Dee*ceiving

Get what you're saying DEE but while Port might have 3 mecurial mids they don't have the 6 time AA best ruckman of all time, the best full back of the last 10 years or Christian Petracca. Re: rationalising the loss to Fremantle I think we need to accept the players gave up. A handfull towards the end of the first qtr and a handful more at half time. The reasons for giving up is what we need the coaches to diagnose. I think it's a combination 3 players nowhere near the standard 5 playing out of position 5+ simply not fit enough/inured No key forward No CHB A terrifying realisation that Fremantle were hungry and we simply couldn't go with them. It happened against WCE as well but it wasn't as pronounced because the Eagles aren't as good.

100...Plus Kozzy and ANB aren't around the F50 to apply pressure

2021 was amazing. Ridiculous to denigrate. Would've been better in Melbourne but it does not diminish the achievement. In 2022 we got to finals banged up and limped our way through the second half of the season. In 2023, we were good enough to win the flag despite being with Melksham & Petty in finals and poor Angus being mauled into retirement. A FD failure with Grundy, poor kicking for goal in both finals and a JV kick with his wrong foot with 60 seconds to go vs Carlton blew it up. You could find millions of other reasons but whe you boil it down I think they're the keys

Clarrie will come good. It's most likely not going to be this year though. No preseason to speak of and other issues distracting for 6+ months.

TMac has said publicly more than once, his foot injury has restricted his jumping, speed and lateral movement, the key aspects required to be successful as a forward. Petty can run faster and jump higher, unfortunately he's not doing that at the moment...and he may not actually have, or want to have, what it takes to be a successful forward. Agree they chucked it in, because a collective realised after about 10 minutes of play that; we had no forward targets > 5 players played out of position at least 3 players not fit enough (maybe not good enough) to compete at the level some very tired and/or out of form leaders who have tried to carry the can all season (+2 more not playing) a realisation that Fremantle smelled blood and were ready to make us hurt and there was nothing we could do about it And for the first time since that final in Perth in 2018 it all became too much, brutal collapse. Heads held low, fumbles, can't hit a simple kick, can't stick a tackle. Despair & retreat.

100%

We shouldnt think we are a 15 goal worse side than Freo though, that's just not true. We got opened up in the first half, for the 4th or 5th time this year by a hungry, fast side I form, whilst we were missing our FF and CHB and have a number of players down on form and or fitness. This is the first time in a long time there was no fight back. The dam wall was broken and there was no fight in the tank. Two meaningful free agents, 3 more kids out of the draft, some style tweaks, Viney & Oliver back to there best and some improvement from the kids we have and we can climb out. But it shouldn't be this year. One last ditch effort to beat the pies, & if we don't we should be experimenting and getting blokes cherry ripe for 2025

Nailed it. Harsh of Brown, he was esssential to the flag and is just serving out his contract but everything else is spot on. I was dumbfounded then and moreso now that not only we couldn't make Gawn/Grundy work but we gave up after 1 unsuccesful plan and (maybe) 12 games, in a year we finished top 4! The FD/club have done a lot right but that was an utter failure and it might lead to a Swans flag

We don't have players that can score. Look his in the forwardline. Petty can't catch a cold, McAdam not up to it, Chandler just a battler. ANB and Kozzy are playing midfield, Petracca trying to do everything. We haven't had the cash the last 3 years. Sucked up by signing long term deals with Oliver, Tracc & Angus. Won't be the case this year. Already lost Gus (surely paid outside the cap, resraint of trade that we don't at least know already if it will or won't), plus Smith and will lose Brown & Hunter (on top of Harmes & JJ last year)

Agree, some offield problems no doubt bit every club would have them. Might ours be worse than others? Maybe. Ours do seem to get aired on public to a greater extent and then beaten like a drum by the media ad nauseum. I personally dont think we shooting straight to the bottom. Oliver and Viney will return to form, both are A grade as are Gawn, lever, may, Fritsch and kozzy. Some of our B grades are very good, ANB, Langdon and rivers We have some young players with upside JVR, Windsor, mcvee, bowey, kolt, Jeffo Petty goes next year, need to find a forward and a mid that can make a real difference. Don't have to be superstars but need to buy in, work hard and ideally have some X factor. We owe to max, and the other leaders that have been loyal, to open the cheque book and not take no for an answer just like we did to get may, lever and Langdon

