deelusions from afar

It's too early for mine... it depends on what Max does. But if Max stays captain next season and Disco keeps us this form (I get the sense he is well liked and has natural leadership qualities) then he should definitely be in the frame.

The main criticism in the media about SG's sacking seems to be the timing. To me, the timing isn't that odd. They all seem to think we did it because we wanted to get ahead of Carlton. I think it's more about having enough time to properly go through the process to choose the coach well before players head away and the trade period commences?

While I agree, they're no 1 pick last year Jagger Smith (touted to be the no1 pick overall) has been injured all year and some of their kids eg Moir showed quite a bit against us!

GIven we don't have a first round draft pick and we look to have a father son and possible NGA... Jason Taylor might have less to do this time of year. Can we put him on the coaching selection panel? (only half joking)

Unless you actually know, I don't think you should be posting this type of thing

I don't know if that's right. Last year's draft was very strong and this year's is not only weak but further diluted with the large number of father sons and academy players. Yes it would be nice to have a first round pick this year... but I don't think we would get a better player than Lindsay? Despite an injury interrupted pre-season has played most games and been a solid contributor - good kick, calm under pressure, outside player that has shown ability and toughness to play inside in the future.

It was interesting to hear Josh Mahoney acknowledged by SG along with Peter Jackson and Todd Viney in setting the ground work for our premiership. Obviously have no idea but from what I do know, he seemed to not get enough recognition after we did win the flag. Would love to see what would have happened had Josh Mahoney got the CEO role rather than Pert.

Goody was loved by the players - so it's not a surprise. But that may have been part of the problem.

A decent summary. I know Whately and others in the media are trying to show the inconsistency in expectations in terms of whether this team can make finals. Yes Brad did say that... but I think because it was more polite to say than the truth. Goody has done incredibly well for Melbourne. But recent years has accumulated baggage - much of it is not his doing. But some of it is. His close connection to the players has been an asset but more recently has been his achilles heel as (it appears from the outside) he has been unable to ensure there is discipline and consistency in treatment of players. The primary reason Green gave was "we need a new voice". Goody might be right about the team being able to bounce back up... but with what has gone on the last 4 years, there needs to be a clean slate. How can we do that if he is still there. He's been unlucky in so many ways... but he's also had 9 years. I don't think anyone who follows / watches Melbourne closely would expect a different trajectory next year without significant change. I don't think (or at least hope) Green and the coaching selection panel are going to simply appoint who thinks we have a finals list - it sounds like from other reports they did not agree with Goody's assessment that we were a chance for the flag next year (At least if he was coaching). Surely it's about who has a sense of where the game is going, who gets the best out of people, knows how to maximise our strengths and knows how to fix our weaknesses. As much as most supporters hate it (as it was Goody's mantra) it's not so much about the result - its getting the process right (so the result looks after itself). I still think the untried coach is the best option. Ideally they can bring in their choice of people. I'd be wanting to know about the process and criteria that the pies and GWS used when selecting their coach.

I'd want to go for assistants that have been involved in teams that have performed above expectations with their list. I hate Geelong with a passion more than any other team... but they looked completely cooked in 2021. They went through a process of starting fresh and designing a game plan that suited the strengths they had. They had a couple of good kids but looked like they were going to fall off a cliff... when in fact they have evoled and now we look more likely to fall off a cliff. Obviously it's a lot to do with recruiting (and what they offer out of contract players etc) but it's more than that to stay up for so long.

How many recent examples are there of experienced coaches achieving the ultimate success? I'd rather go for an experienced assistant how has been involved with multiple successful teams. It also might mean we have more $$ to put towards a better coaching group.

I'm not saying we don't need change (clearly we do) - but I think so many of us think that change = better. In many cases it won't. Most of us have very little idea about who is responsible for what and because we're not happy with the output everyone's name gets thrown up. As an example, Selwyn Griffiths is our "high performance manager" which despite the title is really in charge of managing injuries and fitness. Early in the season we were struggling to win last quarters - perhaps we were not fit enough. Mid season that seemed to be less of an issue with many strong performances in last quarters. Does that mean its the fitness, or is it coaching, tactics, rotation management, or psychology? Who really knows? What I do know, is that we have actually had a pretty good season in terms of management of injuries. Is that because without playing finals, we had a longer pre-season and so players with niggles could rest more? Or is it because Selwyn and his team actually know what they're doing? I have no idea - but I would hate to see us weild the axe here to placate the angry members, sponsors etc and find a replacement that is similar to what essendon / carlton have had in recent times. Because the reality is, there's a pretty small pool of ppl that can actually do this type of job. Remember what it was like before we got Burgo?

All duck and no dinner?

I think it would be partly because we will struggle to attract talent that is in demand due to how we have gone the last few seasons on and off field. Secondly just because someone can't get a game in one side doesn't mean they can't be an asset in another. They're not superstars but Toby Bedford wasn't a regular when GWS picked him up from Melbourne (we wanted to keep him and were blindsided) and has become a much better player. Even Jordon at Sydney - they didn't win the flag but he was in their grand final team in a very deep midfield after being on the outer at Melbourne.

