SEN's "All Night Appetite" crew's NMFC 2014 season review is on this hour.

[Twinkletoes]

I've heard their reviews for all other teams from A to M and they're very thorough. Tune in if you're interested and yearning some outside North perspective on our year.

www.sen.com.au/listenlive

It should begin soon.

 

[kangaspurs]

Terry seems to think that we were only concentrating on the Higgins contract negotiations and neglecting to deal with Levi. Can he really think our list management staff are that incompetent?

 

[kangaspurs]

Pretty harsh on Jack Ziebell as well, neglecting to mention he was injured.

I also just don't buy this whole 'North have to win in the next 2 years or they never will.' We continually take our draft picks and our core group are under 25.

 

[roosmad]

Pretty harsh on Jack Ziebell as well, neglecting to mention he was injured.

I also just don't buy this whole 'North have to win in the next 2 years or they never will.' We continually take our draft picks and our core group are under 25.

i also find it strange that some are saying north must win in next couple of years or they never will, according to the experts we were not supposed to be in the top 4, but finished that way this year....the famous "premiership window" that is spoken about is longer than a couple of seasons, idiots are saying this on the back of boomer/petrie and dal anto being at the end of their careers and not looking at how our core group is nicely placed.

 

[Jasemon]

Is there a thread or link to this SEN review? Did they actually have anything positive to say about the team? Over in Mexico here and can take awhile to catch up on news. Go Kangas!

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Is there a thread or link to this SEN review? Did they actually have anything positive to say about the team? Over in Mexico here and can take awhile to catch up on news. Go Kangas!

Are you picking up drugs for James Hird*?

 

[B4Bear]

Are you picking up drugs for James Hird*?

Field testing?

 

[King Corey]

I also just don't buy this whole 'North have to win in the next 2 years or they never will.' We continually take our draft picks and our core group are under 25.

I can kinda understand it. Our best matchwinners are the wrong side of 30 - Boomer & Drew.

Until we're at a point where a few more players consistently stand and deliver to a similar standard I can wear it.

 

[Twinkletoes]

Yeah I thought they were a bit harsh on Jack, and Plough is really dark on us losing Levi. I don't think they were saying "it's now or never" re our premiership chances but more a case of us recognising it's our best chance and our recruiting strategy suggests the club feel the same way. I'm hoping they make a podcast available as it was, as expected, a very comprehensive breakdown of our season 2014, where we're at as a list, and what we need for an assault on 2015.

They surmised that top 4 should be expected next season with hopes set on advancing a week further to a GF appearance where anything can occur on the day.

They rate us just behind the Hawks, Sydney and Port as a member of the chasing crop. Much will depend on the further development of JZ, Atley, McDonald, Macmillan, a return to form for Basti and Fishy etc, and they think we'll cover Levi's loss.

The pressing concern from a recruitment perspective is in the KP posts at either end with Grima et al needing Tippett or a fit Tarrant to help with the gorillas and Dish and Waite in their twilight years. As such, apart from going best available at pick 16, he had us going the McKenzie route at 25 (if available) and he also mentioned Foster(?) who the Dogs could've taken as a F/S but who they instead hope to rookie. Don't know much about him.

 

[Only Forwards]

IMHO I don't think that we need to win in the next couple of years.

I think that we have a huge f***ing desire to pull ourselves to the top of the heap so that we are developing kids in pressure cooker finals so that once at the top we stay there.

FWIW Ben Cunnington is 23.

We could get another 10 years from him.

2024.

2024.

But the next 2 years are now or never??????

Sometimes I think they try to feed us this crap because they don't think about career time frames.

 

[JD-Roo]

Is there a thread or link to this SEN review? Did they actually have anything positive to say about the team? Over in Mexico here and can take awhile to catch up on news. Go Kangas!

Nice avatar Jasemon. Looking forward to July next year?

 

[kangaspurs]

I can kinda understand it. Our best matchwinners are the wrong side of 30 - Boomer & Drew.

Until we're at a point where a few more players consistently stand and deliver to a similar standard I can wear it.

I can understand why some people may have that opinion but I don't think it's a reality. I think we're well placed for 2017 and beyond.

 

[Chron]

Might be worth picking up the Sun tomorrow, we are up for the BluePrint analysis from David King and Jay Clark might be an interesting read.

 

[astrovic]

Saying we need to win in the next two years is the same as saying Hawthorn had to win one in 2007-08 when they had Crawford, Croad, Dew and Bateman. Surely if they missed out then, there was no chance the crop of talented players underneath could win premierships down the track?

 

[DarkPhoenix]

The fact they tried to link Levi w/ Higgins makes me loathe to listen to the podcast if it's available.

Sounds like they have no clue.

 

[astrovic]

The fact they tried to link Levi w/ Higgins makes me loathe to listen to the podcast if it's available.

Sounds like they have no clue.

It's a pretty fruitless discussion. Might as well link it to that comet landing if they're going to connect disconnected events.

