BDA

As someone with right of centre political leanings and who agreed with a number of Trump policies I have to say its past time that he exited stage left. The whole concept of democracy is built on the principal of loser consent. Campaign hard but once the votes are in accept defeat and allow the winner to get on with governing. To be undermining the trust and integrity of the electoral system is the final evidence, as if any more was needed, that Trump is only interested in Trump and he doesn’t care what damage he does on the way out. And its past time the Republic party had the gumption to tell Trump to pack it in. This electoral fraud circus will be equivalent to the farcical Russia gate nonsense that the Democrats were peddling for 3 years after losing the 2016 election. Flimsy evidence at best and completely politically motivated. Is it any wonder the US is in a parlous state when this is the kind of antics both major parties engage in. There may well have been irregularities and instance of fraud. But nowhere near enough to overturn the results in any state. And remember Trump had set the scene to run with the electoral fraud excuse in 2016 …….until he won.

You may turn out to be right but I’m not sure we can pull it off without potentially jeopardising games. He has 3 Bluey’s and that’s testament enough to his contribution and legacy. Gifting games could sully his legacy if anything. And 6 games at that. I don’t see how we justify if we’re in the hunt for finals or Top 4. There are no gimme games for the Dees. We’re just too flaky. Imagine if we lose an important game and Jonesy has a shocker. Hopefully he can hit a purple patch of form, earn his spot and get to 300 without the armchair ride.

are you @DeeSpencer in disguise?

How did the recruiting team go about assessing the Victorian prospects given the lack of exposed form?

I hope not CC. Would love to see him reach the milestone but we can’t afford to be gifting games. We’re too inconsistent and flaky to carry a passenger. At Richmond and Geelong perhaps. But not the Dees. Jones is going to have to earn those games.

Plus we now have the best development coach in the AFL. I'm particularly bullish on Laurie. His pin point I50 kicks were the stand out for me in his highlights package. This is exactly what we need and with Chocco working with him to hone his skills i reckon he'll make it.

Apologies if I come across as critical I don’t wish to be overly harsh. Your views are shared by many. Everyone has a role to play. Recruitment is critical as without the cattle you’ve no chance. Pres, CEO, GM, and coaching panel all have a vital role to play. And of course the players have to stand up and be counted, deliver consistently, be professional and give their all. But the head coach is the most important single individual in the whole footy department imv. The role brings it all together, drives standards, sets game plan and motivates the players. You can’t win with a poor head coach. Success is made up of 100’s of little things. The coach should spot and address them 1 by 1 and the team will naturally and gradually improve. I’m not seeing this as we keep making the same mistakes. I don’t think we’ll have a meeting of minds on this. Your entitled to your view. And I respect your view. Enjoy the rest of your evening bing.

Is this supposed to be a trick question? Do you think Clarkson was a factor in the Hawks winning 4 flags?

Sorry DS but I’m with Pollyanna on this one. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Where is the evidence of the leak? Who is it that you think leaked? What evidence do you have that Geelong traded specifically to take Holmes because they were worried about us? Couldn’t you just as easily surmise that Melbourne wanted Rosman all along and feigned interest in Holmes to throw every other team off the scent?

Geelong are welcome to Holmes. Rosman looks the better prospect anyways.

It was repeated on fox footy last night. Only a masochist would watch a re-run.

I'm delighted the conference system has been scrapped but would have liked a full 13 round home and away season. Fixtures could have been worse. we'll take it. Looking forward to seeing how the team takes shape given all the off season changes. Karen Paxman to win the best and fairest and another AA. She's a legend.

Yeah but sydney and Freo had to contend with the same conditions. They adapted better. And if i remember correctly Sydney played the wind so much more intelligently than we did. They flooded the defense against the breeze making it difficult for us to take marks whereas as with the wind they were making pin point I50 entries setting up easy set shots. Measured approach v chaos. Brains v stupidity.

@Demonland do you know if recordings of the presentations be made available? the website has reports but no recordings

Covid or no Covid if the facilities are top notch then I’d prefer they stayed out there for the year and beyond until the new base is finished. Why train at sub standard facilities when Casey is there and available?

I was hoping to hear the first rumour of the year when I saw this thread was active Does anyone have a list of RFA and FA in 2021? Still reckon we’re short on outside run. Draftees may address this but if not then we may trade in. Josh Kelly is a free agent I think. A very good player if not quite the superstar he’s made out to be. Could we finally land Kelly 7 years after we controversially traded the pick to GWS they used to select him?

Fair enough Deestar. He’s in situ so gotta make the best of it. I genuinely hope he does well. I’ve decided to take a vow of silence on Goodwin until about round 5. No point ranting when pre-season has barely started.

What delusion? Win one of the Freo or Sydney games this year in Cairns and we play finals. Do you think we were capable of winning one of those games? beat Collingwood in 2017 or even a close defeat and we play finals. remember Collingwood had nothing to play for. do you think we were capable of winning that game? How long should a rebuild go on for? There's blame to go around. the players for sure haven;t turned up at important times but the coach is responsible for the performances on the oval. That is his job and he has failed for 3 of the last 4 years. I hope i'm wrong and he does a Hardwick. I'm not betting on it though.

Hardwick was playing finals. Goodwin isn’t. 4 years is enough time to imprint your personality and style on a group. Our style is chaotic and disconnected. And inconsistent. There is no other factor that matters other than results. We’re not a young developing team. We are finals ready and have been since 2017. Comparisons to other teams is not a basis for holding unto a coach but if you insist then I suggest we’re more similar to St Kilda before they removed Richardson. Ratton is doing a much better job. You’re entitled to your opinion but I reckon we’d have a better chance of success with someone like Ross Lyon at the helm. If he does win it I’ll eat humble pie but unfortunately I don’t think it will come to that.

His brother was Sean Og O hAilpin Setanta kicked his team mate.

i don't whether he listens to the other coaches or not, whether he stubborn, whether he's innovative or not. All i know is results have been sub-par during his 4 years in charge. Other than a flukey run to the prelim in 18, which turned out to be a mirage, we have been consistently inconsistent, incapable of beating the top sides and miss finals. If the head coach isn't responsible then who is?

I’m not a fan of threads for specific players and particularly players who are young and developing. They’re under enough pressure as it is. And we should remember that players don’t pick themselves, either in the draft or at the selection table, and they are reliant on the coaching staff addressing deficiencies in techniques and skill. If there’s a failure its either in recruiting or development. As long as players are professional, hard-working and sweat for the cause we should just leave them alone. And if we insist on separate threads then I’d prefer to focus on senior under-performers such as Melksham and TMac. They’re well paid and in the case of Melksham, the application isn’t there anymore. He deserves some home truths.

There’s been some humdinger names in the NRL. I reckon nothing can top Fuifui Moi-Fui Moimoi

I don’t rate Goodwin. But maybe he hasn’t had the right team around him. Maybe now his strengths (not sure what they are but presumably he has some) will shine through and he can lead us to a flag. It’s not possible to win it with a dud coach so if he does lead us to the promised land, I’ll gladly change my opinion and heap credit and adulation at his feet. I’ve never wished to be more wrong about anything.

I like the name Fraser. A great name for a cult hero I reckon.