Opinion Non-Crows AFL 6: This Is Getting Cruel

[MRB37]

I just watched part of the unedifying press conference with that charlatan Lethlean(one of Gil's closest mates, reportedly) & a very unimpressive president. He claimed they have lots of issues to fix that aren't in anyway Ratten's fault & if they don't fix them the incoming coach will fail. If I was in the press pack I would be asking the obvious bloody question - why wouldn't you fix all those issues whilst letting the coach you re-signed for 2 years only in July get on with his job. Some of the people who get into positions of power in AFL clubs quite frankly aren't very smart.

A lot of it feels very reactionary.

"We thought we were gonna make finals, so we extended Ratten, then we didn't and realised Shit, maybe there's something wrong here and then sacked Ratten as part of it."

One could take the opinion from that press release that they thought Ratten wasn't demanding enough on the group to perform and that's part of the reason they underachieved.

 

[cleanhands]

So if there's alot of issues that aren't related to Ratten, why sack Ratten?

Yet the people who extend the contract survives

 

[Jetafl]

It is like the saints and the sea eagles are in a game of tit for tat.

Sea Eagles I give you one Des Hasler the Saints I raise you one Brett Ratten

Brett Ratten

Age

53

Ht

184cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

22.4

5star

K

12.1

4star

HB

10.3

5star

M

2.9

3star

T

3.0

5star

No current season stats available

D

26.4

5star

K

13.8

5star

HB

12.6

5star

M

3.4

4star

T

1.6

4star

 

[relapse]

The timing feels all weird, it almost feels as though the club have reached out to someone else behind the scenes and are now moving Ratten on because they have an in-principal agreement with someone else.

I can help but wonder whether we might potentially be seeing the return of Ross the boss back to St Kilda.

 

[Scorpus]

If the outcome of a review is "this guy can't coach, but our list is shit and we suck" you don't just sit there and keep the coach because there are bigger issues.

You sack the coach, sack list management, try again.

What St Kilda did is ruthless and what a club aiming for success should do

 

[WaynesWorld19]

If the outcome of a review is "this guy can't coach, but our list is s**t and we suck" you don't just sit there and keep the coach because there are bigger issues.

You sack the coach, sack list management, try again.

What St Kilda did is ruthless and what a club aiming for success should do

No ....what St Kilda did was typical St Kilda

The issues were endemic to St KIlda ....in fact endemic to all the traditional cellar dwellars .....but in typical fashion getting rid of the Coach absolves all the other mediocrity .....the list is s**t & nothing a Coach can do about that

It's obvious to Club watchers, there was no plan

 

[Entitled01]

Saints asking if there’s another Scott brother around

 

[WaynesWorld19]

The timing feels all weird, it almost feels as though the club have reached out to someone else behind the scenes and are now moving Ratten on because they have an in-principal agreement with someone else.

I can help but wonder whether we might potentially be seeing the return of Ross the boss back to St Kilda.

Doubt St Kilda has the foresight to plan anything ..... I suspect there's something about Ruttens off-field behaviour that has been found

He hasn't turned from a good Coach to a sackable Coach in 10 weeks .....not on-field anyway ....although in the back half, some of his positioning of players, particularly Sinclair, was extremely puzzling

 

[Crow_68]

The timing feels all weird, it almost feels as though the club have reached out to someone else behind the scenes and are now moving Ratten on because they have an in-principal agreement with someone else.

I can help but wonder whether we might potentially be seeing the return of Ross the boss back to St Kilda.

Ratten was Assistant Coach under Clarkson at Hawthorn from 2013-2019…….coincidence?

 

[Scorpus]

No ....what St Kilda did was typical St Kilda

The issues were endemic to St KIlda ....in fact endemic to all the traditional cellar dwellars .....but in typical fashion getting rid of the Coach absolves all the other mediocrity .....the list is s**t & nothing a Coach can do about that

It's obvious to Club watchers, there was no plan

I remember when us sacking Sando was described as harsh given he'd taken us to finals 2 years prior and we had a weak list.

But also he was just a poor coach and sacking him was the right move.

I don't think St Kilda will regret it

 

[CrowEater888]

St Kilda have a habit of doing this. It's always the coaches fault.

