Forgetting that Sheedy was over riding everything and our list managemen/ recruitment team was seemingly pretty under resourced
Once Sheedy was gone and Keane came on board things started to improve
I think we were well on track and then bang saga. Which set us well back in losing players / losing draft picks / inability to bring in anyone of note for quite some time
Also ended up a bit of an unbalanced list demographic age wise as a result IMO
17 other teams you can follow. Morons like you are not required
So do you think development made us ruthless or did we recruit ruthless players? Do the clappers believe guys like Roger Merrett, Neagle, Duckworth etc were skinny kids from good families who only found that hard edge at EFC? Of course it can be a cumulative effect where players make others stand taller but you have to find players with these qualities. Dodoro hasnât recruited ruthless players, we donât have anyone who is a real physical presence other that possibly Stringer. Thats not coaching, tactics or any other excuse its by design.
It was also a different time where a lot of sniping off the ball took place so you learned very quickly to fight back, you didnât you did not make it very far.
Alot of people are completely ignoring the major success of keeping the team together post saga. The balance of AFL clubs were circling around our best players like sharks. Any other club would have imploded.
Dodoro deserves some (not all) of the credit for this. I would also add that pre saga we looked like we could take this club far into finals. Failure to do so does not reflect on Doro, Keane and co.
What we do know with 100% certainty is that in every team at every club over every decade no matter how poorly the club was performing, players with elite talent were able to shine through. The difference between Cripps & Boekhorst isnât development, it isnât coaching , tactics or anything else but the quality of the player recruited. This includes their personality which is far more important for development than the coaches or the facilities.
List management is his job, this includes player retention as much as player acquisition.
This â â â â up is every bit Dodoros fault as much as it is anybody elseâs.
For a club to loose two of its most talented young leaders, irrespective of if they are happy to let them go, itâs a disaster and he should be held accountable.
So you donât believe that physical presence, aggression & ruthlessness is important to modern footy? You donât think we get outmuscled around the contest or that we see our best mid physically targeted by other teams?
I think you didnât understand what I was saying. You are also ignoring the fact I already said we need all that and this is what you originally quoted. Please stop jumping at shadows.
But was keeping that team together post-saga the right thing to do? For off-field purposes Iâm sure it was better than doing a hard rebuild, but has it benefited us in the long-term?
Where did you say that? You said after watching the 84 GF we werenât ruthless. I pointed out that is on Dodoro & you came back with the different era post. Are you now qualifying that you also believe we need more ruthless players & that this is something Dodoro should have addressed?
I have been saying that for some time now. I was merely pointing out that back in that era almost all players had to be tough nuts or they never really made it. It was a different time. These days things are different and not all players are required to be tough and hard. But a team very much needs some players like that, who will go in hard and âfly the flagâ.
Problem with Dodoro is he doesnât really pick that type of player.
ummm we had 10 players left after the ban year. In what reality is that keeping the team together? A lot of people also overlook the reality that most of the players we did keep were rewarded with contracts unlikely to have been matched or bettered elsewhere.
We finished 12th the year before the saga so I donât know why people want to hang all their hopes on this fantasy that it was all magically going to fall into place bar Dank. Its delusional. We had a very 1 dimensional midfield with not much outside run & our forward line was a dogs breakfast. Crameri was our leading goal kicker in 2013 with 30. In no reality was Watson remaining at his peak long enough to coincide with Joey Raz Tippa etc giving us some forward firepower & Zerrett always needed a few years to impact. The same players who fail in finals now are the guys some believe were destined for glory pre saga.
2013 and 2014 we finished top 8 and had decent footy being played. Whilst it is purely speculation and opinion, the team was playing far more cohesively than today which could have brought further success if the stigma of ASADA was not constantly overhanging.
If you are suggesting that Dodoro did a poor job before, during and after the saga then I respect this opinion.
From my perspective though, I add in:
Dollars alone would not have kept most players in a normal environment. The above no doubt added to the complexity of contract negotiations.
Good question. In my opinion that was the best option however I do sometimes have âwhat ifâ moments.
A hard rebuild though ran the risk of burning our reputation amongst all players within the league, especially since our reputation was in tatters post saga. Up until recently the key discussion was around âbecoming a destination clubâ. By getting back our players this no doubt helped with our repairing our reputation.
Decent footy here & there but thats the story of the last decade. I have no issue at all recognising the impact of the saga on that group BUT I donât think we had the list post saga to seriously challenge. I said that pre saga mid saga & post saga. Yes I believe Hird/Thompson were heading in the right direction & the club were on the surface at least looking like becoming a more professional outfit but I believed then & now that any credible audit of our recruiting/list management dept would have seen Dodoro replaced.
He will deliver the goods
Iâm fact I think this is his specialty this current situation and what he is the best in the league at.
We will get good players in returnâŚespecially from Raz due to his contract. Daniher Iâm not as confident because he only has a year left, Iâm still confident we will get pick 5 and perhaps a second rounder for Daniher. I donât think 5 and 9 now as Sydney are in a position of power more so.
Itâs when the players actually give a damn about the jumper and donât look for the first ticket out of the joint.
How are Sydney in a position of power? Big deal if They are the club of choice, there is still a contract to overcome which gives Bombers the power.
Agreed. We still hold the upper hand. Unless Dodo can find us another forward I cant see Joe being traded. Having said that the club will have been aware of Joeâs intentions and I wouldnât mind betting thereâs someone lined up. At least I hope so.