2023 - A year of regression before the final ascent...

[dominguez]

My only concern is the loss of Lobb.

Who will kick 30+ goals this year in his place?

How often did Lobb run under the footy or make a token one arm effort because of his pea heart? If Treacy replaces Lobb he may not kick as many goals but the net result will be the same by creating goals for others by giving a contest and providing defensive pressure.

F*** Rory Lobb.

 

[MrDanggazz]

I still expect to make finals, not expecting to go deep or even win one as I believe next year will be one of the most competitive seasons in a while but anything less then finals is a failure imo.

 

[purplerunsdeep2]

If only we had King, sliding doors on what trades we would have done since. But jeez, a big forward with amiss developing and the squad we’ve put together - top 2-4 we would be looking at


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[Purple Suit]

If only we had King, sliding doors on what trades we would have done since. But jeez, a big forward with amiss developing and the squad we’ve put together - top 2-4 we would be looking at


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If Tabs & Fyfe can get right this year, we’ll have enough up forward to protect the rest. Teams have won flags with 1 key forward, we’re going to have to go unconventional.

 

[oldgoat]

I still expect to make finals, not expecting to go deep or even win one as I believe next year will be one of the most competitive seasons in a while but anything less then finals is a failure imo.

This is a stronger team .
JOM and Jackson add real substance.
Fit Fyfe.
400 more games in the pack including a high quality dose of finals inoculation.
No reason not to go deeper into September.
And then...
Anything can happen!

 

[Sully90]

I can see what the OP is saying but I'd be disappointed if we fell out of the top 6. With so many question marks around other teams I feel like we should be able to hold our ground before making the big jump in 2024.

 

[myfreodom]

The biggest benefit of losing Lobb is our forward pressure. This time last year people were looking at the stats and saying we had to play both Tabs and Lobb in our forward line to be competitive. But when we did the ball came flying out of our forward half like lightning. We didn't start playing Logue in the forward line because he is a great forward - we did it because we needed a tall that wasn't a liability at applying pressure. It's also why the only thing stopping Sturt from playing was his lack of forward pressure.

Jackson, Amiss and Corbett are all massively better at applying pressure than Lobb. All three are upgrades on Logue playing in the forward line. And it likely means we can cover Tabs (a liability at forward pressure) when he is fit and available.

Our small forwards shined when we had the pressure mix right. I will not be surprised if losing Lobb reveals itself as a blessing. Perhaps not dissimilarly to losing Cerra in our midfield (and with the greatest respect to the great man, Mundy, his midfield pressure/defensive accountability also).

 

[Sweetback]

I think we'll make finals next year but unless we get an experienced key forward from somewhere or solve the problem somehow I don't think we'll get much further than we did this year. Maybe Darcy plays the Lobb forward/ruck role. Maybe we recruit a mature KPF from the state leagues who miraculously kicks 30 goals. Maybe Treacy somehow kicks 25 goals. Maybe Tabs doesn't get injured. Maybe Corbett, Erasmus, Sturt form a deadly mid-sized trio to complement the smalls. Maybe Nat gets his body right (zero confidence in this) and kicks straight. Something has to improve there.

 

[Mr Cheese]

My only concern is the loss of Lobb.

Who will kick 30+ goals this year in his place?

I genuinely think it'll be made up in the aggregate. If our midfield is more defensively accountable, which it should be (JOM is a clear upgrade on Mundy in this department, as is Jackson on Darcy and Meek), our back six is going to look insanely good and be able to lauch end to end at will. Amiss, Corbett and Treacy are all good lead up players and should get good numbers, depending who's playing. Tabs is still a monster and the mozzy fleet are more than serviceable. Fyfe (as someone said prior) is an x factor drifting forward.

Fully expect Serong and Brayshaw (and Brodie to a lesser extent) to hit the scoreboard more too.



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[Scham]

We'll be stronger in '23 than we were this year. Our list has improved.

 

[BStaff17]

Look I suppose like every successful team it depends on injuries.

I think 2022 was similar to 2010 we jumped out of the blocks after a hiatus from finals and out of the rebuild and established ourselves in the top 4.

Faded at backend of the year to drop out of the 4. But still get a Home EF which we managed to win when the odds were probably against us.

Then got overwhelmed on the road at the MCG in week 2 just like 2010.

2011 we got a shitload of injuries and missed the finals while Harvs got the bullet as the team should have been capable and expected to make finals.

I think we would love to build a fortress at Optus. We lost more home games this year then on the road which ultimately cost us a top 4 spot.

 

[FDH16]

well, considering you are never wrong, I have nothing to add

This is the best thing you've said all year.

Welcome to the fold.

 

[WaywardSonSon]

This is the best thing you've said all year.

Welcome to the fold.

 

[rgauci]

I’m starting to feel more optimistic than at the conclusion of the trade period.

Key forward is the massive hole left by Lobb, but surely the following would have to improve;

Taberner 13 games of a possible 24
Amiss 3 games (+7 WAFL)
Treacy 4 games (+14 WAFL)

All 3 had a bunch of games in the WAFL on the comeback from injury. Surely we don’t have that bad luck in the one position again.

We’ll also have Corbett and Jackson.