They are a debt ridden rabble and the AFL should grow a pair, fold them and send the license to Tassie.

 

[chrisso crow]

I just watched part of the unedifying press conference with that charlatan Lethlean(one of Gil's closest mates, reportedly) & a very unimpressive president. He claimed they have lots of issues to fix that aren't in anyway Ratten's fault & if they don't fix them the incoming coach will fail. If I was in the press pack I would be asking the obvious bloody question - why wouldn't you fix all those issues whilst letting the coach you re-signed for 2 years only in July get on with his job. Some of the people who get into positions of power in AFL clubs quite frankly aren't very smart.

The footy world at all levels is an incestuous industry.

You'd think at the top level this wouldn't apply and they'd get the best candidate for the position.

 

[Crowboto]

Is Ratten unlucky as a coach or what? Sacked by the Blues after one year out of 4 missing finals. They've been hopeless since, only exceeding the result that got him sacked twice in 10 years.

Now had St Kilda going alright before falling apart late in the year. Sure they've missed finals the last 2 years but they haven't been way off. Either way, leaves both teams sacked with a W/L ratio of above 50%.

Meanwhile down the road you have the "Hinkley Effect".

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Wow! I'm 4371

kirky is well in front of me as I'm 1399.

 

[jo172]

Between Essendon, North and St Kilda it's refreshing not to be the biggest car crash in the competition.

A car crash nonetheless, but a receding one.

 

[arrowman]

So, Magic Round...

South Australia bids for AFL Magic Round, NSW seen as favourite for three-venue extravaganza

The South Australian Premier has confirmed they are bidding to host an entire round of AFL.

www.zerohanger.com

Howver, Veteran AFL journalist Caroline Wilson claimed via her post on the Nine Network's Footy Classified that South Australia would be facing stiff opposition from their northern neighbours.

"It's going to happen (AFL Magic Round) ... make no mistake, this is all about promoting footy in New South Wales, and especially Sydney, where GWS is trying, and failing, to gain an audience," Wilson said.

"There is a great offer from South Australia, which will be the second choice."

Caro was on 5AA last night saying that she had had a lengthy convo with Peter Malinauskas, that she was impressed with what he had to say, and she believes the AFL bosses have had their heads turned by the case that Mali is making to the AFL.

A large part of the reasoning for this is that while they may want to run it in an expansion state like NSW, they would also not want it to be a flop in terms of attendance. And that SA people will turn up, more than in NSW.

 

[brucetiki]

NSW's advantage is that it has 2 (3 if they're going to use Accor as well) large stadiums that could easily accommodate a magic round.

We have Adelaide Oval, which could, at most, host 6 matches across Magic Round (Thursday night, Friday night, 2 x Saturday, 2 x Sunday). Where could the remaining games be played? I doubt Norwood would be in contention given they've been stripped of both their AFLW games this season. Unley's surface becomes an issue in winter. Not sure if Richmond or Thebarton would be up to scratch, and grounds like Woodville and Prospect have boggy centre areas come winter time. I doubt Port would let Alberton be used, and Elizabeth and Noarlunga are too far out of the CBD for those travelling from interstate for games.

Could Karen Rolton Oval become a pop up venue for a Magic Round for the remaining matches?

 

[Dirty Bird]

Just trying to envision how SA could even work.

Thursday 7:10pm - Port Adelaide (PA) vs Richmond (Away)
Friday 7:10pm - Geelong (Away) vs Collingwood (Cricket)
Saturday 12:10pm - Fremantle (Away) vs Hawthorn (Cricket)
Saturday 3:40pm - West Coast (Adel) vs Gold Coast (PA)
Saturday 7:10pm - Brisbane (Away) vs Melbourne (Cricket)
Sunday 12:10pm - Greater Western Sydney (Away) vs North Melbourne (Cricket)
Sunday 3:40pm - Sydney (PA) vs Carlton (Adel)
Sunday 7:10pm - St Kilda (Away) vs Western Bulldogs (Cricket)
Monday 7:10pm - Adelaide (Adel) vs Essendon (Away)

You'd need to play Thursday and Monday night to make it work unless it's on a long weekend.
Which in turn would need to involve Port Adelaide and Adelaide in each game, vs a sizeable club to ensure a sellout.
You'd need Friday Night to be the blockbuster showcase game of the round with probably the biggest non-sa club involved.
Then Saturday-Sunday would need to fill in everything else.
In parentheses is which changeroom to use. I know there's 4 changerooms underneath the cricket stands. But that'd be basic, like, just the change area. There is an area between the 4 which can be used as indoor prep area (drills) so you can do a makeshift 4th changeroom there, just to ensure you're not fighting over the other 3 changerooms each game (Would be sh*t if a Fre player gets injured and has to go into the rooms, only to find West Coast players preparing)

It's certainly doable. But I'd still rather it went to NSW.

