Retiring blokes ahead of time, trading blokes for shiny new objects, simply creates the next batch of people who do a Jack Silvagni, Tom De Koning and Charlie Curnow.
WE as an organisation, need to prove that this is not a place for careers to come and die.
Yes, I believe we have a culture issue in the club too but it is coming from our leaders, not the rank & file.
Persisting with old players who are either past it or not playing to the level required (i.e. just don't give a feck) has a strong ripple effect too.
We kept gifting games to guys like Murphy & Gibbs when they didn't deserve it, everyone else became complacent & lived in the comfort zone.
Time to make a strong stand in this area.
Play some of the younger guys each week, give them 3-4 games and then back to the magoos, at the end of the season, the list management team will be in a much better position to make an informed decision.
You don't want older players. You complain about gifting games to younger players and cite Murphy and Gibbs.
So basically is you want a team full of blokes that deserve a game, where gun kids and aging players don't apply.......and you think these blokes are on the list???
I say we keep those types and trade off ones we get value in - eg Cripps, Harry, Weiters. No point sacking old blokes because they are old. It doesn't help. You 'sack' (trade) old blokes who get you something via trade to help improve your younger crop.
No point giving the old blokes a contract extension too, if they are out of contract then there is nothing to be gained by keeping all of them around.
There is 100% a point, and its been spoken about. Not sure if you've read it, or are ignoring it, but its there.
Derksen kicked 5.2 on the weekend whilst Kemp eked out 0.1.
Most people are completely missing the point here, winning games now is totally irrelevant, we are not going to make finals anyway.
However, what can be salvaged from this trainwreck is a clearer picture of what we have on our playing list.
There are 19-20 players out of contract this year (thanks Nick Austin) meaning that there should be some heavy axings, but who ??
It is imperative that we give some senior games to other players on the list to ascertain who genuinely has a future and who hasn’t.
Besides, we are going nowhere with Saad, Williams & Haynes and they are three of the out of contract guys.
Lets use the remainder of the season as a part building block for the future instead of doing the same crap we have done thus far this season with the same non-performing players.
Yeah lets retire players early again, that will make players want to come to us and we can cut their careers short too!
I think we spoke about this the other day.
I say we keep those types and trade off ones we get value in - eg Cripps, Harry, Weiters. No point sacking old blokes because they are old. It doesn't help. You 'sack' (trade) old blokes who get you something via trade to help improve your younger crop.
Thry mentioned supply and demand....which is the key to all things economic.
In terms of housing though, its not the lack of housing, its the cost. Its too high to buy a house....and/or land. So if you drop the price so that people entering the market can afford something, investors who have some coin to play with look at buying a 2nd, 3rd, 46th property. So the price is increased and 1st home buyers miss out again.
You need to increase the 1st home buyers grant to a point where it is significant in helping people get into the market.
Lemmey had 1 game where he kicked 7, with is the '1 game' Lods was referring too. However, from the 16 games he played in 2025, he managed 31 goals (1 goal short of 2 goals a game). Thats an upgrade on anything we have currently, and hardly 'one-game'.
But yes, instead we train a guy up as backmen, then try and turn him into a forward.....who hasn't got as many runs on the board.
Who was training him into a backman then played him as a forward? Wouldnt be our head coach would it.
Of course not
Of course it was the head coach, but why do you think that is?
How many key forwards do we actually have on our list? Can't blame the coach for that.
Lemmey had 1 game where he kicked 7, with is the '1 game' Lods was referring too. However, from the 16 games he played in 2025, he managed 31 goals (1 goal short of 2 goals a game). Thats an upgrade on anything we have currently, and hardly 'one-game'.
But yes, instead we train a guy up as backmen, then try and turn him into a forward.....who hasn't got as many runs on the board.
We're not training up a backman to be a forward. He's as much a forward as he is a defender. Derksen kicked 35 goals for GWS in the VFL in 2023.
IIRC he had 3 years to show something but failed to show much at all.
From what I had seen he wasnt to be persisted with, but in the frame of playing him vs Derkson...
Lemmey had 1 game where he kicked 7, with is the '1 game' Lods was referring too. However, from the 16 games he played in 2025, he managed 31 goals (1 goal short of 2 goals a game). Thats an upgrade on anything we have currently, and hardly 'one-game'.
But yes, instead we train a guy up as backmen, then try and turn him into a forward.....who hasn't got as many runs on the board.
16. Ben Camporeale 24 disposals, eight inside 50s, one goal
Benny Campo, it was his second game back from his concussion and he found some really good form. He was hard and tough at stoppages, and he continues to improve with his ball use going forward.
Translation: Still can't kick.
