Rumour 2024 Rumours and Speculation (Rumours total 8, last 2nd July)

[Vader]

Probably time for the leadership group to stop being based on player votes I’d say. This poor playing group has absolutely no idea what a winning culture or strong leader looks like.

It really makes no difference. It's not as if there are any other viable alternative candidates.

 

[feenix67]

So was Rachele’s first game a fluke then? How would someone who isn’t remotely AFL ready play like that in their first (and second) game(s), in Rounds 1 and 2 at the age of 18? Why would he even be in the team at that point if he wasn’t AFL ready?

And wouldn’t the same logic re lack of AFL readiness due to lack of games in the leadup to being drafted apply to the likes of Daicos, Callaghan and NWM? How are they looking compared to Rachele? NWM was far less AFL ready than Rachele in terms of physical development and ability to compete physically, and very quickly became one of the absolute best outside types in the game.

Maybe it’s Rachele being played in the wrong position.

Maybe it’s Rachele getting ahead of himself.

Maybe it’s because Rachele only puts in when he feels like it, and “picks and chooses” a bit too often.

Maybe it’s that our development staff are trash.

Maybe it’s because Matthew Nicks is a terrible coach who struggles to consistently get the best out of 80% of players on the list.

Maybe it’s a combination of all of those things.

Whatever it is, Rachele’s actual output now is worse than it was in his first handful of games at AFL level, and we were a crap team then too.

Let’s not forget that last year, when we were actually going well, Rachele was dropped (and rightly so), so this is not aligned to team performance.



Here’s an excerpt from Rachele’s RookieMe draft profile:

A factor which may be holding Rachele back from more midfield time is his consistency, and consistency of effort. He has developed into a player who impacts in spurts, dominating periods of a game rather than the full four quarters. You get the sense he knows just how good he is, and might not seek to prove it with each act. There are games where he simply looks on, but others where he is less energised and raring to break the game open.
Rachele is a player who, at his best, has top five potential. As the leading small forward in this year's cohort, his stocks will be boosted even further and he will likely tempt clubs inside the top 10. Work rate and consistency are essential in the modern game, but can easily be developed in an elite environment. Rachele will be drafted based on what he does so well, and there are plenty of traits which fans will quickly come to enjoy. He's a bums-on-seat type of talent, and one capable of pulling off what others simply cannot.



So really, all he probably needs is an elite environment to thrive. Pity for him that he didn’t get drafted to one.

Or maybe "AFL ready" means having the tank to string more than two midfield games together.

 

[huludicidal]

It really makes no difference. It's not as if there are any other viable alternative candidates.

8 players in a leadership group is too many for mine.

Go with 6 in 2025.

The 3 absolute no brainers for me next year are:
Dawson
Murray
Michalanney

The remaining 3 could be any of…
Soligo (potentially too “laid back” from reports, but his playing style screams leadership)
Rankine (bit of a mystery in a leadership sense)
Hinge (don’t love it, don’t hate it)
Fogarty (see Hinge)
Worrell (I absolutely love his on-field leadership and team-first attitude)
Keays (meh)

…Depending on what they offer in terms of the leadership traits we don’t necessarily see publicly. Keays only gets a gig if his form improves between now and the end of 2024, and if he can stop bottling key moments in games.

Murray (injury recovery) and Michalanney (too young) didn’t make sense in 2024. They both will next year.

Murphy was a ludicrous selection. I don’t care who picked him. They were wrong.

Smith at his age, with the lack of form he showed last year, was a ludicrous selection in 2024.

Milera was a weird choice for me too. Seems very shy and reserved. Nothing about his on-field or off-field persona screamed leader at all. Regardless, his career is pretty much down the gurgler due to injury so he’s out.

ROB probably made a bit of sense, but that ship has sailed. We’ll be bringing in a new ruckman to replace him as a starting 22 player. His skills somehow get progressively worse each season. The fact that rucking Strachan (a reality) or even Himmelberg (a possibility after the bye) ahead of him is even a thing should tell everyone all they need to know about his leadership future (and future in general) at the club.

 

[huludicidal]

Or maybe "AFL ready" means having the tank to string more than two games together.

A tank required as a 90% forward? Seems odd.

Does he still not have a tank? Will he acquire this in year 5?

Why did Callaghan and Daicos acquire a magical tank quicker than Rachele? Workrate or better development staff? Or is it maybe that we didn’t draft a midfielder and those other clubs did?

How about the scrawny rake in a pure outside role in NWM? How’s his tank going?

Are you saying Rachele’s form dropped off due to running out of steam? The guy is in his 3rd year, is built like an Adonis and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of tank issues being brought up in relation to him so I’m genuinely curious. That’s usually the Pedlar excuse (spoiler alert: Pedlar is just not very good).

 

[feenix67]

A tank required as a 90% forward? Seems odd.

Does he still not have a tank? Will he acquire this in year 5?

