It's time to re focus

[GVGjr]

A lot has happened to the club since the end of the season and in particular the last 48 hours or so highlighted by players including our best player and club captain wanting out, the struggle to get players from other sides to come to us and of course our senior coach resigning because he knew he didn't have the full support of the President the board.

With the trade period in full swing we can't let the recent emotions distract us from the task at hand of preparing the best possible playing list we can for the 2015 season.

This is my view on what we need to do:

Players
- Shaun Higgins has departed for North and we secured pick 26 in the process. A nice positive.
- The contracted Ryan Griffen has told us he wants out and whilst the President seemed keen not to bow to that request we should facilitate that for the best deal we can. He is 28, has plenty of currency in the market and has already played his best football for us. Great player but we now can't keep him.
- Adam Cooney is meeting with North and there is speculation that Essendon and to a lesser extent Carlton are interested. Like Griffen, lets help Adam depart. Perhaps a pick upgrade can be worked out.
- Jason Tutt has also requested a trade. No problems there, I would be happy to facilitate that. Hep opens up another spot.
- Liam Jones is also looking around but he is the one player I would have Brett Montgomery and Jason McCartney approach to see if we can swing him around. I base this on the fact that unlike, Higgins, Griffen and Cooney, Jones hasn't reached his potential and what we would get in return won't be to his real market value.
- Minson's name has been mentioned as a possible departure but who knows now.

Trades
Plenty names have been mentioned that we have chased but there is little too no biters. Lonergan is staying at the Cattery, Greenwood preferred the Pies and youngsters like O'Rourke and Jaksch were never really in the mix.
Daniel Merrett is a gettable player but probably isn't in the mix

Our ability to extract a good deal for Griffen will require a strong nerve much like we did with Crameri 12 months back.
I have read a lot of people's views that Griffen is worth 2 early draft picks or a gun like Boyd but I don't believe that is correct but more importantly I don't believe GWS would consider that.
The negotiation will start with us demanding pick 4 and a good player as our minimum requirement.
GWS will of course counter with pick 7 ( a pick they are likely to receive with Carlton) and a mid range player. That's where is gets very interesting.
We need to see which players want to come back to Victoria.
After looking at the players GWS have said aren't on the table and assuming they won't budge the one name that stood out was Adam Tomlinson who would be a terrific addition to our club. A player like McCarthy (WA) would be worth considering and the likes of Corr or Golds have some limited appeal. Tomlinson would be my focus.

Draft
If we can get pick 4 from GWS for Griffen we don't need to trade with Melbourne to get pick 2 or 3.
2 x first round picks plus 2 x 2nd rounds picks would be a great position to enter the draft although we might need one of the 2nd round picks to secure a decent player in the trade.


There has been a lot happening around the club and no doubt a lot more to happen (Assistant coaches etc) but I hope the club has a clear path and has provided the likes of Montgomery and Jason McCartney the authority and direction to keep us focused on improving our list. We will find another coach and we will find another captain. Departing players will be replaced and I like many will keep supporting the club.

[Hotdog60]

The dust is settling and I'm still depressed about the resent turn of events but getting to a better place. You can't undo what has been done.

I think at this stage we need to again do the best we can in the draft. McCartin looks to be my pick but would 4 be enough.

We still have some experience left at the club and the likes of Wallis, Libba and Roughy have been in the system long enough now to start the leadership side of things.

If we can get GWS to do the deal you have put forward GVGjr I'd be happy.

[LostDoggy]

Still depressed, can't refocus. Still wonder if supporting the dogs is really worth the time, effort, $$$, constant explanations to my kids of what is happening at the club. Its like groundhog day. I wouldnt be surprised if my kids changed teams - they're still young enough. Once i would have said hell no - now I would probably encourage them too.

The ND cant come quick enough for me.

[always right]

Our club is such a contradiction. On the one hand we've had the strength and fortitude to survive against all the odds, dragging ourselves off the canvass time and time again despite an increasingly unlevel playing field and low membership base.

So why do we get events like yesterday where we seem unable to make the really tough decisions that would establish a culture to take us into the future with certainty and vision?

