Diamond_Jim

agree rjay but remember that the Hawks were coming form a position of relative strength. We don't have that luxury. It is a pity that the VFL is a reserves comp where winning is not really the number one priority. Where does a"young coach" go for experience. Being an assistant is the best we can do but it is not the trial by fire required for a match day coach.

Perhaps the AFL could give up on the jolly for Port to China and the AFLX to Hongkers. Would go a long way to making up the short fall across the clubs. Next challenge is to get off the "teat" of the sports betting agencies.

Fantastic news ..... whatever you say the continued reliance on this form of revenue is unsustainable from a social responsibility aspect

hope we don't have to wait as long as Richmond did with Hardwick. MFC needs success if it is to remain financially relevant. Clubs cannot afford to bounce along the bottom for as long as we have. If you want a lesson in failure watch what happens if Carlton have another bad year. We have the list .... just like a player the coach is under scrutiny.. so far it has not been a great success. At present this thread is about what he does as a coach.... game plan... player development... match day tactics. No one is calling for his head.

when we having some mini successes last year Pederson was good for a few goals. Between him and Max G we need say 3 goals. Goldstein is near the end of his career but he cannot be underestimated around the ground. We are a better team if we get a reasonable effort from the players. This is an above the shoulders coaching battle pure and simple.

Let Brown have his 4 or 5 and stop the like of Waites and the others. If you look at many of our wins last year the other side kicked inaccurately which flattered us a little. Our forward line needs to deliver 120 points ... ie 16 goals 12 or thereabouts. Okay Hogan and Garlett might give you 8. Which means we have to get goals out of Melksham, Bugg etc. Petracca needs to play up the field (he is our future) so we cannot rely on him for many. Fritsch will be good for perhaps 2 goals.

Agreed D77 Salem had the lowest time on the ground ... lower even than Fritsch at 69% who was off injured for a while. The bulk of the mids had 80% or thereabouts. Wonder what was up?

Agree Dr G.. Frost has done little to earn a recall. If we had Tom Mc in the side the debate would clearly be about swinging Tom down back for the fist half or the like. I also have a suspicion that Frost like Garland and Dunn before him may not be favoured by Goodwin and his game plan. On the other hand including Frost may have the necessary placebo affect on this skittish team we have come to know. In reality this weekend should be a regulation win.

Lot in this BBO but the reality is that Norf have continually scored against us on the rebound. Nothing wrong with picking a specialist player to give a better opposition match up. Frost in (no other choice) and either Wagner or dare I say Hunt out. Hunt just has not been the same player since that big hit last year (against Adelaide IIRC) and his game is being negated by other teams relatively easily. Might benefit from a few weeks without the AFL level pressure.

Thanks D77 As that accords with our position on the ladder at present how apposite. Now to get them both to number 1 !

If we are going anywhere this year next week's game should be a regulation win ... Dees by 38 (I almost believe myself).

Agreed.... Given the game plan played by Melbourne and others Melksham's goal sense and quick reaction is ultra important. One at least hit the post so he was close.

A good coach gets the best out of the players. For the first time in around ten years we have a decent list with a sprinkling of "potential" A graders. Have a look at Collingwood teams under Malthouse and North teams of the last several years. Their lists were okay without being outstanding but you could rely upon them to give you a good game. So far Goodwin's efforts have not clicked with the players. If anything the bulk of them have underperformed (including the last six or so rounds of 2017). The next five-eight weeks are the key. All the games are very winnable. I don't expect to win them all but I expect to win 5 at least of the next 8 as a minimum. North is a good test of coaching skills. We are a better team. Weather predictions are perfect (24 and light winds). No excuses.

The reaction by the Bulldogs player is classic. Akin to a child looking to see if anyone is watching before starting to cry. Not condoning the cheap shot by the Eagles player but the other guy should go for bad acting !

Beautiful weather predicted for next Saturday. Top of 24 and light winds. Points towards a quick game with lots of scoring.

Guys please some perspective ... what happened in the big one ? Did the Zephyr salute?

why not ... the style of game is there for everyone to see

Good post AF although I have only selected one section to comment on. The deep press is good but you need some really good break away players to pressure the opposition on the rebound. Not sure if we have that (those players). I know a lot of people deride his skills and he is slowing down but the likes of Heath Shaw are fantastic at providing that brief run and deep kick out of defence that sets up the quick attack.

This is a healthy discussion. Not sure why some posters get so upset when we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the coach. Just like players they have strengths and weaknesses and just like players some coaches are better than others. Interesting that the WCE coach had to return to Perth due to a family emergency (daughter ill) and the assistant took the reins. They had a good win and the assistant made the comment that there really isn't much to do on match day as most of the planing is done during the week. I suspect he was being a little modest but it was an interesting comment nonetheless.

The jury is out on that one still I think. We have better player development than we had.... (not very hard) .... but the next year or so will tell. Petracca needs an absolute break out year. Hunt has stopped. Salem ... we all live in expectation. Oliver has done well and O mac has been well developed. At present I would say we have adequate player development but nothing to write home about. Agree very much re match day. On the game plan ... not sure about the game plan. It could win you a flag on its day but because of inconsistency we may never get to the GF.

Those calling for Kent to be included: He had a woeful second half of the VFL season he was put up for trade over the off season and no one wanted him even as a fringe player On Friday Casey played Frankston... they are a scratch VFL side like the original Gold Coast Bears... cobbled together from players who were not at the top of their game in other VFL sides... (no disrespect intended to Frankston but that is the reality.) In the previous practice game I cannot remember him setting the ground alight... (could be wrong on this.) Sorry ... not yet from me.

It was not too difficult to realise we would slow down in the second half due to the conditions. At the half time break we had a 36 point lead.... Smart coaching says let's take a little heat out of the game and chip it around. Slow possession football mixed with five minute bursts of frenetic attack. Play the game between the opposition half back line and our fifty metre line for ten minutes. We seem to have only one plan and it just doesn't work in all conditions. Remember our bad form with the wind last year cost us two games. There are lots of variations but this is what we pay big money to the coaches for. One dimensional game plans are just dumb.

The Casey practice game was against Frankston who are just a scratch team this year. Nothing really can be read into that game. If Kennedy plays well against Coburg next week and Bugg fails against Norf then I think you might be right in calling for a change.

Bombers have lost in the west ... big result in the context of our season with the Saints also losing. A Hawthorn loss on Monday would be good as well.

because if Norf had not beaten us twice last year they would have been the wooden spooners last year. And FCS we just cannot lose to them again