Temporarily Hopeful Demon

Bazball is the biggest myth in sport. I think Travball has more credibility and nobody uses that term in a serious context lol.

I totally understand the loss of Brayshaw on a cultural level but I still don't really see how his injury was the main reason why we didn't beat Collingwood. We lost that game largely on the back of poor entries inside 50 and inaccurate kicking. That doesn’t have much to do with Brayshaw. And it's also worth remembering that Collingwood were missing Nick Daicos that night. It's not as if they were without their setbacks as well.

Yeah honestly if he and Brayshaw were still in the side it would basically be a coin flip between the two

Wrong sport, but the Aussie cricket team fell into that trap with Steve Smith back in the day (though he's doing a decent job this summer).

Starc has been bloody phenomenonal this series. Carrying the bowling line up on his back in the absence of Cummins and Hazlewood. I think people don't fully appreciate how good this guy's been over his career. Will be badly missed when he retires.

Nope. Bont is 30 years old and is still among the best players in the game, while Oliver hasn't been anywhere near the top since 2022. He also has 7 AA selections while Oliver has 3. Danger is 35 years old and is still playing high quality football. His preliminary final against Hawthorn was out of this world. We haven't seen Oliver produce a game like that since god knows when. And as @dazzledavey36 said, those two players, along with Dusty, have the ability to go forward and kick multiple goals. Midfielders who can impact forward of centre are worth their weight in gold in the modern game. As good as Oliver was in his prime, he's always lacked that trait. Longetivity plays a big part in how I view players. It's why I believe Gawn will go down as far better MFC player than Oliver.

Pure insanity. He's not even in the same league as numerous contemporary players like Bont, Danger, Dusty, Franklin, Ablett Jnr and Gawn let alone Ablett Snr and Carey.

There were plenty of other players who helped us win the flag mate. It was a team effort. And I disagree he's our best player in a lifetime but that's for another day.

Utter stupidity of the highest order

I get that we all have our own opinions but for me we've reached the stage where it's extremely difficult to see how Oliver will go down as a better MFC player than Gawn. Gawn has the equal record number of AAs and is still among the best players in the game at the age of 34, while Oliver hasn't been a top player since he was 25. He also puts Oliver to shame in terms of off field professionalism.

Definitely our best small forward since Jeff Farmer (who was an absolute freak). I reckon he's a good chance of surpassing him by the end of the year, especially if he sticks with us till the end.

Couldn't have said it any better. The amount of babysitting the club did for Oliver was next level. Gawn took him in his home while his wife was preganant and the club let him skip the 2024 pre-season as well as a game this year so that he can look after his mental health. Yet apparently he's the victim of this barbaric club while Trac is the villain. Makes no sense.

Fair enough

Hate to rain on Oliver's parade, but I am genuinely amazed that people keep saying that he's our best player since Flower when we literally have Max Gawn.

I'm a huge Oliver critic now and I am one of the few people on here who prefers Trac over him, but you're just re-writing history. The year after '21 he was the AFLCA winner and the best and fairest.

For me it's the exact opposite

Mate he's a 4× AA, 2× Best and Fairest and a Norm Smith medalist. I'd say his 2020-2023 was one of the best four stretches I've ever seen from any of our players. I'd say he was very consistent for a long time.

Couldn't disagree more

It also hopefully gets rid of that stupid myth on here that he is so much more morally superior and committed to the club than Trac is.

I know that very certain people on here are going to be extremely quiet on this...

We were NOT a touch away from competing again. Sure, we beat Brisbane at home but we then proceeded to have only three wins for the rest of the year, two of which were against the worst teams of the decade to date. And our loss against St Kilda late in the year exposed how desperate we were for a new voice. Goodwin made numerous bad decisions that day (using Spargo as a sub, playing Petty forward, and putting Melksham and Pickett on the bench in the last quarter). It was obvious at that point that he was finished. He did plenty of good for the team but he had also well and truly overstayed his welcome. As for players "marching out" when King comes in, Oliver has been a huge problem for this club for two years and King made the right move taking a tough stance on him. His lack of professionalism has put a massive spotlight on the club for all the wrong reasons. And there's literally zero evidence to suggest that Mcvee's departure is to do with King, just like there was no evidence to suggest that the departure of Jackson was to do with Goodwin. It's also worth noting that Trac's intention to leave was already brewing last year, when King had no involvement in the club.

I meant as a person. And Gawn will go down as better than Clarry :)

Mate you have a history of criticising other posters who question the coach and the club's decisions and now you're already turning on someone who is still yet to coach a single game in his life. Funny how quickly you've shifted the goalposts.

Spot on. The reality is that in literally any other workplace you couldn't even dream of getting the same leeway that Oliver has been getting over the past two years. The club has bent over backwards for him countless times. The irony is that some of the people who are angry at the club over this are the same ones who have lectured others when they dare to critique the club's decisions.

Here we go again with people re-writing Trac's career just because they're angry with him. There's much more selective evidence to suggest that he helped us attract MORE crowds. He was the only Norm Smith medalist in this club's history and helped us win numerous other games off his own boot. He also famously carried the team on his back in our 1 point loss to Carlton in 2024. I'd say he's been one of our most watchable players at his best. If you seriously think that Trac's 'arm waving' and 'finger pointing' are responsible for our lacklustre crowds then I'd like to know what you think of May having a crack at his teammates, including his own captain.