Pirlo

Goodwin is the master of saying 100 words when 1 would do, and brushing off tough questions with 1 word answers.

Calling the flag a fluke is stupid. We were untouchable. What it was, however, was lightning in a bottle. We have never managed to string performances like that in a high pressure environment since. 2022 we drank our own bathwater, 2023 we couldn't deal with Collingwood and Carlton crowds in the finals and kicked like we were blindfolded. 5 weeks, out of Victoria, all together. It will never happen again. It has hobbled us in a way too, because we're so terrified of repeating the sacking of Smith that we've put all our eggs into Goodwin's basket and he is quite clearly unable to adapt to the next generation underneath him.

Didn't see a huge amount of leadership from Trac today. Just a head shake. The problem with holding players against their will...

Lots to say, watched late as not living in Aus, but I read Goodwin's comments on Gawn and I am disgusted. What an absolutely pathetic attempt at deflecting away from his own rubbish coaching performance. Get ready for a week of questions into Max's personal life now. Max has never, ever been the type to discuss things like this and Goodwin throws him under the bus.

The Fritsch/Watts comparison might be the most redundant thing I've ever seen. Aside from not loving grappling with defenders and having played at both ends, they have 0 in common.

Glad others saw it. It was a really underwhelming effort and you'd almost hope it owed more to a lack of fitness than anything else. Just made me think of his face on draft night, and how unhappy he looked to be headed to the Dees.

We were good, and hung in there against a great side. The gameplan was different, but I'm not convinced its the right one for this list or the league as it is. JVR - horrible game, ran under the ball all day, couldn't hold a grab, didn't play the conditions at all. Against a great KPD though. Salem - better than last year, but too many little dinky 15 metre kicks in the wet. Trac - faded as the game went on, but a great first 2.5 quarters Windsor - very good running from behind the contest. Not 100% sure he's not needed elsewhere though. Viney - like Trac. Good to see he has plenty of good footy left though. Lever - pretty good all game but that kick to Viney set the tone for the end of the game. We were in control before that and setting up to lock the ball away. Must be so disheartening to be a young player and see that happen. Gawn - usually has a hard time vs part timers, but did well against Keefe today. The umpires were generous to him, it must be said. His man snuck off him to kick the winner though. Had two set shots in the last he had to do more with. Clarry - still not as fit as every other mid, but way more impact than last year. Great tackle on Green. Langdon - bold coaching move to stick him out wide all day until the final 10 minutes when he was naturally outplayed by their experienced, enormous, dynamic bulls. Bowey - been a critic in the past, but that was a great game. Composed and tried hard. Langford - may get flamed for this, but I'd make him earn it in the VFL for a few weeks. Poor sub choice on a rainy day anyway. 10 mins after he came on, timestamp about 9 mins to go, he was jogging alongside their mids who were burning us on transition. Stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the other debutants who never stopped competing. He was far away enough from the ball that it seemed most people miss this. Tell me I'm not crazy. Lindsay - take a bow. Jefferson - tough day for it, but took his chances. Goody loves Turner so doubt his day would have been enough, which is a shame. Howes - don't see it with him. Lacks composure, not particularly good by foot and not brilliant in the air. Rivers - shocking day from him. Sloppy and panicked. He's now at an age where we need to rely on him week on week. TMac - hasn't missed a beat. Stiffer gait than when he was younger, but still got it. Love his attacking kicks out of the D50, the same thing that terrified me from 2012-15. Sharp - was surprised he only had 9. He seemed everywhere. Has a bit of ANB about him, but not sure he's a smart enough player to sacrifice his endurance as a winger. But Langdon shifting back out there meant someone had to be sacrificed. Just weird coaching. Fristch - he needs to lead into space, but even with the game plan aside - what. was. that? Absolutely disinterested. Sparrow - a big improvement on last season, good stuff. Petty - great work down back after a nervy start. Chandler - does his best work up the ground. Think he'd be better in a better/quicker team like GWS or Collingwood who like runners with a long kick. Johnson - did you know he scored 17.18 in 21 games last year, including a hot patch of 11 in five weeks? I get why people like him, and I love his effort, but what exactly is he going to bring to a side who is really keen to compete? He seems more like the kind of guy a young team would bring in to shield the kids and stand up for them. He wasn't *bad*, but I don't see a huge amount of room for improvement and he really needed to kick that goal. I'll forgive an 18 year old debutant, but not a 25 year old. Henderson - looks composed. Will need to either kick goals or tackle a lot to hold his spot.