Agree 100% - there's not much to say right now. Decisions have to be made, but they can't be made without the new president / CEO in place and it would make us look like we're panicking off field in the same way we did on field in the last quarter (and particularly the last 8 seconds). So maybe it's better to say nothing? But then we have supporters / media saying we're hearing crickets from the president / the club and that obviously means they're ok with this result. It's a no win position for Brad and the board. At a minimum he's saying the performance is not up to scratch (duh) and setting the foundations for change. Whereas last year a trade of Oliver / Trac was off the table... it seems like those sorts of things won't be this time round. (Maybe Goody too... but who knows) We're all p!ssed off right now - but a knee [censored] reaction / statement will make us even less attractive for prospective players, coaches, other staff who WE NEED to attract to get better.

It could actually be the other way round... the players seem to LOVE SG. From their point of view the onfield performance could be more about other factors - off field management, players behaviour off field etc

Isn't the problem though that it is reportedly a weak draft and in addition to that very compromised with academy and father sons - so draft picks are less valuable this year? It's why trading out our first last year and netting Lindsay is a win pretty much regardless of where we finish. And why it made sense for Richmond to load up with so many draft picks last year. We could potentially trade for future picks.. but that delays the rebuild (and I have no idea on the quality for that draft)

That criticism is fair. Though I feel like the Viney decision was more of a PR one with him and Max commiting / extending in the middle of the storm at the end of last years season. Having said that, Langdon is still playing at a decent level so with his fitness and speed, 3 years doesn't seem that bad? Lever is young enough to still be playing good footy in 3 years time... I guess it comes down to if his body can hold up. I don't think that's Lamb's fault - we seem to have tried to lure everyone we can since 2019 when we realised post Hogan that Tmac and Weid weren't going to cut it forward. We are always linked to forwards but other than BBB we've never got one. I think until this year, a manager would be in the players ear saying "mate have you seen how Melbourne enter's their forward 50?". I wouldn't have wanted to play key forward in those teams! Potentially if we didn't have so much coin tied to May, Lever, Trac, Oliver, Max we might have been able to get one in... but I can't think of too many quality KPFs we've missed out on (we were never in the running for Lynch, Cameron etc). And re McKay - would he have made much difference? He won the coleman medal in 2021 from memory so we would have been trading Oliver / Trac at the peak of their powers after winning a flag to get him. Maybe (maybe?) in hindsight it makes sense, but there's no way we were going to do that after they just won us a premiership.

That criticism is fair. Though I feel like the Viney decision was more of a PR one with him and Max commiting / extending in the middle of the storm at the end of last years season. Having said that, Langdon is still playing at a decent level so with his fitness and speed, 3 years doesn't seem that bad? Lever is young enough to still be playing good footy in 3 years time... I guess it comes down to if his body can hold up.

While I'm normally a defender of Goody, after the weekend I find myself wondering if it's time to part ways. At the same time, if I'm being honest I think I'm just wanting to see better performances and after what we've lived through since 2021 it seems moving the coach on will make all the bad go away and things will immediately turn around... but will it really? I've been pretty critical of Goody's coaching style / game plan since 2021... but I actually think the changes this year make the team more attacking and watchable... we just don't quite have the cattle to do it consistently (yet). If Goodwin were sacked and we do make major changes to the list, is that really going to make us better - or will it actually resign us to the doledrums for 5 years (in a time when the AFL is pumping resources and draft picks into the new club).

I know it's an unpopular opinion but I don't understand the hate for Lamb on here. The established players he has brought in since 2021 haven't been much chop - but with the gamestyle we had in 2022-2023 and the off-field issues that plagued our club since 2021, I don't think that's his fault. Players didn't / don't want to come to Melbourne. He seems pretty shrewd when it comes to trading for picks etc.

I think there is merit in giving him a game or two in the final few rounds. By "giving" I'm not meaning his form doesn't warrant it - but more due to how far back he has had to come from this season, it's a big step up. But often this can give players a bit of extra motivation over the summer - they have a better understanding of what's required. I haven't given up on JVR and Jefferson. I reckon Jefferson has shown a lot - he's taken some good marks, shown a competitive streak (albeit in bursts) and his VFL form shows he is a good kick for goal (which hasn't been seen much at AFL level). Another pre-season building fitness, strength and confidence and he could go another level. I wonder whether JVR should be tried in defence - even if it's a short term thing, it might round out his game and give him some insights into how to be a difficult forward to play on.

Will be very interesting to see what happens at the end of the season. I love all our players and would hate to see any traded - particualrly those from the 2021 premiership team.... BUT we obviously have to look to improve and you have to give something to get something. When I look at our key defenders, we seem to suddenly have more than we need - particularly if Petty is in the mix there (which I suspect he is if we had another big body that can play forward). I'd hate to see him go but I think May would be the one that could make a difference for a team that is otherwise looking really solid - eg the Dogs have a great list but their defence is still their achilles heel. Lever is another that has potentially been passed by Disco. Or is he just injured? Would hate to see him go but with Petty, Disco, Adams, TMac (surely gets another year) and Howes I think we have enough coverage there.

I think this is actually changing though. We are now (believe it or not) one of the fastest ball movement sides. We've had a huge game plan overhaul and it's not there yet... but it is so much better than the last couple of years. Had we kicked straight the narrative would be different. I know goal kicking has been a constant issue - but I think previously that was a lot to do with our slow down the line play and mobing it in... we do a lot less of that now. Things can turn quickly. When we played Hawthorn early last year, they looked an absolute rabble. By the end of the year they were the hollywood hawks.

I read somewhere that we are into Ollie Lord - is there anything to this?