Positives About Our List

Football Discussion Dustin Fletcher Hangar
41

In regards to the OP, the main problem is this list keeps getting over rated, firstly by coaches and then fans.
It’s miles off being top 4, let alone top 8, and even further from actually winning a final.

The games against the tops sides this year should tell you how far off we are, we haven’t been compeitive in any (The Rich game should have been a 10goal hiding).

You always miss guys who are well performed. Bar Ridley, the jury is firmly out on Francis and BZT so if Hurls and Hooker go relying on these guys will see us have 15+ kicked on us most weeks. Badly need Ambrose back.

The best thing we had going for us was “building” a forward line, and now no Mozz and prob Fantasia will go we lose that X factor.

List has heaps of holes, way closer to bottom 4 than top 4 for 2021.

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42

Totally agree with this. Ambrose is a positive when he’s back though coz he can lock down on oppositions’ key forwards, we know that.

43

I am about the biggest happy clapper on here, but after the last game, I am hit with a great dose of reality.

We have played one good, intense game this year, vs the Pies. The rest, we either played teams worse than us or we were just shitee.

Positives on our list are few.

Joey - but will he stay?
Walla and Mozzie - yep
Draper - love him
Ridley - will be AA one year
McGrath - is getting to be elite
Saad - yep
Stringer - if he loses 10 kg and gets fit.
Merrit - yep
Fanta - if he ever gets on the park fit

Then we have a bunch of B-graders
Schiel, Smith, Parish, Francis, Stewart, McKenna, Langford, Laverde, Ambrose, Phillips

Then blokes who are past it
Hooker, Hurley TBC, Heppell, Zaka

Then C - graders
Redman, BZT, Snelling, Gleeson, McKernan, Clarke, Guelfi

Then D- graders
Townsend, Cutler, Hibberd, Begley, Mutch. Ham

These blokes, we hav eno idea about as they are either injured or do not get a go.
Jones, Bryan, Cahill, Gown, Johnson, McQuillan, McBride, Crauford, Hird

TOTAL RE-BUILD TIME

New list manager
Cut all D-graders and the old blokes. Give the young blokes games. Get everyone fit

44

In the last 3 drafts, we’ve picked up the least talent of any AFL club.

That is our future. It’s bleak.

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45

And the positives you list include some massive negatives. Fantasia can’t get fit, Joe 2 games, Merrett has somehow become the classic stats padder who gets a heap of the ball but does nothing with it.

The list has positives. The problem is the major positive is “we can’t possibly be this sht again” and each year that’s been the “upside” to a list that’s been there or there abouts for a bottom of the 8 finish. And each year, the next year were more sht than the one before

Our ability to turn quality talent into utter shte is unprecedented.

So yeah, there are positives I. The list, and if I look at it through the lens of what they could be I could definitely see upside. But right now when I look it through the lens of what they could be while wearing the red and black, I see a completely different picture.

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About 34 holes!

47

Ridley says hi

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We have 20 players that belong on our list.

  1. Ridley
  2. Redman
  3. Hurley
  4. Saad
  5. Francis
  6. Joe
  7. Stringer
  8. Tippa
  9. Draper
  10. Hepp
  11. Merrett
  12. McGrath
  13. Shiel
  14. Parish
  15. Smith
  16. Langford
  17. Fanta
  18. Mckenna
  19. Stewart
  20. Lav

Fanta and McKenna both have elite talent but are not performing for different reasons. Stewart and LAV haven’t cemented their spots in the best 22 yet but should be given another year each.

We have (at least) 8 young players that all deserve to be part of the development component of the list.

  1. Mozz
  2. Bryan
  3. Zerk
  4. Jones
  5. Cahill
  6. Ham
  7. McQuillan
  8. McBride

Beyond these 28 we have some untried young players, depth players who may improve, and some older players nearing retirement. At the moment we lack consistency, system and mental toughness, and we have players who are potentially elite but performing well below that level.

Whether we succeed will depend on the injury gods and whether this new coaching group can get the best out of the list. All the doom from the rebuilders is just as misguided as confidence that we are about to step up to top 4, but we’ve invested in new coaches and young talent and we’ll continue to give them the time and resources they need to maximise the chance of success.

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49

Very generous classification of several of your B graders!

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51

Top 4​:joy::joy:

52

To be lid off

A forward line of Joe and String and Stewart and Laverde and Tippa and Fanta could be incredibly dynamic and difficult to stop

A defence of Ambrose and Ridley and Zerk and Frang and Saad and McKenna could be equal parts dour and exciting and could deal with anything

A midfield of Heppell and Shiel and Merrett and Parish and Langford and McGrath and Smith being fed by Draper could be a fantastic blend of size and excitement and a desire to win

But to be lid on.

