The heart beats true

It’s a strange time to be evaluating players. The players would argue that they never got a shot at it due to the lack of VFL. You could also counter argue that 1-2 of them wouldn’t have shown much at that level and would have been let go. It’s football purgatory, and we’ve decided it’s better the devil you know.

Green, Wheatley, Whelan, Bruce - 1999 Draft maybe? I hope to be proven very wrong ;)

I’m 42. If somebody said I could go back in time and play 80 games of footy for the Demons, but I’d have to put up with a few unhappy people having a crack at me over the internet, I’d say ‘sign me up’ every time. I’m jealous of what Oscar achieved, and I hope he knows that’s the ultimate compliment.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/essendon-boss-hits-back-at-gws-defends-dodoro-on-caldwell-deal-20201117-p56ffo.html This is interesting too. They continue to back in Dodoro even when they’ve just spent 12 months paying Joe Daniher 800k to rehab and got the same result at the end (with the possible exception of sending him to a much more powerful team). Nobody wants to deal with them, and as a result they get player scraps. It’s ridiculous, but it couldn’t happen to a finer bunch of muppets. They’ve been going nowhere for years.

Honestly, as Melbourne supporters we know this situation better than most. You can be heartbroken, disappointed, dismayed, angry and even betrayed... but when the team runs out and you see the jumper you still think ‘c’mon boys!’. Supporter fury in November can turn to optimism by March if the club handles itself well during the offseason. Maybe we can loan them our marketing and video department? That seemed to erase the memories of most around here.

There’s way too much sunshine and lollipops going on around here about TMac. He’s being paid like a guy who should be in our top 5 players, and he’s currently not in the best 22. That money is poorly spent. Purely from a business perspective he should be gone, and the fact that he isn’t tells you the rest of the industry agrees he’s massively over valued.

I think we did ok. I think the club did the best with what it could get given the hand they had. However for mine that doesn’t make up for the hole on the wing, and the other one in the forward pocket. I would have liked one of those plugged with a ready made player given our age profile and need to get a move on. I assume we are looking to the draft to solve those problems, but it doesn’t help 2021 - which is an interesting predicament given the open conversations had about the coaching staff’s KPI’s for next year.

Buckley again not covering himself in glory in regards to player management. His reputation is taking a hit as a result of poor salary cap management. If I was him I’d be pretty annoyed at other parts of his footy club. So many resources, and still in such a terrible situation.

He’s a bit like Rick Astley. Had a couple of big years but his best was a long time ago.

I’ve worked in a lot of organisations. Sliding people around and changing titles usually doesn’t amount to much. They either spend 12 months trying to figure out what is or isn’t their responsibility, or they realise they preferred the previous job and just stain the organisation. This feels a little half pregnant to me in regards to Richardson in particular. Had they not done a review before they brought the guy in they’d be able to recruit for the role we now need. I feel similarly about Mahoney - who definitely seems to have been demoted.

I’m really happy about this. You have to have a plan to beat the guy. No disrespect to Mitch Brown but he’s not exactly keeping the opposition defence coach up at night. He will definitely make us harder to defend against - which opens the doors for others. On ya Ben. Can’t wait to yell out ‘Bennnnnnyyyyyy!’ at the G for the next 5 years.

I’d love to know who we are supposed to be replacing these 2 with that are going to be better than them in 2021? No VFL to evaluate the ready made players, and no TAC cup to bring in the future. Hore got a one year deal because we know what he can do, versus an unknown older player whose just missed a year. Spargo got 2 years because he’s 21, and deserves a shot to become something we desperately need. It’s not just about the stats, it’s about what you’d be replacing them with, and this year is the biggest recruiting dog’s breakfast since the AFL became a professional comp.

I can understand both perspectives on this (although one side’s argument is certainly less eloquent in its presentation in this thread). I will say the points made about coaching cut backs has really helped me better understand the decision. I remember we got hurt badly a couple years back by the runner changes, simple because we didn’t have the experience on the field to read the momentum.

I find it a very fine balance. I quite like some of the snide backhanders that get thrown around here sometimes. It’s actually it’s own form of entertainment - as long as it gets understood by both parties as banter. I will say that I think it’s much worse in trade season as you get so many people with varying degrees of ‘inside word’. It does wear you down a bit. No one can ever name their source, so it’s futile trying to find out where the information comes from - especially when it seems dubious. I think it you’re coming on here with the ‘inside word’ you just have to accept that A)There will be skeptics, and B)You can’t prove anything until it happens. Posting under those conditions you’re a very brave person indeed. I love the diversity of opinion on here, especially when it’s accepted purely as that - opinion.

Brilliant ?

Just after this bloke who spent 7 hours doing his hair and forget to give his eyebrows the once over finishes up hopefully.

This. Was interesting in the thread when someone highlighted that they’ve had only 5 changes to the team we beat in the 2018 finals. I think that says a lot about the value of consistency. It’s much easier to have one player step in to a very organised and experience group than 3-4 players most weeks stepping into a team still trying to get the balance right.

Gotta agree on this. I see others rant about Sparrow, but I've not seen him do one thing at AFL level that makes me think he has a future. As for Harmes, he needs to work on being flexible. He doesn't get it enough for a player of his type. He's not capable of getting 12 touches but really impacting games with something truly unique. He looks lost in the back half, so this coming year is going to be career defining for him. The good news is I think he's a hard worker.

Their draft hand is artificially propped up by how lucky they got with Tim Kelly. Most clubs would have taken him between 25 and 35, and the cats just swept in. They couldn’t have dreamed he would have been so valuable and netted them so much only 2 seasons later. They got very, very lucky with that.

Excited to read The Age article. If it’s between us and Essendon, or moving to Freo, I think we look the goods. More want out than in at The Bombers, and nobody with a young family wants to move away from their support in Melbourne. Also, please don’t discount the absolute shambles that North have revealed themselves to be. Ben had a tough year personally, and the club was in a right state. He’s a great player, and we don’t have anyone even close to him as a logical full forward for the next 3 years. Get him in, get him fit, and watch how much better (and more consistent) our forward line structure is.

This one is first hand... I saw Sam Frost yesterday when walking through Elwood. Can confirm he still has a gigantic set of ears on him.

I will say it’s interesting how quickly St Kilda have become a much more desirable proposition for players than they were 2 years ago. Ratten has been fantastic for them so far, if even just for their perception.

The role of a coach is to get all the different personalities to work together. They won’t all be robots. They just need to commit to what the team needs. Jesse will be advised that this is it for him. He either makes it work or he’s just another waste of talent. Get him back and see what he can do. He doesn’t need to be a superstar, just a contributor. He’d make us harder to beat, and as a supporter that’s all I need.

As a fan of the game of AFL this kind of stuff really turns me off. BUT knowing how invested the AFL are in GWS, both economically and culturally, something tells me they might not tolerate this anymore. The Giants look to be due for a few years in the wilderness, and it’s not part of the plan at headquarters. If GWS continues to be a feeder club then it’s not sustainable. Interesting times.