Player Watch Josh Rachele - Sent To The Gulag!

[n4sir]

Calling someone “pathetic” was true humiliation and you know what. The guy that said it is revered as our greatest ever

That was directed at a 28 year old in his seventh season at the club.

It was also Blight's first year - he was establishing he was going to be uncompromising. This is Nicks fifth at the helm - they should already know him well enough.

Bit of a difference if you ask me.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

With zero success since he left.

I wonder how Scott Welsh is thinking about this situation given the circumstances of him leaving the club and knowing his son is likely about to be a part of it.

We also lost Ben Hudson and Bernie Vince who both went on to have pretty useful careers after leaving us despite the issues the crows took with them.

The nonsense about Vince's behaviour may have been stupid but the trade worked out pretty well for us. How many times would we have been better off trading a player in their late twenties while they still have value instead of handing them a long term deal? Imagine if we'd traded guys like Smith, Sloane and Laird when we had the chance.

 

[FR0GGY]

Well almost no one https://www.geelongunitedbasketball.com.au/person/mark-neeld

Our effort on tonight’s game holds most interest to me. With very few exceptions I have always felt the team has “played for” Nicks. “Emptied themselves out” was Buckleys description about our players efforts last year in a close loss to Pies at The G.

Now IF they come out tonight and don’t give a shit - say 10 goal + loss - then it actually says something very disturbing to me that he may have finally lost them. Plenty of teams in our situation do lost these sort of games by huge margins at the end of a year.

I will be interested in our efforts as may be illuminating

Doesn’t nicks have a worse win %

 

[Scorpus]

Leadership group better be different.

Name me another afl club that Lachie ****ing Murphy would make it into the leadership group. The campaigner shouldn’t even be on an afl list!

North Melbourne

 

[n4sir]

The nonsense about Vince's behaviour may have been stupid but the trade worked out pretty well for us. How many times would we have been better off trading a player in their late twenties while they still have value instead of handing them a long term deal? Imagine if we'd traded guys like Smith, Sloane and Laird when we had the chance.

We never would never have traded him if we weren't stripped of the draft picks for the Tippettgate debacle.

It's hard to look at this post without the first thing coming to mind is Trigg's incompetence in all of this.

 

[Mutineer]

Only thing Aker hasn't got right would seem to be this appears to have been player driven (Leadership group etc).

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/jason-akermanis-advice-for-josh-rachele-after-crows-axing/news-story/7e62c6a89f5f9a16b1651cd77f052051

Jason Akermanis’ advice for Josh Rachele after Crows axing​

A headline maker during his career — for the right and wrong reasons — Jason Akermanis has had his say on Josh Rachele’s Showdown antics and whether Adelaide was right to drop the forward.


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One of the AFL’s most outspoken characters reckons Matthew Nicks

Matthew Nicks

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has made Josh Rachele “a sacrificial lamb” at an “incredibly silly” time that will heap fan pressure on the coach going into a make-or-break 2025.
Brownlow Medallist Jason Akermanis told this masthead the Crows should have let Rachele redeem himself at AFL level this week, rather than make a statement ahead of their last match of the season by dropping him for not being team-first enough.
Instead of playing Sydney at the SCG on Saturday night, the 21-year-old small forward will line up for Adelaide’s SANFL side against Sturt earlier in the day.
Akermanis empathised with Crows fans already frustrated by a seventh straight campaign without finals now seething at Rachele’s shock omission, saying the decision “doesn’t fix or solve anything right now”.
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“I think it’s incredibly silly to do it before the last round,” Akermanis said.
“The team-first philosophy should have been nipped in the bud … by worst-case mid-season.
“You’ve got too long now before you can fix it, which is a whole pre-season, and for the player you’ve got seven months to round 1 to go back and show you are a team player.
“Your good up-and-comers are not the players you make sacrificial lambs of.
“The supporters will see straight through it.
“Matty Nicks is a good coach, he’s doing a good job.
“But now he’s got six months to put up with the negativity when he didn’t really have to do that.
“He’s probably, inadvertently, put more pressure onto himself from his own supporters coming into the expectations for next year.”



Akermanis was a headline-making star during a 325-game, three-flag career at Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs that ended with his sacking by both clubs for internal feuds.
The Australian Football Hall of Fame member said he liked the confidence Rachele had shown on and off-field across 56 matches since being drafted at No. 6 in 2021.
But he believed the third-year Crow erred by taunting Port Adelaide fans with his toothless pre-Showdown barb.
“I would definitely choose my targets but they were opposition individuals, opposition groups, like the defence,” he said.
Adelaide would not go into what specifically prompted Rachele’s axing, other than saying it was not isolated to recent events and was related to team values.

Jason Akermanis performs his famous handstand at the Gabba.

