D Rev

We've obviously changed the way we play to minimise injuries so as to avoid getting to the finals completely banged up (again). Unfortunately: * We don't have the skills to play a less contact-style game, which has hurt us * We lost Gus and Clarrie in the pre season, which has hurt us * We haven't been able to cover the loss of Lever through stubbornness (why is Petty still up forward?) and inability (Tommo / others can't do it) We do have some good kids coming through, it feels like we aren't *that* far away from being a factor again. There will be a bit of a clear out at the end of the season, hopefully it frees up some salary to bring in some talent to top up and let us make a charge again! Very excited to see how we go at this, 2017-style, for the rest of the season - nothing to lose!

The filth really have smashed us in the last couple of years. Am actually genuinely afraid of what might happen in the last game of the season now; pestilence, plague, flood? Will be interesting to see who steps up from here & how Goody re calibrates us back to 2017 status.

So you'd let Max, our Premiership Captain / team barometer and leader / heart of the team go for draft picks and try and hang on to Petty? Do you remember when we let James McDonald walk and the spirit of the team left with him? We should try and keep Max until the bitter end. Would make a great ruck and developmental coach. Losing him would leave a massive void not just in the team, but at the club.

Every year each team turns its list over by about 10%, I'm pretty confident BBB, Schache, Tommo, Petty wont be with us next year. Its possible that Hunter will go to, other possibles would be Laurie, Melksham, TMac, Chandler, Taj and McAdam. I'm not sure what is happening with Brayshaws salary, I'd really hope that the AFL is paying for it - or Workcover? Similar, though less impactful - what of Smiths salary? In all, that's a good amount of space to free up and should bring in some draft picks. Do we get compensation for Brayshaw with pics? There seems to be quite a few players with senior experience that could slot into our list, I quite like the look of a few of the GWS guys including Cadman, Riccardi and Brown. I wonder if if Oliver could be lured from the Cattery? You'd also hope that the likes of Jefferson, Adams, Seston, Kolt, Verrell, AMW and K Brown will all start playing seniors next year.

Trac going out puts more pressure on the game plan than ever. What will Goody do without an AA mid? Real pressure for everyone to step up now

It's tough on Fritta as he's one of our best kicks, but he's also one of our best forwards. We seem to sacrifice him as a link player to try and capitalise on him as a forward. It'd be great if TMac or Petty could do either job, but it'd also be great if I could fly, so no point worrying about it.

I politely disagree about our early form. I reckon we were also very good against Geelong - that was as good as we have played in 3 years. The Blues game was also very good for 3 quarters, the slow start obviously hurt. You'd have to say that some "learnings" (and yes, I hate the term too) come sooner than others. Our top 6 players are; Max, Viney, Clarrie, Trac, Lever and May - none of them great kicks & I think all of them are safe from trading - so we are are stuck with trying to find skilled players with the remaining cap. Bringing in extra kicking skills is something we tried with Hunter and Billings with the salary cap available, but hasn't really worked. Then we had Brayshaws retirement, Clarrie imploding pre season, BBB being tapped on the shoulder by old man time and Petty going on the FBIs missing persons list. I'm not sure what Goodwin could have done about any of that. On the flipside, TMac has been reborn and we have some good young players coming through in Turner, Windsor, Bowey, JVR and McVee. Kolt, Howes and K Brown (and Jefferson?) come after that. In reality, we need to get some (a?) Half Forwards that can kick accurately into the forward line so Fritter / JVR / Kozzie arent taking shots from the boundary. This means the likes of Sparrow, Langdon (?) and others will need to be put on the table. As for hitting rock bottom, it seems like most teams need to do it to come back up again. We just seem to stay down for longer!

How much worse does it need to get for Goodwin to go? I'd say quite a lot. He's a premiership Coach, which buys you a lot of time. He also has the context of this season on his side. Only the Swans and Roos have been consistent this season, everyone else has had wobbles. Based on how we played earlier in the season, I think it can get a lot better. The Freo game was awful, but we showed a lot more fight yesterday and it was really poor disposal that let us down.

I shouldn't be surprised by some of the takes on here, maybe I'm just incredulous.... ...with all the comments here about "list cloggers", I think some people need to realise that there is 18 teams in the competition and only about one teams worth of great players. The salary cap ensures that quality players are spread around, so get used to not everyone being Ronald Dale Barassi. That's why McAdam etc are recruited - it's all very moneyball. Like every other club, we need to make the best of what we have and minimise risk through our game style. Goodwin does this by getting the team to play a high contest and defensive game. The issue is that we don't have the skills to execute when we are in attack. I actually think we were in the contest for a lot of the game yesterday, our disposal let us down (as it has done for...ever). How many times did the ball ping pong between the half back lines? How many times did we kick it out on the full or straight to the opposition? We aren't suddenly going to teach these guys how to kick accurately, we will need to trade in for that. I dont think we have much in the way of draft picks, so that option is out. Goodwin absolutely has his favorites, I dare say some of the contracted players for '25 will be up for trades for draft picks or decent kicks. I really don't think Goodwin, a Premiership coach, will get sacked unless things go seriously Neeld-shaped. Stafford etc are probably a different story.