The forward line is full of guys who can’t kick, are injury prone, and who never play more than 3 games together so have no system.

The midfield is full of one way runners who like to pad their stats rather than using the ball to advantage,l

The defence is full of inexperienced players who have no idea how to help each other out, combined with loose cannons who don’t work together and probably don’t even want to be here.

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53

Whats worse…

Our list or the coaching of the list?

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54

Positives we have some talented players
Future young ruck
McGrath future captain

negatives
mids too small, poor kicks
forwards poor shot for goal
a few of our top players are injury prone

EFC 22 under 24
B: Ridley McBride Zerk-Thatcher
Hb: Guelfi Francis Redman
C: Langford(vc) McGrath© Ham
Hf: Cahill Gown Snelling
F; Mosquito Jones Bryan
R: Draper Parish Clarke
Int:McQuillan Crauford Mutch Begley
Emg: Hird Johnson Hibberd

If Under 25 can add Laverde, Merrett, McKenna, Fantasia

we need
*strong midfield size and grunt added.
*lockdown small defender

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55

People have been using this line for the last few years, it won’t happen and we all know it. Best case would be 8th place ran ins and a ‘respectable’ 10 goal loss at Optus Stadium. Anyone over 28 on the list is not going to be involved in a finals win here.

56

You’d let the outside the demographic but still good/useful players go on a gradual basis. You still need to be competitive while you rebuild.

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57

Really? It’s his second year

58

we dont say that name around these parts anymore

59

I think that was a really good post, I agree with it all, though it’s probably too lid-off.

FWD: Aside from Tippa, all of those blokes have had a ton of injuries, so the idea of them all fit and playing (and staying) for long enough to make us a top 4 side is unlikely.

MID: What Hepp and Lang have over the others in height they lack in speed. Sure our mids highlights are great/exciting but they aren’t any better than any other teams. Draper is showing good signs/potential after having a year off injured, not sure how he will go. We always get excited about kids who end up amounting to nothing. Most teams currently have a better ruckman, and I’d rather have a good ruckman than one who might be good one day if he doesn’t keep getting injured.

DEF: Hopefully some of the talls fill out a bit and come good in time for when Hooker and Hurley are gone. Saad is legit but McKenna is another one of our exciting players with a huge knock on him. Zerk/Francis should work out okay and could peak at the right time for us.

Coaching: If this was Woosha’s last yeas head coach (assuming he was actually coaching how he wanted to), then it’s confirmed his time at EFC was a failure. Decent sides don’t get pounded by >50 points multiple times after the coach has had a few years to work things out, and a 3-4 year stint shouldn’t end in a rebuild after no success.
If this was Rutten’s first year as head coach then he’s lucky he’s had Woosha around to get blamed for everything. Hopefully the rebuild is in practice.

Captaincy: He’s hardly been on the field but even so, I don’t think he’s that great a captain. Not sure who else would or should be. Maybe he has the best footy brain and inspires everyone around him and he is the best option, but we certainly aren’t winning games because of his leadership.

Normally I post with a pretty lid-off short term view. I back our players because they are what we currently have available, and they could have a good game, because I’ve seen them have a good game previously.

But long term we are kididng ourselves if we think our team of short, injured, rookies with poor skills are miraculously going to click and dominate the competition.

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60

Our players are too slight. Seriously when I see league footballers I expect them to be the sorta fellas you wouldn’t want to see in a dark alley.

Our boys look like the type that are just really good at playing FIFA or Fortnite.

(apologies to Stewart, Stringer, Hooksy and Hurls for starters… But í think everyone knows who I am talking about).

The good news is a few of them look they may have turned the corner.

Give me blokes who are really strong over the footy please. And another forward who can kick like Gunston from Hawthorn…

Whatever WCE do to train kicking for goal, we need to copy.

61

Post-thrashing Blitz revenge aside, I’m not as negative about the team as , well, everyone else.
There’s a chance that we do not have the critical amount of skill-sets to get where we want to with the game-plan we’re trying to instill, but the gaps are not as big as it seems, in my opinion. We’re short on good ball disposal skills - but that is greatly amplified by indecision and confusion during game. We are a few positions short of a strong balanced side - at least one hard-running winger, say 185cm or so, with great disposal. A strong KPD. Those aside, I think we have the pieces.
The trick is going to be juggling skills/plan/age over the next couple of years. Everyone looks like amateurs who can’t play when you’re getting smashed all over the park. The reality is - these guys did not reach this level of the sport by being hacks, no matter how much a big loss upsets you. The keys are there, or nearly there - they need to be used well.

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