He finished 6th in 2018.
4 Likes
Good read!!
1 Like
He’s definitely right about the player development an recruiting an list management. It’s a bloody joke
4 Likes
So what now?
2 Likes
Yes . Corrected
Eddie Betts, Fev, judd and then a few more coming thru now. Even so, not exactly great company regardless…
1 Like
Pretty measured and fair by Rohan.
Captures a lot of my thoughts.
The passion is there. We just need onfield success to light it.
The ■■■■■ footing around though needs to end. Id like to see and hear more frankness, honesty and transparency from the leaders of the club.
5 Likes
I like Connolly’s writing. Subscribe to Footyology, folks. Its well worth supporting independent footy media that’s not our mad ramblings on here.
The fan engagement bit really stood out to me. Makes me feel like I’m barracking for a brand at times. Geez I’d love us to have a “everyone hates us but we don’t care” vibe among our supporter base.
26 Likes
Thanks for the read ‘RoRo’ - I’ve always enjoyed your work.
My thoughts, a few off the cuff and a few more detailed:
- Knights was the worst coach of all time. I gave him a shot (I’m a glass half full type) - but he failed on every level; motivation, training standards, and he was possibly the worst tactical coach to have ever had a senior gig. This is a side point but it has to be said.
- I think the recent comments about our lack of “champions” is absurd (and you’ve named a few yourself there that I would hardly call champions - I’m as big a Walters fan as a non-Freo fan can be - but champion - please). The fact is champions are rare - that’s what makes them, champions? And while some seem to view it as a cop out - the saga really did ■■■■ with a few careers. Heppell in particular. There aren’t many players as good as he was in his 4th season (2014) - and most of them are serious names in football history. The fact he doesn’t seem to have a tremendous chip on his shoulder is a testament to him.
- I am in no position to comment on coteries - I simply know nothing about it. But is there really a reason to believe our collection of powerful-connected-people is any worse than other major clubs? I’d be surprised if it was a significant factor.
So where are we? A positive is that we survived the biggest scandal in AFL history with what amounted to a flesh wound (it really could have been so much worse), but we’ve gotten over that as a fan base.
We have a solid but unremarkable list. And it’s the middle ground that gets to you. I’ve made more than a few posts pointing out that rebuilds rarely work. Talk about “no finals wins” is just so silly - I was at the 2014 elim loss, and it sucked, but would us eking over the line have changed a damn thing about where we are now? The fact is we are one of about 10 clubs that have experienced no real success in a long time. Do you think Crows fans are patting themselves on the back right now going “oh well - we might be the first team in a 100 years to not win a match but at least we got to get flogged in a grand final!”?
We have to get better - and its hard to get better when everyone else is trying to get better to. We need to draft a little smarter, find value players where others don’t, retain our guns and extract more value from our ageing stars.
The final thought I’ll leave my own rant on (if anyone read it) is that there is an implication we need to be patient with coaches because of the pressure etc from fans/coteries/whoever. On this I disagree. I think one of the areas in which the AFL is still well behind most competitions is the idea that coaches need and/or deserve 5 years to make an impact. It’s absurd. If you can’t make a meaningful impact on an organisation in 2-3 years when vested with the most important role in that organisation then jog on. There’s plenty of hungry people out there that will take the gig, no matter how ■■■■■■ our situation gets. Truck still looks pretty hungry to me - I’ll back him for a little while yet.
19 Likes
Yep, being the “eager to please” club which keeps its head down below the parapet has gone way too far. We are now invisible and anonymous, a soft touch, scared of our own shadows.
It’s completely infected every aspect of the club, and is completely on the club leadership.
6 Likes
He is spot on. There is a virus bigger than COVID entrenched in the club.
3 Likes
get him on the fkn board
7 Likes
I am not that familiar with the coteries could someone explain to me how their donations and influence would effect the club?
Simple really. E.g. I will continue to provide large sums of money if you keep Dodoro around.
Yeah right so its just mates looking out for mates even when they are no good
That’s life in a nutshell
4 Likes
I know there are some media haters in here who hate on everyone, but damn I love RoCo.
He’s passionate, articulate, knowledgeable and insightful. Most current footy journos today would be lucky to possess one of those qualities, let alone all 4.
He stuck it to all of the bottom feeder journos during the Saga, even Caro (probably to the detriment of his career in the end).
And he loves the Dons.
Love the guy.
38 Likes
Can Rohan be on the Essendon board please. It’s seems everybody can see the hard reality of what this club is other than the club itself. It’s become infuriating. All we hear is ‘Patience’ & ‘Learnings’.
10 Likes
That crazy son of a gun is one of us!
1 Like