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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 4 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs North Melbourne
Last post by JonDorotich -
Enough has been said about our problems, but what about solutions? We’re clearly on track for a spoon and need to act, without having the luxury of a change in personnel..

Some left field ideas to consider
(1) Ainsworth as a back pocket/lockdown small forward defender . We don’t have one and I don’t really rate him as a great high HF.
(2) Hayward to HB? We need some pace and class off HB and for whatever reason, he’s not getting a touch in our system. I’d also be hoping that Billy Wilson comes on as we lack leg speed coming out of defence
(3) McKay back - let’s face it he’s not a great forward and we need to find a way to purge the Yoings/Derksens from our side. He has some pace and can surely follow his man around?
(4) Cripps full forward? He’s 195cm and playing about as badly as I can recall. Need to freshen him up and work with him to improve his kicking. HOK & Reidy don’t really strike me as great options but are also worthy of consideration at this stage.
(5) Hollands x2 - I keep saying if, but their good is outweighed by their bad. Critical turnovers or poor decisions cost us so dearly with these two. I’d be dropping both permanently and finding others to play their role.
(6) Florent/Saad into a new roles - both are sadly out of form. Can we find a way to freshen he other up, pinch hitting up forward or at centre bounces?

Would love to hear others views on changes that we can make. As a starting point I’d suggest that removing Young/Derkson & both Hollands is a step in the right direction & I know lots will disagree with me in Elijah’s case, but that’s my view.

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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 4 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs North Melbourne
Last post by MickyO -
The thing is, its now happened so many times that surely nothing is now ‘kneejerk’.

I am Team Voss but something has got to change immediately-
You cant say we are crap because we are not getting smacked (yet!), we are winning every game… until the noise turns up and pressure intensifies and panic sets in.

I agree with Baggers, way too much nice. Need to be a bit ruthless and get some energy back into these guys for the whole game.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 4 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs North Melbourne
Last post by kruddler -
People were talking about the quality of the list and the outgoings not hurting us because the incomings will spread the load.
Problem with that theory is 3-fold.

1. The players going out were top liners (whether a-grade or not, but #1 forward, #1 ruck, #2 key back). So 'replacing them' with players of less talent means those players now have a tougher matchup. That is Harry doesn't play on #2 key back, he plays on #1. Kemp doesn't play on #3 key back, he plays on #2 etc.

2. The 'kids' we had who were ready to step up have next to no exposed form. HOK was the great white hope because he played a good couple quarters last year. Good quarters in dead rubbers is not an accurate predictor.
Wilson was pumped up by all, i never saw it, but so far hasn't fired a shot
Kemp, not really a kid, but still expected to step up into a new role, been underwhelming so far.
I could continue, but you get the point.

3. We severly overrated the players we recruited. As usual, we look at their best and expect that to be the norm. Some people pointed out that Florent couldn't get a game last year and instead of looking at his ability as the reason, we blamed their coach as the reason.


All of this is what i was trying to prepare supporters for, but people didn't want to listen. Now, the sky is falling and they are ready to burn the place down. I knew it would happen, but even i didn't expect it after 4 games.

No I am not happy about our performances thus far.
No i don't think we should sack the coach.

Wasn't too long ago that we wanted to sack the coach mid-season and we ended up making a prelim that year.
Now i'm not suggesting we will this year, but i'm just pointing out that making knee-jerk reactions, with little to no immediate benefit is a stupid thing to do. Surely we've done this enough to know this by now.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 4 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs North Melbourne
Last post by Baggers -
Good reads, EB1, Principal LODS and Professory. Thoughtful.

How many times have we created a good lead, then collapsed? We know we're physically capable; the list can do it. We've seen it. We've seen good leads evaporate... consistently.

IMHO we know how to win. We can establish good leads but then its like a winning anxiety and hesitation sets in... fear of failure rather than excitement at winning. Aka, choking. Then mistakes and safeness kick in. Winning impotence.

For Vossy to minimize above the shoulders is reflective of someone in denial. Ample evidence over a long period, is there for all too see.

Years of niceness has robbed our blokes of mental (warrior) toughness and the enjoyment of winning. How can blokes improve and become tougher when so much niceness has been the foundation? A battalion of sports psychologists are required at PP.
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Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 4 2026 Post Game Prognostications Carlton vs North Melbourne
Last post by ElwoodBlues1 -
The thing that has me perplexed is, that apart from perhaps Pittonet, the youngsters playing their first games... who else is looking better than they did last year?

We argued over the summer about the quality of the list. As it is we control games for long periods before the 'bogeyman' comes out of the closet and makes a home in the player's heads. But even if you accept that the list is poor the question has to be asked...
"Is the coach getting the best out of this list?"...and that's what will determine Voss's future.

Not everyone is going to improve, some will decline, but to see no improvement at all across the board is a bit strange.
You can't put that all down to the loss of TDK, Curnow and Silvagni...the last two were missing towards the end of last year. Curnow was sub par for most of the year.

The lapses are now so ingrained I doubt opposition coaches even have to mention it, the players across the league know it. Our players know it and are full of self doubt.

Will we persist with Voss for much longer? I think the catalyst will be when we have a game when we are totally uncompetitive. With games against stronger teams coming up that's a real possibility. As it is, it wouldn't surprise if they moved sooner rather than later. Some sort of circuit breaker is needed. Voss has been clear about this seperation from the past years and this year. A fresh start, a new approach, but it's gone a bit stale pretty quickly.

'Ownership' seems to be the  buzz word at the moment, Voss used it again in his press conference. The players say "it's on us" but when the going gets tough...the tough aren't going and become more like spectators in some cases.

There were a couple of key moments towards the end. The loss of Weitering was one, and there was a time when Pittonet was off the field for a spell (I'm not sure for how long) and they got a couple of very easy wins in the centre.

The next three games will see a step up in the quality of opposition and a bit of travel. There's a chance we'll catch one of them off guard, that's the type of result that can swing a season, but poor results in all of those games or no resolution of the second half fade-outs and some changes will be set in stone.




Agree , we don't seem to have much improvement overall on the list and the other problem is you have to allow for other teams improving so you can never stand still yourself and some of the Nth kids are showing a bit now.
When you look past Smith, Dean,Walker and maybe OFarrell we don't have much coming through of real quality.
I think we can pinch a game in the next three weeks more based on the law of averages and our best chance is vs Collingwood who have key injuries and look a bit thin on young talent coming through.
We need a major rebuild and get value from those Charlie picks...you look at Newman,  Haynes, Saad and they all can't play together moving forward and you have to question recruiting 28, 27 year olds like Hayward, Florent and Ainsworth on long term deals. As Prof said there is going to be some pain and tough times ahead with Tassie owning the draft for a few seasons ahead and we need a top shelf recruiter not just Wright to oversee a rebuild.