Obviously not as good a hand as what GWS and GC had but still an exciting crop of picks nonetheless. Success won’t happen overnight – even when Dimma had a young Cotchin, Rance, Dusty, Riewoldt, Edwards, Grimes etc, it would still be 7 seasons before ultimate success came. We know we’re likely in for a lean spell but can have the patience to rebuild while we still bask in the recent premiership dynasty afterglow.

Was very sad to hear of Chris Toce’s passing by all accounts, was a great person and well respected professional in the industry. Hopefully his legacy will live on with some great work by him and the team and all his hard work in his brief time with the club will leading to some long term players being drafted next month.

Geez strong whiff of Kane Cornes in that Richmond take. Is it ideal to lose a core of players in their prime (mid 20s) with premiership experience on the heels of retirements to club legends and stalwarts? No. Will we struggle next season – almost certainly.

When you have a bad hand (players wanting out, slim prospects for short term success), you need to make the best of it – 4 players wanted out, is it ultimately better to move them on if they aren’t invested in the next chapter? I would say yes. I’d also say it’s better to sell when the market value is at its highest.

Selling clubs often come off second best due to the players having more power to force a move. Player can nominate the club and then the selling club usually has to settle for the best deal it can get even if it’s not ideal (see Port with Houston and Dogs for Smith) – that being said, I think we ‘won’ all of those trades and came out with varying degrees of overs bar the Graham compo which we had no real sway over that outcome. (though I reckon Bolton is going to be AA at Freo next year). Gold Coast initially only wanted to offer pick 6 and we stood firm and haggled to get 23 included. Freo offered 10/11 and 18 and postured at walking away to the draft instead and yet we were adamant we wanted 10, 11 and 18. Similarly, Baker could have potentially walked to WC if he wanted but we still turned a former rookie pick into pick 14 and 2 premierships medals.

We still have 7 (8 if KMac gets a new deal) premiership players by my reckoning (and a couple others who were on the list but didn’t get premiership medals) on the list who can guide and mentor this next crop of Tiger cubs. As we’ve seen with Brisbane and their tendency to draft country kids to avoid the ‘go home’ factor, we have the unique chance to bring 4-8 new players through together at the same time that can hopefully form strong relationships and bonds and carve out long careers in yellow and black. Not to mention, they will have the chance to really put their best foot forward both on field and in shaping the club culture without the potentially daunting presence of imposing club legends and figures and recent history hanging over their heads.

Tiger fans know where our list is at and we will be patient with Yze and the team he builds – not to mention we’ll have a lot of cap space to play with in the coming years to secure players or target free agency. If I think back to our last major rebuild – Dimma’s first year in 2010 when we were labelled ‘worse than Fitzroy’, we are substantially better placed now and moving forward in terms of club structure, professionalism, culture, facilities and list profile etc. so it’s not all doom and gloom (well the on field might be in the next 12-24 months).

I’d rather draft the kids this year than trade into next year – I’m no draft expert or watcher but logically seems to make best sense to take a good handful of selections in a strong and deep draft and give them 12 months of development and bonding coming through together than risk the uncertainty of potentially a weaker draft next year. Plus I think I read somewhere there will be quite a few academy and F/S picks potentially next year so that may dilute the talent pool as well. That being said, I’d love to have a play for pick 2 – sounds like there are 3-5 prospects who could feasibly go at #1 so if we get 2 bites at it, I’d be pretty confident we’d land some long term players for us.

You may have missed when Australia was bidding for the men’s World Cup. Eddie was one of the biggest and loudest critics trying to derail the bid.

The only thing that gives me any confidence here is he has a vested financial interest in ensuring this broadcast production deal is a relative success. Though the cynic in me; and because I don’t hold him in particularly high regard, that he will be happy so long as he is paid.

Ange’s performances in the London derbies hasn’t been exactly good. Not sure if the ‘pressure’ on him is from external media, the club hierarchy or elsewhere but I’m not exactly convinced he will win anything in his second season – possibly one of the domestic cups or the Europa League will be their best chance if they can get a favourable run of fixtures.

Though from the comments I’ve seen on social media, seems most Spurs fans are at least behind Ange and he still has their confidence and support for his football philosophy and managerial tenure which has to count for something at least.

