Prediction Dr Sonja Hood AM

[Passmore]

It's not a bad thing for some more influential members to be asking some questions.

If they do go nuclear, do we have any idea who actually wants to take over the top job?

 

[Mixed Results]

Bloody Spargo didn't even get a mention in the stats in the Melbourne game.

Correct. Our one offseason recruit is recovering from an injury that will see him miss a chunk of this season.

The brains trust at North Melbourne were happy for a side that's won 20 games in six seasons to run it back.

 

[shimaburnsgrieg]

The Club outside of the Men's program is running well. We are debt free, have a secure and decent training facility, have successfully navigated our exit from Tassie and replaced that revenue stream.

Within our Men's program we have signed the most successful coach of the modern area and one of the more celebrated football people in Todd Viney. We have surrounded these guys with Adcock, Lynch, Barlow and Clarke, all who came in from successful programs and great reputations.

We have a list that has seen improvement to individuals in recent years. Paul Curtis, Harry Sheezel and Tristan Xerri have all jumped sharply in recent years to be borderline all-australians. Colby appears to be on the same path as does Fos.

The age/game profile of our list is such that we should expect a spike in performance this year. I expect it and I am sure Sonja and the football department do as well.

Sacking 2-3 board Members will do absolutely nada in impacting our short term performance. If it comes to pass that we are 2 & 9 at half way than obviously Sonja will need to conduct a review of football ops as there is probably enough evidence to suggest we aren't on the right path. I fear what happens to our Club if this is to occur.

Hang tight guys, stay united and hopefully we come out this week and get some confidence before taking on Poort in rd 1.

Thanks Sonja but we have heard it all before and quite frankly we can't waste another season before a 'review of footy ops' occurs and then 'be too afraid' to make any meaningful decisions for fear of what may happen. It appears you have been taking that approach over the past 2 years in any event - too scared to rock the boat for fear of what may happen.

Sonja - do the right thing by the club and accept that we have shown no meaningful improvement under Clarko's watch - that the culture of the club is rotten and as President and coach you and Clarko need to accept responsibility and make arrangements to remove yourselves in the best interests of the club.

If you can't see that then you are simply not the right person to be President of this club.

 

[Mixed Results]

My growing concern is that we're in no better a position list and stability wise than we were in back in 2020 at the start of this mess.

Like in 2020, we have a core of players in the 27+ group that makes up half of our best team.

Like in 2020, we have some good young talent, but who knows if they'll reach their potential.

Like in 2020, the list of talent in the 26-22 range is too thin.

Maybe you could argue that the young talent now is better, but it's also unproven. Maybe names like Duursma, Dawson, Goad, Wardlaw, and Dovaston all reach their potential, but if not, then we're not in a meaningfully better position than in 2020. The more we lose, the less likely it is that those names can reach their potential.

 

[ferball]

Thanks Sonja but we have heard it all before and quite frankly we can't waste another season before a 'review of footy ops' occurs and then 'be too afraid' to make any meaningful decisions for fear of what may happen. It appears you have been taking that approach over the past 2 years in any event - too scared to rock the boat for fear of what may happen.

Sonja - do the right thing by the club and accept that we have shown no meaningful improvement under Clarko's watch - that the culture of the club is rotten and as President and coach you and Clarko need to accept responsibility and make arrangements to remove yourselves in the best interests of the club.

If you can't see that then you are simply not the right person to be President of this club.

So if she can see that she's not the right person to be president then she's the right person to be president?

 

[Its a Process]

Thanks Sonja but we have heard it all before and quite frankly we can't waste another season before a 'review of footy ops' occurs and then 'be too afraid' to make any meaningful decisions for fear of what may happen. It appears you have been taking that approach over the past 2 years in any event - too scared to rock the boat for fear of what may happen.

Sonja - do the right thing by the club and accept that we have shown no meaningful improvement under Clarko's watch - that the culture of the club is rotten and as President and coach you and Clarko need to accept responsibility and make arrangements to remove yourselves in the best interests of the club.

If you can't see that then you are simply not the right person to be President of this club.