OK, so Bowey, Windsor or Kozzie

I really don't think we can take too much out of today, Collingwoods depth problems are worse than ours. Still, plenty of positives with Kolt playing above the opposition and Kent on debut. You'd hope White will get picked up by an AFL team when Tassie joins the league - if he's not too old.

What about Windsor, Bowey and Kozzie? Rivvo - while not small, is a good running and delivery player too.

Im not sure the Bombers have ever been the real deal this season. Was good to see them join the majority of the league in being unreliable. They'll play finals, but not for long.

Im not sure the Bombers have ever been the real deal this season. Was good to see them join the majority of the league in being unreliable. They'll play finals, but not for long.

Is it just me that can't see the name Frampton without thinking of Peter Frampton?

Politely disagree, Chin has been offering pressure up forward. Disco should be given another go, he's young, tall, smart and agile. He got better in the backline. I think he'd go well as a 3rd tall forward. Petty down back.

Effort is the main thing I want to see from the team this week. A repeat of last week and its serious soul-searching time. I believe this team is capable of so much more in the context of this league and the crazy variability of this season, as long as they have a go. Changes I'd like to see: No major changes for me. Petty down back for TMac (intercept role), allow TMac to run up and down the ground & apply pressure / drag Moore or Howes. Disco down back for Tommo or given another run up forward for McAdam with JVR & Fritta. Maybe bring Sestan in for McAdam, can't be worse. Jeffo isn't ready and BBB is done. Fullarton isn't up to it. Taj to not be sub, someone tell him "this is your chance to show you belong". And make sure he has a go. Happy for Trac and Clarrie to spend time up forward as long as the other mids are applying pressure. I wouldn't mind seeing McVee and Salem spend more time in the midfield to inject some skill and pace - as long as they are applying pressure (is this becoming repetitive yet?). Otherwise, I think Swallow should be dragged for Kolt or K Brown - someone that will have a go.

Some pretty, expectedly, wild takes on here. I just watched the Goody presser and he was clearly aiming his message at the players "you are not where you need to be" (consistent). We absolutely got smashed in every facet and looked lazy and unskilled for much of it. Goody is absolutely putting it on the players to take responsibility for their performance. I've mentioned this previously, but I don't think we have the pace or skill to compete the way we are playing (and being played!) at the moment. I do think we have the cattle (when fit) to make a difference. Looking forward to seeing how the players (and coaches) respond.

I'm not normally one to jump on here right after a loss, but jeez, that really sucks the air out of the room. The way we completely switched off after 4 mins and let them control the rest of the game was embarrassing. Amongst other things, we were badly out-coached. StKilda were completely disinterested, so Im not taking much from that. I dont think we've been competitive or impressive since the Blues game. As for the players today: That's the second game in 3 weeks where May has been completely outplayed. I thought Viney, Petracca and Oliver weren't as influential as previous seasons. Again. Granted, Oliver didn't have a pre-season, but we looked slow and our lack of polish was really on display. Something needs to change. Swallow is like a mini Viney, with less polish. I'm not sure how you can improve the situation. Nibbler had his worst game for the season, has he been found out? Salem was solid, if not spectacular. Windsor looks like he needs a rest, but probably wont get one. Im not sure if Billings is a better option than a tired Caleb. Kozzie completely faded out of the game, as did many. It's like they had given up on the red and blueprint. Our forward line was putrid today, again. We are lucky to have TMac in the side to go forward. I think Disco will get there given time. JVR will help. Petty is just awful. I dont know why everyone picks on McAdam, he's 27 and has played 50 AFL games - he's not that good and never will be. I thought Chandler & Rivers tried. Fritsch improved when moved down back. The backline should get some sort of book of vouchers or a box of chocolates for the number of times it came down there. You'd think McVee should spend more time in the middle if our skills and smarts are letting us down. In all, some tried, others were unsighted. It's like they all just disappeared. Did they give up? What does that say about their mindset, preparation and commitment? Max's shoulders must be bloody sore from carrying this team. Other teams are kicking it about, rather than pushing through contests, which is exposing our lack of skill or ability to adapt. They are drawing out our intercept defenders, opening up the ground and delivering to their forwards. Our inability to get the ball forward was frightening. Are Freo that good, are we that bad? It doesn't seem like a one-off. Im going out for some oxygen. Take care of yourselves.

Yes, its like an unofficial divisional system. Not best pleased with the fixture, really wish we didn't play down in Casey so much. We couldn't get more centrally located games?

Click bait!

#49 - one ahead of BBB....

I actually think Turner is a really smart footballer. He's also young, has built a tank, is athletic and agile. He provides a lot more versatility than BBB, and will cause the oppo far more headaches. Jefferson has had a couple of good games in the magoos but simply isn't ready. Lets not do a Jack Watts to him, but give him time to develop.

Obviously he's a lot shorter, but he could play that defensive forward role that Petty has been doing, dragging their KPPs up the ground to create options. He also is a natural forward with great footy smarts. At the very least he will do as much as Petty has, at the very most he will help our forward line immensely.

You suspect Windsor would relish playing 30-40 mins on a dry deck up in the Alice. I thought Taj was unlucky to start as sub (again), he did seem to be getting better with better minutes.