Age

They are. Is why the saints defender had a career high disposals figure against us. He took about 14 of our kick outs!

Exactly, it's very easy to 'sell some candy' to a guy that can't move! Can even pretend you kick on an arc and just not actually come back in line with the mark and just run off. I doubt the umpires will pull the player back seeing as everything is to try and keep the game moving.

Let’s look at the positives. We aren’t playing finals this year and Goodwin will be gone at some stage this year. The future looks bright!!

Let's just all agree that if you want the system changed then the only way will be for us to win a flag and then have a top talent from another team want to come to us under free agency. Move will be blocked and free agency will be changed very shortly after that as you can't have a lessor team stay at the top for too long...

AFL has continually said that the need to produce the number of games that they do is how they get the current TV money. This year may have shown them that it they reduce the number of teams but increase the number of rounds, they could still get the same number of games televised and across more nights of the week which keeps the broadcasters even happier. Even being able to have rolling fixtures where they can maximise viewership by scheduling the bigger games has shown it can be done, such as how the NRL does. Who knows how long we may have to keep dealing with COVID and have restrictions on crowd numbers. If we can never have a full MCG again then the need to maximise crowds doesn't have to be a priority, leaving it solely to maximise viewership. It will be interesting to see the direction the AFL takes, more than likely they will head down the viewership path, whether clubs survive that shift will be another matter.

Didn't we do that last year though?

Whilst I like his appointment from a talent point of view, the fact we are already looking at getting in new assistants basically states that Goodwin isn't going anywhere and for that reason alone, I hate this appointment!

If only we had signed the coach to a one year deal....

Yes, footspeed really doesn't mean all that much, it is ball movement. It's interesting how many on here would view us as slow and unskilful. After we beat GWS in the final round of 2018, Phil Davis commented how quick we moved the ball and how skilled we were. You can't tell me that we have lost heaps of actual pacey and skilful players over the last two years so where has it gone then?

This is my worry with where our club is at. If we don't show proper improvement and have a clear direction as to where we are going then we essentially become a feeder club for the good teams. Who is to say that we aren't already that now, along with a few other clubs mind you. As someone said earlier, most players seem to love the NBA and they have been watching how the good players essentially just pack up and go to a power team so they can win a championship and how normal it has become for them. Even watching players like Lynch go to the tigers and grab a flag straight away and the way it is seemingly more and more accepted will make it more acceptable to them to spend their development years at a club, become a good player and then leave for success. The way that free agency is almost designed now, it sets up the comp for this feeder club scenario to emerge and explains how the cats are able to finish top 4 in 11 of the past 14 years. The draft was brought in to even up the comp but free agency has destroyed that.

AA squad is all about the reputation built up and very rarely about the year you have had, unless it is an absolute blinder of a year. May loses out because they essentially look at his reputation built up over a period of time, not just the one year. He had a great year this year but some of the other FBs have had a decent couple of years. It is a ridiculous system but that's the way it seems to work.

What will annoy me with Bennell will be that if the club was thinking sacking the coach, I believe this fine comes off our soft cap next year and may be enough for them to keep him on. That is unforgivable for me!

2019 we hand injuries. 2020 we had almost a full list all year, COVID can’t be used an excuse because every club has to do deal with it. The coach had a team he has pretty much built, with no injuries and yet, in reality, we were nowhere near it. If the club is serious about expecting high standards then these low standards that have been set by the coach cannot be accepted and he must be made accountable. Nothing will change though, why would we expect it to?

Suns will get some more draft concessions based on this display.

I said this somewhere else but seeing as we aren’t a big club you can expect us to probably cop fines and/or suspensions for this. That way the AFL can make it seem like they are reacting to this whilst not hurting a club they care about.

I see on fox footy them highlighting hunt grabbing Petracca at 3/4 time. What’s the bet the AFL gives them both a suspension. we are not bigger enough for this to be a non issue

He will be listed at 4 to 6 which we know he means his career is finished

You know it is guaranteed now that we lost tomorrow and then the dogs lose on Sunday.

If the AFL is serious about concussion, he should get weeks for his supposed spoiling attempt where he just belted Gawn in the back of the head in I think the second quarter. Gawn was down for quite a while after it and Mumford was nowhere near the ball. It's ridiculous how commentators just laugh at these punches to the head in a marking attempt. 'Making him earn it' rubbish. It is the accumulation of all those smaller hits that really add up, not just the ones where players get knocked out.

One thing that should help him improve is watching Langdon on the other wing and how hard he works. Will make our spread so much better if we have two decent paced wingers belting up and down each wing all game.

I heard the other day that there is an out this year with terminations of contracts not having to be in the soft cap next year. I believe it is the reason why the suns got rid of Solomon. He apparently was contracted for next year so instead of just paying him next year they took the out and got rid on him now. I haven't heard it mentioned too often so I could be mistaken but if true, this could let us get rid of him without destroying our caps.

Is there somewhere I can check the other clubs? For the oldest club in it, this seems ridiculously low! Is this then an indictment on the players, our development or the club altogether although the latter two go hand in hand and we all know we are probably the worst in the comp at this!

There is still COVID-21 to look forward to

Only thing to look forward to will be not being able to watch Goodwin stuff the club around even more next year. Those of who think that crowds will be allowed in Vic next year are kidding themselves.

If everyone is happy with someone who would be better than Goodwin then I suggest we get a possum with developmental issues. It would cost us nothing and whilst its decisions may sometimes confuse us, I believe it would be a step forward.