Clown.

So who do you want sacked and when? Sonja, Clarko, Viney and Rawlings all shown the door tomorrow?

That's a great plan. Well done champ - hopefully you are running for President as I am sure we will be in much better hands.

 

[Uncle_Leo]

I see no sense in sacking Clarkson. A form of stability is needed. Some of these guys have had so many coaches its ridiculous.

However this simply must be the season we improve and get to at least 8-10 wins. If that doesn't happen then a smooth transition or hand over must be completed.

If we don't questions must be asked of everyone in the club.

Sonja don't kick a ball, neither does Clarko, neither does Viney or Rawlings. However they appoint the coach, pick the players, come up with a game plan, draft and offer the contracts, if these flogs can't perform then all need to be held responbsible.

 

[TruRoo]

Whoever wrote the contract that gave us no get out options in the instance of diabolical performance should be hurled out the door.

Nobody in the footy world who would be worth it would sign that contract.

 

[apollo_creed]

I love the passion, but imagine trying to call the President to a meeting after a scratch-match loss and then going public when you get rejected.

An all-time nuffy crashout imo.

imagine overseeing the worst performed AFL side of all time?
imagine keeping people like Rawlings employed for 7 years overseeing the longest and worst 'rebuild' in AFL history.
yeah the embarrassment isn't with fans getting annoyed, it's with decision makers at the club who have got us into this position with no obvious out in sight. don't blame anyone for not wanting to identify as a North fan it's the AFL equivalent of appearing on a register at this point.

 

[apollo_creed]

I am incredibly surprised Brady Rawlings survived last year. There were strong whispers he would go, but obviously that never panned out.

I know that we, as fans, love to rate our own players highly. And that's fine. That's how it should be.

But if you take a critical look at just our recent drafting, it doesn't paint a good picture. I'm going to be overly harsh for some of our players here, and I'm sure many will take umbrage to some of these assessments, but imagine you're looking at this through non-NMFC eyes. This is only looking at our National Drafts, and doesn't include rookies/MSD either:

2022

• Pick 3 - Harry Sheezel - 67 games played. 28 Brownlow votes. Elite. 10/10 selection - agree
• Pick 4 - George Wardlaw - 39 games played. 4 Brownlow votes. Injury concerns pre-draft which have proved valid. 6/10 selection. - 6 is kind a few years in the system and the obvious concern was injuries and that has proven true. outside of that size and disposal are other concerns. love the way he plays but based on where he went, output etc I think 5 is fairer.
• Pick 26 - Brayden George - 0 games played. Huge injury concerns in the draft obviously. Glad he's getting healthy but big question marks about whether he will ever make it. Risky pick that hasn't paid off. 3/10 selection.
• Pick 56 - Cooper Harvey - 10 games played. He is what he is. 4/10 selection. for the pick he was (we were always picking him anyway) I think 4 or 5 is about accurate but I think team selection and coaches are more the issue than Cooper.

2023

• Pick 2 - Colby McKercher - 39 games played. Solid pick. Big upside still to come. Slight risk he leaves for Tasmania. 8/10 selection. agree.
• Pick 3 - Zane Duursma - 23 games played. Attitude/Effort concerns. Asked for a trade. Not best 23 (yet?). Make or break year. 5/10 selection. based on output thus far I think you're smoking something to give him a 5. talent is also a question. taking the occasional mark doesn't equate to being superbly talented.
• Pick 20 - Taylor Goad - 0 games played. Raw, but lots of upside. Selected him knowing he'd take time. Not really fair to judge quite yet. 7/10 . hard to judge never seen him.
• Pick 22 - Wil Dawson - 8 games played. Still a skinny beanpole. Not ready for AFL footy. I dunno. Hard to tell. 6/10 selection. not sure on this one.
• Pick 23 - Riley Hardeman - 20 games played. Very good player. Hugely positive signs. 9/10 selection - hmmm maybe a 6 or 7 but disposal is a massive issue with him and hasn't had too many standout games yep. 9/10 all things considered is a very, very generous assessment.

