Macca

The Premiership players are the main issue Gonzo Apart from Gawn, none of them have been anywhere near their best since 2023 Slow, old, unmotivated, lazy, no hunger, weak at the contest, no edge, low skills, set in their ways, etc etc In fact, since Gus was king hit out of the sport we've often looked quite timid Frontrunners with poor fight back qualities. All getting paid well too. Amongst all that, a real lack of leadership qualities We need a clean-out of sorts as previously stated on the rebuild thread back in March By and large, I agree with your post

It all stems back to when we took Fritsch off in the first quarter. Unbelievable

You never give a sucker an even break We are playing well but we need a bury-them mentality. Even at this stage of the season

Why take Fritsch off? It's not like he was gassed Sums up our year Zero common sense

The NFL can't start quickly enough!! So Friday 1st of August (10am) sees the pre-season off and running with the Hall-of-Fame match (Chargers @ Lions)

Poor kicking for goal cost us the win (again) We should have put the game away. Crows were always going to come at us but the buffer wasn't big enough Then the heads dropped and that was that

First of all we need to be switched on and highly motivated Then we have to share the ball with minimum long bombs forward Forwards need to play in front and give multiple leads Kick straight for goal Defensively we need to cut off and curtail Adelaide's offense. Our defence needs to play as a team within the team Recapture our harder edge Win the clearances, use the corridor and go direct Haha! Once upon a time we could do all of the above so fingers crossed Dees by 1 point

The figures talked about in the link below (The $1.5Million - $2Million payout for Goodwin) does not include the 75% luxury tax which would be applied up to $1Million for exceeding the soft cap limit (currently $7.7Million) And most, if not all the clubs spend close to 100% of their soft cap https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2025-simon-goodwin-contract-pay-out-if-melbourne-demons-fire-him-worst-start-since-2012-jay-clark-report-latest-news/news-story/ba0cb13c915417c671a283d790f44f5a

I agree. Goodwin will almost certainly be coaching next year so we are therefore compelled to give the bloke a group of players who are (first of all) going to be able to listen to simple instructions. And then act on those instructions We need to be ultra aggressive as our current list contains too many players who aren't going to be part of our next premiership Too many stale and unmotivated types with horrible disposal skills Time to slash & burn And if we go all-out at the trade table there's no reason why we can't bring in experienced players as well as young prospects via the draft We might end up paying part salaries for departed players but we'll create space in the salary cap and create list spots But I'm not sure the club realises that we are at crisis point Another option is to sack* the coach and overhaul the list with a new coach or ... sack the coach and keep the same sort of list *with a new coach) But keeping the coach and keeping the current list intact will mean we are treading water and effectively going backwards *Sacking the coach right now is financially problematical. i.e. ... it's going to cost too much (in 2025)

Petracca, Oliver & Viney not being able to adapt to playing a modern style just about sums things up What should have happened with these 3 is they get told about the new game plan once ... and then all 3 get on with the new plan without having to be told again But the problem is that our good players lack football IQ. By contrast, players such as Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Dangerfield, Neale & McCluggage can do on-field coaching and therefore the work of the coach The Lever/May generalship down back is no more as well. Our team within the team (the defence) just isn't what it was Forget the forward line, that area for us is a shambles Midfield? Gawn is no longer the ruck general he once was. Still a top player but he's on the decline Our midfielders just waste their disposals and avoid contact. Once stellar, now bog ordinary

Most (if not all) of our onballers are avoiding contact and the tell-tale signs are the rushed kicks forward What sort of an example is that showing to the new younger players? The thinking would be that why should players put their bodies on the line if they're teammates won't do it Our forwards refuse to play in front and are constantly looking for the cheap one out the back That's why Goodwin keeps dropping JVR, Fritsch, AJ, Jeffo etc etc. Melksham as well at least once this year We've got a much bigger player personnel issue than a coaching issue

Yes but those who are pointing at the membership drop-off are apportioning the blame on Goodwin alone Not a word about the poor efforts from the players. And that includes the players cosying up to the Collingwood players not long after Gus was king hit and forced to retire The players look like they have given up. Apart from Gawn, all our better players have been bog average

