bing181

Imagine it would be pretty hard out there, given what was going on all around him.

Bowey very good, Rivers worked his way back into it after some howlers, had looked off the pace for the first 2 games, May will be better for the run, great to have Melksham back - if only the ball could get to his part of the ground more often - Langford has cemented his place for the rest of the season, and we have Pickett and Lever back next week.

Melksham being Melksham. Has been missed. (Not that it'll make all that much difference when there are so many problems elsewhere.)

Dropped marks, miskicks, handballs that fail to travel a metre, constant turnovers, etc. etc. nothing to do with Goodwin.

At that stage of the season (already) where you try and find positives amongst the dross. Johnson brings something, a bit agricultural at times but you know what you get. Langford has shown a bit. Bowey back to his best. Apart from all that, if we could just not turn the ball over things would look very different, but that's a big if.

Nicely done, and appreciate the work you've put in. However, if you haven't already, I'd look into Digital Accessibility, and in particular, the WCAG guidelines. For me, the site is still much too busy, with too much (visual) information. e.g., we have access to Training Reports on the left, but then again via a link at the bottom of each page. Same for the podcast which appears not just on the left, but at the bottom of the page and again on the right. Once would be enough and would be both more efficient and help make the site more accessible. My 2c, and yes, I've done some work in this area, as many many people are being excluded from participating fully in on-line content and culture.

They were.

Of course. Because everything that players do on the field - turnovers, clangers, miskicks, dropped marks, OOB on the full, free kicks given, points that could have been goals - all those things happen because players intend them to.

Unless I'm mistaken, Fogarty and Walker are into their 8th season together, Tilthorpe (who was a number 2 pick) is into his 5th with those two. Our 3 equivalent (JVR, Turner, then either Jefferson or Johnson) have had two *games* together.

It's a fluff piece background interview, streaming fodder. FFS people, get a grip. If you don't like it, don't watch it.

So, just play players where we've always played them and do what we've always done - or at least since 2021? Just checking, sometimes it's hard to keep up on Demonland.

"Melbourne mercurial forward Bayley Fritsch has been named as one to watch throughout 2025 as his future at the Demons has been thrown up in the air." https://www.zerohanger.com/rivals-tipped-to-pursue-clinical-finisher-159950/

I believe we have 19 players OOC, (18 if May has been extended). Quite a few of those are fringe players who we've been persisting with, so you'd imagine there'll be a few on the way out. Equally, you have to bring other players in to replace them and we only have 3 draft picks, with 2 of those being in the 50's, so some work to be done.

That's odd. In his last 5 seasons at Hawthorn they only finished in the eight once, and across his last 2 seasons they won a total of 12 games (finishing 12th and 13th). I wonder why he didn't just change their game style to something more successful.

They can fix it - just not in one pre-season. Though it's almost entirely on the players IMV, from what we know/have heard the coaching staff are trying to implement a different approach, and have been since last season. Also IMV only real fix is a change to the list, prioritising players with smarts and good skills. Which we've been doing (Windsor, Lindsay etc), but see above, it's not a quick fix.

Touched on by Garry Lyon on AFL360 - that the players who get the ball the most are also the ones who have poor disposal.

Perhaps there's more to Goodwin's "backstory" comment than just Max? We know that a few players have been ill of late (e.g., Turner last weekend), perhaps there's a bit going on in. (Not excusing anyone either.)

Hopefully some of the Brayshaw money, so that could be half of the equation in enabling us to put a juicy long-term contract on the table. Keeping their club happy will be another story, though even at the moment we have R2 plus future 1st. Perhaps not enough, but if they're OOC or better, a free agent, we could be in an OK position.

Exactly!!! ... hopefully there's some work going on behind the scenes.

Why do you presume that that's not happening? But talking about it, instructing it, even training it is vastly different to executing it on game day under pressure - especially for players who are not particular smart or skilled with ball in hand (but may have other strengths). Goodwin has been clear in a number of interviews this year that we're trying to do things differently. Equally clear that it's a work in progress, that we're not always getting it right, that at times that we're "going back to bad habits" and playing in a way that "isn't a reflection of what we're trying to do", etc. etc. Worth watching AFL360, not just for Goodwin (though he doesn't give much away ...), but for the discussion of rebuilds and changing game styles with Simpson (especially) and Longmire. Simpson talks about it taking 3 years before you start to see results. Going to be a long season I suspect.

Not helped by the forced retirement of Angus B and departure of ANB. Melksham leaving will also leave a leadership hole, especially up forward which is where we need it most. Lever does enough on-field to justify his place, and will continue to provide leadership on/off field. Butters is the obvious target, Harley Reid the very very long shot. But I'd be looking at late/mid-career KPF's who have their heads screwed on and can help steer the ship up forward.

In 22 and 23 we *were* in the leading pack, finishing top 4 both seasons. Even last year, in round 12 we were sitting 4th and as late as round 19 we were in the 8. Bit of rewriting of history/hindsight bias going on ...

Perhaps. But Scott has at his disposal a team that's much more even across the ground than ours, with both experience and skill. Not saying changing a game style is easy, but some players/teams are going to be more capable of making the change than others. (Not to mention that Geelong picked up both Cameron and Stengle prior to the 22 season ...)

My bad (hard to tell from telly). Equally, 6 turnovers and only 1 contested possession isn't a great day out wherever he's playing. And even when he was played on-ball against GWS (I believe?), he only managed one stoppage clearance and no centre clearances. Seems a bit lost at the moment, though he's not Robinson Crusoe.

Agree with the gist of your post, but not sure of this. Oliver had more possessions than anyone on Sunday, that's not something you throw out because he's missing targets. One or two classy, skilful on-ballers alongside our inside bulls would make a world of difference. We have that in the likes of Windsor and Lindsay, but they're a couple of seasons away from being able to make a real difference on-ball. As for cap space, yes, it has clearly been an issue, but perhaps with natural attrition there'll be a bit more in the kitty come trade period. McDonald and Melksham (though on minimal coin?) are two obvious ones to leave, and hopefully there's still some Brayshaw money sloshing around. Equally, if there are any quality mids available and we want to be in the discussion we'll need serious money and not sure where that'll come from. I can't see any of our big-3 mids leaving, either because they don't want to or there won't be any takers - too expensive for starters, Oliver and Petracca are on massive contracts. Hard to see any short-term solutions.