2024

• Pick 2 - Finn OSullivan - 22 games played. Very good player. Trending upwards massively. Needs to impact games more but that will come with experience. 9/10 selection. yeah I like him but it's early, based on output thus far I think 8 is probably about reasonable.
• Pick 27 - Matt Whitlock - 2 games played. Costly trade to get him. Will take time to develop. Still too early to fairly judge. Trade cost really skews the assessment though. 6/10 selection. hard to judge.
• Pick 57 - Luke Urquhart - 0 games played. Flashed some potential. Works hard. Skills let him down a bit. Most likely to play VFL this year. 6/10 selection. until he plays at AFL level more than a few games it's hard to really assess.

For obvious reasons I'm not including the 2025 draft selections in this list yet.

But even just looking at this three year period, we have had eight top 25 picks. Of those eight, only 50% are comfortably best 23 players at the moment (Sheezel, Wardlaw, Colby, and FOS), with Hardeman certainly seeming to push himself into that position as well. Wardlaw has injury concerns which have massively impacted his availability missing 30 of a possible 69 AFL games.

Anyway, all of this is to say that given the absolute premium draft picks we've had, I think it's fair to say we've 'hit' on 50%~ of them at best. Which is... not a strong return on investment.

my thoughts above mate. not sure players who are picked in the top 5 making best 22 for a terrible side is really a 'hit'.
it's very much expected.

 

[apollo_creed]

If we sacked Clarkson after round 6 then isn't that pretty much the same thing we've been doing since 2019?

What different results are you expecting if we do and why?

hmm.. who has been there since 2019 and maybe someone who you defend with unrestrained passion?
wonder if there's a common denominator who might be letting down alln of these coaches?
if only there was someone who had been an embarassment in all that time that we could move on without impacting coaching stability.

 

[Hop_lessly Devoted]

Season hasn’t even started and I’m already insane

 

[apollo_creed]

Clown.

So who do you want sacked and when? Sonja, Clarko, Viney and Rawlings all shown the door tomorrow?

That's a great plan. Well done champ - hopefully you are running for President as I am sure we will be in much better hands.

Imagine backing in common denominator Brady who has overseen this mess since 2020... imagine backing him despite all the embarrassing trades and contracts... and composition of a list that continues to be an absolute joke.

Oh yeah he has some mates on the board and probably says 'hello' in a nice way in the morning. Don't worry about the performance of the club, he's inept but potentially a nice guy so we'll just move everyone else on.

Pathetic.

 

[FlyHigh18]

C'mon mate. What is it 3 years and 10 months? 11months?

She's had as much time as a US presidential term. And we still look so far off it.

I honestly don’t see how changing the president is going to make Larkey hold onto a mark or LDU not shank a kick into the F50.

 

[Themanbun]

I honestly don’t see how changing the president is going to make Larkey hold onto a mark or LDU not shank a kick into the F50.

I like Son. I think she did a tremendous job in signing Clarkson. I think she is facing the biggest challenge of her career now and hope she handles it well.

But can we please stop pretending that Presidents of football clubs do not have anything to do with onfield performance? As if they just perform some abstract, undefined spokesperson role completely detached from how a footy club performs its core function? As if they are not the cultural and literal leader of the club and board of directors and responsible for signing coaching appointments?

President and BoD gets coach on board. Coach allows LDU to not chase. LDU continues not chasing. President does not make coach accountable. President has therefore influenced onfield performance.

It's not a long bow to draw. I mean Richmond credit Peggy a lot for their success. She didn't literally man the full forward line did she?

Is it ever anyone at North Melbourne's fault and responsibility for our plight?

 

[Firebat]

Clown.

So who do you want sacked and when? Sonja, Clarko, Viney and Rawlings all shown the door tomorrow?

That's a great plan. Well done champ - hopefully you are running for President as I am sure we will be in much better hands.

At what juncture would you be prepared to consider that quartet of individuals are underperforming, and should be moved on?

Just noting that our best ladder position in the last couple of years has been 16th (achieved only by a draw; a genuine anomaly of a performance).

