Preview R1: Changes for 2025

[FR0GGY]

I think he has a lot of AFL attributes and seemed to be a clear best 22 before his injury. I hope he finds his way back to that level.

I’d be extremely happy to be wrong.

 

[AFC979810]

Apologies if already posted somewhere - but found this interesting

Never change Mathew Nicks!

Lets shunt one of our most talented younger players to a role that doesn't match his skillset.

This isnt a knock on ANB who will be a very useful pickup for us - but to waste Rachele in that role is criminal.

 

[Scorpus]

Classic Nicks. Waste a year of development teaching Rachele a new role, then immediately trade in a new player for that role.

 

[skam85]

He's not 35.

He was top 3 in the Blight Medal for seven straight years before finishing 6th this year.

Sure, the end will come, but I don't think it will be as immediate as you think.

But but but I thought it was a certainty it would be an 8th straight year?
Now it's 7 and one 6th place.. it's almost as if he's regressed and is past his prime.

So, in a few weeks, after Laird finishes top 3 in the B&F for the eighth year in a row, you think any club would only consider him as a salary dump?

He will be top 3 in the B&F eight years in a row.

 

[Scorpus]

Scott Thompson finished 7th in our 2015 best and fairest, but by half way through 2016 he was absolutely cooked

 

[AFC979810]

Scott Thompson finished 7th in our 2015 best and fairest, but by half way through 2016 he was absolutely cooked

Taylor Walker finished 7th in our 2019 best and fairest, but by half way through 2020 he was absolutely cooked.

 

[Scorpus]

Taylor Walker finished 7th in our 2019 best and fairest, but by half way through 2020 he was absolutely cooked.

I guess I'm still waiting for that Scott Thompson resurgence. Any day now...

 

[Cromulant]

Because I don’t see a footballer in him and feel like he’s only still on the list due to his pick number.

Agree to disagree on that one

 

[Cromulant]

Classic Nicks. Waste a year of development teaching Rachele a new role, then immediately trade in a new player for that role.

Always handy to have a few strings to your bow.

Mountain out of molehill stuff I'd have thought

 

[cleanhands]

I’d be extremely happy to be wrong.

Again

 

[DJ75]

Never change Mathew Nicks!

Lets shunt one of our most talented younger players to a role that doesn't match his skillset.

This isnt a knock on ANB who will be a very useful pickup for us - but to waste Rachele in that role is criminal.

Exactly my thoughts.
Just like the overall team plan, he took away strengths to focus on weaknesses.
He's an idiot.

 

[Cromulant]

Exactly my thoughts.
Just like the overall team plan, he took away strengths to focus on weaknesses.
He's an idiot.

Given he had a pretty good year, particularly the back half of it, I would say it worked.

 

[AFC979810]

Given he had a pretty good year, particularly the back half of it, I would say it worked.

I am sure Adam Kingsley could have used Toby Greene in the ANB position in 2023 and he would have had a pretty good year. That doesn't mean it works.

 

[cmndstab]

Never change Mathew Nicks!

Lets shunt one of our most talented younger players to a role that doesn't match his skillset.

This isnt a knock on ANB who will be a very useful pickup for us - but to waste Rachele in that role is criminal.

Also, didn't he get left out of the final round because he was supposedly being too selfish and not team-first? How on earth does that square with those comments?

 

[BRL121]

Also, didn't he get left out of the final round because he was supposedly being too selfish and not team-first? How on earth does that square with those comments?

He got left out because he disobeyed instructions. You can paint that as not team-first, but he wasn't dropped for not passing to teammates, rather than taking the shot.

 

[cmndstab]

He got left out because he disobeyed instructions. You can paint that as not team-first, but he wasn't dropped for not passing to teammates, rather than taking the shot.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1202621...-josh-racheles-axing-due-to-repeated-failures

"It's not isolated, it's not a moment, it has got nothing to do with this week," Nicks told reporters on Friday.

"There's a lot more to this than a period of time.

"It's about values, about the standards that we are looking to uphold consistently. Central to that is being team first.

"Josh and I have had a number of conversations, that's not isolated to recent events.

"This is something we've been working on for a long period of time, not just Josh and I, but the team and what is it we stand for."

 

[baldandbroke]

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1202621...-josh-racheles-axing-due-to-repeated-failures

I get what Nicks is saying, and all good if that "what we stand for" is delivering something of worth.

If changing how someone is doesn't make them better at the stuff that wins games of football ... just makes them better at being part of a team (that massively under performs) then I'm not onside at all.

It screams "one of us, one of us" which I don't think ever works at the top level. We need the rare ones, the game changers to break the constant supply of crappy results we have had to endure under Mr Nicks.

 

[AFC979810]

The issue is once again that our PR team is worse at their job than Mathew Nicks is at his.

The club needs to tighten this up.

You can't have a young star being dropped by the club for the following reason:

"It's about values, about the standards that we are looking to uphold consistently. Central to that is being team first"

And then 10 weeks later coming out and saying that he finished so high in the B&F because the coaches put him in a "deliberate selfless role" where he performed that team first - selfless role to be the 7th best player at our club in 2024.

 

[Mostyn]

Exactly my thoughts.
Just like the overall team plan, he took away strengths to focus on weaknesses.
He's an idiot.

You have thye play the long game. Most young players join the AFL with massive gaps in their game. They absolutely need to give them roles to improve that.

Rachele hasn't lost anything from his game. And he's maybe improved some areas that needed attention.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

Never change Mathew Nicks!

Lets shunt one of our most talented younger players to a role that doesn't match his skillset.

This isnt a knock on ANB who will be a very useful pickup for us - but to waste Rachele in that role is criminal.

Happy to pot nicks but in this case I’m sure that will pay off in his new role

ie teaching him how to play high and work hard forward and defend etc etc will only help him be a more rounded player

Sheeesh some people here don’t see big picture sometimes

Yes -Nicks is a below average coach in comp

No - he doesn’t mess every single thing up

 

[FR0GGY]

Happy to pot nicks but in this case I’m sure that will pay off in his new role

ie teaching him how to play high and work hard forward and defend etc etc will only help him be a more rounded player

Sheeesh some people here don’t see big picture sometimes

Yes -Nicks is a below average coach in comp

No - he doesn’t mess every single thing up

So you’re saying he even gets, getting everything wrong, wrong?

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

So you’re saying he even gets, getting everything wrong, wrong?

You are hurting my brain after a long day.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Happy to pot nicks but in this case I’m sure that will pay off in his new role

ie teaching him how to play high and work hard forward and defend etc etc will only help him be a more rounded player

Sheeesh some people here don’t see big picture sometimes

Yes -Nicks is a below average coach in comp

No - he doesn’t mess every single thing up

I just ask that a coach gets the best out of his players.

Rachele actually had a decent year.

Only issue i had was the public outing of Rachele.

 

[Jeffcrowe]

I just ask that a coach gets the best out of his players.

Rachele actually had a decent year.

Only issue i had was the public outing of Rachele.

Yep I definitely had an issue with that too

 

[Carmo]

I just ask that a coach gets the best out of his players.

Rachele actually had a decent year.

Only issue i had was the public outing of Rachele.

How were you going to keep it a secret when you were dropping him?

If you try to sweep that under the carpet it just allows the media to raise a 10x worse clickbait furore.