Snake_Baker
The one true King of the North
- Apr 24, 2013
- 81,024
- 153,170
- AFL Club
- North Melbourne
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- Essendon Lawn Bowls Club
Well, this year was like thinking I had a shot at Natalie Portman and waking up next to Bomber Thompson's "girl" friend. Arguably the most schizophrenic on field season I have seen since 1983. A lot of things went wrong, a few went right, and there was the odd surprise.
I'm glad it's over, because it was a painful season from many aspects. Hopefully these are teething pains and a sign of good things to come.
Here's my wrap up, and my 2020 round 1 starting line up. Critique it by all means, but put up your own categorisations if you want to be taken seriously.
The club: 3/10
The membership scenario was a genuine disgrace, that was only surpassed by the complete lack of board football oversight which allowed Brad Scott to tactically lose his mind, and ambush an entire season of football before it got out of the blocks. As bad as any single season of administration that I can remember. Changes MUST be made. We need to look at shelving Bellerive and coming up with other ideas. A challenging 2020 awaits.
The team: 6/10
Best player: Ben Cunnington, whose season very much mirrored the wild swinging output of the senior side.
Best Forward: Ben Brown
Forward line: 7/10. Were seriously hampered when the midfield was poorly functioning. I thought the forwards were good when our mids delivered.
Best midfielder: Ben Cunnington, closely followed by Goldstein
Midfield: 4/10. Aside from Goldstein and Cunnington (pre-clamp), our midfield was our worst performing group. Needs urgent attention.
Best defender: Robbie Tarrant just keeps on keeping on. We need more like him.
Defence: 8.5/10. Without doubt the heroes of our 2019 season, who bravely held up time and again due to our midfield deficiencies.
Rising star: Difficult choice, but I went with Nick Larkey.
Surprise packet: Jasper Pittard
Most Consistent: Marley Williams (Atley dropped away)
Youth: As promising as I can remember in recent years. Zurhaar surprised, Thomas will be a star, LDU started to show signs, Scott has all the tools, Larkey is established. Simpkin needs to progress quicker & Walker never got going.
Recruits: Jared Polec 8/10, Jasper Pittard 9/10, Aaron Hall cannot rate, Dom Tyson cannot rate.
Target/list issues: Clearly we need some burst centre square midfielders with defensive application, and Goldsteins successor is a major issue moving forward.
Syd Barker top 5
1) Cunnington
2) Tarrant
3) Goldstein
4) Polec
5) Higgins
2020 team
B: MacMillan, Tarrant, Williams
HB: Pittard, Daw, McDonald
C: Polec, Anderson, Scott
HF: Garner, Larkey, Zurhaar
F: Ziebell, Brown, Thomas
R: Goldstein, Cunnington, Higgins
Int: Atley, Walker, Dumont, Simpkin
Emg: Turner, LDU, Vickers-Willis
Comment:
Our list vulnerability is highlighted by my inclusion of injured players who have not had any great continuity. I have to take the default position that Jacobs is done. I'm happy to back Maj as the 2nd KPD in Thompson's absence, but his days of zoning off and being less accountable for an opponent are over. Vickers-Willis will hopefully ease the path of Thompson's succession. We MUST get more from Ahern, LDU & Simpkin in 2020.
Trade:
Wood (I think a trade would be good for both parties at this point.)
Durdin (potentially)
Ahern (potentially)
Delist:
Thompson (retired)
Wright (retired)
Watson (never got going)
Hrovat (potentially, although he showed definite improvement)
Jacobs (potentially, pay him out if he has not progressed)
Big year coming up for:
Ahern
Simpkin
LDU
McKay
Hall
Tyson
Xerri
Murphy
Hayden
I'm glad it's over, because it was a painful season from many aspects. Hopefully these are teething pains and a sign of good things to come.
Here's my wrap up, and my 2020 round 1 starting line up. Critique it by all means, but put up your own categorisations if you want to be taken seriously.
The club: 3/10
The membership scenario was a genuine disgrace, that was only surpassed by the complete lack of board football oversight which allowed Brad Scott to tactically lose his mind, and ambush an entire season of football before it got out of the blocks. As bad as any single season of administration that I can remember. Changes MUST be made. We need to look at shelving Bellerive and coming up with other ideas. A challenging 2020 awaits.
The team: 6/10
Best player: Ben Cunnington, whose season very much mirrored the wild swinging output of the senior side.
Best Forward: Ben Brown
Forward line: 7/10. Were seriously hampered when the midfield was poorly functioning. I thought the forwards were good when our mids delivered.
Best midfielder: Ben Cunnington, closely followed by Goldstein
Midfield: 4/10. Aside from Goldstein and Cunnington (pre-clamp), our midfield was our worst performing group. Needs urgent attention.
Best defender: Robbie Tarrant just keeps on keeping on. We need more like him.
Defence: 8.5/10. Without doubt the heroes of our 2019 season, who bravely held up time and again due to our midfield deficiencies.
Rising star: Difficult choice, but I went with Nick Larkey.
Surprise packet: Jasper Pittard
Most Consistent: Marley Williams (Atley dropped away)
Youth: As promising as I can remember in recent years. Zurhaar surprised, Thomas will be a star, LDU started to show signs, Scott has all the tools, Larkey is established. Simpkin needs to progress quicker & Walker never got going.
Recruits: Jared Polec 8/10, Jasper Pittard 9/10, Aaron Hall cannot rate, Dom Tyson cannot rate.
Target/list issues: Clearly we need some burst centre square midfielders with defensive application, and Goldsteins successor is a major issue moving forward.
Syd Barker top 5
1) Cunnington
2) Tarrant
3) Goldstein
4) Polec
5) Higgins
2020 team
B: MacMillan, Tarrant, Williams
HB: Pittard, Daw, McDonald
C: Polec, Anderson, Scott
HF: Garner, Larkey, Zurhaar
F: Ziebell, Brown, Thomas
R: Goldstein, Cunnington, Higgins
Int: Atley, Walker, Dumont, Simpkin
Emg: Turner, LDU, Vickers-Willis
Comment:
Our list vulnerability is highlighted by my inclusion of injured players who have not had any great continuity. I have to take the default position that Jacobs is done. I'm happy to back Maj as the 2nd KPD in Thompson's absence, but his days of zoning off and being less accountable for an opponent are over. Vickers-Willis will hopefully ease the path of Thompson's succession. We MUST get more from Ahern, LDU & Simpkin in 2020.
Trade:
Wood (I think a trade would be good for both parties at this point.)
Durdin (potentially)
Ahern (potentially)
Delist:
Thompson (retired)
Wright (retired)
Watson (never got going)
Hrovat (potentially, although he showed definite improvement)
Jacobs (potentially, pay him out if he has not progressed)
Big year coming up for:
Ahern
Simpkin
LDU
McKay
Hall
Tyson
Xerri
Murphy
Hayden
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