 

[Arathrawn]

I honestly don’t see how changing the president is going to make Larkey hold onto a mark or LDU not shank a kick into the F50.

That is a weak argument. It's pure deflection of the real issue.

The president sets the culture. They have the absolute final say on how the club is run.
What does our club stand for? Are we ruthlessly competitive? Do we fight for out players? Do we have a never say die attitude?

Or are we just happy to be a part of the AFL?

My issues with the top.

*Has clarko been neutered? Is he allowed to be himself?

*Does Viney actually care? Says the right things but does he embrace us?

*Are we to passive on tribunal decisions and the AFL as a whole. I.e. Curtis and Archer last year

*Did we look like chumps by banning Cornes from the rooms?

*Players look far to comfortable with losing. So many smiles and pats on the back when we get smashed.

*How many senior staff are allowed to continue in their role with the horrendous trading decisions. AND who the hell thought that playing Wardlaw in the VFL was a good idea?

*Is there any accountability?

What words do people use when describing our Club?

Aggressive, competitive, ruthless? Certainly not.

More like Joke, passive, unwatchable.

And none of that has anything to do with Larkey holding a mark but everything to do with Culture. Which starts at the top.

 

[gokangas]

That is a weak argument. It's pure deflection of the real issue.

The president sets the culture. They have the absolute final say on how the club is run.
What does our club stand for? Are we ruthlessly competitive? Do we fight for out players? Do we have a never say die attitude?

Or are we just happy to be a part of the AFL?

My issues with the top.

*Has clarko been neutered? Is he allowed to be himself?

*Does Viney actually care? Says the right things but does he embrace us?

*Are we to passive on tribunal decisions and the AFL as a whole. I.e. Curtis and Archer last year

*Did we look like chumps by banning Cornes from the rooms?

*Players look far to comfortable with losing. So many smiles and pats on the back when we get smashed.

*How many senior staff are allowed to continue in their role with the horrendous trading decisions. AND who the hell thought that playing Wardlaw in the VFL was a good idea?

*Is there any accountability?

What words do people use when describing our Club?

Aggressive, competitive, ruthless? Certainly not.

More like Joke, passive, unwatchable.

And none of that has anything to do with Larkey holding a mark but everything to do with Culture. Which starts at the top.

A few vey good questions there.

 

[Its a Process]

At what juncture would you be prepared to consider that quartet of individuals are underperforming, and should be moved on?

Just noting that our best ladder position in the last couple of years has been 16th (achieved only by a draw; a genuine anomaly of a performance).

Read my prior post.

If we are 2&9 and it’s ugly than no doubt it triggers a review of our football department.

We should spike this year. The age profile is such that we should see improvement. If we don’t see improvement then it will be a bloodbath and I fear for our Club.

Destabilising the board/Club at this juncture adds no value.

 

[Its a Process]

That is a weak argument. It's pure deflection of the real issue.

The president sets the culture. They have the absolute final say on how the club is run.
What does our club stand for? Are we ruthlessly competitive? Do we fight for out players? Do we have a never say die attitude?

Or are we just happy to be a part of the AFL?

My issues with the top.

*Has clarko been neutered? Is he allowed to be himself? - No

*Does Viney actually care? Says the right things but does he embrace us? Yes

*Are we to passive on tribunal decisions and the AFL as a whole. I.e. Curtis and Archer last year - would have lost both at tribunal. No

*Did we look like chumps by banning Cornes from the rooms? - no, we backed our star player and next captain

*Players look far to comfortable with losing. So many smiles and pats on the back when we get smashed. - don’t get this, a loss is a loss.

*How many senior staff are allowed to continue in their role with the horrendous trading decisions. AND who the hell thought that playing Wardlaw in the VFL was a good idea? - George would have ticked off his physical markers, Kevin White’s call who has a decent run with soft tissue injuries

*Is there any accountability? - we’ve turned over 20+ players in 3 years.

What words do people use when describing our Club?

Aggressive, competitive, ruthless? Certainly not.

