Dr. Gonzo

They were stuffed without a proper break last offseason so the skipper wants to go cycling around Europe? 🤔

Not only that but we weren't quite dominating clearances like we should have been with the ruck domination we had.

C'mon Geelong!! Couldn't stand the Swans getting a flag with all the handouts they get - priority "academy" picks Heeney, Mills, Blakey, Gulden, Campbell, poaching Buddy using their additional COLA Salary Cap, who knows what other "ambassador" payments they get to make outside the cap? Plus my wife is a Cats supporter 😜

If the next coach is not Hird he would want to get off to a bloody good start or there will be groups behind the scenes agitating for Hird to come back. A disastrous situation that couldn't happen to a better club.

Was back running within 2 weeks of the GF wasn't he? At the time I thought it was great but now it seems it was a big mistake. Obviously you don't want to go full Tom Liberatore in 2016 and decondition completely but you need some recovery time too (physical and mental). From memory I think part of it was the lockdown in Melbourne - there was nothing else to do except sit on their [censored] playing FIFA or NBA2k22 so might as well get out there and do some running sessions.

Yep I thought it was an extremely strange take on the Mongrel Punt as well - I think we clearly had the toughest draw including when and where we played, not just who. I mean we didn't even have a real bye!

Not according to The Mongrel Punt https://themongrelpunt.com/afl-season-2022/2022/09/11/ten-things-i-learnt-after-the-semi-finals-3/ Ten Things I Learnt After the Semi-Finals 1. Melbourne’s soft draw made them look better than they were

If Essendon go with Hird it will be one of the craziest moves in the history of the VFL/AFL and will cement their status as cellar-dweller/mid-table club for another 10 years. Going the saviour route never works, especially one as inexperienced and tainted as Hird. What are they thinking?!

Par for me is top 4 (Prelims) - we finished 5th. On that measure the season was under par. If you call that a failure or waste then I guess it was. My nagging concern is we are a one hit wonder who won a drought breaking flag when the majority of our supporters could not witness or celebrate it - I don't want to waste this list, another flag is a must. But things move quickly, no-one would've thought after 2000 Essendon would win only one flag or that after 2001 they wouldn't be back. Collingwood in 2010 and Bulldogs in 2016 were talked up as young teams built for sustained success. No one hands it to you in this comp, you have to demand it and be ruthless. This year we were anything but ruthless despite the rhetoric. I hope the players and coaches rediscover that selfless and ruthless edge that led us to the flag in 2021 or I worry we will just meander along for another few years and watch our chance fly by.

And a proper bye! No Thursday night game the week after Queen's, oops King's, Birthday!

Seeing the scragging going on at every single contest without anything from the umpires is one of the things that makes me question why I bother watching the sport

Sad to see him go but can't hold it against him. Seems like a decent guy and he's an MFC premiership player which isn't a huge list in the scheme of things. Hopefully he has genuinely said he wants to go to WA and not Freo so we can secure decent compo for him and not settle for two mid-1st round picks.

I was thinking about this too and even going back to post-GF and Pert requesting out first game be against the Dogs so we could unfurl the flag in front of them.

Problem is we'll end up with Grundy 🤮🤮🤮

We also currently have the shortest drought in the AFL for winning premierships 🤷

Almost but without the skill or nous.

We won the flag last year and broke the drought but the circumstances in which it happened makes it feel less tangible. Until we get to witness one in the flesh, at the G, there will still be something missing.

I think execution is a big part of it but is it also the gameplan which makes the execution difficult? We had a few relatively easy chances go begging so I think with some cleaner execution we would've put Brisbane away by half time (similar to the Collingwood game several weeks ago).

2nd to this why did we not capitalise on our first half dominance? Many games, including last night, we absolutely dominated the first 1-2 quarters without putting that on the scoreboard. Game plan, personnel, execution? Mix of all 3?

I think you are right but I am also right. It is not solely on the players and it is not solely on the coaching group. Take out opportunities early and we are up by 8-10 goals at half time last night. But we also play an extremely dour gamestyle which makes it difficult to score (perhaps because of our lack of genuine key tall forwards?) and got chopped up in 2nd halves this year (fitness, coaching or both?) I agree the coaches could've done more, I don't agree with those who are piling on with an undertone (or in some cases outright demanding) the club replace Goodwin. I will give them the credit to learn from this and make changes over the off season. I think they've earnt it.

It's irrelevant - when you're getting nothing out of your stars shuffling the deckchairs with the bottom 6 isn't going to change anything.

Should've been shifted back to the wing as soon as Jordon was out. Dumb mistake.

Why wasn't Kozzie pressuring him like he did in our two wins against them this year?

I mocked those who lost their minds when the sides were named and I stick by it. Bringing in Chandler, Bowey or Bedford wouldn't have changed anything tonight or last week.