demoncat

Mitch Lewis left out of the Hawks side this week in favour of Calsher Dear Get in his ears Dees - would be our number 1 forward every week if his body holds up

Richardson’s position should be under far more scrutiny than Goodwin’s in my opinion Failures on game day can be attributed to Goodwin, but the coaching appointments and poor organisation of the FD lay at the feet of Richardson From the outside looking in it also looks like some of the communication issues that disillusioned Trac last year were under his watch If we’re set on keeping Goodwin for another year, a change of Football Manager is bare minimum

I mean I for one would actually like to hear our coach say something of substance and display some personality and emotion once in a while Listen to any press conference from McCrae, Scott, Mitchell etc. and you’ll come away a lot more informed about what those teams are trying to achieve and with a sense of the kind of leadership those coaches are providing Goodwin doesn’t need to reveal all 11 secret herbs and spices at each press conference - and to be fair I’d probably be a bit prickly too when dealing with the quality of AFL journos these days - but at the same time it’s one of the few instances where supporters get a window into the person leading their team Personally I’d prefer not to walk away with nothing but learnings and other corporate cliches

I’ve got zero faith that the club has the nerve to do this FWIW I’m not saying blow it up and trade them all, but if we’re serious about any sort of rejuvenation at least some senior players are going to have to make way

A lot of learnings @Pirlo ?

The thing is he’s not even good at his corporate speak Maybe he’s totally different behind closed doors but I want to bang my head against a wall after listening to one of his press conferences, so I can’t imagine what it’s like “living in that space” as a player

Reckon we had AMW earmarked for this role this year Hopefully he slots into that back 6/7 next year

Jeez he’s shameless Took less than an hour for him to add that tiny little caveat that there’s no lingering unrest I’m open to any discussion about trading players if it makes our list better, but we don’t need to buy in to garbage journalism like this

Supposedly close to extending with the Giants unfortunately 😢

It would be a risk for sure but we’re asking for trouble if we go into 2026 with the same key forwards as 2025 Not sure who else is out there and potentially available

Would be all over Lewis if he sought a trade His body is a concern but there aren’t many near 2m forwards who can actually play Take the risk and get him fit I say

I’d bring Laurie in with a view to giving him midfield time for 3 or 4 games I don’t think he’s got the pace to be a half forward but maybe he has something to offer as a smaller midfielder who is good by foot It won’t happen though

Looked like the JVR we saw in 2023 and 2024 Still has a long way to go but it was just good to see him clunking some marks and kicking straight Hopefully does his confidence a world of good

Putting aside him having an interrupted preseason, I think Kolt needs to spend more time on ball to see the best of him To me he shapes as a mid fwd who has a 50/50 split He has speed and is a good penetrating kick, but his decision making and ball winning has been poor this year Hopefully a full preseason and more time on ball - either at Casey or at AFL level - will show us whether he can make it long term

Couldn’t have said it better myself and it’s that part about Goodwin genuinely believing that this core is capable of another finals run that worries me more than anything

We’ve reached the cliff for this group That’s not to say that these players can’t contribute meaningfully to our next successful era, but as far as this core goes they unfortunately won’t be the ones to drive our next Premiership I really hoped that this wouldn’t be the case - that there was still enough good footy left in Max, Viney, May, Lever, Salem, Langdon, Trac, Clarry, Fritsch etc - but unfortunately I can’t see any of these players improving in any meaningful sense from next year onwards That doesn’t mean they’re bad players, even in 2025 - all have contributed this year and at times been a key factor in our wins But none (save Max) can be relied on for consistent performance anymore - these match winning displays are inconsistent and unfortunately their weaknesses, which for a long time were overcome, are becoming more and more apparent, and I don’t think “just another preseason” or “just getting healthy” is going to change that So the question becomes who do we keep to provide leadership for our next generation? Who can be moved into different roles? Who do we have to move on to set up our next Premiership? I really hope the club is prepared to answer these questions as seasons end, or 2026 is going to be much the same

Curtin looks a gun but he’s playing in a top four team which undoubtedly has helped his form Just as Windsor looked a gun when we were in the top four at the start of 2024 Would Nick Daicos have been the player he’s become if he didn’t walk into a contending Pies outfit? Rising tides lift all boats

Disco could be a great forward but I think he has AA potential as a defender who swings forward when needed He’s also added much needed speed as a tall defender - an attribute Lever and May don’t have As much as we need another key fwd or two we don’t want to keep robbing Peter to pay Paul to do so

Rosas would be a great get We have an absolute dearth of small forwards who actually kick goals Give me a genuine small who lives in the fwd 50 pressuring opposition and sneaking goals over whatever guys like Spargo and Sparrow are giving us as half fwd right now

Sorry Wayne but that’s not a good thing 2021 Salem yes, 2025 Salem…

Disappointing about Brown We really need to bring in as much forward talent as we can With Bergman resigned and Brown seemingly set to, our options to improve our list via trade are dwindling

I actually think we should be looking to pick up some soccer players - they’d fit right in at training… Joking joking - welcome Oscar, looking forward to seeing what he can do!

If (and yes it’s still an if) Trac wants to leave/the club considers trading him, would the Hawks be interested? Currently hold Carlton’s first round pick and might be the only club who could be appealing to Trac while also having enough draft capital to satisfy us (Not advocating for it but seeing as the discourse is starting again we may as well get the thread rolling!)

Disappointing re: Bergman although hopefully we come calling again in another couple of years Difficult to see who is going to be available to make us better this off season (of course them actually wanting to come to us is a different question entirely) Would love to Lamb pull a rabbit out of a hat but it’s been a while since he’s done that…