Macca

Not long after Paul Roos was appointed as coach he made mention that player agents were having too much influence ... I interpreted that as the players ruling the roost Maybe we're back at that point after an off-season where we were openly hawking a player who'd gone off the rails, another player wanting out and another player where the speculation is he wants to go A President standing down abruptly followed shortly by the CEO Just imagine being a player in that sort of environment. What would you be thinking? Every man for himself? Playing selfish? So a cleanout and a mini-rebuild is on the cards. Certainly not a total rebuild as we've got a number of good players and up-and-comers on the list already But we need to make a play for an experienced KPF (easier said than done) and we'll need a decent ruckman soon enough And pace pace pace and skills skills skills (especially kicking skills) Petracca and Oliver could be traded but I wouldn't let Kozzie go. Fritsch might want out as we've made it a nightmare for our forwards to impact Petty can replace May as the FB but we will need another tall defender anyway

I interpret playing differently to be playing quickly as moving the ball slowly just lends itself to getting pushed wide and indirect Players stopping & propping leads to crowded forward lines as does attacking slowly via the boundary line ... it's like we are frightened to use the corridor So direct football has to be quick otherwise it can't work And the better teams are moving the ball quickly and in a more direct manner (which is not a new thing, btw) We are treacle-slow so if we are not at least trying to move the ball quickly and in a more direct manner, we should be We've got issues all over the ground now ... we have no real pace or rebound out of our backline, our forwards can't win their own ball and generally lack talent ... and the mids just continue to bomb it long without any thought And now we're getting done at what were formally strengths ... clearances & contested ball Right now, our game plan is a dog's breakfast I reckon coming off a tumultuous off season has taken it's toll. It's like we are playing with an every-man-for-himself type attitude. Hard to coach under those circumstances Players make coaches but players can also destroy a coach Petracca wanting out, Oliver going off the rails and the constant speculation with Kozzie can create a selfish environment within the playing group Bottom line is the players aren't playing for each other and we are not playing as a team

It seems like we've got a mountain of issues but another fully-fledged coach is probably only feasible from the 2025 off-season onwards So we've got a season to get through So the immediate replacement for Goodwin would probably be a caretaker coach But it can't be all on the coach anyway. The players need to take responsibility for their own ineptness. Own it and as a collective, fight back It's not like they are a bunch of rookies who don't know any better With all the focus on the coach, it effectively let's the players off the hook So what happens if we sack Goodwin and appoint a replacement coach and still cop thrashings? We'll be blaming the players then of course

I wouldn't lose too much sleep if Goodwin was sacked as he's had a good go at it and it's probably time for a change I reckon our players are too set in their ways. The default move during game-day pressure is to play the old, sideways, slow style But in the meantime, I truly hope that Goodwin can turn things around. Losing sucks But again, the question is what will the club do? Is the board having informal chats right now? Would they pull the trigger in season? What's the payout figure and can we afford a large payout? What's it going to look like to the football world? The other thing is that if we keep getting thrashed and are non-competitive, the crowds will drop off and that will cost us money both this season and for future fixturing in seasons ahead If my memory serves me correctly, I believe the club lost $3.5Million after the disastrous 2013 season This season, we have 7 or 8 of our 11 home games against low-drawing opposition so the AFL have already relegated us from prime-time fixtures* after last season's 11 win season ... so it doesn't take much *We are involved in a prime-time fixture this upcoming Friday so we'd want to at least be competitive

Listened in to SEN a bit as I had to work and they made mention (on countless occasions) about our slow ball movement So if we are trying to move the ball quickly, then whatever we are trying to do is obviously not working And it's one thing to put the onus on the coach but what about the players? If they can't enact a simple instruction, then how is another voice going to make an ounce of difference? 3 games is a small sample size but did we not try and change our game plan last season and then abandon that new game plan and went back to the old game plan? One could deduce that we have a player personnel issue with regards to a number of players not being able to adjust to change I'm leaning more towards the view that @bing181 has towards this new game plan (player adaptability issue)

So what are we all doing here? (as footy fans) In my view, we are following our cave-man instincts and we want our tribe to win And the people in the middle (the arbitrators) are not to be trusted haha

I'm counting the wilderness years for Richmond from 1983 onwards ... for most of those 3 and a half decades they were a poorly performed team (but still had feral support in large numbers) The point I'm making is that supporters really don't have much influence over a teams fortunes Collingwood from 1964 to 1989 had about 10 opportunities to win flags but got none in that time period The Cats from 1981 to 2006 about 8 realistic chances at a flag. Zero flags By contrast, the Demons had zero opportunities at a flag from 1965 to 1986. Not even a finals appearance in that time-frame But you can get your own success by getting involved at local level. Where an individual can actually make a difference (if you find yourself involved at a poorly performed club at local level, either fix it or leave) But as footy supporters we are mere onlookers and our words mean nothing ... it's just chit-chat But that's just my view, you and others don't have to agree with me

What we want to happen and what will actually happen are often poles apart Richmond are a good example. For all their feral support, they were non competitive for close on 35 years It took people like Gale, Balme, Hardwick and others to get their club going until they finally achieved success And the success they achieved was not something their supporters even expected after decades in the wilderness And then from nowhere, 3 flags in 4 years So in many ways, we get what we are given As previously stated, if things don't improve, the coach will get the flick The flag gets Goodwin more time as does his overall W/L record along with finals participation in 2018, 2022 & 2023. And even if he is sacked in season, I don't expect any sort of improvement with a caretaker coach. The sport is too professional these days for someone to just come in and turn things around with a magic wand Our issues run deep and to able to implement a totally new game will not just need the right coach, but the right types of talented, coachable players

The question is not about your view (or my view) on whether Goodwin stays or goes It's out of hands and in the clubs hands I've always felt that our opinions mean nothing to clubs ... they are going to do what they are going to do All we can hope for is that the club can make good decisions as we are powerless to change things ourselves All our words have no impact. They are just words But if things don't improve, they'll sack Goodwin. But when?

