2023 - The Season That Was

[RAPPA]

Well, that was turbulent experience.

We started with a very odd teeing draw, and got to 3 wins and a draw after the first 4 rounds without looking convincing.

Then the rot began and we slumped to 4 wins and a draw from 13 games.

All hope seemed lost. Many were calling for Voss’ head. It was thought the heartbreaking losses at the tail end of last year, broke us as opposed to galvanising the group.

Then, they stuck fat and there was an unbelievable streak of 9 wins that saw us rise from the dead like Lazarus and secure a home elimination final.

We finally made finals and got all the way to a preliminary final, with two stirring finals wins.

‘‘Twas a helluva ride. For the first time in a long time I’ve been proud and happy after the season. Don’t get me wrong, I badly wanted to win the PF, make the GF and cap off a fairytale season with beating the pies.

Alas, not to be. But onwards and upwards.

 

[thylacine60]

um......

 

[ferrisb]

Mid-season that was as depressing as the Blues have been for a long time. Even more disappointing than the wooden spoon years because I thought we should have been much better than that.

The end to the year was a gift from the heavens. We showed a game plan. We played with heart. We worked our asses off and played full ground defense. We were hard to score against we were even harder to beat. We never gave up.

I am OK with other teams being better than us. What I can't handle is being useless when we shouldn't be. I think the latter has been eradicated for now.

Amazingly, this year was better than I expected. And I think next year will be better still.

We do need to add some more layers. Winning the inside contest won't work every time. But there is so much to work with.

 

[SBYM]

We have a genuine chance of winning the premiership next year.

Been a very long time since I could say that with a straight face.

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Need to find the right missing piece this off season to compliment the group.

Collingwood needed an inside mid- got Mitchell

Brisbane needed support for Neale- got Dunkley

Last year we addressed defensive running - got Acres & drafted Hollands for wing roles !!

What do we need going forward….???

 

[SBYM]

Need to find the right missing piece this off season to compliment the group.

Collingwood needed an inside mid- got Mitchell

Brisbane needed support for Neale- got Dunkley

Last year we addressed defensive running - got Acres & drafted Hollands for wing roles !!

What do we need going forward….???

Speed.

<insert Top Gun gif>

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Speed.

<insert Top Gun gif>

Yep for sure

 

[SBYM]

um......

This better not be about depth...

 

[athensblue]

Williams and a surprise during trade period should do it.
And cunners, marchy and Martin to give us more
That first 30 mins today was as exciting as we've seen all year

 

[luke livingston seagull]

Zac Williams and Jordan Boyd off half back should help us put a lot more speed on the ball and elevate us to a seriously good transition team along with Saad and Gov.

We probably need one more quick half forward who can kick 30 goals while adding a bit of zip through the midfield when needed. A Zac Bailey

33

Zac Bailey

Age

24

Ht

182cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.7

3star

K

6.9

3star

HB

5.9

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.2

4star

CL

0.9

3star

D

12.9

3star

K

7.3

3star

HB

5.6

3star

M

3.9

4star

T

2.4

3star

CL

0.7

3star

D

13.4

4star

K

6.6

3star

HB

6.8

5star

M

3.2

4star

T

2.8

5star

CL

0.6

3star

type I guess. I think we have it on our list already. Cunners looms as the guy if he can finally complete a full preseason – showed us what he’s capable of this year, but needs that fitness base to stay in the game / season for longer. I’m also tipping Corey Durdin to go to another level next year and surprise a few people. Think he is a lot more than a stay at home forward pocket. Mots also is nowhere near his ceiling. If one of these boys can step up and have a season that threatens the AA squad, it will go a long way towards #17.

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Zac Williams and Jordan Boyd off half back should help us put a lot more speed on the ball and elevate us to a seriously good transition team along with Saad and Gov.

We probably need one more quick half forward who can kick 30 goals while adding a bit of zip through the midfield when needed. A Zac Bailey type I guess. I think we have it on our list already. Cunners looms as the guy if he can finally complete a full preseason – showed us what he’s capable of this year, but needs that fitness base to stay in the game / season for longer. I’m also tipping Corey Durdin to go to another level next year and surprise a few people. Think he is a lot more than a stay at home forward pocket. Mots also is nowhere near his ceiling. If one of these boys can step up and have a season that threatens the AA squad, it will go a long way towards #17.

