rpfc

Agree with all of this. Tempered reactions and all that, but Mihocek will earn his money this year and next shouldering the burden of that forward line and JVR and Kentfield look to be our best bet to help him in different ways. Heath is the wildcard for the fwd line this year because he is going to spend an hour in there otherwise we won’t waste the bench spot and just play Gawn with a fwd doing back up. The smalls are wxcellent with Chandler and the picketts with depth the only concern. The backline has holes but are full of professionals who can mitigate risks and a couple of young guns to help execute his helter skelter game plan of half back. This will be the line that determines how well we go in games. The midfield doesn’t have to win much, just not allow easy pill, and Steele does not allow easy footy. I think we will be an early season surprise before the better teams exploit our HB line.

Racing Chair one day:

And that’s the key thing that draws the ire of firebrand ‘footy personalities’ when you lift yourself up above the fray when you are in the fray and the muck like everyone else.

DZ, Pert and Roffey waxed lyrical about our culture constantly. And what was really happening? We won’t talk about it on here because of litigation… that’s how bad it was… Can we not just pull our heads out of the sand and try to not replicate the mistakes of the past?

I don’t disagree. But remember; when things are bad, they can always get worse.

While I agree that our best players are young - historically, that is not a sign of a good up coming season. Secondly, without Viney that is our entire midfield from last year gone. How will we compete? We shall see…

That was fun. Glad they’re leaning into the ‘Aunty Donna of it all’ with our nuffy redhead portion of that trio. He cares and it’s useful.

3 words: we’re no good. Hopium and copium are not going to help us. We need talent and games into talent.

Ratings for watching NFL amongst Hispanics is what I meant. It is a growth area and the NFL only cares about market share, future profits, etc

Anyone listing a random bunch of anonymous X users is starting off on the losing side of any argument. The HT show was fine. It probably was pretty awesome for the segment of the population that the NFL were targeting in an attempt to boost ratings and profits.

Supporter access to training is such an imbecilic reason to justify any decision on where our training ground should be. I’m a bloody broken record on this but I have seen a few more think like me lately. I do not want them to care about ‘the social aspect’ for supporters. I don’t think ‘co-location’ matters. Casey is a great facility even if it’s a drive for some. Boo hoo. And, as an aside, they suits need a lesson from a PR person on when and how to communicate to stakeholders, lest they continue to make a fool of themselves.

Oh boy

Lastly, leave Kade Chandler where he is. He is one of the few players in their prime playing well in a position that suits him. He is a penetrating kick and is a pro. So that magnet stays where it is.

Steele will turn a ten goal loss into an 8 goal loss And I am being genuine

It’s the 4th of Feb and we are already at the denial stage of the grief of the season.

I didn’t really notice anyone particularly different other than JVR and May had slimmed down a lot.

He looked very fit and determined when I went to training last week. Trained through an ankle roll which is ‘resilience’ and all that. They have a mini drill that demands a hard lead on a 45 degree angle or if the two defenders are cheating, a lead behind. I don’t mind it but his issue is leading patterns and instincts in a game setting. I hope Mihocek is fit for him to learn off, for JVR to take the second defender, and crucially, to manipulate the defenders and the spaces to allow JVR to more easily find his spots to lead into and out of. He has been worked out so he needs to develop a more dynamic movement based game to get the pill. He is worth the effort right now with only Kentfield as a viable alternative at this point.

At Casey?

Perhaps. But he might be our second best mid in 2026 and Kozzie will be hard to ‘run with’ and disrupt in a football sense. Whereas Langford is a kid that would be susceptible to oppo homework. More and more I am thinking similarly to you for 2026. Late start for key senior players, best players are young, seeming role players being exposed to more responsibility, question marks on number of players…

DZ - I love you as much as one anonymous niche sport fan forum poster on the internet that’s probably not a bot as much as the next but we don’t have ‘some great kicks’ in the team… We didn’t think that was important and now it is more important than ever.

When I went down last week - Steele looked like the best kick in the team. Either a good sign OR A REALLY BAD SIGN

Well some are convinced of the successes of the club on hope and trust (re: training base in Caulfield) so why shouldn’t we provide our opinion on this ‘strategic’ move. I tried to find the font dripping in acidic cynicism but they ran out at Bunnings.

how about they just all shut up for a bit? This was the role that we were baiting Bartel with that seemingly had all the fun stuff a Footy Dept Head has without the pastoral care or ‘people stuff’… So Richo does that until he leaves once his contract is up. I have to say I am not a fan of this role; strategy and driving to a North Star should be of shared understanding and goal and not the responsibility of one person.