I think you are probably getting too black and white. We have been very good at getting B grade soldiers. For some reason we can’t get champions or elite talent at the same rate as the better teams. We have depth in the solid meh type players and a few with higher ceilings. I’m thinking it’s probably all salvageable. We need a director of football as a priority who sorts out the reason for so many holes in the list and helps identify issues in the game plan. Experienced assistants who lead their lines but still know what is expected by the head coach etc. its not Armageddon it’s more just poorly run.
The highlighted is what we have to identify. We all come at this from different angles and are obviously working with limited information so it isn't easy but we can all pretty much agree that, with the picks we have had, we haven't had any young guys come in and take the competition by the scruff of the neck like other teams have had in the same period of time. We can go back and forth on whether we picked the wrong kids or whether a gamplan like ours stifles development but I am more interested in looking at the last 2 premiers and the Hawks to see how the industry leaders are doing things.
With the Bulldogs pretty much everyone at their club put the win down to Bevo coming in. He was smart enough to find a balance between keeping a sound defensive structure with pressure a given and giving players the freedom to express themselves.
Richmond were pretty much the same, Hardwick found the balance so that players were trained and gained the composure to decide when to attack and defend in game and to have fun when doing it.
We need to examine what it is holding our young blokes back. Of course it is likely a combination of things including Trout picking the wrong kids but, even if that is the case, we need to make sure that the gameplan we have gives our young guys the tools to blossom like you see at the top clubs in the competition.