Despite all the protests to the contrary, are we simply comfortable being the battling bulldogs, the perennial underdogs? Does our lack of success and inferiority complex confine us to being everyone's second club forever?

Maybe we have one last chance to re-set our future. It starts with a clean-out and the most important draft in our history. We have to make a strong statement to the football world but more importantly internally, to our players and supporters. If we don't get this absolutely right, I genuinely fear for our club.

[craigsahibee]

Our club is such a contradiction. On the one hand we've had the strength and fortitude to survive against all the odds, dragging ourselves off the canvass time and time again despite an increasingly unlevel playing field and low membership base.

So why do we get events like yesterday where we seem unable to make the really tough decisions that would establish a culture to take us into the future with certainty and vision?

Despite all the protests to the contrary, are we simply comfortable being the battling bulldogs, the perennial underdogs? Does our lack of success and inferiority complex confine us to being everyone's second club forever?

Maybe we have one last chance to re-set our future. It starts with a clean-out and the most important draft in our history. We have to make a strong statement to the football world but more importantly internally, to our players and supporters. If we don't get this absolutely right, I genuinely fear for our club.

Maybe we subconsciously self implode because we're at our happiest when we are up against it. I'm no psychologist but there is probably a name for this type of disposition.

I think I need an off-season off-line break. I'm cooked.

[bornadog]

Great summary Gary and agree the club needs to focus on getting picks and drafting some good kids. Whilst I am extremely unhappy that players like Griffen, Higgins, Jones are leaving we really do need to secure some early picks where we can. Of course Griffen is the player with the best currency and is worth a pick in the top 5 plus a decent player.

[Topdog]

Good summary but I'm not sure we will get any trades done for players coming here. We look like a basketcase at the moment. Focus on the draft and lets get in some 200 gamers.

[ratsmac]

100% correct GVGjr. If there were ever a time for holding your nerve it's now. We have spoken about leadership (or the lack thereof) all over woof in the last couple of days. Well now is the time for someone to stand up and be counted. We can stand there crying over spilt milk or we can get on with the task at hand. Time to shake the tree and remove all the dead wood. Find out who's in for the long haul. Our next captain should rise to the surface in this time of need. Is Peter Gordon the right man to be president? We're about to find out. Same goes for Simon Garlic in his position.

I have a shaken faith in the club for what's unravelled in the last couple days but now I want to see a show of strength from the club right now starting with some aggressive trading / recruiting. Trade the ones who don't want to be apart of the Bulldogs, we need 100% committed people at the club. I want to gun player from GWS like a Tom Boyd or Jeremy Cameron or someone of that ilk. GWS has hurt our club again. It's time to bite back. It's time to hurt them. Everyone has a price, we need to find it.

The good thing about the draft is, the kids coming in are fresh new faces full of enthusiasm with no baggage. Something we need a lot of right now.

[SonofScray]

Maybe we subconsciously self implode because we're at our happiest when we are up against it. I'm no psychologist but there is probably a name for this type of disposition.

I think I need an off-season off-line break. I'm cooked.

I don't agree with a lot of what has gone down and am disappointed in the outcome for our former coach, it hasn't reflected well on us at all. One thing the President said in the presser which rang true though, were his comments around our Club and a real short trip towards tough times equating with existential crisis.

When things go bad, there is a very common theme of fear and threat to our existence. Sometimes it is warranted. Most of the time it is a learned behaviour entrenched in the Club through traumatic experiences like the 89 fightback, 96 name change and a previous leadership who would annually reinforce the narrative as part of sponsorship and membership campaigns.

Players, coaches, boards come and go. Every Club has that experience. Very few in history cease to exist as a result. Clubs are very resilient. We need to curtail the thoughts and decisions and behaviours driven by anxiety over existential crisis. It has inhibited our ability to look beyond today and create a plan, and contingencies to navigate bumps in the road.

I have been really heartened by the language the Club has used in recent years, really heavily aligned with a growth mindset, which bodes well for us in overcoming these types of challenges. It also is a framework to help navigate the fact we've stuffed this attempt up. We just have to accept what has happened, reflect on how we could have done things differently, formulate a plan and go again. With some support and reflection, hopefully we try something different at the next bump in the road. We're not the Club we want to be. Yet.

