D Rev

How is the club in free fall? We just finished a season that was ravaged by injury and brain farts where we were in contention for the finals right up until the penultimate round. We lost to Port by 2 points, and three other games by less than a kick. We blooded a host of new players. Those are all facts. There is a lot of media speculation about what is happening or has happened with Trac. Let's stick to the facts. Trac has requested a trade which will be almost impossible to get done. If it does get done, we will be much, much better for it. Trac has already lost over 5kgs and who knows when he will be able to train again? How is this free fall? It isn't. It's all a beat up. Settle pettle

You've used "potentially" and "possibly" within that. Let's go with what we know, shall we? Oliver had a brain fart and was shopped. Brayshaw was out of the control of the club. Within the week of Viney being linked to North, he signed a contract (which was months in negotiation, as they all are) Trac...well, it looks like Captain Petulance wants more IG followers or thinks he should get the same attention as Clarry (or more)...but, again, thats not a known!

Absolutely not. Why should the club reward the efforts he has contributed this season? Sends a terrible message. The club is bigger than the player. Let him play his 300th for Tassie.

My question is on the pod itself. Each week you say "thanks to our very loyal listeners" or something similar. What I'd like to know is, what are the listener numbers like? Do you have stats on average listeners / downloads, as well as variances for losses v wins? Are there any podcasts that were really popular v others? And the real elephant in the room; how big was the drop off in listenership (sp?) when Andy was away??! Thanks again team - love the pod

I think it is wiser to trust the results than it is to trust the media. The media are motivated by creating outrage to get eyeballs on them.

Firstly, it's great that you have obviously taken so much time to consider your thoughts for sharing. Everyone here cares about the Dees, which is why we are here. I absolutely agree that a review needs to be done of the club every year, and Pert has indicated this is what will be done. If the board deems it necessary, the review will be external (which I believe it is?). If the AFL believes we are too much of a basket case, which they did in 13/14, they will remove the board and bring in some pros (ala. Peter Jackson). We are clearly not in the basket case territory. We won the flag after 57 years in 2021 in a year when we only had 1 real injury (Tommo, who was superfluous) and were clearly the fittest team in the comp. Since then we have finished top 4 twice, but come into the finals absolutely battered. I would take a top 4 finish every day of the week. List management is an issue, but it is for every club. I think you have missed the point on Grundy, there is no way we could have kept him and it hasn't cost us anything. Would we have let Jordan go if we knew Brayshaw was going to be forced into retirement? Probably not. The point is that these things are more complex than you are representing. My main issues with list management relate to the lack of recruitment of a back up ruck, though am not sure what was available. We have the same salary cap issues as they other clubs and need to balance immediate and future needs. Not easy. Similarly, this season has been ridiculously close and unpredictable. That we almost beat the team that are now 2nd last weekend, sending us to 13th, shows that. Have we under-performed THIS season? I think we have actually done well given the injuries / availability's we have had, particularly to our top 6 players. Is this finish what we want? No. Is it understandable? Yes. The review will highlight areas of improvement and I am 100% confident that our Premiership winning coach and leaders will be able to identify the issues and respond.

I'd really hope that Sparrow would be happy to take any role assigned to him that will help the team, as I would any player. This match is a good chance for a lot of players to prove they have the desire to play on next season. Just checked our injury list and saw it includes May, Oliver, Petracca, Windsor and Spargo. You just can't replace those sorts of players, but it's a great opportunity for the likes of Hore, Howes, Kolt & Disco (at least) to learn and smash in. You'd hope some of the older players that have drifted towards the end of the season, or throughout it to really come home with a wet sail too. Go Dees!

Woke up this morning and saw this headline, dug deep to find the energy to read the next line to find out it was an article by Tom Morris' colleague interviewing Melbourne insider....Tom Morris. Really managed to push all my angry dragons back into the basement of my soul to read a little bit further and found the line (and I'm paraphrasing) "he isn't upset with Goodwin". Can everyone take a breath here? This is 100% click bait. The less oxygen we give this flaming pile or garbage, the less of it we will get. Yes, Christian may be frustrated with the club doing poorly, but he is hardly Tom Hanks talking to a volleyball there. Has Christian actually come out to any reputable source to talk about this? Do any of his actions to date make him seem like a whinger that is afraid of hard work? The majority of the footy media loves punching down on us because it's so easy. Our past players go to the media, cap in hand, wanting a job and will give up allegiance for a few shekels. Seriously folks, we have a lot of positives to focus on, not this nonsense.

Really appreciate all your work WCW!

Watched him train and was amazed by the size of him, particularly given his age. He will not get any smaller over the coming years, but will get faster and more confident. Give the poor lad time and give him a chance.

I think a lot of the posters here are missing this point - we do not exist in a vacuum but in the context of the entire league. Yes, we have been bitterly unlucky this season with injuries and stupidity (sometimes both): Smith, Angus, Clarrie, Trac, Max, May, Lever, Spargo, Salem, Bowey etc all injured or out for one reason or another. Some players have gone backwards due to injury, age or being exposed due to the overall (team) fall off in performance. BUT...look at Richmond and their injury list, these things happen and cannot be controlled. ALSO....look at Hawthorn, a young side with no fear that is learning to play together and running on top of the ground. With the right management and some luck, we have as good a chance as anyone to improve our list and performances next season. We've blooded a LOT of kids this year, more than most, which will provide benefit next season. No real surprises we looked flat on Friday. We are in a much better position than the pre Goodwin days, I do have hope for 2025.