I wouldn’t begrudge him if he wanted to continue playing but if he were to do a backflip after ‘retiring’, I think it would tarnish his legacy at the club. Of course, he owes the club and fans nothing and if he still has the talent and appetite to make good money doing what he loves, no one can deny him that. For the Suns, if they make finals for the first time, Dusty would be a huge weapon to have in your arsenal. A player who lives and breathes the pressure cooker of finals footy. Even past his best, he still has the confidence to know his business and at worst, will still be a player who requires an opposition team to plan for him even if he is a decoy.

Just would feel a bit dirty after the song and dance of his 300th and then retirement…only for that backflip, especially with the smoke and mirrors speculation. If he wanted to play on elsewhere, he would have been better off just saying that. Compensation, even in the form of a later round pick would make it more bearable – or not sure if even a token trade could be done in good faith? I remember Coleman-Jones insisting on a trade with North Melbourne, even though he could have walked to the club on a free after the club stood by him after the kebab gate incident back in 2020.

Definitely a loophole that needs looking at. What if for argument’s sake, Petracca comes out and says ‘due to irreconcilable differences with the club, I am retiring – and walking away from my remaining contract years’…and then ends up walking to another club immediately or after taking a year off.

Outside some pretty special moments (the Peru qualifier, getting through to the Round of 16), Arnold has been quite mixed with his tenure. Failed with the golden generation and has arguably been quite lucky at times.

It’s not always the manager’s fault if a team is underperforming but whether rightly or wrongly; and regardless of the talent available to him – if he is unable to get a tune out of the players at his disposal, he should step aside to let someone else try. Perhaps the only thing saving him is that outside Japan, the rest of the group is still quite close. I don’t think 2nd place is beyond the group but there is very little room for errors and they will in all likelihood need to try and pick up some brave wins and results away against the likes of Japan and Saudi Arabia.

lol just saw this – can you read? I said Pogba at Manchester United. Tell me Mr silly casual, what success stories are there from his second stint at the club. Very interested to see how you can justify this transfer as anything but a flop.

1x League Cup, 1x Europa League, 1x PL team of the season and that’s about it – great return on an estimated $180m+ investment. Oh and he left on a free transfer. If you think that’s value for money, I’ve got some rocks in my backyard I’d like to sell you.

Pure hyperbole from Scholes, Man Utd might have a blank cheque book to waste any number of hundreds of millions they see fit but you can’t tell me Bosnich was a worst signing than Pogba. $89 odd million to sign, something like the same in his time at the club in wages and sign on bonuses and then walked out on a free after never getting close to performing at a level even remotely close to his exorbitant cost. Who knows, Antony might eclipse him. Bosnich probably doesn’t even make the top 10 flops. Even his coke induced ban was after he’d left the club lol.

Somewhat worrying signs for Spurs – took an own goal for them to draw level playing against our 4th choice CB and a backup RB deputising at CB for all their possession. They looked slick moving the ball around but never really seemed to threaten with many pot shots from range or well off target). Pope made a few saves but many were pretty regulation. Spurs similarly had high possession against us last season (just shy of 70% IIRC) and lost 4-0; so Ange/Spurs made it relatively easy for Howe to use the same counter attacking tactics here. Isak hit the woodwork after 5 mins and was also tackled by Dragusin in the box (who didn’t get the ball) that probably warranted a VAR check at the very least.

Good outcome and news. If Shai has played his last game as a Tiger, I thank him for his service, highlights and contributions in winning 2 flags. Getting the medals back in some kind of way feels like a fitting closure on his time in the yellow and black if this chapter is to close.

Cool story, amazing what you can conjure up when you move goal posts to suit your narrative. Let me try: Tigers were the first (and only) team to beat the minor premiers in the first 15 rounds this year. Richmond topped the injury ladder by some margin (246 games missed through player injuries. The next best was Carlton at 181. Even West Coast is nearly 100 games shy of this at 157. North had the 6th least at 123). Richmond had 4x 60+ point losses, West Coast had 8, North had 6.

