Autopsy Round 1, 2025: Positives and Negatives vs Gold Coast

[Priddis Is Done]

The scariest thing about that result is in the past three years this team has won a total of 10 games and had three consecutive bottom 4 finishes.

So you might think with that sort of record we'd have used our haul of draft picks to restock our midfield and ruck, because those are crucial right? Right? And we would have gotten a bunch of games into those midfield prospects so however bad things might seem now there'd be some hope it would improve.

It's not like we would have repeatedly split picks, selected half back flankers over pure mids and traded for mature players..surely no club would possibly be that stupid?

The sad truth is I think our rebuild hasn't really started yet- it will start when Gov/Yeo/Kelly etc retire and the club belatedly realises it's flushed 5+ years down the toilet refusing to recognise reality.

It's why I flipped out hard in the staff period just gone. 3 bottom 4vfinishes and f*** all to show for it.

Maybe this year we can split a top 2 pick for 10 x 4th rounders.

 

[Priddis Is Done]

Negative: I signed up for kayo today, after stsrig that I refused to watch us this year.

Positive: I got Kayo for $1 for the first month and I can cancel it.

Positive: hoping that Warner watched this game, refuses to be part of this $hitshow and saves us from ourselves and stays at Sydney.

 

[TassieEagle]

Positives are few and far between.

Ginbey was good. Graham and Baker look like they could fit in.

WatermAllen is the highlight of our team, and the small forwards werent the worst considering amount and quality of service.

Negatives.

Midfield. Kelly at the best of times showed up once a month for us, but gee he was shocking today. Harley was persona non grata essentially.... We have no other quality mids, which is a huge HUGE issue.

Defence tried but Edwards was outmatched and hasn't come on like I would have hoped.

Williams would be a better choice that Flynn. At least Williams can compete in at a stoppage and help the mids out.

 

[WCEswift]

I wouldnt have been against trying ginbey bakes or hough on ball at some stage seeing as they were the only ones to win their own ball

 

[maverick001]

I mean it’s also partly not our fault. Splitting picks has almost been a necessity because of how f*cked the draft system currently is.

We’ve been consistently getting pick 1-3 followed by a pick in the late 20s or early 30s

Compare that to North getting a top 5 pick for Ben McKay and a bunch of other firsts for being shit, plus all the academy rorting going on, and we really don’t stand a chance at getting hauls of top end picks.

Richmond literally had to sell the starting 22 to get what they got and the jury is still well and truly out on whether that is going to be good long term or land them in worse trouble.

The split in '22 was defendable because Sheezel & Wardlaw were the 2 obvious ones to take - but Sheez a massive flight risk & Wardlaw super dodgy hammies. Plus Ginbey & Hewett were in the downgrade wheelhouse.
Not defendable last year though - Sid draper was always highly likely to be there, a highly talented player, proven mid, & Sth Australian so much lower flight risk. Just had to hold that pick.

 

[KERRPOW]

Edwards did okay with the amount of ball coming in. It's the midfield that's the issue.

Its been an issue the last 4 years.

 

[Hoskin300]

Positives are few and far between.

Ginbey was good. Graham and Baker look like they could fit in.

WatermAllen is the highlight of our team, and the small forwards werent the worst considering amount and quality of service.

Negatives.

Midfield. Kelly at the best of times showed up once a month for us, but gee he was shocking today. Harley was persona non grata essentially.... We have no other quality mids, which is a huge HUGE issue.

Defence tried but Edwards was outmatched and hasn't come on like I would have hoped.

Williams would be a better choice that Flynn. At least Williams can compete in at a stoppage and help the mids out.

Pretty harsh to judge Edwards on today. He was progressing fine last year.

 

[PremiershipNo4]

After looking forward to the season starting for months, that was the was truly demoralising.
The most insipid, error riddled, piss weak effort, for a new season under a new coach.
I’m absolutely filthy on the team for that effort, I bleed blue and gold, but I’m haemorrhaging at the moment.

 

[PremiershipNo4]

Positives - Hewett got through the game uninjured.

 

[ziad]

Positives are few and far between.

Ginbey was good. Graham and Baker look like they could fit in.

WatermAllen is the highlight of our team, and the small forwards werent the worst considering amount and quality of service.

Negatives.

Midfield. Kelly at the best of times showed up once a month for us, but gee he was shocking today. Harley was persona non grata essentially.... We have no other quality mids, which is a huge HUGE issue.

Defence tried but Edwards was outmatched and hasn't come on like I would have hoped.

