![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
18th. ESSENDON<\/p>\n
The Bombers currently hold the draft\u2019s first overall pick, but Ralph believes nothing will change at Tullamarine until one thing improves. <\/p>\n
Ralph says: \u201cI look at Essendon, and I think people will talk about talent, and they\u2019ll talk about a great coach \u2014 I think they need a better locker room. What does that mean? That means culture from the top down. Now, the fact that they\u2019ve got a very weak set of standards, the fact that so often you\u2019ve heard from not only Dean Solomon but also from Brad Scott, they\u2019ve talked about \u2018it can\u2019t be the young kids coming through\u2019. 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\u2019re 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 \u2014 that middle core of leadership \u2014 decide enough is enough, \u2018it\u2019s time for us to take a stand\u2019, this football club will go nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tigers ready to move pick 2 for Butters? | 02:45<\/p>\n
17th. RICHMOND<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no secret the Tigers have been eviscerated by injury this season, in what\u2019s effectively delayed their rebuild by one year. <\/p>\n
McFarlane says: \u201cThe Tigers are interesting, and it settles on injury. They need a clean bill of health for all their players; they\u2019ve had a horrible run, haven\u2019t they? They\u2019ve got a new high-performance manager coming in. You look at someone like Sam Lalor \u2014 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\u2019t done it yet; that would be outstanding. I think that\u2019s really important. We know what the young group is actually capable of; we really want to see it in action. And I think that\u2019s the key with the Tigers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ralph says: \u201cI think whatever they\u2019re 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 \u2014 that\u2019s been the speculation around \u2014 the physical preparation is as important as the tactical stuff, given the last three years.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Worrying’ numbers that support Hird | 02:39<\/p>\n
16th. WEST COAST EAGLES<\/p>\n
West Coast has exhibited clear signs of on-field growth after the bleakest stretch in club history, but it\u2019s that dark past that Ralph believes has \u201cinfected\u201d the Eagles. <\/p>\n
Ralph says: \u201cThey 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 \u2018we\u2019ve achieved what we need to achieve\u2019. 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\u2019ve got the kids on board now; they\u2019ll bring even more in, but they need to get a little bit ruthless, and they\u2019re not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tackle the Headline explores what every bottom-10 team needs for a better 2027.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
15th. PORT ADELAIDE<\/p>\n
The Power are preparing to move past Zak Butters, who\u2019s almost certain to depart. Instead, it\u2019s about two other superstars who the club hopes will be at Alberton for a long time. <\/p>\n
Wood says: \u201cThis 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. <\/p>\n
McFarlane: \u201cI think we\u2019ve moved on from that, haven\u2019t we, in that sense \u2026 the other signature they really need is Mitch Georgiades. He\u2019s the key for that footy club going forward. You can build a team around Georgiades. There are a couple there (for Port), and that\u2019s a clean bill of health for Jason Horne-Francis. He\u2019s 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\u2019s future, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
14th. GOLD COAST SUNS<\/p>\n
Putting aside the \u201cgibberish\u201d spouted by Suns leaders throughout their grim 10-match losing streak, Gold Coast needs to get back to winning habits after a \u201cdisgusting\u201d season. <\/p>\n
Ralph says: \u201cNo more BS \u2026 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 \u2014 \u2018we accept the scrutiny; it means this, it means that\u2019 \u2026 what are you talking about, Dimma? Just say, \u2018you know what, we take our licks, we\u2019ve been battered and bruised, and we go away and work hard, and we look each other in the eye, and we\u2019re really honest about where we are, and then we move on and start winning games again\u2019. Because this has been a disgusting season.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Your umpiring mate!’ Gaz grills Razor | 01:40<\/p>\n
13th. NORTH MELBOURNE<\/p>\n
Positionally, it\u2019s clear where North\u2019s list chasm lies. For McFarlane, it\u2019s all about a big intangible growth area for the Roos. <\/p>\n
McFarlane says: \u201cI\u2019m 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\u2019re starting to get that; we saw that last week against the Bulldogs. That\u2019s starting to develop. Can they get a Jacob Weitering type (via trade)? It probably won\u2019t 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 \u2014 I hope that last Thursday night\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
12th. GWS GIANTS<\/p>\n
Ralph believes it\u2019s time for the Giants to start moving past some of their older names who aren\u2019t going to guide the club to its first premiership. <\/p>\n
Ralph says: \u201cIf 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\u2019s 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\u2019ll likely mean Jesse Hogan; it might well mean Jake Stringer as well. These kids are so exciting; we\u2019ve seen some of them; there are more in the underbelly as well. Don\u2019t be afraid to back the youth in, because that\u2019s where the next premiership is coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pendles keen to play on in 2027 | 01:04<\/p>\n
11th. ST KILDA<\/p>\n
It\u2019s far from a secret that the Saints need their big spearhead back up and healthy. But there\u2019s a big Nas cloud that\u2019s going to rear its head next year. <\/p>\n
McFarlane says: \u201cThere are a couple of things; we need a couple of things. Two words: Max King. They\u2019ve 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\u2019s funny how it turns around really quickly. We are back, very close, to talking about \u2018is Nas going to stay at St Kilda?\u2019 He only got that two-year deal. What do you have to pay him? You\u2019re already paying him $2 million. Can you go higher than that? They\u2019re pretty tight, I think, salary-cap-wise as well, but they\u2019ll find some room for Nas there as well. Max King and Nas; they\u2019re the key going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood says: \u201cIt feels like it was only yesterday (that we were talking about Nas\u2019 contract). But that\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fraser enters Blues coaching race | 01:03<\/p>\n
10th. CARLTON<\/p>\n
The Blues, right now, might be best-placed in the short term of any bottom-10 club. <\/p>\n
Ralph says: \u201cThey\u2019ve got it all. Cody Walker in, they\u2019re going to get O\u2019Farrell in (back from injury) as a defender, they\u2019re going to get (a healthy) Jacob Weitering back, and they\u2019re going to get The Hoodie (Josh Fraser), and let\u2019s face it, he\u2019s going to have more layers to the game plan. They don\u2019t need much, because they\u2019ve got Josh Fraser.\u201d<\/p>\n
9th. WESTERN BULLDOGS<\/p>\n
A particular Port Adelaide superstar sits atop the Dogs\u2019 wishlist, but there\u2019s another area that desperately needs addressing this offseason. <\/p>\n
McFarlane says: \u201cAnd we\u2019re thinking Zak Butters is the key. He\u2019s obviously looking at them; he\u2019s so close to Marcus Bontempelli, they desperately need him. But they also need a key defender. They\u2019ve already got a really good midfield, the Bulldogs, but they need a key defender to help that area as well. So, they\u2019re going to be the two big watches. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With only a fortnight remaining in the home-and-away season, most of the AFL\u2019s bottom 10 will imminently turn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":852436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-852435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}