layzie

Our best start in 6 months

Excellent delivery

Classy Kozzie

Let's warm up our umpiring complaining muscles

Hate this side right now

Hopefully we can somehow get a win but if we don't we always have below and no-one can ever take that from us no matter how hard they try.

The conflicting views in the media are becoming unwatchable for me. You get a lot of great insight and I actually really like Horse's take here, but you also get a bunch of blanket filler opinion pieces that don't often make much sense to the die hard fan that watches us every minute of the game. One thing I'm getting a bit sick of hearing is that the game has passed us by. Saw a Youtube snippet on the Sunday Footy Show of Nathan Brown saying this and that we're not moving it direct and and going sideways too often and that this is down to coaching. I've seen first hand that we are trying to change this but for the most part it's not working for whatever reason (confidence, habit, disdain for the coach etc). We then hear this stuff about kicking to the square again I think it's a good take but how many long bombs have we had into 50 these last two weeks only to be cut off? Argh

Development is the one thing that doesn't get talked about enough when it comes to a club's failure, it's usually always the coach's gameplan, drafting and trades. The number of grade A talents we drafted from 08-13 is cringeworthy. Hindsight always suggests other picks could have been made but how the kids are brought up really matters. I don't have much faith that Dustin Martin would have been as big of a deal had we picked him. Hell, he was on the road to no-where fast until Richmond got the right off-field coaching appointments. While I do have questions about what we're doing at the moment with the development of some guys currently, it's streets ahead of what it used to be. However the Cats are the best at it.

If there was a Primary colour ladder we'd absolutely smash it.

Yeah good call on Phil Davis. The more of him the better.

Is this one of those 'always look for the good' exercises? Ok will go through it. I'm happy that we actually drafted some dynamic and skillful ball users in Windsor and Lindsay these last few years. It shows that the FD and coach do think along the lines of us somewhat and don't go for the exact kind of player each time. Other than those guys there may not be a lot to get excited about youth wise but I'm looking forward to seeing someone like Aiden Johnson, a man who knows this will probably be his only chance at AFL level in what is likely going to be a craрshoot season for us and seeing him play like his life depends on it. Lastly, it excites me that a new CEO is reportedly coming soon.

In addition to the above I've noticed a lot of people are saying that nothing Brad could say would make the fans happy. I see it much a bit more as "There's nothing Brad could say that can paper over the cracks the terrible situation the club finds itself in". Frankly it has nothing to do with the fans and how good or bad our attitudes are. I am glad that he has addressed the members. Brad is a stand-up guy and one of the most genuine people you can meet, he's one of us. However unfortunately for Brad he's putting his name to some sentences here that few of us believe. In addition to the great 3rd quarter effort we have: What I can assure you of is that we have a determined group of players and coaches who will drive the team’s response. I don't see determination when the ball is bounced at the moment. I see an opposition that usually wants it more and is ready to work us over. I also don't see a club of unity and players willing to walk over the hot coals for their coach, nor do I see belief instilled to the playing group. Our next game is against Fremantle at the MCG on Saturday at 1:20pm. It’s a new opportunity to show what we’re made of. Last week was a new opportunity and we got stung. We have another chance and I guess if we turn it up again then we're made of cream bs. An update on the review would have been nice. It's almost like when the calendar changes all that goes out the window. Can we just start playing some actual football?

I've never heard so much gloss about a quarter of footy. You know who else had a good quarter of footy recent? The Swans in last year's grand final, the last one. I'm sure that was the kind of footy they wanted to play. I'm sorry if this rains on the parade but usually these little veins of form during a game are fools gold. Opposition takes the foot off. Just like we did in the first, second and last quarters. It's like celebrating how good we looked in an intraclub game or training session against non opposition. I understand we're reaching for something because we are bereft of any positives but please. Next we'll be selling commemorative framed photos from the famous 3rd quarter performance in Adelaide.

The way this team has transformed their ball movement over the last 3-4 years has been quite remarkable.

We could be seeing the same guy BDA 😮 It's true though. A horrific incident and I don't begrudge his family for initially feeling some ill feelings towards the club. When it's your kids all sorts of feelings can swell up, I'm actually glad the club saw their way to breaking bread.

Yeah or complaining about a WWE storyline.

My thoughts exactly. Not my absolute first choice if we did get a new coach but if we're looking for a shake up and a new approach then this would be it. Bevo is a matchday coach and not afraid to swing the changes if things aren't working. In 2023 I was lucky enough to attend a Bulldogs inner sanctum event at Marvel with Bevo and Bont. His journey to senior coach was quite different to a lot of others, after his playing career and first assistant gig at Collingwood he actually went and worked for a Governement Financial intelligence agency and gained good people management skills in business before coming back to work under Clarko at Hawthorn. He's extremely well read, believes in constant personal development for everyone and a really good listener. The kind of listener that makes you feel important no matter who you are. Plenty of respect.

I think expecting the bare minimum as a membership holder is pretty fair.

People talk about our gameplan mainly from a ball movement view but things are seriously falling down from a defensive point of view as well. The moment the game starts, the uncontested possession differential grows and grows in favour of the opposition. You can put it down to fitness late in the game but in the first 5 minutes? We tighten this up in the third quarter and surprised surprise get back in the match. We start the last quarter with Essendon on top again in uncontested possessions and the match is gone. This statistic is 100% synonymous with opposition scores at the moment and is our kryptonite so if it isn't by design what can we do to stop it?

Would be nice to see him tried out there at some point. See what we have.

I'm not talking about this every week. Wouldn't waste my energy

Great more problems. I'm trying to run a business here which is that business of my own sanity on a weekend and these things are like inconvenient employees coming to me with problems. I have problems of my own.

Bet you guys didn't see this coming.

I think you are dead right. He's had a fair burden on his shoulders these last few years dealing with all sorts of rumours and ridiculous behaviour from players. He's one man and he's given his all. I don't know who the ideal candidate is but I think Max has done his share.

At least it's happened now I guess.