This may have already been asked, but 267 pages is a bit much for me to check every post.
We've all heard buddy's lower output this year was down to a change of roles and a desire to get a more even spread of goal kickers.
In retrospect, how much impact on his form do you think the fact that he appears to have had exactly this move planned for many many months? Couldn't help but distract and play on his mind. I'm not saying he wasn't trying , I'm sure he put his all in for every game he played in the brown and gold, but that kind of thing would be hard to maintain focus through. For mine, it just looked more than "playing a different role", he just didn't seem quite as "on" as he has in previous years.
In the end , it didn't matter, we won the flag. However, next year, could we expect to see a re-emergent buddy with the weight of this decision lifted from his shoulders, and probably playing a much more central part of the forward line in Sydney?