Has anyone got a better story in their head for this trilogy?

Not well mapped-out.

I believe Star Wars is Luke's story, and that's why the PT and the ST didn't work: they took a story and tried to push outside it, like when Pirates focused on Jack Sparrow instead of Will Turner.

So, if I were working on the ST, I'd make it about Luke forming a Jedi academy and follow him through his mistakes as he tries to teach others to be Jedi. We'd see his struggles and defeats at his own hands and hubris, his frustration in trying to do this. At the same time, Leia and the other leaders of the rebellion would be establishing a New Republic, but they would only be one of several factions trying to fill the power vacuum after the demise of Palpatine (like the fall of Rome). She'd be calling on Luke to help negotiate or defend from the Empire's remnants (and petty would-be-dictators trying to muscle out Leia, Mon Mothma, et al.). Han would be trigger-happy, wanting to lay waste with blasters, but that's too fascist, so Leia and Luke need to stop him, too. Luke's being pulled in multiple directions: take action with Han, serve the Force and the Jedi (and himself...) with his own goals, or put his efforts into treaties and political BS with Leia. All three heroes serve as each other's counterweights, consciences, and temptations, like three id-ego-superego dynamics.

Everything would be falling apart, Luke's students would be going to the Dark Side, Luke would be tempted more than ever to go to the Dark Side and use his god-like powers to just crush everybody and reform the galaxy as something good, but using evil to get there (bad idea, naturally, but tempting in the moment...) Han would be torn, a flyboy free-spirit in a domestic, political world.

Of course, I'd have to figure out immediate threats that would force (pun INTENDED!) some action scenes and great adventures. Maybe they'd find out about Imperial sympathizers who had retained the bulk of the fleet, or a Sith Lord, and they'd have to fight.

Ironically, I'd go a lot of the places JJ and Johnson went. I'd want a Dark Side rebel student. I'd probably have Leia give birth at the end of the trilogy. I'd have Luke doubting himself and the Jedi and the Force. I'd have Imperial resurgence and a new Sith Lord.

What I *wouldn't* do is refocus the characters. I wouldn't have the Republic established for decades and then for no reason, suddenly become the underdogs with no explanation (in fact, they'd only establish the Republic itself at the the end of the trilogy - until then it would be the struggle to convince all these myriad systems to sign up for another Republic in this "last days of Rome" universe). I wouldn't have Luke give up and run, either. He'd fail a lot. He'd get a lot more bitter and despairing, for sure. But he wouldn't stop being Luke.

I'd want new characters coming up, too. Maybe those could be similar to the ST people. In fact, exploring the psychological and emotional life of a stormtrooper with a Finn-type defector would be great and paint the universe with more grey morality. But I'd want to get into that deeper than the ST did - which largely sidelined Finn.

Also, for this to work, Luke, Han, and Leia would need to be basically only a year or two older than they were at the end of Return of the Jedi, so I'd have to film it in, like, '86 or something like that. Either that or re-cast the parts.

But that's just if I wanted to do sequels to Return of the Jedi, not if you're asking "what would I do in a Star Wars trilogy set two-three decades after Return of the Jedi", which is what we got. That's harder because of the ages of the three stars and the gap becomes a huge backstory problem - exposition swamp.

Likewise, if I was making Episodes I, II, and III, I'd basically have made Rogue One into "Episode III", but I'd have focused on Leia and the Rebellion. Maybe I'd have some side-scenes with Luke on Tattooine, dreaming of the galaxy.

Episode II would be the Clone Wars, which I always pictured as more of a "Manchurian Candidate" thing where clones were used by Palpatine to set up puppets and basically fake a conspiracy. He'd set up this clone, then drop bread crumbs to get the Jedi and the Republic guards to investigate and find out this conspiracy to replace leaders and politicians with doppelgangers. Palpatine would step up, win the Clone Wars, and become Emperor - like Caesar. It would be subtler. Along the way, clones would be found in the Jedi ranks and Palpatine would "prove" to Anakin that the Jedi were corrupted. Anakin would have been using the Dark Side for a lot longer and would be more intrinsically interested in power (not just "tricked" like he was in Episode III...it made no sense why he didn't flip-flop back and betray Palpatine immediately after he couldn't save Padme, etc.).

Episode I would start with the first tremors of the clone wars starting, Anakin would be a warrior - a starpilot - serving under Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Obi-Wan would find out he had Force gifts and train him. Forget Qui-Gonn. Episode I would be mostly the fun adventures of Obi-Wan and Anakin, early training, and some small hints of Anakin's power-lust and arrogance.

I don't know how I'd bake in the Padme character or what I'd do with her.

