2012 Predictions

[Red Black and Blue]

A number of guys who have struggled for fitness in recent years like Bower, Lucas, Carrazzo, Collins, Curnow, Hampson, Russell are fighting fit.

They had injuries last season, but they were to players who were only good players in average to lower teams.

Hahahahahaha

 

[jaitachi]

1. Hawthorn

Premiers; Hawthorn
Coleman; Franklin
Brownlow; Franklin
Norm Smith; Franklin

u know its possible

 

[Fee Fi Folau Fum]

Collingwood
Hawthorn
Carlton
West Coast
Sydney
Geelong
North Melbourne
St Kilda
Fremantle
Richmond
Essendon
Brisbane
Melbourne
Western Bulldogs
Adelaide
Gold Coast
Port Adelaide
GWS

 

[Budgey]

1. Hawthorn

Premiers; Hawthorn
Coleman; Franklin
Brownlow; Franklin
Norm Smith; Franklin

u know its possible

True Dat.

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

How is Brisbane's list poor??? And what has Voss done wrong this year?

-They won 4 games this year
-They came 15th
-They have two all australians on their list who are both over 30, past their best and one is injury prone.

How do Brisbane not have a poor list, relative to the other teams in the league?

 

[HurleyTheFuture]

-They won 4 games this year
-They came 15th
-They have two all australians on their list who are both over 30, past their best and one is injury prone.

How do Brisbane not have a poor list, relative to the other teams in the league?

And yet gold coast did even worse and they have an amazing list

 

[bali-dog]

Carlton - Will improve quite a bit and will be a top 3 side and Premier contender. juddy will be fit by round 1..

Eagles - The improvement last year came from older players and a couple of young ones. I don't think they can get better than what they were last year.
----------------------------------------------------

you talked up carltons youngsters improving,and greater contribution from seniors etc..yet flippantly dismissed WCE older players and "a couple of young ones"..i think you can count our senior players on one hand -the rest are mid tier to youngsters..correct me if i'm wrong but these tend to improve in finesse with games played from season to season..

and i do believe we have more- considerably more -than 'a couple of young ones"......hell, we might even have a Medhurst!!??

and judd..well,its tuff being the belle of the ball! but those shoulders..hmm?

 

[bombermick]

And yet gold coast did even worse and they have an amazing list

Most of them are babies and they just got the best kid in the country to add to their midfield. You can't be serious.

Brisbane have one current AFL level ruck (excluding the old man)
A dearth of talls, with Brown nearing the end
How do they not have a shit list?

 

[HurleyTheFuture]

Most of them are babies and they just got the best kid in the country to add to their midfield. You can't be serious.

Brisbane have one current AFL level ruck (excluding the old man)
A dearth of talls, with Brown nearing the end
How do they not have a shit list?

Alot of Brisbane players are still babies to
They have one already elite(IMO) ruckman in Leunberger
Another top 10 pick ruckman
A very talented midfield with Rockcliff, Redden, Rich and Polec
And with one of the best FB's in Merrett
They have decent HB players in Adcock, Patfull
As well as promising KPP with Cornelius, Retzclaff and Lilse
they have a very promising list

According to everyone last year WC had a terrible list, they had just bottomed out and there old players looked to be gone, now take a look at this year, Shuey, Gaff, Kennedy, Mackenzie, Hurn, Darling, Nic Nat, S.selwood all had great years and all of them are still young.

Now I still dont think brisbane will go near the 8 but they have a promising list

 

[HyperAgressiveDonk]

-They won 4 games this year
-They came 15th
-They have two all australians on their list who are both over 30, past their best and one is injury prone.

How do Brisbane not have a poor list, relative to the other teams in the league?

Whoa you really underestimate Brisbane They have a better core of young players than most sides, including Richmond.

