6’5 is not big for a KPP. Key defenders these days are 6’7, 6’8 and do have leap. Mark my words, he will struggle playing as a permanent key forward. He won’t have the size advantage that he has as a midfielder drifting forward, and he doesn’t have the speed to get separation.


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Charlie is 6'4"… you're right about the height of defenders etc, but 6'5" is tall enough if you're good enough.

Crippa's height would be the least of his problems if we're dopey enough to play him as a permanent forward.

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It’s not about height alone. Charlie is a freak athlete. He has a massive leap and is far more mobile than Cripps. He has the speed to get separation from his defender. The point about height is that he has a mismatch when he drifts forward because he has another midfielder on him, not a key defender.


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Fair enough , not permonately in the square . In bursts .

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All my dangerous friends

With the focus being rightly directed to trade week, the coaching set up has taken a back seat.
The most important change that I've noticed is Hansen has gone from senior assistant to line coach. IMHO, Voss and the club have decided to give him the reins and make him fully accountable. It's tough to sack the bloke when someone else is pulling the strings on match day.

IMO, Voss will assume more control over the training, structure and decision making. And fair enough. The players have had an easy ride for too long and it's time for some tough love.
I'd also change the captain but listening to Davies, I'm not sure that will happen.
Take the opportunity to change it up. We'll know by mid season if Vossy is up to the job and if he has enough shit in him to make the necessary culture changes. I suspect it will be a good outcome.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

I think Cripps should captain us again in 2026 (unless he’s had a gut-full of the job?).

I feel like Walsh is our next captain…if he stays. We can’t give Walsh the captaincy now because he is, according to Cal Twomey, “in no hurry to re-sign as he enters FA eligibility”. We can’t have our captain being the subject of the ‘will he or won’t he leave?’ speculation all season. The Cats and others will be coming hard for him and the media are going to feast on it.

Perhaps the promise of the captaincy in 2027 could be an insensitive for Walsh to re-commit to us?

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

The Cats won't be able to make an offer we can't match.

id go with

lets get Walshy signed up, and part of that is the announcement he is staying, but is also our captain moving forward (Cripps/Weitering VC)

its a great opportunity, just to reset everything and move forward.

That announcement may come in 12 months, but if I’m Walsh’s manager I’m advising him to hold off and let Geelong and others push Carlton’s price up. His manager would also be conscious that the Blues have salary cap space now. If Walsh has a good season (and we need him to), his next contract will be an absolute rip snorter.

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

It could definitely go that way.

It just depends if he decides to go the "I'll take unders to help us get the pieces we need for a flag" route.

Supposedly that's something our boys have done historically, will be interesting to see whether that continues.

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The Artist Formerly Known As BamBam7

Just tell him 'sign now. No BS'

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Congratulations CK95

Yes well that's how Geelong retained there dynasty wasn't it . If Walsh wants top dollar we are back to square one .

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All my dangerous friends

nice petard, Sam. It'd be a shame if someone hoisted you by it.

Cripp has enormous body strength.
He moves ruckmen 10cm bigger and wins the tap.
Body on body, he could body Andrews May Nankervis

He’s fine for cameos forward
He’s made it work before,and if the ball moves quicker in 2026, he’d be an advantage forward just for his mobility that gives him another advantage

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Fixture is out and on first glance most of the games are tough especially leading into finals. from R18 onwards, Hawks, Pies, Suns Lions, Aints, Dogs, Dockers. Given our lame 2025 results, most of the games look challenging. Nowhere to hide for Vossy this season given the fixture.

ball movement is going to be so important to our season and we showed glimpses on he backend this year. even if stoppage/clearances is our ‘one wood’ it won’t score us enough goals to win most games with one less KPF and team defences always improving.

onwards and upwards.

Surely Charlie has the same body strength as Cripps but wrestling in the goal square with gorillas didn’t win him many marks or frees in the last coupe of years. most of his mark and goal play was on the lead and him creating enough gap to take the ball well in front.