Williams would be a better choice that Flynn. At least Williams can compete in at a stoppage and help the mids out.

In summary we don't have a midfield, and haven't for years. That destroys our backs and eliminates our forwards. No game plan relevance without winning the ball.
Ginbey was ok running on to a loose ball in front of him. He didn't defend as well relatively (mids issue) and lacks the small space smarts and skill. I hope we can become a mid but its looking another trade down bust because we must get quality mids. Hewitt is spoken of here as a beast- he presented as a skinny kid, in reality it was effectively a first game for him so lets hope.
We will very likely get a top pick this season and it must be for a top quality mid. no more training down for flankers, needed mid age players and no more Branders, Tom Swifts etc etc

 

[Dark Eagle 9]

Baker played well.

Harley kicked a killa goal....

But the rest was f@rked in the face like the movie Aliens

 

[ghostbat12]

perhaps red flags were there

Coach didn’t know what his best team was.
Didn’t know how the team was going to go.

Well he knows now.

We would have lost by 200 had graham and baker not been there.

 

[bombard]

Well, I thought I was feeling pretty low but this thread has reminded me that I could be so much worse. First game, young squad, no midfield, new coach. It's gonna happen.

A few points:

- I thought Baker and Graham both led from the front. Debate the merits of the trade but you can't say these guys aren't additive.

- Ginbey, hot damn.

- Hough, Hutch, Edwards, Duggan can all hold their heads up for effort at least.

- Tim Kelly must have fallen out of love with football again. Understand we were in a bad match up but the effort looked like pus.

- Maric surely gets a start next week.

- Flynn was utterly disappointing.

Look, this was a team that was in many ways the worst possible match up for us for round one. Don't shit the bed yet. That's like a round three response. Also I suspect Gold Coast could surprise the comp this year with how far they go if they stay healthy.

 

[ziad]

The split in '22 was defendable because Sheezel & Wardlaw were the 2 obvious ones to take - but Sheez a massive flight risk & Wardlaw super dodgy hammies. Plus Ginbey & Hewett were in the downgrade wheelhouse.
Not defendable last year though - Sid draper was always highly likely to be there, a highly talented player, proven mid, & Sth Australian so much lower flight risk. Just had to hold that pick.

Sheez a massive flight risk, thats bed wetting stuff. 3 year contract. He stays or has very high trade value.

 

[Shueygod]

Sheez a massive flight risk, thats bed wetting stuff. 3 year contract. He stays or has very high trade value.

Sheezel wouldn’t have been available, how’d Wardlaw go this weekend?

 

[ziad]

A positive, we are above Port on the ladder.

 

[BSD]

No way should Shanahan come in for Edwards lol. Imagine an 18 year old trying to man up on a 100kg KPF

Edwards is a crab and has always been one.

 

[Astro7]

Kelly did have 6 tackles which was the third most after Hutchy and Graham. I reckon I'd fall out of love with footy as well if I had to put up with the hate from a big chunk of the fan base after busting my hump for 4 years in a shit team.

Yes agree, pretty sure he was talking about the previous years under simpson and that he's in a better space now with with the environment. But people hang onto that line (Mongrel Punt review for eg) and rub it in his face - pays not to be honest. Most of the team looked tired of chasing tail all day.

It's often a perception thing too, not necessarily fact - the same with Harley looking disinterested? Got slammed for laughing and smiling too much on field when his team is getting smashed. Also for pushing Miller over then wandering off, while Miller sprang to his feet, ran hard after the next disposal and kicked a goal, with Reid nowhere to be seen. He has some things to learn and the coach said the best thing about him apart from his natural abilities is his hunger to learn and develop.

Meanwhile the coach got out-coached by his ex coach. Not surprising.
Expect a more competitive outing against Lions?
Wouldn't hurt if the club dialled down it's propaganda a bit..more in line with the teams performances perhaps, just keep it real.
We need a bigger sample size before total bed wetting and dummy spitting...

 

[BSD]

Yes agree, pretty sure he was talking about the previous years under simpson and that he's in a better space now with with the environment. But people hang onto that line (Mongrel Punt review for eg) and rub it in his face - pays not to be honest. Most of the team looked tired of chasing tail all day.

It's often a perception thing too, not necessarily fact - the same with Harley looking disinterested? Got slammed for laughing and smiling too much on field when his team is getting smashed. Also for pushing Miller over then wandering off, while Miller sprang to his feet, ran hard after the next disposal and kicked a goal, with Reid nowhere to be seen. He has some things to learn and the coach said the best thing about him apart from his natural abilities is his hunger to learn and develop.