 

[Patron]

Alot of Brisbane players are still babies to
They have one already elite(IMO) ruckman in Leunberger
Another top 10 pick ruckman
A very talented midfield with Rockcliff, Redden, Rich and Polec
And with one of the best FB's in Merrett
They have decent HB players in Adcock, Patfull
As well as promising KPP with Cornelius, Retzclaff and Lilse
they have a very promising list

According to everyone last year WC had a terrible list, they had just bottomed out and there old players looked to be gone, now take a look at this year, Shuey, Gaff, Kennedy, Mackenzie, Hurn, Darling, Nic Nat, S.selwood all had great years and all of them are still young.

Now I still dont think brisbane will go near the 8 but they have a promising list

Many underrate Brisbane, they have done very well with their drafting in the last few years and their young players are quality.

 

[tigerfansince86]

Brisbane do not have better kids than the tigers, lol. Beat them twice easily.

 

[Obeanie1]

Alot of Brisbane players are still babies to
They have one already elite(IMO) ruckman in Leunberger
Another top 10 pick ruckman
A very talented midfield with Rockcliff, Redden, Rich and Polec
And with one of the best FB's in Merrett
They have decent HB players in Adcock, Patfull
As well as promising KPP with Cornelius, Retzclaff and Lilse
they have a very promising list

According to everyone last year WC had a terrible list, they had just bottomed out and there old players looked to be gone, now take a look at this year, Shuey, Gaff, Kennedy, Mackenzie, Hurn, Darling, Nic Nat, S.selwood all had great years and all of them are still young.

Now I still dont think brisbane will go near the 8 but they have a promising list

Every side has a promising list.

Promising is a very wishy washy adjective to use to describe any AFL list, Richmond has had a promising list for the last 10 years but they have never delivered have they.

As to comparing the Lions list to the Eagles.

The Lions two years ago rolled the dice and went to top up with Fevola and a host of other mature players, they also lost Bradshaw on poor terms (no loss in a playing sense in hindsight but still on bad terms) and also lost Ritchatelli and Brennan and now they pretty much showed Luke Power the door and he's gone on to sign with GWS because he's too old and then talked a 30+ year old average ruckman out of retirement from the Bulldogs.

Two years ago the Eagles thought they had already bottomed out, had picked up a host of low draft picks in the two previous drafts, had been culling the older players and under performers but in 2010 suffered a long injury list that left them little choice but to play the kids and came last. Got pick 4 and another priority pick 26 and drafted Gaff, Darling and Lycett. 2011 the older players came back fit and firing and the host of low draft picks from 3-4 years ago started hitting 50+ games.

It would be interesting listing the two squads by position to compare but I certainly can't see Brisbane jumping into the top 4 in 2012, no way in hell.

 

[HurleyTheFuture]

Every side has a promising list.

Promising is a very wishy washy adjective to use to describe any AFL list, Richmond has had a promising list for the last 10 years but they have never delivered have they.

As to comparing the Lions list to the Eagles.

The Lions two years ago rolled the dice and went to top up with Fevola and a host of other mature players, they also lost Bradshaw on poor terms (no loss in a playing sense in hindsight but still on bad terms) and also lost Ritchatelli and Brennan and now they pretty much showed Luke Power the door and he's gone on to sign with GWS because he's too old and then talked a 30+ year old average ruckman out of retirement from the Bulldogs.

Two years ago the Eagles thought they had already bottomed out, had picked up a host of low draft picks in the two previous drafts, had been culling the older players and under performers but in 2010 suffered a long injury list that left them little choice but to play the kids and came last. Got pick 4 and another priority pick 26 and drafted Gaff, Darling and Lycett. 2011 the older players came back fit and firing and the host of low draft picks from 3-4 years ago started hitting 50+ games.

It would be interesting listing the two squads by position to compare but I certainly can't see Brisbane jumping into the top 4 in 2012, no way in hell.

I said that they wouldnt go anywhere near the 8

 

[Obeanie1]

I said that they wouldnt go anywhere near the 8

You did, fair enough.

I'd say Brisbane has some promising kids and some promising 20>22 year olds but their list is out of balance. The mature age top up two seasons ago and from then losing Richatelli, Brennan, Power, Clarke and also Fevola has really messed up their list balance and it will take some time for them to recover this and get a list with the right balance to again challenge for the top 8 let alone top 4.

