Macca

I agree and we'll do well to hang on to Kozzie (a player I would hate to see us lose) There's plenty of talent coming through but there's a chance we'll need quite a few more Remembering that it is a midfielders game these days so you can never have enough good midfielders. Even the players in the pockets need to be able to run all day and contribute

The 9.17 in that 2023 SF also highlighted that our forward line was D Grade standard I hate excuses but I do believe in sound reasoning No Melksham, No Petty, No JVR, No Brown, Grundy had disappeared Fritsch on one leg and our only key forward (T-Mac) was on half a leg and was needed as the 2nd ruck It's a minor miracle we got so close But again, the reason we got so close was because we had a stellar Midfield and a stellar Defence

So in the meantime, we should all be blaming the players who are making the fundamental errors, not the coaching For instance, if Billings chokes in front of goal, how can that be the fault of Goodwin? Or if Rivers fumbles or Viney misses another target? ⁷ And yes, we are trying to change and Goodwin has said there will be teething issues. And he is right, it's not a magic wand situation We have to give the new game plan a chance to take hold but there's a chance that the players (as a group) may not be able to change And if that happens, it won't be just the coach copping it in the neck. We'll need a host of new players

2022 we should have rested our best players as Geelong were doing as we often looked spent in the home & away Finals ... ran out of legs. The one that got away 2023 ... ended up with a D Grade forward line in the finals. Our midfield & defence nearly got us over the line in both finals 2024 Decimated Midfield with a still, dysfunctional forward line. Never a chance

If the game is decided by speed of ball movement on offense, I can't see us winning Plus, it's Geelong at Geelong My attention will be on how our offense operates. A vast improvement would be needed in order to win so I'll settle on decent improvement That would raise the hopes looking ahead

You are right, I should have said 'have' been (winning the ball and thumping it forward)

I'd just load up through the draft if it came to it. By seasons end, we'll know a lot more about which players are committed and those that may not be committed And those with trade value that we might be better off trading. Right now, it's more of a guessing game I'd definitely keep Kozzie but I'm not sure on 5 or 6 others (not 6 in all but 3 or 4 out of 5 or 6) Working both ways, those who might request a trade and those who we might help facilitate a trade As an example ... say we had a forward who might think he has a better chance at excelling at another club Or a mid who is being squeezed out of midfield minutes and is surplus to needs It's not hard to figure out who I might be talking about, in both instances Sounds dramatic but in order to get what you need, you have to give up a fair bit Our trump card is Jason Taylor so we need to give him something to work with. Right now, we don't have a first round pick but that can change It's just a wild guess but I reckon we'll end up with at least 2 first round picks and 3 or 4 x 2nd round picks Why? Because we need to keep rebuilding the list with players who have great foot skills along with players who have excellent leg speed We need to plan for the next flag assault We've started doing so with McVee, Windsor, Tholstrup, Lindsay & Langford but it doesn't stop there

Our players are good at winning the ball and thumping it forward but we are now asking them to play an offense which involves fast running, gut running, intricate passing by hand and by foot along with teamwork and playing as a team A same game plan that requires exquisite foot skills, no fumbling and creating space and seperation Right now, it's a bridge too far but by seasons end we'll know which players can adapt and those that can't adapt I cannot see us going back to the old ways of thumping it forward So just imagine if you were overseeing all this as the coach? No self-doubts, just keep reinforcing the message, over and over again and hoping like hell that it will work So, we need to cut Goodwin some slack He could have stuck to the old ways and maybe eked out 10 or 11 wins but instead of that, he's stuck his neck out and taken a risk We had high hopes but in my view, the next flag will need a new group of players, combined with a number of experienced players to complement that new group

Yes, but the long contracts can be a plus or a minus. Hard to offload unless the other clubs are willing to pay up Or, we hold the players to their contracts and then hope that certain players get back to their very best Ideally the latter argument comes to fruition. If not, we get value in return via the trade table

If we get thumped on Friday night this thread will be red hot I just hope we put up a decent showing and not get embarrassed again What might happen is that the players could finally respond to a game plan that the coaches are hellbent on persevering with The new, direct, fast & furious game plan that the better clubs employ We live in hope

Well you can interpret what I've said any way you like. I'm not sure I've made anything up But Goodwin isn't going to get sacked in a hurry anyway. I reckon the Board are backing him in on a new game plan and they would know it's going to take some time to implement But I reckon the Board also knows we've got some player issues to sort out. With no easy solutions

Players earning a half a million bucks a year (on average) and they can't carry out the fundamentals And that's the fault of the coach? Whatever happened to players being responsible for their own actions? Fumbling the ball is the coaches fault? What if we had the late, great Ron Barassi in charge Would we blame RDB if a player fumbled? I think not

Ha ha, the old straw man retort. Nonsense It's clear that you want to place all the blame at the feet of the coach Which, by default means that you are letting the players off the hook I'm almost the opposite, I believe the issues lies with the players themselves whilst the coaching messaging might be an issue Strangely enough, you don't strike me as someone who would only want to blame the coach Must be that Goodwin demeaner that annoys you? I mean, he's a bit boring (not that that bothers me one iota)

Are you sure you know what you are talking about here? We have obviously changed our offensive approach but it's a work in progress We trained all summer with a new game plan and that doesn't include bombing it to the pockets ... but if that does happen then it means that the players are going against the team rules Old habits die hard and all I've seen from Viney, Petracca & Oliver is repeat long bombs. Do they want to change and can they change? Stop blaming the coach and don't let the players off the hook

