rpfc

Our forwardline in 2018 was greater than the sum of the parts and that was because we were functioning through turnovers. We pressured and won ball back in our forward half. The cattle is not quite right; injured, young, one dimensional, out of form for periods... I am a big believer in structure and that can really help; we should create a central contest with numbers to the footy that was constantly coming through our mids. Pickett will assist to some degree, but we have to forget about the ‘indIvidual’ style of lead up 1-1s we strangely had with that cattle. But yeah, we are not too 4 unless McDonald is healthy and Gawn can rest forward. And forget about Jackson making a meaningful impact in 2020...

The warning signs being...geography?

Love this pick. They obviously targeted him and see him Round 1 addition (which is good because Luke J will be at Casey for a bit I reckon). Never draft for needs but if it’s an even field... we have such a need at SF! Decent forward structure and this kid running around and we will shoot back up the ladder.

Those with memory know my opinion on taking ruckmen early... He looks to have something more about him that maybe he can play a role on a flank or a wing if he has the lungs. Otherwise, see you in 2025... maybe...

This trade simply makes it a top 10 pick this year instead of next; the rest of the picks are now a wash. And it will all depend on where we finish and who we pick. I hope they get who they want and that they are right.

The only understandable trade would be in real time if we can’t get the kid we want - otherwise, why do the trade with NM in the first place? We would be giving up next years 1st round pick for to late first rounders in two trades entirely made up of picks? No following that logic path.

Might leave that for @Webber but in my case, the soleus was inflamed by my nerve issue. I don’t know what the scan would look like but a rudimentary assessment was that I strained my calf when I didn’t.

I had nerve issues in my left calf the last two years that the club physio up here said was a soleus tear. I was sceptical; I didn't feel it 'go'. Took ages 'to heal' in 2018 because it was a misdiagnosis... This year - happened again - trusted my gut and did some nerve therapy and was back after a week. I don't know anything about Bennell but it sounds like a 'good' calf issue...

Hi Jarrod! Nice fellow.

Well, this pretty much assures Jack he will be a one club player.

I'm more excited by Burgess coming on board but at least Richardson is experienced, although he is largely a replacement for McCartney. Chaplin, Rooke, Mathews, Plapp, Egan...and Goodwin... have little experience or had little when they joined. And with Rawlings spending most of the year at Casey - we didn't have much 'pedigree' guiding the players.

Both of these statistics are damning of the forward line, the forwards coaching and Goodwin. We get plenty of it forward but we haven’t set up well enough, or don’t have smart enough players to make the most of it, and our forward line, which has been dominated by ‘defensive’ players with no idea how to play forward, allow the opposition to leave the forward line with ease and we get murdered in transition. If McDonald is injured don’t play him, but if not, he has 10 weeks to work out with Weideman how to ‘compliment’ each other and for the smalls - let’s forget about picking defensive players - play the kids that can play forward and have high standards for defensive pressure. Other than that - get rid of the forwards coach. It’s 6v6 FCS, create a structure that leverages a midfield that is prolific bombers of the footy.

I should have known I needed to do more. Garlett can find the footy in the forward line. 9 touches in the 50 last week, 9 against the Eagles three weeks ago. No forward is prolific but he is the closest we have to a functioning forward who can find it in the right places. I don’t really care, this season is done and Garlett is probably in his last season in footy. But our forward line has been an absolute disaster this year - not all of it is at the feet of delivery. It is also at the feet of how we set up in the forward line and also how the FD place defensive pressure well above above forward nous.

Garlett makes errors but he gets the effing pill. Which exactly no other player in our forward line does. Only natural forward down there. If we are tanking, fine, drop him. If we want to win then play him.

Too slow between the ears. Depth now if he wants to stick around behind Lever, May and Frost.

I think we need to calm down... We have had a terrible start to the year and I really do think that this group having a month less break/pre-season for the first time in their careers is having a pernicious effect on the group. We have played poorly but our midfield finally has a constellation with Gawn, Viney, Oliver, Brayshaw and Harmes, our forward line has a proven goal scorer when in form, and our backline has solid base to build on assuming (yeah, yeah) that injuries are not permanent features of careers. I don't think we can claw our way back to relevance for this year but we are not what we used to be.

It’s stunning how quickly some players can simply lose any semblance of how to play to a consistent game plan. But we do have to face facts - our top end talent falls away rapidly and our bottom 6 players are VFL calibre. That, and a month less of a preseason than we usually get adds up to this nonsense.

I gulped when I saw the bump but... On point once again.

Powerful

We have had a shortened summer (by a month) for the first time in the careers of all the players. They are not prepared just yet and I hope they get there soon or the season will get away from us. But Goodwin knows, from the sporadic selection of our smalls in the forward line and back line, that we don't have trusted talent in those positions.

Whether or not I agree that we did anything 'wrong' we have been made to face a truth no other club has had to. Every year the AFL allows clubs to sit players and play youth, with the incentive of a higher spot in the draft. We have learnt from it and we are a stronger organisation. But we are alone in that damnation. The AFL are the ones that need to learn.

Really interested to see whether Salem is on the wing in actuality. Would love to see but I do not see a perfect replacement. And once again, a huge vote of confidence for Hunt, or what he brings is seen as so important and different to what we have in the team that he is given every opportunity.

The only question I have is if Ron Burgundy loves Simon Goodwin?

You old drunk...

Encapsulating where the club is at is a difficult thing but that video, starting with the pain of the Prelim my mind refuses to remember with great clarity, and taking us through the mindset of a young coach that knows the power of a buoyant fan base over young footy players is the closest anything will come to defining where the club is at right now. Well done to the club for putting that together and kudos to Goodwin who shed his buttoned down persona mid way through last year and revealed more of himself and what drives him.