Golumless
A bigger deal out west.
Brisbane is the reverse example. Sometimes it clicks.
Personally, I think we'll be very competitive and improve again next year, and we'll be pushing for finals in 2023. Not sure if we make them, but we absolutely should be in the conversation.
Brisbane were at the bottom for ages though. It does provide an unfair advantage to rebuilding.
I have a lot of faith Nicks is the right man to lead this rebuild, but it seems like too much has to go right to get to that point in 2023. Firstly we're yet to really see the post-Tex world. Now the good news is we have the replacement on our list as the focal point, the bad news for any short term competitiveness is it is Thilthorpe. I don't think it's a stretch at this point in time to expect our rebuild to mirror Thilthropes ascent as a footballer, and I expect it'll take about 4 seasons for Riley to morph into that superstar to lead that line. I dunno if 2023 Riley will be ready.
The other major issue is we're yet to really make in-roads into transitioning our midfield. Sure we've replace Brouch with Laird and Mrouch with Keays, but that's not a group that's really going to make us very competitive on their own. Schoenberg will replace Sloane at some point in the next 9 months, which should really start that process, but we're likely waiting on him, Berry, Pedlar and whoever else we draft to take over alongside Laird. We're probably waiting on this group to start getting into that 70-90 game bracket before we're really pushing for finals. At least it's looking like the start of a capable group.
It's certainly not a moment to be panicking in, but I think there is enough there to think we'll spend 2-3 years after this one stuck in the mid table before we begin to push upwards.