The point the writer here is making is North and West Coast have languished at the bottom for multiple seasons now, had access to a gluttony of top picks and haven’t made any notable inroads or progress, meanwhile Hawthorn (another club they shared the foot of the ladder with) has skyrocketed into finals on the back of belief and confidence in their system, players and coach. That’s some tremendous amount of egg on both North and West Coast who have been left in the dust. Culturally, both clubs are not run or operated in a manner that is conducive to achieving success. West Coast and North may (or may not) have more on field talent than Richmond but they are Auskick level at how they are run, the performance standards they abide by, the collective competitive mentality and ultimately, the chances of having any tangible success in the short, medium or long term based on the available evidence. But hey, if thinking their future is brighter than a wooden spoon winning club because they beat the Gold Coast Suns at home is your measure of success here, then perhaps mediocrity has seeped into the supporter bases of those clubs as well.

that was the feeling we had watching from our couches in 2021 – though I suppose the burnout and fatigue that the group was feeling was probably a fair enough reason. I seem to recall Riewoldt citing the lockdown fatigue being a factor as well (I think they were in the hub the longest of any club IIRC). Injuries started to derail our season and when Dusty went down in July(?) and was ruled out for the rest of the season, we were probably well cooked from that point on. Definitely tough to not have the chance to defend your flag in September but as you say, we were a bit spoilt during those years!

Yeah, definitely a tough question to answer! If only we had a cashed up benefactor again like Frank Lowy at the helm to solve all our problems…

I assume it’s already being done at some degree already but perhaps clinics or programs at schools (I recall the excitement as a young tacker when an AFL player came to visit our primary school). Could be a way to tap into promoting health and fitness too (would that enable some kind of government assistance or funding as a result?).

Not ideal but maybe could try discounted tickets or ‘bring a friend along for free’ type promotions (if they haven’t already)? Maybe local junior clubs or schools could go into ticket giveaway raffles? I grew up in a regional town and we used to play against other clubs from around the region – some of those away days on a bus were absolutely incredible – can only imagine how fun an experience it would be to do a trip to a big city to watch an A League game with your club mates.

Perhaps a more radical approach could be strengthening ties with our ASEAN neighbours. I seem to recall there being a proposed ASEAN Super League some years back (a bit like the Super 15 league for Rugby Union where club teams from different countries compete in a regional ‘domestic’ league.) Would a competition featuring teams from say Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia etc increase commercial interest, sponsorship, TV broadcasting opportunities across the board? Potentially? Though that would also mean higher operating costs for the existing clubs who are already feeling the pinch. What would it also mean for a national second tier?

I know they had large staff cuts earlier in the year but would be interesting to hear more about their current strategy and marketing ideas/teams on how they plan to navigate these turbulent waters.
IMO. they really need to focus on the product and spectacle rather than the goal of being ‘a good league’ – once the foundations are strong again, the rest should fall into place. As someone else mentioned, there doesn’t seem to be a clear identity on what they want to be (US style franchise league or European meritocracy), there also seems to be a disconnect between the football fraternity here and those who run/administer the game which needs to be reconciled and bridged for the benefit of all concerned.

I’ve only kept a cursory and occasional check on the latest happenings from the administration side of the sport but I think that’s reflective of the problem. The league doesn’t seem to have much presence or profile across the mainstream at present. In the best years of the league, there was always a buzz when a big name Socceroo player or international star was heading to these shores. I struggle to think of one off the top of my head in recent times that made any notable waves across the mainstream. Maybe Sam Kerr would be the only current Socceroos or Matilda player with that kind of profile and power?

To me, it seems they keep losing sight of the fundamentals. There is something to be said for continuous and sustainable improvement, maintain and grow slowly and steadily. Forget about competing directly with the AFL, NRL etc – focus your engagement on the junior and grassroots levels and creating an atmosphere and spectacle that fans will enjoy. If the kids are interested, they will want to bring friends, their parents etc to share the experience and enjoyment.

The league doesn’t need to be perfect but it should be operated in a manner and reflect the expectations of fans. Without fans, there is no spectacle, no vibrant colours, no rocking stadiums and no subsequent interest from sponsors, media or broadcasters to take notice. The long mooted national second tier if and when it arrives might help create more jeopardy and drama to spark some interest. I still shudder at the huge own goal of selling the grand final rights to Sydney. It may have in fact been the necessary financial decision and if they explained it was out of necessity to secure the future of the league, then maybe fans and clubs might have gotten onboard but it was such a poorly handled mess that eradicated the goodwill from the world cup. The irony is, football fans will be the most staunch defenders of the code from those who want to detract it and see it fail but often those in charge seem to make decisions that go against the grain of what those fans want and expect.

There definitely seems to be a flow on effect in the championship where there is a growing gulf between the rich and less so. Those relegated with parachute payments from the PL have considerably larger budgets and resources than most of those coming up from league one.

