2019 Members Convention

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Ford Fairlane mentioned in the intra club trial thread about the amount of classroom learning the players are subjected to. It was also mentioned at the Members' Convention that the club employs a part-time Learning Analyst to monitor and improve the way football learning is delivered.
Remember all that VR training the players were doing to save their bodies from having to actual football and risk overuse injuries? I reckon that confused and stuffed them up.
Remember that footy analyst they got last off season to analyse our forward entries to improve our goaling success. Well that is when we became stagnant and we started overusing the footy in the forward half to try to get into a better position to score, but we overthought it, actually turned it over more and scored less.
I will reserve my judgement on this new scenario.
 
People forget we were an outstanding defensive unit in 2017. We were a front half football team that year. Our ability to keep the ball in our forward 75m was probably unrivaled across the AFL. Ever. For some reason we seemed to move away from those structures that made us so defensively tight for so much of 2017.

So going back to being a front half football team, or looking to turn it over as high up the ground as possible is nothing new for us, it would be a welcome return.

The 2017 game plan worked mostly ok, except in games where we didn't have the dominant midfield (so most, but not all of the top 8). The nature of front half football caused us to have close to a league high number of shots per game but our forward line was getting these shots from less than ideal positions due to poor delivery. This, combined with the conversion of certain forwards, caused us to be very inefficient as a forward line and probably cost us the Geelong game and definitely the elimination final.

So to combat this we:

1. Acquired an experienced inside mid to help become more competitive against the top tier midfields (Rockliff)
2. Acquired 2 experienced outside players famed for their delivery inside 50 and conversion, which would hopefully lead to better positions for shots on goal (Motlop, Watts).

Then we inexplicably switched to a really dull, stagnant brand of football that did not allow us to create nearly as many scoring opportunities and the front-half press was never to be seen. I don't think this has ever really been explained.
 
As I've said on earlier posts, the list mgmt group discussed that the 2020 draft crop is shallow, they mentioned they also sort of hinted that the decisions they made on Polec and Wingard were based on salary and the potential to land a big fish in 2020. They even said something about targeting bringing some young talent home.

For me I thought it was pretty darn clear our 2 year strategy is take a 1st rounder + Mead this year. Then possibly trade out everything to land a big fish in 2020, but obviously retain the required number of points to secure Schofield.

I also expect we will slow down on the player turnover for the next couple years.

This is what I wrote on the day. Clearly read between the lines that I expect a big fish in 2020, and think we're hoping for Luko or Rankine.

Davies brought up that we are #3 for underspend on salaries, and we can use that leftover money for 3 years. So I think we have a big target in mind in 2020, and the list manager did sort of hint at that, not sure if he thinks we can get Lukosius or Rankine back, but certainly felt like they had targets and weren't shy about that.
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List mgmt talked about our longer term plans, expect to take a 1st pick next year and then score Mead as F/S. Burgoyne should also find his way to Port. We're making plans already to secure Taj Schofield in 2020.again on the 2020 thing they said it is one of the worst drafts they've seen in advance, and so I suspect we won't be too involved. Probably again going to focus on that big fish. The other thing they said was that in their forward projections they aren't seeing many good talls at all, so Marshall, Lycett and Hayes are critical for us longer term.
 
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Interesting to hear Westhoff say on 5aa last night that the list seems better without Polec and Wingard.. the squad are getting a long with the coaches better and improved in their discipline.

What a strange turn of events that is...
 
As I've said on earlier posts, the list mgmt group discussed that the 2020 draft crop is shallow, they mentioned they also sort of hinted that the decisions they made on Polec and Wingard were based on salary and the potential to land a big fish in 2020. They even said something about targeting bringing some young talent home.

For me I thought it was pretty darn clear our 2 year strategy is take a 1st rounder + Mead this year. Then possibly trade out everything to land a big fish in 2020, but obviously retain the required number of points to secure Schofield.

I also expect we will slow down on the player turnover for the next couple years.

This is what I wrote on the day. Clearly read between the lines that I expect a big fish in 2020, and think we're hoping for Luko or Rankine.
Our low spend was for 16, 17, 18.

You can only bank $$ for 3 years.

So by then only the 18 will be relevant.

I hope we are front loading contracts and not wasting that space.

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What a strange turn of events that is...

You reckon Hoff is gonna go on radio representing the club to say 'yeah they were guns, we'll be shite without them', do you?
 
Our low spend was for 16, 17, 18.

You can only bank $$ for 3 years.

So by then only the 18 will be relevant.

I hope we are front loading contracts and not wasting that space.

