Norm Smith's Curse

The same could be said for MacRae's premiership - ordinary list, good draw, won every final by two millimetres and with overtime umpiring assistance. A failure would be to not make finals consistently after being there long enough to implement game plan and personnel.

In that case I am reading too much into it. Cheers.

I often read this and wonder how that could be true given he got them to a premiership and then a prelim in the later years of his time there.

Any one else think Oliver - whether by chance or plan - suddenly looked a lot better today?

I watch Bucks probably more than any other football commentator or talking head. I do so just because one night I listened to his carefully thought out, nuanced and tactical analysis of a game that surprised me. There was and is no sign of hubris, and he is always respectful of what he says about players - even ones that overtly make a mistake. He knows Freo's list very well and has made really good observations on their tactics that were born out in later games. BUT the other thing I noticed all season was how intimately he understood and had his head around our list, our players strengths and weaknesses and our tactical wins and mistakes as the season went on. Now this may be because he was actually just doing his job and investing more into his knowledge of teams than other commentators but it just gave me a feeling... Any one with doubt pls just watch him talk about a couple of games this season. He is fully invested in the current state of footy and tactics, he knows every list way better than nearly any other commentator and particularly he talks about our list and playing group like he has been carefully monitoring everyone in detail. Simpson seemed coy, Longmire seemed coy and maybe that was just because neither got a call or a sense of interest because we wanted someone specific. I would add that his Collingwood lost a grand final by a goal and lost a prelim by 4 points the next year. I would agree that Goodwin's record is probably slightly better than Bucks, that he has a premiership and the love of his players but I think Lomgmire and Buckley are better tacticians.

Failed to win a premiership by a goal...

Truth is we asked Petracca what he wanted to do and he said become a pie, so we thought the next best thing would be to bring in a legendary pie in as coach.

No one at any stage suggested we were even into Daly and Longmire seemed underwhelmed with the prospect. Word and all indications are that Buckley was the first option from the start, love it or not.

Nathan Buckley's coaching record: 218 games (117-99-2) John Lomgmire: 332 games (207-122-3) Simon Goodwin: 203 games (111-91-1) Michael Voss: 196 games (88-106-2) Adam Simpson: 243 games (122-119-1) That was fun!

...but until I hear it from Tom Morris I won't believe it.

Buckley's footy brain and tactical analysis is frankly some of the best and most detailed I've seen in recent years. Suggesting Buckley and Hinkley are in the same bracket of tried coaches who never made it is a stretch.

Anyway let's get serious and stop debating and deliberating and just wait for Tom Morris to make the decision and announce it

Carlton - haven't had any players with quite the level of off field allegations that the Dees have and probably a better all round list.

I hope it's Buckley for mine and I even suspect it might be given the detailed insights he offers about our games and how we have played - like he has been carefully assessing us and our list. Roosey suggested Horse would have been called already.

What if they hired a psychic and found that the only way to truly break the curse was to sack and then reinstate Simon like they did the great one?

REINSTATE THE COACH! Learnings are to be had! No surprise from my end. Suspect we have someone lined up already.

Maybe it was Simon's camp that leaked the story? Just a thought as who else would have a relationship with Tom Morris?

The learnings from this are telling. Can't even sack a coach without it leaking. Good show old chaps.

There goes getting any work done today!

Fritta is absolutely not going anywhere. Judd maybe, Lever who knows but Fritta won't be being traded.

Pickett - good midfield moments Petty - maybe a forward? Fritsch - back at best Culley - taller than most

True but sadly WC's defense struggles.

From memory at the time Houston's management was the same as Tracc and Clarry so undoubtedly he knew a lot more about what was going on in the Dees in 2024 than we did.

Disagree. Lever has captain written all over him. Just had a bad ankle.

I had no idea Jai was 194cms! Taller than Aidan Johnson and TMac! Has a real presence and has some fantastic attributes. Could float forward and clunky a mark.