GS_1905

I think some of the damage done by Trac was irrevocable - enough to tarnish his reputation permanently as a candidate for captaincy. The only trait i like about him, is that he is a solid trainer and professional athlete - he will set good examples for the young team members if he stays, but that is not enough to be a captain of the club - just what i expect from every senior player. He doesn't have the humility or perspective to be a captain of the club, even if after everything that happened in the off season, he remains committed and loyal to the club, his actions at the time, spoke to a level of immaturity and self-interest. Can he overcome this? Certainly, anything is possible, but he is no spring-chicken and at 29 i doubt he has the capacity to change his ways. its a harsh take I know. But he chose to pile on the club, when it was on its knees. That to me is forever unforgivable. I'm mindful that I've been bashing on Trac recently, so this will be the last I mention it.

I think that is a reasonable and pragmatic expectation. We should be able to improve faster than Hawthorn did over multiple seasons as their challenges were more from an experience and fitness perspective. We have the experience and we should have the miles in the legs over multiple pre-seasons. So the remaining variable is whether we have the prowess to take on a new game plan. Similar to what the Cats did in '22 albeit there game plan changes were more or less adjustments as opposed to an overhaul. On that, i think it again demonstrates Chris Scott's ability as a coach and tactician - perhaps the greatest?. Media give great plaudits to Mitchell for the modern game, but reality is i think Scott was doing it before Mitchell. Amazing i think it was Scott's response to try and take the game away from a Contest and Defense style, which we had just won a premiership for. You just hope that if we finally get around to having a list suitable for the modern game, that the modern game itself hasn't become outdated.

There is always an exception, granted. But my point was that from a statistical POV they are an outlier. Banking wins early is critical, otherwise you find yourself chasing your tale for the rest of the season.

Its the mid 20s bracket that is worrying. We will be void of leadership once Gawn, Viney, May retire. Lever is a bit meh and hasnt been really performing since '21/22. Talentwise, you'd expect the likes of Windsor, Langford, Lindsay, McVee to have close to 100 games by the time all of the over 30's retire.

System and method- Its the elusive goal of all coaches. We can equally ask when we have a system that lends itself to plug and play.

We not talking about Simon on 360 tonight?

I think this story has peaked and moved on. Would have been more interesting if it was Monday night. From a PR perspective it would be really hard to stuff this one up. Expect one or more of the following lines - I love Max and Max loves me; we love each other - Max is a proud footballer and would like to have his time again - Max will tell you he was beaten fair and square - If I had my time again I probably wouldn't have mentioned, but it came from a place of love. too much?

I reckon we have kept tabs on Butters for a while. Pies are appealing, but they need some amazing list management to stay relevant. Their age profile is woeful and some of their players are showing bad signs. They should be 1-2.

This is everything wrong with the afl media situation. its ridiculous

Not denying we don't have issues like the next club. But i squarely put the public tantrum put on display by Sir Trac last year as something that has had quite a profound and lasting impact on the club. Again not saying the issues weren't there, but he has cause quite a [censored] stir. I seriously hope we get rid of him.

Stats will tell you top 4 is near impossible when 0-3. And finals is 50/50. So maybe not this weekend but it’ll make the prospect of finals incredibly more difficult. TBH finals isn’t even a thought atm, I just want the team to win a game playing good footy.

Is that legit? There hasnt been a whisper of this at all.

After witnessing the midfield performance on Sunday, he would ordinarily get a shot, but he’s also having a stinker of year so far so why should he be rewarded? Id make him earn it, make it clear and set KPIs and more importantly follow through if he achieves them.

Butters is a FA in 2026. If we can somehow get Trac off our books with 1-2 first rounders maybe we could get Butters with those picks this year on a mega 7-8 year contract. Why Trac you ask? He’s older than Oliver, has enough appeal to big clubs, and someone like the Bumbers could take him in desperation and give us 2 of their picks this year. Plus I’ll never forgive him for what he did to the club last year so will trade him without battering an eye. I think he’d be open to a move as well. A Butters, Langford, Oliver Centre square with Windsor, Lindsay, McVee off half back / wing on paper is a lot more balanced and has speed and improved kicking. I’d move Viney to the fwd line as others have suggested. Sparrow, Rivers midfield depth.

Interesting segment from Hoyne in SEN on atm. Short storey is that the style that won us the premiership in 21 is pretty much dead in the water and probably has been for 12+ months. Ball movement is king. Better kickers and decision makers is what will matter in the modern game. No surprises there. All pundits acknowledged we are trying to change and have some good young talent that should develop. Piled on Carlton as they are in no man’s land. Having said that the Bkies and the Dees were bottom 2 on offence profile so there’s that. I think what we do with Clarry, Trac, Sparrow and Viney will define the success of MFCs next era. They are excess to requirements in the modern game. Clearly you can’t get rid of all of them - nor should we try too but we do need to explore trades to free up salary cap space and get into the draft or trade space.

For anyone that was listening to SEN I was the one whole raised the Danger MRO issue with Gaz via sms. It was shot down quickly by Tom Morris and Whately. In the same sms I asked why Gawns / Goody story was the first one off the press with all the noise around JUH at #2 that part wasn’t addressed.

The thing for me which is most concerning is our stoppage setup when Gawny is getting beat. Surely the midfield group have set plays that setup more defensively in stoppage to try and counteract these situations. The North midfielders are talented but are still pups. We saw this against Freo and WC last year so it is something that has transpired before.

Wow Trac had a real good stinker: I actually didn’t realise how bad it was. Understand he played forward but his game was worse than Gawns rating wise.

I have an uncanning ability to mozz myself. I’ll wear it - intact I’ll celebrate it. I ain’t easy to do. I still stand by my initial comment though, he is bottom 6 material and doesn’t play the position well.

An elite kick he was never. Bowey is and always has been bottom 6. The sooner people realise that the better. Has he ever had a 20+!disposal game ? 100+ SC points? HB is the position for fantasy point galore and he has not even come close. He is holding that place for Windsor & McVee & Lindsay. After that he’ll be VFL bound or at another club.

Spoke perfectly.

We really do make it easy for Tom.

Why didn't we go after Caleb Daniel?

I dont think we can blame Chaplin just yet. perhaps its the forwards that are choosing not to lead. or the midfielders not wanting to honour the lead.

They wont come down hard on Goody yet. There's a few others in front of Goody who deserve more attention. Brad Scott and John Longmuir to name a few. Remember the later was a premiership fancy by some. Kingy this AM / last night said the era is over. I'm glad he finally got the memo, i think most knew it was over in 2024 and 25+ was about how we could reinvent ourselves to contend again. those thinking we are genuine chance this year were perhaps a bit fanciful in their expectations. Realistically we were a very slight chance to make top 4, reasonable chance to make top 8 but more likely chance to finish somewhere 9-14. The later wont surprise most pundits in the game as that is the expectation externally. It is what we do with this year that is important. Geelong were able to reinvent themselves in 2022 after several straight exits and miraculously turned it around and won a flag the same year - i think this was more exception than the norm. Hawthorn found their mojo midway through last year after being cellar dwellers for nearly half a decade and now don't look like slowing down. Same story with GWS. This is why 2024 was a waste, we could have moved past these teething problems but silly coaching and ego got in the way. There is a line though to performance. Everybody will have it slightly different including the media. I think if we go 0-5, Goody wont be around much longer.