Will J Brown and S Black play another finals series with the Lions?

The Lions list manager certainly has a big challenge ahead.

 

[Obeanie1]

Carlton - Will improve quite a bit and will be a top 3 side and Premier contender. A number of guys who have struggled for fittness in recent years like Bower, Lucas, Carrazzo, Collins, Curnow, Waite, Kreuzer, Jamison, Hampson, Warnock and Russell are fighting fit. Youngsters Gibbs, Lucas, Collins, Garlett, Hampson, Davies, Touhy, Curnow, Laidler, Kreuzer, Robinson, Ellard and Joseph will be all coming into their prime of their careers as mature players. Young players Mitchell and Watson and Maybe McInness and McCarthy might also make an impact. New mature recruit Rowe will also bolster the tall forward stocks. Established players Murphy, Walker and Duigan can go up another level as well. Juddy, Simpsons and Scotland will all be fit by round 1. Dylan Buckley is a chance to impact too.

Eagles - The improvement last year came from older players and a couple of young ones. I don't think they can get better than what they were last year.

Perfect example of one eyed bias, knowing heaps about your own side and not much about another, hoping everything goes right and the opposition stay still their players don't improve.

So at the Eagles none of these guys will improve?:

1. Naitanui - played the entire season with a peck injury that needed surgery
2. S Selwood - best year yet but was hampered with a lower back complaint over the last third of the year
3. Gaff - 1st year player, was handled carefully and needs 2>3 preseasons to build his body to AFL level
4. Darling - 1st year player who was held back in his first preseason to manage groin issues. Yep, this guy like Gaff has peaked in his 1st year.
5. Shuey - finally had some luck in his 3rd season and played 22 games, came 5th in the Eagles B&F and is now leading the running packs this preseason.
6. Ash Smith - super quick rebounding HBFer / winger - best season to date and played 15 odd games in his 3rd year, very exiting prospect.
7. Eric MacKenzie - replacement for Glass, has taken some time to develop and is finally getting there. No longer making silly decisions by foot and played all over Franklin in his last game.
8. J Schofield - super quick 196cm 3rd tall who can take the ruckman or the mid sixed forwards. 2011 was his best year by far and still improving.
9. M Brown - our prefered CHB who started strongly then broke his thumb and missed 12 weeks, couldn't force his way back in the side.
10. Sheppard - similar to Lucas, low pick 2 years ago, has played now 15 odd games but injury held him back in 2011.
11. Koby Stevens - beast of a kid, inside mid who got a couple of games in 2011 and 12 but couldn't break into the side due to injury and with Pridis, Kerr, S Selwood, Shuey playing well.
12. T Swift - finding it tough to get a game, his best spot is inside but like Stevens can't dislodge the older guys, two knee recos as a kid has meant a slow build up.
13. S Lycett - touted as the 2nd best ruck in the 2010 draft and the future replacement for Cox. No improvement possible here? Huge for an 18 yr old and very agile.
14. G Weedon - skillfull HFFer in the mould of Chris Lewis, played 1 game as the sub and 2012 will be his 3rd season.
15. J Hill ex Bulldogs - flashy HFFer who fell out with Rocket Eade, he's now at his second club, has shown he has the talent and pace but needs to get his head right.

Thats 15 guys, young guys between 19 and 23 with their best football ahead of them not behind them. But you can't see any improvement possible from last season?


And finally we traded out B Ebert, is an inside mid who was played as a HFFer, lacked the pace or the foot skills to play that role and was inconsistant by foot.

Because the Eagles have so many young guys who will be reaching their 2nd and 3rd seasons and 50 > 100 games the Eagles squad has a fair amount of improvement left in it. Then you look at the older guys who will drop away / retire and ask what will replace them?

 

[.Shotties.]

Of course, it's just as likely that most of those players will stagnate and go backwards.

I'm still amazed by the amount of people who see progression and improvement as a linear, one directional process.

 

[Chism]

Over post quota and continued here.

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?p=22942421#post22942421