Akermanis said the young gun needed to learn to celebrate with his teammates more.
“Whenever (ex-Lion) Damian Cupido

Damian Cupido

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No current season stats available

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kicked goals, he’d look outwards to the crowd instead of inward, no matter how many times we told him,” he said.
“That’s where Rachele has got to get a little smarter.”
Akermanis said players who stirred the pot before games also had to make sure it did not affect their performances.
Three weeks after playing what Nicks described as his best game for the club, Rachele registered 10 disposals, two tackles and a goal in the loss to the Power.
“When I was doing handstands and doing stuff in the media, it was after I’d won a Brownlow and we’d won a flag, so I was at the peak of my powers,” Akermanis said.

Akermanis says if you’re going to talk a big game, you’ve got to back it up on field.
Brisbane would have sacked Akermanis if the Lions had lost the 2003 because he revealed in the lead-up to the game that teammate Nigel Lappin had broken ribs.
Akermanis kicked 5.2 in a brilliant performance to help the club win a third straight flag.
“That was as much of a silly decision as I’ll ever make as far as team-first stuff yet Leigh after the game said I had a job for life,” said Akermanis, who ultimately parted ways with the club in 2006, then the Bulldogs in 2010.

​

“If you back it up on the footy field, that’s all that matters.
“Josh probably didn’t outside of that good goal.
“He’ll get smarter from the experience, I’ve got no doubt.
“He’s only young, he’s a talented player and he’s had a solid season.”
Akermanis urged Rachele to do all the team things he could in the SANFL on Saturday.
“You can’t control how many kicks you get but you can certainly control how much you run, your workrate on second and third efforts, win your own ball and make tackles,” he said.
“They’re the things coaches want to see.”

 

[119others]

Doesn’t nicks have a worse win %

Possibly, can’t be bothered checking, but Neeld seemed completely out of his depth from day one and lost the players almost immediately from memory. For all his faults, Nicks and the team had shown textbook linear improvement cumulating in being the highest scoring team (first time a non 8 team for decades) in 2023 playing a very attractive game style and seemed capable of beating ANY team on any day (our record against top 4 teams overall was very good - I think best in the competition).

Now this year it’s turned to shit - I am not seeing many argue with this fact

 

[jimvic]

I have maintained Rachele has underwhelmed for most of the year but his last 5 or 6 games have been much much better. Hopefully he does take it as a kick up the butt and become the player - an elite player - that we all hoped for after his first year and then start of his second. He has not progressed in my eyes this year overall. Stood still or perhaps regressed relative to last years form.

He has as many goals as Bobby Hill this year - do people think Hill has been underwhelming? Not sure how many games this year though in comparison

 

[119others]

He has as many goals as Bobby Hill this year - do people think Hill has been underwhelming? Not sure how many games this year though in comparison

I think Hill hasn’t progressed this year. Either the same or slightly worse than last year. - not that I follow as closely.

Lots of “recency bias” but go back 6-7 weeks and there was lots of talk about Racheles year. Posters calling him another first round dud etc

I am over this thread so won’t respond further, cheers

 

[rocket18]

Dawson just went down a peg in my eyes.

Yep same, Captain should always publically support his players.

Leave it to the coach, ceo, chairman etc if they want to publically give it to a player.

The captain should pull the player aside privately and lay down the law.

Reeks of Sloane backing the camp publically when there was so much player angst over it.

Culture fixed my arse.

 

[The Karma Bus]

The club letting every player and coach have a say on this is outrageous and completely unnecessary

It's gone right into this tertitory:

Wtf are they doing..
Sink the boot in some more guys, really dig some heel in too while you're at it.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Under Nicks the Crows are "Team First".

As in the "Team" are "First" to throw one of their own under the bus!

It's leadership team first.

... they must be selected regardless of form.

No wonder a third of the team put their hand up to be part of it.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

There’s someone in the media trying to paint it as us wanting Luko so trying to push Josh out, which makes zero sense.

LOL ....someone posted that getting Luko would spell the end of Murphy .....so anything goes apparently

 

[FR0GGY]

LOL ....someone posted that getting Luko would spell the end of Murphy .....so anything goes apparently

Prime Eddie Betts wouldn’t spell the end of Murphy.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Boy oh boy you fans will be the reason Rachele leaves, not the decision for him to get dropped. Shaking the cage after someone gets dropped after 10 disposals at 40% disposal efficiency. Go back in this thread a month ago and ya’ll were asking for him to be dropped. He finally gets dropped, and apparently it’s a crisis? Talk about a beat up.

The club has backed him in all season, when he had some real ugly moments that have cost us games. He has publicly come out and demanded midfield minutes but continues to shirk contests. He has finally been dropped (maybe a bit too late) for a dead rubber in Sydney against the top team and you’re all ripping up your memberships?

