Go Ds

I'm so sick of so much of this. Most people try to just let things slide and bullies know this and know they can get away with a lot because of fear of retaliation . Whether it's having your lunch thrown in the school toilet, copping victim-blaming, being ostracised or portrayed as a troublemaker whose work complaint "suggests" theyre unemployable or on the footy field being lined up for a nasty injury the bullies prosper at every age. Who was it who complained against the turbocharged racial abuse from Damian Monkhorst a whole game? Winmar? All I know is that was about 30 years ago and Rankine's indiscretion is not the first "dobbed" in. I just know so many people are so hesitant to rock the boat that when they do complain you know it's serious. I get sick of the macho BS that's still out there. I had people tell me Brayshaw was a wuss for getting knocked out. Back in the noughties when players first revealed their mental health issues I'd hear the same [censored] say players on leave with clinical depression should just harden up and stop being pathetic. Surprise surprise we now have homophobia belittledby so many fans. Maybe at the edges Collingwood have been a little dodgy. Maybe the punishments meted out for specific indiscretions are comparably out of kilter. Maybe Snoop Dogg's gig is a complete joke. But let's get rid of the homophobia, which eventually will even impact players with gay friends or family. (And of course the elephant in the room is that not one - NOT ONE!- of over 10000 AFL players over 130 years has ever been/revealed they're gay while in 10 odd years of AFLW this has never been a problem.) I'm glad I didn't read the homophobic stuff and I'm sorry anyone including the gay poster on this thread was made to feel unsafe. A bit of respect and tolerance really shouldn't be that difficult.

There's so much supposition there. You could be very right or anything down to a bit right. Of course there's so many factor in this, including that the players are individuals rather than a single entity. Hopefully the new coaches are a high standard and thus make diligent decisions.

Yep, there's been some amazing transfers like Dangerfield, Neale, Lynch and J Cameron. But often they don't land. Of course we don't even know who the new coach is yet. But it will be interesting what strategy they use. Is this meant to be a weak draft?

No, but how much would it cost to lure most stars from a team they were happy with? We already have Kosi, Trac and Oliver on big money. How much wriggle room do we have?

Most trades are "rejects". There's also interstate players that want to go home, players that want to go to a team in the premiership window or for reasons like more opportunity to play in the seniors elsewhere. I'm not quite sure what you want. If we go out of our way to lure a star across we'd probably pay through the nose AND destabilise our already top heavy salary cap.

Fine. But do they have half-time in Hell? (Hehe .... Half-Time In Hell sounds like a good band name.)

Please don't go there. That whole debacle was depressing and embarrassing (and if social media were representative of the general public we have a lot of sad, hateful, ignorant people out there.)

No, I said something snapped midyear. After those 10 wins we were 6-6; which doesn't scream out premier. BTW you might want to re-check that 2022 ladder.

That's it! We're all going to Hell!

Don't they have Foxtel in Heaven? If not I'd complain to the manager.

That would affect memberships and tv ratings a bit but really in the grand scheme of things it's whether the players and coaches are happy with this. Are they? I doubt it. Most people want to do their best at whatever they do and I doubt many of our players would have bothered getting serious about footy as teens if they spent whole games being shown up. And i'm sure Bucks and / or whoever is new in the coaches will also want to break what seems like a curse.

Who's accepting close losses? Even if many fans were I doubt the coaches and players are. I'm sure I've seen the occasional coach after a gallant say they were happy but .... "happy, but ...."

Huh? Coach said Culley subbed cos he probably has whiplash.

I think there was a game where ex-Collingwood star Travis Cloke got his new Bulldogs team over the line and Collingwood fans were ropeable! Just imagine their grief if Buckley gets us a flag, especially if we mow down Collingwood to do it!

You make that sound like a bad thing! 😂

Hmmm, I came here to discuss the same concerns. I feel almost like something snapped in 2022 and we went from untouchable to never-over-the-line. So many times that year we'd get 4 or 5 goals up and if we didn't then get 6 up AND the opposition was in the best 10-12 teams they'd reel us in! In 2021 we'd tie a knot round teams they couldn't get out of. But almost ever since we can't 'beat' teams - they'd always know that if they kept fighting they're a chance to make us fall apart. Conversely I don't think we have done the opposite often in that same period - there was that Brisbane game at the G where Melksham got us over the line and arguably the Brisbane game this year. But I'm sure there are teams that can steal games they shouldn't and save ones they should. Whether it's tactics, poor coaching or on-field leadership or something like unaddressed player doubts or a useless or non-existent team psychologist we're leaving so many games out there. Even on this alone if the new coaches can solve this we can shoot up the ladder. (And it might even lessen panicked shots at goal and inside 50s and preserve our energy helping us run out games.) BTW thanks for your efforts this year, guys.

Thank you, no problems. I do contend that we do need change. But certainly a team finishing with a percentage of 93.3 and lots of close losses isn't a basket case .... just a work in progress. And who knows? Next time at training you might get to meet our new coach!

GW, I am grateful for your contributions here. But I really do feel the new coaches will need to look at this. Honestly I hope EVERY team looks at all sorts of things EVERY year. Usually I am positive on here too. Getting back to that if my concern is somehow corrected we'll become a much better team. I can see all sorts of reasons why we can improve next year. I'm quietly confident next year will be better. (And thank you for your positivity and training reports this year. I really mean that.)

I hate to be negative but I could argue this even goes back to 2022. So many times that year we'd get 4 or 5 goals up and if we didn't then get 6 up AND the opposition was in the best 10-12 teams they'd reel us in! In 2021 we'd tie a knot round teams they couldn't get out of. But almost ever since we couldn't 'beat' teams - they'd always know that if they kept fighting they're a chance to make us fall apart.

Right now I'm sure lots of fans can't ever see the current flaws/situation changing /improving. Of course that's not true. A few tweaks; even average 'game-finishing', even average team fitness, slightly better football intelligence, arguably better team morale etc etc; hell, even just a couple of these and barracking for Melbourne will be so much less frustrating!

How long is a piece of string? We may as well be non-astronomers pointing at stars in the night sky guessing their specific details. We get to see two hours a week of what our players do/can do. There's so much we'll never know, such as team dynamics/ "office" politics and individuals' private lives. I just hope the 'new' Melbourne factor in everything in their decisions and the fallen players that can bounce back are not recklessly discarded etc etc

Integrity? Umm, of course the AFL's not perfect but here we are talking about the league on this website and watching games and probably doing other related stuff like watching panel shows. I'd say if the AFL got unbelievably bad suddenly they'd lose millions of fans. So, yeah, I'd say theres still some integrity.

I'm guessing it's been said elsewhere but I expect more list changes than usual. Of course some will just be of those consigned to the Magoo's but possibly a few premiership players will get moved on too. It won't just be the coaching ranks.

If we got a novice coach Choco might have been a useful mentor . Of course I doubt Buckley would need that. Is this another sign that Buckley is over the line?

There's so much footy media out there I hardly pay attention to it. I'm sure the Brownlow and a few other big awards like the coaches votes help with salary negotiations and getting sponsorships. But most of the stuff such as Lyon's votes are just fluff. If after our losses next year he does this again once again I'd be more interested in other stats.