Gawndy the Great

Brayshaw maybe. No way you’d be letting Serong go though

If you were Freo, would you use pick 8,13,16 for Shai Bolton and Liam Baker? I don’t know how you pay them all - they are stacked with talent if they can attract these 2.

It’s fascinating how we have swung from one extreme to the other in 6 years. We have a fair chunk of the players still playing from that era. Player for player we are so much better than the 2018 side and yet we are half the team offensively. What ever Goody does it shouldnt be about negating the current method. We have to be more positive, more offensive without being vulnerable like Carlton. The team has built foundations in defence, they know what good looks like. They just need to be given more freedom offensively. It’ll unfortunately take time to develop the method.

Trac running again and at the gym, is a good sign. Should be up to decent loads by the time he hits pre season.

Goodwin will never have him back. I don’t think Hogan would actually want to come back. So it ain’t happening. But agree, the bloke is absolutely nailing it.

Fritta is a problem in a forward half territory game. Which wasn’t really a problem in the past. We generate enough turnovers , what we lack is the ability to chain together and spread in order to consistently turn turnover to score. This is part fitness, part trust, part learning/understanding but the biggest part is skill and execution. Id put Fritt in a HF next year, see how he goes as a link up player. He has great vision and skill.

And May wouldn’t have broken ribs.

We haven’t looked great since Round 11 2022. Even last year we were less convincing than usual. This year is a continued down trend. I suspect next year will be about the same.

All good things must come to an end at some point.

It certainly is. This is more than just personnel issues. This was the year we were supposed to answer the critics. Show them we had strong culture, get rid of the straight sets label. Well we missed that opportunity and now we are at a cross-roads. Which way will we go from here? Rebound or further in the abyss? Do you trust Goodwin, Richo, the assistant coaches and Lamb to get us out of this mess?

Sales departments get lots of budget allocated to get the experience right. If you really want to know what a company is like, measure them on their 'exit' process. Another pet hate of mine is when you 'accidentally' get billed for something and incur a charge immediately but then have to wait 14 days for a refund to be processed.

I respectfully disagree. However what concerns me is that this is the type of trade Tim Lamb will probably get done. Follows in the same style as Hunter, McAdam, Billings etc. One key criteria is a player that is playing more than 80% gametime in the AFL in 2024 and is < 28. Even its just for depth and role playing, this is an absolute must.

You still need at least 1 bull who can win you the ball. Port have Wines (a Brownlow medalist). We just happen to have 3-4 of them (Trac, JV, Oliver and arguably Sparrow), which is why we have been good at the contested game. I also think Trac just needs to accept that he is better for the team in a 60/40 forward/midfield role. He is one of the hardest matchups in that role, which creates a nightmare for just about any defensive system. We also need to find a new role for JV - it seems that time has caught up with him. Midfield to take us forward is: Oliver, Rivers, Windsor, McVee, #Pick 7. There is a lot of unknown in that mix but we have enough senior leaders around the club to aide in its development. Sparrow, Trac, Kozzy will all have some time running through it as well (JV can also contribute in the time that he remain playing).

I cannot see him leaving frankly, but if he did pack up and leave its not the end of the world.

That is a ridiculous take. Oliver may never get back to his best - I will concede that - but selling now is akın to shorting Apple stock right before they released the 1st gen iPhone. You never sell low and right now Oliver cannot get much worse. Even if he ‘misbehaved’ it will likely nullify his contract and he’d be off our books - that to me is worst case. If he somehow becomes a top 20 ranked player again next year AND we had to do a trade, then I think we at least get 1st round pick with no salary concessions. At least with a solid pre season, we’d know where he is truly at. As for Houston, he’s the type of player you’d take on your way up the mountain not on the way down. I’m convinced we are on the way down - not in free fall but mini rebuild territory. Need to restock our mids with better ball users and more athletic types - Butters / Serong are the types we are in need of. Decisions like giving up 2 first rounders for Houston now may get us back in finals but it will be short lived and the implications will be a longer and deeper rebuild right when Tassie comes in.

Sad but true. Now that it’s highly unlikely we make finals , I think we’ll give in and prep for 25. Going to be a hard watch the next couple- expecting a few spankings.

Nope can’t stand them and three first round picks this years they’ll get more talent into an already talented side.

Gus‘s loss (ppl will come for me) I think was more leadership on/off. He was solid in a game day sense, reliable, but seldomly shot the lights out. it’s definitely a factor , but not a major one.

What else can they say ? They ain’t going to pot him publically. Im sure they do - but they can still be against his coaching and game plan

They don’t. However long before the major injuries we still lost to Freo by 90+ points , Brisbane by 50 odd at the G. This year was not about personnel, it was evident from very early on that we came up with a new/revised game plan, sides works it out within a few weeks and then we got caught out. I think we’ll be about the same next year maybe 1-2 more Ws but we will still miss finals as we continue rebuilding. I’d pass on Houston and maybe look at it again in 1-2 years when hopefully we re enter the window.

Blues not winning it either. Lions will choke.. no idea who’s gonna win it.

May refractures ribs. Didn’t see the contest anybody see anything? I wonder if the incident may have been a rib tickler or in play?

Sydney not winning it this year. Form is atrocious. Geez we really picked a year to fall away.

F50 connection right there there by Curnow

By then it will be too late. Strike now while there is a glimmer of hope next year