deelusions from afar

I'm torn here (like many I suspect) that the likes of Trac, Clarry and May were absolute heroes in 2021. Pivotal in breaking the drought. The idea of them all departing 4 years later would have seemed an absolute nightmare / doomsday scenario in 2021-2022. At the same time, it seems (for whatever reason) Trac wants out, maybe (and maybe not) Clarry is more trouble than he's worth (May might be in a similar boat). I'm torn because the pain, disappointment and frustration of the last 3 years is probably pushing me to want change for changes sake. And as some people say it is very hard to get A graders into a football club - we might not fully understand what we've got till its gone. At the same time, I can see with some astute trading and drafting, this could unlock a new successful era - there are plenty of promising kids on our list. We add a few more this year, play an attractive game style with dare, front load the contracts so that we have a war chest, and go hard in future for free agency players. I look at the hawks and their midfield (without Day) doesn't really have any stars. They go alright! So I'm torn.

We were apparently desperate to get Humphrey in his draft year. Victorian lad. I reckon if Trac is thinking Gold Coast, we will throw the kitchen sink at Humphrey - it is definitely worth a shot!

I find the views people have on coaches / assistant coaches fascinating. Mark Williams has clearly had an enormous impact on the MFC. I've heard about some of his kooky ideas and I'm sure his experience, passion and out of the box thinking played a big role in the '21 flag. But he has also been responsible for development and goal kicking which clearly has not been where it needed to be the last few years. Is this his fault? I have no idea - it could be. But equally it might have had more to do with the culture / environment, the fitness levels, the club psychologists etc etc We don't really know who is responsible for what and even if we did, it normally takes the whole football department wokring in sync to see the fruits on the individuals labour. So I find it amusing that posters will say that we won the flag because of Yze and Williams but the disappointments afterwards were all Goody's fault. Surely they all share in the successes and failures. I'm not saying some coaches aren't better than others... but many on here seem to want to reduce people to saviours or sinners when people are often both. A big name / profile doesn't necessarily mean they will be good at the role. So if Whitford is highly regarded internally and in the industry, then that's good enough for me.

Is there a chance we would rookie him or is he done at Melbourne. He seemed to have something.

I know you know the players better than most on here and so can probably set me straight - but my understanding was that although the media were first to say it publicly (who else can?) this was part of the messy leaks last year and so it was said by someone at the club (as a way of fighting back against all the negative things coming out from Trac / his management about the club). I'm sure he hates the term. But that doesn't necessarily mean its wrong or unfair. What has disappointed me (and I think many dees supporters) is that he hasn't said anything to show he genuinely loves the club. Obviously a lot happened last year that I suspect most of us on Demonland can only piece together from what's reported publicly and so it's probably understandable he doesn't want to come out saying how much he loves the club. I'm not talking about the BnF speech so much - he has a big profile and so has limitless opportunities. But the problem is, by not speaking when he has a bigger platform than all (except maybe Gawn) at the club, it looks like he is protecting his brand so that he can move elsewhere if the right deal comes up. So even if he hates the term, he's not doing much to prove it wrong (when he could)?

The main thing I'd be wanting to get from BM coming in (and maybe a new assistant as well) is some improved forward craft / structure (not saying this isn't something they've been trying to fix for a while). How are our young key forwards meant to develop when there are so few (any?) natural forwards at the club. I rate Melksham and Fritsch but because of their size and skillset have to play differently to key forwards and are often trying to get out the back rather than come at the ball carrier. I don't think this works for your main focal point to play like that. Kentfield, Jefferson and JVR all have shown potential... but its only potential. Someone like BM could be a huge help in helping us structure up on field. Not sure the extent of King's connections and other priorities / contractual limitations etc but would love to see him try and bring in someone like Tom Hawkins to help coach the forwardline. Though I despised him as a player, he did seem to get better with time (suggests someone who relies on their brain rather than athleticism) and is well known for creating goals (through assists) rather than just kicking them himself. I think it's probably been as long as the days of Neitz / Robertson (other than some brief stints from Brown, Hogan, Clarke etc) that we've had a true key forward leader in the forward line.

