Media State of the List

Hello.

Welcome to the thread of rhetorical questions. What does this mean?

Over the next couple of weeks I will be having a look at each list and how they performed during S18, as well as where they are headed in S19. I won’t be specifically analysing every single poster, as I don’t want this to become a half-finished piece of work, or as the cool kids call it, a Marlowe. I will be arbitrarily assigning posters an A, B, C or F Grade, and giving a general rundown on the group.

Make sense? Good. Don’t Care? Please bump the threads numbers up by telling me. Think I’m wrong? Have a whinge.

Link to Club Analysis
Las Vegas Bears
West Coast Wonders
Alberton Swamprats
Gold City Royals
East Side Hawks
Roys FFC
Coney Island Warriors
Mt Buller Demons
Dragons FFC
 
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State of the List – Las Vegas Bears

In this episode of ‘State of the List’ we take an in depth look at the newly formed Las Vegas Bears, and where their posters stand 1 year into their careers as Bears. A big shock for me, when doing this piece, was that the Bears weren’t as inexperienced as I thought, with 12 posters debuting.

In their debut season, the Bears only managed 4 wins to be rooted to the bottom of the SFA ladder. On field it was a nightmarish beginning, with comparisons to the GWS Giants in the SFA reserve league being bandied around the league. The Bears also went through a league record 6 coaches in their debut season, with seemingly no man outside the egotistic boncer34 able to bring any success to the list. Off field, there were questions raised about the clubs posting identity, labelled as quantity over quality, or in soggy layman’s terms ‘spammers’. With such a young list could the amount of activity be labelled a success? Is this teaching the young qootyers poor habits? Is it sustainable? Only time will tell.

But where does this leave their list in regards to next season? Let’s have a look!

A+ Grade

pantskyle
Juggalo Balla

They're both guns, they both formed the Bears into an excellent posting side whilst having good on-field seasons themselves. Please see where I referred to them below for more info.

A Grade

brahj
Matera92
The Half Back

Only two rookies, brahj and Matera92 have been able to qooty at an elite level this season. It was predictable, that the experienced hands would have the best season for the debutant club. It’s hard to place exactly what this means for the fledgling club, as having two rookies as A Graders is a good result, but where does this leave the other 10 rookies? On the other side of the experience coin, pantskyle, The Half Back and Juggalo Balla had excellent posting seasons. All 3 were in the top 5 (1st, 2nd and 5th respectively) in regards to posting numbers, and in a team accused of spamming their posts contained depth and reasoning, an A Grade combination. On field, pantskyle and Juggalo Balla showed the way, pants in the ruck dominating the stats, and juggs kicking their highest goal tally for the year. The Half Back was par for the course stats wise, however his role as the statsman (which he did a pretty poor job of, let’s be honest) sees him up in the top 5 posters at the club. Though the results won’t be seen until seasons down the track, it is their influence on the lower grades that will be their biggest judgement. Can they drag more rookies than just brahj up to their level? At some point the young Bears have to stop relying on their experienced posters.

brahj and Matera92 are considered A Grade based upon their experience. Both were a constant presence in match threads, averaging around 42 and 36 posts each respectively. What impressed me though, was that both showed good depth for relative rookies. In a team accused of spamming, these two kept it relevant (mostly) and bantered in a good-humoured way. The key for these two is keeping it up for more than one season, and ensuring that they don’t burn out. If they manage this, they have leadership potential at the Bears, and will be gaining more recognition around the league in no time.

B Grade

Magruder
Quivorir
DemonJim
FiveStrings

Already you can see that the Bears struggle beyond their A Graders, and 3 of their 3 B Graders are more experienced posters. Let me say off the bat that there is nothing wrong with being a B Grader. These are good, solid supporting posters who turn up each week and play their part. And this is a quality group of supporting posters. They aren’t a group that will get angry and rant (outside of DJ), nor defend to the hilt using stats. They do, however, keep the match threads moving with good humour, exactly what you need behind your big hitters. On field, DemonJim was easily in the top 3 performed Bears for the season (and their highest possession winner?), and the other posters were exactly what they are in match threads, a good support cast. Magruder had a good season in match threads and through his qooty, however his lack of exposure in threads outside of match threads is his downfall. To become an A Grader he needs to ensure that he is seen more around the league, as he is certainly someone with A Grade potential.

Going forward, the Bears need more of their rookies, like Magruder, pushing into a B Grade category. As I said in the A Grade rankings, you can only rely on your experienced posters for so long, and it should be a goal of the Bears to have at least 3 first-second year posters in this bracket next season. Like Magruder, DemonJim, Quivorir and FiveStrings need to be seen more outside of match and werewolf threads to begin pushing up into A Grade status. Particularly DJ, as his clubs co-captain.