It is the gameplan but it's also the players; 5 seriously down on expected form; Petty, Viney, Oliver, Bowey & Sparrow 5 being played out of position; Petty, ANB, Kozzy, Rivers & Langdon 2 not suitably fit enough or capable of meeting the requirements of the level; McAdam & Hunter 2 critically important to our structure not playing; Lever & JVR 2 removed from the list; Brayshaw and Smith (a massive handicap vs every other team) 0 back up for Max (v Freo), JVR does a manful job but it does rob us of a forward 2 recruited for the role completely unseen and unlikely to provide any relief; Schache & Fullarton

Great work @spirit of norm smith I think the problems aren't that hard to see, we've managed to paper over the cracks (mostly) for half a season thanks largely to our back 6/all team defense and some big efforts from Gawn, Tracc, Viney, ANB, Fritsch, Langdon, Kozzy and JVR. With fatigue, injury and form the cracks are not sinkholes. Facts Forwardline = completely decimated Petty, unfit, hopelessly out of form and not a forward. Averaging ~7 touches & 0.3 goals McAdam, either not fit or not up to the level. Cannot kick further than 30m Turner, learning the ropes, possibly not a forward and ulikely to evolve into David Shwarz with the support available Kozzy, playing midfield ANB playing midfield JVR didn't play v Fremantle (but has been an absolute warrior all season) Fritsch, a class act but is currently being asked to play like Tony Lockett. Very difficult for Bailey to play his role well without a legitimate FF or CHF Midfield = severely undermanned Brayshaw gone Oliver, not fit and down on form Langdon, playing forward Hunter cooked Windsor, trying but fatiguing Sparrow down on form Viney, manful but down on form Tracc & Gawn, trying to be everything, everywhere & probably saved us from 2-3 more losses Backline = dam wall finally broke Lever, not playing Rivers, playing midfield Salem, playing midfield May battered and bruised Tomlinson a very good VFL player McDonald steady but on the retirement tour Overall Playing with 2 less than everyone else, Brayshaw, a legitimate top 5-10 player and Smith, a useful utility Recent mature age recruits have not helped at all (Billings, McAdam, Fullarton, Schache) Rookies with serious potential are not ready (Tholstrup, Jefferson) Cathartic but painful to type out. I'll need to rest before putting forward some solutions 🙄...but largely agree with what Norm and others have said

No excuses. Hungry side on the rise vs a tired side on the decline

I don't mean to be alarmist, but put a fork in us WE ARE DONE! Playing 20 v 23, nothing in the cupboard. Hunter, McAdam, Petty, miles off the level. Can't kick, can't run, can't mark. AMW must play for the next month at least to see if there's something there.

Thanks for sharing that WCW. Doesn't help with the sadness of it all but it does give us a greater insight to the injustice of it all and how it's left not just Angus but the whole playing group/club feeling.

I was joking, he'd pick 18 backmen at a maximum 😉 Being serious, I love Goody as our coach. He has a philosophy and he sticks to it and continuously tries to make it better. He's also a bloody hard worker, a diplomat and incredibly resilient.

I think you're right. Though I also think goody would pick 23 Backmen of he could 😓

Forward and back up ruck...

Ouch, that Roo injury is a real low blow...😉

I can see 4 definite outs We are already two players down, Brayshaw (retired) (1) and Smith (highly unlikely to return) (2). Brown will retire (3); Scache will be delisted (4) Likely outs Agree, Tommo will seek other options (5) Petty will try again to get to Adelaide, especially if his form perists the way it has and we continue to play him forward. Crows will play the 'number one defender role' card (6) AMW, Verrall and Sestan are all second year rookies. Can they be rookied for a third year? My guess would be two would go, AMW the likely one unless he gets a taste in the second half of the season seeing he's been the most consistent of the 3 at casey (2) With McVee due to be promoted to the main list that looks like 6 main list exits (Brayshaw, Smith, Brown, Schache, Tomlinson, Petty), one promotion (McVee), net -5 3 rookie list exits (2 of AMW/Sestan/Verrall and McVee) Not sure we could afford to lose TMac.

Agree. At his best, Melksham will marshall the forward line, disarm the oppositions best key defender and hit the scoreboard.

It will be fascinating to see how Melks fares when he returns. He's been running and training for some time now so should have the tank (in theory). Question is does he come back with steely grit and determination or wanting for motivation. My guess with Jake is steely grit and determination, which would be an amazing addition for our last 6-10 games!

Agree wholeheartedly. Purely bizarre. I am glad we're playing on Sunday as hopefully it's bedded in better by then after the umpires completely eradicate the notion of prior opportunity Thursday to Saturday

I'll say it again. If a forward won his position as as often as Steve may does as a defender that forward would probably be the highest paid player in the comp. Backman don't get anywhere near enough respect.