FabDemon

Great Post. Spot on. I’m amazed at the acceptance at an organisational level of below par performances by the team and individual players. Part of the problem is we haven’t had an elite , sustained winning culture since the 1950s . We’ve become used to losing and mediocrity.

Well of course they are not going to say it. However, it is very easy for any Coach or player simply dismiss poor performances by saying that they’ve got things under control and things are going to get better. It is reasonable to assess players and Coaches on past and ongoing performances and nearly two Seasons is a significant period of time. We do have some good recruits but some of them have shown little growth or probably have gone backwards eg JVR . It’s a not a one or occasional game thing, there has been a very real, sustained decline over the last two Seasons - a drop from Premiership contenders to where we are satisfied beating cellar dwellers . The fact is we’ve won about 7 out of the last 23 games - that is the reality of our situation. Btw I’ve been a paid up Member for thirty years , through thick and thin - so this has nothing to do with loyalty to the Club.

What I find most amazing is the extraordinary drop in performance in this side . Even in 2022 and 2023 we were a competitive , final playing side - capable of winning against all sides and of having long consecutive winning runs.Goody would like to have us believe that the sheer disastrous team performances over the last two seasons ( close to a cellar dweller) is all part of some well conceived plan- a change of game style etc I don’t buy it any more ( if I ever did) . There is absolutely nothing or little to suggest this team is improving or will improve. This is notwithstanding some individual player performances such as Kossie ‘ s this Season. That’s not pessimism, rather just a rational assessment of our ongoing performances.Goody never , ever accepts any responsibility for the rapid decline of this once Premiership team . Nor do most Senior players. I suspect many of them including Goody will just be happy to be remembered as the team that broke the Premiership drought . They’ve climbed their mountain and are all on a good wicket. Unfortunately since the 1950s this Club has no tradition or culture of ongoing success.

What I find most amazing is the extraordinary drop in performance in this side . Even in 2022 and 2023 we were a competitive , final playing side - capable of winning against all sides and of having long consecutive winning runs.Goody would like to have us believe that the sheer disastrous team performances over the last two seasons ( close to a cellar dweller) is all part of some well conceived plan- a change of game style etc I don’t buy it any more ( if I ever did) . There is absolutely nothing or little to suggest this team is improving or will improve. That’s not pessimism, rather just a rational assessment of our ongoing performances.Goody never , ever accepts any responsibility for the rapid decline of this once Premiership team . Nor do most Senior players. I suspect many of them including Goody will just be happy to be remembered as the team that broke the Premiership drought . They’ve climbed their mountain and are all on a good wicket. Unfortunately since the 1950s this Club has no tradition or culture of ongoing success.

Tom McDonald is 33 yo and has done a fantastic job from recovering from injury that could have ended his career one or two seasons ago. Of course he’s considering retirement and life after football. I remember him discussing retirement with me a couple of seasons back and his career direction. I love Tom McDonald , a terrific Club man , but he’ll only ever be a short term fix.

Clearly better entry into the Forward 50 assists our Forwards. We did improve in that area , but remember we were play one of the weakest teams in the competition with a very average backline. I’ve seen Roo’s ranked 12-14 th in the competition . However, entries into the forward 50 is only part of our problems up forward. So is the form and skills of many of our Forwards. JVR is no where near the level of a key forward . We don’t have any reliable talls . Petty is sub AFL forward standard , playing only the occasional decent game. Fritsch is scoring at a 1.3 goal average and his accuracy is 46 % - his set shot accuracy is very pedestrian. These are form problems of our Forwards.

You are so right ! He’s 34 yo Is injury prone , only played 8 games last year . He’s scored 25 goals this year out of 13 games played . A couple of goals per game . A big improvement from 8 goals in 8 games last year. That doesn’t even place him in the top 30 goal scorers this year . I love the guy and he gives his all. However , the Club is in very big trouble if he is the future of our forward line. It reminds me of how we continued to rely on Ben Brown ( another great guy) for about two years when he was finished at an AFL level due to age and injury. He probably has earnt an extension to his contract , despite the above but he’s no saviour of our very real forward line problems .

Fair analysis but let’s not get too excited. We were playing one of the weakest teams in the competition. We are still 13 th and only won 7 out of the last 23 matches. This was a reasonably good performance (at least in the second half) , but nothing more than you’d expect against the Roos. How expectations have changed , from winning Premierships and winning ten games in a row; to being delighted about winning a game ( after multiple losses in a row ) to a cellar dweller. I don’t think you can take much out of this July dead rubber. At best we can hope some players get some confidence and play themselves into some form. However, it doesn’t indicate we have any solution for the deeper personnel and structural problems within the Club.

We have won 6 of our last 22 games ! That is indisputable. Who is going to accept responsibility for this clearly unacceptable situation? Who is going to accept responsibility for our appalling, competition worst goal scoring efficiency? Who is going to take responsibility for the obvious unhappiness of long contracted, key players and their form slumps? Who is going to accept responsibility for the fact that the development of many younger and mid level players is going backwards ?Who is going to accept responsibility for the fact tthat we have gone from a Premiership , competitive team in a few years to near cellar dwellers ? Clearly not Goodwin , every presser is him trying to maintain that the situation is under control, we are learning a new game plan and we’ll be right . Why would anyone have confidence in this , given what has happened to our list and team performances , particularly in the last two seasons.

The fact is JVR has not proven himself as an AFL key forward . Statistically his performances are no where near those of key forwards in more successful teams. Indeed at times this year he seems to have gone backwards in his development. His performances are very inconsistent. The most that can be said in his favour is that key forwards take time to develop. Of course this does not mean that he will develop into a key forward - he only might. Another very long contract and for an unproven player. This doesn’t excite me as much as some apparently. Especially as we can see the problems developing of putting players on very long term contracts only to see them lose interest or suffer form slumps.

Interestingly my son and I in Adelaide had an opportunity to hear Gawn and Oliver speak at a social function. There was a lot about how great the 2021 Premiership was and how he didn’t expect to kick that kick at Geelong. However, when we left the night my son turned to me and said these guys aren’t really hungry for another Premiership. It’s as if they climbed their Mountain Everest winning the 2021 Premiership after 57 years and happy to bask in the adulation. He also formed the view Gawn was too close to his teammates, defending Petty -applauding his efforts at training and saying that it is difficult for him to play out of position!

It’s time for Goodwin to go . He and a number of other Senior players seem satisfied with their 2021 Premiership win ( and Club “legend” status ) and quite frankly lack any real hunger for more premierships. He is too close to too many players and at the same time has lost the team. The two propositions may seem at first contradictory but they are not. We need someone fresh , with new ideas, hungry for a Premiership, and who can reset the relationship between players and Coach.

It’s time for Goodwin to go . He and a number of other Senior players seem satisfied with their 2021 Premiership win ( and Club “legend” status ) and quite frankly lack any real hunger for more premierships. He is too close to too many players and at the same time has lost the team. The two propositions may seem at first contradictory but they are not. We need someone fresh , with new ideas, hungry for a Premiership, and who can reset the relationship between players and Coach.

We’ve become an undisciplined rabble …a shadow of the side we were … happy with the odd moment of individual brilliance