Wells 11

And Clarry and Trac both taking a bit longer to get back to their best...and just a horrible year in front of goals. Im expecting the club to finish this year with 10 wins and rebound hard in 26.

He's not a bull but he is one of our most clinical finishes and crafty forwards. Absolutely need him. Great players have lapses of form and confidence...but we were all reminded of what he can do last weekend. Must keep!

Just to note … in reference to “ our terrible club culture” “Demons list manager Tim Lamb, head of football Alan Richardson and interim chief executive officer David Chippindall all put their holiday plans on hold and made the three-and-a-half-hour trip up over the border to Albury”

lol okay… but l don’t think it’s as far fetched as that. Let’s just go for an achievable goal and just not miss sitters within 20 meters. that’s got to be doable? Trac is down on physical confidence as is Oliver both post affected pre seasons . Fritsch ( as a new parent) has had an unusually poor kicking year. All will be better next year if they’re still with us. Despite your Aunt ;-) I still think we’re really not that far off. But ask me again after we play the blues and saints. We could still finish this year on 10 wins and with a dreadfully unlucky losses to GWS and the pies.

I agree, despite the disappointment, we’re really not far away. IF we could fix our goalkicking we’re a top 8 team.

Looks like a p[retty decent draft doesnt it!

did he re Marchbank?

I hate to have to say it… but Jeffo looks like a bust. Do we persist for more games in 25 or just cut our losses?

We can only pray for small mercies like this in a [censored] season.

He needs a big and uninterrupted pre season. Given he missed a lot of that this year I won’t make any judgements til 2026. He still lives in the “ could make it” category imo.

Is it time to start talking about the senior players… and possibly trading them out while they still have any value?

Soooo… LJ back to Victoria?

Thanks Redleg. So much negativity is floating around on this site that its good to hear an informed and positive take. Next to winning a flag I dont think theres anything Ive wanted more as a dee supporter since we left the MCG.

actually it was more the 50 against May when Franklin charged him following that free that was the turning point. Franklin goals and the game changed. Seems like a long long time ago now though doesn’t it. We were right up at the pointy end just a few moments ago. :-(

Can someone with a better idea of corporate governance tell me why we would stop Guerra negotiating ahead of starting with us? On the surface it looks like it’s doing nothing but slowing things down but maybe there’s something Im missing?

My feelings exactly!

100%

Not always so. Look what Pratt did at Carlton. I’m sure there’s many more examples.

Add the atrocious goal kicking to the fact we gave up 2 x 50 metre penalty goals as well as a double goal . Given we fluffed a chance at the other end for them to sling shot it actually ended up being an 18 point play. Then add the 3 goals they got after the frikn siren. Too much sheer stupidity and [censored] standards running around this team.

It’s an obvious observation but we’re playing good enough footy to win these kind of matches. We’re doing such a lot right… but our kicking for goal isn’t just “ bad” it’s at PTSD levels now and is killing us. Max is a case in point. He was never great, Maybe a 60/40 proposition or maybe even just 50/50 but he’s kicked 2.13 this year and looks utterly at sea in his goal kicking routine. I honestly think many in this team are now mentally scarred. Trac looks the same… as does Petty. It’s not just about "more practice" now… I would argue that what ever they're actually practicing has made them worse. I think it’s psychological and I just don’t see how this is going to end. Any thoughts?

cmon @Ghostwriter … we’re due for a momentous “i told you so” victory lap!

Exactly. And if the club were thinking the way Kane does we’d be a true basket case!

thats doesn't happen til after page 100 of this thread.

It also lets the dee faithful know that IF he leaves that did absolutely everything in their power to keep him. We cant have done any more.

massive effort and so proud of the boys, but also massively disappointed as we lost a game we really should have won. The troubling aspect of the loss for me was that in key moments it was the composure and kicking skills of our senior players that let us down. Tracs miss on the run from 25. Melks set shot hit the post from 20. Clarry OOF in the last. Fritsch plays on and gets caught. Kozzie gives up a 50 and a goal ( again) and Gawn stuffs up that last ditch possibility with a kick he never should have taken on and one he’d make about 1 in 30 times. All of the above played really wonderful games. I’m not criticising their effort but I am criticising their composure when it counts. They are our on field leaders! I don’t think you can teach composure to experienced players . So one of the questions for me is can we actually afford to hang on to both oliver and Trac given they are both so utterly [censored] by foot and, as good as they are, will continue to cost us in close games.