I enjoyed the banter during the week, and had a chuckle at the celebration, but there is a certain expectation that if you put the spotlight on yourself, particularly for an away game, that you back it up. Josh did not do that. Chad Cornes (hate him) would at least make his comments, but then destroy us most showdowns.

Port have been the ones recently making comments prior to showdowns, their whole ‘crows are entitled’ script, and it didn’t work for them. Josh gave Port a reason to be fired up, and the fans backed them up.

All this ‘he has no choice but to ask for a trade now’ talk is crap. How many games do you think Tex, Bernie Vince would’ve played for the club if they asked for a trade every time they got told off? We will actually learn a lot about Josh in the next 6 months. This could be a turning point and he might knuckle down big time. If he asks for a trade? Well, then he can’t have been that invested in the first place.

The only issue I have with how this was handled was Rory Laird’s comments on radio. His football hasn’t done the talking in years now, so he has no place to make those comments.

Josh has all the makings of a star, but still has so so so many things in his game he needs to iron out, and I think him focusing on those deficiency’s rather than poking the bear will hold him and the club in better stead going forward.

Look forward to all you campaigners disagreeing with me

Won't get an argument from me ....and at least you put some rationale into your post & POV

That's something I always appreciate

But you're correct, the Club has continued to play Rachele, when his form definitely didn't deserve it ....so he's had a truckload of support

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Maybe the powers that be don't care about women's football so keep their noses out

Perhaps our Women management should take over the men's too...

 

[Mr_Moogle]

We never would never have traded him if we weren't stripped of the draft picks for the Tippettgate debacle.

It's hard to look at this post without the first thing coming to mind is Trigg's incompetence in all of this.

I forgot about Tippett. Still have no doubt Bernie being a bit of a lad factored into their decision-making on who to cull.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Prime Eddie Betts wouldn’t spell the end of Murphy.

Didn't take a Rhodes Scholar to tell you Murphy wasn't getting dropped ....however he is still just a placeholder

 

[The Karma Bus]

People don't realise how extremely well he's tracking - in a shit side with the stupidest dickhead Coach in the AFL.

A guy yesterday on radio having a go at Josh and saying Akermanis might say stuff but back it up by kicking 5.

Ahh, maybe when he was a developed older player AND he was in a gun team who dominated games compared to a 21yo playing in a tough role in a shit team.

Many aren't the brightest.

 

[Burtonsgottago]

Bomber Thompson was blessed with a team in 2007 that went on to have 15 All Australian players, 2 Brownlow medalists, 5 300+ game players. The 09 flag added Harry Taylor (All Australian) and Tom Hawkins (Coleman Medalist, 5x AA, 350 games played). Not sure Thompson's after game presser 2 years prior was the catalyst of their success, maybe list management (which we suck at)? They are such a well run club that a first year coach in Scott could win a flag.

How many chances did you want the Crows to give Stengle? Leaving the club, and realising Geelong was his last chance was probably the kick up the ass he needed.

Bomber Thompson was an Ice user who also played a role in the Essendon drug saga.

It's leadership team first.

... they must be selected regardless of form.

No wonder a third of the team put their hand up to be part of it.

This whole thing is a distraction away from how pathetic our leadership group are collectively on the field. The team lost their way after the Rankine hit. Where were the leaders? Oh, it’s Josh’s fault as his comments don’t help us win. What a bunch of losers..

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Perhaps just a little reminder he has a way to go to fulfil his potential heading in to the off-season. Not a bad move IMO.

 

[The Karma Bus]

Yet we won two flags in two years!

Blight, Sanders, Hammond etc era.
When we were actually well run and respected.

Even then, we didn't spend years near the top.

 

[BRL121]

Blight, Sanders, Hammond etc era.
When we were actually well run and respected.

Even then, we didn't spend years near the top.

This was my exact point. We have shown that you don't need to be at the top for many years to win two in a row.

Just get a good coach in, (and let him do the "pathetic Pittman").

 

[WaynesWorld19]

This whole thing is a distraction away from how pathetic our leadership group are collectively on the field. The team lost their way after the Rankine hit. Where were the leaders? Oh, it’s Josh’s fault as his comments don’t help us win. What a bunch of losers..

So it continues .....Dawson is pathetic on field ....Keays is pathetic hey

Only performing player is Rachele apparently

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

I can see the media pushing this one into something happening.
Josh will realize that this isn’t the place for him to play his best footy.

Yep

Why would the kid want to be subjected to this sort of scrutiny and attention?

This will sit with him a long time. I know Friday's presser was all warm fuzzies but I wonder if that glow will last to trade week