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28. Harry Charleson 21 disposals, six marks, one goal
Harry Charleson is in good form. Playing off half-back, he’s finding plenty of the ball and his defensive positioning is always improving. His offence has been a real feature in the last few weeks: kicking his first VFL goal was nice, a good reward for the work he’s putting in.
Translation: Loves to attack, can't pick up his man.
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30. Jack Ison 19 disposals, seven inside 50s, two goals
Jack had another strong performance, he’s improving his defensive intent and we know how classy he is with ball in hand. It was a strong all-round game: he played higher up the ground as a forward and got involved with our ball movement in the middle of the ground while also helping our defence.
Translation: Useless when he doesn't win the ball.
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33. Lewis Young 23 disposals (95 per cent efficiency), 16 marks
It was a strong performance from Lewis, really strong aerially. He helped us get a lot of forward-half turnovers with really strong positioning, while he was really strong overhead and has had much-improved ball use by foot.
Translation: Had a rare game where he didn't make his regular stupid turnovers.
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36. Cooper Lord 22 disposals, seven marks, one goal
Coop played predominantly in the middle while also spending a little bit of time up forward. He was hard and tough at the contest, his defensive pressure in terms of his tackling was a feature.
Translation: Can't kick.
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40. Hudson O’Keeffe Eight disposals, 10 hitouts, one goal
It was a strong performance in the ruck and up forward. He competed hard in the air to get the ball to ground, his follow-up to pressure the opposition and tackle was a real feature of his game. His third-quarter effort [to set up Jack Sammartino’s goal] showed his want to get after the opposition, it was as good as I’ve seen from ‘Huddo’.
Translation: Tries hard, but still can't mark and gives us nothing....but did 1 good thing for the day.
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46. Matthew Cottrell 17 disposals, five marks, five inside 50s
‘Cotts’ played wing and inside mid. We loved his run to support our defence and start our ball movement up from our back half. We know he’s an elite runner which supports the way we want to play, and he played a really selfless role, holding his shape on the ground to help our midfielders. We like him around centre bounce with his power and speed, we might see more of that as time goes on.
As an aside, K, did you know -- probably do-- that most of the great discoveries and inventions of human existence were made by bipolar, high functioning autistic/aspergers, depressive folks... and so on? Neurodivergent if you like. Then, of course, you have many great artists (music, painting, sculpture etc.) who created some of their best works whilst on psychedelics! Seems neuro-normals are just destined to be consumers
I had a bit of a 'eureka' moment a decade or 2 ago when these diagnoses were becoming more common place. I was talking to someone about it and i said that to me, it appears to be a potential next step in the evolution of humans, rather than something that needs to be 'cured'. As you say, plenty of extraordinary things have come out of it, and continue to.
I'm not sure if its ever been suggested scientifically - it might be well established - who knows.
My wife has gone back to school to study Psychology as she has an interest in it, specifically from her own, and our sons diagnosis in the last 5 years or so. Plenty of friends are in a similar boat. Wife keeps trying to diagnose me as well
As for LCD etc, there is a big push for bringing a lot of that back as it has been well proven to 'fix' people in ways nothing has come close to since. Its a hard sell to the public/law makers and would be harder to regulate properly.
You could probably turn that around and ask the same question of us in multiple games. How often do we release the pressure and ease up in games, allowing the opposition to get a momentum change we find difficult to stop. How often do we have that miss or error that suddenly turns a game. We lack that 'kill' instinct where just one or two more goals would have snuffed out any challenge.
Or... we just about always give a half of terrific footy but generally follow it with a shocker. This time we reversed the halves The most reliable thing, for whatever reasons(s), about us is inconsistency. If our team had a psychiatric identity it'd be Multiple Personality Disorder
I am still struggling to get my head around how this team can play 7-8 weeks of utter sh1te and look like a basketcase so badly.
Next thing we see is against the reigning premiers, once again, play like a totally incompetent busted butthole in the first half and then magically transform into near worldbeaters in the second half and nearly pinch it from them.
What did they drink, smoke or inject in the rooms at halftime ??
What pixie dust did they have sprinkled on them ??
What did Voss do or say that completely changed their mindset and application so dramatically ??
The other big question now has to be, was this a one off 'flash in the pan' or will the raised standards continue for the remainder of the season ??
I haven't done a deep dive but ive been paying attention to the stats. We are attempting to transition into a team that kicks more than it handballs and I think we went into handball mode after half time.
Think back to the 1970 grand final. When thr game had "gone" we just threw caution to the wind and went for it. We havent had to try fight back from behind much this season but we've been able to fo it. Its much easier to play daring football when you're down.
A bit of play late where hollands had 3 disposals in a chain off half back and then delivered to hayward who converted was what times it off to me.
H1 - 47.9% of disposals were handballs H2 - 46.6% of disposals were handballs.