Why did Callaghan and Daicos acquire a magical tank quicker than Rachele? Workrate or better development staff? Or is it maybe that we didn’t draft a midfielder and those other clubs did?

How about the scrawny rake in a pure outside role in NWM? How’s his tank going?

Are you saying Rachele’s form dropped off due to running out of steam? The guy is in his 3rd year, is built like an Adonis and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of tank issues being brought up in relation to him so I’m genuinely curious. That’s usually the Pedlar excuse (spoiler alert: Pedlar is just not very good).

What part of **** all football in his last two junior years don't you understand??

 

[huludicidal]

What part of **** all football in his last two junior years don't you understand??

What part of every other player in his draft class being impacted equally by that don’t you understand?

 

[Captain Furious]

Here’s an excerpt from Rachele’s RookieMe draft profile:

A factor which may be holding Rachele back from more midfield time is his consistency, and consistency of effort. He has developed into a player who impacts in spurts, dominating periods of a game rather than the full four quarters. You get the sense he knows just how good he is, and might not seek to prove it with each act. There are games where he simply looks on, but others where he is less energised and raring to break the game open.
Rachele is a player who, at his best, has top five potential. As the leading small forward in this year's cohort, his stocks will be boosted even further and he will likely tempt clubs inside the top 10. Work rate and consistency are essential in the modern game, but can easily be developed in an elite environment. Rachele will be drafted based on what he does so well, and there are plenty of traits which fans will quickly come to enjoy. He's a bums-on-seat type of talent, and one capable of pulling off what others simply cannot.

Ha...this explains everything about Rachele. I sometimes wonder if Fog fits into this category too, players who dominated junior football and could coast through on their talent alone. It's a hard habit to break and players like that often can't adjust - welcome to the stage Troy Menzel.

 

[Captain Furious]

8 players in a leadership group is too many for mine.

Go with 6 in 2025.

The 3 absolute no brainers for me next year are:
Dawson
Murray
Michalanney

The remaining 3 could be any of…
Soligo (potentially too “laid back” from reports, but his playing style screams leadership)
Rankine (bit of a mystery in a leadership sense)
Hinge (don’t love it, don’t hate it)
Fogarty (see Hinge)
Worrell (I absolutely love his on-field leadership and team-first attitude)
Keays (meh)

…Depending on what they offer in terms of the leadership traits we don’t necessarily see publicly. Keays only gets a gig if his form improves between now and the end of 2024, and if he can stop bottling key moments in games.

Murray (injury recovery) and Michalanney (too young) didn’t make sense in 2024. They both will next year.

Murphy was a ludicrous selection. I don’t care who picked him. They were wrong.

Smith at his age, with the lack of form he showed last year, was a ludicrous selection in 2024.

Milera was a weird choice for me too. Seems very shy and reserved. Nothing about his on-field or off-field persona screamed leader at all. Regardless, his career is pretty much down the gurgler due to injury so he’s out.

ROB probably made a bit of sense, but that ship has sailed. We’ll be bringing in a new ruckman to replace him as a starting 22 player. His skills somehow get progressively worse each season. The fact that rucking Strachan (a reality) or even Himmelberg (a possibility after the bye) ahead of him is even a thing should tell everyone all they need to know about his leadership future (and future in general) at the club.

Agree 8 is silly. I personally don't mind the old system of 3: Captain, VC and Deputy VC but also understand the desire to increase the leadership load. But you have to have the players and our list is sadly devoid of obvious choices.

I don't think a club should have a 3rd year player in their leadership group (Michalanney) or a player with less than 75 games (Worrell, Hinge, Murray), for their own sake; let them establish themself but there's precious little else to choose from.

Don't mind Milera, don't think you need to be outgoing and vocal, my best ever captain was a very quiet guy but led by example and his team would've followed him into battle. Love the idea of Rankine, feel he's a guy who needs purpose to keep moving up the levels.

Keays would be good, he works as hard as any player but he'd be on the fringes of my best side - it'd be nice if your club's leaders can kick the footy properly. Fogarty's lack of consistent effort doesn't really scream leadership or set the right example. After that we're looking at Laird and Crouch and that's not really where we want to go.

That lack of leaders on the list might go a long way to explaining where we find ourselves.

 

[Mostyn]

There it is, Yeo

To be fair, that was exactly why the manager was leaking the "offers".

 

[Mostyn]

A tank required as a 90% forward? Seems odd.

Does he still not have a tank? Will he acquire this in year 5?

Why did Callaghan and Daicos acquire a magical tank quicker than Rachele? Workrate or better development staff? Or is it maybe that we didn’t draft a midfielder and those other clubs did?

How about the scrawny rake in a pure outside role in NWM? How’s his tank going?

Are you saying Rachele’s form dropped off due to running out of steam? The guy is in his 3rd year, is built like an Adonis and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of tank issues being brought up in relation to him so I’m genuinely curious. That’s usually the Pedlar excuse (spoiler alert: Pedlar is just not very good).

