Howard_Grimes

This should put to bed for good the excuse that in the past our lack of efficiency came from having shots from 'lower percentage areas' like the pockets. Sure that could be factored in. But. The overarching reason we are so poor in this area and bottom of this particular list is down to having a a large group of players who lack composure overall. And it'd be fair to say most of that comes from open play shots on goal. And it's been this way for years. Kicking ourselves out of games, literally. All over the ground but especially going inside 50 and at having shots on goal.

JVR is overrated by many and I think some of his early career games gave some false hope to some on here. He is an undersized key position utility who played his footy as that, a utility before drafted. And his under 18's year was mostly played as a key defender. An important couple of facts that people miss. He is most certainly not a natural forward. His positioning, leading patterns and overhead marking are simply not at the level that some would like to believe. So I think it's more about lowering expectations with him. As for the hypothetical of a Jackson trade, you'd simply have to entertain it. Jackson has far more upside given his talents and attributes. And I agree with others on Riv and Judd being too important and embedded in our group. Having said that, you'd hope losing JVR for Jackson wouldn't cause unrest in the group and they're obviously factors that will all be weighed up at the end of the year. The positive is that whenever a player wants to leave due to personal reasons, the club that player leaves from ultimately accepts unders. And with the addition of being able to trade up to two years in advance, we may not have to give up a young player like JVR. I do think someone will have to go though in order to clear some money and get in some more picks for getting creative. An Oliver and Fritsch would do it for me. (Fritsch out of contract at the end of this year too I believe which is interesting).

Not for you after that cheek.

He signed yesterday, announced today. I'll take it.

I just believe the thinking around our list needs to be more expansive. Which I know is hard on supporters forum! What our footy could look like without one of those players. Not a world where we try and fit them all in. We've been doing that for years with a return of the same results. Inefficiency going forward, inaccuracy at goal, poor ball movement and just a general inability to remain composed when pressured. Viney as a pressure forward just to make room Oliver is just shuffling deck chairs in my view. I think we just need to be honest now about where we're at as a side. Oliver doesn't scare opposition. Viney either. They know that whenever our bulls get the ball, all they have to do is apply a bit of heat and it will be turned over more often than not. It's been the same story for years. Viney butchering the ball in the forwardline vs the midfield is hardly an upgrade. It's funny, Collingwood could still unravel us even when those mids of ours were at their contested best in 21. Which should tell people a lot. The game is about moments and making them count. Collingwood are ELITE in that regard. They have players who consistently make the right decisions and execute more often than not regardless of pressure. Regardless of losing contest. Regardless of losing total shots at goal. Regardless of losing the inside 50 count. That is all it is. Simple. So it comes down to list. Balance. Attribute diversity. And with that, hard decisions sometimes need to be made for the betterment, growth and evolution of the list. And we're at that stage in my view. My concern is that Goody is so embedded in that group from a personal relationship standpoint that he will simply not be able to part ways with one of them. But I hope that is only my concern. If I'm in charge, I'm making some bold but necessary calls at the end of the year. Clarry and Fritsch, you've been stars for us, helped win us that flag, but we're going to move you on. And so a new chapter begins.

*Delete*

I am okay with it yes, but not just for the compensation pick and salary off the books in isolation. I think there are a couple of potential positive roll-on effects from moving him on. For one, I'm of the belief that we already function just fine and arguably BETTER without one of Oliver and Viney in the side. I think an argument can absolutely be made for that given what we've seen when either of them have missed games over the last few years. And no, I'm not just talking about last year when Oliver missed and was a liability at times on the field. Supporters are obsessed with individual stats and accolades and whilst Oliver's strengths when at his best are in the elite category, we've had a surplus of midfielders who dominate in this area too. Which is why it's not nearly as much of an issue as some think. This is especially so when all those players share the same weaknesses. Two, I believe moving him on will breathe new life into the group, I think a weight will be lifted. I genuinely believe that and I know some of what he's dealing with thanks to some inside info and I think a move would benefit both parties. Three, getting to your points about return picks and salary cap off the books. Like all trades, it's never about what you get straight back in return given the multitude of scenarios that are at a club's disposal through pick trading etc. But in short, I think it would allow us to further correct/balance the list either via trading up the draft or trading for a player.

