Brings alot on himself with his constant selection of same old players, cannot Matchday coach proof enough in the Port game.
Who replaces them? the VFL is a shambles
Iām sorry but the āwe ran more so effort was thereā is such a lazy take. We ran more because we were comprehensively outplayed and allowed Port to move the ball with ease to the point we were just chasing tail.
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I am surprised by the heat on Brad in this thread. I understand how bad the loss was to Port & unfortunately we are the Dogs bunnies so I expect the same result on Friday night, but you canāt put all the blame on Brad.
The keys to success is drafting, development, fit list, team selection and gameplan.
Looking at drafting Brad has had one draft/trade period in his control. I think looking at the trades, it looks very solid with 3 of the 4 listed in the bests in at least 2 games and Goldstein offering value while Draper comes up to speed.
R1 - McKay;
R2 - Gresham;
R3 - Duursma;
R4 - Gresham, McKay & Duursma
Based on training reports & VFL games there appears consensus that Caddy & Roberts have a huge future while Lual & Visentini have both shown positive signs. Thatās a huge 
Looking at development, training watchers are reporting on the number of additional resources out on the track, with evidence of players with issues actually staying back to work on their deficiencies. Once again a big step forward
Next there is an issue of having a fit list. Over the summer the injury list was small and players were able to come up to speed, but then on the eve of the season it all turned to crap. Repeat injuries like so many seasons before has started to derail the team. Players who were flying in the preseason (ie. parish) now look like a fraction of the player he can be. It was not a surprise to see Archie Perkins do an injury and Setterfield redo his. I commented to a mate watching the game that both were struggling fitness wise in the game as they struggled to chase. This area is clearly 
Team selection is often questioned, but to be honest with so many injuries it is hard to pass judgement at this stage. The only players remotely playing well in the VFL are Roberts & Hayes, both under developed for the positions they play. Caddy has talent but due to his injury setback and incompetent scheduling of the VFL, itās hard to say he is ready. Tsatas could be picked but needs to be in his preferred role as a first possession midfielder. The question is their room for him in the team. Whether Martin should move from the backline is one proposal, but my view is that you probably need more than 4 games given there is no obvious replacement (maybe Roberts in time).
Finally gameplan. It seems we can run a successful gameplan leading into the match, however because we are playing a new system plan b is clearly not ready yet with this playing group. I would expect improvement over the course of the year/years as the team plays together more. Remember we have a group that has plenty of new players plus constant injuries interrupting the team balance. Itās no surprise that the top teams every year often have played the least number of players. We have had no chance to do that this year.
So in short Brad will need a few years of him putting his stamp on drafting/trading and with a list that can remain on the park before anyone should be judging him.
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Thanks Brad!
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| Wins | Points for | Points against | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Post bye 2023 (14 games) | 5 | 990 | 1385 | 71.5 |
| From R18 2023 (11 games) | 4 | 740 | 1117 | 66.2 |
| From R23 2023 (six games) | 2 | 388 | 655 | 59.2 |
I did some amateur analysis post the bye last year. How ā ā ā ā ā is this recent record.
Look at that middle row. If we were at the half way point of a season and had four wins and a percentage of 66.2, the coach would be fighting for his life.
I never understood why we got rid of carracella from the AFL program when he was the massive influence on ball movement.
The one thing we actually did well.
Not the first time weāve screwed him over, he probably questioned one of Bradās decisions.
My guess is that we have a heavy focus on development, and our VFL program has been totally cooked for years. Coaching your own VFL side isnāt a step down from AFL assistant coach.
Leigh Tudor was shown the door and didnāt want to work with Scott anymore end of last year and I donāt think Ben Jacobs is ready to coach. only one left was Cara.
Before Woosha hand over to Rutten I wanted Cara to be our sole head coach after successful stints as Assistant coach at two successful programs at Geelong and Richmond.
Then after Rutten was sacked our board decided they wanted another AFL puppet /muppet like Woosha, so Cara wasnāt even considered as he didnāt have senior coaching experience ( the agency that shortlisted the coaching list, was one of Barham subsidiaries ). When searching for any talent in any profession the one thing I have been successful when selecting good candidates, is ensuring all potential candidates have access to the job criteria, we failed to do that and thatās why end of 2026 donāt be surprised will he bottom 4 again for 3rd in row with a Scott winning percentage of 38/40%.
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Ofcourse it was.
I didnāt think Caracella wanted to be a head coach? If so, surely he would have gone for the Richmond job.
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People who think Scott should have already fixed the list after 2 seasons are out of their mind. Iād argue that he has made in roads by bringing in the 4 recruits, who are upgrades on the players that left or were delisted. This is a club wide problem that will take a few years to fix, the VFL needs a few seasons to establish a better environment to develop a program and culture that will allow the new draftees and other AFL listed players to thrive. Until that happens there will be no pressure on the AFL side to perform.
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People will say weāre topping up to scrape into finals but we needed some more mature bodies to balance out a list that was way too young and lacking experience. We didnt even give up anything for them
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Way too young and lacking experience for what? It canāt be about competitiveness, because a younger less experienced port adelaide team took us to the ā ā ā ā ā ā ā cleaners.
I meant the list last year was too young and inexperienced. Bit better now but the list build overall is still ā ā ā ā
Again, too young and inexperienced for what? Itās not illegal to not have experience. Last year we were 3 games average experience behind gws and they played in a prelim. We were basically the same age and games profile and adelaide and freo, and the three teams finished 10th, 11th, and 14th. If we were too young and inexperienced, presumably it had a negative impact on field. A bit more age, a bit more experience, maybe we win a couple of close games andā¦ huhā¦ scrape into finals.
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Iād say we are about the same plus just aging of the list.
Goldstein is the outlier (for Phillips), but Snelling, BZT, and Walla for Gresham, McKay, Duursma isnāt really a huge shift in age and experience.
I canāt remember all of the delistings, but Iād think outside of Stewart, itās largely kids replacing kids.
We ARE down any player in the club who can play key position back. Seems the 196 to 200 cm key backs we recruit are made of glass. Reid has had more time off than rip van winkles butler. Has Ridley played a game post the bye last year?
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I accept it will take some time to improve/balance the list. But really good coaches make ordinary teams good, or at least competitive, by having a good system. A system that the players understand and are willing to work bloody hard to implement. If we had a good system, regardless of personnel, we wouldnāt have seen the humiliating losses to Geelong, GWS, Collingwood and Port that weāve seen in the last half a seasonās worth of games. The game now is more about structure and system than it is about talent; Collingwood won a GF last year with Oleg Markov and Mason Cox in their 23. The fact that Scottās gameplan isnāt even remotely competitive against the better teams is a massive red flag.
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