C Grade

Dingster
kane249
Brown Bottle
Citroin
Big Cox 88
getgaff

Like with B Graders, there is nothing wrong with being a C Grader. Not everyone has the time nor passion to be a big enough presence to be considered an A or B Grader, and every team needs once a week posters. However, here we find 3 more of the rookies, the same amount as we had in the A and B Grade brackets. I understand how hard it can be, gaining relevance as a rookie, or even understanding banter, and being completely honest, a C Grade isn’t a poor result for a first year player. However, these are the posters that need to be pushing into the B and A Grade brackets next year, both by upping their numbers and refining their banter.

Brown Bottle and Dingster are the disappointing members of the C Grade Bracket. Both are more than experienced enough, and have talent enough, to be posting more then they are. Interest in the SFA comes and goes, and sometimes real life gets in the way. The key is for these two posters to bounce back, and contribute as we know they can next season.

F Grade

saintkildaman
Bryce_Jersey17
Keyser Soze
Greater Gattsby
ioppolo
ChampRevesby
GreatBradScott
hilly
Ochre
QS
YouDontKnowJack
rhys321
EMGEE_6

F Grade is the one that you are guaranteed to be disappointed with, and boy is there a lot of disappointed Bears, and here we find 8 of the Bears rookies, most of whom pants coerced over from the Eagles board. These are the posters who are very rarely sighted, and the highest posting total of any single match thread from this group is 4. As this is the first State of the List, it’s hard to make any comparisons, however this is concerning for the future. To have so many rookies in a clubs first year disengaged and uninterested, means that there is more chance of recruiting going into S19. And pitching a club that just won the spoon in its first year, isn’t exactly going to be an enticing offer. Veterans such as YouDontKnowJack, saintkildaman and BryceJersey had poor first years, and really does show how the Bears topping up with experience didn’t quite pay off. These were the posters they needed to show the way, and they didn’t deliver.

Now, this can’t be fixed right away. These posters aren’t magically going to become A or B Graders overnight. But they need to start pushing into C Grade territory. They need to start contributing, even just a little. For the rookies, they may not understand it. They might not see the intricacies and nuances of a match thread, nor their place in it. The big challenge for pants and co is to get this chunk of their list posting, so they can discover who they are and understand their place.

Overall

C+. They have quality all through-out the list, however they need more B and C Grade posters to really bolster and support the list. Moving 5 F Graders up to a C Grade will make all the difference, and I am excited to see what the future has in hold for the Bears.
 
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Gee Dub

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 19, 2010
7,864
4,428
Albury
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Other Teams
Ravens, Rabbitohs, Rockets, Everton
Hello.

Welcome to the thread of rhetorical questions. What does this mean?

Over the next couple of weeks I will be having a look at each list and how they performed during S18, as well as where they are headed in S19. I won’t be specifically analysing every single poster, as I don’t want this to become a half-finished piece of work, or as the cool kids call it, a Marlowe. I will be arbitrarily assigning posters an A, B, C or F Grade, and giving a general rundown on the group.

Make sense? Good. Don’t Care? Please bump the threads numbers up by telling me. Think I’m wrong? Have a whinge.

Link to Club Analysis
Las Vegas Bears

Where was the rhetorical question there?
 
Damn right me and my boy brahj are A grade.

if pantskyle wasn't already paying me an insane amount of money I'd be asking for a pay rise.

*it, I want a pay rise pants!
 
Mar 6, 2014
24,910
48,393
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Boston Bruins, New York Giants
Damn right me and my boy brahj are A grade.

if pantskyle wasn't already paying me an insane amount of money I'd be asking for a pay rise.

****it, I want a pay rise pants!

Please don't ask for any more money. The Salary Cap has been blown out so much that I'm actually giving away my money to play.
 
Where was the rhetorical question there?
Where is any rhetorical question?

You would have received a like, but alas your less than serious approach held me back.;)

Less than serious? I avoided work for a good hour doing that ;). It was THB's stats work that got him over the line to an A.
 
I'll take that F grade, purely because I was only in the team for two or three games.

Going to sharpen up my spamming skills during the off season, watch me rise the ranks next year fellas!
Yeah, sorry about that. It was hard to not give an F Grade, though!
 
Sep 17, 2010
21,596
14,073
Waverley Park
AFL Club
Adelaide
Other Teams
Dragons FFC
I'll take that F grade, purely because I was only in the team for two or three games.

Going to sharpen up my spamming skills during the off season, watch me rise the ranks next year fellas!
Are you related to Ashton Agar by any chance?
 
I'll take that F grade, purely because I was only in the team for two or three games.

Going to sharpen up my spamming skills during the off season, watch me rise the ranks next year fellas!
You're gonna make this poppa bear cry.
 
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