Yeah ok, fair enough It's more so McRae who was neat, precise and nearly always found a target with 20-30 metre kicks. Super efficient Goodwin was also a rugged type who went hard at the ball. So contested possessions and contest work has been our fortè (not so much this season)

We get plenty of the ball but are inefficient The Pies can often get less of the ball but are very efficient Both teams reflect their coaches a bit. Goodwin - Nuts & Bolts approach McRae - precise & efficient as a footballer

The members might return if we overhaul the list and start being competitive again There's an assumption that the drop-off in members is entirely Goodwin related In my view it's because the players couldn't give a yelp

You've missed the point In terms of mindset and not doing the team things So blazing away going forward isn't the only area where we are falling down

Apart from all the backslapping when we score a goal, we just don't play and look like a happy & united team There is a onfield disconnect and it's not just about the mids to forwards connect (the lack of) But the mids to forwards disconnect (which is now into it's 4th year) is a tell-tale sign of the overall disconnect

Off day? In the rest of their matches they've mostly dominated their opposition Where as in the rest of our matches we've often surrendered meekly

That's true! We've got a mountain to climb, Nieta

Collingwood's teamwork is second to none All their players look for a teammate as a default move. Total team Constantly running to space or creating space with pinpoint kicks and handpasses They make our team look like rank amateurs Mind you, our players don't have the skillset to play such a style. Sigh

It certainly is time for change But I'm concerned that the club doesn't know where it is at (in the whole scheme of things) If this was Goodwin's last season then that could be one major change As for the players, move any player on who can't adhere to the modern style of playing Remember when Adelaide moved on McGuiness, McDermott and a couple of other former good players before Blight walked in the door? That's the sort of thing we need to do Clear the decks and bring in the new coach in a succession plan (2026) Pay him a nominal amount and make him in charge of the offense (get rid of Chaplin) Jones can go as well as he overseas our mids butchering the ball

What club would want to pay full whack for our potential discards? Moving on Petracca, Viney & Oliver would be chiefly a mass salary dump. We wouldn't be getting much back in return and we'd still be up for sizeable amounts of their salaries Ultimately, we're probably better off trying to turn all 3 around As it stands right now, all 3 could be sent back to Casey until they learn how to kick to position properly. I'm tired of watching all 3 butcher the ball. Right now, they offer no value Matchwinners? That ship has sailed Our only A grade player these days is Gawn and he's losing his leap The list is in a real mess and needs an overhaul Some will argue that having so many good players playing well below their best is the fault of the coach My view is that it's the players fault

What I'm looking for here is a level of fairness that should be applied The players are lazy and they are loafing on the job. And getting well paid to boot For instance, Oliver's contract should have been torn up at the end of 2023 for breach of contract. No sentiment, there's the door We need to overhaul the list otherwise we're in for 5 more years of miserable losses (regardless of who is the coach)

The comment was not directed at you in particular... it's nothing personal but if people have bothered to read the thread they'd know that it would be a costly exercise to sack Goodwin Back through the thread there's been numerous posts with links to how much it would cost the club to pay Goodwin out Through the media etc as well. The notion of us sacking Goodwin has in large part been put to bed as it's going to cost the club too much money to do so Go back a couple of months on this thread and all the info is there to see. In fact, what myself and others have been saying about the payout has already been said numerous times previously Fact is I'm just here repeating myself It's been reported that Goodwin is on a water-tight contract and that he is on at least $1Million per season ... and the FD tax is a very real thing It's simple mathematics, not at all complicated Much like the player salary cap, clubs can't exceed the FD spend (mainly the coaching) ... if they do they incur a 75% tax for every dollar up to $1Million (in any given season)

Trading a top player out early is also a way of replenishing the list with top quality youth (with the cache of picks coming back) Frees up cap space if a club wants to land a particular player for a particular position For instance, we could have traded out one of our mids 3 or 4 years ago and then chased hard for a decent KPF In other sports worldwide, players are often viewed as commodities. In our sport, we are often quite attached to our players