Unfortunately for the fans, something has to give. It's a nice thought to be of the view that Trac and Clarry are getting back to their best. And even if they are, (I'm skeptical) their weaknesses as players too often highlight our issues as an entire side and too often it rears its head. Far too often. Not sure if I mentioned how often. TOO often. Take nothing away from our 2021 finals series and run to that incredible campaign. It was magic. But I think if supporters look through a broader lens at our issues from years 18-25, you'll see that not a lot has changed. Whether it's inaccuracy at goal, wasted inside 50's, bombing long, missed kicks or handballs, the theme is always the same. And they're all symptoms of an issue that we've always had. Composure. Across the board, too many individuals that we've persisted with do not possess enough of this trait. And it's been our Achilles heel for coming on eight years. Granted, Godwin's game-plan and our list build didn't require a great deal of compusure which is why we still see the lingering effects in our current on-field performance. If I'm going to be blunt, I don't think we can go into 26' with Viney, Trac and Oliver playing together. And I actually think the best move for the club going forward is to move Oliver on. For us and him. I think some supporters are still stuck in this vortex of the 21 finals campaign. As if we will still magically click and get back there, without realising that the game has changed, teams completely unravelled us not long after and our best players of that year are either coming to the end of their careers or players like Trac and Oliver have their own issues and there are absolutely no guarantees that either of those two will get back to their 21' form. Add to this what I've already pointed out about our list overall having an inability to show composure consistently and it's clear as day that we cannot continue to hold on to all of these players. And for the record, it's not that I think our players don't have any composure. It's that they don't display it anywhere near consistently enough. Which brings all the issues we see with inaccuracy, wasted inside 50's, missed targets, fumbles, etc. At the end of this year, we have an opportunity to make some hard but necessary calls and god do I hope Goodwin has the balls to make them. I fear that he won't but I hope he does.

Lord knows we'll need him post Max era. Make it happen.

I'm inclined to think that Max's reaction is the give-away here. I think due to May's very real history of absolutely giving it to his own team mates after making mistakes, Max was on edge upon Steven's approach knowing full well how he carries himself after a mistake is made by a team mate. And even if Steve was asking if he thought Max had more time, the following question should be asked to Steven: What is the [censored] point of asking that question immediately after our skipper has turned the ball over, ultimately putting the game to bed in front of his team mates, coaches, 80,000 people at the ground and thousands on TV? As I said in my last post. And this goes to @layzie too. Scratch the surface and dig a bit deeper here. It looks [censored], you don't see the best leaders in the comp behaving this way and to me it's obvious that part of why Max reacted the way he did is because May has a complete inability to bite his tongue when he becomes emotional which Max has seen before and he clearly didn't need any feedback or questioning post his mistake. And yeh, it's a [censored] look when you're 30+ years of age with a truck load of experience but also prone to making horrendous errors yourself. Maturity, humility, grace. You can still be a 'competitive beast' and 'careeee' but display those traits. May just needs to grow up and mature it's quite simple. Look at the way Hodge conducted himself when his team mates made mistakes. Can't think of a better example.

I'm not sure why you've quoted my post given your response?

Did I?

Announcement as early as tomorrow, we're looking good.

Take it or leave it, I'm the incarnation of a previous poster and can share that Kosi is set to sign. Stmj.

Agree. And I reckon our players are too scared to say anything to him when he makes the same sorts of errors, consistently. Which is why you never see any of them berate him after he [censored] up. They get over to him to encourage and lift him back up. At his age, he should be doing much better in this space and I'm sure the club would be talking to him about this behind closed doors.