Wells 11

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.

He's worth it is he not? Well he is imo. TDK prob loves the blues too but not if it costs him a million a year to stay there.

100% we come to play for this. We will bring elite pressure imo. May well not be enough , as the pies are elite, but win or lose I reckon we will be proud of the dees Monday night! ** unless we kick 7.21 again ...in which case we will burn the club down**

Agreed. I wonder if this has changed not in the last 10 years but more in the last two! Feels like the blues looked really dangerous with Mckay and Curnow half a second ago. Do you think this is why JVR is so at sea in 2025?

Well...personally Im looking forward to see how we go against the best team in it. Im just not expecting a win. If we get within 5 goals of the pies there would be a lot of positives to take away.

would be the most celebrated “ I told you so” in demonland history.

If it starts sliding off the side of our boots we’ll no doubt kick a lot straighter!

Think we need to give Lever a rest and bring back Tmac. He's either not fit, injured or too out of touch .

We just have SO many terrible set shot kicks now in this team. Watching Gawn, AJ, Fritsch ( this year) Trac, Kozzie or Sharp shoot for goal is a complete frikn lottery …every time. How the hell do we turn this around? Is it even possible? I’m sure they practice but it seems whatever they’re doing is just making them all more nervous! We’re now the worst in the comp for set shot accuracy by a decent margin, but even that damning stat isn’t the worst of it. It doesn’t track how often we see opposition teams go the length of the ground afterwards for a 2 goal turnaround... from simple misses. Twice that I remember yesterday . The 2 goal turnarounds cost us the game v GWS and again yesterday. As a supporter it makes me want to tear my hair out...and as I havent got that much left I need answers soon!

Viney to miss … just announced. that’s gotta be super worrying. I would have thought Laurie would replace him but seems his on his way to Sydney?

Like when we put AJ into the side and kicked 19 goals? I think Im with @Stiff Arm

I hate to be pragmatic but I don’t think playing finals is the be all and end all in 2025. Imo It’s more important that we’ve gone close, beaten some top sides on the way and proven our style of play. Worth remembering we missed the finals in 2020 in those circumstances. Be great to make it of course but I don’t think we’re going to win it in 25 even if we do make it. 2026 might feel like a different beast.

Can you imagine if this was Melbourne, Stkilda or North Melbourne? Can you imagine Caro saying the same things?? Honestly this makes me feel sick.

yep. It’s shambolic isn’t it.

I thought he looked super dejected on the bench.

Strange question to ask as Viney is a gun, but the mix in the middle looks so good atm with rivers and kozzie and oliver firing again. How can we bring him back in and keep the synergy?

Oliver and Trac back to their best…. it’s just frikn huge for us to have those two playing like this. dees are back at the business end of town! let’s get those undecided members signed up!

Grundy jumped into him with knees and feet and absolutely thrashed him last time they met. I suspect we’ll see a wiser max today. AJ will be important in the physicality wars.

It was a massive swinging arm to Vineys head which should have earned him 4 weeks. But yes, it’s 100% a worry that concussion symptoms were delayed and now to miss so many weeks. At a certain point you have to wonder if it’s not better to not play fr the rest of the season. One thing for sure though , given our history, he will not be rushed back.

I was there as a 12 year old and yes it was a crazy game. Blues were rank outsiders and pulled a number of pre game positional moves which, at that time, was rare. Richmond couldn’t sort themselves out.