Haha! As for whether Voss & Carlton is the bigger story, I'm not so sure after today I honestly thought we'd redeem ourselves today, but a 10 goal loss? Our ball movement is just soooooo slow The whole squad needs to be reprogrammed but to change in such a dramatic fashion requires a total buy-in And the plan has to make sense as well New plan with a total buy-in probably requires a new voice but is the club going to cut ties with the coach in season? I can't see us doing it again but we did so with Balme, Daniher, Bailey & Neeld So we've got form in the in-season sacking dept.

I agree with what you are saying but I reckon Carlton & Voss is the bigger story in eyes of the media & public

As for the pressure meter on any given coach, the heat is going to be applied to Voss way more than Goodwin If the Blues lose to Collingwood next Thursday, it will be on for young and old at Princes Park Mind you, North lost their first 4 games in 1975 and were 3 & 6 after round 9 but then went on to win the flag that year

I don't quite know where we sit right now because if we are trying to change how our offense goes about it, we are at the very least, a work in progress Requires a buy-in from every player and that's not an easy thing to do. We need to get back to playing as a team We live in hope As for Carlton, when opposition teams up the ante, they consistently go missing. It's like they are all looking around for someone else to lead the way Where as the Doggies tonight were all about total team and getting the job done When the game was there to be won, the Bulldogs stood up whilst the Blues looked on

Doggies played extra well ... that's a good win with great fighting qualities As for the Blues, they don't handle pressure very well at all. They go quiet

And these low crowds against low drawing interstate teams are quite common ... Hawks, North, Demons, Bulldogs & Saints have had to sell them off to balance the books But low crowds at Docklands never looks 3/4 empty as do the same sized crowds at the MCG Bombers have got 80k-90k members with an enormous supporter base ... so 25k for them is pitiful Footnote: To not have a 3rd boutique-type stadium in a City with 9/10 teams is baffling. Princes Park was the ideal venue but the horse has probably bolted

How about Geelong? 40,000 capacity at CatPark but only 25k for the Freo game Pathetic

Their supporters are pathetic, they drop off as soon as their team struggles Zero excuses

25k there last night? Essendon supporters are pathetic

What about North's rebound from their defence and all those intercept marks? Also, the rebound from GWS

On a wet track only (which is a distinct possibility) Each way Rosehill (Saturday) R7 #2 Mazu 10.00/3.10

Demons by 31 Fritsch 5.1 Bookmark it

Drop Fritsch? What would be left with? Right now, a small forward who doesn't kick a lot of goals along with other forwards who contribute very little What we need to do is change the way we play, so as to give forwards like Fritsch a chance to excel As we saw on Sunday, bombing it in long is often now resulting in an opposition intercept mark ... we're creating a situation where we need our tall forwards to spoil (and right now, our tall forwards can't even get to contests)

Our dysfunctional forward line is now creating issues in other areas of the ground. Notably our defence (which against North, was under seige) If the opposition are able to rebound quickly out of our forward line, they'll find easy routes to goal Teams are no longer happy to just boot the ball down the line out of the opposition forward lines The sport has moved on with teams using handball & kicking skills when rebounding out of defence (at pace) So if we can't lock the ball in our own forward line, we're effectively setting the opposition up to score (with our long bombs) We need to change the way we advance the ball forward ... quick smart

Melksham would almost certainly be our 2nd best forward when he returns (behind Chandler) The rest are non contributors (JVR, Turner, Fritsch, Jeffo) AJ is unproven as well We are bereft of talent up forward So even a 33yo veteran like Melksham improves our embattled forward line If our 2023 finals forward line was rated as C- what is it right now? E? Once Kozzie, AJ, Melk & Tholstrup return along with some cameo's from Petracca & Langford, we'll be way better off up forward. Not great, but certainly an improvement on what we've got right now

I wouldn't rule out seeing an improvement in disposal efficiency* (from the stoppages and in general play) from Oliver, Petracca, Viney, Rivers**, Sparrow & Langdon** All 6 have talent so why can't they learn how to dispose of the ball in a more efficient manner? Mindset? Change!!! We know that Salem, Kozzie & McVee can hit up targets at pace whilst Windsor, Tholstrup, Langford, & Lindsay all have the potential to do so as well (not bomb it long) But when embarking on a different game plan, the coaching staff need to be prepared to let go of how we previously played (as do the players) Locking the ball into our forward line enabled us to win a lot of games from 2021 to 2024 and to a degree, that can still happen but in my view, doing that (locking the ball into our forward line) can no longer be a priority *Bombing it long into the forward has to be a thing of the past ... except to 1 on 1's (when applicable) **And Rivers needs to go back to the HBF and Langdon is a wingman Just typing all those names (above) in this post highlights that we've still got loads of talent. It's not 2012/13 all over again I've changed my mind, we can play finals if we've got most of our good players available for the majority of the rest of the season) Not top 4, that's a stretch, but we can make the 8 Gold Coast are flakey and it's a must-win for us. I'm tipping a 5 goal victory And once we get Kozzie, May, Windsor, Melk, McVee, Tholstrup, Langford & AJ back, we'll be much more competitive by default (most of the 8 players listed above will be back in a couple/few weeks)