Most of Cripps’s goals this year were uncontested or not very contested marks with him almost stationary with our smalls spotting him up if i recall. not playing classic KPF type of role. or classic running midfielder pinging the goal from 50m on he run the way Sydney or Brisbane have been doing it either. (if my memory serves me)

a few more goals from Crippa would be nice but im not counting on it. would like Walshie to get some accuracy back into his field and goal kicking with a full preseason.

It’s hard not to see old mate being under intense pressure from about round 6

Overall, I feel like where we finish in relation to Sydney and StK will tell much of the tale.
Finish above both, and Voss is a fair chance to survive.
Finish in between, 50-50.
Finish underneath both and I reckon he is likely to be replaced.

But, at a more micro level, I think the season will progress in a series of 4 phases for Voss. Kind of like Ninja Warrior where he needs to pass each phase to get to the next one…

Phase 1: 1st 5 games: Syd, Rich, Melb, North, Adel
- 3-2 or better and he happily progresses to the next test
- 2-3 or worse and the next period is judgement time.

Phase 2: Next 8 games up to the bye: Coll, Freo, StK, Lions, WB, Port, Geel, Ess
- 4-4 or better and he happily progresses
- 3-5 he progresses happily if we were 4-1 or better in first period; on slightly shaky ground IF we were 3-2…
- 2-6 or worse and he is looking down the barrel (unless we won ALL of the 1st 5 matches, in which case he is still on tenterhooks…)

Mid season assessment
If we are 7-6 or better, he can progress reasonably strongly into the next phase knowing that we are playing better than last year and our destiny is in our hands.
If we are 6-7, he is hanging on for the moment but the rumblings will be happening and people will be openly starting to canvas who else is available…
5-8 or worse I reckon the writing is on the wall (save for a 2023-like revival and even then, he will not be safe amidst some robust discussions at the end of the season…). Papers stamped. Sacking imminent unless the Board prefer to hold the line until the end of the season.

But, assuming he gets this far and his papers haven’t already been stamped as they would be at 5-8 or possibly 6-7…

Phase 3: Next 5 games: GWS, WCE, Rich, Haw, Coll
- 3-2 or better he progresses. If we are 10-8 or better, things will be looking good for Voss (although Brett Ratten could have thought that too just before he was sacked…)
- 2-3 or worse Very concerned watch… last chance saloon but things not looking good. If we are 9-9 or worse, I suspect we will be canvassing for a new coach behind the scenes. If we are 8-10 or worse, papers will be stamped. And just a matter of context whether he is sacked before the end of the season or not.

Phase 4: Final 5 games: GC, Lions, StK, WB, Freo
- Top 6 or better, he gets a new contract
- Make (the real) finals but finish 7-8, it’s a 60-40 proposition with robust debate behind the scenes
- Miss finals, with 2-3 or worse in this phase …thanks for your service.

Maybe you're sure about Charlie v Cripps, but from what I've seen, I'm sure Charlie struggles one on one against players Cripps size and strength.
I saw Josh Battle beat him one on one. I've seen Pink hold him goalless. They are not stronger than Crippa. Crippa is one of the strongest players in the AFL. He moves ruckmen.

On the other point re Cripps taking uncontested marks, the answer is yes when he roams forward. Cripps is not a classic CHF, nor has he played a classic CHF or FF role, but he's beaten players one on one in a marking contests. Can't deny him of that.

I have a strong feeling we will see more rotations this year in the midfield group, and with Charlie not replaced (especially if O'Keefe isn't playing) Cripps WILL feature forward, if we don't draft a KPF. Injury to Smith, Walsh and Elijah MIA meant Cripps was needed in the midfield, with support from younguns Lord, and yest to be seen Ben campo. Williams went through midfield and did OK, but he was the most dangerous Small forward we had, so didnt see that much of him in there.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue