Howard_Grimes

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.

With respect, I think your view is a stretch at best. Steven May has a history being directly demonstrative to players on field immediately after they've made an error in game. And whilst he wasn't visibly demonstrative to Max post turnover, I'm not sure Max would have responded like that had May said something like "head up Maxy, forget about it". In fact I'm quite sure he wouldn't have. He didn't push Turner away for getting over to support. And as history shows, May has an inability to compose himself after a team-mate makes an error. I think it's much more likely that May suggested there were other options available to kick to, or something along the lines. Which clearly Max didn't need to hear in that moment. I think taking your view also shifts the responsibility and focus away from something that May needs to eradicate from his game altogether. No other senior full back within the AFL berates his own team-mates in the way May does. Not only is it a [censored] look, it's simply not in any way constructive, especially on young players like Lindsay from the weekend. (and many others over the journey). And on top of all of this is that May is a culprit for consistently making huge blunders himself so half the time he doesn't have a leg to stand on, yet he still does it. And as far as the talk of 'care' goes. I mean, I wish people would scratch the surface a bit more. Screaming at your own team mates immediately after they've [censored] up is not showing care. It's showing an inability to self-regulate and adult one's self. There are several other options available to May that would show far more 'care' post mistake. May shows a great lack of maturity, leadership and care in my eyes when he screams at team mates, especially out young guys. And frankly, he needs to grow up. If nothing else, the footage of Max pushing him away and the media talk back around it will hopefully see him reflect on this pattern and instigate the change that is necessary. Agree, and what a contrast. May should take a leaf.