Wonder if this makes it easier to land someone like Flanders if the saints have had to pay more than they were hoping for Windhager

I just see this as Buckley managing the situation in case he misses out. He works at SEN and Fox - so he has plenty of footy media people that can speak on his behalf. Now the narrative can be "buckley didn't want the job" rather than "buckley wasn't melbourne's preferred candidate".

It makes the next few months very interesting - assistant coach appointments, other appointments, approach to trade and drafting. Will we adopt the Geelong style of play (however you define it) or does he have his own. Are we rebuilding or can he tweak the right things to get us back up the ladder?

That happened? I was going to say, why didn't i hear about it... but if you don't have a media department ...

But did Petracca meet with any other clubs? Obviously his management were doing things in the background. Merrett is not quite on the same coin as Trac is he? Also has less to run on his contract.

Are there other players this could apply to that aren't in the team eg Clayton Oliver or Max Gawn?

I'm intriuged by how this works. How can Buckley or any of the other assistants vying for the Melbourne job put together a team until they've got the job. And why would the best coaches be available? I would think that someone like Chaplin would surely want to have a chat with our new coach and if he doesn't like the direction / approach etc then he's got the Tigers up his sleeve.

For Jefferson and .... ?

Buckley would be great for these reasons. But I'm not convinced he can coach for the modern game. At the end of the day it is about winning. Would the media have cared much about what Hardwick or Clarkson had to say prior to them winning flags? Would someone like McCrae and Kingsley quickly command respect of the media without their onfield success? I think we would get a bounce with Buckley - but if we have similar seasons to the last two then the shine will wear of pretty quickly (as it would with any of the other assistants admittedly). So I hope this is not a factor unless it is neck and neck on their ability to coach us to another premiership.

Yes thought that was interesting. Simpson comes across as a decent person (I'm still not sure he's a great coach). But my take on this was I think he was thinking "that could have been me and I'm a premiership coach". Of course he wouldn't want to have to go through all of that again. Back in the day I remember Sheedy getting narky at us as we told him anyone applying had to go through the process. There are a lot of egos in footy and particularly when it comes to senior coaches. But of course we want to go through a process. We might think Buckley is the front runner (or that could just be media talk) - but even so, as if we wouldn't want to know what other options there are. And it is also an excellent opportunity to steal some IP from some of the most successful teams going around. I have no idea what the questions would be like but surely they would ask questions that get to "what are some of the strategies / frameworks / habits that have been a point of difference at another football club you have spent time at that you would look to implement at Melbourne?" Regardless of who you appoint, you have 5 ideas from people who have seen success just from that question.

Yes I felt like we loaded up to try and get Harley and then West Coast said they weren't interested anyway. Someone else will remember exactly what we gave up to get the Kolt pick. The justification was that there was a cliff around that pick we wanted to be in front of. Obviously with hindsight that's never the case with Darcy Wilson, Logan Morris, Shaun Mannagh, Joel Freijah all coming after - but we probably could have had two of these players. On McAdam, is there a version of the universe where we gets back to senior AFL next year and has an impact? I remember the signs being really positive before his last injury.

I know he was a whipping boy for the fans but I really respected the way he went about his footy. If the rest of our players had his dedication and calmness we would be premiers. I feel like he was always up against it - a bit small, not overly quick for a small, couldn't kick over 40m and recently a lot of injury issues. But always gave 110%. I remember an important match (maybe the Hawks semi final in 2018) where we needed a goal and he had a shot from on the boundary line at his range (about 40-45 out). He just willed it through. A big role in our premiership side - wish him all the best!

