Finals effectively gone. What do we do from here for the 2023 season?

Will we still play finals in 2023?

  • YES

    Votes: 19 20.7%
  • NO

    Votes: 73 79.3%

  • Total voters
    92

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Feb 23, 2009
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Melbourne
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With finals likely gone (or are they?), and no first rounder in 2023, we are in a really difficult position.

There's no benefits to finishing low by way of a top draft pick, but at the same time we still need to invest in our future kids development, whilst also trying to honour the club greats like Cotchin who for better or worse we seem desperate to carry him to 300 games.

We are also in a position where I don't think our coaches future should be secured for 2024, and it probably hinges in the clubs eyes on the rest of 2023.

So firstly, do you think we are any (beyond mathematical) change of finals?

And based on that,
How do we approach the rest of 2023?
 

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With finals likely gone (or are they?), and no first rounder in 2023, we are in a really difficult position.

There's no benefits to finishing low by way of a top draft pick, but at the same time we still need to invest in our future kids development, whilst also trying to honour the club greats like Cotchin who for better or worse we seem desperate to carry him to 300 games.

We are also in a position where I don't think our coaches future should be secured for 2024, and it probably hinges in the clubs eyes on the rest of 2023.

So firstly, do you think we are any (beyond mathematical) change of finals?

And based on that,
How do we approach the rest of 2023?
Keep trying to win, stop playing duds , mansell
Miller, Ralphsmith, Ross
Get games into Banks, Bauer, Brown if he ever gets off the injury list, it's time to see what we've got to work with the players yet to debut
 
get the champs to their milestones and then play some more kids? The midfield mix isn't right atm and we seem to lack some speed around the ball. give dow a shot give the kids a chance to play to their strengths. ie. change up the game plan, I feel a stoppage heavy game would suit our mids now.

debut bauer and bradtke? Bauer potentially as a backman.

regroup and find some connection leadership has been severely lacking on and off field. we seem disinterested and and unorganised. we need to re-establish some connection.
 
Finals is shot.

Win at least 3 more games so we don't finish in the bottom 4.

Get Cotchin to 300 games and retire. He deserves to be recognised for his achievements.

Start blooding some younger players with the spot left by Cotchin. Rotation basis, play Dow/Banks etc for 3 games at a time.

If Lynch remains out long term, then start experimenting with our forward line more once we have got those 3 wins. I'd like to see Bauer & Bradtke play more even if they aren't ready. Samson wasn't ready for us, but we know he needed and still needs games.

Supporters' expectations need to be realistic on players who have only played half a dozen games so far. The criticism Sonsie got over the weekend by some here is ******* appalling, pull your heads in.
 
Appreciate the little things.

Get a haircut. Buy some new clothes. Eat your favourite foods. Book a holiday and look forward to it. Go fishing. The Ashes starts in 7 weeks.

Barrack for the opposition to beat Carlton, and deny them finals. Barrack for Essendon to make finals but lose again. Barrack for Geelong to choke in finals again.

If we win another game it's a bonus.
 

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So firstly, do you think we are any (beyond mathematical) change of finals?


Of course we are.

So far this year I've seen a lot of bloody good players mishandling the footy, disposing of it badly, making poor choices and generally blowing things they'd nail 9 times out of 10 way more often than is normal.

They didn't stop being good players, just nowhere near enough of them are playing well ATM.

The wheel will turn as it always does and I'm tipping we've got a lot of exciting football left in us, which hopefully means another finals campaign. :thumbsu::richmond:
 
With finals likely gone (or are they?), and no first rounder in 2023, we are in a really difficult position.

There's no benefits to finishing low by way of a top draft pick, but at the same time we still need to invest in our future kids development, whilst also trying to honour the club greats like Cotchin who for better or worse we seem desperate to carry him to 300 games.

We are also in a position where I don't think our coaches future should be secured for 2024, and it probably hinges in the clubs eyes on the rest of 2023.

So firstly, do you think we are any (beyond mathematical) change of finals?

And based on that,
How do we approach the rest of 2023?
Cry
 
Going to try and do this without letting emotion cloud my judgement.

First 2 things to address are the futures of Cotchin & Riewoldt.

1. Trent Cotchin is 6 games away from reaching 300 and there are 7 games remaining until we have our bye. I'd sit him down and tell him that we will play him the next 5 games against Eagles Geelong Bombers Power(all MCG) & GWS in Sydney then give him a rest when we head to Perth to play Fremantle in round 13, so he plays his 300th against the Saints at the MCG in front of the Tiger faithful as well as his family. I'd tell him that after his 300th game he is likely to have 6 games to see out the season which will all be Melbourne based games and leave him to decide if he retired mid season or sees the year out and plays his final game in round 23 against North at the MCG.

2. Given Lynch is likely to be out until somewhere around round 17 we need Jack to lead the forward line, but his days of being able to carry the forward line are well past him. As always he'll give everything he has each week, but we need to continue planning for the future as well. So I'd continue to play him, but the focus needs to be on Ryan with Jack riding shotgun and guiding the kid through like Richo did with Jack way back when. If Lynch returns, the same applies to Jack as Cotchin above, he'll get a farewell tour of games at the MCG/Marvel to end his career with a final game at the MCG against North same as Cotchin. Will guarantee that we get a much bigger crowd for that game than we would have if both teams are bottom 6 by then.

On the field a few things I would like to see us try/address.

