D Rev

Absolutely this. Momentum is such an important factor in all sports these days, particularly AFL with the evenness of the competition. It should be remembered that we also have a young team and so *should* have less baggage in regards to outcomes - just have a dip! Lots for them to get excited about, their destiny is in their hands. Goodwin must feel a bit like Arnie in Kindergarden Cop - time to get the ferret out!

I'd argue the point about Goodwin not being versatile - we have changed the way we play this year, tried players in new positions and brought in lots of youth. I'd support the position that Goodwin isn't a great match day coach, but he certainly has been more dynamic this season.

Absolutely Jed Adams Bont 2.0

Very hard to say based on what I saw today aside from him being able to outrun a very energetic 9 year old

Just got home from Gosch's, thanks to all the Dees Army volunteers - my 2 monsters had a great time. Youngest kept trying to keep up with Petty while he was running laps. Was good to watch the training session, some of the end to end drills really exposed how poor some of our field kicking is. Kolt had some howlers but knew it and looks the type to work on it. I didn't realise how good Jeffersons wing spand is. Unbelievable. He could tie his laces standing up. Had a brief chat with him and he reckons he isn't too far off. Not sure if that's just his thoughts or the clubs, but positive to hear the enthusiasm. Had a chat with Jed Adams too, suggested he move into the midfield and he liked that. We agreed he'd win the Brownlow if it happened ;)

Love the reference. I think I have "How to play VFL Football" by Ron Barassi in the bookshelf somewhere. Very likely sponsored by a cigarette company. Will forward it on to Goodwin & charge him a lot less for it than whatever they are paying Choco. Really need to start questioning what Williams is bringing.

I'm really unsure of Goodwin as a game day coach. I think his planning and strategy are sound (and proven) for getting a club to AFL finals. The mysterious use of Grundy and Schache last year are prime examples of his management of subs. Hopefully it will an area for him for "learnings and connections"

Because Fullarton can't play at AFL level

Hodge and a lot of the ex Hawthorn players seem to really hate us. Apparently they really lost respect for us as a club in the bad old days when they were riding high. Punching down is firmly for heroes apparently... ...I think there are a lot of upsides from this game - and for next season. As I've said previously, this season is much more like 2017 now with the injuries and kids coming in. With a few retirements and some more salary cap space, we will be able to target some missing talent (kicking skills!) and I dare say we will be a destination club with our capabilities next season.

I wish the kid all the best. If we can get a promising young tall who can play multiple positions that wants to be at the club - I don't see much downside to that.

Absolutely. I think we've really flown under the radar with the mini rebuild and different strategies we have been putting in place this season. I really hope it pays dividends next season with a bunch of young kids being aware of AFL standard & what they need to do to excel, allowing them to push themselves and their teammates to improve.

absolutely agree on Jordan

Clarrie is one of the best players I've seen at Melbourne in my 45 years and wish him nothing but the best going forward. I really hope he can get back to his best AND become a leader of the team. If not, I really hope we can renegotiate that contract.

One of the best non-match report, match reports! Thank you!

I'm not 100% against JVR playing in the ruck, not too much, but it is necessary in the modern game to have talls that can pinch hit there. Luckily for us, he's pretty good at it. Unluckily for us, there doesn't seem to be anyone else that can do it. The question around Petty's form is a good one. He had a limited pre season but the drop off here has been stark. As for letting Jordan go, he didn't have a great 2023 and we don't have any insights as to what Sydney offered him - aside from guaranteed match time - so its hard to criticise the club for that.

We got these guys with the space in the list and salary cap that we had. They were always going to be top ups, which is fair enough for a team that has finished top 4 for three years in a row. They haven't worked out due to extra pressure created by a raft of reasons including; general injuries, Angus retiring & Clarrie self destructing. Id be happier to criticise the lack of improvement from the rest of the playing group, particularly around kicking and forward structure, than to criticise the recruiters. There's also a good reason to question why the Perry "experiment" has continued.

I think it was just for this season

They got Danniher from Essendon and Hipwood out of the academy.

The criticism on here has all the credibility of a plan that involves 7 small nuclear plants being owned by the Government, from a Government that does not want to own things. It's a team game and not everyone is going to be a star. This bloke could be very, very good though. The lad has played under 12 games and shown plenty. Loves the contest, is agile and has plenty of upside. He will never be a target forward, but a good 3rd option - and can swing down back. How many young players do we have that can do that and have his upside? Not many. I'm excited for his future with us.

Tell me more about this free Koolaid...

We definitely need to keep playing the kids. Turner, Windsor, Taj, Howes, McVee, JVR, Bowey. No harm in bringing in Kolt and maybe Sestan for a red hot one. I'm not a fan of Laurie or Captain Terrified (Billings). BBB looks like he has got to part of his 6-week cycle where he can move, so bring him in to pinch hit in the Ruck and give JVR some help / a rest. Let the rest know that they need to step up in Tracs absence and not only do some great home cooking, but win the hard ball, set lofty standards and exceed them.

This is from the M Malthouse who has been working at the MFC for so many years? Oh wait. Might as well ask my dishwasher for an opinion. It doesn't work either.

Good point on Pettys agility, I keep forgetting about his pre-season. I agree it's worth trying him down back as its not working up forward. He's a smart footballer, I really think we could be getting more - or maybe Casey could! Agree on the 2017 finish, I used that season as a comparison as we were in a similar place; hopefully we do better and barnstorm to the finals and set a standard for next season.

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.