Bring-Back-Powell

A concerning high end pick considering we went to a lot of trouble to trade up for the pick. That bit of play where he took a nice contested mark and then centred it straight to the oppo was infuriating. However, you can't really fully judge a player until they reach 50-60 games AFL games so we'll reserve judgment until then, assuming he makes it to 50 games.

A few little positives: Melksham’s 11 scoring shots would have to be one of the better individual forward performances of the year. Yes he missed a few elementary shots, but 3 of his 5 goals were class. Petracca had a belter of a game today. Kozzie’s kicked 14 goals in his last 5 games which is unquestionably All Australian stuff. 3 goals and 25 touches today has to be considered elite stats. And our ball movement and punish off turnover was excellent in the last quarter.

The riskier decision is to retain Goodwin IMO. Membership numbers have absolutely gone down the toilet since the end of 2023 (70,000 down to 55,000) our win/loss record is going to the dogs by the week and the overall respect garnered within the AFL community and our own supporter base is rock bottom. I would keen to hear a counter argument as to why Goodwin should be retained for next year. If the answer is he’s a premiership coach, then look at Hawthorn/Clarkson/Kennett/Michell as an example as to why hard calls are needed.

Get everyone fresh for the North game as we might be a chance for that one. Was Kozzie’s hit suspendable or a fine?

Weather here is very mild and overcast, equivalent to a mid autumn Saturday afternoon in Melbourne so the usual heat and humidity won’t be a factor (although strangely enough we won here last year when it was in the high 20’s) As others have mentioned, GC are playing for finals and should be winning this home game accordingly. I just hope we don’t beat ourselves which we’ve done the last 3 weeks.

I was sort of agreeing with you. The entire media was after his head after an insipid first 4 weeks, and yet somehow played a good game against us in round 5. Amazing right..

And yet he still managed to play a fine game against us at Gather Round.

This is the bit that doesn't make sense to me with respect to dropping JVR and having Petty playing reduced forward minutes. We'll often have a fourth gamer who looked hopelessly out of his depth in game #3 against Collins and Andrew who will probably take 25 marks between them. Fritta and Melksham will have to station themselves deeper into our 50 to support Jeffo.

Today we have 500 members more than North. In 2023 we had 19,000 more members than North. St Kilda (of all teams) and Bulldogs (with justification) have moved past us. If we have a really bad end to the season from a W/L perspective and Goodwin retains his job, we will clearly have the worst membership of all Victorian clubs next year. We will have a supporter base completely devoid of hope for the present and future.

The only part of selection I’m annoyed at is JVR being omitted. We are absolutely killing his continuity and his attempts to get back into 2023/bits of 2024 form. 90% of the club can’t kick a set shot from an angle, Petty being the prime example when he killed our momentum V Port with a 25 metre miss from a slight angle. And yet JVR nailed one from a seriously tight angle. Why? Because he has a proper goal kicking routine. We’re losing games purely due to inaccuracy and yet we drop this guy. Windsor needs to come back in ASAP. Young Stars of the game are generally fully developed and ready to be consistent AFL players after 50 senior games, so it’s a complete waste of time if he spends weeks at Casey. We know he’s a known AFL commodity on the wing, so play him there. If we lose on Saturday, I’d rather lose knowing we were clearly the inferior side rather than bemoaning a 2.7 goal quarter which cost us the game. Sick of that movie.

Agreed. The guy gets better by the week and has a ripper kick on him.

Excellent call by Goodwin and Co. Finally some selection integrity. Dropping an inform T Mac after the club's best win since the 2021 grand final for an injury riddled veteran off a singular VFL return game was anything but integrity.

We have a ton of problems. A ton of them, and some of them start at the very top of the football department chain. However, the Kade Chandlers of the world, who probably commands $250K a year and provides good value for money in terms of his output, shouldn't be the "poster boy" as to why we've been a dismal football side since round 10 last year, as you've espoused above.

GC (for 18 hours only) are selling 3 game GA memberships for only $18 for those that are going on Saturday and want to save a buck.

Dogs won 4 finals in 2016 and 3 finals in 2021 for a total of 7 under Beveridge. We won 2 finals in 2018 and 3 finals in 2021 for a total of 5 under Goodwin.

I think this is starting to happen. Against the Pies, he was subbed into the game and played wing in the last quarter. Against Port, 5 of his 10 disposals were inside 50 entries which suggests that he played further up the field. He also needs to increase his disposal count per game. 10 touches (V Port) in 80% TOG isn't great at all. And in 5 of 12 games this year he's failed to tally 15 touches.

That's the ultimate salt in the wounds. One of our best mid season injury lists we've had in decades and we'll probably be 5-11 after the Adelaide game. What a waste. This factor should be strongly considered when important decisions are made later in the year.

Given Sam Taylor was out last week, it was the perfect opportunity for Derksen to get a senior debut last week, but not to be. Either GWS were being stubborn in holding him to his contract or he hasn’t come on enough for a game.

Yep, due back in 3-5 weeks. Probably our game knowing our luck.

Yeah I think you've nailed it. We'll kick 7.13 and they won't miss with 14.5. We'll dominate either the second or third quarter but kick an atrocious 3.7. We'll then give an undisciplined free kick goal with 5 minutes left in the quarter and they'll kick another quick 2 to put the game to bed. You can already write the script.

I think the club's going to have to be aggressive and over pay for a McKay type, with respect to key forwards. We're not going to shoot up the ladder with Petty, JVR and Jefferson as out key forwards for 2026. I'm blaming the last 3 weeks primarily on our forward line's lack of conversion. How do you possibly kick 26.46 and not lay most of the blame on the forwards? Earlier in the season we were losing games due to less scoring shots which could indicate that we were simply the inferior side on the day aside from the GWS game. However recently, we've dominated key stats including scoring shots, and that's on the forwards. You'll probably wonder how McKay would address our conversion woes? 58-33, 45-31 and 49.21 in 3 of his last 4 seasons is how he'll address our woes.

Nathan Buckley described Gold Coast as a side made for summer football. So I think the only way we're a chance on Saturday is if the conditions are damp at a minimum, and it doesn't look like much rain (if any) is forecast on Saturday afternoon.

Next year, there is an increase of the coaching soft cap by $750,000, and 20% of the coach's salary is outside of the cap. That might make it easier to move on the likes of Voss and Goodwin at the end of 2025.

Unlike our prior 3 weeks, there was nothing woulda, coulda, shoulda about that game. -25 for inside 50's and -8 scoring shots was very un Melbourne 2025 like.

The latter is happening. We have less members than St Kilda and Western Bulldogs. Both North Melbourne and Melbourne have the same amount of members at 55,000. This would have been unfathomable in 2022. We are declining before our very eyes.