Ollie fan

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?

He has had two topliner defenders; the rest of our great defence was due to a system and the system is entirely down to the coach. How many times have commentators over the last few years referred to how well Melbourne was set up behind the ball? But in terms of personnel: I disagree with you. And Geelong's personnel were probably better overall in defence - and certainly in attack. Most commentators think that Brisbane and WB have had pretty good lists too.

Looking at the highlights, it is amazing how he could get into space in a lead. His understanding of forward play, and his reading of what was happening to the ground, was exceptional.

Neitz was playing in defence then - but the forward line also had Sean Charles and Martin Pike.

After 1994, the opportunity was lost. Jako was finished, and in the 1995 preseason Schwarz did his knee and Lyon did his back - I think it might even have been in the one training session😭

1994 was the year that got away - I've always thought so. Balme wanted them to "share" the footy - ie handball far too much, and as a result we lost a lot of games before he wised up, and finished in the lower half of the draw for the finals. If we had played to our ability, we would have finished at the top or very close, and not had to go to Perth. Schwarz was injured taking a speccy in the second final we played. Jako was already gone with his back problem. In the two finals we won we showed that we were the best team in the comp. Anyone who can get hold of a replay of the final vs Carlton should watch it - and weep. The 1994 team was magnificent in its personnel - dare I say it, better than 2021. Wasted.

The real question is: why were we so bad in Alice? I don't know what was going on there but that is NOT the benchmark to start from. We can win because our backs are better than their forwards, and our forward line is starting to work- thanks to Kozzie, Melksham and hard work by the others.

If we bring effort to every game we can end up 4th or 5th. Brisbane are not that good and are at best 50/50 this week. The future is all in our own hands.

Next year Will Verrall should be starting to make his way