Ollie fan

That's wasn't my point. You said they should be dropped as a" wake up call " - which can only be for not trying.

There are so many things wrong with this that it's hard to know where to begin. I'll take just one: that when Jackson left, Rivers should have become a mid. Who would he have replaced? (This was at the start of 2023, remember). Gus, Trac, Clarry, or Jack? A "wake up call" - the implication is that the players you mention weren't trying. Do you even watch the games? Of course, on Demonland it was a proven scientific fact that Petty wasn't trying because he was waiting and determined to go to Adelaide.....er..... well...... It just might have been that after a very serious foot injury, of the type that takes about 2 years before the player regains full confidence, he was struggling... Actually, why do I bother?

EVERY team has bad losses. Look at Sydney today. We do too, for many reasons. The fact that we have been competitive, especially against GWS today, in the circumstances we are in (Gus and Trac out, Gawn limited, Clarry still not at his best) shows our character and ability.

It looked to me like it was (unfortunately) a perfect tap from their ruck to Green which nobody could have defended. Oliver was in position to break away himself if Max had won the tap.

Is this a joke? Irony?

Binman, this is a ridiculous post. You assume logic, intelligence and self-awareness on the part of Dland posters. Are you crazy?

Which is a 9.77sec 100m if he sustained it (but I'm not saying he could sustain it!)

Hawthorn's defence is worse than ours - look at points against. Yes, they are playing better than us but they have not lost their two top players. Go back a couple of weeks to our narrow loss v Brisbane - compare that to anything Hawthorn has done. Your comment about Lever is a joke, I take it. It can't be a serious comment. Yes, I know he was terrible last week but that is one game.

That's as may be. The excuse "it happens anyway... it is a fact of life" is no reason for anyone to actually do it. It is a bulldust line.

I would loooooove that

You really are cranky, aren't you? - and that is putting it as kindly as I can. You say $200k as if it is a fortune. It isn't. They have to live their entire lives around football, in their diet, activities, social life, everything. There is often charitable work involved. They go on to the football field and literally risk their lives - ask Trac. They get baked from pillar to post and it is a rare player who doesn't have a"niggle" ie constant minor pain. Which in turn becomes a wrecked knee/shoulder/whatever in later life. Their sporting life is limited to usually no more than a decade. $200k is reasonable pay but not generous. And no, it is NOT right that there should be such vitriol.

Exactly. It is really good player development to let him have a brief taste of top level football so he knows what it is like and what is required.

The problem with Montagna is, noone has any idea whether he can manage a coaching team, inspire players, maintain team cohesion, etc. - there is s great deal more to coaching than just tactics. And this is true of all the others, who have only ever been assistants. We KNOW that Goody can formulate an overall strategy, and can get and keep the loyalty of his players.

Completely disagree. 1. Many times you see us losing at first but him then making changes, often subtle ones, at 1/4 time which bring us back into the game. But no, he doesn't tell us try completely change our game style mid-game, and he'd be a fool if he did. 2. Broken record. The Grundy experiment failed. If he was still at Melbourne... - well, it is impossible to imagine. Playing him with Max didn't work, but should we have kept him freezing his backside off at Casey? Is that a respectful way to treat a former AA player? Wild it inspire the rest of the team? I don't think so. 3. His comments about cohesion were interesting and justified and explain a lot about why he doesn't like to make changes. 4. What was the "error"? Not playing Fullarton? It is very clear that the club tried to get a backup ruck but they are hard to find and if they are any good they will not accept being backup (eg Grundy). They obviously hoped Fullarton might be a chance and equally obviously, he is not the answer. 5. He is doing a pretty good job of rebuilding on the run. Unfortunately we lost Gus and Smithy in circumstances which did not allow us to replace them on our list. Oliver has been a shadow but I know you like him as much as I do and we all hope he will get back to best form. Throughout our "premiership window" we have had a lack of quality KPFs but that is changing: I am very confident that next year JVR will emerge as a champion and we have Jefferson on the way, Turner learning the position, and I am a believer in Petty. And since Goodwin is actually a very good coach, with a clear method and with the total respect of the players, I don't see the window as shut at all.

See what Jaded no more said above. He is 100% right. Petty will return to being a great player.

I loved David Schwarz as a player, and met him a few years ago and he seemed like a very nice bloke. BUT he has become a bit bitter and twisted, and far too critical.

Absolutely correct

Time for a reality check. We are used to having a stellar midfield, but the fact is, Petracca is out for the season, Brayshaw is out for life, Clarry (for whatever reason) is a shadow of his best, and JV7 is trying hard as always but his disposal has always been poor. The truth is, our midfield atm is possibly the weakest in the league. And that is NOT due to Goody. It is a combination of events beyond his control. And we can whinge about Grundy but the facts is it didn't work so he tried an alternative - and is now being thoroughly bagged for doing so. Fullarton is clearly a disappointment, but ruckmen do not grow on trees, particularly ruckmen who would be prepared to freeze their backsides off at Casey in the hope of getting the occasional game in the firsts. We have to realise where we are and work from there. The fact that we are even in the conversation for finals at the moment is actually a credit to the coaches given what has happened to our midfield, the engine room.

And it was a mark as well

In the Brisbane v Sydney game, I see the umpires have totally ignored the HTB rule.

Hawthorn are a worry - they might be good.

How did Roy George play?

I've just seen snippets but it looks like Roy George is an exceptional talent. To those who have been watching the whole game: is that right?

Plus it would mean that 7 th to 10 th miss out on the pre finals bye, while the other teams get it. It makes a joke out of all the work that mid ranked teams put in to get a finals berth.

So 10 th can sneak in at the expense of 7 th? How is that fair?