this is it for me. if stringer, ridley, draper and our midfield stay fit we’re a legit top 4 chance IMO. we slide further down the ladder the more of those guys we lose.
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Some lid on thoughts.
Last year we had the worst record to make finals since fark carlton in 2010.
Yeah, the vibes were good, but most of the vibes came from everyone assuming we’d be ■■■■, and so being mediocre was a pleasant surprise. We beat one finalist all year, who then thrashed us when it counted.
Against top 4 teams we recorded losses of 54, 57, 41, and 11. And before you point out the 11, that was a patch where melbourne also lost to collingwood and drew with the hawks.
There are a decent number of young players who could be good players if they continue the trajectory they showed last year, but lots of young players don’t. There’s a world of difference between showing flashes or moments, and regularly playing good football. We don’t get worse if those guys don’t improve, but we don’t get better.
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We had a couple of particularly awful games against small/mediums, richmond had three kick 3+ in one game, but we gave up plenty of goals to talls. Dixon, Franklin, Hipwood, D. Cameron, McKay, Finlayson, Taberner, Kennedy, Koschitzke, Hawkins, Cameron, Larkey, Bruce, Naughton all kicked 3+ against us. Is 3 goals to a tall a lot? Depends on your standards I guess, but McKay’s the only player who averaged 3+ in 2021, so it’s at the very least above average for all those guys.
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Finishing bottom 4 would be seen as going backwards fans will start having doubts of where we are going imo
if we miss finals ok but we must continue trending upwards
From what players are saying during the pre season they weren’t happy how the season finished they want to play finals and want to go deep
That would be my concern (well, not really a concern) for Jones and Cox this year. They both outperformed what you’d expect from first-season AFL talls, so there might be a bit of a flatline this year. Over a long-term horizon, that isn’t an issue, progression is rarely linear. But it might impact where we end up in 2022.
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I think we will stagnate this year. Finish about the same point 6-10. Then we will go for a sustained run at top 4 starting the year after. I would be happy with that too!
I predict that midway thru the 3rd QTR of the Brissie game, after Joe has slotted his 3rd, Nino will be calling for COVID to shut the season down.
You all know I’m right !
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No, not all.
Is it a lot for a small/medium?
Personally - based on nothing but gut feel - I consider 5 a bag for a tall, and 4 for a small / medium, 3 if you’re being generous.
How many bags of 5 did we concede? I can only think of Hawkins.
At 3 goals, it’s 14 talls, 14 small/mediums
5 and 4 gives the following bags conceded:
Georgiades (4) if he’s a medium
Hawkins (6)
Papley (4)
Elliott (4)
Weightman (4)
Edit: maybe interesting, those last three were rounds 20, 23, and the final, so possibly something changed very late in the year.
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threads are safe in a harbourdashery
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Which I see as our far bigger issue.
Hopefully Kelly can help out there.
I felt that once we identified that Lav and Ridley take the best talls, then tall forwards became less of an issue.
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There are reasons to be optimistic about 2022. And I vehemently disagree on not having a top quality tall back - I expect Ridley to win multiple AAs into the future. But there are causes for concern:
- The draw is harder
- The midfield individuals look strong on paper, but have hardly played together. There are also question marks on the wings.
- Teams will have put more work into us.
- A number of teams underperformed last year. Competition for the top 8 will be viscous.
- As noted, we need to replace some goals. We don’t really know what our best forwardline is.
- We’re still very inexperienced.
- For most of 2021 the injuries hit an area (midfield) we could cover. Similar injuries in other areas would be bad.
- Caldwell may be an injury crock and Lav may have just had a one-off injury-free year.
- Second year blues for some players?
- Wright & Jones will get more attention, and Francis may not be up to it.
- Can Parish and Stringer continue their form?
- We won one more game in 2018 than 2021 and didn’t make finals.
- We consistently lost to top 8 opponents in 2021. That may continue.
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Agreed. We don’t want to get stuck in the middle.
i think the development of our midfield could go a long way to covering over the significant holes in the forward line
How is missing finals trending upwards ?? 
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Lid on - been told we’ve sacked our in house psychologists in favour of hiring a social worker
Interesting decision in the wake of covid
So send McGrath and Stringer forward to help out…or just keep pumping the ball in there.
Best 22 hard, Feel need Cox and Perkins in for Development, but that has me leaving Durham and Francis out.
Best 22
B: Kelly Stewart Laverde
Hb: Hind Ridley Heppell
C: Langford Caldwell Cox
Hf: McGrath Jones Stringer
F: Tippa Wright Snelling
R: Draper Parish Merrett
Int: Shiel, Smith, Redman, Perkins
Emg: Francis, Durham, Waterman