We really won't 'know' how good (or otherwise) this group/list is, until the heat of battle next year. Can't wait.
I find myself optimistic about 2026. But I'm the same before the beginning of most seasons.
Bottom line is that there are so many moving parts, so many variables and 17 other clubs going through much the same as us. Soooo many IFs.
The number 1 IF would be for a healthy list giving us the very best chance to show our best. Already being without HOF is a concern. The number 2 IF would be for how long it will take this list to gel, considering the number of new faces. And the number 3 IF would be our skills and ability to move the aggott quickly (and accurately). We know our pressure and contest is in the top bracket but can we successfully integrate a deadly offensive game?
Our injury list in 2024 consisted of much more than TDK and Curnow
Docherty didn't play until the end of the season and was clearly underdone. As well as an extensive list of players down through the year.. Players listed as doubtful or needing tests prior to the elimination final against Brisbane included-
McKay Cerra McGovern Willliams Martin Boyd Durdin Marchbank
We didn't fall off a cliff in 2024...we were pushed off by the injury gods.
The Giants game where Charlie stepped in a hole in the warm up was a turning point. Yeah we had a lot of injuries but he was the best forward in the comp.
If our fortunes rely / relied on one person, we're right royally rooted.
Whilst I acknowledge this thread is about the list improving or worsening, I am a little surprised about the lack of discussion throughout the forum of things beyond the list. Leaving aside the obvious ultimate goal of a premiership, what we all want to see is more wins and more convincing form. Improvement can come from a number of sources, which are not always on field and when they are, they're not easy to gauge or measure. It may be that Davies and Wright will provide leadership and direction that has been previously lacking, which will flow through the organization. It may be that the presence of Boak, Simpson, and new assistant coaches will give Voss the support and feedback he needs to go to the next level. There may have been disharmony and distraction throughout the playing group wrt Charlie, De Koning and Jack Silvagni - perhaps that is now in the past, and a more unified, less distracted group may play better football. We have finally have better luck with injuries etc.
Treating the players as atomistic, self contained entities, like parts of a machine, certainly has its place, but can only take you so far IMO.
I was disappointed and surprised your post didn't get more acknowledgment, Pauly. The Gestalt Therapist within me marvelled at your perspective.
Yes. So many parts of the CFC in support of the playing group, and the playing group itself, have changed in the off season... with significant leadership credentials added to the mix along with strengthened support for existing leadership.
List building can only generate success if you have the right development program in place.
Let's hope that the apparent re-directed focus towards recruiting talented youngsters is accompanied by (i) building a development program that allows them to reach their full footballing potential and (ii) increasing the profile of quality role-models among the existing playing group to show the way.
For the first time in many years at CFC, it feels like there is a good core of young guys who may make the grade. I cannot wait to see if the natural enthusiasm of talented youth will drive some of the existing playing group to new heights.
While the players who have left are undoubtedly talented, there was also a fair whiff of prima-donna about them. Give me hard-working, committed players over show-ponies any day.
I am an eternal optimist, but I think we may all be pleasantly surprised by what we see in 2026.
Noice. Well said, Big T. I'd also humbly add - leadership, which also seems to have moved the needle in the right direction.
That's changing the focus again....you've moved away from the age debate to the talent debate
Average age is pretty meaningless when you're talking in averages only a year or two different.
No its going back to the original point. Our list got weaker.
The opposition to this justify this by saying we got younger as we were too old. I'm pointing out relative to the opposition, we got older. The players we recruited, half of them were older than our average age. That flies in the face of the arguement that we are rebuilding/rejuvinating and getting younger. THIS was the justification for destroying our prelim list and the reason we are nosediving.
I'm calling BS on the rejuvination of the list as a viable strategy given we've barely moved the age needle, and done so less than most who are not doing the same thing.
All this falls back to the same question which i can't get a straight answer on.
WHY does everyone have so much faith in the current list management team? The reasons i've had so far are contradictory at worst, and weak at best.
Whoa there, K.
