Dr. Gonzo

That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about discussion of umpiring and umpiring decisions in the media or by coaches, players etc

The start of any solution is admitting there is a problem and discussing the errors when they occur, not merely shutting down discussion because we can't be critical of umpires and saying "it won't change anyway, stop whingeing"

Exactly, Melbourne under different admin many moons ago were told not to rock the boat or we would be punished via the fixture. That is dollars to clubs as well as the ability to grow your supporter base. Can NMFC afford to rock the boat, even with Clarko at the helm? Especially with their Tassie deal ending in a few years?

Holding people accountable is not abuse. Who says lower attendances won't happen? Even if attendances don't drop due to club allegiance viewership most certainly could drop as people become disengaged with neutral games. How many people on here have said they rarely watch games other than Melbourne? And these are diehard supporters that bother posting on a footy forum. The AFL will cook the goose that laid the golden egg if they are not careful.

Kind of a microcosm of society in general 😉

They see blatant indiscretions and don't pay them, how do you account for that? They are far too easily swayed by parochial crowds and umpire different players to different standards (ie the superstar tax which is clear as day). You then also have different umpires interpreting rules differently which then is another cause of inconsistency. You have rules in the books which are only sometimes paid eg "dissent" rule. Earlier in the year you could argue it cost Freo a game, similar last year in the Blues/GWS game - yet in most other games there is blatant dissent from players that goes unpunished. Why? It is either a rule or it is not, if it is a rule pay it. Otherwise it will get paid 1 time in a thousand at a critical moment and cost a team who will rightly be furious when the other 999 don't get paid.

Supporter dissatisfaction will place pressure on the AFL to fix the issue, especially if it is actually voiced in the media and not shouted down by the AFL mouthpieces like Whateley. If it doesn't the AFL risks supporter disengagement which will lead to lower attendances and lower viewers which will mean upset sponsors/broadcasters and less money in the AFL's pockets. Maybe that will force them to change to. Saying "nothing will change, stop whingeing" is such a facile argument. For someone who doesn't care much and tells others to stop whingeing you certainly seem to post enough on here. I think you care a bit more than you're letting on.

You're comparing skill errors to umpiring decisions 😵‍💫 And don't give me this garbage "players make poor decisions too" yes players are competing, umpires are adjudicating - it is a completely different level of pressure.

AFL will revoke the accreditation of journos who don't toe the party line https://www.afl.com.au/news/126891/afl-considers-accreditation-ban-of-the-make-up-media

Gee I wonder why? Perhaps that filters down to them from above, ie different clubs held to different standards by the AFL, different clubs given priority in things like fixturing, payments outside the cap, academy picks etc, different clubs/players held to different standards at the tribunal etc The game is run in an extremely amateur manner and by that I don't mean the lack of money I mean it's still run like a suburban comp with vested interests playing favourites.

Geelong may not have won many flags since 2011 but they've consistently competed for them. Prelims in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019 & 2021 and runners-up in 2020. In my mind that is consistent high performance. We have not stayed top 4 after 2021. We finished top 4 after the home and away season but that is only the qualifying period for Finals. Top 4 means making Prelims and we did not do that in 2022 or 2023, hence our respective draft positions.

A good culture means consistent high performance. Consistent high performance in the AFL means competing for flags. Competing for flags means making/being competitive in Preliminary finals at the minimum. Not winning flags the last couple of years doesn't make us a failure. Not making Prelims does and that should be the expectation of our supporters.

Still very angry with the last month if footy but i think we must back Goodwin in to get things right. Sacking him before his contract is up would be disastrous and would set the club back a decade. HOWEVER the footy dept must get a shakeup. Assistant coaches need a freshen up and for the love of god get a proper forwards coach in. I would also like a ball movement coach (eg Caracella). With Petracca done we should be looking to send any players who need it off for surgery early so they are ready day 1 preseason. Viney I'm looking at you.

Maybe use him as a follower/ruck rover type with Max playing a defensive ruck (ie playing ruck but drifting more down back up to the wing) and letting Grundy have more freedom to play around the ground? Have them take one side of the ground each (ie a wing each floating into the corridor depending which side the ball is) creating targets down the line on each side of the ground? Similar to what we did when we had Hogan/TMac leading up from deep forward on alternate wings as marking targets.

Yep, and he clearly felt Pert's comment about "best culture in his 40 years in the game" was a jab at him.

Never mind the stuff he presided over at Collingwood (Didak, Shaw etc) What a nothing article, can't believe these guys get paid for this. Not that there's anything wrong in there but there's nothing insightful either. Just rehashing and listing a bunch of issues from the past year or so. No incisive commentary on it. No fresh take. Just a few paragraphs of hot air which sums up Malthouse to a tee. Compared to the buffoons that are his peers in the AFL he comes across as someone who is highly intelligent because he is articulate. He's not, he's just another boofhead with a better vocabulary.

Very nice 😉

Australian Football is a contact sport, always has been.

We shouldn't be targeting Maynard with bone jarring tackles. We should be executing bone jarring tackles on all our opponents, that's the problem with us. Going after Maynard is useless, he is the type of guy who would thrive on it and let's be honest, probably laugh off most of our efforts. So you go and execute bone jarring tackles on Daicos, Sidebottom, Hoskin-Elliott, Hill etc. Nothing illegal just play hard and make them hurt. It should be like that week in, week out. That's footy, that is how you play to win.

I really feel for Trac, he along with Gawn and one or two others, seem to be the only ones having a dip and despairing where we are at. I hope he doesn't second guess his decision to sign that long term deal, a stint on the sidelines will be good for him I think.

They get confidence by slotting the easy ones early, running into an open 50 and banging then in from 20 out puts scoreboard pressure on and creates confidence. Yes, role players who come in to a system and perform. That was us the last couple of years but things have been allowed to deteriorate and now the system is broken and the role players just look like spuds. Whose fault is that? Goodwin? Line coaches? Recruitment and development? The players? A combination of the above? Whatever it is it needs to be identified and fixed ASAP otherwise the club will be left to look extremely stupid talking about wanting to be perennial contenders like Geelong and Sydney and end up being one hit wonders back to the doldrums.

I didn't want blood but I did want physicality. Not directed at Maynard either, just a bruising style around the ground. A Maynard "bounty-gate" would have been counter productive but there is still room in footy to "make them earn it" with a hard-hitting attack on the footy and opponent.

Where to from here? How can we lose to Collingwood the same way every time we play them? Bar the Kings Bday game last year where our game plan dismantled them (yet they almost came back to pinch it at the death) we have lost 4 of the last 5 against them in almost exactly the same fashion. They force us to the pockets taking low percentage shots leading to plenty of behinds and then get us on the rebound to walk it in for easy goals in an open forward line. What does it say for our system when we seem to totally fall apart after losing one key player (Lever) whereas Collingwood have a third of their best 22 out and plug in a number of rookies and are still able to execute a winning game plan? What can we learn from a Pies side that always turns up to play regardless of personnel?

Agree I think Goodwin deserves to be given a chance considering his runs on the board but he needs the fresh voices around, things feel stale. Stafford, McQualter, Choco, Richardson, Chaplin should all be in the firing line. If memory serves Chaplin was the only one who survived the last cull so he has been around for a fair amount of time.

No transition would've worked because Goodwin (rightfully) would've told them to get stuffed, Malthouse style. It's fanciful stuff.