‘Culture’ problem Bombers must solve; $2m clock ticking again: What AFL bottom 10 teams need most

With only a fortnight remaining in the home-and-away season, most of the AFL’s bottom 10 will imminently turn their attention to what has to change next year.

In the latest episode of Midweek Tackle’s digital-only segment ‘Tackle The Headline’, Code Sports’ Lauren Wood, Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane reveal the recipes for success for the bottom 10 teams going into 2027.

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18th. ESSENDON

The Bombers currently hold the draft’s first overall pick, but Ralph believes nothing will change at Tullamarine until one thing improves.

Ralph says: “I look at Essendon, and I think people will talk about talent, and they’ll talk about a great coach — I think they need a better locker room. What does that mean? That means culture from the top down. Now, the fact that they’ve got a very weak set of standards, the fact that so often you’ve heard from not only Dean Solomon but also from Brad Scott, they’ve talked about ‘it can’t be the young kids coming through’. So often they pick and choose, so often they decide that this is the week, or this is the quarter, or this is the 10-minute patch where they’re going to have a crack, and then they just fall in ruins again. And so, they can bring all the talent in the world in, they can get an elite coach, but until the players underneath Andy McGrath — that middle core of leadership — decide enough is enough, ‘it’s time for us to take a stand’, this football club will go nowhere.”

17th. RICHMOND

It’s no secret the Tigers have been eviscerated by injury this season, in what’s effectively delayed their rebuild by one year.

McFarlane says: “The Tigers are interesting, and it settles on injury. They need a clean bill of health for all their players; they’ve had a horrible run, haven’t they? They’ve got a new high-performance manager coming in. You look at someone like Sam Lalor — imagine him getting a full year next season; it would be huge for the club. Josh Smillie, just to get back out there and play a game. He hasn’t done it yet; that would be outstanding. I think that’s really important. We know what the young group is actually capable of; we really want to see it in action. And I think that’s the key with the Tigers.”

Ralph says: “I think whatever they’re paying Adem Yze, I think they should pay that to (whoever) the high-performance boss is. Now, whatever it is across world sport, if you want to poach someone from Melbourne — that’s been the speculation around — the physical preparation is as important as the tactical stuff, given the last three years.”

16th. WEST COAST EAGLES

West Coast has exhibited clear signs of on-field growth after the bleakest stretch in club history, but it’s that dark past that Ralph believes has “infected” the Eagles.

Ralph says: “They are too accepting of losses. I think that malaise just infected this football club after 2018 and the premiership. A lot of fat heads, a lot of fat contracts, a lot of people who thought ‘we’ve achieved what we need to achieve’. I think Andrew McQualter is working so hard to try and change that, but even across last weekend, this was very much a gettable Collingwood side. Now, I understand that Collingwood were fantastic, but this was a game that was there for the taking, and it was not taken by West Coast. They’ve got the kids on board now; they’ll bring even more in, but they need to get a little bit ruthless, and they’re not there yet.”

15th. PORT ADELAIDE

The Power are preparing to move past Zak Butters, who’s almost certain to depart. Instead, it’s about two other superstars who the club hopes will be at Alberton for a long time.

Wood says: “This is a really interesting one, because I assumed when we sat here now that the key ingredient at the top of the recipe would be the signature of Zak Butters, but it might be someone else.

McFarlane: “I think we’ve moved on from that, haven’t we, in that sense … the other signature they really need is Mitch Georgiades. He’s the key for that footy club going forward. You can build a team around Georgiades. There are a couple there (for Port), and that’s a clean bill of health for Jason Horne-Francis. He’s going to be under so much pressure next year with no Zak Butters. To have him there, playing really good footy. The two of them (Horne-Francis and Georgiades) together are the keys to Port Adelaide’s future, I think.”

14th. GOLD COAST SUNS

Putting aside the “gibberish” spouted by Suns leaders throughout their grim 10-match losing streak, Gold Coast needs to get back to winning habits after a “disgusting” season.

Ralph says: “No more BS … so much talk, so much nonsense, so much gibberish. Just get out there and perform. Now, you can do all that stuff internally, and by all accounts, there has been some real honesty in terms of how the senior players are communicating with the coach. But even the coach on the weekend — ‘we accept the scrutiny; it means this, it means that’ … what are you talking about, Dimma? Just say, ‘you know what, we take our licks, we’ve been battered and bruised, and we go away and work hard, and we look each other in the eye, and we’re really honest about where we are, and then we move on and start winning games again’. Because this has been a disgusting season.”

13th. NORTH MELBOURNE

Positionally, it’s clear where North’s list chasm lies. For McFarlane, it’s all about a big intangible growth area for the Roos.

McFarlane says: “I’m going to say key defender. We know, this is pretty obvious, they need a key defender. But you know what else they need? They need some belief. They’re starting to get that; we saw that last week against the Bulldogs. That’s starting to develop. Can they get a Jacob Weitering type (via trade)? It probably won’t be Jacob Weitering; we know that, but can they get someone who can fill that sort of role? They desperately need that down back. But again, I think the belief — I hope that last Thursday night’s game has really pushed them to go forward. They can take scalps; they go so close; they nearly beat Hawthorn. They need to do that on a regular basis.”

12th. GWS GIANTS

Ralph believes it’s time for the Giants to start moving past some of their older names who aren’t going to guide the club to its first premiership.

Ralph says: “If I am GWS, I want a broom, because I want to sweep some of those older players out. Now, it would be challenging, because today, Max Gruzewski signed on for another two years. I think it’s another indication that this football club believes that the young kids are their future. And so, it might well mean Toby Greene (goes); I think it’ll likely mean Jesse Hogan; it might well mean Jake Stringer as well. These kids are so exciting; we’ve seen some of them; there are more in the underbelly as well. Don’t be afraid to back the youth in, because that’s where the next premiership is coming from.”

11th. ST KILDA

It’s far from a secret that the Saints need their big spearhead back up and healthy. But there’s a big Nas cloud that’s going to rear its head next year.

McFarlane says: “There are a couple of things; we need a couple of things. Two words: Max King. They’ve got to get him playing. (And) Nas. They need a signature from Nas. The pressure is really going to hit next year, when you look at that. It’s funny how it turns around really quickly. We are back, very close, to talking about ‘is Nas going to stay at St Kilda?’ He only got that two-year deal. What do you have to pay him? You’re already paying him $2 million. Can you go higher than that? They’re pretty tight, I think, salary-cap-wise as well, but they’ll find some room for Nas there as well. Max King and Nas; they’re the key going forward.”

Wood says: “It feels like it was only yesterday (that we were talking about Nas’ contract). But that’s where the first portion of the season will be for St Kilda is just going to be so vital, because that conversation will turn very, very quickly with him out of contract again.”

10th. CARLTON

The Blues, right now, might be best-placed in the short term of any bottom-10 club.

Ralph says: “They’ve got it all. Cody Walker in, they’re going to get O’Farrell in (back from injury) as a defender, they’re going to get (a healthy) Jacob Weitering back, and they’re going to get The Hoodie (Josh Fraser), and let’s face it, he’s going to have more layers to the game plan. They don’t need much, because they’ve got Josh Fraser.”

9th. WESTERN BULLDOGS

A particular Port Adelaide superstar sits atop the Dogs’ wishlist, but there’s another area that desperately needs addressing this offseason.

McFarlane says: “And we’re thinking Zak Butters is the key. He’s obviously looking at them; he’s so close to Marcus Bontempelli, they desperately need him. But they also need a key defender. They’ve already got a really good midfield, the Bulldogs, but they need a key defender to help that area as well. So, they’re going to be the two big watches.

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