Poll : 2026 where do you see us?

[jazzadogs]

I still think there are some gameplay tweaks that can allow this list to be a premiership contender. I'm not sure that we will have the consistency to finish top 4, as I suspect we will start the season with a few <30 gamers in our 23, but think we can build towards a consistent 'something’ at the end of the season.

Budarick makes us better.
23 games out of Bont and Darcy, and any output from Treloar and Weightman, makes us better.
Another pre season into consistent best 23 players JOD, Freijah, Sanders, Davidson makes us better. Dolan, Hynes, Buss, Jaques should all be stronger, fitter and pushing for spots.
A first pre season for Sellwood and draftees has potential to make us better.

There's plenty to be optimistic about.
Finish lower half of the 8 and finally win a goddam elimination final (even better if I get to be there in person!), and it's a successful year.

[Uninformed]

Everything since 21' has been a let down for me, off-field the club is clearly doing very well but on-field we've been stuck in the mire of that 10-6 zone and we don't seem to be doing anything to get out of it, no bold plays (please don't say going after Wilkie was bold, it was a 1% chance to come off), I feel we are to safe at the trade table and as a result I have little to zero hope going into next season that a defense of Lobb, JOD, Buss, Dale, Bramble and whoever else we rotate through is going to win us a premiership.

I pray to god I am wrong, but my gut tells me to strap in for a long slog of a disappointing season in 26.

Nothing wrong with pessimism. Less chance of being let down!

Do you have some examples of bold trade moves that we missed out on this year?

[Vred]

Nothing wrong with pessimism. Less chance of being let down!

Do you have some examples of bold trade moves that we missed out on this year?

IF the talk of Adelaide chasing Sanders was legit (and all players agreed) I would of 100% been open to a Sanders and this years F2 for Butts(or Keane)+ 2026-F1 back our way.

Adelaide get that young up and coming midfielder with a point of difference they need.
We get a KPD + currency for next years Butters play.

It's more so that we got incredibly lucky with Liam Jones falling in our lap out of the blue in 2023, he paved over that Alex Keath sized hole that had just opened up, what was the plan for our defense is we didn't luck into him? There should of been trade targets we were lining up to pry out of a club a long time ago. Our defense since 21' has felt like it's been held together with sticky-tape and very old guys, we have next to no one in that 24-25-26 age bracket, it's either incredibly raw 18-21 year olds or 30+ year old guys. Keane and Butts are both 25 and about to hit their prime, these are the players that we need right now yet here we are.

As I said in the follow up post, we are seriously stuck in that hole that is the middle of the ladder, teams below us (Gold Coast, Freo, GWS) are very quickly passing us as they bottom out (GC get help, I know), get picks in set their list up for success and the teams above us are winning enough to attract more talent. I personally feel we need a huge circuit breaker to move us up the ladder, I get the feeling that the club thinks that might be Butters next year but that is next year and until I see him pulling on the RW&B I'll remain pessimistic.

I don't see where the improvement comes from next year, we lost two very experienced leaders to retirement (I know Jones got next to no games last season but never underestimate the amount of leadership he bought down back, he was great with positioning players and yelling orders, same with Duryea) and JUH, I'll make my feelings known on JUH in the appropriate thread.

I pray I'm wrong, I love the club and want nothing but success, I really hope I'm proved wrong.

[Go_Dogs]

I went the 4-8 zone, albeit was very close to hitting 8-10. Why I didn’t:

We’ve got Bont
We’ve got Richards
We've got Fridge

Thats a pretty handy midfield mix without adding players like Treloar, Libba, Kennedy who provide experience and while they’re getting older, will still be effective. We may get some gains from Sanders, maybe Weightman spends some time in there too.

We’ve got Darcy
We’ve got Naughton
We’ve got West
We’ve got Weightman

Our forward line might be one of the best in the competition aside from the nippy defensive forward. We’ve got VDM, McNeil as role players. We’ve got potential for growth via Croft, Hynes, Dolan. Did I mention Darcy?

We’ve got Dale

He’s top 3 running defenders in the game. Our defence is definitely our weakness on individuals based on output to date, but if we can get the collective Humming hey, who knows.

We’ve got Truck, English, Lobb - while not “A” grade these are high quality AFL players who we should be taking to the bank as net positive.

Some sides will be as good or better, some will have a harder draw and likely to normalise (eg Crows).

Im with Mantis. It’s the time for HOPE.

[Jasper]

IF the talk of Adelaide chasing Sanders was legit (and all players agreed) I would of 100% been open to a Sanders and this years F2 for Butts(or Keane)+ 2026-F1 back our way.

Adelaide get that young up and coming midfielder with a point of difference they need.
We get a KPD + currency for next years Butters play.

It's more so that we got incredibly lucky with Liam Jones falling in our lap out of the blue in 2023, he paved over that Alex Keath sized hole that had just opened up, what was the plan for our defense is we didn't luck into him? There should of been trade targets we were lining up to pry out of a club a long time ago. Our defense since 21' has felt like it's been held together with sticky-tape and very old guys, we have next to no one in that 24-25-26 age bracket, it's either incredibly raw 18-21 year olds or 30+ year old guys. Keane and Butts are both 25 and about to hit their prime, these are the players that we need right now yet here we are.

As I said in the follow up post, we are seriously stuck in that hole that is the middle of the ladder, teams below us (Gold Coast, Freo, GWS) are very quickly passing us as they bottom out (GC get help, I know), get picks in set their list up for success and the teams above us are winning enough to attract more talent. I personally feel we need a huge circuit breaker to move us up the ladder, I get the feeling that the club thinks that might be Butters next year but that is next year and until I see him pulling on the RW&B I'll remain pessimistic.

I don't see where the improvement comes from next year, we lost two very experienced leaders to retirement (I know Jones got next to no games last season but never underestimate the amount of leadership he bought down back, he was great with positioning players and yelling orders, same with Duryea) and JUH, I'll make my feelings known on JUH in the appropriate thread.

I pray I'm wrong, I love the club and want nothing but success, I really hope I'm proved wrong.

All good logic Vred and we really don't see enough of you on here.
I fully agree that we need a key defender...but...I'm not offering Sanders unless it's a way overs trade.
The one you have suggested is interesting because it would have bolstered our hand next year for a potential offer for Butters but it could all fall over if Butters chooses to go elsewhere.
As much as I want Butters to come to the club I'm not sure if betting on that and losing a player in the process is a good option.

[Jasper]

I went the 4-8 zone, albeit was very close to hitting 8-10. Why I didn’t:

We’ve got Bont
We’ve got Richards
We've got Fridge

Thats a pretty handy midfield mix without adding players like Treloar, Libba, Kennedy who provide experience and while they’re getting older, will still be effective. We may get some gains from Sanders, maybe Weightman spends some time in there too.

We’ve got Darcy
We’ve got Naughton
We’ve got West
We’ve got Weightman

Our forward line might be one of the best in the competition aside from the nippy defensive forward. We’ve got VDM, McNeil as role players. We’ve got potential for growth via Croft, Hynes, Dolan. Did I mention Darcy?

We’ve got Dale

He’s top 3 running defenders in the game. Our defence is definitely our weakness on individuals based on output to date, but if we can get the collective Humming hey, who knows.

We’ve got Truck, English, Lobb - while not “A” grade these are high quality AFL players who we should be taking to the bank as net positive.

Some sides will be as good or better, some will have a harder draw and likely to normalise (eg Crows).

Im with Mantis. It’s the time for HOPE.

We are in a reasonable place with our playing list. Perhaps missing out on a free hit with Silvagni will bite us but other than landing a key defender we don't have a lot of holes.
On top of what you have listed is the draftees over the last 2 seasons that gives me the most hope
Sanders, Croft and Feijah then Hynes, Dolan, Jaques and Davidson is a more than fair support crew.