Hey picket, you reckon you've played footy so when things weren't going well for the team did you look in the mirror, or blame your coaches Sacking the coach, especially this early in the season, is just so much of an overreaction We had a tumultuous off season with various players going off-tap. And now we're not playing as a team I wonder why? Maybe there's a carry over resentment that's prevalent. Players just deciding to look after No.1? It looks that way to me They are not playing for each other and people like you want to just blame the coach? It goes way deeper than that

Why are you letting the players off the hook? If they are disinterested ship them off to Casey for a month These players are professional sportsmen, they are not amateurs To just blame the coach is unintelligent And it might look like I'm a huge Goodwin fan but I'm not I'm just a stickler for fairness We've got bad eggs at the club and the sooner we rid ourselves of them, the better I can't imagine being in an environment where 3 or 4 players are openly saying that they want to play elsewhere Question for you Oliver was paid $2.8Million for his last 2 years at the club Should he give the money back considering he decided that he was going to loaf on the job for 2 years? To my mind, what he did was outrageous and we should have torn up his contract for breach of contract And don't get me started on Kozzie & Petracca And if you don't think there's a connection to all that and how we're playing now, I can't help you

Is it? There have been many references on this site in the last few days that we are playing like we did during the Neeld era Release the shackles to do what? Bomb it long again just to rack up the metres gained? A teams offense is a complex arrangement these days. We were good at the previous offensive game plan (which, to be fair, was quite basic, but often successful) Yet we look all at sea with the current one But isn't that to be somewhat expected? Do you want an instant, dynamic, new offense with a group of players who only know the old ways? I'm not ruling out the messaging being a factor but the players need to start thinking for themselves in a decisive manner By the way, strangely enough, I said the exact same thing here during the Neeld era So the game is in the hands of the players ... they are given their instructions but can they execute those instructions?

Pertaining to the new game plan ... We had a number of track watchers who commented on our ball movement at pre-season training Notably, @Ghostwriter @waynewussell @picket fence @DeeSpencer and a few others Without wishing to put any of the aforementioned on the spot, their comments referenced offense strategies that was up to modern day practices But transferring training drills to game day is easier said than done It takes practice and lots of it, a deep trust and lots of gut-running for your teammates. As well as a complete buy-in of course. Teamwork and playing as a team and lots more And yes, it's true that we haven't seen much evidence but we've been up against well drilled teams who's offensive strategies were well practised The new offense requires a lot of sprint running to position. And creating separation Previously we just bombed it long and followed that up with the forward press and zone defence The difference between both styles is stark

I'm looking for the Exit haha But my evaluation on the teams performance is to not leave anything out (no one-sided arguments like the Pollies) It's like when we kicked poorly for goal in the SF against Carlton in 2023. Who's fault is that? The Coach? No, that's on the players especially if they don't practice their goalkicking enough. You want to be very good, do the extra training off your own bat @frankie_d mentioned that the lack of an well appointed CEO could be a contributing factor? I don't doubt that for a minute As Frankie said, a good CEO drives the ship and drives the standards

It's fair to say we're a bit of a mess but we can't lay all the blame on the coach I reckon an interim coach would have the same issues to deal with And a newly appointed coach (on contract) would need clean air ... so trade out those players who don't want to buy-in before the new coach sits in the chair (Think Blight when he went to Adelaide) That's if we even appoint a new coach, of course

You are right, especially about the buy-in Oliver going off the rails, Viney with his wasteful disposal and Petracca wanting to play at a 'Big' club just about sums things up What are the other players thinking? Stuff like that can create resentment and a backlash We need to look further than the coach ... to my way of thinking, I reckon we're a fragmented club The lack of onfield teamwork & the lack of selfless acts is quite apparent Some of the players look like they don't want to be out there

What's that? To bomb it long to the pockets? Our stars aren't stars anymore because they continually waste their disposals

It's not working, that's why we haven't seen it. Bit we are going away from those long bombs so that's a good indicator So we are trying to change and I believe it's a player buy-in issue, not the coaching Our older mids are see ball, get ball and bang it long, types. Change them and we can make a new game plan work Oliver for instance is just accumulating disposals like the 3rd Crouch brother Doesn't set up goals and doesn't make his teammates better players. Nor does he bring his teammates into the game And he is getting A Grade, Elite money Petracca, Viney and even Gawn are similar to Oliver (right now) We need a newer team to win our next flag So to put the blame on the coach only is quite ridiculous The players aren't playing their part So don't let them off the hook

Do people here remember what happened when we replaced Neeld with Craig We still lost and we still got smashed with that boundary hugging football nonsense. Craig went with Neeld's plan So if we replace Goodwin what game plan would an interim coach employ? The old plan where we go back to bombing it long to the pockets? Or continue on with Plan B which the sacked coach was trying to implement? Plan C? How is that going to work mid season? We may as well see it out until at least the end of the season. And in my view, that is how the Board will see it

The new game plan is a work in progress Previously, our game often eventuated with a long bomb to the pocket So I'd say we are now trying to move the ball in similar ways as the better teams Quick ball movement, corridor use, leg speed to complement, crisp delivery by hand or by footy, 45° diagonal kicks cross-crossing the ball forward. Lowering the eyes and so much more But here's the thing, I'm not part of the inner sanctum so there's probably a lot in there that isn't transparent The fact that the above isn't happening yet doesn't mean that the endeavour and goal isn't there to make it work What complicates things is the turmoil in the off season and the constant references to Petracca, Oliver & Kozzie perhaps wanting out What would all the other players make of all that? I'd say it slows down the buy-in to the new game plan So if people here reckon there are problems at the club, the above is probably the reason My view only ... if a player acts like a Prima-Donna they immediately become commodities only and we'd be better off with those types on the trade table No sentiment, it's all about the team