I agree with the sentiment, but you are wrong about the 70's. It could get quite nasty.Thats one of the main reasons why we have been mediocre to crap for so many years !
People here & the club in the past have been satisfied with a vanilla team & player performances . “200 gamer who never gets injured “ gee ,that will do !, win us premierships & take us to the promised land .
I swear people here don’t watch football and have NFI.
How many Shaun Atleys do U think Richmond , Geelong , Go Dees or Dogs Currently have do u reckon ? & if they had any at all , they are long gone .
This should be our goal as a club as well.
This is a ruthless game . The game has changed . Atley would be a 300 plus gamer if he was playing in the 70’s . Low profile, , just turn up , Man on man , take no risks , clear the ball from defence down the line anywhere & just do your job week in week out. This type of back pocket / half back flankers were a plenty back then & was good enough.
if we are f#cking serious about rebuilding , this guy does not last this end of years pending clean out surely.
We need players with flair , skill & who want to put them on the line each week by backing themselves who also have some sort of confidence in their own ability to perform each week .
Speaking of confidence. It’s happening already , have a look today how many of our players look at Atley who is free when they have the footy & choose a harder option. Aaron Hall especially! They have no confidence in him .
Good news is that We are getting good depth now with kids who play 2021 style footy . It’s only a matter of time . Noble knows this but injuries or very raw kids who are not quite ready yet has prevented him from axing Atley .
As I said before , I would much rather watch a kid like Perez, Bonar , Ham Etc in the near future learn & get games & make mistakes than continue watching a non confidence 200 + gamer make the same mistakes week in week out and who is taking us no where .
