What we need is to score the lottery in the draft and at the trade table.
We need to draft 2 players that become out and out stars. Think Motlop at Geelong. Hannaberry at Sydney etc etc.
We haven't been able to do that in 10 years. Not confident it's going to start now.
Disagree completely, staggered you could actually think that
Jobe = star
Goddard = star
Heppell = star (has another gear)
Hurley = star
Hibberd = star
Carlisle = game winner
Winderlich = most skillful player in the afl with the best footy brain in the business
also strange you'd post this after we just smashed carlton of all teams (full of the sort of players you're talking about)
prefer to believe we already have everything we need in our team now, but i'm a supporter who believes in the club and players, so i may be just too biased.
This was meant to be the year that we'd win a final or two and get that sort of confidence and experience into the side. Had that happened, I'd say we'd be a very real chance to have a crack at it in 2014. Unfortunately, with the likelihood of being stripped of premiership points, this lack of progression will really hurt us.
You simply can't go from not having won a final in 9 years to suddenly going all the way. I'd obviously love to be proven wrong, but IMO, winning a flag is a gradual process built up on 2-3 years of solid finals experience.
Don’t agree about the Winderlich comment. By all means is a skillful and very important player for us when fit. But I believe the title you just mentioned should go to a Pendlebury or Ablett.
We need a bigger fitness base. Fine tune our skills and structures. Draft some kids with skill and pace and a nouse for goals.
This can all be achieved this pre-season, but it will take an awful lot. Need to find a diamond in the rough in this draft, if not more.
(If it was any time to take a punt on a Garlett type player it would be now with draft pick sanctions looming.)
Hard to tell how far we are away, as the start of the years show how good we can be. Late in the seasons show how bad we can be.
If we fix the problems that cause us to fade, then we could be a chance next year. If we don't it'll be years, because alot of our stars of the minute, are ageing.
Watson Goddard and Stanton and hocking aren't getting any younger, and like it or not, that's the core of our midfield that play 80% plus gametime in the middle of each and every game ( bar injury or suspension).
If we are going to improve, we need more players to improve in the midfield rotation. The nly way to do that, is give them more time in the middle, which is unlikely due to the aforementioned players and them spending most of the time in the middle.
What we need is to score the lottery in the draft and at the trade table.
We need to draft 2 players that become out and out stars. Think Motlop at Geelong. Hannaberry at Sydney etc etc.
We haven't been able to do that in 10 years. Not confident it's going to start now.
Disagree completely, staggered you could actually think that
Jobe = star
Goddard = star
Heppell = star (has another gear)
Hurley = star
Hibberd = star
Carlisle = game winner
Winderlich = most skillful player in the afl with the best footy brain in the business
also strange you'd post this after we just smashed carlton of all teams (full of the sort of players you're talking about)
prefer to believe we already have everything we need in our team now, but i'm a supporter who believes in the club and players, so i may be just too biased.
What does beating Carlton have to do with assessing how close we are to a flag?
All you've done is list a couple of names and then overrated the most of them.
Licha the most skillful player in the AFL?
Heppell is on the same level as Jobe is he?
Hurley is a star? Compared to who?
The list is on it's way but we are not going to win a flag unless it is improved. There are still obvious holes in the list.
Small forward is still an issue and there is no genuine 2nd clearance mid after Jobe.
Run and spread is still an issue in the middle and forward line consistency is also a problem so yeah, I think the list needs some work.
And Carlton is full of Motlop and Hannaberry type players are they?
What we need is to score the lottery in the draft and at the trade table.
We need to draft 2 players that become out and out stars. Think Motlop at Geelong. Hannaberry at Sydney etc etc.
We haven't been able to do that in 10 years. Not confident it's going to start now.
Disagree completely, staggered you could actually think that
Jobe = star
Goddard = star
Heppell = star (has another gear)
Hurley = star
Hibberd = star
Carlisle = game winner
Winderlich = most skillful player in the afl with the best footy brain in the business
also strange you'd post this after we just smashed carlton of all teams (full of the sort of players you're talking about)
prefer to believe we already have everything we need in our team now, but i'm a supporter who believes in the club and players, so i may be just too biased.
Next year.....IF we lose points they will be breathing fire next year....This will bond them together to come out and smash the comp.....load up on the dons next year.
I'm not sure how people can argue we haven't been able to draft any "stars" recently when Heppel was so clearly a fantastic pickup. Look at the 2010 draft and how many players in there would you pick over Heppel? Not many, if any. I'm really growing tired of the negative press Heppel get's from some people on here. The kid looked like a hundred gamer in his first game for us. I can't recall how many commentaters have stated he'll finish his career with a Brownlow medal in the cabinet. The fact they say this and he still has so much scope for improvement is a testament to what a star he IS, and what a fantastic job the recruiters did picking him up.
In addition, Carlisle is a little down the last month or two, but he was a lock in for AA at the halfway point this year. A 21 year old KPB in AA form is a fantastic bit of recruiting.
A good dangerous small forward (who works hard enough on the lead as well) would be the 1 type to make the most difference next year IMHO.
But we could do with improvement in most areas. Another quickish back flank, another outside mid, another inside mid or two, another bitparts tall,another ruck definitely required… but those are more areas we need depth/bolstering rather than an outright gap.
Nothing to me suggests Hawthorn, Geelong or Sydney will fall away next year, perhaps the Hawks if Buddy goes, however they will still be quality without him.
So we will need to find another gear, and that comes from finding 2-3 players who can cement a position almost straight away and play consistent footy. Looking in the Browne, Merrett and Kavanagh direction, or from the trade table.
Who knows what next year will bring - most likely a new (interim ?) coach, potential disunity within the playing group and continued pressure (albeit hopefully somewhat reduced) on game day.
At the end of '98 we were a bit of a rabble - infighting between Sheedy and Thompson, scraping in to bottom part of the ladder and getting well beaten by North in the finals following the marshmallow wars - we were clearly well behind the pack. Many people, myself included, thought that 1999 could be the start of a decline. And somehow we managed to turn things around and have 2-3 outstandingly successful years.
I actually think our window is in the next 3-4 years while Goddard and Watson still close to their peak. Unfortunately, a loss of draft picks may impact our chance of success within that window. Recruiting and trading will be the absolute key, because unless we get lucky and strike gold I think it will now be tough to win one if we lose 1st and 2nd round picks next year.
This is what annoys me most about this unmentionable saga - I think the crime is somewhat insignificant, yet the punishment looks likely to severely impact chances of a flag in the next few years (the probability of which I had thought was quite high earlier in the year).
One thing we have that the others don't have - its the resilience that Hirdy has been talking about since he started coaching. No other club has had so much scrutiny and pressure heaped on them. This has to be a positive from all the negatives of the year. And this resilience could help us over the line when our opportunity opens up next year and beyond. And maybe this resilience helps define our future.
We really need a great outside player with elite skill, someone like Dale Thomas. And desperately need a small forward who could kick 40-50 goals a year.
I'd be happy with a tall forward - any forward - who could kick 40-50 goals a year.