Preview 2017: how do we bounce back?

[Pessimistic]

Two therebouts years 16 17 then back to being a genuine top 4 for another five years

 

[Thaihawk]

You guys are dreaming if you think the knees of JOM and Morabito will provide any assistance in the future...prepare for the fall!!!

Didn't notice the Dr. in front of your name.

 

[Thaihawk]

Conor Glass hasnt been mentioned much. I hope he can break into the seniors next year.

Running off half back. Watch his Gaelic footy highlights. He will be good.

I am a fan also MH, and really hope he makes it. I hope he starts in Box Hill seniors next season.

 

[Hawksboy72]

Any thoughts on getting Zac Clarke from Fremantle, we need an extra ruckman (Again)

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Simple land JOM & T. Mitchell & Pray Rough comes back in the back half of the year.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Surely the Irish boys need a few years at BHH before taking the AFL step?

 

[Hawker98]

Tom Mitchell and JOM will be great mids that will greatly increase our contested footy and help us bring in younger talent, but I don't think that will answer all of our problems.

Personally I think we need to think more than just Titchell, JOM and vickery. Hopefully we do get all three because those 3 will help us incredibly in our structure. People bag out vickery well because it's vickery and he isn't the greatest player, but I think for our side who lacks in tall, strong marking forwards, will need him, not only for a marking forward since Roughead is unlikely to play but to set up our crumbing forwards. We may also need to think for the future and go for James Stewart, key forwards are hard to come by and he might become very reliable.

As for our midfield, I think the issue doesn't start with the midfielders themself but with our rucks. Our rucks are experienced and I think a couple of years ago would have been able to dominate centre bounces. But unfortunately ruck style has changed. I'm not saying trade them away, because they are extremely helpful with contested marks and pressure, but I think we need to bring in a more athletic, strong big man. For example, I'd enjoy having Jarrod Witts from Collingwood come over. He's athletic (even at 208 cm), wins high numbers of hitouts and gets incredible amounts of possession (of course this is in the VFL). I think he'd be extremely helpful with Pittonet in a couple of years time.

Another thing that would help is to bring in a marking defender. Through the year I've noticed our defender have usually opted to spoil instead of mark. I hope that the cure for this could be bringing in another key tall (only if KB doesn't stay with the club) and let josh Gibson play this roll. Maybe someone like Mitchell brown or Eric McKenzie who have had trouble playing down west.

But this all doesn't come for free so this is more of a long term idea in years coming. But in 2017 I'm hoping our starting 22 will look something like this


Burgoyne, Frawley, Duryea
Birchall, Brand (or brown/ McKenzie), Gibson
Smith, S Mitchell, O'meara
Burton, Gunston, Rioli
Puopolo, Vickery, Mcvoy

Foll- Witts, T Mitchell, Lewis

Bench- hodge, K Stewart, Sicily, Howe

Emergency- obrien, Lovell, Heatherly

Ins - T Mitchell, O'meara, Vickery, Witts

Outs- Breust, Shoe, Hatung, hill (all traded for players/picks)

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Tom Mitchell and JOM will be great mids that will greatly increase our contested footy and help us bring in younger talent, but I don't think that will answer all of our problems.

Personally I think we need to think more than just Titchell, JOM and vickery. Hopefully we do get all three because those 3 will help us incredibly in our structure. People bag out vickery well because it's vickery and he isn't the greatest player, but I think for our side who lacks in tall, strong marking forwards, will need him, not only for a marking forward since Roughead is unlikely to play but to set up our crumbing forwards. We may also need to think for the future and go for James Stewart, key forwards are hard to come by and he might become very reliable.

As for our midfield, I think the issue doesn't start with the midfielders themself but with our rucks. Our rucks are experienced and I think a couple of years ago would have been able to dominate centre bounces. But unfortunately ruck style has changed. I'm not saying trade them away, because they are extremely helpful with contested marks and pressure, but I think we need to bring in a more athletic, strong big man. For example, I'd enjoy having Jarrod Witts from Collingwood come over. He's athletic (even at 208 cm), wins high numbers of hitouts and gets incredible amounts of possession (of course this is in the VFL). I think he'd be extremely helpful with Pittonet in a couple of years time.

Another thing that would help is to bring in a marking defender. Through the year I've noticed our defender have usually opted to spoil instead of mark. I hope that the cure for this could be bringing in another key tall (only if KB doesn't stay with the club) and let josh Gibson play this roll. Maybe someone like Mitchell brown or Eric McKenzie who have had trouble playing down west.

