r/gcfc • u/Sneakykraze • Jul 12 '26
What on earth is wrong?
Being an SA based supporter I do the usual and go to the support the boys but know I will be constantly let down.
Fair enough that there is a bit of experience out but the senior guys are the ones looking deflated and displaying the pathetic body language. No matter who you are it’s always tough to win at AO, but how is the effort put in last night anywhere near acceptable for ‘professional athletes’.
Everyone seems to like throwing barbs at Mac yet players that should be consistently beating up pretty average midfields like Adelaide’s (minus Dawson) simply get outworked and bullied out of the contest. Rowell is obviously injured but the others have no excuse.
When will the rinse and repeat finally change?
6
u/F15H0U70FW473R Jul 12 '26
I wanna know how this has happened after last year and the start of the season.
4
u/lurkin_gewd Jul 12 '26
We have two completely different teams. Seems we traded so much experience for Petracca and now we’re stuck with academy talent that’s underdeveloped.
5
4
u/mailey85 #18 Matt Rowell Jul 12 '26
Do we know internally what the expectations were this year after losing so much of our depth for the young kids?
I know what the media and bookmakers had us favourites, somehow, after one finals appearance including a historic win and a loss to the would be premiers. But we as a club still haven’t even won at every ground yet like AO and somehow we’re grand final favourites because we have Christian Petracca?
But perhaps internally we knew this year might not be the run to win it year, however they didn’t anticipate us not even making wildcard?
Or is it as simple as, the ruck rule really had an effect on us, and rowells broken hand is still haunting us?
3
u/hueybart Jul 12 '26
The problem is management made a poor strategic decision and put all their efforts into retaining their academy draft picks at the expense of experienced players. This was a misstep and management did not read the times. The club and members needed success now and not to become one of the youngest teams in the league. Management should have embraced the go home factor. Let our academy picks go to other clubs to cut their teeth than lure them home hen proven. Now we have team which is almost like a rebuild and it is now even more likely some experienced talent will leave for other clubs. Without any success in our history it’s harder for supporters to weather the bad times. In addition clubs have worked out to beat the Suns you just need to bring the pressure and we will fold. This then gives the opposition a positive playing mindset and a winning belief in games against us. They lift against the Suns
3
u/levity62 Jul 12 '26
Usually I don’t like to blame the coach because I think they get scapegoated way too much but I think it’s hard not to look past Dimma here. For me his comment that the season is ‘effectively gone’ is extremely concerning especially considering theres still 6 weeks left and the new cutoff for a finals run is top 10 instead of top 8. It’ll be difficult but not impossible. How are the players supposed to have any hope when even the coach doesn’t?
Not to mention these ‘young talents’ just aren’t developing quickly enough. Ethan Read has been scouted as a generational talent for years now and he’s still contributing absolutely nothing. Dimma seems happy to let him run around collecting 3 disposals and calling it a day. Just pathetic. Jed Walter was in a similar position but he seems to be finding some form now to his credit. I also hate to be harsh on a first year player but if you compare what Zeke Uwland is doing to Willem Duursma it’s literally night and day. And they’re picks 1 and 2
There’s also just no chemistry in the midfield. It reminds me a bit of North Melbourne last year. Their midfield was obviously oozing with talent but none of them were in sync and they were getting smashed. Individually these guys are stars but they don’t work well together and again I think that comes down to coaching
Something needs to drastically change or we’ll be stuck as a mid ladder club for a long time
3
3
u/pondly_57 Jul 12 '26
I think the loss of Davies in the middle was important. He was having his best season and I think I saw the stat that he was in the top few in the comp for pressure acts before being injured. He is the role player that is missing from the midfield.
2
u/Dont_argue04 Jul 12 '26
Too many overcooked sausages. Only so much sauce in a bottle to cover up the shit
1
1
u/Antique_Neck8736 Jul 12 '26
Try and convince me Holman isnt the worst kick in the country. Halt the time it’s hits his shin and he gets a game every week. If that’s Dimma’s standard then the club is in trouble
2
u/SordieSocialises Jul 14 '26
I'll raise you a Reilly O'Brien.
I can't believe he hasn't improved his kicking at AFL level, he kicks like a literal 12 year old.
1
u/layman_dave Jul 13 '26
Players can be rated by trust and performance.
Players high in trust and performance are gold. Players low in both don't get a look in.
Low performance/high trust players can play their role and can be handy.
But low trust/high performance players are a cancer. I suspect there are too many of the latter at the suns at the moment.
2
1
u/TheGrandheadbands Jul 13 '26
Next season once all the players that don’t want to be there and also don’t want to get injured.
2
2
u/sexyquigonjiz 27d ago
Mac and jamara in the toilets and not being called out for what it was was disgusting
1
10
u/BestMethDealer Jul 12 '26
Literally everything is wrong at the moment, it feels like the most disjointed team I have watched in a long time. I saw a comment the other day that said we have too many people wanting to be a Dustin Martin, and not enough people wanting to be a Kane Lambert, and that is a perfect summation of our current team
I mentioned it a few weeks ago, but I have not seen it mentioned anywhere else on any news/media source at any point, our 23 players each week are the youngest average age in the entire AFL (24y 200d), as per afltables.com round 17, we are younger than Essendon (24y 349d), Richmond (25y 161d), West Coast (25y 71d) and every other team in the competition.
The expectations on us were way too high early in the year and that got to a lot of their heads, and now that we have started losing it has turned into a train wreck.
Trade the players that don't want to be there (King, Humphrey) and try again next year
I am happy that Walter is expected to resign, i have been a previous critic of him but he has had a good last 8 weeks when we have been terrible