binman

Agree with much of the above, except for the notion that our players would often bomb it long. We def turned it over a lot but we were not a bomb it long team. There are plenty of stats that can be misleading - one such oft cited example is disposal efficiency (eg inside mids dispose of the ball under more pressure than say a half back flanker who get the opportunity to chip kick the ball around the back half under little pressure). But some stats are less misleading, one being metres gained from kicks. If in 2025 we were a team that often resorted to long bombs, you'd expect to see that reflected in the data - we'd be near the top of the table for metres gained from kick. But we're not - in fact we were 12th in the AFL for metres gained per kick (26.2 metres gained per kick). By way of contrast teams there are number of teams above us on that table that many would imagine don't bomb it long (eg Freo is second for most metres gained per kick, the Pies 5th, the Hawks 6th and the Crows 7th). The premiers were 17th for metres gained per kick (25 metres - only 1.2 less metres gained per kick than us). Interestingly, i think I'm right in saying that last season the average metres gained per kicks increased across the board from 2024 as teams started kicking longer to get over the top of zones, look to win the contest head of the ball and mitigate the impact of turnovers (ie better to turn it over in your forward half than miss a short kick at HB) - so perhaps we needed to bomb it long more often!

Yep. With Viney, tracc and Oliver we arguably had the worst kicking midfield in the AFL.

Spot on about Collingwood's defensive issues. The fast, transition footy Mcrae implemented at the pies (designed to counteract the zone defence, contest heavy method that was in vogue) is now the template for how AFL is played. The method requires the back seven to push up the ground, making it super hard to maintain an effective zone defence whilst also putting a huge emphasis on defenders (and mids, wings and HHFs) needing leg speed to get back on turnover. Given they won flag with a so so defence, and didn't have super quick back seven, somewhat surprisingly the Pies actually had the best defence in the AFL for most of last season. They mitigated their lack of defensive leg speed by being the slowest in the AFL to play on after a mark or free kick, allowing their defence to get set behind the ball. But late in the season, injury age and their lack of speed all compounded and their defence fell apart, and they got opened up on turnover. We had exactly the same issues, though ours were season long. And unlike the Pies our defensive structures were all over the shop. Which meant, that for all the noise about our forward line, our biggest issue was our chronic inability to defend on turnover. Given Basset was our defensive coach he was bloody lucky to escape any real scrutiny as were a mess defensively. Goody could have mitigated those issues by setting the defence deep and not playing fast. But instead, we went fast - in fact we were one of the fastest teams in terms of ball movement from the back half and were the quickest at playing on from a mark or free kick. Obviously, King's method will be more of the same. But King won't have to worry about having our two best mids being butchers, which will mean fewer turnovers to defend. And i really like the mix of defenders with real leg speed he has at his disposal, in particular Disco (who is sneaky quick and zones off aggressively), Xavier Taylor, CJ, and AMW (who, if fit, will be a key for us). And having Taylor and CJ means King won't have to use Windsor as transition defender, which is great because he never looked comfortable as a defender.

#Goodwin myths

#Goodwin myths

An incredible band. Brilliant songwriters, the Finn brothers both. Great hooks and melodies. I was too young to see them live. But i can only imagine the response at the Matthew Flinders hotel in in the mid seventies given the first time I went there in 1985 it was well and truly bogan central.

Apologies for my overreaction rjay.

You can listen to Spotify for free on both mobile and desktop (i assume you have to create an account). But like youtube, the free version includes ads and has reduced functionality (eg limited skips and shuffle-only playback on mobile). The sound quality is not as good on free either (it's now 'lossless' on premium subscriptions, meaning Spotify no longer lags behind Tidal for sound quality - lossless is better sound quality than both vinyl and cd). In any case, I didn't create a playlist for rjay alone. So not sure why it's an issue rjay doesn't have a Spotify account, or why it was nessesary to make that point. By the by having to endure ads means, like 'free to air' TV, YouTube and free spotify is not actually free.

No you don’t.

No it doesn't.

I'm not on youtube 'rjay'...

I predominantly listen to recently released music - music by recent/new bands, or new music from bands that have been around for a while. One of my go to sources for new music, particularly from new artists, or artists I don't know, is the line-up at Golden Plains each year. It's announced in aprox mid November, and I do a deep dive on all acts for aprox 5 months (GP is in March, on the Labor day weekend). Those i really dig stay on my listening rota post GP. I've been to all but one Golden Plains and IMHO next year's line-up is one of, if not the best, ever. If interested in hearing some new music, the line-up includes some terrific newish international and local acts. This sequnced playlist has a track from each of the 28 acts playing at GP 2026*. Each track, bar 2 or 3, was released in the last year or so. (* as a card carrying pedant, I'll note that i couldn't find a track by two of the DJs playing, Ok Williams and Pacquito Gordon, so i selected a deep track for each from a set list from one of their gigs).