Yep. The one who can kick. Brayshaw and Serong are gun clearance winners in a game where mids need to be good by fit to be truly elite. The difference between them + Fyfe and the three Port boys on Sunday was stark. Similar to why Clarry getting fit won't mean he's back to his best either. The game is moving.

Well clearly Kate doesn't know, which is the issue. If she said "Gary and Simon both rang him daily" then great.

Nobody is saying ANB should not be traded. How difficult would a conversation along the lines of "of course you can go, Alex, but we need to look for maximum value here" have been?

True, but surely we need to address the elephant in the room? There is clearly something in these cultural concerns. We'd all think it if this was happening to another club.

He wouldn't be any more homesick than he was, but he may see this as an opportunity to go. I'm sure many others will.

Perty, Goody and the boys will no doubt back themselves to get things right. Our culture is absolutely great. It is a total coincidence that one of our players is facing four years for a positive test on gameday, another spent all off-season away from the group and didn't fire a shot this season, our best player will do anything to not come back and our most exciting player and most loyal player have apparently decided in the last few weeks they want to go home. I don't think a Pickett trade will eventuate given his management ruled it out last week - more fool them - but how many more will jump off this sinking ship?

Or he's seen how people have responded to Trac and has decided to find a better reason.

The only way they can "get in front of it" is to do what Christian wants them to do and signal their willingness to trade him. I'm no fan of the club's admin at the moment, but it is an impossible hand. Saying "he's 100% staying" didn't work this week.

None of the Vic clubs have the equivalent of JJK on their books. They're rare as hens teeth. Treacy, Amiss, Andrew, Walter, Cadman, Darcy are the closest I can think of.

Yep. They would surely have told him that a deal would be impossible unless he was willing to blow things up over the course of weeks on end. Many of us are so sick of this that we're thinking about the return we could get, two weeks ago that was unthinkable.

His brand has exploded in the years since he signed that contract, thanks to the cooking. Presumably his priorities have changed.

The strategy appears to be to make life as difficult as possible for the club in the following ways: 1. A personal media embargo, including pulling out of an interview last minute 2. All media leaks being done through his management on Sunday and Monday nights, when the footy shows are on 3. Burning relationships with his teammates and hoping the players can apply the burn for him by saying they're not keen to play with him 4. Knowing the club leaders are/should be under pressure and trying to force them to make statements they can't confidently keep to

Once it is published in a newspaper of record, rather than an opinion show, it holds more weight. The Age doesn't publish articles that are pure speculation without labelling them as opinion.

When did they say "as it stands"? I have listened to interviews with all three, and "as it stands" has never once been uttered. Someone raised it on here to try and give them an out, and others have bitten. I admire your support of the club, but what's the point of ignoring anything that makes the club admin look silly.

The rules were changed last year. How hard is it? The AFL were the ones who challenged Maynard getting off in the first place.

Until he actually says what's going on, it is hard to not be cynical here. The feels like a systemic play by player and manager to get out of a club that is going in the wrong direction. He could stay and help, as he is contracted to do, or he could antagonise the club to the point that they have little choice. As of now, it appears to be option B. He came out the morning after the Pies game to insist he made the call to play. That was swiftly deleted. Many of us were horrified that the Doctors let him back out there, and still are, but the evidence suggests that there was no test on field they could have made to determine the extent of his injuries. As usual with our club under the management of Gary Pert, there is no clear answer though. I am sympathetic and agree that the club is being poorly run, but guess what? Football clubs are about supporters. If he wants to go, he needs to clearly explain why so that either the right change happens at Melbourne (board/executive/footy department) or it is clear that he is suffering from a complex MH issue and needs to be away from the scene of his trauma. Tanking the footy club so that they have no choice but to let him go is a kick in the guts for every supporter. I have a sick feeling that this story will kick off on Monday with the media being briefed of a trade request ala. Shai Bolton a few weeks ago, giving the player room to deny it but giving the club a clear message that he wants out.

That would be fine if it was W/L that the club had been copping heat over alone.

Jon Ralph is right. The longer the silence endures, the clearer it becomes that "wanting the club to be better" won't happen as players we are targeting decide to avoid the chaos. He's obviously suffering with his MH, which makes it very tough to know how to react.