[LostDoggy]

Our club is such a contradiction. On the one hand we've had the strength and fortitude to survive against all the odds, dragging ourselves off the canvass time and time again despite an increasingly unlevel playing field and low membership base.

So why do we get events like yesterday where we seem unable to make the really tough decisions that would establish a culture to take us into the future with certainty and vision?

Despite all the protests to the contrary, are we simply comfortable being the battling bulldogs, the perennial underdogs? Does our lack of success and inferiority complex confine us to being everyone's second club forever?

Maybe we have one last chance to re-set our future. It starts with a clean-out and the most important draft in our history. We have to make a strong statement to the football world but more importantly internally, to our players and supporters. If we don't get this absolutely right, I genuinely fear for our club.

Because we have too many of the type of fan who is incredibly vocal when things aren't right but not willing to commit. We are so shit scared of losing these so-called supporters, and not making ends meet, that we're forced into conservative decisions to survive where other clubs might have the luxury of taking a punt.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

There was obviously an undermining of the leadership fomenting for a considerable period of time that claimed the ace scalp of the so called 'captain' who was my and a lot of others favourites. It f..k..g hurts. He has shown himself to be merely human and the worst captain we've ever had, in fact the antithesis of captain. Whether or not he had the club's interest at heart in wanting a trade, Griffen's betrayal of the club necessitating the exit of McCartney has left us in the shit.
Yet the club survives and in a strong position to recruit. It's our decision, do we resurrect from the ashes or do we self-destruct? Rising from the ashes is an extremely powerful culture.
As supporters, the best thing we can do is support the club, the president and the recruiters to handle this opportunity. Even Fate and myth favours those in our current position.

[Sedat]

Terrific summary Gary, but the only thing missing is that GWS have to reduce their list this season by a number of players. So extra high picks for them are surplus to their requirements. They need experienced top end talent right now, and they also need to deliver a big name from an opposition club after the embarrassment of missing out on Buddy last year. I genuinely think picks 4 and 7 are a realistic opportunity for us based on the above circumstsnces

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Terrific summary Gary, but the only thing missing is that GWS have to reduce their list this season by a number of players. So extra high picks for them are surplus to their requirements. They need experienced top end talent right now, and they also need to deliver a big name from an opposition club after the embarrassment of missing out on Buddy last year. I genuinely think picks 4 and 7 are a realistic opportunity for us based on the above circumstsnces

Wacko Sedat, if that's the case then this schmozzle could well end up being for the better; even given that Griffen's departure is of the scale of your beloved wife walking out on you, something you carry emotionally forever (but forget about temporarlily when you make love with a beauty).

[GVGjr]

Terrific summary Gary, but the only thing missing is that GWS have to reduce their list this season by a number of players. So extra high picks for them are surplus to their requirements. They need experienced top end talent right now, and they also need to deliver a big name from an opposition club after the embarrassment of missing out on Buddy last year. I genuinely think picks 4 and 7 are a realistic opportunity for us based on the above circumstsnces
I certainly don't see it that way, reducing their list is already in progress but there is no way they are going to be generous to a club like ours. I'd also argue that 4 and Tomlinson suits us more than 4 and 7.

[Remi Moses]

I think if we ask for 4 and 7 we'd need to give them pick 26 or whatever it is.
They'd probably use it to get another player in .
More realistically will be 4 and 19 you'd imagine, but the club have to play hard ball.
The conundrum is if we dig our heels in we have a very pissed off Player who'll walk as a f/a.
I'd be concerned at our compo if that happened.
Griffen even at 28 would be their most dynamic player

[F'scary]

In terms of refocusing on getting a team ready for next season, the club is nowhere near that point yet. There is the coach issue. Even more problematic, perhaps, is the small army of assistant coaches Macca brought in. They are all going to have to leave too.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