I would follow the adventures of old Han Solo and Rey in the first movie because Harrison Ford is so charismatic even at old age and Han Solo is the coolest character in Star Wars. Han Solo would help Rey reach the old Luke Skywalker while fighting through Kylo rens forces and the big reveal at the end of the movie would be that Kylo Ren who they were fighting against is his son. Kylo Ren also would keep his mask in the first movie to keep the mystery going. In the second movie Rey goes through training with Luke who is preparing her to face Kylo Ren. We see Kylo serving a mysterious master who is revealed to be Palpatine in the third movie. Kylo removes the mask in the second movie to reveal his face and defeats Rey as this movie mirrors the empire strikes back. Kylo Ren then kills his father Han Solo and lets down a sexy tear to which Rey reacts extremely violently and she taps into her dark side potential which causes her to shortly over power Kylo but he still defeats her and tells her about her potential and to find him when she is ready. In the third movie Rey doesn't want to complete her training and acusses Luke Skywalker of not caring about avenging his friend Han Solo to which Luke tells her revenge is not the Jedi way. We find out Rey is granddaughter of Obi wan Kenobi who had a forbidden romance a long time ago. Rey leaves Luke to fight Kylo Ren and Luke goes after her to help her after it is revealed Palpatine is still alive. Luke and Palpatine have a fight and it is revealed Palpatine made himself immortal and impossible to defeat so Luke sacrifices himself to save Rey and tells her to go to Dagobah system. There Rey finds a hologram of Luke who left a message for the last Jedi warrior. He tells that warrior needs to find the source of Palpatine power and destroy it before he can destroy Palpatine. Meanwhile Palpatine reveals to Kylo Ren the secret of his immortality. Palpatine reveals he connected his life force to a planet full of people.

The new republic negotiates a deal to give ultimate control to a seemingly well meaning mega-corporation that has inflitrated everyone's lives across all walks of life and technologies.

Initially everyone is excited at what new and wonderful developments may be born from this change of ownership - only to realise that their motive for purchasing the new republic was tainted with the notion that it will be used as the premier platform to infect the masses with their various movements of hate and bigotry.

By the end of the trilogy everything the free universe has ever known is destroyed as the last remaining remnants of the new republic realise the grave mistake they have made - but it is too late; the damage is done and the universe is doomed forever.

Well Lucas always said star wars is a Family soap opera about the Sykwalker family , so i think id would of based the trilogy around the children of Luke and Leia , introducing Mara Jade as Lukes wife , its a power struggle between the children , who is the most powerful. This creates discord among the Solos and the Skywalkers , in the back ground, a powerful evil has arisen that does all he can to destroy the Skywalker Lineage apart from one that will fulfill the rule of two, harness that powers and rule for thousands of years , Darth Plagueis , he has used his powers to rise again.

They had plenty of stuff with the novels and the plethora of stuff that has come out in the expanded universe since Jedi.
I kind of stopped following Star Wars in 1983.
I did read one of the novels years ago "Dark Force Rising"

Just that one novel and the direction that was heading and the trajectory Han, Luke and Leia were on was 100% better than this awful Disney crap which made no sense because the 3 films were so discombobulated and undid the original Lucas films and universe and crapped on the original characters.

Luke meets his future wife in this and I hear they end up having kids.......vs. space cow drinking bitter troll who craps on everything sits down and vanishes.....with one film STILL to go!

Just even remotely stick to the expanded universe to some degree. Take some liberties but at least use it as a framework to build around.

I don't know about a whole trilogy, but... drawing on the events in Iraq when Saddam was ousted, instead of the Galaxy being united in peace when the Emperor is killed and the Empire destroyed, the whole galaxy collapses into chaos as formerly oppressed civilizations are now free to run riot. There's no single fraction of bad guys per se, more of a free-for all bandit country.
Leia and the new republic are slowly losing a battle against controlling all this. Han & Lando are now merchants having turned star destroyers into luxury hotels for the rich. Things finally fall apart for the good guys when a bandit raid on such a hotel during a peace conference trashes it, and the galaxy loses all hope in the new republic and everywhere effectively collapses into a free for all war.
Luke retires from Jedi life and refuses to have anything to do with the force. He knows the force is imbalanced as he is the only Jedi vs no Sith and doesn't want to disturb whatever the way of the force is. However a new bad guy arises from a collector of old Jedi/Sith stuff on the black market, and eventually develops force powers but with zero training. He is first aware of Force abilities by everyone obeying his commands and realising he has mind control over them. Corrupt with this power he starts twisting people into his control and rapidly creates a new army.
All the clones from the old Empire have been given sanctuary on an anonymous planet where they live out their lives as simple farmers. Without armour or helmets, it's an eerie sight to see them all identical, different only in ages. Despite being no longer a threat to anyone, they are now questioning their role in life as they are now simply dying from natural causes and wondering what their purpose is in life, will they become extinct? Needless to say, new bad guy finds them, recruits them into his army and a new enemy is formed as the old republic collapses.