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You would bloody hope so lycett jonas wines all signed long deals so surely club would be all over that. But wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.
 
You reckon Hoff is gonna go on radio representing the club to say 'yeah they were guns, we'll be shite without them', do you?

He doesn't have to say anything. He could say 'I think the young kids we've brought in will fill the hole left behind' or 'There's a real buzz around the place' or any one of a hundred different things.

Instead, he, a man of few words, says that the players are getting along with the coaches better and have improved their discipline. I did say both Wingard and Polec were a bad influence on the attitude of the rest of the list.
 
He doesn't have to say anything. He could say 'I think the young kids we've brought in will fill the hole left behind' or 'There's a real buzz around the place' or any one of a hundred different things.

Instead, he, a man of few words, says that the players are getting along with the coaches better and have improved their discipline. I did say both Wingard and Polec were a bad influence on the attitude of the rest of the list.
I disagreed with you about this and thought it was a stretch but to hear him say that I feel a little better.
 
You want to know what I found most interesting about this day?

It wasn't the information about the club...

It was the fact that someone let slip that the AFL had given us the heads up from a long way back about the rule changes and we had adjusted our list management strategy accordingly to take advantage of it. They said that they had known the changes in terms of the ruck rule and zoning were coming for a couple of years...which would have put it around the time of the Ryder/Monfries debacle.

Perhaps there was a bit of a 'look, we know this is going to * you up for the year...we'll let you in on a secret as compensation' about it. Let's put it this way...if clubs knew then what they know now, does anyone think Sam Hayes falls to our pick?

I don't.
 
Interesting to hear Westhoff say on 5aa last night that the list seems better without Polec and Wingard.. the squad are getting a long with the coaches better and improved in their discipline.
Could be the change of coaches
 

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As I've said on earlier posts, the list mgmt group discussed that the 2020 draft crop is shallow, they mentioned they also sort of hinted that the decisions they made on Polec and Wingard were based on salary and the potential to land a big fish in 2020. They even said something about targeting bringing some young talent home.

For me I thought it was pretty darn clear our 2 year strategy is take a 1st rounder + Mead this year. Then possibly trade out everything to land a big fish in 2020, but obviously retain the required number of points to secure Schofield.

I also expect we will slow down on the player turnover for the next couple years.

This is what I wrote on the day. Clearly read between the lines that I expect a big fish in 2020, and think we're hoping for Luko or Rankine.

If we are hoping for Luko, Rankine next year then it’s a pretty dumb plan. All draftees have to sign a 2 yr contract, so they will still be in contract, they were pick 2/3, so after 1 year there value won’t drop too much, how are we going to get the draft currency to trade for them? I will wait and see, but I won’t be surprised if there is no “big name” recruit.


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If we are hoping for Luko, Rankine next year then it’s a pretty dumb plan. All draftees have to sign a 2 yr contract ...


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Crisps specifically said after their initial 2 year contract expires at the end of 2020, ie next year. I fail to see what is so dumb about planning to be in play for these players in next year's trade period if they are out of contract and likely to be seeking a trade back to SA.

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If we are hoping for Luko, Rankine next year then it’s a pretty dumb plan. All draftees have to sign a 2 yr contract, so they will still be in contract, they were pick 2/3, so after 1 year there value won’t drop too much, how are we going to get the draft currency to trade for them? I will wait and see, but I won’t be surprised if there is no “big name” recruit.


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True but look at the soon to be free agents that got traded out this year.

If one of them makes it clear they are going to leave after their initial contract GC might decide to cash out while they still have the bargaining power and get the replacements into their system sooner rather than later.

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If we are hoping for Luko, Rankine next year then it’s a pretty dumb plan. All draftees have to sign a 2 yr contract, so they will still be in contract, they were pick 2/3, so after 1 year there value won’t drop too much, how are we going to get the draft currency to trade for them? I will wait and see, but I won’t be surprised if there is no “big name” recruit.
It won't make any difference whether they are in or out of contract, but we are targeting them post contract. Also the Sun's will be bottom either way, so they will hold all the power and extract the value they desire. I'd suspect we'll be giving up our 2020 first and second and the 2021 first in a deal to try and get a rankine/Luko.
 
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If we are hoping for Luko, Rankine next year then it’s a pretty dumb plan. All draftees have to sign a 2 yr contract, so they will still be in contract, they were pick 2/3, so after 1 year there value won’t drop too much, how are we going to get the draft currency to trade for them? I will wait and see, but I won’t be surprised if there is no “big name” recruit.


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End of 2020, not start of 2020
 

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