I think if we ask for 4 and 7 we'd need to give them pick 26 or whatever it is.
They'd probably use it to get another player in .
More realistically will be 4 and 19 you'd imagine, but the club have to play hard ball.
The conundrum is if we dig our heels in we have a very pissed off Player who'll walk as a f/a.
I'd be concerned at our compo if that happened.
Griffen even at 28 would be their most dynamic player
Yeh but I don't believe that is a conundrum because he's contracted next year so can't walk til '16 and he could not ever hold his head up and not perform if he was to remain with us. He has instigated the gutting of the club so it's untenable for him and GWS that he plays with us next year.
GWS and he have plotted this for some time and now are committed to seeing him move there. They must and will do the deal now. They are millionaires from AFL gifts paid for by the Bulldogs in particular who have missed out on critical picks accordingly. They have a coach who was one of our sons and I doubt they see us as being able to undermine their plans, on the contrary, Griffen is their jewel. GWS will get the deal done and so will we.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

In terms of refocusing on getting a team ready for next season, the club is nowhere near that point yet. There is the coach issue. Even more problematic, perhaps, is the small army of assistant coaches Macca brought in. They are all going to have to leave too.
I share your concerns but do the assistants have to leave? I don't believe there is any shame on Macca in this. OK he lost the support of Griffen and to some extent some other players, but there is no doubt he had the best interest of the club foremost and performed to the best of his ability, including recruiting the assistants. He has been praised by the president as 'loving' the club. The assistants do not need to be less respected for their talents or philosophy. Maybe Thompson as coach would be the ideal fit. Maybe it doesn't have to be Thompson for a fit.

[1eyedog]

I share your concerns but do the assistants have to leave? I don't believe there is any shame on Macca in this. OK he lost the support of Griffen and to some extent some other players, but there is no doubt he had the best interest of the club foremost and performed to the best of his ability, including recruiting the assistants. He has been praised by the president as 'loving' the club. The assistants do not need to be less respected for their talents or philosophy. Maybe Thompson as coach would be the ideal fit. Maybe it doesn't have to be Thompson for a fit.

You would think a new coach brings in his own team probably keeping Monty on board.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

You would think a new coach brings in his own team probably keeping Monty on board.
OK bring it on. End of an era, better done sooner than later. It protects the young player assets we have but it could also reinforce the culture of being player centred, which could be a concern if not managed properly.
*!*!*!*! the players, maybe we need drones and call ourselves the Western Bees.

[Twodogs]

I'd like the trade team to try to convince GWS to trade one of their forwards to us as part of the Griffen deal. Surely it's equalisation at its purest to let us have a go at convincing one of their forwards to make a future with us in exchange for our captain and best player?

They will say they don't want to give up Boyd Or Cameron, maybe Patton, but we don't want to give up Griffen. He's our captain and best player. In the short term both GWS and us will think we have given up too much and may not like it. but It instantly addresses imbalances in both sides and will make both teams better straight away. It's a fair deal for them and us.

[Jam Donuts]

I'd like the trade team to try to convince GWS to trade one of their forwards to us as part of the Griffen deal. Surely it's equalisation at its purest to let us have a go at convincing one of their forwards to make a future with us in exchange for our captain and best player?

They will say they don't want to give up Boyd Or Cameron, maybe Patton, but we don't want to give up Griffen. He's our captain and best player. In the short term both GWS and us will think we have given up too much and may not like it. but It instantly addresses imbalances in both sides and will make both teams better straight away. It's a fair deal for them and us.

How do we convince a Boyd, Patton or Cameron to want to come and play for us? What positives apart from the talented kids we have on our list (they do as well) would make them contemplate a move to us?

[bornadog]

How do we convince a Boyd, Patton or Cameron to want to come and play for us? What positives apart from the talented kids we have on our list (they do as well) would make them contemplate a move to us?

$$$$$$$

[KT31]

How do we convince a Boyd, Patton or Cameron to want to come and play for us? What positives apart from the talented kids we have on our list (they do as well) would make them contemplate a move to us?

From all reports the convincing part is done, we now need GWS to agree.

[comrade]

From all reports the convincing part is done, we now need GWS to agree.

Yes, we've done very well to woo one of the best KPP prospects in years.

Now we have to close the deal...

[Bulldog Revolution]

They club have clearly taken on board the message and re-focused though

Love it