But this all doesn't come for free so this is more of a long term idea in years coming. But in 2017 I'm hoping our starting 22 will look something like this


Burgoyne, Frawley, Duryea
Birchall, Brand (or brown/ McKenzie), Gibson
Smith, S Mitchell, O'meara
Burton, Gunston, Rioli
Puopolo, Vickery, Mcvoy

Foll- Witts, T Mitchell, Lewis

Bench- hodge, K Stewart, Sicily, Howe

Emergency- obrien, Lovell, Heatherly

Ins - T Mitchell, O'meara, Vickery, Witts

Outs- Breust, Shoe, Hatung, hill (all traded for players/picks)

Vickery and Big Boy lumbering in the same forward line would get shat on as the other mob just runs the ball out of defence.

 

[Hawker98]

J

Vickery and Big Boy lumbering in the same forward line would get shat on as the other mob just runs the ball out of defence.

Totally agree with you. Just thinking if we do use the two ruck system we have, but otherwise I'd put Sicily there and big boy on the bench.

 

[Gday1]

Can't afford to trade away any good players (Bruest) and think you are going to improve. This is the reason why we came back to the pack this year. Losing Lake and Hale and replacing them with no one. Then Roughy with his illness. You have to add to your team every year to try and stay ahead of the rest.

 

[Lethality]

A hard pre-season. A number of our players looked a bit out of shape compared to the standards set in previous years.

Play Burton, Lovell, Stewart, and others who have shown potential.

 

[Davo-27]

the important thing this off-season is landing another quality mid with O'Meara, i know Tom Mitchell has been linked with us, but his finals series might make the swans re-sign him, if they're smart, which could complicate things for us

i think a finals spot is likely in 2017, but i have some doubts on us being able to make the top 4 again, the last half of 2016 was the worst we have looked in 5 years, so making some small changes is needed.

 

[Brishawk]

I wonder if those that are calling out Gibson as cooked realise he had a forward tagging him in a number of games towards the end of the season in order to curtail his creative run out of the backline. I'm not sure how often that was happening at the start of the season, but that alone could explain a drop off in productivity. It is possible the coaching stuff will need to adapt his role next year when this happens to maximise his contributions, but he is not necessarily physically cooked. Gibson may well not have much left in the tank, but I'd like to see a few more games where he's not getting a forward tag to assess that.

The attention given to Gibson may also be having a flow on effect to Birchall. I'd guess a large number of Birchall's runs out of defense start with a possession he receives from Gibson. In any case, overall Birchall still had a very good year. I think people are remembering a couple of errors in the finals and characterising his year based on that.

Like others, I had the impression Breust was down on form this year, but when you look at his stats, it is hard to see where that impression comes from. Very slightly less potent in front of goals than his best years (2014 and 2015), but that seems largely due to a drop off in accuracy than not getting the opportunity in front of goals. Had he kicked as straight as he had in previous years, this may well have been his best year for goal contributions. It is not like things have got easier for him with Roughead out of the team either. A player than can look down on form and comfortably kick 40+ goals is not a player you trade away IMO.

Hodge's disposal does seem to have deteriorated somewhat from his best, probably the bash-and-crash finally catching up with him, but I'd also heard he's carried something for a big chunk of the season, and I'd shudder to think how much Doggies would have smashed us by without his presence on the field. Hodge was still one of our best in many games this year, and if he's cooked, then I think we are in very big trouble in 2017, because a cooked hodge is still better than over 80% of our list - and by a fair margin - which would mean we are truly stuffed next season. I think the reality is that we will not see his best again, but that he is so good he can very easily make significant contributions to the side next year if he has a good pre-season and stays fit all year. Even if he doesn't, after what he's done for Hawthorn, I'm happy for the club to make it his call on when he goes.

Well against the bulldogs Gibbo was regularly on his own and in the second half was loose for sure. He got more of the ball but had no impact defensively and to be honest not much impact with the ball. He just doesn't seem to be able to cover the ground quick enough to make as many contests and spoil the ball clear. When he does get there he isn't punching it ten rows back, he is dropping it too close to the contest. In his last 8 matches he got 20+ possessions twice. Once against Richmond (22) and against the bulldogs in the semi-final. Two months of sub-par performances from a guy who is basically playing HBF really hurts our run out of defence. Not be surprised if he pulls the pin.

