The Taciturn Demon

I think I'd resigned myself to a fairly big drop before the season, and after those four bad losses, was convinced it was happening, possibly for multiple years. But I'm now really optimistic about this group. McNamara has gone to a completely different level - gun. Gall is playing really mature footy, which I just didn't expect from her, certainly not at the age of 20. I've always liked Chaplin, but she's better than ever. Denby Taylor is a keeper. Fitzsimon has always had a lot of talent - really solid skills - and now is finding more of the footy. Hanks is 24! I thought Heath might have reached a ceiling - I don't think she has. I thought Bannan might have been a one (very exciting) trick pony - but I've liked her pressure and contest this year. I think we're still crying out for another pure midfielder (Beasley may be the one), another composed defender with good hands and a crafty small forward (I reckon the best of Pisano is a way off yet). But the holes are nowhere near as large or various as I thought.

I'm guilty of that. But even as a figurative statement it's quite shocking. In the space of five or six weeks, we've gone from Goodwin saying he's never seen a player more determined to return to his very best at the club to people reporting Oliver has no interest in being at Melbourne.

Hear bloody hear.

Genuinely extraordinary.

Yearning for an easier fixture is one of the silliest things in all of football fandom. Just compete hard against everyone. "It's an even competition" is generally just a euphemism for "We're not good enough often enough".

You could ask AI to write a vicious parody of Sliding Doors and it would come up with something more insightful and coherent than the column itself.

I thought these kind of wins might have been behind this team, with its many injuries, major list changes over the off-season and several bad losses at the start of the season. Nope. Still tough and willing to change.

The media want us all to believe that trades are the main things that allow you to improve. They want trades linked directly to hope. But what lets you improve is really careful list management, player development, footy strategy, injury management, luck and all sorts of other things. Yes, trades are a part of list management, but so is drafting, maintaining a good balance in areas like position, age and experience, developing depth and so on.

Do you think our under 24s are above average? I'm not challenging you; genuinely interested to know if you think we're ahead of most teams in this age category.

I hope you're wrong as well, but think this is extremely likely, mainly because I don't think we're ready to bounce back and win finals in 2025. But I'm not convinced that we'll regret not doing it this year. Oliver is surely at his lowest 'value' in a decade. I have extremely high hopes for an exceptional Pickett season in 2025. Petracca may struggle to get on the park, but who was going to fit him into their cap and offer something enticing this year? All are in contract next year.

Killing it.

Phil Read and Gary Moorcroft levels of "What the eff are we doing?"

Me too. That's damning.

Mostly handballs that went nowhere or just handed the problem (of being under intense pressure) to another Swan.

Had the misfortune of watching at the ground, and there is a LOT going wrong. Yep, the injury list is really bad, but that was a total collapse. The ultra-risky, ultra-attacking game plan is completely wrong for this list - and I say that as a fan of Stinear. And the lack of numbers around the ball and then wherever the ball went was... almost junior football-esque. I think the sadest part is even at our worst, this team has very rarely capitulated. It did today.

I don't hate him personally at all. I do hate what his recruitment and continued selection said about our list management and "cultural" standards.

That's an awful injury list. The midfield was looking thin even before the Beasley injury. I guess a small (obvious) silver lining is getting to try players we may not have had Beasley, Mackin, Purcell and Paxman been available.

Mean Jean Okerland turning away to hide his laughter.

Another very simple definition could be "hard to play against". We're not that at the moment. At all.

Not convinced he'll suddenly start doing that in his mid thirties.

Bloody hell. The fall came quickly. We're back to fossicking in the mullock heap for a particularly nice chunk of quartz.

Had a really good run of games at the start of this or last season (they all blend together to me these days). Outside that brief period, he's looked Oscar McDonald-esque to me. It's not a very nice thing to say but the word "hapless" comes to mind.

I look back now and realise I drastically underrated Hibberd. I always liked him, but never fully appreciated how important that whole never-give-up stuff was until he was gone. I never underrated Harmes, but I put him in a similar category - what he lacked in skills he made up for in toughness and team-oriented discipline. We lost something significant when his form dropped. One thing I always worried about after 2021 was how infrequently we crushed teams in games we dominated - I'm not sure if that's an 'edge' thing or just a system thing. I distinctly remember going into the Carlton Semi in 2023 confident we were a better team, but terrified we would let them stay in the game. I'm not much of a predictor of football, but that's exactly what happened. And being brutally honest, I also think there are one or two mainstays in the team - considered un-droppable by supporters, football department and media alike - that aren't really ruthless by any measure.

I know there's a thread on hopes for next year, but I'm wondering about what you expect to happen next year. I know we haven't even got to the end of this season, and so much can happen between September and March, but let's say we have an average run of luck with injuries, where do you think this list is - roughly? It could be a ladder range or it could simply be why we'll improve, go backwards or stay the same as this year.