praha

I almost feel sorry for Essendon. Almost.

$1.2 million payout + you'd imagine at least 350k-400k as an assistant with the increase in soft cap. Nice little pay packet for 2026.

He is doing a good job of selling the list and club at the moment on 360. Hasn't put a foot wrong. Very positive and accepting. Seems to have accepted that lack of forward connection and gameplan cost him his job. Has said multiple times that things will change for the better and that the list is in good shape, that the future coach is walking into a good environment. Also seems set to be at GWS next year.

Heritier was good I thought in his 20 or so games. He also sealed that win against GC in Round 1 2015 which was our first Round 1 in like a decade. The crowd sounded like 80k when he kicked that goal. Great memory.

That was embarrassing for Caro.

He has already said he doesn't want the gig.

Yes Petracca gets a bit of a pass.

They had way more high performers than we did and ultimately that got them over the line. Liba, Bont, Richards, English, Kennedy... Gawn was our standout and the drop off is significant after that but we held our own. BUT you just knew that was always going to be the outcome. Petracca Viney and Oliver were just all astonishing average and uninspiring as they have mostly been all year. Pretty proud of the effort today. But it does sadden me how quickly our best players have dropped off. Petracca in particular. I really hope a new coach brings new energy and identity for these three. Super proud of McDonald, Disco, Culley, Pickett, Gawn, Fritsch and even Petty today. They all played a role in keeping us in touch.

Young superstars of both teams really turning it up in this one.

Almost identical scoreline to 8 mins remaining, third quarter, 2021 Grand Final...

This has got a Brisbane-at-the-GABBA vibe about it.

Fritsch's turn around in the second half of the season has been really encouraging. He is a great player.

I knew today would bank entirely on how well Disco, Rivers and Salem played. Their closing and defensive awareness so far has been great. We have lost it so far with our turnovers in the middle of the ground. Viney, Petracca, Oliver all with zero impact. It really is anyone's guess how we have even managed to win games with these three stinking it up so badly, so consistently. Good contest so far though.

(Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it, don't say it...) ... I really hope Goodwin changes things up today.

Gee with Sydney winning it will ups the pressure on every top 8 team. We could really cause some havoc if we had it in us.

Watch them get pumped next week and need to beat us to make top 4. We all know how that story goes. But if the roles were reversed...

You mean the rebuild that led to a GF and Prelim? Yes he never won a flag but got bloody close, coached in more finals appearances and never finished lower than 12th. We played in a Prelim and then finishing 17th. And backed up a flag with four straight losses at the MCG (never been done before) and two likely 14th placed finishes. On the flip side you have Goodwin who says we have a great culture and close to a flag in what would be a contract year. He was delusional.

Do you have more context here? Also I doubt he "threw him under the bus". He'd have likely been consulted by the board during the process.

Interesting article. In my view the board doesn't make the call about the list needing a revamp without doing its due diligence. Which suggests to me that either some leaders within the playing group, or some in the coaching group felt, or both, felt we were heading in the wrong direction. Interesting that Goodwin felt we would be contending again next year. Of course he would say that though: final year of his contract with no extension in sight. Which then begs ANOTHER question: had Goodwin presented to the board that we need a list revamp and rebuild, would he have been kept? Just fascinating that one of the triggers for his sacking was that he felt we'd be contending in 12 months. I think we have the pieces to play finals and should be playing finals. It just really does seem like a big delusion somewhere.

For anyone in the know, if Caulfield doesn't happen, what are our options?

You really want to go there? Comparing underperforming lists?

You missed my point. If North and Saints are struggling it is BAU for the league. It is not detrimental to the league and sport growth. Sydney can't afford to not be playing finals for as long as North and Saints have.

I like Longmire because imo coaching Sydney is the toughest gig in sport. The Swans are highly scrutinised internally at the AFL because they need to be playing finals to ensure the sport maintains a foothold in the state. There is a lot banking on their success. He did that for more than a decade and imv got Sydney playing good, feared footy for a sustained period. People criticise him because he lost 4 Grand Finals... but he got there. Do not understate how bloody hard it is to win Prelims... and to get there. He is definitely our man if we want to take this core back to contention quickly.

....a new coach? We deserve better than what we're witnessing.

2022 and 2023 seasons were pointless given we couldn't even get past the Semi in both seasons. There is a reason why no other team has lost in straight sets two years in a row from the top 4. Even Port has somehow managed to find its way to Prelims. You simply can't excuse that. No one is going to look back at the period and say, "well they were in the top 4 for a really long time." Who cares? We didn't even make a Prelim. Losing ANB and Brayshaw were the big losses, losing Harms hurt but I reckon losing Hibberd and Brown had a bigger impact than Harmes. BUT to say those losses would translate to being a bottom 6 team... it doesn't compute for me. At least I thought we'd be competing for top 8. Which we absolutely should be. Losing those players doesn't somehow translate to literally all of our top 10 players bar Gawn and Pickett being well below their best despite being under 30 and well in their prime. We have faced challenges but we are also grossly underperforming. The St Kilda loss was in my view symbolic of where we are truly at.