What happens now?

[Rusty12]

I really think VDM could play the Duryea role as the backpocket to play on the smalls. He has played in the backline in the early part of his career.

I tend to agree with you that the talls in the backline are not our problem, but rather the smaller backs who just don't have the toughness and ability to get the ground ball gets. We learned that on Sunday, as well as in previous games, such as the Brisbane match. When the ball hits the ground in our forward half, we are in trouble.

I see alot of potential in JOD and Buss. Both are very young for tall players and still learning the game. Silvagni would be ideal to back them up as he can also play smaller.

I get VDM the athlete might look good in this role.
But I am pretty sure I will have a heart attack, with him touching the ball in the back-half 20 times per game.
game.
Horrible decision maker.

[DOG GOD]

Yep VDM is his most productive when he’s not playing. Can’t believe we extended him 3 years.

[GVGjr]

I get VDM the athlete might look good in this role.
But I am pretty sure I will have a heart attack, with him touching the ball in the back-half 20 times per game.
game.
Horrible decision maker.

I'm not a Vandermeer (or McNeil) basher but I'm not seeing what value he could add as a defender.
In theory yes it has some merit but he panics a bit too much from my perspective.
At the moment he's a forward or potentially a winger and he's got a bit of work to do to hold his spot.

[Sedat]

I'm not a Vandermeer (or McNeil) basher but I'm not seeing what value he could add as a defender.
In theory yes it has some merit but he panics a bit too much from my perspective.
At the moment he's a forward or potentially a winger and he's got a bit of work to do to hold his spot.

Agreed - VDM earns his place through form as a high half forward or he plays VFL.

The one player on our list who has terrific physical attributes for the small defender role is Gallagher. I would like to see him trialled as a small defender this coming pre-season (assuming he fully recovers from his current injury)

[Uninformed]

I think we are a Nick Vlaustin away from it.

Either that or Butters to the midfield and Bont. or Richards to do a Matty Boyd going back.

Add a Dale Morris style defender to make us unbeatable! Maybe Sellwood could be that?

Dream a little dream for me...

[Willow18]

Would be happy to get Butts, Silvagni in the trade period, and Dovaston in the draft.

Disregarding what we currently don’t have though, hopefully with another pre-season we can see, Sellwood, Jaques, Hynes, Croft, & Arty break into the side. And finally improve that bottom 6.

plus the return of a fit Treloar & Weightman.

[Bornadog]

Would be happy to get Butts, Silvagni in the trade period, and Dovaston in the draft.

Disregarding what we currently don’t have though, hopefully with another pre-season we can see, Sellwood, Jaques, Hynes, Croft, & Arty break into the side. And finally improve that bottom 6.

plus the return of a fit Treloar & Weightman.

KWW mentioned that Weightman will have a short break and come back for an early preseason. Hopefully he can get back to his best

[GVGjr]

Lade is apparently still in the mix for the job at Melbourne.
I wonder who we might have on the radar if that was to happen?

[doggies ftw]

Agreed - VDM earns his place through form as a high half forward or he plays VFL.

The one player on our list who has terrific physical attributes for the small defender role is Gallagher. I would like to see him trialled as a small defender this coming pre-season (assuming he fully recovers from his current injury)

Yeah bit of the forgotten one Gags, I know a lot of people are off him. But really all he has to do is tidy up his decision making & kicking 15-20% and you’ve got a very handy player. Maybe he can maybe he can’t but I think the rest of his attributes are pretty good for the role. Definitely needs to settle as a back pocket over preseason, and just work super hard on making sure he’s not a liability with ball in hand

[Go_Dogs]

Agreed - VDM earns his place through form as a high half forward or he plays VFL.

The one player on our list who has terrific physical attributes for the small defender role is Gallagher. I would like to see him trialled as a small defender this coming pre-season (assuming he fully recovers from his current injury)

Yep. Gallagher seems to have the tools to play this role. Despite us pumping games into him he hasn’t quite picked up the pace of AFL and accordingly, his decision making and disposal often looks out - albeit I don’t think those are weaknesses in his game, it’s more the tempo adjustment that if that makes sense… (at least in my view).

The one thing that I have against this positional move is that he’s one of our players who can actually kick goals and despite what our scoring record in 2025 suggests, players like him who can get it through the sticks are still required.

[Uninformed]

Lade is apparently still in the mix for the job at Melbourne.
I wonder who we might have on the radar if that was to happen?

I want Joel Corey back!

[Grantysghost]

Lade is apparently still in the mix for the job at Melbourne.
I wonder who we might have on the radar if that was to happen?

Buckley will get it if he wants it.

[angelopetraglia]

I was luckier enough to attend a small, personal gathering with Nathan Buckley talking about this memorabilia collection at Collingwood. This was about 8 weeks ago. He was deeply reflective and also opened about some of his life journey and was quite vulnerable. What struck me, was that he has definitely changed a lot since his early career FIGJAM repuation.

Many takeouts. I was super impressed with how openly he spoke about his journey, especially the parts he believe he got wrong. However, my main takeout was that for a man who has a Norm Smith, Brownlow, 7 x AA, 6 x Copeland and 280 games is that he is unfulfilled. He spoke in detail how as a player they won the flag not too long after he retired and then the same happened as a coach. That he has not won a Premiership as either a player or coach has left a burning hole in his heart that needs to be filled.

I walked away thinking, this man will 100% coach again.