You've been doing a lot of long posts recently.

I mean, it adds good content to the board, but I also (genuinely) hope you're okay.

 

[Pugsley]

I've been watching - just rarely seen him

This was lost on many

 

[George Kramer]

You've been doing a lot of long posts recently.

I mean, it adds good content to the board, but I also (genuinely) hope you're okay.

What the ****?

Because he’s doing in depth posts you’re questioning his mental health?

That sums up posters like you and why I created my pisstake apology thread, some of the shit you sucks post about anyone who dares criticise how we are going is beyond crap.

 

[skam85]

You've been doing a lot of long posts recently.

I mean, it adds good content to the board, but I also (genuinely) hope you're okay.

This is an incredibly poor post.

 

[Jarman3]

Probably time for the leadership group to stop being based on player votes I’d say. This poor playing group has absolutely no idea what a winning culture or strong leader looks like.

Yeah, but what's the alternative? Allow our elite coaching group to choose? Their winning culture and strong leadership will show the players the way!

 

[George Kramer]

This is an incredibly poor post.

To be fair he did add (genuinely), makes his post a lot better

 

[skam85]

People were absolute w***ers to him.

He's just a person - he doesn't need people filling his socials with personal attacks.

Even your post makes judgments about him that are really personal.

Hypocrite.

You've been doing a lot of long posts recently.

I mean, it adds good content to the board, but I also (genuinely) hope you're okay.

 

[skam85]

To be fair he did add (genuinely), makes his post a lot better

It's sort of like when your manager gives you a roast via email but adds a smiley at the end though innit

 

[1970crow]

You've been doing a lot of long posts recently.

I mean, it adds good content to the board, but I also (genuinely) hope you're okay.

It's you that I'd be worried about. What kind of post is that?

 

[1990crow]

This is an incredibly poor post.

Yep. Passive aggressive bullshit.

 

[Danger in Texas]

You've been doing a lot of long posts recently.

I mean, it adds good content to the board, but I also (genuinely) hope you're okay.

Huh??

 

[Mostyn]

What the ****?

Because he’s doing in depth posts you’re questioning his mental health?

That sums up posters like you and why I created my pisstake apology thread, some of the shit you sucks post about anyone who dares criticise how we are going is beyond crap.

Checking in with someone shouldn't be seen as questioning them.

He's a fantastic poster, and someone I always read because there's a lot of thought that goes into it.

This is obviously a difficult and frustrating time for people who support the club. Spending long periods of time online and interrogating things that bother you over and over again CAN have real impacts on people's mental health.

Getting more and more angry or frustrated can impact people beyond just the game they support, and the negativity can flow into other parts of their life.

I've had moments where being "too online" has affected my mental health. Seeing the number and length of those posts, I guess I wanted to check in that the frustration was just something that was limited to a bit of time on a message board.

huludicidal - I don't know you and I didn't mean that to be offensive. I'll delete the post if it came across that way, as my intention was the opposite (and maybe should have been a DM).

 

[BRL121]

A tank required as a 90% forward? Seems odd.

Does he still not have a tank? Will he acquire this in year 5?

Why did Callaghan and Daicos acquire a magical tank quicker than Rachele? Workrate or better development staff? Or is it maybe that we didn’t draft a midfielder and those other clubs did?

How about the scrawny rake in a pure outside role in NWM? How’s his tank going?

Are you saying Rachele’s form dropped off due to running out of steam? The guy is in his 3rd year, is built like an Adonis and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of tank issues being brought up in relation to him so I’m genuinely curious. That’s usually the Pedlar excuse (spoiler alert: Pedlar is just not very good).

You must have been living in a nunnery.
The comments were all about lack of tank, right from when he was recruited. In fact, the club was very well aware of it and publicly hosed down our expectations from day one, with comments along the lines of him needing a few years to develop the tank. I think it's pretty obvious that those comments were well founded.

 

[xjamescleanx]

You've been doing a lot of long posts recently.

I mean, it adds good content to the board, but I also (genuinely) hope you're okay.

this is wild

 

[CryptoCrow]

Hot off the press rumours........
Rob has told his manager to explore clubs in Victoria for next season as he asks for a trade, speculation that Essendon and Bulldogs are the clubs most keen, watch for Draper to comeback our way if Essendon is the club.....
Ned Moyle will be a crow next year as our number one ruckman....
Rachele and zac Taylor being looked at by Melbourne clubs.....

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Hot off the press rumours........
Rob has told his manager to explore clubs in Victoria for next season as he asks for a trade, speculation that Essendon and Bulldogs are the clubs most keen, watch for Draper to comeback our way if Essendon is the club.....
Ned Moyle will be a crow next year as our number one ruckman....
Rachele and zac Taylor being looked at by Melbourne clubs.....

Was rumoured preseason ROB was looking to move at the end of the year to Melbourne for his studies.

Hasn't looked like his heart has been in it 100% this season.