Jaded No More

We work so hard for a goal and they kick them with such ease. That’s the difference between a top quality team and a battling team.

Clarry’s goal.

Oliver with 17 and 5 clearances. Neale with 15 and 4. Not bad.

Horrific tackling skills

Everyone having a go at Oliver, but Trac isn’t exactly running on air after his opponent

It’s funny how Clarry has become a player everyone loves to hang [censored] on. Actually sad.

Chin ❤️

They are a complete class above. Ball use, ball movement, positioning, they are much better.

I was talking about the block against Bowey

Another putrid umpiring performance

While you can mount an argument that Goodwin needs to be replaced as senior coach, it’s really vital to understand the relationships that he has with some of our most important players. The risk vs reward needs to be taken into account. Another coach may not have the connection to Kosi or Trac or hell even Jackson. Port may soon find out how much Ken had to do with keeping Butters in Adelaide…

Just so devastating, and a timely reminder that players are human beings and you never know what they are going through off the field. Would be nice if the media would take this as a wake up call.

We have two former players who are heavily involved in our club, who used to be elite goal kickers. One is our president and the other is Robbo. Surely we can’t do worse than to have one or both of them spend an hour a week working with our forwards on goal kicking.

Sorry if I missed it, but did Lever not play in the end?

An abomination if Chandler is the sub. He has been fantastic all year.

Lots of family friendly timeslots to expose your kids to the endless misery of being a Melbourne supporter.

A wordsmith and a poet is Jackson

He was also very keen to stay at the Dees Houston also said he’s going nowhere

Not those types of off field issues. Family drama that can be resolved by, you guessed it, getting the hell away from said family.

Notice how I mentioned an unknown quantity? Suns were very lucky to land a 3 time premiership coach. But guess what, a 4 time premiership coach hasn’t helped North. If we could replace Goodwin with a proven leader, then of course you’d consider it. But the reality is that most of the options out there are unknown and could just as much be the next Neeld as they could be the next McRae. Would you want to bring in Hinkley who with arguably a better list has won 0 flags? Or Horse who, with all the academy talent he got, won as many flags as Goodwin has? The grass is not always greener, and it’s easy to lose sight of how many coaches there are in the AFL right now who have achieved a lot less than Goodwin. Even with better lists or better advantages from the league.

And because Freo has a real knack for ruining talent. See also: L. Jackson

Because replacing a senior coach, especially a senior coach who is loved and respected by his playing group, and who has won a flag, with an unknown proposition, more often than not leads to going backwards on the field. While that is not always the case, it certainly is the stronger odds. Whereas replacing a footy manager who can really align and better all aspects of the footy department, and perhaps attract better fitness staff or assistant coaches, will have a more immediate and greater impact, with a far lower risk of causing turmoil within the playing group. The impact that even Yze, as a senior assistant, made to our club in 2021 was immediate and significant. I believe this can be true for a footy manager in 2026 too.

If we don't lose Hogan, we don't get May. If we don't get May, we don't win a flag. Hogan was never going to make it at Melbourne, just as he was never going to make it at Freo. He needed a lot of time, maturity, and to be away from the fishbowl of AFL to finally start taking his footy seriously. It brings me great joy to see him play such great footy, and I hold nothing against the club or him for that.

The far bigger priority heading into 2026 is to bring a top quality footy manager into the fold. This will have a significant impact on all aspects of the footy department, including game plan, coaching, fitness, list management and drafting. Which is basically a combination of all the things everyone on Demonland loves to [censored] about. A change of senior coach will not have as much impact.

The club will continue to prioritise keeping Kosi above all else. And so they should. Kosi should not come into the conversation whatsoever, if we feel there is even a small chance he will be happy to stay put. He is far too valuable to just offer up for a player who clearly has a strong desire to not only move back to Victoria, but who is pretty set on the idea of playing for us. That doesn't happen often, and it gives us more leverage than it does Freo. Also wonder how Kosi will feel, knowing that if he goes to Freo, he all but makes his cousin Dudley a fringe player. Hard to see how Freo plays all 3 of Dudley, Kosi and Bolton, plus Reid and Walters. It just doesn't work.