Clearance wise we should improve; added Jackson as the 2nd ruck and JOM in place of Mundy.

Pressure should go up, remove two of our slower players in Mundy and Lobb and replaced them with quicker players.

Lastly Fyfe is our ace in the sleeve. He was a match winner against the Saints. Hopefully he gets some consistency.

The only player who may drop away is Walters, but then again he may not.

 

[ignoramus]

Regression? I've already renewed the GF upgrade add on to my membership renewal. Will be looking at flights over the weekend.

 

[Madas]

My only concern is the loss of Lobb.

Who will kick 30+ goals this year in his place?

Amiss - 10
Corbett - 8
Jackson - 6
Fyfe - 4
Omeara - 2

Brayshaw, Serong , Drizzle and Brodie are all hitting the scoreboard more as they improve.
Schultz and Freddy had a quiet year and should get better delivery with our improved midfield.

We got this !

Who needs the lanky prick

 

[mightymouse75]

Amiss - 10
Corbett - 8
Jackson - 6
Fyfe - 4
Omeara - 2

Brayshaw, Serong , Drizzle and Brodie are all hitting the scoreboard more as they improve.
Schultz and Freddy had a quiet year and should get better delivery with our improved midfield.

We got this !

Who needs the lanky prick

Well if you put it like that

 

[sabre_ac]

I agree that it's a case of short-term pain for long-term gain, which I'm fine with.

Goal scoring will be more of an issue and any solution involving Fyfe or Tabs feels like a fantasy. This is a very bitter pill to swallow as I'd love nothing more than Fyfe to have another crack at a flag and put in a few inspirational game-breaking runs per game, I just don't think his body is up to it.

 

[freo1997]

We won’t drop away. Lobb was selfish and Logue was afraid to have a shot.

We will improve everywhere else on the ground. Just need Treacy or Tabs to boot what Lobb booted this year as the main target.

Corbett, Amiss (only 3 games last year) and Jackson will be there too and will feel like a new FWD line.

 

[Boomer93]

Some of the benifits of Jackson over Lobb are hard to quantify. The extra tackling pressure, quality disposal, and ground ball gets etc. A quality handball can be more important in the link towards creating a goal then the guy who gets the over the top goal in the square.

One stat I found was 'score involvements'. Lobb was running at an average of 5.6 last year where as Jackson was 4.9. Now that's a lot closer then looking purely at goal stats. Granted Melbourne were a higher scoring team, but this doesn't take in to account the extra mobility and pressure of Jackson.

It also doesn't take in to account a major factor, Lobb is an injury prone bloke about to turn 30, while Jackson has just turned 21. These two might be a lot closer next season then we give Jackson credit for.

 

[FreoRicci]

We'll be stronger in '23 than we were this year. Our list has improved.

It has. But you can improve a list, whilst downgrading forward line.
Am prepared for 2023 to be two steps forward one step back. Amiss has played 3 games and suddenly he’s number 2 key forward.
Overpaid for Jackson. With the losses during trade period, the club has to be realistic and hope for another semi finals appearance. It’s still an inexperienced group.

 

[oldgoat]

Regression? I've already renewed the GF upgrade add on to my membership renewal. Will be looking at flights over the weekend.

Me too!
Maintained gf upgrade since 2013.
Planning road trip to be in melbourne on gf weekend!

 

[myfreodom]

It has. But you can improve a list, whilst downgrading forward line.
Am prepared for 2023 to be two steps forward one step back. Amiss has played 3 games and suddenly he’s number 2 key forward.
Overpaid for Jackson. With the losses during trade period, the club has to be realistic and hope for another semi finals appearance. It’s still an inexperienced group.

Think the main problem is you are massively overrating Lobb. He's kicked over 30 goals once in his whole career and he is 30yo next year.

I've yet to hear anyone credible suggest we overpaid for Jackson. Most "experts" seem to think, if anything, we got a bargain.

I'd put money on Graham getting more out of the forward line sans Lobb next year than what he did with Lobb this year. We are losing 1 to 1.5 goals per game with Lobb gone - that's it. Given opposition interceptors seemed to love playing against us, I'd be very surprised if we couldn't make up that difference by keeping the ball locked in a few more times rather than it rebounding like an elastic band.

 

[FreoRicci]

Think the main problem is you are massively overrating Lobb. He's kicked over 30 goals once in his whole career and he is 30yo next year.

I've yet to hear anyone credible suggest we overpaid for Jackson. Most "experts" seem to think, if anything, we got a bargain.

I'd put money on Graham getting more out of the forward line sans Lobb next year than what he did with Lobb this year. We are losing 1 to 1.5 goals per game with Lobb gone - that's it. Given opposition interceptors seemed to love playing against us, I'd be very surprised if we couldn't make up that difference by keeping the ball locked in a few more times rather than it rebounding like an elastic band.

It’s more then that. It’s the presence of Lobb up forward. Jackson and Fyfe will have train in that role, especially Fyfe. If anyone can kick 30+ like Lobb did, its Nat. The sooner he accepts that midfield role isn’t there for him, the better the team will play.

 

[dominguez]

I think there's much more chance of us missing Meek next year than saying I wish Lobbster was still here.