bing181

"Realism". Seriously? Last week's relentless bagging of the club, the selectors, Goodwin, and those involved in picking Viney (13 clearances, 8 tackles) and Petty (8 marks, 3 goals — could've been 5) says more about the critics than the selections. A great reminder of how far these so-called "realists" are from actual reality. Armchair experts with zero info, no expertise, and none of the cojones required to take a balanced, informed view of current performances. But plenty of conspiracy theories.

Oops ... picked up a superfluous "y" there somewhere, apologies to Jason. Typo.

You might like to address comments re the RECRUITMENT of players to the National RECRUITING Manager, Jayson Taylor.

Actually, the reverse is true. It's in games like this against "weaker" opposition that you see what the team is capable of and what they/the coaches are trying to do.

It's almost (work with me here) as if they don't actually want us to do well.

Backline is a concern without May and an in-form Lever. But agree with previous comments, probably not the game to bring in Adams.

Nek minnit - contract extension.

Great win with lots to like.

Utterly delusional.

Jones was appointed because of his relationship with the players and midfield group. Perhaps not the smartest move in terms of football, but as an attempt to heal wounds and get people back on board, perhaps worth a try. Whether he stays on ... difficult to see, but none of us outside the club know.

No, you cannot guarantee anything. Nor any of us. It's the future and you can probably guarantee with some degree of certainty that the sun will come up tomorrow, but that's about it. I continue to find this Demonland belief that fringe players (who probably won't even have their contracts extended) are some kind of solution to something, bizarre. Howes looked on a different level in his recent VFL games, yet in the AFL he was vanilla at best. And players like Brown and Woey are not even standouts at VFL level. It's clutching at straws.

Maybe because we're still trying to win matches and even a painkiller-filled Viney offers more than any of those? Just a thought.

Generous of you. How patriarchy works 101. The only people complaining about women's sport are **checks notes** men.

And you know this how? You have access to the data?

it's a full explanation. He missed too much of that critical late pre-season/early season period and has been playing catchup ever since. (also see Kolstrup and to a lesser extent Windsor and Lindsay).

Women.

It also requires you to play a condensed season beforehand (2020) with fewer matches and shorter quarters. And in particular it requires you to miss the finals in the previous season so you have a longer break and both come back fresher and sort out any lingering injuries or issues. Knocking yourself around for another month in the hardest games of the year (finals) is one of the reasons it's so difficult to back up from premierships or even reaching the GF. Coming into 2021 we had a dream run in terms of preparation compared to the teams who had played finals the previous year.

Also also FWIW, in my opinion what has happened with the players/team/club over the last few seasons is almost ALL between the ears. Even this year. We can at times play like gods and match it with the very best. And then lose to the very worst, often in the worst kind of way (e.g., inaccuracy in front of goal). We're both miles ahead of the Norths, WCE's and Essendons - and miles behind them. It's not about technique (the players can at times do exactly what's needed), it's not about coaching (we can at times dominate opposition and counter their strengths). Lack of consistency within and across games is almost always down to what's going on between the ears. As to why, and what to do about it ... I have no idea. I do wonder though whether winning the flag has become a millstone around this group's neck, that they can neither move on from it nor refind the form that lead to it. The pressure and expectation to succeed saps away at them - e.g. both Goodwin and Salem spoke a while back about "chasing the scoreboard" rather than focusing on what you're supposed to be doing. There's a lot to unpick.

I was just speaking generally - these players and their loads (and everything else) are managed to within an inch of their lives. I don't believe given the data that would be available to the fitness staff that they're sending players out to play if they're underdone - or overdone for that matter. Also FWIW, I don't believe that fitness or fatigue had a role to play in the last quarter capitulation. Not any more than it would for any last quarter, when obviously players are more fatigued. Mental fitness and fatigue (switching off) on the other hand ...

The Simon Goodwin who was in charge in 2018 when we "played a much more exciting, attacking brand of football", that Simon Goodwin?

Recovery sessions are absolutely written in blood. Do too little and you won't be ready for higher-load sessions later in the week, not to mention the next match. Do too much and it's the reverse, you'll struggle later in the week.

Sums it up. People don't' want solutions, they want gestures.

Perhaps something like "the season in totality has certainly not lived up to our expectations as a football club ... however your Board and I are committed to doing everything required to have our AFL program performing at the level we all expect" ?

The trouble for many here with the letter is that it doesn't propose remedies that align with what they're FEELING. Because in response to BIG FEELINGS people want to see BIG ACTIONS - whether or not they actually achieve anything. i.e., people want the club to perform angry disappointment. i.e. it's not what the club actually does that counts, it's the optics.

Hopefully May in for ... someone out (backline). Up forward, presumably out one of Petty or JVR, though amongst the carnage we did manage 13 goals by 3/4 time, so something was going right.