poita

I was critical of Mick in the first half of his tenure, but I think he has coached as well as he ever has in the past season and a half. This will be a massive loss. The HS reported over the weekend that Geelong have been lining him up. Thanks Mick for all your fantastic work establishing one of the most successful programs in the league.

No wonder the club is always hiring for an accountant on LinkedIn. I'm guessing the old one is exhausted from all the creative accounting that is required. Or they are headhunted by the state government for a similar role. Four years on from a premiership, with home games on Kings Birthday and Anzac Eve, it is shameful that the club is back to recording losses (even if we only focus on the $200K operating loss).

Agree. If I hadn't played a decent AFL game in three years, am out of contract at the end of the season and have a new coach to impress, I reckon I might turn up earlier than contractually required to show that I actually want to play senior football next year. Even if I can't fully train at this point.

Compared to Casey Fields, the Kennedy centre is less than half the distance to the MCG (where both teams play), the bayside suburbs (where most players live) and the geographic and population centre of Melbourne (providing decent access for fans). The players might be happy with the facilities once they get to Casey Fields, but spending two hours a day in the car to get there and back has to be a major negative.

Good luck to Tayla but, removing the red & blue glasses, her mark is arguably the third best of the three. Surely Montana Ham's goal is light years ahead of the other two nominees for GOTY.

Fixture looks fine to me - plenty of Saturday & Sunday afternoon games and 5 away games in Melbourne. We shouldn't fear any of the teams we are playing twice. Of course we'll get smoked if we're rubbish again, but the coach and president don't believe we will be. We can't expect to be playing in marquee time slots when we've played terrible football for two years. Sure there is a different rule for Carlton and Essendon, but we should just focus on getting our own house in order.

Does it really matter what our away games are? We know we're going to travel interstate 7 - 8 times, so I don't really care if it is to Launceston, Adelaide or Coober Pedy. My hope is that we avoid Thursday nights, and I'm happy to play as the away team on Friday nights.

Just bizarre that Richardson can stay in his role, with a confirmed end date, and have as much power as he does. Hopefully he is put on gardening leave as soon as a suitable Head of Football is found.

That's all great, but why wait until the year end interview? If warranted, he (and the rest of the side) should be getting that type of feedback on a weekly basis. It seems pretty clear to me that Goodwin had checked out for most of 2025, despite claiming to be blindsided by his removal.

The club needs to come out and clarify the Zanker situation for the members, because something doesn't add up at present. I reckon we should play Beasley this week, even if she can only get through half a game. That's still going to be a much better contribution than we got from half a dozen players on Sunday.

Just a really poor decision to renew Laurie's contract so early in 2024, and clearly one that the senior coach wasn't privy to, given that Goodwin clearly put a line through his name last year. Sadly he doesn't have any traits that are of genuine AFL quality, and certainly none that overcome his lack of size and speed. Maybe King is willing to give him a shot, but more likely he prefers others.

In 2021 West Coast and St Kilda finished 9th and 10th with 10 win / 12 loss records and percentages in the low 90s. It was devastating for all concerned that such deserving sides missed the finals, and it is fantastic that the AFL have acted to ensure that such heartbreaking events never happen again. Seriously, this is yet another blatant cash grab that devalues the achievement of making finals and rewards mediocrity. I've been to every final we've played in Melbourne for the past thirty plus years, but I won't be giving the AFL a cent to watch a wildcard game.

I agree that we are playing (at least) one tall too many. We need to be able to match Brisbane's work at ground level, and our defence is a worry for me. That said, there is not much experience amongst the potential inclusions.

Great post and I heartily agree with the sentiments. This team is not perfect, but they will never lose due to lack of effort and commitment.

I didn't want to be the first to criticise this, so am glad that others have jumped in. I'm sure the timing is great for retirees, the unemployed and preschoolers - everyone else, not so much. I get the feeling that at times the club is more concerned with being seen to do the right thing, rather than actually doing the right thing.