 

[dcutter]

Any thoughts on getting Zac Clarke from Fremantle, we need an extra ruckman (Again)

God no.

Zac Clarke is up there as one of the worst footballers in the AFL. It boggles the mind that this absolute hack has notched up 100 games and a sad reflection on just how bad Fremantle's list has and continues to be managed.

He is the Shane Watson of football. Offers nothing to the team but unfulfilled potential and frustration despite possessing all the attributes which should make his thrive.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

You guys are dreaming if you think the knees of JOM and Morabito will provide any assistance in the future...prepare for the fall!!!

I bet you were one of the many who claimed we had rocks in our head recruiting Shaun Burgoyne when he was recovering from a knee problem. Take your stupidity elsewhere.

 

[hk89]

Well against the bulldogs Gibbo was regularly on his own and in the second half was loose for sure.

My seat wasn't in a good position to assess Gibson , so I'll take your word for that. He was definitely tagged against Geelong and games before that.

He got more of the ball but had no impact defensively and to be honest not much impact with the ball. He just doesn't seem to be able to cover the ground quick enough to make as many contests and spoil the ball clear. When he does get there he isn't punching it ten rows back, he is dropping it too close to the contest. In his last 8 matches he got 20+ possessions twice.

You don't think having Stratton out would have led to him needing to be more accountable, and less able to involve himself in the possession chains coming out of HB?

Once against Richmond (22) and against the bulldogs in the semi-final.

I think you're getting Richmond and North Melbourne confused. He got 31 against Richmond, and 22 against North, and was in our best players for both games. Gibson's ability to get 31 playing off HB is partly a function of how the opposition structure up in the back half. If he's made accountable or has a player sacrificing their game to curtail his run, he's not going to get 20+ every game. He was in our best enough times during the year - including several in the last 8 games to make me think he can contribute again next year.

Two months of sub-par performances from a guy who is basically playing HBF really hurts our run out of defence. Not be surprised if he pulls the pin.

Hope not.

 

[Hawksboy72]

God no.

Zac Clarke is up there as one of the worst footballers in the AFL. It boggles the mind that this absolute hack has notched up 100 games and a sad reflection on just how bad Fremantle's list has and continues to be managed.

He is the Shane Watson of football. Offers nothing to the team but unfulfilled potential and frustration despite possessing all the attributes which should make his thrive.

The Shane Watson of Football...a bit ruff..but funny

 

[Brant]

Can't afford to trade away any good players (Bruest) and think you are going to improve. This is the reason why we came back to the pack this year. Losing Lake and Hale and replacing them with no one. Then Roughy with his illness. You have to add to your team every year to try and stay ahead of the rest.

Surely though, if we were to trade Broost, it's implied that we'd be bettering the list. I hardly think we'd trade out Broost for a Courtney Dempsey on a whim.

What if we needed to lose Brooster to land JO'M, TMitch & retain a 1st Round Pick in 2016 & 2017.

You couldn't argue that we're not bettering the list in that scenario, as well as prepping for the future.

 

[sven_inc]

We might have to go all out at the trade table this year and then pillage the FA market next year.

Seems a few decent guys becoming eligible - Fyfe, Rockliff, Trengove, Sam Reid, Kreuzer, Motlop etc.

We may not be involved early in the draft for the next year or two so id really like us to knuckle down and nail some late and rookie selections.

Give me another Breust or Stewart. Or try and find the next Dahlhaus, Laird or Mumford.

Its an area I think we can improve on quite a bit.

 

[Lord_Espos]

I don't think there is a limit to the number of players you can draft. You just need to have enough spots on the list to fit them in.

But there is a minimum of 3 draft picks you must make per year, which could include rookie upgrades.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

We need more run and blokes that can play both inside and out

 

[The Lemon]

We need more run and blokes that can play both inside and out

Bulldogs have a few

 

[dreamboat]

The empire will strike back

 

[madhawksfan]

Get Mitchell, O'Meara and Vickery and we are definitely back in the mix.

Our backline needs reconfiguring to allow us to move the ball quicker. Maybe Kiwi CHB with Duryea moving up the ground. Another player who can consistently damage by foot in the back half would be handy as it would free up Birchall. Burton looked good in that role.

 

[Hardman 34]

A little bird told me a player who happens to wear a guernsey with number two on it has received some very positive news recently. Next year is looking better already.