i was thinking more overlap and better delivery being generated by a more talented and more stacked midfield
quoting Ivan and posting a best 22 is the ultimate alpha move
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That seems strange. I’d be surprised if there isn’t some requirement set by the AFL for a minimum standard of health professionals accessible at each club, and you’d expect that to include a qualified psych.
Edit: Just looked at the 2017-2022 CBA, nothing about any form of mental health specialist.
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This speculation happens every year. Only 8 out of 18 can make the top 8, thus competition is always fierce.
If we have a good run with injuries (covid also) and the team performs at its best I believe we will be better than last year. Where we finish will depend on the same scenario with other clubs.
Anybody that thinks we’re challenging this year has a head with rocks in it. Another development year, and that’s ok. We need forwards before we can have a proper crack, and not the type that you pick up at this time of the year.
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Pretty much spot on.
It’s hard to ignore a lot of the issues we’ve had for a long time.
I still think the Midfield isn’t accountable enough. We get multiple goals scored on us far too quickly, and it often looks like our midfield has stopped running defensively.
We continue to struggle against teams that pride themselves on contested football. To add to this, we put all the responsibility on Caldwell (who’s played only a handful of games) and now Hobbs who hasn’t played senior football.
There’s alot to like, but you can’t ignore recent history.
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Does it really need explaining?
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How are we putting all the responsibility for contested football on Caldwell and Hobbs? Surely Parish has most of that responsibility considering hes our #1 contested ball winner.
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Our biggest issue this year will be our forward line. I think we are going to struggle to kick enough goals to beat the good sides
No Hooker-who contributed a hell of a lot of goals last year, as well as taking the heat off both Wright and Jones
No tippa, for who knows how long. Without him we not only lose his goals and defensive pressure, but his sublime kicking skills to other forwards. He adds an x factor to the side that can’t be replaced
We are left with the following core forwards to kick enough goals, as well as mids chipping in
Wright: Played better than I was expecting last year. It’s a big ask to now become the main man and get the best defender every week
Jones: He will get a lot more time put into him now, instead of the 3rd best defender going to him- he now get’s the 2nd best.
Smith: was poor last year for long stretches.Will need to have a very good year for us to kick good scores
Francis: you never know what you are going to get from him on a game to game basis. Gets his hands to a lot of marks but they don’t always stick. Is his fitness up to the standard for a full time forward/half forward?
Stringer: Will always be super dangerous up forward, but he played his best footy playing the majority of his time in the middle.
Snelling: will provide you great pressure all day. He isn’t going to kick loads of goals though(that’s not a criticism either btw)
Perkins: still very young and very raw. Shouldn’t be expecting him to dominate up forward at this stage
Waterman: awesome kick of the footy, goes missing for large periods during games. Needs to work on his defensive pressure. Good end up being absolutely vital to our fortunes up forward
I’m very confident on the direction of the club and team as a whole in the long term. But in terms of where we end up, I’m expecting a 9-11th finish due to our forward line weaknesses
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But the number in the running varies each year. We got in with 11 wins - it was a weak year. We finished (I think) 11th in 2018 with 12 wins. You needed 13 wins to make the eight and every team down to 12th finished with more wins than we had in 2021.
Flag year coming up.
Bookmark it.
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Look, lids off and you guys will like it.
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If we miss finals but we see improvements in application and game plan then I would still see it as trending upwards.
A few things i want to see this season
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Defence when we don’t have the ball want it to be hard for the oppo to move the ball.
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Winning stoppages around the ground we won’t win many games if we just rely on winning the center bounce.
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Tackling and Pressure
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It could be argued that having less wins and still making the top 8 is an indication of a strong year. The total number of wins available each year is the same. If you have year when you need a higher number of wins to make the 8 it must mean more teams are having a poor year, i.e. winning less, which could
mean more easier wins.
Of course the AFL FIXture will have some influence on this.
Why would anyone start this thread.
In January, when the sun is shining, the birds are singing and we have a full list training.
What sort of mind goes to “well we’re stuffed aren’t we”.
Enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the hope, don’t get so worried about the little things. And forget about this thread until we cough up 3 goals in a row in a meaningless practice game at least…
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And now I’m caught up, the “draw difficulty” assumes that everything stays as it was, which it never does
You assume that “lid on” means dire pessimism?
IMO ‘Lid on’ is being realistic and balanced beliefs on our strengths & Weaknesses.
I see “Lid off” as nothing more than absolute fantasy land, where there is no negative talk…… and people only ever want to hear delusional positive conversations.
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Lid on is the reflection of Lid off, it’s is fantasy land pessimism. It’s “we’re not going to win a game and will definitely win the spoon” last year. There is nothing “balanced” and “realistic” about lid on in the slightest. There are a million other threads for sensible discussion. Lid On is the place for those who can’t see that there’s always a ray of light.
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so say that, as if it’s a bad thing
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