Preview 2017 Season Discussion
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Scotty_222
Norm Smith Medallist
Could overtake thompson
I've got a good feeling about us this year. It seems the club has finally started to think and act like a professional sporting organisation from the top down. While I don't expect us to finish top 8 I would not be surprised if we do with good run with injuries and a few draftees step up well enough. Starting to get leaders into the club with Barlow, Hanley and Lyons all having some degree of leadership. Lions are starting to get the right ideas in place as well. Going to be exciting for QLD footy for the next 3-4 years as both teams develop the plethora of exciting youngsters we have.
But can both clubs hold on to their talent going forward? I've noticed a tendency for both clubs to draft Queenslanders and country Victorians over the last 12-24 months. The theory is that country footballers are generally more loyal and Victorians are usually more okay with leaving their home state to play football at the professional level. It's obviously not always the case but that's the general theory some recruiters hold. Look at the recent draftees for the Queensland clubs:
Brisbane
2015 - Schache (Murray), Hipwood (Aspley), Keays (Redland), Mathieson (Geelong), Skinner (Gippsland), William (Zillmere)
2016 - McCluggage (Ballarat), Berry (Ballarat), Witherden (Geelong), Cox (Ballarat), Allison (Aspley), Lyons (Sandringham)
Gold Coast
2015 - Ah Chee (South Fremantle), Fiorini (Greensborough), Schoenfeld (Peel), Willis (Kingborough), Joyce (Palm Beach)
2016 - Ainsworth (Gippsland), Scrimshaw (Sandringham), Brodie (Murray), Bowes (Cairns), Scheer (Palm Beach)
So you can see the Suns were a bit slower on the uptake and probably haven't adopted it as much as the Lions but the trend is obvious. Can Brisbane convince Schache to re-sign this coming season? If they don't then the whole theory about country Victorians goes out the window a bit and they become even more reliant on their academy. Luckily for the Brisbane, they have a talented key forward coming through their academy next year so it's not the end of the world if they lose Schache.
Suns game in China to be shown live into China.. supposably to millions.
http://m.afl.com.au/news/2016-12-28/shanghai-game-set-to-be-broadcast-into-china
http://m.afl.com.au/news/2016-12-28/shanghai-game-set-to-be-broadcast-into-china
They show the game to a suburb in Shanghai and they've got the millions covered already
I think it is clear that if a young VIC country bloke knows he has to move away from his family from the moment he even considers the possibility of being an AFL footballer then what's the difference between moving 3 hrs by car to Melbourne or 5 hrs by plane/car to QLD. The main thing is they are moving away from family so Melbourne or interstate is setting up new roots no matter what happens.
A Melbourne kid who grows up knowing they are a 50/50 chance to stay with their family in Melbourne and knows they have plenty of options if they want to come back home, so they have an expectation growing up that they will play their footy at home. The fact that they grow up accustomed to the 'AFL bubble' means they will miss it more than a Vic Country kid who hasn't become accustomed to it.
I would like to see him given a go as he looked good last year before getting injured. I am not adverse to May playing the Josh Gibson role and being the intercept marking rebounding defender.
With teams needing to double team Lynch to try and contain him (like the Hawks did this year after the 1st quarter in Tassie) it could open up opportunities for us to play the loose man in defence and May has the best skill set in our team to play that role. McKenzie has played that role in the past but May would be superior as he is a better contested mark, spoiler and more efficient by foot.
LynchysMob
Club Legend
- Nov 19, 2015
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Good post.
Agreed. I wonder how much proximity to major cities will affect teams going forward. Many GWS academy players have grown up in the "Melbourne bubble" in their later years of schooling and I wonder where that places them mentally when they are drafted to a Sydney club.
I know Todd Marshall came out and said it was his decision to leave the GWS academy and essentially allow any club to draft him because he knew it would take him a while to crack a spot as a key forward in their best 22. Did he think there was a fair chance of him getting drafted to a Victorian club as well? Was that even a factor? Who knows.
I mostly prefer my fantasy in written form and not too sure about who (or what) scores points but for me, the standout here is Lyons and the smokey is Cal.
http://www.goldcoastfc.com.au/news/2016-12-19/afl-fantasy-prices-and-positions
http://www.goldcoastfc.com.au/news/2016-12-19/afl-fantasy-prices-and-positions
Scotty_222
Norm Smith Medallist
I think Barlow and Hanley will go back to their best
So Nick Bowen on AFL.com ranks our midfield of Touk, Ablett, Swallow, Nichols, Hanley and Sexton as the 3rd worst in the AFL
We are going to seriously smash expectations this year
Barlow, Bowes, Sheer, Brodie, Fiorini, Lonergan, Martin, Lyon
We are going to seriously smash expectations this year
Barlow, Bowes, Sheer, Brodie, Fiorini, Lonergan, Martin, Lyon
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Barlow or Hall over Sexton, but our midfield is surely equal to or better than Melbourne's who they rank 7th. Our issue has never been our quality of midfielders, just our ability to keep them all on the park so 16th is pretty stiff.
yeah but Melbourne are all the rage with the media. Them and St. Kilda (who we beat by 40 points by the way).
Sure our midfield isn't top 8 on paper. But you can never count a midfield with the name Ablett out, and we only need to break even in the midfield to win games with 2MP/Lynch/AhChee/Ainsworth etc up forward, and Harbrow/Saad/Kk/Hanley/Sexton/Martin/Hall all burning oppositions with their pace going forward.
Swallow, Ablett, Miller, Barlow, Hanley, Hall, Lyons, Martin, Sexton, Fiorini + 2 of our 2016 top 10 crop of draftees being mids.
that's a top 8 midfield on paper from what i'm seeing.
So 16th best midfield and 12th best defence. Wonder how our forwards are rated? Based on past performances it's probably not far off the mark. I'm hoping we can push for a top eight spot next year but in reality we'll need a massive amount of improvement across the board, and some decent luck (finally) with injuries to make the finals. Talent-wise we are well stocked, but are still short on experience, continuity, confidence and hardened, resilient bodies. A good showing in the JLT Community Challenge preseason will hopefully raise our confidence. The longer we keep the same 22 on the park the better they will get.
princy_99
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- Sep 7, 2015
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We're only rated 16 and 12th on those categories because we just haven't had the cattle to compete for a full season, so luck with injuries and we should have some fair improvement
Probably still a bit short then. 38 listed players - 5 draftees - 7-10 blokes that are unproven (Schoenfeld, Willis), make or break year (Leslie, Hallahan, Lemmens) or just not up to it (Grant, Shaw, Matera)
10th best rated forward line according to afl.com.au
I think our forward line rating is partly victim of our historically poor midfield, and the fact that other than Tom Lynch, our other forwards are still in the "showing potential" category.
Hoping Gaz plays more at half-forward next season. A forward line of
Ablett Lynch Ainsworth
Ah Chee Wright Martin
Looks deadly on paper. Just need the midfield to step up and provide a regular supply of I50s
I think our forward line rating is partly victim of our historically poor midfield, and the fact that other than Tom Lynch, our other forwards are still in the "showing potential" category.
Hoping Gaz plays more at half-forward next season. A forward line of
Ablett Lynch Ainsworth
Ah Chee Wright Martin
Looks deadly on paper. Just need the midfield to step up and provide a regular supply of I50s
Wallross
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- Sep 11, 2016
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I think these ratings are heavily based on performances last year. They don't seem to be projecting forward much.
If you consider these lists purely as ratings of last years performances, I think these three lists fairly represent the ability of the Suns.
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