Each to their own, he may in fact get better opportunities (or money) at West Coast than Freo if he had a particular preference on where he might want to play or be used on field. I will say though if Freo internally think they are in or on the cusp of a flag window, having a player with a tireless work rate, proven courage, versatility and crucially experience in winning big games couldn’t be a bad thing for the team as a whole. The players you mentioned may or may not have more talent or potential but talent doesn’t always win or perform when the pressure is at it’s highest. If nothing else, Baker is reliable. You know what you are going to get – a fierce competitor, a team oriented player who can inspire when called upon and a dependable player who plays his role well. Baker is a fan favourite of many Tiger fans for those qualities, cut from the same cloth as a Kane Lambert IMO.

Don’t mind biting the bullet and trading out any players who aren’t 100% onboard for a rebuild. Good to try and get the best value/deal we can before Tassie come in and dilute future drafts. Bolton is a fantastic talent but definitely more a cream on top kind of player rather than one who can be a pillar of a rebuild. Given our salary cap is probably quite light at the moment, we could probably eat some of Bolton’s contract as part of any deal, or package up some later draft picks as the steak knives. Certainly wish him well if he does depart, 2 premierships, many great highlights from what was pick 29 IIRC. Not a bad return on that selection.

Did have a chuckle at some of the Baker comments here, apparently a glorified WAFL player at his best despite having 2 premiership medals and being recognised as one of the most courageous players in the league. Sure, not the most talented player the game has seen but has bravery in abundance, can be deployed basically anywhere on the ground with his versatility and has great determination and heart that far exceeds the average player. But I suppose a club that has never won a premiership in it’s history wouldn’t really understand or appreciate what intangibles are needed to win one.

Completely disagree. Those trades would have been made with both the short term and long term in mind given the draft outlay. Sure, they (and we) were probably hoping for another crack at a flag in a last dance style as Hardwick is on record of saying; but if you look at the length of their respective deals, both signed up for 7 years meaning they were well aware that at some point, a rebuild was almost inevitable given the age of the list and turnover that would need to happen as the premiership players eventually retired. The point was to try and snag another flag with them and an ageing list which ultimately didn’t pan out and for them then to be the senior midfielders (given their age profiles) once the established midfield veterans eventually retired.

While there is the risk that an incoming new chief executive might not give Yze the patience or time during a rebuild, I think the lessons of 2016 would still be fresh in the minds of many at the club and that calls to swing the axe by external noise isn’t always the best course of action. Progression is often never linear. John O’Rourke (President) was appointed to the board in 2015 so I’m sure he will be seeking to ensure no major upheaval and instability caused by undermining the coach and just letting the football side of things get on with their business. There is still some great minds at the club in the footy department who know what they are doing. While we have lost Peggy O’Neal and soon Benny Gale, I don’t think many clubs would be better placed than seeing the fruits of patience and stability. Recent premiership success should also keep the majority of fans pretty content even if the next few seasons are lean from a competitive POV.

I also disagree on the trades of Taranto and Hopper being ‘bad deals’ (perhaps for both of them personally thinking they would be playing under a premiership coach chasing a ‘last dance’ style premiership) – but with the losses of Cotchin, Martin, Edwards, Lambert and soon (12-24 months time IMO) probably Prestia, McIntosh, Graham and Pickett our premiership midfield is basically all gone. Having some AFL experienced senior midfielders who can do the heavy lifting during a rebuild will be invaluable to help shield and mentor the younger mids coming through. Both are in that crucial mid 20s age bracket you mention. Outside of them, it’s slim pickings at the club in that bracket so while the draft outlay was high, I don’t think it’s a bad deal with hindsight as they will have key roles to play moving forward. Neither (particularly Hopper) has had the best run with injuries making their Tiger careers a bit disruptive but if we can sort the fitness staff issues, we might seem them finally able to put their best foots forward both as players but also leaders at the club.

Though I strongly concur that the club needs to do an extensive review of it’s medical, fitness and recovery department as it has been nothing short of a complete mess since Peter Burge left in 2022. For mine, that has to be the close to the top for improvement. Not sure if it’s all on Meehan but 2023 and now 2024 have been disastrous on the injury front and it can’t all be due to bad luck. Something clearly needs fixing. If Darren Burgess wants to come to Victoria, then we should be chasing him pretty hard (ironically, we wanted him some years ago before he eventually linked up at Port).

We also have a pretty strong draft hand going into this season (the strongest by drafts points) due to trading down last year and that’s before potential trades with other clubs needing points for F/S and academy picks, or the potential departure of guys like Bolton, Baker, Graham and Rioli so we have the potential to have quite a number of first and second round picks to play with before future drafts are diluted by Tassie, not to mention cap space aplenty to chase players looking for opportunity.

