Adam The God

7 hours ago, Demon_JB said:

I might be ostracised here for saying this, but I honestly think the age of a midfield group of superstars is over. The best teams are the ones that can

• Bat deep in the midfield

• Constantly rotate players through

• Keep oppositions guessing with a mix of different players in different positions at set ups

• Mix of speed, agression, grunt at different times

It worked for us in our flag year, then got exposed when teams with a much weaker midfield dominating us because they kept us guessing, and we always did the same thing and never tried different players. Just relying on our 'stars' which wasn't the way anymore.

It does not require bonafide midfield stars to win the midfield game. It requires hard running, cohesion and ability to adapt.

I disagree with this bit.

We didn't get exposed by weaker midfields. We got exposed by our inability to convert clearance and territory to scores.

When you're playing territory the way we played it, you're essentially trying to score when it's 18v18 in your attacking half of the ground. Makes it very difficult and even harder when you don't have great ball users - something we've tried to address with Langford and Lindsay.

Conversely, weaker midfields like Collingwood's would have space in behind when they did win clearance.

I do think it's important to have a diverse mix of attributes in the midfield though, particularly post 2023. You need pace and good ball use.

As for keeping the opposition guessing, I think it depends on the type of game you want to play. Because if you're keeping the opposition guessing, you might also make your own team mates double guess.

2 hours ago, Grr-owl said:

I believe that Monash does not have a sports science program….

They definitely do.

EDF3093 - Advanced sport and exercise science - Monash University

Why are we talking about Deakin when the site is right next to Monash Uni? Surely their sports science people can use our buildings from time to time and whack a Monash logo on somewhere, it can be sold as an educational site and help MRC with their debt issues.

So the footage I've seen of Windsor today is difficult to gauge. There's no pressure on the outside, so you've got flat footed guys being bypassed from stoppage and no one tracking Windsor.

If I'm coaching against Melbourne this year, I'm sitting someone on Windsor and seeing if that completely stifles our ball movement.

I haven't seen any of pre season, but those who have, do we have more bounce than just Caleb up our sleeves?

Don't get me wrong by the way, love Caleb, but he can only do so much.

Also, what were the numbers today? 16 vs 16? That also impacts on the amount of space for Windsor to operate in.

Thanks in advance.

On 08/01/2026 at 12:03, titan_uranus said:

We won 7 games in 2025 with Trac and Oliver.

We lose Trac. We “cover” Oliver to an extent with Steele. We gain in some other areas (Mihocek and CJ, another (full) pre-season for Langford and Lindsay). We also get to see what the rest of the list does when freed from whatever the previous administration had hanging over them.

With all that said, I don’t see us making finals but I’d be more surprised at us winning 6 games or fewer as I would at us winning 10+ games.

Yep, I think we'll win 8-12 games. A wide margin perhaps, but we still have some very solid senior players who will hold up their end of the bargain, and then some emerging stars and some x factor unpredictability (game style and personnel).

8 is the floor, with x factor providing a possible ceiling of 12 wins.

Meetings are taking place with key governmental stakeholders. I think this will get done.

Working with government agencies in my line of work, I know they have strict announcement clauses and announcing to members is made difficult for this reason.

I've been a big critic of the administration over the last little while, but I'm prepared to give them a little longer.

What I would advise is that the administration STFU about announcing any updates to members, because it sets a perfectly reasonable expectation from members for a promises to be kept.

It's a difficult funding environment at the moment, but I think they potentially need to get more creative. It's in the Monash precinct, a partnership with their sports science faculty seems a no brainer that I've never heard any discussion around.

If state and/or federal funding falls through, we need to strengthen our case for that funding by value adding. Education spending is always a pretty good angle. I'd have been exploring that route before going to governments. Maybe they did, but I doubt it.

It's a 38 game season in the EPL. But these fixtures are interspersed with Champions League competition (for the qualifiers from the previous season), the FA Cup and the EFL Cup, plus international duties for certain players.

The key difference between football and footy is the contact nature of footy. I believe the aerobic requirements of modern footy also trump football (marginally), and there's more rest moments in a game of football.

In other words, they're not entirely comparable. You just have to be physical and mentally fit for football, whereas footy has the physicality and contact that football doesn't.

9 hours ago, Wrecker46 said:

I’m a fan of the Guera era. Not sure what this bloke is actually doing but he will have a strong purpose. All our appointments so far have been spot on since Guera came on (even slightly before) when he was working in the back ground

Or he'll be compensating for another's shortcomings (Richardson), like Cook is doing for Guerra.

Surely they wouldn't make this hire unless it had a specific focus we're not over as outsiders.

It'll be interesting to read what the club says about the role.

