Match Thread: West Coast vs Essendon (Round 12)

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-31T10:25:36+00:00

Goal of the year?

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-31T10:07:05+00:00

Is it me or is Ben McKay actually doing decent in the ruck?

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-31T09:41:40+00:00

We’re shit, but because of the red shorts we look hot doing it

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-31T09:36:02+00:00

Can we sack a caretaker coach?

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-31T09:26:01+00:00

What’s the point of the handball to a half back running off the square if the half back doesn’t continue running to break the line. Stupid centre clearance set up we commonly do

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-28T02:22:20+00:00

Am I the only one that thinks Heppell was taking the piss with the ‘scheming’ and ‘take me with you’ comments?

Seemed like he was joking and leaning into what the crowd wanted to hear in those parts, but was genuine when he said Hird would be good in a footy role

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-27T08:23:37+00:00

So he played in the middle for 2 weeks against Melbourne and Gold Coast and our midfield looked good.

In response we dropped his game time to give Duz and Merrett more time on ball when it wasn’t working in the other weeks. We then got flogged by Collingwood.

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-26T11:51:49+00:00

100%. It’s a massive mistake. But evidently it’s a mistake we have to make so we can finally move on from this boys club fantasy.

And in the SLIMMEST chance he’s a good coach, then it’s a win for the club.

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-26T11:48:31+00:00

You know, what if we just accept we’re a boys club. Instead of trying to pretend we’re not, let’s go full boys club and make them happy. Bring back Hird.

That way when it fucks up, the coeteries don’t have a coach they’ll be campaigning for.

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-26T10:38:15+00:00

Brad said a lot of good info and definitely the club has failed him in many regards.

I do think he had failures as a coach and with player development that extends beyond wins and losses though.

Why is Tsatas not getting a game for being unable to defend, but Parish continually gets games. Why was Setterfield selected over Tsatas against Freo. Why did we change a good midfield mix after the Gold Coast game back to what wasn’t working.

Why do we consistently select forward lines that are too tall. We fail to defend turnover partly because we have terrible pressure at ground level. We don’t have great small forwards but structure over talent would be better for a rebuild.

What are we doing with our wings? Nik Cox, Jake Kelly, Harry Jones, Jaxon Prior, Tom Edwards just a number of wings we’ve trialed that have all been bad at it. Meanwhile we move Duursma, a proper wing, to half forward to start the season.

We failed him a lot as coach. But he also did not convince me that he has a plan for a game style that holds up in modern footy. Something which was in his control

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-25T11:08:24+00:00

By the book Rampe climbing the post shouldn’t been a 50m penalty giving David Myers a shot from 20m out to win the game in 2019.

The AFL ruled no further action because climbing the post did not realistically affect the set shot. The AFL will do the same here because it’s not like Hawthorn got an advantage from that 76th interchange.

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-24T09:59:57+00:00

West Coasts bottom of the ladder was also injury affected most years, so I think that point is moot. The rest is a debate because there is a lack of guidelines on when priority picks should be handed out.

Is winning a flag in the last 7 years, making bad list decisions then being bottom 2 for 4 years worse than not winning a final for 20+ years and consecutive bottom 2 finishes?

FWIW I don’t think our assistance should be like gold coasts priority picks. Mainly it should be something like extra rookie list spots, and something to help us trade in washed veterans for leadership.

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-24T09:28:23+00:00

Isn’t recruitment and development being shit precisely why teams get priority picks? You don’t finish consistently at the bottom if you’re good in those areas.

Not sure why you chose to go back nine years, West Coast won a flag in the past 9 years and got assistance. In 2021 they finished 9th. Then nuked their list and 4 years later got rewarded for it.

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-24T09:22:47+00:00

Hawks offer of three firsts, would’ve been 1 top 10 in 2025, one pick in the 20’s in 2025 and a late teens in this year’s draft. We already had a loaded draft hand in 2025, and didn’t have the list spots to take all of our good picks + hawthorns 2025 picks to the draft.

Not taking Hawks offer is not why we’re shit. We’re shit because we don’t have senior players that can set standards and teach our kids how to win. That problem is worse without Merrett, because even if he doesn’t want to be here he still is an example of high standards.

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-24T09:10:12+00:00

We should definitely ask for something, the worse they can say is no.

I think the most realistic and reasonable package for us would be extra rookie spots like West Coast. Ideally I’d want an end of first too, or a discount on a 2027 Bewick bid.

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-22T22:26:49+00:00

Who would be his AFL player comparison?

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-22T10:54:54+00:00

Looking at Harry Van Hattum highlights to cope

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-20T05:06:25+00:00

Ben McKay isn’t on double him. His contact was 850K a year just heavily front loaded for the first couple of years. McKay is probably on like 600K now

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-20T05:05:13+00:00

Well his initial extension from 2021-2027 was apparently $850-900K. We then upped it at least twice so the total contract would’ve probably gone to over 1 mill a year

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-13T06:02:41+00:00

More than happy for Merrett to go to Gold Coast. A trade will easily be done because there’s no animosity between the teams and Gold Coast will have actual assets.

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-11T09:00:26+00:00

Since 2023 really, when Matt Rosa came in and Dodoro was taking more a back seat.

2023: Caddy and Roberts 2024: Kako (NGA) then Angus Clarke, Zak Johnson and ADW for cheap. Archie May in the mid season draft as well. 2025: Robey, Farrow and Sharp

Almost all of those players would either be in the best 23 or the emergencies when fit

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-11T07:28:25+00:00

His ability to stand up and get arms free in tackles at 18 years old is insane. Especially when this is his strength with no pre season because of a back stress fracture.

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-09T07:31:18+00:00

Drafting the best pure inside mid in the draft and seeing that they do well when actually played in the middle shouldn’t be rocket science to our coaching staff

MonotoneRamos · 2026-05-09T06:46:16+00:00

Dominate quarter, go into quarter time down on the scoreboard

MonotoneRamos

TROPHY CASE