Saad is a one trick pony
He is defender who chases possessions and doesn’t play tight enough
On $650000 a season over 5
Williams clearly isn’t fit enough to play mid so we pay him 4.8 million over 6 years to play mid because he played one good game there at GWS
Mc Govern ultimate cameo player no second or third efforts just like at Adelaide his body is made of cardboard on 700000 a year for 5
Martin soft as warm butter
Always been that way
List of achievements
3rd B and F once at GC
2014 norich rising star nominee
That’s it getting around3.5 million for 5 years
The ultimate tease player who actually has done pretty much sweet FA his whole 8.5 years as an AFL player
At least Williams plays like he cares
The other 3 well.....

Terrible messaging to supporters after a loss

Also...and this is pure guesswork but bafflling selections that appear to be weighted toward either high priced recruits/senior players cannot be a positive environment for the young players

Sooo today...Martin is clearly not fit but plays (I'm guessing that he was rushed in for Indigenous Rd)...what a load of shite...the team is bigger than the individual!!!...Casboult recovers miraculously from an ongoing knee soreness after a week to be selected after we lose Plowman

There appears to be no clarity or rationale about selections...I'm convinced as an outsider that it is having an effect inside the club, particularly with some of the younger players

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If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you!

The reaction to yesterday’s loss by all and sundry here shows me that no, things aren’t that bad, we’re all gutted because we came so close to winning, not because we have a crap list, coach, administration, assistant coach, etc.

We have the right list to take us to finals, the players just have to commit to selfless, team, football, and the coaches need to be able to support that. The jury is still out in Teague but many of the assistants need a turnover.

Buggered if I know what will trigger the mental gear shift from fourth to fifth gear with the players though, every other issue is irrelevant apart from this.

In the end we were comfortably beaten by a club who had won only two of their previous six matches. Things are that bad. Swans turned up the heat, we folded; again.

I’d take getting out of second gear at this stage.

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Our tradition demands success!

Where was the absolute do or die, cannot lose at all costs intensity that we needed at the start of the last quarter?

Yesterday was a shocker. The Brisbane game, OK, the effort was there but we just couldn't execute against a better side. Sydney we just didn't dial the intensity up to 11 when we really could & should have, & they need a kick in the ass for that. Coaches & players.

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#DonTheStash

A couple of years ago I would have agreed with this but it is now clear that too many of our players just aren't good enough i.e. SPS, Dow, O'Brien, Setterfield and Williamson haven't come on as hoped whilst the injuries to Charlie and Marchbank have hurt.

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There is no footy god

What bugs me is in recent years our recruiting "coups" have been (at great expense) two half back flankers, a small forward, and an injury prone player who would at best be a second string marking forward. This when what we desperately need (as was starkly obvious again yesterday) is more big bodied mids.

I used to hold hopes that one day we would just "click" like Richmond, or this year Melbourne. I believed we weren't far away. Last year I was saying "next year we make the finals". Now, even allowing for injuries I just can't see significant improvement with our current list. The work ethic of some, the folding under pressure, the awful skill levels, it just goes on and on year after year.

I'm not getting any younger and before I go I want to be able to take my grandsons to see a rampant, premiership winning Blues like I knew in the past.

Well to be fair we haven't probably chased a midfielder because we have so much of our draft capital tied up on midfielders.

2015 - Cuningham, Kennedy
2016 - SPS, Setterfield, Fisher
2017 - Dow, LOB
2018 - Walsh, Stocker
2019 - Ramsay, Philp

That's 11 there and not a single one of them other than Walsh has come on as hoped. Though the last 3 do have time on their side. By chasing big name midfielders would have been at the expense of their development.

Our development has been deplorable anyhow, that's what's really hurting us. And the midfielders we did chase spurned us (some rather fortunately in hindsight) e.g. Rockliff, Shiel, Coniglio

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Good summary, as depressing reading as it is. Midfield depth is the biggest failing of the rebuild, & it really shows when other sides go 6 or 7 deep with players who are a B or B+ minumum. We need a whole bunch of our mid tier types to come good at once for us to be close to competing.

The other issue is tall defenders. I would hate to jinx them but seriously if Jones or Weiters got injured, who have we got coming through in the seconds to replace them?

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#DonTheStash

I've said it ad nauseum (and will continue to) that all of these 'duds' we should've overlooked for <insert player here doing better at different club> were not duds when they came here, and for the most part were legitimately ahead of those other guys for a reason. It's what happened after they got here that tells the story.

