clarry having accentuated contact a number of times in his career - more so to get the attention from umpires because he is contestably being held off ball. Putting that aside, the 'accentuating actions' shouldn't define his nature given 99.8% of the time, he is tough as nails. Berry given a lifeline for sure. The AFL need to tighten the MRO/tribunal system big time. It has become a complete farce again.

As mentioned previously, there is a toxic 'party' culture at the Dogs in past years. Those that are averse to those behaviors may want to move away from that environment. That is the only way i can make sense of that potential scenario. But agree, it is very unlikely.

There is no one really else left in the mix. With Ross Lyon and Leon Cameron backing out, you'd have to be thinking why would experienced coaches be pulling out of the process. The Bombers have publically said before they will target an experienced senior AFL coach and going with Yze will make them look silly and their supporter base will not be happy with the appointment. You'd give Yze every chance to be successful, but you would have to question his desperation to become a senior coach at all costs and a club on its knees.

No deal is done. He has every chance to still screw us so for me it’s wait and see.

If we continue with the current game plan then Georgiadies will end up like Weid. We saw how he struggled without Dixon as well so we have the proof. In fact there are not really any forwards that relish slow ball movement and would thrive in our team. I think we have the forward cattle that would more than cut it if we were able to improve our ball movement. Ultimately, we need to improve our bottom 6 as others have said, which means we need to get rid of the excess of inside ball grunts and target athletic, good ball users. If you could replace/ upgrade most of Sparrow, Harmes, JJ and ANB with better field kicking and leg speed then it wouldn’t even matter who we had in the forward line as it would get in there much much quicker. Fritta is dangerous 1:1 and BBB has a great reach. Both of these players are useless in contested marking situations. So instead of Cadman, I’m really buying into the H. Young option and a first rounder for LJ. We also need to look at giving May a bit more freedom in D50 so he can be an additional option in free play to launch our scoring chains from deep defence. I think that means using Petty on the #1 forward and brining Turner into the side to backfill his role . I don’t know if it’ll work but we have to change things up this year and become less predictable in our back half. If we can nett Grundy and Young for LJ; bring in JVR and Turner all to replace Hibbo, JJ/Harmes, ANB/Sparrow, LJ. Those are massive improvements and investment to the future. You also have TMac for Melksham to add to that.

Still remains as to whether GCS want pick 2 to secure a player that they miss out by #5. Do we risk loosing Cadman by waiting for Pick 5->6? I think GWS would target Cadman as their KPF stocks are shot.

GWS will only do that to snare Cadman from right under our nose. Does sound like an MFC thing to do.

Does anyone have two picks in the top 20 they would trade us for pick 2 that is fair and equitable?

I’d go pick 2, 26 and Darling For our 2nd rounder and LJ. We then trade pick 26 for Grundy and end up with Cadman, Darling and Grundy. I don’t think Darling would want to come to Melbourne though but who knows.

Anything where you are not improving is not a good year. We took backwards steps in a lot of areas. We didn’t really discover any new talent, didn’t showcase any new tactics. We regressed in method and game plan execution. Pressure and fitness well down. We were lucky (yes you heard me) to get 2nd spot. We should have lost to Carlton which would have found us in 5th spot, right where we ended up finishing after finals. To accept anything less than a premiership is accepting mediocrity which I’m sick of after 57 years. I want continued success which means winning finals - not straight sets. Was it a disaster? No, but don’t for a minute think it was a good year because it wasn’t.

At least we are finally hearing 2 first rounders coming back and how Freo are going to struggle to satisfy it.

He came into the year hampered and after 10 weeks out was off it significantly. My worry is that his condition may be degenerative as opposed to regenerative. Similar to BBB, but he was a liability in almost every game he played. In a game style that is now looking to launch off HB, we are in desperate need of a versatile playmaker who can defend one on one and launch the counter punch. I think this year we had nobody to pull those kicks and hence were left to use the wings. Bowey will develop but I’m not sure whether he’ll make it to the elite category. Salem right now is nowhere near what we need him to be. Not sure he has a spot in the 22 atm. I don’t think he’d be looking to move either tbh - maybe next year if he is not able to improve. Unfortunately I think this role has now become a priority to rectify in the off-season , which means we would need to use our trade/draft capital to lure a readymade playmaker to the club over the needs of a KPF. The reason is, our forward line looks remarkably different and more effective when we get it in more quickly. Think about how clinical we are from centre bounce clearances … Look at how good the Pies forward line functions … they look a-grade with a bunch of c graders. Our fwd line [censored] over there’s on paper.

I think as long as both clubs involved in the transaction benefit and no club exceeds the salary cap in their payment then there is no harm done. Acknowledge that clubs in the window can trade draft picks for effectively an increased cap in return but it’s a slippery slope that when mismanaged can really hurt the club doing it. Just look at Collingwood now.

The best thing for us is that he will request a trade to us. We have all the bargaining power.

It is something to definitely hold onto so as much as we all throw the baby out, there is not anything to suggest that a few adjustments to game plan won’t alter. I think our fade outs were due to overall fitness and game plan. It was evident even in the first half of the year with all the ‘2nd gear nonsense’ - turns out the tranny was stuck and we couldn’t even shift out of 2nd. Now those that know my posts - I’m not overly optimistic - but in the wash up of this year I do have a lot to look forward to in 2023. A failed finals series will be a massive reality check for most in the team that probably became complacent mid year after going 10 zip. In hindsight, the May incident was a huge snapshot into the culture at the time. Those thinking it was isolated to one person can keep living under a rock. But it clearly marked the start of our downfall. Some time off to heal physically and mentally will do everyone some good. I genuinely hope that the FD come back with some fresh ideas in how to negate the top 4-6 teams that have an overly aggressive and attacking game style. We are no longer the fittest, fastest and smartest team in it and I hope that fact alone burns in the guts of the whole club over the next 2.5 months.

That is what everyone is wondering as well. The Dogs and Freos 1st won’t cut it as many have highlighted.

I’d put games into Turner as well not Weed.

Yep and hopefully the coaches are already hard at work trying to put a system together that will hold up against the attacking styles because it was definitely our weakness.

He would be an upgrade to Melksham definitely.