[NAUGHTY100]

All good logic Vred and we really don't see enough of you on here.
I fully agree that we need a key defender...but...I'm not offering Sanders unless it's a way overs trade.
The one you have suggested is interesting because it would have bolstered our hand next year for a potential offer for Butters but it could all fall over if Butters chooses to go elsewhere.
As much as I want Butters to come to the club I'm not sure if betting on that and losing a player in the process is a good option.

Totally agree Jasper loosing Sanders to Adelaide on the hope of bolstering our hand for the Butters trade comes with alot of risks , biggest one is like you said what if Butters dosn't come .
As far as Sanders goes he is going to get better and in a year or two if he finds he wants to leave im sure we get better value from Tazi then we would have got from Adelaide.
I do though see where Vred is coming from in that we should be more agressive with our trading , we have the war chest lets not keep the money in the bank , lets use it , St Kilda have proved , throw enough money at guys and they will take up your offers, we just have to throw money at the right type not just at anyone who comes up .

[Uninformed]

IF the talk of Adelaide chasing Sanders was legit (and all players agreed) I would of 100% been open to a Sanders and this years F2 for Butts(or Keane)+ 2026-F1 back our way.

Adelaide get that young up and coming midfielder with a point of difference they need.
We get a KPD + currency for next years Butters play.

It's more so that we got incredibly lucky with Liam Jones falling in our lap out of the blue in 2023, he paved over that Alex Keath sized hole that had just opened up, what was the plan for our defense is we didn't luck into him? There should of been trade targets we were lining up to pry out of a club a long time ago. Our defense since 21' has felt like it's been held together with sticky-tape and very old guys, we have next to no one in that 24-25-26 age bracket, it's either incredibly raw 18-21 year olds or 30+ year old guys. Keane and Butts are both 25 and about to hit their prime, these are the players that we need right now yet here we are.

As I said in the follow up post, we are seriously stuck in that hole that is the middle of the ladder, teams below us (Gold Coast, Freo, GWS) are very quickly passing us as they bottom out (GC get help, I know), get picks in set their list up for success and the teams above us are winning enough to attract more talent. I personally feel we need a huge circuit breaker to move us up the ladder, I get the feeling that the club thinks that might be Butters next year but that is next year and until I see him pulling on the RW&B I'll remain pessimistic.

I don't see where the improvement comes from next year, we lost two very experienced leaders to retirement (I know Jones got next to no games last season but never underestimate the amount of leadership he bought down back, he was great with positioning players and yelling orders, same with Duryea) and JUH, I'll make my feelings known on JUH in the appropriate thread.

I pray I'm wrong, I love the club and want nothing but success, I really hope I'm proved wrong.

Good example thanks Vred. I can see the attraction particularly for next year.

Trying to think why I feel reluctant to do that trade I got back to the starting point of pessimism vs. optimism. I don't see us stagnating in that range. (I went 1-4.)

I feel as though we were just short of top four this year. Two games more, probably the right four goals at the right time, and we finish second. To me, we would easily have done that if one or both Bont and Darcy played every game. If that is the case next year we can also expect natural improvement from our youth, Buderick adds a bit, then in addition we have a fit Treloar and Weightman to give a boost. Hopefully Naughton doesn't fall to glandular fever and gets a good pre-season then a full season at his top like his second half of the year in 25.

Then a pre-season of training pressure and defensive method to build on the ball movement we trained last year........On goes the clear eyed optimist.

In the above scenario I don't feel the desperate need for a Butts or Keane and would prefer to watch Sanders develop to be part of our fourpeat.

Reading back over that, I reckon my main area of excessive optimism is probably all those mentioned being fully fit. Also our record was not good with teams above us. Oh well.....

[FrediKanoute]

I think Sanders is trade bait. Unless he has a breakout year next year, I think we should look at options

[Grantysghost]

I think Sanders is trade bait. Unless he has a breakout year next year, I think we should look at options

I get the sentiment, he really needs games. This is where continuing Libba and Treloar could be a short sighted move.

But, I pray Sanders can see that he's next in line.

I look at the Lions and they play both Ashcrofts immediately even though I'd say the younger is probably behind Sanders.

We need to get games into him, we've invested too much to see him leave.