2 hours ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

I think it’s a really good thing given the experience and success Cook has had. Guerra obviously has extensive business experience and great connections in Victoria, but fast tracking his knowledge on football matters makes sense.

I agree that it's great to have Cook involved but it's a great pity we weren't able to attract a CEO that didn't need Cook to teach him the ropes.

As for Guerra's extensive business experience, could you outline this for me please? Outside of the position at VCCI, what are his business credentials?

He is apparently a great networker, but is that enough?

11 minutes ago, rjay said:

Does this not show that we have a poor mix of skills on the board if probably our most important issue (apart from the on ground performance) is being handled by a novice.

Vice Prez is a political novice and CEO is a football novice. We need better attributes for the board.

9 minutes ago, Harvey Wallbanger said:

Exact words "...we continue to work closely with key stakeholders and (our Vice-President) is leading the project for the Board and has learnt a lot along the way about politics. .... it is a top priority for us .... we are not in a position to announce anything publicly tonight .... but we are really close...than we have ever been..... we know it is important for our players, our staff and our members.....we will share more as soon as we are able to...."

So disappointing...

It'll be interesting to see what low expectations allow us to deliver on output next year.

Most will have us in the bottom 6 and most wouldn't have a clue (myself included) who will actually play midfield and whether they can step up now minus Trac/Clarry.

We might just find that Rivers, Lindsay, Langford, Windsor, Kozzy, Steele and Viney is an incredible mix, better suited to the modern game.

26 minutes ago, deespicable me said:

Pphhhtt! A drop in the ocean compared to Victoria's debt.

Most of Victoria's debt is 0.1% and owned by one hand of government, the RBA.

No such semis are likely to be bought up by the RBA to fund this.

Most of Whitney's greatest songs IHMO were written by the brilliant George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam. I believe 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' is one of the greatest songs of all time.

I'm sure the boys listened to that or 'How Will I know (How Good Steven King Will Be As Coach)' when the CEO was busy getting himself lost in the bush.

I hope the latter is not a metaphor for his time in the big job. At least he found the desk after six months.

BTW, why did the new CEO go on the camp? I'd prefer him making sure we don't sign sponsors affiliated with bikie gangs.

1 hour ago, Sydee said:

All I want for Christmas is for Steven King to give us all the "Vision for Melbourne" that Jack Steele found so compelling

It will restore faith for many here that are teetering on the edge

Let's be honest, Jack was told he'd play midfield. Tick. He was told we want to play a fast, attacking game. Tick.

We'll have to wait until 2026 to see how it rolls out on the field.

5 minutes ago, Demon Disciple said:

Stewart is not a KPD and neither will XT be. Similar to Stewart, Taylor will be that hybrid defender who will hopefully become just as good as Stewart.

The point I was making is that May and Stewart are excellent interceptors. That's Taylor's role.

3 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

He's a Key Position players and he's shorter than our new midfield Onley Fans.....

Which didn't bother May or Tom Stewart...

Did Guerra do this deal?

44 minutes ago, The Lobster Effect said:

So if Essendon would have taken Robey and Sharp rather than risk someone doing a deal with us to take Sharp, would we have taken Taylor and Farrow?

Does JT not literally say if Essendon take Sharp, we'll pick Taylor and Pickett? Or am I going crazy?

Great content except they missed night 2 of the national draft...

I like it.

Fascinating framing by the incoming President.

11 minutes ago, Rob Mac...... said:

Thanks Adam.  I played for Scotch against Melb Grammars leading goal-kicker who asked whether I had a footy scholarship because his parents paid nothing for fees, uniforms, books or anything just due to his footy. I said Scotch had no sport scholarships at all.

I've lived O/S since and your 1st post made me wonder whether you had specific intel that all the APS schools had since become in lock step about this?

(must crash, 12.40am over here)  Cheers, Rob

I was in that system for 20 years, but stopped coaching end of last year, so couldn't tell you if it's changed in the past 12 months.

It's a pretty loose goosey competition and as far as I'm aware all the schools do it.

1 hour ago, Rob Mac...... said:

Scotch College gave no sports scholarships in the 1960s, though Melb Grammar did. Are you sure ALL APS schools do now?

A lot of them call them general excellence these days as the APS stamped down on it for a while.

11 minutes ago, Greg Schneider said:

What? Are you calling being in the emergencies a call up? A debut was never announced, not sure what you mean

A meeting with Goody, then got injured that week.

11 minutes ago, Greg Schneider said:

Best footy I’ve seen him play for us was in his first year at Casey on a wing, was pressing to debut (in a very strong side in 2022) but went down with a long term injury. Moved to defence when we brought in Lachie Hunter (good one 🤦‍♂️) and just doesn’t look like it. Wing / half forward in 2026 hopefully.

Did get a call up and then got injured before he could debut.