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

CULTURE

Players will defend this topic when asked - of course they will! It’s natural human behaviour and preached to them by the dingbats at our club that the clubs culture is fine.

F$&k me dead! What a joke of a club when you advertise players wearing the orange socks and helping sick kids in hospital but complete LOSERS ON THE FOOTY FIELD.

Fish rots at the head

At this stage last year we'd won 1 more game and we'd already beaten the Bulldogs and later beat the Swans

Are things really that bad? Um ...... they're not really that good either.

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"IF YOU FAIL TO PREPARE, YOU'RE PREPARED TO FAIL" - Mark Spitz

Im a very positive person by nature and try to figure things out within its context and logic
But this onfield group has lost its grip and is really disappointing.

The only saving grace for these inept pansies is that it has taken teams with a new coach at least three years to play finals or win flags.

But as it stands the overall guts and determination aura of this list and will to win absolutely disgusts me.

We kept saying that is where our improvement would come from, and it hasn’t happened and now looks very unlikely to with those mentioned.

I agree the list is in pretty good shape. And we've clearly made huge strides off field in recent years. But I'm becoming increasingly convinced that our coaching group are 'relatively' crap compared to others clubs. Our list has become stronger in the last 12 months, but performance has gone backwards. Other than North Melbourne (and perhaps GWS), who do we seriously think our coaching group is superior to? Most of us thought Adelaide and Essendon* would be in the crapper for a while, but they've rebounded fairly quickly. Hard not to believe they've both found themselves fairly decent coaches.

The more I see from the team, and the more I hear from the coaches, the less and less confident I become that they know how to fix the problems.

We are the most disappointing team in the AFL
Our coaching group are crap and are probably the crappiest in the AFL

Coming out of last season what were the most obvious deficiencies team defence /a defensive mindset and the team having a vacation in quarters and part of quarters
What the bloody hell were they working on over summer and if they were working on these deficiences over summer the capability in the coaching group ain’t there
It’s still happening and just as badly as last year

11furthet rounds to work on these 2 issues on what we have seen so far not any confidence we have the people coaching us that have the capability to effect such changes

Of course it;s not that bad, we could be 14th.

Again I’ll say it’s List Management
The List Manager is more important than the coach
Don’t get me wrong good coaching is part of a successful team

Last year the club looked at a lack of leg speed we were a good contested ball team

We gave up half our picks for Saad and Fogarty
Fogarty is ok cost us a pick in the 30s but his kicking is terrible not bad in traffic but ultimately a limited player
Saad cost us a pick 8 (actually pick 10) and a hefty pack packet over 5 years
He only plays in one position the easiest on the ground
He often chases kicks when he should defend his opponent
Overhead he is crap
Williams free agent signs on for massive money over 6 seasons to provide midfield leg speed and he can’t play there

So we have sold half the farm for two HBFs who predominantly play in the defensive half the ground and an average small forward
Add to this Martin Setterfield and McGovern
Martin came with free agency. Posters can talk this guy up as much as they like and make excuses for him but he has achieved pretty much next to nothing his whole career
Again the club promises us he will partly solve our midfield problems but he has been shithouse period
In there. Lazy
His body looks as brittle as a warm chicken bone
But he has been like that all his career
Setterfield isn’t capable of playing inside mid. He isn’t hard enough. He is contracted till next year. Either play him in the reserves or find a new role for him.
Mc Govern pathetic no brainer
Add Docherty to the list . So friggin soft last week. This from a co-captain
If Walsh goes down I would back North to beat us. Says a lot about the restwhen we rely on a 20 year old so much.
Our recruiting and trading is shit.
Look at what Brisbane have done
McCarthy
Cameron
Neale
Robinson
Birchall
Lyons
Adams
They didn’t give up the whole farm to get these blokes
Hodge was a crucial pick up a leader he is
Martin needs to see what a true leader actually looks like

What to do
Play the kids from now on
Docherty and MArtin should be dropped because of their effort last week ditto Murphy
Set a standard a culture
2 steps back please before you move forward
Play Ramsay Honey for god sake
Play Stocker JOS in the midfield for extended periods
Try different things
Get a ruckman in the Mid season draft
Pittonet has a go but is average
Use the other pick on a mid but not a shit one who has already played AFL and shown there not up to it

All this crap about us wins a flag in 2023
Re assess things now not at the end of the year
You may get a future 2nd rounder for SPS

But it’s mostly down to recruiting not the coaches