binman

We are in our premiership windows. Top 4 should be the expectation next year. And I'm confident we can meet it.

Plenty of times I've been in the same room as someone but in a different state.

Honestly don't understand the palaver. Sounds completely believable he is frustrated. Have little doubt its true. And would hardly be shocked if he wants out if we dont make tge finals next year.

Midfielders collectively win premierships. Players like dusty and trac win grand finals. If the club had no choice but to trade on of Oliver or trac who do you think they would trade?

I guess it depends on how you are defining 'best''. Schwarz was the best player i have seen at the dees outside of Flower, prior to his firsts knee injury. The only player to come close is Trac this year. So i would have Schwarz at the top of my list of bets platers at the dees in the last 33 years. And even after his two knee injuries he was a star for us. And incredibly consistent. Barely played a poor game. Easy to forget he won the bluey in 1999 in a bloody goody team. Don't get me wrong i agree Oliver is a star but personally i have Stynes, Nieta and max ahead of Oliver too and to be honest also, after this year Tracc too. That was the best season of football from a dees player since Nieta's in 1995.

Better than Schwarz?

The best player in the last 33 years at the dees? That's a big call.

A big yes from me

For those of us interested in game plans, tactics and all that jazz a couple of really interesting articles about the teams fighting out the finals this weekend. Both have relevance for us though too in terms of where we need to get to and how we might do so: Another excellent article from Cody Atkinson and Sean Lawson: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-15/tigers-cats-lions-power-afl-preliminary-finals-premiership-gabba/12764676 And one from Scott Heindrvih, who has written some terrific stuff about the AFL this year: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/oct/15/modern-day-coaches-win-hearts-before-minds-in-bid-to-reach-afl-grand-final EO this article has some relevance to the quote (and article) you reference above: "Players become familiar with a manager so his words lose their power; an intensity that once was motivational begins to grate; opponents work sides out – and in the age of detailed data analysis that is a process that has accelerated significantly." Personally i think this is a huge challenge for Goody and i really wonder if he is where Hardwick was in 2016 and Hinkley last year in terms of struggling to get a message across and being too insular and hard.

Yep. Simply does nor get enough of rhe ball. Which wouldn't be such an issue if he was averaging a couple of goals a game. But gets not.

Each club would be different, but as general rule no. That said i think goody made it clear with jack it was his call. And i suspect a driver was him making a statement about his minimum standards, the sort of players he wanted in his team - hard at it, uncompromising players who never shirked a contest - and the culute he wanted to build at the club. And as i said at the time i totally respect goody's call. Don't agree with it, but respect his right to make it. And i fully get the argument then and now why it was the right call. On a related note i find it hard to square the decision to trade jack on cultural grounds with the decision to not only continue to select Melksham this season but have him be a stand in captain in the crows game. Barely laid a tackle all season, shirked contests all season (can barely recall one hard at contest and certainly can think of at least 5 where he pulled out) and showed zero on field leadership.

At the risk of going over old ground, i disagreed with the goody's decision to trade jack and even with the benefit of hindsight i still think it was a mistake. The gist of my argument was (and remains): We were (and remain) a woeful kicking side, at a point in time where it has never been more critical and he was by far out best user of the football (and still would be) Makes zero sense to trade a player that helps address our biggest weakness - our appalling kicking Jack was by far our best 'assist' and last kick inside 50 player , so again it makes zero sense to trade a player that plays such an important role in the team - it is no coincidence that since he left we have ongoing 'connection' issues with our forwards The idea that was oft floated at the time that fritter adequately addressed the issues noted above was a furphy - we still could have drafted fritter and and had two decent kicks in our forward line (though it has become apparent fritter aint in Jack's class when it comes to kicking) Sure jack was not never as physically committed to the contest as he could/should have been and sure he had a reputation as bit of a party boy but every great team has such players Every great coach finds a way to get the best out of super skilled, but perhaps not 100% committed players, when required - it is no coincidence Jack's best season at the dees came under Roos, a coach famous for his ability to harness the talent of different cats You don't need a team full of jack viney's, myopic, driven players who want to run though walls - and history has shown that goody's desire to build such a team has put us well behind the eight ball And i question how strong a teams culture really is if it can't manage to incorporate players with different approaches and mindsets In any case Jack was by all accounts a pretty good trainer and barely missed any game though injury, which suggests he looked after himself pretty well and had the required professionalism (questions over his 2017 rehab notwithstanding) Jack was a heart and soul player and his team mates loved him as did most fans - beware unintended consequences trading such players All that said I fully acknowledge i have no idea what was happening behind the scenes or the factors that drove goody's decision (though I'll hasten to add most others don't either, despite all the gossip and assumed knowledge) and i fully respect his decision, as evidenced by the fact i have not banged on about it (much) since or bagged goody for it Leaving aside all of the above my response 'not in my opinion' was only in part about the merits of the decision to trade jack. It was as much about the flawed logic, in my view, of the idea his time at Port is proof we made the right call. The fact is we will never know what might have happened if Goody had stuck with Jack. Who knows he may have found a way of getting the best out of jack, just as his mentor, Roos, had. After all the best coaches get the best out of their players. And it is worth noting that jack was playing some pretty good footy in 2019 under Hinkley off the half back line (including a terrific game that helped bury our 2019 season) before his terrible injury. By the by same applies to Hoges - another player who was apparently a party boy and was accused of being bad for the culture (and another player who I'd love to be still at the dees as, like jack, he has a skill set we are in desperate need of). His travails at freo are not proof we made the right call to get rid of him.

Not in my opinion.

Omg - now you are just baiting me! Ok I'll bite. NEED AN IRONY EMOJI !!!!

Need irony emoji

I was ambivalent about yze coming. Now that he is i think it is fantastic. I can feel my dormant pollyana syndrome rising. Looking forward to the articles crediting yze with our top 4 finish.

He's going to leave dl and assess the lion's players? Can't say I blame him.

bbbbb.....baaby

Actually the bombers have almost moved from my hate them column to the don't care, irrelevant, almost pity them, column. One of the few (only?) teams we have had more success than in the last 20 years. Hawthorn will never leave my hate them column. Never. Ever. I hate them.

I guess you played at CHB. I say that because i remember reading the half back line was : Bachman Turner Overdrive

This is the only thread I've ever read that has got to 2 pages with not a single dissenting post or cross word to another poster. Hate of the bombers. Bringing dees fans together since September 2000.

Who dat?

A truly trumpian level of debating skills.

Assuming we keep viney (who is much much more consistent) trading brayshaw is on the cards. As it should be. Im probably in a minority but this period is my least favourite part of the year ie straight after the season and prior to official trading. So much gossip and palaver. And I dislike our players being shopped, bagged etc etc. I get invested in them. But putting my trading hat on we have too many inside mids in our best 22. With more in the wings in Jordan and Sparrow. If viney stays Brayshaw is the logical bloke to trade. His only top shelf footy is in the middle and there are two ahead of him, three if you include viney. And perhaps as important outside trac, Maxy and Oliver he is the only player at the dees with any decent trade value whatsoever. Who else gets us say a first round draft pick? A team like the suns or even the blues would love another good inside mid.

Didn't age well.