We cant get rid of everyone that’s over 25 do think we need to keep some senior players with experince imo i would start with these guys on the chopping block.
Heppel
Kelly
Laverde
Shiel
Stringer
Hind
Trade Peter and see what we can get for him then try and find a replacement if not then tell Jones you will be our main forward alongside Caddy for the next 10 years
Ask the question to Draper if he wants to go back home to Adelaide now is your chance. if not and want to stay then you need to pull your head out of your arse and work hard to become the best ruck in the league
If a rebuild means suffering like Hawthorn supporters are “suffering” now, where do I sign.
I would actually welcome going to the football for a couple of years during a rebuild and not having to endure the late season disappointments we are fed every year.
I actually don’t think the majority of supporters would begrudge him this. This speaks to both the regard he is held in by supporters and how big a basket case we all know this club is….sigh
This club refuses to conduct a proper rebuild. It starts with getting a fresh a grade recruitment and development team together. Will tread water doing what we have always done. The club is rotten to its core and there are too many people with receipts holding it to ransom
I think the most interesting decision in the off-season is what they do with Jake - it would make a strong statement if they said we are letting you go - in the past there is no way we would - we won’t get anything for him but I think its that type of statement we need to make. Also if they then traded a Redman or someone else on a longer deal it would show the type of ruthless decision making w haven’t seen. It will put others on notice.
I think there will be be some changes in the coaching box with different assistant coaches but ultimately for all that we lack players who are prepared to grind and work hard - for the majority of them playing AFL seems to be enough.
Unless we are inside the 4 walls it is difficult to know why the players have crumbled the last two years. At least last year we could say injuries etc didn’t help but lack of endeavour and effort regardless of who is out there is unacceptable and that can’t be on the coaches. That is the players pure and simple they are mentally weak - the weakest in the comp and have been for so long.
I don’t think talent is as big an issue as some say - there is definitely talent on that list - is it top 4 talent - no - but there are good players on that list to form the nucleus of a competitive team but they are soft as F. Get some mongrel in this team. Hobbs genuinely has it Zac Caldwell and Durham who else?
I do think we need a review specifically into fading out in the second half of years.
I reckon it started way back in either the knights days (did we fade the year crows smashed us in a final) or first year of the hird days (i remember that Carlton final) and has been a constant pattern ever since.
Either missing finals or staggering to the line and getting thumped in a first final, is it mental? It’s gotta be doesn’t it? The worst thing this time is, we have a fully fit list.
I wanted to take a look at our changes over the course of the year as a measure of the level of “selection integrity” - in particular, whether a player that has been “omitted” or “managed” (effectively the same thing) has been required to go back to the VFL to earn their way back into the team.
What is clear to me is that there is one rule for the “anointed” 25-26 or so and another rule for everyone else.
Tsatas, Hobbs, ADavey, Bryan, Menzie and Hind have generally yo-yo’d in and out of the team, copping the majority of the sub roles, being held over, travelling emergency and obviously playing VFL. Tsatas and Hobbs have missed a scary amount of football for 2 players who’ve generally been fit this year. What do they all have in common? Apart from Hind, they are young.
The senior guys who have been dropped/managed - Goldstein, Heppell, Wright and Laverde - have not, insofar as I can tell, played a minute of VFL football, not spent more than one week outside the team at any given time and have never been sub. This is disregarding those that should have been dropped but never have - Stringer, Gresham, Kelly (a few curiously timed injuries/illnesses though?) to name a few.
What does this tell me? There is no selection integrity. Naught. Scott has a fixed view on his best players and completely disregards what happens at VFL level when selecting the team. He dogmatically prioritises an infinitesimal chance of winning (e.g. holding over multiple developing players to give flexibility) over long-term development. It’s not sugar hits, he mainlines sugar directly into his veins.
This feels, to me at least, a sure fire way to ensure a toxic culture - which is what I think we are seeing play out at the moment.