More like Joke, passive, unwatchable.

And none of that has anything to do with Larkey holding a mark but everything to do with Culture. Which starts at the top.

I’ll answer these for you.

In relation to culture that’s a tough to answer when not in the 4 walls.

 

[tazaa]

I've tried to stay out of the sack Sonja and sack Clarko thread but 5 years of absolute embarassing crap is probably enough. Change is needed urgently.

Its been 6 years my friend.

This is year 7.

 

[tazaa]

I think deep breaths are needed and everyone needs to give Sonja, Clarko and the board time.


There are 2 key dates coming.

The first is round 6. Anything less than a positive win loss ratio is a fail.

And the second is round 12. If we are bottom 4 Clarko surely has to fall on his sword and do the right thing by the club.
It must first mean that Sonja hands in her resignation for failing to improve the football program and get results at any point in time under her leadership. Her successor then works out a deal with Clarko.

If we beat West Coast and Richmond and lose to everyone else its nothing short of a disaster.
I pray it doesn't happen but everyone else is predicting that it will.


In the meantime lets just temper the madness until we see a game for points.

 

[Firebat]

Read my prior post.

If we are 2&9 and it’s ugly than no doubt it triggers a review of our football department.

We should spike this year. The age profile is such that we should see improvement. If we don’t see improvement then it will be a bloodbath and I fear for our Club.

Destabilising the board/Club at this juncture adds no value.

You perhaps see the irony in your comment that poor on field performances will ‘no doubt’ trigger a review of our football department.

We’ve had three successive years under Clarkos reign, and in each of those, by round 11 we’ve had significantly poor performances and not one review. Just the old same spew. I don’t know why you’d think that approach would change.

I watched the prac game against the Dees. We simply do not have the personnel to fit that structure. I think with the rule changes that we’ll be the most heavily scored against team in the comp outside of WCE.

 

[zoomba23]

I think deep breaths are needed and everyone needs to give Sonja, Clarko and the board time.


There are 2 key dates coming.

The first is round 6. Anything less than a positive win loss ratio is a fail.

And the second is round 12. If we are bottom 4 Clarko surely has to fall on his sword and do the right thing by the club.
It must first mean that Sonja hands in her resignation for failing to improve the football program and get results at any point in time under her leadership. Her successor then works out a deal with Clarko.

If we beat West Coast and Richmond and lose to everyone else its nothing short of a disaster.
I pray it doesn't happen but everyone else is predicting that it will.


In the meantime lets just temper the madness until we see a game for points.

Looking at West Coast's new best 23, they will escape basket case territory at a rate of knots. It won't happen immediately, of course, but still, that one's not a given; Richmond I'm a tad more confident about but still wary.

I'm prepared for the whiplash if we go ok this week or in R1 though, and to be honest I'd welcome it. I wasn't prepared for the vast majority of the board to be as jaded as me this preseason. It feels weird

 

[muttley45]

That is a weak argument. It's pure deflection of the real issue.

The president sets the culture. They have the absolute final say on how the club is run.
What does our club stand for? Are we ruthlessly competitive? Do we fight for out players? Do we have a never say die attitude?

Or are we just happy to be a part of the AFL?

My issues with the top.

*Has clarko been neutered? Is he allowed to be himself?

*Does Viney actually care? Says the right things but does he embrace us?

*Are we to passive on tribunal decisions and the AFL as a whole. I.e. Curtis and Archer last year

*Did we look like chumps by banning Cornes from the rooms?

*Players look far to comfortable with losing. So many smiles and pats on the back when we get smashed.

*How many senior staff are allowed to continue in their role with the horrendous trading decisions. AND who the hell thought that playing Wardlaw in the VFL was a good idea?

*Is there any accountability?

What words do people use when describing our Club?

Aggressive, competitive, ruthless? Certainly not.

More like Joke, passive, unwatchable.

And none of that has anything to do with Larkey holding a mark but everything to do with Culture. Which starts at the top.

Agree with most of your dot point's there, but the passivity with tribunal decision's 1000% spot on