binman

I think the answer to that is dependent on whether Tracc can get back to his very best. He's never been a great kick, but his radar was miles off this year - particularly his goal kicking (set shot and on the run). That significantly reduced his impact on games this season. And i think he, understandably, was still carrying the mental scars of his horrific injury last season. I actually think the two things (his kicking and the injury) are interrelated as he is an emotional bloke who plays his best footy when feeling powerful. Hopefully he's in a better place next season mentally in terms of his injury and if so there's every reason to believe he will gte back to his impactful best.

That's total bollocks.

When we win the flag next year I'm gonna enjoy watching Buckley's post game analysis.

I don't want him anywhere near me.

Your source is a family member of a board member? Bwaaaaaaaaa! 🤣

Oh please.

Tracc's contract tapers down from the current annual salary of $1.7 million to $1.2 million and doesn't go below $1.2 million a season.

Cover 400k of tracc's salary every season until 2029? Play a bloke 1.2 million dollars to play for another team. I don't think so.

Do you really think we'd give up Tracc for pick six and flanders AND pay 400K of his salary (would have to be multiple years)? The only possible world in which we would do so is we desperately wanted him gone because of Baliey Smith level behavioral issues - and no one is suggesting tracc is in that boat.

A key factor, and i think likely a deal breaker, in any potential tracc trade is his salary. The article posted above says it's currently 1.7 million a year and going forward doesn't drop below 1.2 million a year. Tracc is still star and had a good season as evidenced by his bluey result and CD player rating. But even the biggest tracc fan would concede that his 2025 form was still miles from his very best form and there were few, if any, examples of his ability to turn a game on his head and win it off his own boot. And I don't think it's unfair to say his injury is still a factor psychologically, which is totally understandable by the way. À club paying a player 1.2 million a season want AA level output. Tracc wasn't close to that this season. Sure, he might get back to that level but does a club want to take 1.2 million a year punt on a bloke pushing 30? Perhaps a gold coast might for the star factor, but even if one of the current top 4 clubs wanted to take that punt one of the reasons those teams are successful is they already have stars on big contracts. How is say the crows going to fit 1.2 million in their salary cap when they are shelling out big coin for Rankin et al. I guess walker might retire and that would free up some salary cap space, but young guns like Philthorpe are gonna want a big pay rise at some point. All a long way of saying that realistically if tracc wants to go to a team with a genuine chance of winning a premiership next season he is very likely going to have to take a sizable haircut salary wise. At this point in his career does he really want to do that?

Agree on clarry but not tracc - and that's not a knock on tracc. If we put clarry on the trade table we have no chance of getting anything in return that is a net positive even on this seasons form (which was serviceable) and certainly not on what we might expect next season (he was getting over to his best in the last third of the season and not coincidentally looking in better nick). But we could get a good return for tracc, whether that's draft picks a player or a combination of the two. As good as tracc is, with clarry, viney and Langford (who will eventually surely go into the middle) we have too many midfield bulls. And we have too few outside mids/half back flankers/utilities that are elite kicks and good wheels. That is our single biggest need. Id support trading tracc if it helped us fill that need.

Article says "King takes the helm at Casey". I'm guessing that might come as a surprise to King

That's an excellent point. Seven years of zero time at an AFL club in any role is a very long time to be out of the game even if involved in footy media.

Good. He never got the scrutiny he deserved for how poor our defensive system was this season.

Yes, it 100% has - kudos. And yep, all batters have shot they can't put away (mine was the hoik across the line to cow corner) and every decent bowler knows how to put a ball in exactly the right spot to make the batter play at it.

Hopefully he's sorted his stutter.

For [censored] and giggles Tassie should appoint goody as their inaugural coach.

Glitch

Agree - I couldn't believe people were a keen on him. Would have been a disaster.

One small gripe - king in future olease refer to us THE oldest oldest professional sporting club in the world (I dont care if not true)

From the mfc articke: In a decorated on-field career, King played 240 AFL games across a 15-year stint at both Geelong and St Kilda. He captained the Cats for four seasons, achieving the ultimate success in 2007 as part of the premiership team. He switched to the Saints ahead of the 2008 season, playing in three campaigns for St Kilda before calling time on his playing days in 2010. Following his retirement, King quickly shifted to coaching, remaining at the Saints for two seasons before heading to Whitten Oval to join the Western Bulldogs. He tasted further success across a 10-season stretch at the Dogs, part of the coaching panel to deliver the 2016 premiership win and 2021 Grand Final appearance. King took a senior assistant coaching role at the Gold Coast SUNS in 2022, where he was also appointed caretaker coach for seven matches at the back end of 2023. He then returned to the club he called home in Geelong, working with the midfield for the past two seasons. King will continue in this role for the remainder of Geelong’s AFL Finals campaign, officially joining the red and blue at its conclusion.

Yep. If Kelly gets the gig I'll get behind him. I think Buckley is close to a lock. And would be a good choice. But if, for whatever reason, Buckley isn't the coach having a first time senior coach, presumably with tonnes of energy and ideas about how they want to go about it, is an exciting alternative.