Ollie fan

Not only did we push good sides, it's easy to forget that we beat last year's grand finalists in successive weeks. Those calling for a wholesale clean out, in my opinion, would be dooming us to several years of failure, the hope that by the time Gawn , Petracca, Oliver, Melksham have gone, we will have a side capable of winning a premiership. I completely disagree. We are so close to such having such a side right now, we just need a coach to polish it off. I know it's an unpopular view, but I think Goodwin was completely right in saying that we are that close. And I never believe in 5 year plans. They rarely work. We should aim to win the flag each and every year that we play. To me, that is 2026 and beyond and I believe we can do it. Of course, I am no doubt a self-deluding fool in the eyes of "supporters"(which try are not) who think our team is a bunch of "spuds". Like the poster who used that word to describe Trac, Clarry and Viney, which is sooooo unbelievably disrespectful. And wrong.

I wonder how many posters on this thread and on the game day thread actually at the game. I was. One thing was completely clear, at least after quarter time: there was a very big advantage kicking into the city end. I'm not surprised or ashamed that Collingwood outscored us in the last quarter. What was good was that we were able to use it very much to our advantage in a third quarter. And our effort was unquestionable throughout the game. Some of the extraordinarily rude comments about players are disgraceful from people who would call themselves supporters but very much are not.

That is a shocking thing to say about three players to whom we owe so much

I really liked him first time round at the club and didn't know why they let him go. Second time round injuries have just been overwhelming. I am sorry he never really made a go of it.

It was actually Mandy Rice-Davies but in this site, who cares about facts or accuracy?

I have been in favour of him as a forward all along. I think he is a player who can make critical mistakes - handballing to the oppo etc - and in the backline, these cost immediate goals. In the forward line, they are just a missed opportunity. But he has always been a good contested mark. And since he changed his runup to the stutter he now uses, he has been very accurate. And he has a lot of injuries, concussion etc which stopped him getting a good run at being a forward. So I am not surprised at his good recent performances.

I was very much against Buckley at first, but as time goes by it seems extremely clear that the team is transitioning in the right direction and that that direction should be maintained. A new, inexperienced coach would almost certainly want to put his own stamp on the team and change the direction – which is exactly what Mark Neeld did with results we all know about. Buckley seems to understand that we are headed in the right direction and I suspect he would simply concentrate on improving our skills as he was extremely skilled himself. So I have now become very much for him.

Discussing whether he was blindsided is probably a waste of time, but..... Not many coaches are sacked straight after an 83 pt win.

Actually I have it on very good authority that he was saying EXACTLY that - how close we were- to a friend of mine the day before he was sacked.

I know it is not the answer but to my memory, under Northey we never lost the close ones. I think back then the players just had a mindset of somehow getting the ball forward and somehow kicking the necessary score and then defending as if their lives depended on it

Actually, Goody has done exactly that on several occasions.

That doesn't respond to my point at all

This really bothers me. To me, that's not galling practice. I don't care one bit if they miss the speccie boundary shots. They need to practise the regulation shots, set shots from 30-40 m out on a slight angle, etc. If we regularly kicked those, there wouldn't be a problem.

You can't let it go, can you Franky? If it new coach is a dud - but of course I hope he isn't - I sincerely hope you will eat a bit of humble pie. But you won't.

Yep, well, he did get midfield minutes. Perhaps you didn't watch the games. But we needed him in defence because McVee and Salem were not really cutting the mustard. And much as I like Rivers and his energy and enthusiasm and ability, his field and goal kicking is on a par with Trac and Clarrie.

Can someone tell me about this guy Lual? He looks great to me and I'd like to know if he is tied to us, how old he is - just a bit about him? Sorry for my ignorance.

Very much in the building phase in those years. Nowhere near where Richmond was at

"Don't it always seem the way that you don't know what you've got till it's gone" - Joni Mitchell

And this attitude was the problem. Supporters see 22 and 23 as disastrous years. Forgetting that other coaches who are spoken about very highly here - including McRae and Chris Scott - couldn't even get their team back in the finals the year after their flags. Noone liked the two straight sets exits but at least we were contending. And I have spoken about the "great list" here before- yes, it was a very good list BUT SO WERE A FEW OTHERS. And in both years we had injuries at the wrong time of the year and also kicked ourselves out of almost all the finals we lost. Reading what others are saying confirms that Goodwin was an innovator, a strategist, and a motivator although he could never overcome the fact that our great list did not have a truly good key forward, and that our key midfielders were not good kickers. He tried, though, recruiting for key forwards and good field kicks.

I think he is a modern Tommy Hafey in that he got an inferior team to perform much better than it should but not well enough for the final hurdle. Sure, Sydney had some excellent players but also some real weaknesses. I think he would do very well with us.

That is gracious. Thank you

Interesting take on me. I said I was angry about the decision and the way it was done and at the people who led to it. I wouldn't call that moaning; I'd call it fury. And I don't think I am hostile. I just don't like "supporters" who do nothing but undermine.

Did you see the article in the HS today by the convent of Deebrief? He says the "supporters" had a lot to do with it.

It's two days now, and I still feel absolute anger at all the people, many of them on this site, who have been relentlessly critical of him. The talk about money is sickening. If they think that money is what motivates the coach or the players, they have no effing idea. I am really worried that some great players are going to leave the club. I fear that it is going to be a classic case of, be careful what you wish for, with many of the people on this site. And then, will they say, I was wrong? No, they will just be more and more critical, criticising from the sidelines. Yes, I am still extremely angry.

I 100% agree with the opening post.