The Greenwood deal is better explained by the word "Pickering" than it is by the word "Higgins"

 

[LT Smash]

Did anyone happen to mention our B&F winner? Surely if Ben Cunnington continues on his present trajectory, he will be a shoe-in for the All Australian squad in about 7 years time.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

It's a pretty fruitless discussion. Might as well link it to that comet landing if they're going to connect disconnected events.

The Greenwood deal is better explained by the word "Pickering" than it is by the word "Higgins"

 

[Twinkletoes]

Saying we need to win in the next two years is the same as saying Hawthorn had to win one in 2007-08 when they had Crawford, Croad, Dew and Bateman. Surely if they missed out then, there was no chance the crop of talented players underneath could win premierships down the track?

One of them stated that and the others had a longer term view. It was simply about the fact Dish and Waite are in their latter years, along with Boomer and Grima, and that this current crop's biggest opportunities lie in the next couple of years. It was also in reaction to our recent recruiting of NDS and Waite, which suggested to them that we felt we were near and just needed a little extra to help get it done.

The fact they tried to link Levi w/ Higgins makes me loathe to listen to the podcast if it's available.

Sounds like they have no clue.

Plough was the only one who seems to link the two, and have his knickers in a knot as a result. They're very switched on these overnight blokes and they spent approx 50 minutes on their analysis. It's worth a listen. Some of the discussion in the end is of course opinion based, which is where people will differ or agree.

I've messaged them on Sitonmyfacebook for a podcast anyway.

 

[Kimbo]

Did anyone happen to mention our B&F winner? Surely if Ben Cunnington continues on his present trajectory, he will be a shoe-in for the All Australian squad in about 7 years time.

An optimist I see.

 

[Zondor]

We were so close 2014. But isn't that the plan? To challenge for a premiership. The recruitment of Dal Santo, Waite and Higgins over the last 2 years suggests as much. If we aren't serious contenders for the Flag in 2015 then serious questions have to be asked. :stern look

 

[Chron]

One of them stated that and the others had a longer term view. It was simply about the fact Dish and Waite are in their latter years, along with Boomer and Grima, and that this current crop's biggest opportunities lie in the next couple of years. It was also in reaction to our recent recruiting of NDS and Waite, which suggested to them that we felt we were near and just needed a little extra to help get it done.

I think the main issue is that from an outside perspective our 'better' players ie Wells, Boomer, Dish and the additions of Dal Santo and Waite are all getting on and whilst as die-hards we recognise the development of our younger guys is coming along nicely, i think it highlights the need for the senior young guys like Atley, McMillan, Bastinac, Jacobs, Ziebell, Wright to start playing consistently well and establish themselves as constant contributors, so that we alleviate the perception that it all hinges on the older guys, which only strengths our tilt at a flag. Subsequently, guys such as McDonald, Turner, Wood Garner etc just come in, play their role and gain valuable experience.

I also think that we need to consider the fact that we have never really bottomed out and have never had consistently low picks to top up with. Our list has been built with solid drafting with the first round picks given over the scott era and then later picks used effectively to develop players, then of course we have had a number of rookie selections and now the addition of the older FA's, i sense that the outside perception of our list of being very old is because we haven't had the latest teenage sensation in the top 5 of the draft for some time (Hansen pick 4 was the last top 5??), so the media and your general pundit only pay attention to the names who have been around for the longest, thus inferring we don't have any decent young blokes. And what about those who say well the stats show you have the oldest list in the comp? Statistics such as age of a list are based on averages, for anyone who has a basic understanding of stats, outliers can dramatically influence the average, so having a guy like boomer at however old he is, is going to effect the average greatly. Not that I have done it, but if you took the median age of the squad, ie the midpoint, I would suggest we would be on a par with other clubs, suggesting that we have a greater spread in age, which can be confirmed in calculating the range, ie the differnce between the eldest to youngest on the list.

So is it 2015 or bust?

I would suggest not, yes Boomer & Co may be getting on, but I would say we are building for a sustained tilt. Yes, the older guys will eventually move on, but I think we are building a good core of younger players, who have played a decent amount of footy together and as they are just getting to the right age we can continue to top up with experience via FA and rookie list if need be, but we have also remained committed to going to each draft with our picks in hand to replenish at the other end.

Expectations in 2015 will be high both internally and externally and I don't think we can generate much more output from our senior players and it will be interesting to see what Waite and Higgins can bring to the table. Therefore, continued success and building on the results of 2014 in 2015, in my opinion, hinges on the senior young guys like Atley, McMillan, Bastinac, Jacobs, Ziebell, Wright taking their games to the next level on a consistent basis with the younger brigade such as McDonald, Turner, Wood Garner etc playing their role not only will this rebuke the dad's army tag, but will solidify my thoughts that we have built a list with the right balance of experience and youth, just that it's time the youth stand up because we won't be a successful side if we continue to rely on the older blokes to pull us over the line.

Can't wait to see how 2015 unfolds!!