The ox is slow.

Pay that.

Yep, you're right about needing to find fitness. Even if he does come back by mid-season, he'll be miles off optimal condition given he's now lost half the preseason.

Good combo, or so i've heard........

I may well be wrong Cranky, and apologies if I am, but I'm guessing you and your wife are not currently elite athletes plying your trade in a billion dollar competition. And if that's the case your experience dealing with your lis franc injury, whilst certainly giving you real insight into what Bowser will go thru, is of limited value in terms of estimating the length of his recovery period. That's to say a young elite athlete in prime condition with access to cutting edge, expensive medical treatmwnt support and a full time medical team guiding his rehabilitation is likely to recover more quickly than Jo and Joanne public who have had the same injury.

Yep.

Perhaps a dees jumper with his name on the back draped over the players race at the G all season?

Yep. About 50 times a (9 hole) round to find another mi**** ball.

He's got the talent, and when on has an x factor. But he hasn't shown nearly enough x factor, or impacted enough games. And he needed to because he got bugger all of the footy. And it's not as if Goody didn't give him plenty of games, many of which he was lucky to get given his numbers i reckon a key factor for Kolt to play best 22 footy is getting the psychological stuff right. Stop the faux tough guy stuff, get super fit and focus on winning more of the footy. The positive is he's young and if he can get focused and di the work he's got huge upside.

Pretty much reflects my thoughts I'd add that there's just too many unknowns and variables to make an informed opinion on our ladder position next year. One such unknown is the impact of tracc and Oliver leaving on team culture. Schwartz is right that irs impossible to replace those two players, though I'd note both, were a fair way off their best footy, particularly claz. But its possible the team as a whole will be be more cohesive and connected as there seems little doubt there were schisms opening between younger and older players. Connected, cohesive teams perform better than teams with rifts, particularly in modern footy given the importance of adhering to roles, structures and systems. And leaving the culture aspect aside, as Goody could attest every time claz and trac just banged on the boot to get territory, or missed a simple lead up inside 50 kick, a barrier to implementing a new game plan and methods is senior players reverting ti old methods under pressure. So, it may well prove to be a net benefit losing tracc and claz. I will be very surprised if we fall below 14th. I won't be surprised if we make finals, in large part because I honestly believe the lions (and possibly the crows, their dismal 2026 finals series notwithstanding) are the only standout team. You can throw a blanket over the rest down to the the obvious bottom four team - the Bombers, Tigers, Roos and Eagles. And a big reason why is that block of 10-12 clubs all have have average lists outside the best 20-25 players. Depth is a myth. And so luck with injury is the biggest determinant of likely finishing position, followed by fitness. I just checked Sportsbet's odds to make finals next year. Interestingly they don't have such a market, but rather a market t8 make top 10 (because of the wild card palaver). That market would have no money in the pool, so the odds atm reflect the assesment of their analysts (analysts set all markets then from that point punters shape the odds based on their investments) The price for making top 10 next season is currently $3.50. Seems abour right. By way of contrast the bombers are $7

Yep. Bottom line he may not have got his shot at AFL footy if we didn't rookie him. Something along the lines of 'I'll forever be grateful to the dees for giving me a chance to live out my dream' wouldn't have gone astray. Could care les about him now that he's not a dee. But I'll be honest, the combination of making a point of saying i was out the door half way thru the season (which i dont mind, but no need to broadcast it because it its retrospectively an insult to dees fans) and his lack.of thanks to the MFC, he's gone down in my estimation. I won't boo him, not my go. BUT I might sledge him when it becomes clear Frederick is playing the role he seems to think he has a right to play, and instead he is a lock down medium defender who has to try and shut down Latrelle and Koz.

Agree. And another positive factor is given their areas of expertise, and the fact that are only part time, Scarlett and Hawkins will likely have a pretty narrow brief - that's to say they will focus on specific elements of defensive craft and forward craft respectively. How good would it be for a young defender like Xavier Taylor to have a defender of Scarlett's skill and knowledge help develop intercept skills, or Disco his one-on-one positioning. And players like JVR and Luker will love being able to discuss specific forward skills (eg timing leads, use of the body etc) with Hawkins, one of the best key forwards of the last 20 years.

I like it. If Buckley was coach he would have had much more power to demand his own people than King. And King doesn't have the same resources at his disposal as Buckley would have. So instead he is his building a champagne team on a beer budget. Keeping a core of existing staff that have a positive connection with players, and presumably people he gets along with amd rates. Chaplin is the key such assistant. And adding some quality part timers he trusts and has history with. Quality over quantity.