Absolutely. If you don't support them when they are down, you don't deserve them when they are up.

I got in a fair stoush with the then-CEO years ago too. The bloke is a the pied piper of disaster, it follows him everywhere. Him getting hired by us, the 3rd club to do so, shows how small minded the execs in the AFL can be. You can link this to the Craig Kelly post (if its still up). I'm glad he's gone & that we've (largely) moved on.

I've got this date marked in my calendar so I get a reminder every year, it's good for perspective. If you told me we would win a flag in 2021 back then, or the 5 years after, I wouldn't have believed you. We've come a long way as a club, which is great, but it's also good to look at how the competition has changed. The Geelong and Hawthorn teams from that era were ridiculously good, so much better than the rest. Look at the competition now - incredibly even. I'm not sure if we'll see those dominant eras again. The competition is so much more professional now, although the AFL does seem to be resisting with its fixturing, management of match umpiring etc.

Excellent point. Lets not forget the pall that the tanking era left our club under in regards to culture and performance. We have to play every game to win. This season has been very tough for us from the start. We lost Smith, then Clarrie went off the rails, then we lost Brayshaw. All 3 would have been in the starting 18 this year. Why we lost two of them is probably up for discussion. Where in the world is Charlie Spargo? We've had a really tough draw; lots of travel and 5 day breaks. Petty had an interrupted pre season while Lever, Salem and Bowey have been injured and down on form (not so much Lever). To Goody's credit, he bit the bullet after "The Malice in The Alice" and played the kids. Lots of positives coming from AMW, Disco, Kolt & Windsor (who was already in). McVee, JVR (especially) & Chandler also looking good. Pup and Jeffo are two for the future, as are Sestan and Verrell. Rivers has been awesome to watch in the middle and Nibbler has really stepped up this year too. We've had the normal older and mid-tier players (Sparrow, Tommo, B Brown, Hunter, Billings etc) fall away or not be good enough. Milkshakes output has dropped, but thats to be expected. Fritta has been very disappointing despite kicking over 35 goals. It seems like Woey or Laurie aren't up to AFL level either, which is a shame but Im happy to be proven wrong. Jeez, I really went sideways here. In all, Id like to see: IN (any of): Sparrow (if he's learned his lesson), Disco (starting), Howes, Hore OUT: Woey (to Sub), Laurie, Billings, Bowey For those wanting Kolt in, he may still be out with concussion protocols. Jeffo, Pup, Sestan and Verrell all aren't ready.

Not sure about Langdon in the best, certainly tried but his disposal was pretty ordinary. Also don't think May or Lever had their best games. McVee was the best of the backline for mine.

Some excellent points made in this thread. It actually grinds my gears a bit when people make the judgement call about "proper fans" being the ones to get to games. Not everyone has that luxury, we should remember that. I 100% agree that 16k on a Saturday night is a poor scene. The AFL needs to take some of the blame - Melb v GWS is never going to draw a crowd drawing over 40k outside the finals in July. That being said, I dare say there were more people watching this game at home so the good people at Ch7 may have been happier (isn't that what this is all about?). Then again, maybe the Olympics took a few eyeballs away. I've said this before, but I would love for us to pack up our stuff from Casey and do a deal with Port Melbourne. This game would have had a real 'retro round' feel at North Port Oval. Regardless, I really don't want us to be a club that really gets on board the "only real fans turn up" mojo.

Both of them?

Don't know if Id start with Billings on - keep him as sub

Kolt wasn't great against the Dockers, but he wasn't Robinson Crusoe in that department. Brown looks way too small to be playing big minutes (which Kolt has been doing) in the AFL. He needs another pre season (at least). It sounds like Salem will be out, likely for Gawn. This is an absolute must-win game for us, we need to pick a side that will maximise our chances of winning. GWS have had a pretty easy run the last ~6 weeks and haven't been too convincing. We are a dead-set chance against them at home with (a supporter created) wind at our sails!

For everyone that is saying we need to drop x or y, you need to consider who we have to come in. We don't have a lot at Casey that are better options that who is playing. Billings had one of his best games for us after a long spell in the 2s and not playing a full game. Howes for and injured Salem is probably the only viable change, aside from Max coming in for just about anyone.

Fritta has been up and down this season, but has still kicked 35 goals - I wouldn't swap that for a young bloke that has done OK in the magoos. Likely Gawn will be back this week, so that will let us play JVR up fwd more. That will certainly help our midfield and forward line. Every game is a final from now on & we need our best team in. I really dont think Jeffo is better than Fritta at this point in time.

Happy Birthday to Clarrie from everyone at RevHQ

Given the amount of youth that we are playing at the moment, the senior players out or underperforming, I was thinking how lucky we are to have Jack Viney in the side. Yes, he had a better season last year with Trac and Oliver firing, but he has really been incredible this season with his leadership and continued efforts. As a very social person, I was re-watching the Brisbane game and he was absolutely incredible in it. We are super lucky to have him.

If you think that's me easily triggered, you should see me at the G sometimes!