Good move for Harry to Shef. United. Probably gives him the best chance of regular game time and potentially a chance at a PL return if SU can use their parachute payments effectively (though that remains to be seen given their ownership situation – their cash strapped owner didn’t exactly pump in the funds last season to give them a fighting chance of staying up…)

The whole PSR thing is an unfit for purpose crock of dung designed to protect the big 6 cartel. All the knives out for City but what about Chelsea selling hotels or Man Utd getting a 40m loss exception from the PL when the most other clubs got was 1m. Everton and Forest copped points deductions on those PSR grounds while the same cartel clubs got a proverbial and relative slap on the wrist for trying to join a European Super League to further maximise their greed.

Good read!

Can’t remember where I read it – might have been one of those Jay Croucher pieces from one of our flags back in the day but there was a quote something like ‘Dustin Martin had the precision of a surgeon, the grace of a ballerina and the power of a gorilla all rolled into one and the composure to turn it on when needed’. Unbelievable player, the best I’ve seen in the yellow and black. Watching his finals highlights is something pretty special. A quiet/shy person publicly but what a fearsome aura he had on the field and had that kind of ruthless streak quality where you’d feel no matter what, you could win because Dusty was on your side and he was inevitable.

I think we need to hit the draft pretty hard – especially before Tassie comes onboard. Funnily enough, last time we started our rebuild back in 2009, it was in and around the arrival of GC and GWS so we had to deal with compromised drafts back then as well.
Thankfully the club seemed to have good foresight last year when we traded down a few places for additional future picks. I believe we already had the strongest draft hand (by points) going into this season so finishing last/bottom 4 at least will strengthen that hand – as will other clubs needing points for father son/academy picks which we may be able to use to help package up or use as trade currency.
And that’s before the potential departures of established senior players – which if it happens, should yield further high end picks on top of what we already have.
My thinking is if the players are mentally checked out/don’t want to be part of the rebuild, we should move them on and get the best deals we can for them. As you say, it needs to be a balancing act as we need to be careful to not cut too deep; so I hope we retain older guys coming out of contract like Pickett, McIntosh, Prestia etc. They may be past their best or not going to be around much longer but I think they can help play a part in mentoring and guiding the youth as they find their feet at the level. The re-signing of Broad was a great result for this same reason. We should have cap space aplenty too so I wouldn’t be against bringing in some solid citizens from other clubs looking for opportunities or who can help lead or help ensure we are competitive most games (like we did with the likes of Houli, Grigg, Nankervis etc).
The shame of potentially losing Baker, Bolton, Rioli and Graham is they were part of that middle 20s tier who could then become the senior figures at the club with the changing of the guard from Cotchin, Riewoldt, Martin, Edwards (and probably Grimes later this season) etc. Rioli in particular would be a hard one to see go as he is a bit of a figurehead representation of the catalyst for change that saw our 3 flags. The off season will definitely be an interesting place to watch for us and navigate so I’m sure we’ll be quite involved in a lot of the deals around the league at least.
Overall, I’m pretty relaxed about everything. All good things come to an end, the rise and fall of clubs is part of the game; and with the benefit of recent premiership successes, happy to give Yze, the incoming new chief executive etc time and patience to let them implement their vision for the future. As sad as it is to see your heroes call time on their careers, there is definitely something exciting wondering who the heroes of tomorrow might be and what memories they might create!

Good list, the only change for me is I would personally have Dusty over Judd. Judd was brilliant, especially his WCE days before injuries took away some of that explosiveness but every player on this list is/was brilliant – it’s why they are in the conversation. Dusty is head and shoulders above everyone on this list as probably the biggest and best finals player in this 2000 onwards era and maybe of all time. That’s rarefied air and a kind of brilliance that currently no one else on this list can match – let alone surpass. To produce elite match winning performances when the pressure, scrutiny and stakes are at their highest, that’s the true benchmark of greatness IMO.

Currently reading Michael Schumacher’s ‘Edge of Greatness’ book by James Allan and there is a bit in there that talks about how guys like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Schumacher are all introverts who achieved phenomenal success despite being considered shy, private or introverts because they have an iron self belief in their abilities, singular self motivation to drive themselves and don’t outwardly show pressure or stress that often. Dusty seems to fit into that same category.