1. Our starting midfield of Taranto Hopper & Prestia with Bolton & Cotchin as the next group is painfully slow around the ground and at centre bounces/stoppages are all sucked in like bees to a honey pot trying to win the ball. It was noticeable last night how much more fluent the midfield looked when we injected the likes of Short and Baker into the mix who are able to run and spread away from the contest and get the ball moving quicker. Yet come Saturday afternoon against the Eagles you can be assured that the mix will go back to the starting 5 above. So lets try mixing it up a bit and injecting a bit more pace into the middle to try and kick start our ball movement. I've seen a lot of people saying we need to get Martin back in there, but he's 32 in 6 weeks time and can't carry us on his back forever. We need to continue to look to the future. Taranto Bolton & Hopper are our foundation pieces for the midfield for the next 5-7 years, but we need to get younger & quicker in the middle. Jack Ross was brought in to play the Prestia role but attended only 23.8% of centre bounces yesterday, Prestia averages 62% across the season. I'd like to see how we fair with Taranto Hopper Bolton(starting mids) & Short Prestia Baker as the main rotation, with Martin to go in when he feels the need to insert himself.

2. If we're going to push Baker & Short up into the midfield, I'd like to get a look at Sam Banks playing a mix of HB/Wing and start to bring him into the mix. Watching him at the VFL level he uses the ball so well and moves with good pace and running patterns and while a lot have seemingly dropped off Ralphsmith I'd like to see him getting more opportunities on the wing where his run and carry can help with our quicker ball movement, because if you go back to that second quarter against the Dogs, it was the fast ball movement on the back of run and carry from D50 into our forward line that clicked in the second half of that quarter that allowed us to kick 7 goals in 15 minutes and we haven't looked anything like that since for whatever reason. I think having the likes of Bolton Short Baker D.Rioli Ralphsmith Clake Cumberland & Banks adds a lot of speed to our side and we've looked our best this season when we've had speed of ball movement with us running at the opposition.

3. As I mentioned above I'd like to make Samson our number 1 target inside the F50. The kid is 206cm & 104kg he isn't going to be outreached by many opponents and is mobile enough to get on the move and give us a leading target to kick to rather than simply bombing it on Jacks head and expecting him to somehow have the spring he had a few years ago and take big pack marks. Have Jack as the mentor/second fiddle role, who can still chip in with his 1-3 goals a week and at least try to capitalize on the faster ball movement. If we can get Samson in more 1-1 contests than big packs I believe we can generate enough opportunities to kick a bit more than 6-10 goals a game either through him marking it, or creating opportunities at ground level for our small/medium forwards to run on to ground balls and score. That would mean for the time being we continue with Soldo and Miller in the ruck until Nankervis gets back and we can revisit things then to see how things are travelling.

4. Down back we have got the band back together in terms of the core of our back 6 with Grimes Vlastuin Broad Balta & Daniel playing their first game together in 4 weeks on Sunday. Tylar Young has come in and settled into the back 6 and they seem to have plenty of faith in him having him play on the likes of Naughton & Ben King in recent weeks. As mentioned above I'd like to see Banks added to the mix if we push Short/Baker up the ground to keep the run and carry coming out of the back half.

Side I'd like to see playing a lot of games for the remainder of the season

B: Young Balta Grimes
HB: D.Rioli Broad Vlastuin
C: Pickett Hopper McIntosh
HF: Baker Ryan Short
F: Martin Riewoldt Cumberland
R: Soldo Taranto Bolton
INT from: Prestia Ross Cotchin Ralphsmith Gibcus Graham Sonsie Banks Clarke
 
Carry Cotchin to 300 games as the season is shot with Lynch Nankervis and Prestia missing games. Keep playing kids to see who can cut the mustard and rectify whatever game plan we have to cater for the needs of our future list.
Agree

But i would also be talking to Tarrant and saying goodbye before the mid season draft
Along with getting Trent to 300 games (which i think is a must as he has been such a servant and not only cotchin but the club deserves him to be another 300 game player)

I would also like to now see Jack get 800 goals and equal Richo which he can do this year with some easier games coming the rest of the season
Look at transitioning away from McIntosh , Grimes , Broad

Lets have a look at Biggy & Bauer to see if they are worth keeping on the list
 
we are not making the eight. Not a chance.

need the experienced players to show the kids the way, but on their (senior players) performances there isn’t much form to show. we are a year and a half behind with development, timing has played a cruel trick on us because of our success and lack of foresight.

I cant see how we get out of this other than a major rebuild. We are six very good players away from being competitive.
 
Appreciate the little things.

Get a haircut. Buy some new clothes. Eat your favourite foods. Book a holiday and look forward to it. Go fishing. The Ashes starts in 7 weeks.

Barrack for the opposition to beat Carlton, and deny them finals. Barrack for Essendon to make finals but lose again. Barrack for Geelong to choke in finals again.

If we win another game it's a bonus.
You didn't mention barrack for Collingwood to win all close games in the H&A and then get knocked out by the same medicine.
 
Agree

But i would also be talking to Tarrant and saying goodbye before the mid season draft
Along with getting Trent to 300 games (which i think is a must as he has been such a servant and not only cotchin but the club deserves him to be another 300 game player)

I would also like to now see Jack get 800 goals and equal Richo which he can do this year with some easier games coming the rest of the season
Look at transitioning away from McIntosh , Grimes , Broad

Lets have a look at Biggy & Bauer to see if they are worth keeping on the list
Why throw McIntosh and even more ridiculous Broad into the mud? Our backline basically didn't function with Broad gone. It was very good on the weekend bar some soft goals.
 
Why throw McIntosh and even more ridiculous Broad into the mud? Our backline basically didn't function with Broad gone. It was very good on the weekend bar some soft goals.
Both are free agents and and with the 2 WA teams struggling they may get offers we are not prepared to match due to their age and importance to the list taking into account the players we have drafted.

e.g i wouldnt pay either $500k a year
 
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