praha

Houston gone for 3 weeks.

Cerra and Saad inside 50s put Viney to shame. "Woof" alright.

Read my post again. Having injuries during COVID seasons was the worst time to be hit. And I've never personally said our injuries at the moment aren't a reasonable excuse for our struggles.

The Eagles were hit hard by injuries during COVID which was the worst time because every club's football department were gutted to cut costs, at the AFL's demand. We were the exact opposite and won the flag. They never recovered. Their biggest mistake was not having a first round pick for years on end... hardly Simpson's fault. He coached them to two Grand Finals including a flag against the Pies at the 'G in one of the all time greats. They were flying for pretty much all of the 2010s. He and his team squandered post COVID, sure, but it was timing more than anything that hurt them.

Thinking of all the players currently well down on form: Petracca Viney Oliver Rivers Petty Lever Fritsch Salem JVR Gawn That is literally our spine. And mostly mid to late 20s. All of those players would walk into the top 22 at any club in the top 8 and probably top 4. If we can't compete for a top 8 spot with this playing group then you absolutely need to start looking at the coaching group. It's rare that a playing group doesn't "love" their coach.

We won't lose all three. We've also clearly drafted for life after them.

I don't disagree. What a sad predicament, really.

Honestly I'd rather keep Oliver because in my eyes he's more of a club man. He's a 4x B&F winner and just seems more genuine to me. Nothing against Trac at all but I've turned off him a bit since the off seasons. Seems the only reason he's "happy at Melbourne" is because a trade was always going to be impossible to get done.

Brisbane lost their first three games by a combined margin of less than we lost on the weekend.

Cats fans on Bigfooty really aren't confident...

I agree a lot of people are overreacting but last year from the Dockers game onwards was poor. Remember we also put in a no show on Queen's Birthday, lost to the Eagles, gave up a 50 point lead vs North, and had multiple 8+ goal losses. There were some good wins in there too but broadly in was a poor end to the year. Shocking is an overstatement though.

This is not just a season defining match for this club: it is truly club defining. And wouldn't it just be typical that after three straight losses to start the season in Melbourne, our one win would come in Geelong of all places where maybe 10 of us might actually be able to snag a ticket.

Even Hawthorn when they were bad were playing with structure and dare.

Adelaide looks good but defensively they will get found out in September. They score a bunch but also concede a lot. But also... how did we let North kick 20 goals. Jfc.

You play a positional and possession game. 6-6-6. With a roaming defender. And you score over the top on the turnover. Just as Adelaide, Hawthorn and Collingwood do

"Unlikely to face Geelong." Never been so happy to hear "unlikely".

If your head coach is not taking responsibility then who is?

We had 13 premiership players today, with a further three who at the time were on the cusp of top 22. The average age of this group is 27. This is prime performance period as a core group of players. On top of that we've had 4x top 10 picks in the past two seasons. This is disastrous. We are on the verge of going the way of the Eagles. The club really needs to think of what's next.

Simpson.

Jesus, Fritsch....

This is starting to look like a 10 goal loss.

Concerning transition by them... straight down the middle unmarked. Very lucky they didn't get a goal.

[censored] me, the kicking sometimes...

Bowser and Trac rightfully complaining about a 5 meter kick that was paid a mark... only to let a team mate run past for the handball. Petracca has to be better there.

I am watching on TV and it looks like there is a lot of space. I am liking what I am seeing so far.