Myers
Zaka
Hurley
Langford (too slow for finals football / can’t chase opponent on spread)
Begley
Cannon
McNeice
In
Hartley (B- version of Hurley at his best but 10x better kick and stays within 10 metres of his direct opponent when the ball kicked at him)
Berzerker
Stewart (please find form)
Snelling
Draft Pick
Draper
SPARE RUCKMAN
Smith
Ridley
Clarke
Future team
C. McGrath (absolutely showed up every player above him in the pecking order tonight at the age of 22)
VC. Parish (or he’ll leave for collingwood)
Francis (only positive of 2019)
Smith
Saad
Stringer
Ridley
McKenna
Zerk
Hartley
Smack
JoeDan
Draper
Snelling
Stewart
Redman
Gleeson
Heppell (though i suspect next year will be one of his last, not getting any faster, skills getting worse)
Hooker (on his last legs, carried the team so much it’s broken him)
TBC (backup ruckman, keep Clarke to remind him how low his bar is)
I don’t wanna know Zerrett, that hair pull was such a ■■■■■ move especially when he was a liability the whole game and knew it, don’t even know who he is anymore, shadow of his former self
The mindset of the Club. Everyone down to the boot studder must stop thinking that we are just a kick away from a flag (watching our own highlight reels), rather we are just a mediocre team overall. Our own hype is our biggest enemy ATM. Hardwork and more hardwork should be the motto for 2020. Talent is no substitute for effort in any given day.
It kills me reading stuff like ‘trade out Hooker’.
I know it’s coming because the world is filled with emotional f*ckwits, and unfortunately some of these imbeciles are our fans.
Zerret is an interesting one who has escaped a lot of criticism this year but has been a massive liability this year when things are not going our way. His grunt work, tackling and gut running were his trademark a couple of years ago and seems to have disappeared and is one of the main instigators of just “bombing it in long” to no man’s land when the heat is on. I hope we haven’t broken him already.
This list is not going anywhere. So prepare yourself for another 5+ of mediocre results. Woosha out is a start. Dodoro next, he should’ve been gone 10 years ago. Trade out a couple of big names for draft picks and hit the draft.
We as supporters need to change. We are the ones who hurt, we are the ones who fork out the money for this joke of a football club.
Maybe we need to reevaluate what memberships we buy. Most will sign up because that’s who we are, but maybe drop down a level or two and hit the club financially. I’m an AFL member so of course I’ll sign up next season because of the added benefits but I reckon less than 30% of our membership goes to the club, probably less than an 11-game membership (I’ll check this out later).
Instead of getting 17-game memberships, get an 11-game. Or from 11 to 3. This club and the people who run it only care about the bottom line, that’s all. It is why we go with bargain basement officials, it is why we sacked our S&C coach after round one and just re-allocated existing resources. We had a physio as the head of the department.
We got in Richardson from Richmond before they came good, what’s he done? Moved an assistant coach on here and there, that’s all. Slow sow process, don’t want to spend too much on getting the best available.
Don’t buy merchandise for Christmas, get your dad something from the local hardware store. Hit the merchandise sales as well, maybe then the sponsors will pressure the club to act.
We have too many suits trying to look after their own backs and push their own case further and the club suffers for it, and by club I mean fans. Let’s face it, WE are the club, not the players or the board or the coaches, the fans are.
We don’t have a skills coach and we don’t have a goal kicking coach. Why not? $$$$$$$$$$$
OUT: Waking up at 2-3am 14-15 times a year just so I can keep my streak of watching/following every f’ing game (bar one) in the last 21 seasons alive
IN: Sleep. Sweet, sweet, sleep.
p.s. Last night was the first game I did not follow live since the “line in the sand” game. I knew we were done and dusted and no chance of winning. Yet, like an idiot, I ran to my phone at 6am to check the score just in case I was wrong. I was not wrong.
What I’m concerned about is our lack of young key position players. McKernan, Brown, Bellchambers, Hooker, Hurley and Ambrose are all 28+. We really need Joey to get back to his best (if he stays). Also need BZT, Francis and Draper to really perform in the next couple years.
You don’t want to be making decisions in the heat of a loss like that. And you don’t want to make rambling posts that pretend to have all the answers to our woes. But…
The club should gather it itself, and then make a very careful and honest assessment of what happened this year. We haven’t managed to get closer to a finals win. Sure every year is different, but the manner we have been out-performed is the same. They need to find where the problems lie and work out how to fix them. But who makes that assessment, and who can do it without fear or favour? And then do whatever it takes to fix the issues.
The fitness dept is going to be getting new people with Crow leaving, and Turk at the star of the season. This has been a real issue for us for many years – cough saga. We need the players fit and strong all the way to the end of the year.
Game plan and game style – I know match sim against your team mates is what teams have to do, but I do worry that we are not setting the bar high enough to ensure things are done right and that the “unexpected” nature of playing against opposition players is not been created. And yes, I say this without any evidence. Also that fundamentals like finishing off the play and nailing the goal is a non-negotiable part of a successful passage of play at training.
I hate Hawthorn playing their game at the very edge / over the edge of the rules – but hate them as I do I do give them credit for their ability to follow the team rules all the time. That needs to be a part of our psyche at all times. At training if someone is even a bit off the rule then BANG, they and the team is pulled up on it and they can do 10 push-ups or whatever says you FARKED UP and we don’t fark up at Essendon. They all need to be held accountable. You want ALL IN, then ALL IN it is.
Post-game feedback – I recall Worsfold saying in a presser they focus on the positives and not the negatives post-game. If this is really true, then NO, you need both. You need to show players where they made mistakes. Where they picked the wrong option. Mistakes are fine, and they help you to learn.
We are in this pattern of looking for answers at the end of every season. Trade and draft periods gives us something. Pre-season starts and bits of hope are sown – and of late is probably my favourite part of the footy cycle – you have this hope for what may be.
I want us back as a power side that hits September with the awe of a genuine contender. Maybe 2020 will see that wish come true, or at least the start of it.