"Our list got weaker," you say. Well, losing a few good players will do that... however, that's only half the story as they have been replaced but you seem to assume that the newbies are nowhere near the quality of those we lost. Seems to me that's a premature assumption. 2026 needs to unfold for us to get a read on how this trade turns out for each side.
I would suggest that we 'nosedived' in 2025 for a number of reasons strong reasons which have been well documented (leadership/injuries/gameplan), the least of which would have had anything to do with the age of the list or any suggested list rejuvenation - whatever that was. I don't get your logic that because of list age and attempted 'rejuvenation' we'll continue to nosedive?
"WHY does everyone have so much faith in the current list management team?" You ask, then write that the stated reasons from others on here are contradictory or weak. Wow. For a start, not everyone has unbridled faith in our current list management... but most seem to, myself included. Why? Leadership, experience and track record and I refer to GW and CD. Excellent reasons for cautious optimism... plus, they're our leaders and deserve our support and every opportunity.
Let's say you've just taken up a new leadership role at a new organization and you've a track record of success in your recent past, but those around you tell you that you'll fail because your predecessors failed. Mmm. Pretty jaundiced logic, eh?
Praise for what Lods? We selected a father son and our acedmy pick.
It's not that we got Harry and Jack, we were always going to get them as you pointed out, but it was the way we did it - swapping picks and going further back into the draft yet keeping necessary points, then being able to secure a future 2nd and 3rd in the process of getting our targets + Taylor Byrne.
Is North's dominance in this competition becoming a real problem? No doubt things will eventually turn, but the chances are they'll go through undefeated again next year.
I reckon it's fantastic, Principal LODS. Men's and women's comps should be studying and gulping in what they do to create such dominance. Sure, they have the players but their mental attitude is really superior. Crocker will be on many radars.
There’s a few reports around that Australia is on track to eliminate cervical cancer by 2035. Hopefully we can achieve this target. 2021 was a particularly good year, with zero cases diagnosed. It’s one of the most common cancers in women, so a super effort from all concerned.
The linked article is a bit of a plug for GP’s, but it does contain the important facts.
Such an important post, Pauly. Thank you. Yep, brilliant effort from Oz.
(I declare my bias in that my paternal grandmother died of this cancer at the age of 31... in the 1940s).
I left out HOF as he won't be available til later in the 2026 season.,
Coaches often talk of the 'back seven' so rotation is important. A backman on the bench for rotation? If so, for me it'd be Florent. And the wingman who sags back would be Acres.
Many seem to be hung up on the height (or lack there of) of our fwd line. Brisbane Premiership Fwd Line Charlie Cameron 180cm Ty Gallop 194cm Callum Ah Chee 182cm average height = 186.5cm Cameron Rayner 187cm Logan Morris 191cm Kai Lohmann 185cm
2026 Potential Fwd Line Hayward 186cm McKay 204cm Moir 188cm average height =190.2cm Evans 182cm O'Keeffe 202cm Ainsworth 179cm Then there is: Jesse Motlop 180cm Talor Byrne 174cm Zac Williams 183cm Brodie Kemp 192cm
I see no issue, just saying.
Exactamundo, GTC old son. The Brisvegas forward line says 'mobility and multiple goal kicking options.'
If you're a traditional 'tall' key position forward in the modern game, you better have more tricks than just your height.
With so many influential people allegedly implicated in these files, it's hard to imagine that considerable influence hasn't been executed resulting in v8 shredding machines working over time, and skilled hackers working the delete button on their keyboards.
Those bone spurs seem to have migrated to his head and grown inward.
Jokes aside, there are serious and legitimate questions being asked about Trump's cognitive decline, evidenced in speeches, interviews etc. To say nothing of his increasing habit of falling asleep at inopportune moments.
Yep, Pauly, his cognitive decline is quite evident (dementia). You can bet he'd be medicated to the eyeballs with the appropriate meds, along with stimulants to get him up for speaking engagement. But there will come a tipping point, a point of no return.
His cognitive abilities are heading downward to join his moral bankruptcy.
)... Wright was not in a hands on role until the season was virtually over.