Jaded No More

Tmac for Polec? Where do I sign?

With the exception of our backline, all other areas on the field this year were not great in terms of strategy or selection. I have no idea anymore who is responsible for what, but no doubt the midfield and forward coaches need to go. I believe our ruck coach is also our goal kicking coach... which worked out a treat... not. We have to invest big money in getting top quality assistants, because god knows this current group headed by Goodwin, leave a lot to be desired in terms of strategy, selection and execution on matchday. If we are sticking with Goodwin for 2021, we have to give him the best support possible, so he either succeeds, or he fails and we can make an easy call that he isn't the right guy, even with top quality support around him.

I mean if I worked for such a disappointing organisation I would at least wanna look around... but I guess I have rarely worked anywhere where I liked more than 2 or 3 people, and the rest were absolute flogs, but that is the nature of the industry I'm in. I highly doubt that Oliver or Trac are going anywhere, because even if they wanted to, the club would never ever let them go while contracted. I cannot think of any trade offer that would even tempt the club to consider it. It would be a PR disaster, not to mention would set our team back a decade. The best thing this club can do in the off season, assuming Goodwin is staying, is moving heaven and earth to get some top quality assistants, and hopefully another pacey wingman (and also a crumbing forward, and a FF, but like... wishful thinking all 3 would happen), and actually make finals next year! Elite players who can have their choice of teams, eventually get tired of playing for loser clubs who do not give them the opportunity to play finals or win flags. They either leave or they stay because the money is too good. That is just the reality.

If the max number of votes you can get each game is 40, that is a 10 from each coach, and Melksham received such low votes, I would suggest he was not highly rated by the coaches this year. That he kept getting a game, suggests to me that Goodwin was making the final call here. No way does a player so out of form keeps getting a free pass because a line coach is backing him in for 17 rounds. Especially as they moved him from the forwardline to the midfield, so presumably our forward coach was unimpressed. I have no idea about the captaincy call, which is why I didn't mention it. How it did not go to May though, is seriously beyond my understand, but then again those are much more complex calls than simply saying "this guy is out of form, he has to go" We all know Goodwin has a close relationship with Melksham and Hibbo. I was glad they made the call to drop Hibbo, and he has repaid the faith and had an excellent season. If Melksham did well in the votes, I would have thought that maybe he was doing a role that I didn't understand but that the coaches were very happy with and so be it. But clearly the coaches were not happy with his performance, and if you look at other guys who finished around the same mark as him, you can clearly see those guys were not given a free pass at the 22 each week.

Lol so he got dropped for being late because he was getting a Covid test and they left him behind? Jesus these rumors aren’t even good!

Clearly Goodwin is the only person who still rates Melksham given how few votes he scored for someone who played every game despite failing form. Further shows that Goodwin plays favorites.

Very surprised Viney finished so high and especially ahead of Oliver and Langdon.

Agreed. Pretty pathetic, but hardly surprising. The internet is full of faceless losers.... just look at Demonland ?

I think that's purely because it is our second breach.

Either way, he made a very poor decision, and it cost the club $50,000 which it can hardly effort, and Bennell 4 weeks off his next season (if he has one), which he can also hardly afford. If he really needed to swap cars, and I do have to ask, the players are in a hub, why do you have a personal use car to begin with and where did it come from? If that is the case, I am sure that if he told the club, they would have sorted something out with the AFL, especially if it was due to baby seats etc. That he was out and about in clear Covid breach, while his team was playing for their spot in the top 8, is concerning. It is far from a hangable offence, but it doesn't sound or look good. His head isn't all in it, and that is the real problem. He should have been watching the game with the other players, not doing whatever he was doing up on the Gold Coast.

That is a good question. The fine must be because he left and went somewhere he wasn't allowed to?

No he didn't, but I have no idea if it was because he was found out and then stopped. From what I read he's isolating in a separate hotel now. I doubt his plan was to leave the hub and not return, given his partner and baby are both still in there.

We made progress off the back of finishing 17th last year, a completely unacceptable position, even with injuries. We have not made any progress since 2017, where we finished 9th, and then went on to play prelims in 2018. Progress from there would suggest consistent finals appearances and wins. Not finishing 9th and saying "oh good, we jumped up from bottom 2", when we never ever should have finished that low to begin with.

If Clarkson wants us, and he and the president don't see eye to eye, why would they hold onto him? Their list is in a rebuild mode. Now is the perfect time for Clarkson to go if he doesn't want to rebuild a list from scratch. I am not saying this will happen, but I am saying that if Clarkson wants out, Hawks won't force his hand, given their performance this season and where there list is at.

Completely different situation. Harley has form. May broke team rules, not league and state rules relating to Covid. Drinking is not illegal. Going outside of the hub to an authorized place is and puts at risk our entire club, not to mention the AFL. Imagine he caught Covid, walked back to the hub and we made finals. Not to mention we are hubbing with another team who is in finals. It has disaster written all over it, which is precisely why the AFL is so hard on these breaches.

Club statement suggest he was at an unauthorized household. I don’t even know what that means, but Pert does not sound pleased.

Club statement https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/816897?fbclid=IwAR0nXtU_jaoz0PnekIoQuCTCXoRFpGSKlxGIqZqQR_3bG39GHun9voiMd94

Conflicting stories or not, a 4 match ban and $50k fine is not something the AFL hands out for nothing.

I think the poor decision can be forgiven in isolation. We are all humans and we all make mistakes. Albeit this was a very clear cut “no no”. The problem is that Bennell has a history of poor behavioral choices. It’s the repetitive nature of his mistakes, particularly when it comes to substances, that is of major concern. He will miss 4 matches next season regardless of how his body holds up. If they want to give him a year on a heavily incentivized contract, then so be it. But when he has played, he was timid and did not put in anywhere near the required effort for an AFL player. So whether he stays or goes, I don’t think it will impact our 2021 performance in the slightest.

Thanks. I’m extremely lucky in the scheme of things and I have managed to find a new job recently, thanks to years of building industry contacts. Many of us have had a horrible year. I hope we come out of it wiser, more appreciative and most importantly kinder. On a lighter note, Titus has nailed today well

Christ. Of course we don’t get a suspended fine. He has to go. Clearly his head isn’t in the game. And now we have to cop a fine we can hardly afford!

Source? [censored] great, $50k down the toilet. What a way to end this [censored] season. If true I hope we don’t renew his contract.

I’m staying in my house. I might walk under 5km to buy more booze. Wild [censored] times. 2020 has been a [censored] and the footy season hasn’t been much better.

Sure and the week after they won the game off the boot of a guy who has done SFA before and since. They had a lot of luck that year. Not taking that away from them, but they did.

They are absolutely not allowed. They are in a strict bubble in case they come into contact with someone in the community who has it and the entire competition has to shut down. QLD isn’t totally Covid free. The risk is still there. Also his pregnant partner and daughter are both in the hub. He doesn’t have it harder than anyone else.