Yes there is definitely a need for a hybrid half forward/mid type.

 

[T2B_]

Yes there is definitely a need for a hybrid half forward/mid type.

Isn't that Jack Martin?

 

[Soapy V]

Brian Cook - recruit of the year

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Isn't that Jack Martin?

No….thinking more along the lines of a quick hard overlap runner/accumulator who can give great burst & drive through the middle as well as being a dangerous crafty forward.

 

[gbatman]

We are at a point where some little changes will either make or break us.

We have a list capable of winning a premiership but it needs a few tuneups. We're far too slow. Finals have shown that to us. More speed at the contest and behind the contest will be what takes us there. The rest of the pieces are in place. Only have to look at our finals team and look at GWS, Collingwood and Brisbane how quick they are and how well they carry the footy to see that we have a problem.

I remember round 1, both sides came in with these good on paper midfields. They ran rings around us we crashed and bashed and neither side won.

We had a good win against the Cats who were genuinely all over the place. Then nothing. Could not beat anyone.

Given a bath by Essendon, we were at our absolute lowest point.

Then the game plan got thrown out, we added some speed to the side and we started moving the ball quickly. No more slow switching, slow bombs up the line, picking more players who can carry the ball and get in range of the back of the press and we were getting the ball to the back of the press, going up the middle and going around the press and we started kicking big scores as we went forward with space. Started beating top sides like Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Collingwood, GWS and St Kilda and started kicking huge scores against bottom sides such as West Coast, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Fremantle and The Gold Coast.

Then come finals times we reverted back. Took nearly all our ball carriers out of the side and reverted back to ugly contested and congested footy. No run and carry, less ability to go with opposition outside runners and hardly any play up the middle of the ground and that ability to run with the footy, get in range of the back of the zone and get it there so we go into an open forward line was all gone. Won two finals on luck and got taught a lesson by the Lions. The season somewhat ended the same way it started. With us having leg speed and ball movement issues. But it ended in a preliminary final which is a real positive.

We go into next season knowing exactly where we need to improve. We go into next season with a team that is good enough to make the top 4.

Not wasting our forwards needs to be the priority next year. That means quick, fast direct ball movement. We have a great forward line that can kick massive scores but struggles when we don't move the ball well.

 

[thylacine60]

We are at a point where some little changes will either make or break us.

Can't cop this.

 

[gbatman]

Can't cop this.

Happens to all teams who get to the stage in list build. You need to top it off and finish it with the right players. If you can't pr you discard the wrong ones, then you regress.

We aren't finished yet and I believe losing Dow and Fisher may not be great for us. They should have played finals. We went into finals too slow and dropped players in good form.

Anyway we will see. Make no mistake, list management and coaching will either make us or break us and we are right at this point.

 

[Irish BlueBagger]

We've seen a toughness and mental resilience from Carlton this year, that was absent since 2001.

We've rediscovered the qualities and values, that made this club so successful in the past.

It's been easily our best season since 2000, and we're only going to get better from here onwards.

It's very hard to win a flag from outside the top four though. So ideally we do need to finish inside the top four next year.

 

[thylacine60]

Happens to all teams who get to the stage in list build. You need to top it off and finish it with the right players. If you can't pr you discard the wrong ones, then you regress.

We aren't finished yet and I believe losing Dow and Fisher may not be great for us. They should have played finals. We went into finals too slow and dropped players in good form.

Anyway we will see. Make no mistake, list management and coaching will either make us or break us and we are right at this point.

No changes we make over the off season are going to break us. Just not going to happen.

 

[thylacine60]

Loving the cringing backpedaling by one of the voss sackers in the coaches thread. Apparently he knew all along what needed to happen but the coach, admin, rehab, players, support staff and every other person working at the club didn't. What a resource we have working for us here at BigFooty, 52 weeks a year.

 

[BlueBlood15]

Can’t remember a season quite like this one. Mid year after the 8/9 losses it truly felt like the lowest of lows given the expectations we had for this team. The turnaround in season is nothing short of remarkable and a credit to all involved in the club - from the players who banded together to fight out of the rut and management/executive who stayed the course when it felt like the walls were caving in.

I had the bare pass mark as making the finals pre season and we far exceeded that. To win the Sydney final was a great night but will never forget the Melbourne game. 10 years of pent up emotion spilled out into some of the wildest celebrations I can remember.