Spargone(ski)

I see to be reading this all different than most. It may be Buckley. But I think he's just the media front-runner because he's a champion of the game, experienced coach who works in the media (and they love him). The process of selecting someone for a position means you start broad and narrow the field. If someone is not in your top 3, then it is better to let them know rather than stringing them along. Yes it is a two way street - they might think this is the wrong fit. But AFL coaching jobs don't come round very long and the Tassie job and any other ones that come up in the next 2 years, they will be battling Longmire, Hinkley, Goodwin, Simpson in addition to other exerienced assistants. There are some drawbacks with the Melbourne job - but most clubs have that one way or another - particularly if they're at the stage of needing a new coach (but things are never as bad / good as you think they are). So I don't think Skipworth pulling out is necessarily because he doesn't want the job - it's more likely because he knows he's not in the running and so wants to save face. Equally I don't think it's Buckley's job yet. He has the biggest profile so it makes sense in the media. But if those on the panel go through a sham process select Buckley and one of the others goes onto be the next Clarkson / Scott etc then it will be embarrassing for them and the club. It is their job to find the best person - how could any of us say for sure that's Buckley? I'm hoping for King / Kelly. Obviously will get behind Buckley if it's him. A potential bonus of an untried coach is I assume they would be paid less than Buckley - which may free up som $$ to get some high quality assistants in.

I see it similarly. Surely assistants that have been at the likes of Geelong and Collingwood who have overseen a reinvention with a list that many said was "past it" could potentially be a better fit. I think Buckley would probably do a good job - but being out of the systen for so long surely hurts him. To me he represents the old ways before the new came through (in coaching style and game plan etc). The talk of him not being interested / interested in Tassie to me is just about looking after his brand - which is fair enough in my opinion. If he missed out when he's wanting the role, then it hurts his chances at Tassie (or anywhere else). But if he says we're not the right fit, it means it doesn't damage his reputation. For that reason I think he has to hedge his bets until he knows he's across the line - to me, he seems VERY keen.

I've got no inside knowledge / intel but a little underwhelmed by this list if its the list - don't worry this is equivalent to people talking about draftees who've never watched them play live! Anyway - I thought we would want people that have had played a big role in teams playing the modern game (but no one from Adelaide, Hawthorn, Brisbane - maybe they want to ride the wave where they are). Can someone explain why Giansiricusa is rated so highly - he's been at Essendon since 2021. Obviously the persformance of a club is not down to an assistant... but they've treaded water in that time. I hope our CEO has taken his red and black glasses off - nearly all of the candidates have strangely had stints at essendon. I hate Geelong with a passion - but respect how they were able to rejig their gameplan from the ground up at the end of 2021 when they looked cooked to winning a flag in 2022. So someone who was part of that (eg Kelly and King (not on the list) would at a minimum have some useful IP for the MFC people on the panel. Part of it is excellent recruiting (and some unfair advantages with the surfcoast lifestyle) - but if we were told after 2021 that at this point in 2025, we would be where we are and Geelong would have won another flag and be contending (finished top 4) for another, it would have been laughable. What they have done is pretty amazing - and I hope through this process we can take some "learnings" from that!

Dogs under Bevo are flat track bullies - they belt the lowly sides and it gives them an inflated rating in so many stats. But compare that to how they go against top 8-9 sides. Obviously it's no where near as good - which is true for all sides. But the drop off for them is far worse. Once they're against sides that have elite midfields / defences their deficiencies in defence are shown for what they are. How that list does not make finals is a reflection on their system, coaching and recruiting. We have had problems with bombing the ball into 50 for years... the dogs have had an equivalent issue with their defence. And what has actually changed?

Heard the interviews with our new CEO and he spoke well. But it is a head-scratcher to me that so many people think he's doing a great job because he's "pondering this new position". Like the axing of Goody, I feel like many supporters will clap change for changes sake. Surely it's too early to know? At the end of the day, there's more than one structure that works and a lot of it is about the personalities / skills of the key people and setting it up to function most effectively. Obviously they need to make some decisions before the head coach is installed, but equally shouldn't this structure / new position be a little dependent on the coach we select?

It's an interesting point. Brisbane's defence and ball movement seemed to be their achilles heel in 2021 / 2022 and with the injection of a few players and changing their style, it has become a strength. With the right direction surely this is not beyond us.