Hird’s so good he can get felons released from prison just by wanting it heaps
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Wouldn’t go with any of thoae changes tbh.
AFL priority = more games for kids
VFL priority = field strongest lineup available
And if Ace is correct and I’m right in interpreting game limits apply to the current season only i.e.
then Gresham, Jones and Tedwards should make the VFL cut (not 100% on that though).
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Surely there is only one selection strategy over the next 2 weeks. Get the VFL side to the finals. Win a finals match.
some of you may remember 1992.
You’ll understand my point
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Keeping the VFL team as strong as possible should be the priority
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I would play the same team tbh. More games into the kids - even if some are not overly performing - certianly some seniors aren’t. Let them learn the Swans system and how much work they need to do in pre-season and to what level. If we lose by 80…so be it.
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Yep, keep pretty much the same team. AFL experience is far better than playing VFL
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Lose by 80, beat Port by 1 and keep pick one. I like it.
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The only change I would like to be made is Clarke in for Perkins
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I reckon after kicking a couple of goals Perkins gets another week. I’d be more inclined to drop Setterfield, or even Unwin who had 4 disposals and didn’t hit the scoreboard.
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Unwin a crack…but he doesn’t do much.
He needs at least another preseason. No rush to have him playing AFL, let him develop and come in when ready.
I think we need another tall; we are getting destroyed in contested marking.
I would normally agree with this, but on this occasion I am going to prosecute the case against. With the VFL team on the cusp of playing finals, I see more value having some of the younger guys playing in a team environment where winning is real and success, albeit at VFL level can be enjoyed together. A taste of the future perhaps. I made the point earlier about the 1992 season in which our reserves team won the GF that year with the retiring Terry Daniher leading the boys. In that side was the future of Essendon in players like Hird, Misiti, Mercuri etc.
I honestly believe that a run, deep into the VFL finals, can do so much to set up our preseason and 2027 campaign. Success has been so scarce at Essendon for so long, it will be an invaluable building block if we can achieve that this year. Guys like Guelfi, Gresham, Jones, Cox, McKay and even Parish and Perkins (if they qualify) can be the senior father figures for Nguyen, Unwin, Visentini, Johnson, El Achkar, Kondogiannis, Edward’s, Clarke etc
I don’t believe their careers will benefit from another two smashing in the AFL but success at VFL could be a catalyst to team bonding and development going forward
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I’d be ok with having some of the kids play in a team where they might be able to sing the song after the game. Winning is definitely more fun than being belted and they’ve had it pretty tough this season.
But I’d stop short of suggesting it sets anything up long-term. Gold Coast don’t really seem to have benefitted from winning the VFL flag in 2023, and the Bulldogs are still reliant on the same names to be good despite winning it last year.
Times have changed drastically since those days. With the limited break between end of season and pre season clubs want all their players having similar break times and getting and niggles or surgery out the way. AFL clubs see the state leagues as a bit of a distraction and as fans we might not like it but a state league flag is so low on the list of priorities for an AFL club that it barely registers. Most clubs keep interest as long as the AFL team is still going but after that point you normally see a heap of guys sent to surgery and withdrawn from the reserves. Any senior guys retiring or moving on probably won’t be interested in playing VFL either
If you saw the VFL game on the weekend vs Collingwood and the reaction amongst the players when the siren blew , that win was priceless.
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But it certainly can’t hurt when you consider what these guys have been through so early in their careers - if we are all about a culture reset, I believe having a crack at the VFL finals is a pretty decent starting point that will help to mould a bond amongst the kids.
Anyway, just my thoughts
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Don’t doubt that at all but as I did it depends on how many of our blokes are carrying niggles or know they won’t be at the club next year.
I think we would go hard in the first week of finals but after that is where it would get interesting with selection
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surely they could find a venue and even more terrible timeslot where nobody would watch it or want to go. Im thinking 9am sunday monring in canberra with Dwayne and Kelli commentating.
Or just play in bali to save time and travel expenses , and so the players can kick on straight after the game
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In: Parish and Ridley 