 

[arrowman]

NSW's advantage is that it has 2 (3 if they're going to use Accor as well) large stadiums that could easily accommodate a magic round.

We have Adelaide Oval, which could, at most, host 6 matches across Magic Round (Thursday night, Friday night, 2 x Saturday, 2 x Sunday). Where could the remaining games be played? I doubt Norwood would be in contention given they've been stripped of both their AFLW games this season. Unley's surface becomes an issue in winter. Not sure if Richmond or Thebarton would be up to scratch, and grounds like Woodville and Prospect have boggy centre areas come winter time. I doubt Port would let Alberton be used, and Elizabeth and Noarlunga are too far out of the CBD for those travelling from interstate for games.

Could Karen Rolton Oval become a pop up venue for a Magic Round for the remaining matches?

According to Caro - I think she claimed to be passing on info from her conversation with Mali - there might be 6 games at AO, and possibly a game at somewhere like Angaston(?!) - which actually might work, given some of the games would not necessarily be big crowd-pullers.

 

[Dirty Bird]

A large part of the reasoning for this is that while they may want to run it in am expansion state like NSW, they would also not want it to be a flop in terms of attendance. And that SA people will turn up, more than in NSW.

I dont think it'd flop there.
Sure.
In 2021 Richmond vs Adelaide only got 4,236 at Giants Stadium
But. It was on 1 weeks notice, Victorian's couldn't travel, and flight prices were inflated (Trust me, I really wanted to go after the upset vs Melbourne the week prior, but flights were ridiculous. I even looked at flying to Canberra and driving. Better, but still difficult)

You wouldn't have it standalone, you'd have AT LEAST a double header.
And you could easily drag say 4k per team. 16k tickets sold for a game at Giants. That's 80% full. Throw in a few neutrals. Starting to approach full.

Only concern is those who dont hang around for the other games.

 

[pjcrows]

According to Caro - I think she claimed to be passing on info from her conversation with Mali - there might be 6 games at AO, and possibly a game at somewhere like Angaston(?!) - which actually might work, given some of the games would not necessarily be big crowd-pullers.

Gold Coast v GWS live from Tanunda.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

If the outcome of a review is "this guy can't coach, but our list is s**t and we suck" you don't just sit there and keep the coach because there are bigger issues.

You sack the coach, sack list management, try again.

What St Kilda did is ruthless and what a club aiming for success should do

A shame the ruthlessness didn't come before the contract extension. Now they have to rebuild their footy dept. with a chunk of soft cap being taken by a dude sitting on his arse.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Taking anything to the country is a waste.
Sure - It'd look full, (You'd expect 3k as your base as that's GWS vs Gold Coast in 2021 at Ballarat)
But if you have to take things to the country to make it work, and spit in the face of 6 clubs. WTF is the point.

Either time it for a long weekend (Could you push for 1 week preseason, Magic round on Adelaide Cup weekend, a week off to let everyone go home, then start the next week)
Or go to Sydney like is logical.

 

[Crow54]

Its interesting the reasons how some arrived here.

Some resurrected themselves from the dead.

I would be very interested in those that have been here since before 2010s and how they came about this forum.

If I remember correctly, I came here after the official Crows chat forum on their website closed. I think Matthew Robran was the moderator back then, but I think it became time consuming, so they closed it. Big Footy was the only footy forum around at that time, and it was fairly quiet back then.

 

[GROTTO]

I doubt Port would let Alberton be used, and Elizabeth and Noarlunga are too far out of the CBD for those travelling from interstate for games.

Im not exactly sure Mali wants to be selling Alberton Oval to tourists and non-South Australians.

Can you imagine when opposition fans rock up there?