Caldwell went to Geelong Grammer, one of the toffiest schools in Victoria.
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Thats due to us pressing so high up the ground once the ball gets outs we have no hope
Why do we do it.
It doesnāt work.
Beats me have the balance out of whack
Not sure who is the defence coach is but they are not doing a very good job
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iād love to know who those ā ā ā ā ā weāre who had a go at mac andrew based on his colour ! disgraceful
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Draper i reckon
It was ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā on social media after the game.
All I gave you was my opinion. Which you can take or leave, at your discretion. Iām not really invested in changing your opinion.
Most of what Iāve said is simply me listening and taking the coach and players at their word. Some people in here deeply distrust anything that is said. And I understand why.
The coaches and players have said all year that theyāre nowhere near the finished product. I believe them.
After the Tigers began their recent dynasty, they said that people thought everything came together quickly for them, but people didnāt see that they worked at their game plan for 2-3 years before it all came together and they won the premiership in 2017. They were slowly developing a game style that suited their players. It didnāt look like straight line progress, but when it all came together, they were very hard to beat. Thatās just a fact, whether you see it as having a bet each way or not, itās often what happens. Of course, there are 18 teams all trying to do the same thing each year, so there are also plenty of examples of teams putting a game plan together, and having no success too.
Bringing talent into the team is always good, as is developing that talent. But not all the teams with the most talent have won premierships recently. Talent definitely helps, but game style is king. And luck with injuries and timing with form, both help. Iāve listened to ex-Premiership players and commentators criticise Essendon for years about winning games on individual talent, but having no discernible game style, and how that made us an inconsistent team.
I, too, wish weād kept DāAmbrosio. Lots of others have said it was no great loss, and I didnāt agree. His ability by foot, to me, was something we couldnāt have too much of. I donāt agree with everything the club does, or see everything with rose coloured glasses, but when the club makes mistakes, I move on, and hope they make less in future, and support my team. I couldnāt imagine supporting any other team, any more than I could imagine being driven to insult and deride my team.
I like that in games nowadays, when things arenāt going our way, we change player positions, and we change the tempo of the game, and who starts at centre bounce etc. We have quite a few tools to change things up in-game, when things arenāt going our way. And we use them from very early in games. Only a few short years ago, we only had a couple of players we could throw in a different position, to try to change a game, and usually waited until so late in the game, that it had no effect anyway.
I assume youāre in the camp that says players canāt develop in the VFL. I disagree. The players weāve brought into the main team recently, seem to have played fairly well, yet have little AFL experience, so presumably, they developed in the VFL. Roberts, when interviewed last week, said that the players feel like there is no VFL and AFL. Itās all one team working together. I suspect there are some people stuck in the VFL that are frustrated. If there are, then no doubt weāll see some of those request a trade at the end of the year.
Perhaps all I have seen is a mirage, and weāre just delaying our next rebuild. And given that we have to be the best team amongst 18 in order to win a flag, then even if weāre doing everything right, we could still fail and have to start over multiple times in future. So if youāre preaching doom and gloom, you have close to a 17/18 (94%) chance of being right, compared to a 6% chance of everything come up Milhouse.
We all looked at Carlton a few weeks ago and thought they were a genuine chance at the flag. And they have a lot more talent than we do. Yet not only did they fall spectacularly, but added another 4-5 injuries to key players today. Carltonās biggest issue, having failed to contend (Iām assuming) again this year, is that theyāre already stretched on salary cap. And much of that cap is spent on their best players, some of who are getting older, and they lack some depth once they sustain a few injuries. If they fail to pinch a flag in the next few years, they may find themselves rebuilding yet again.
We could enter contention in the back of development and smart trade and recruiting over the next few years, or we could enter contention by bottoming right out and building for the next 5-7 years. Or we could miss, regardless of which way we go. We could also fail or succeed with half a dozen different coaches at the head.
The thing I like best about what weāre doing differently now, is that we have more of a focus on training standards and put more development coaches in than weāve had probably ever. A good development program will always give us a better chance, for as long as we keep it up. Whether it takes 2 years, or 20+ to deliver. Our previous development program had slipped to below AFL standard, and we were de-listing too many in-developed players.
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For all the misery of the last few weeks, we were/are 4 points away (the Crows 3 point loss & Suns 1 point loss combined) from currently sitting 6th (percentage off 5th) with two games of the season to go.
You could argue that we were fortunate in some of those early season wins too (St Kilda & Adelaide in Adelaide come to mind) ā¦ so probably fitting where we are. But still worth considering.
But things are never as awful as they seem in this competition. Two games of likely misery to go for 2024ā¦ then we can disconnect for 6 months. It all starts again at 0-0 come next March and who knows what we will have learnt by then? Whether we buy memberships or not, weāll all be back to see what happens.
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You have got to work at the club. 100%
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Would you really wish that existence upon me? Urgh.
what we will do is show a āspirited effortā the next two weeks and probably finish 9th, and this will solidify to our coaches that the list is good and weāll rock up round 1 2025 with about 22 of the 24 the same players
And forever the cycle will continue
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9th is the absolute worst outcome. Club will lap ut up as a step forward and minor tinker with list.
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Maybe.
The cycle has been set for the last 20 years. Itās been miserable, absolutely. Just when we get a glimmer of hope = itās gone.
One day the cycle will actually break. 2025? Maybe. When you love and invest in a club for so long, itās difficult to emotionally switch off altogether from it. I admire the people who can do that. But the majority of us will be here in March hoping/anticipating that cycle to break.
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This is true, but unfortunately itās not that we could have been better, but rather we are exactly where we deserve to be. This team should be sitting on top 4 with a double chance, but there not because mentally they donāt have it. Thatās not something thatās going to be fixed. It canāt be fixed with this group.
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i canāt wait for the apoplectic nuffieposting in response to insta posts
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AFL should positively interfere we are an untapped cash cow.
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The B&F will be a comedy show this year
Can you imagine the speeches of about how we need to āstick togetherā etc 
Gold
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Iāve thought about taking up smoking barracking for this club.
@Koala donāt you go to the B&F?