Losing Charlie is no guarantee of a culture change. It only guarantees the loss of our best scoring source for the past four years. I would have preferred to change the culture and keep the talent, but that’s not happened and we just have to move on as best we can.

I am very confident. I am not saying we don't have issues but rather I am comparing this year to 2025.

Positives

1. We lost Curnow, but seriously, how much benefit was he the last 2 years.
2. SOS was a great competitor but was always getting injured and I don't think we will miss him.
3. It seems that there was a lot of unrest at the club associated with Curnow and SOS.
4. Pet hate is the constant bombing into the forward line. Seems to have been that way since the Madhouse. A smaller forward line commands the ball to be delivered in a different way making us more unpredictable.
5. We have been crippled with injury for 2 years. Surely things will be better this year.
6. Nick Newman, one of our most consistent and important players comes back into the team. He was badly missed last year.
7. From what I have seen, Jagga, Ainsworth, Haywood and Florent will increase the quality at the club.
8. Last year we were able to blood some youngsters and I think that will pay dividends. In particular Carroll and F. Young.
9. I am encouraged by the progress of Cowan and Evans.
10. Walsh and Cerra are fit.


Negatives

1. TDK is a bad loss not easily fixed this year.
2. CHB is as big a problem as it was last year.


Overall, I just think we have a better team than last year. A good run with injuries and some smarter coaching decisions will make an enormous difference.
I am hoping the Campo's, Dean and Ison all get their chance early in the season.

GO BLUES!

Ummm….

would it be fair to say that i expect a better showing
from the coaches…?

what i mean is…I’m really hoping for a much better
think box…a real team of organisation…

Is that fair….?

I’m not blaming the coaches for last year…that’s
over now…moving on…


kindest regards tommi

And I'm tipping Adelaide to take a dive. They had the second least impact of injury upon their best team in 2025. With Burgess leaving, I can't see that luck carrying over. Their depth is poor and they'll be found out. Just my opinion.

i think 11th ... we'll have a few good moments, but in general it'll be a frustrating year, and Voss's last. if weiters goes down, we will be looking at a top 3 draft pick.

someone remind me ... do we own our 1st round picks at the end of the season?

First Curtin, now Mark Keane. He's a key cog in their defence.

When is Geelong's luck going to run out?

We played our best footy under Ratten after we lost Fevola.

If Geelong cop a few injuries expect the AFL to make up some rule mid-season to help them.

One of the biggest issues is that it is looking like 6 interstate sides will make the 8.
They all have the advantage of playing 12 home games on their own deck.

Carlton essentially plays 6 of its home games on opposition home deck with us playing North Saints and Dogs at Marvel and Pies Tigers Dee's and Hawks at the G. All those sides play more games at those grounds than we do.

I would not mind so much if we played our games against sides that were tennants Marvel on the MCG and Vice versa

But we essentially give up our home games to help the AFL

We give up home game to Saints who play 13 games at Marvel same applies to North and Bulldogs
Richmond 13 at G same Melbourne and Collingwood 14.

We need to pick a stadium and stick to it currently 8 and 8 is hurting us

Sent from my SM-F956B using Tapatalk

Great point Traveller. I attended a lot of training sessions back then and while they had some natural improvement from a few key individuals, the running and leading pattern work was so different and welcomed. That's nothing against Fev, who on natural talent alone I have in Carlton's top 10, but as a collective team the midfield and forwards just worked better together.

Fingers crossed the same thing happens in '26. I see a lot of upside, but I still think we'll only see glimpses this year. A lot of inconsistency before top 10 bound in 2027. No idea about head coach. If change is made, it shouldn't happen in-season.

One of the biggest issues is that it is looking like 6 interstate sides will make the 8.
They all have the advantage of playing 12 home games on their own deck.

Carlton essentially plays 6 of its home games on opposition home deck with us playing North Saints and Dogs at Marvel and Pies Tigers Dee's and Hawks at the G. All those sides play more games at those grounds than we do.

I would not mind so much if we played our games against sides that were tennants Marvel on the MCG and Vice versa

But we essentially give up our home games to help the AFL

We give up home game to Saints who play 13 games at Marvel same applies to North and Bulldogs
Richmond 13 at G same Melbourne and Collingwood 14.

We need to pick a stadium and stick to it currently 8 and 8 is hurting us

Sent from my SM-F956B using Tapatalk

top 10 what?

Wow… you said out loud what we were all thinking…