To make a prelim final and lose could really be the making of this group. They’re close but they know there’s work to do and nothing will be given. I’m in the camp that you need to experience and lose finals before you win a flag. All recent premiers had finals loses in the years leading into their flag.

We’ve got our core players all locked in so it’s onwards and upwards for 2024.

Really proud of this group and excited for what lies ahead.

 

[gbatman]

No changes we make over the off season are going to break us. Just not going to happen.

Hope not. Just hope we don't offload a heap of pace off our list like we did in our starting 23 for finals. That will break us.

That team and that game plan we took into finals will not make finals, same as it didn't in 2022.

That style of footy and team structure we brought to finals is outdated and different to what got us into finals. Which is strange.

Teams play with far more speed and run and carry. Teams have been restructuring their lists and game plans over the last couple of seasons. You can see some teams starting to take place and they will come up from the bottom to have big impact. Collingwood, Brisbane, St Kilda, Adelaide, GWS and Sydney I think could quite easily be extremely good sides next season if they get things right. It's not going to be easy, there will be others who jump up out of nowhere with a modern list and game plan.

Not only is our finals game plan outdated you can't play that way for an entire season. You'll end up with half the list injured, battered and bruised before mid season. You'll cook the players.

AFL footy is a running game. Contested work and tackling are only part of that but primarily it is a running game. We have some adjustments to make. We have seen Carlton teams all year which have been anywhere from a terrible running side to an elite one. It's been all over the place.

You go in with a slow crash and bash team like we did this finals series, last year and early this year. By mid season the team will be burnt out and the quicker sides will run rings around you. We will be the biggest, strongest, toughest, resilient, good tackling witches hats in the game. Trade Dow and Fisher, get a heap of injuries from playing a physically tolling game style. We won't make finals.

We have a good list. Voss has proven, depending how you use it, it can finish bottom 4 as it was destined to mid way through this year or it can finish top 4 like we have.

Both GWS and Carlton have proven just how important game plan and team structure are. The same list poorly coached and structured can be bottom 4 or if coached and structured properly can be top 4.

Without a shadow of a doubt we can go either way. It's happened at Carlton before under Ratten. That rebuild stopped and did a u-turn very quickly based on poor decisions and poor administration and getting itself in a cultural, development, recruiting and salary cap hole.

Make no mistake, we are at a point where we will go either way. Embracing modern footy, fixing our run and carry and speed in the centre and ball movement issues. Do that and we are a chance to win the flag, easy. Don't do that and we are in trouble.

Or we stick with the big bodied slow player obsession and watch everything fall to pieces. Will be interesting to see which direction we go next season.

I hope to see us a bit quicker in the middle and a backline that can run in waves and carry the ball and deliver it accurately. That's what I want for Christmas.

 

[thylacine60]

Hope not. Just hope we don't offload a heap of pace off our list like we did in our starting 23 for finals. That will break us.

That team and that game plan we took into finals will not make finals, same as it didn't in 2022.

That style of footy and team structure we brought to finals is outdated and different to what got us into finals.

Teams play with far more speed and run and carry. Teams have been restructuring their lists and game plans over the last couple of seasons. You can see some teams starting to take place and they will come up from the bottom to have big impact. Collingwood, Brisbane, St Kilda, Adelaide, GWS and Sydney I think could quite easily be extremely good sides next season if they get things right. It's not going to be easy, there will be others who jump up out of nowhere with a modern list and game plan.

Not only is it outdated you can't play that way for an entire season. You'll end up with half the list injured, battered bruised and injured before mid season. You'll cook the players.

AFL footy is a running game.

G-man. Making moves over the off season that would break us, from where we are now, would be like you (premium platinum) poster doing something over summer that would destroy your reputation. Can't see it happening.

 

[gbatman]

G-man. Making moves over the off season that would break us, from where we are now, would be like you (premium platinum) poster doing something over summer that would destroy your reputation. Can't see it happening.

Maybe not, but discarding players who go against your team's weakness feels uncomfortable to me. It's hard to keep a good list together.

I think how we play and how we select our team will be more instrumental to how we go next year than list management at this stage however list management could influence that enough.

As we have seen, the difference between top 4 and bottom 4 is bugger all. A few different players, different structure and some tweaks to the game plan.

 

[thylacine60]

I'm done.