Meanwhile the coach got out-coached by his ex coach. Not surprising.
Expect a more competitive outing against Lions?
We need a bigger sample size before total bed wetting and dummy spitting...

Positives -
Baker was great and needs to go into the middle due to the complete lack of anyone capable of having a proper crack. He’s 4’11 and genuinely our only hope until the 38 year old shattered remains of Elliot Yeo manage to shamble onto the field for a bit of a sniff at the footy.

Ginbey played with vigour - I think that’s the best way to describe it. I’m pretty sure he burnt his mates a few times by playing too loose and wasn’t always exactly clean with the ball but he played with the kind of endeavour that we lacked elsewhere.

Negatives -
Everything else, sadly. They were awful.
The midfield was alarmingly bad and considering we play genuine ball pig midfields like Brisbane and Freo over the next couple of weeks, it won’t get better any time soon.
Flynn and Reid were monstered - and I am a big fan of Witts, he punishes weak ruck divisions (he must love playing us since Nic stopped getting on the park) - but that was very bad…and no, calling in a Williams (either) will make F all difference in this regard.
The other Reid looked short of a run (to be kind) and is now likely walking the fine line between graceful humbling and losing all confidence. Gulp.
Harry Edwards could not compete at all with the ball coming in like it was - Gov too was battling. Ugly stuff.

Honestly not sure where we go from here, let’s hope the new guy has something up his sleeve.

Buckle in for another long, long season.

1 down, 22 to go.

I’m going to have a self imposed breather for a week or 2 I think - no use dwelling on something like that!

I don't understand why they played Dewar in defence and had Maric on the bench foe 3quarters.
Was that one of Websters contrIbutions ? Shannon Hurn should be the assistant looking after the defence.
Hurn played over 300 games as a defender whereas Webster played about 30 games as a forward with the Dockers.
Does anyone know if Tim Gepp is on the match commitee ?

 

[Wooshaaaa]

Structural changes for mine. Find an engine room. Experiment.

Hewitt reid hutch hall go into the middle. Play the kids.

Push Kelly high half forward. **** him.

Dewar Brockman on wings.

Let Gibney, allen have some midfield minutes rotating down back.

Maric down back


Go get the chad.....



On Pixel 6 Pro using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Obeanie1]

Today really displayed the gulf between a club with multiple high end draft picks and a club that have really cooked their recent recruiting strategy.

My count I have 6 top 10 picks for GC to our 2 and almost the entire GC team is top 20 to our again 2.

So basically a team full of top 20s vs a team with 4.

Long long way to go.

Mate we will never have the access to top picks Gold Coast have had.

How have we cooked our recent draft strategy? By splitting picks to get more top 20 players.

And because of all the AFL handouts to teams playing grand finals our 2nd pick ends up mid 30's.

In the mean time yet another Suns academy kid debuts and kicks 4.

9nly a matter of time before the Suns become ckose to unbeatable by teams not propped up by AFL House.

 

[PremiershipNo4]

Structural changes for mine. Find an engine room. Experiment.

Hewitt reid hutch hall go into the middle. Play the kids.

Push Kelly high half forward. **** him.

Dewar Brockman on wings.

Let Gibney, allen have some midfield minutes rotating down back.

Maric down back


Go get the chad.....



On Pixel 6 Pro using BigFooty.com mobile app

I really like the idea of playing Reid, Hewett and Hutch in the middle, we have to. Kelly can go and play wafl and see if he can get his love back.
We must find and develop AFL level mids.
Hopefully Gross or Hall get an opportunity too.

 

[PremiershipNo4]

Duggan isn’t a midfielders arseh*le.

 

[DorothyG]

Mate we will never have the access to top picks Gold Coast have had.

How have we cooked our recent draft strategy? By splitting picks to get more top 20 players.

And because of all the AFL handouts to teams playing grand finals our 2nd pick ends up mid 30's.

In the mean time yet another Suns academy kid debuts and kicks 4.

9nly a matter of time before the Suns become ckose to unbeatable by teams not propped up by AFL House.

Oh I understand and agree 100%

Is a bit of a joke that the historically bad team only had access to pick one and and then nothing until 30 (or whatever it was in the 23 draft) thanks to the AFLs bastardisation of the draft.

But you also have to accept that we haven't done ourselves many favours at the draft/trade table in the recent past.

Letting the list profile be void of those yearly/mid aged players, not moving on aging players fast enough, irresponsible contract, not identifying local talent, poor recruiting/drafting etc.

 

[PremiershipNo4]

We are trying not to peak early