Jaded No More

How is that goal not reviewed? Clearly touched by Rivers

I don’t think I was picking on you. I just wanted to answer the question re Lewis because I think it’s important that we don’t bring on someone with a vested interest to get his mate a job. He said himself he is super close with Bucks and it won’t be fair for him to be involved. Plus he’s too close with Gawn. We don’t want current players influencing the decision. Sorry if my post came across as angry it wasn’t meant to be and I know you’re not one to jump on the anti club bandwagon at any opportunity. But the same old posters who for two years banged on about sacking Goody are now complaining about who is looking at this replacement. It’s exhausting. Watson has copped quite a bit of hate in this thread, and I found the suggestion from you that his selection might point to Guerra’s bias to Essendon pretty unfair. Again I didn’t think my replies came across as aggressive but I apologies if they did as it wasn’t my intention at all.

Looked physically sore last week. It’s a short turnaround so maybe not a bad option to have him come on fresh in the last. Means Hawks won’t be able to throw Sicily forward in the last quarter as they tend to do.

I am just sick of supporters finding any reason to pile on the club. We select a panel of which half is independent and people complain. If we kept it in house, people would complain. No matter what the club does someone finds a reason to have a go. I explained why Lewis was not considered and why I think the accusation that Guerra is still bound to Essendon because of the Watson selection is ludicrous. I just don’t understand how supporters find the energy to spend so much time questioning every thing the club does, and buy all the rubbish that every media outlet reports. Caro has a very clear agenda and it’s not pro MFC.

He is there to provide a player’s perspective in the selection process, which is important given a senior coach is there to work with the players first and foremost. I’m curious if you’d care if we picked Hodge or Reiwoldt instead, or if the hate for Watson is because he’s ex supplement saga Bomber?

Technically he is. He was stripped of his medal but he did win it.

Which ex player is more credentialed? Watson is not the sole decision maker here, he’s part of a large panel of both external and internal stakeholders. The carry on about him being involved is ridiculous. You’d think we got some VFL player on the panel, and not a club captain, Brownlow medallist and someone with a long family history of being involved in the game

Jordan Lewis is very good friends with Buckley, and Max. Total conflict of interest. I really don’t get the hate for Watson. He isn’t the best public speaker but he is a champion player who went thru a lot of turmoil and was captain of his club. He would know more than most about toxic cultures and regrouping after bad times. He has also been out of the game long enough to have no association with any possible candidates on a personal level and has no affiliation to any of our players like Lewis for example. You need neutral unbiased voices in this process if you want it to run properly. Peter Jackson was Essendon’s CEO before he was ours and that never got brought up. So why is it an issue that Guerra was an Essendon fan?

Caro trying to turn Buckley off us so he can go coach for her bestie Gale at Tassie. I don’t mind her but in this case she’s just trying to advance her own agenda.

Why the hell would anyone in a starting 22 of a club that is not West Coast, choose to go to West Coast?

He’s playing waaay more midfield time now. So kicking a bag is less likely regardless. Would be lovely to see him kick 6 on Sicily and 10 on Maynard. We can dream.

Why do people take issue with Watson? I think it's important to have an ex player/captain on the panel, especially one who went through a lot of upheaval from a cultural standpoint. And if anyone thinks he would vote for Hird you are deluded. Hird ruined his career and robbed him of a Brownlow.

Step 1: get more Pickett Step 2: world domination

I think all indication was that he would see out the season. I am not sure if the timing change was because we got spooked by Carlton potentially sacking Voss and leaving us in a race for a new coach, or perhaps the St Kilda loss debacle, or maybe even that we got a strong indication from our preferred candidate that he's keen on the role. Either way I also believe that expectations were a post season review, and I am sure Goody at least hoped that he would continue on as coach into next year, but he definitely would have known that his position was being reviewed. Not just his either, the entire Footy Department was/is under review. I also believe that the board was divided on this decision, so would have given him no indication one way or another until a decision was made. But he was presenting to the board regularly, so there is no doubt he knew his role was being reviewed. In the end I think his unwavering belief in the group was his undoing. He died on the 'this group can be successful again' hill. His loyalty and love for his players was reciprocated off the field, but on it, that belief was delivering us way too many loses.

So you don't think he knew his position was at risk? I have no doubt he was blind sighted by the timing, but I strongly believe that he knew his role was under review and not 100% safe.

Probably sick of losing like we all are

Goody has been around footy long enough to know that you live and die by results. He would have known his job was not safe after a 0-5 start, following a bad off season where a review was undertaken and pointed to issues with Goody (amongst other issues), and after a bottom 4 finish in 2024 and two straight set exists prior. He maybe didn't think he'd be getting sacked 3 weeks out from the end of the season, but he is not a stupid man, and to suggest he didn't know he was in trouble especially after we lost to St Kilda in Alice, a [censored] side in Carlton and then that debacle against St Kilda the second time around, is naïve. The outcome of the review last year was that we were good enough to play finals in 2025. That was the expectations and Goody and the board agreed on that. When it became obvious we won't play finals yet again, despite Goody's strong belief that we are not too far away, his position became almost untenable. Does the board still believe we are not far away from success again? Perhaps. But with a new coach coming in, my guess is that they are open to going into a mini rebuild. The problem doesn't lie in the board and the coach not being aligned, the problem was that they were aligned on their expectations, and the expectations were not met. Had Goody said we needed to rebuild 2 years ago, it's very possible he would still be in the job today, but he was adamant we could play finals after a poor 2024 where perhaps injuries didn't help after a pretty promising start. 2025 was a no excuse year.

Droppable offense. Hope you told Chaplin.

Clarry in hoops is vomit inducing. Tell him horizontal stripes are very unflattering please.

I think we lost both players in the succession plan unexpectedly in Gus and Nibbler. Gus would be our captain today if he hadn't retired, and Nibbler would be next in line. Chin is someone I know is rated very highly for his leadership qualities and abilities to unite the group both old and young. Could be a dark horse for the future.

Would that perhaps be the quarter we scored 7 goals against a finals contender perhaps? It’s almost like when Clarry plays well we are a better team.

I’ve read a lot of mind boggling hot takes on this site over the years. This is certainly an opinion. Not a good one. Or a smart one. Or one anchored in facts, common sense or logic, but an opinion nonetheless.

So if you're lucky to win it, like say McRae or Beveridge was, it counts, but if you're unlucky to just miss out, like say Buckley or Lyon it doesn't? We operate in an industry where every year 17 clubs lose. It took us 57 years to win a grand final, 21 years earlier we got smacked in one. Winning premierships is the most difficult matrix to judge coaches on, because it happens so rarely to just about every club even those with the luxury of AFL support in terms of fixture, home ground advantage and draft / academy picks. The problem for us over the last two years is that we haven't been in the race. You need to be making finals and finishing top 4 to give yourself a chance, we haven't done that. A new coach is not guaranteed to win us a flag, just as Goodwin was not guaranteed to win us another one. It's about getting a new voice that can maximise our chances of being in a position to compete. To get back into finals with a game plan that stacks up against the better sides, while getting the most out of our current list. I can make a million cases where rookie coaches failed, and failed miserably. Including at Melbourne. Just as you can make a case that second time round coaches have also failed. The success rate of coaches is literally 1 in 18 per year if we only judge them on flags won.