Review 2023 Season Review: The good, the bad, the ugly. Where to next?

[ghostdog]

Three of each and the light we can see for 24.

Good:
Langford is a forward
We look better in the middle with Setterfield
Hobbs can rise to the level - scope for improvement
Best win: Melbourne

Bad:
Darcy remains inconsistent defensively; gets back to help the defenders which is great. Refuses to stand defensive side of his man at a stoppage, like, all the time.
Zach needs help to break a tag.
Martin has a tendency to go missing.

Ugly:
When the going gets tough, the Bombers give up. Competitive early, okay, but the grind through June - August needs to drive our application to the task competitively.
The list is Frankensteinian; cheers Dodo and team. Good f****** job.
I don't see a future beyond a middling finish unless the previous two uglies are fixed.

The light:
Cox worked his way into the game off half-back last night and looked much better than he has. Dare I say, at times, dynamic. I hope he trains there all summer.
Tsatas, though kicking helicopters at times, has plenty of pace out of a stoppage and makes us look different around the ball, which I like.
Caldwell and Hobbs may bring the competitive edge to the midfield that we need.
Bryan will be a better ruckman than Draper.

 

[mcgrath_truther]

I think the last fortnight really has summed up the club’s year for me, kind of wasted after a good start, and that’s an extension of how I’ve felt for the last decade, and as much as I love the club it’s getting harder and harder to pay for tickets & my club membership. Been a member for a bit over 20 years (sorry I’m basically a baby) and I think this matches the Peptides saga low point for me).

Year in year out we’re touted as “finals favourites” and that expectation gets quashed a few weeks in, should we go solid into rebuild mode & actually develop talent and rebuild a club culture that benefits us, or trust that the ship will slowly be steered the right way.

I’m frustrated, but I think there’s been some genuine highlights this season, lots of questions got answered well, in my opinion, such as what to do with Kyle Langford

4

Kyle Langford

Age

27

Ht

192cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.7

4star

K

8.3

3star

HB

7.3

5star

M

3.9

4star

T

3.3

5star

G

0.7

4star

D

17.4

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

8.4

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.6

3star

G

0.7

4star

D

8.2

2star

K

3.2

2star

HB

5.0

4star

M

2.0

3star

T

2.6

4star

G

0.6

3star

, Nick Bryan showing that he’s got what it takes, Jordan Ridley

14

Jordan Ridley

Age

25

Ht

195cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.6

4star

K

11.1

4star

HB

4.5

3star

M

6.4

5star

T

1.7

4star

MG

244.8

4star

D

17.0

4star

K

11.9

5star

HB

5.1

3star

M

6.7

5star

T

1.7

3star

MG

265.4

4star

D

13.8

4star

K

9.6

4star

HB

4.2

4star

M

5.2

5star

T

1.4

4star

MG

208.2

4star

being a rock (when uninjured),and that our new captain actually gives a damn, but does that outweigh the clear negatives? Maybe in the future? Who knows.

How much more can you put up with before it’s too much? I’m teetering on the edge but I think I’m just a bit shitty that our effort last night was abysmal.

 

[citizen-erased]

Bottom 3 where we should have been this year

In all honesty, i get where brad is going with bringing some mid level experience in to show the kids the way. And its the right thing to do

Id glady turn 50% of the list over in the next two years

Laverde, kelly, heppell, weideman, stringer, guelfi, snelling, shiel, parish, lord, montgomerie, hind, voss, mcbride.
If reid and jones arent on the park by last half of the season.
If someone ponies a mcgrath offer up thats band 1, i take it. If anyone comes in for a trade, i entertain it.

Baldwin - FB - BP
Redman - CHB - Ridley
Martin - setterfield - durham
HF - CHF - Langford
FP - Wright - FP
Bryan - merrett - caldwell
Hobbs, B2 thru 4
Sub

About what i trust at the moment
Perkins, cox, tsatas, menzie, davey, hayes still kids.

 

[brutus76]

Let the killing fields commence and let the blood run free

 

[Goat Hird]

In need of a proper cleanout; Adrian, Sheeds etc. If not, same old next season and the next...

 

[mcgrath_truther]

Bottom 3 where we should have been this year

In all honesty, i get where brad is going with bringing some mid level experience in to show the kids the way. And its the right thing to do

Id glady turn 50% of the list over in the next two years

Laverde, kelly, heppell, weideman, stringer, guelfi, snelling, shiel, parish, lord, montgomerie, hind, voss, mcbride.
If reid and jones arent on the park by last half of the season.
If someone ponies a mcgrath offer up thats band 1, i take it. If anyone comes in for a trade, i entertain it.

Baldwin - FB - BP
Redman - CHB - Ridley
Martin - setterfield - durham
HF - CHF - Langford
FP - Wright - FP
Bryan - merrett - caldwell
Hobbs, B2 thru 4
Sub

About what i trust at the moment
Perkins, cox, tsatas, menzie, davey, hayes still kids.

from memory (provided above) i had us in the bottom 4. last year was bad and expected that to continue with a new coach. wasn't totally right with the prediction but can't say i'm too far off.

agree with the overall list too, though i think that draper is firmly in our most important. he brings a physicality that no one else in the club really matches at the club.

 

[BomberManU]

Get fit, settle players into positions. Make meaningful changes to the list - not sure if re-signing Heppel is a sign that that's what they're going to do, or a sign that we're going to run with the same olds.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

It was enlightening last night after the game when Zac referred to this season as “Year 1”

2008 was Year 1 (Knights)

2011 was Year 1 (Hird)

2014 was Year 1 (Bomber)

2015 was Year 1 (Hird)

2016 was Year 1 (Worsfold)

2020 was Year 1 (Worsfold / Rutten)

2021 was Year 1 (Rutten)

2023 was Year 1 (Scott)

There’s nothing we can do but (1) hope the idiots in charge have accidentally stumbled on some sort of good formula, and (2) hope like hell they stick with it beyond a s**t year or two.

Suffice to say I have little confidence in them on either front.

If we have a s**t 2024 I fully expect Scott to be sacked, then we have Year 1 in 2025.

 

[Chief Hopper]

End of our season comes around each year like a bad penny.
Ah well, when we finally get to the top, it will make it all the more lustrous.

Good:
What else can be praised about Langford. He's been exceptional in front of goal. Durable.
We proved we aren't a bottom 4 team even with the rebuild going on. This season to me had similarities to 2021
We were a top 5 team for most of the first half of the season.
We beat the Tigers, finally ticking that box off to shut their supporters incessant gloating at our misfortune.

The Bad:
The close loss against Collingwood after they fluked a halo effort end to end and kicked a goal 99/100 of times would've missed.
Close loss to Port Adelaide when Ridley went down. Seems Willie Riolli wasn't so clumsy seeing he later got done for 2 matches with his hit against Nathan Murphy

28

Nathan Murphy

Age

24

Ht

192cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.5

3star

K

6.5

3star

HB

5.0

4star

M

2.5

3star

T

1.5

3star

MG

176.5

3star

No current season stats available

D

11.5

3star

K

6.5

3star

HB

5.0

4star

M

2.5

3star

T

1.5

4star

MG

176.5

3star

.

The Ugly:
The multiple end of season annihilations.
Seems that Hawthorn, with way fewer wins, have made nice wins against the top teams. They also have a squad makeup that makes way way more sense than ours.

 

[ghostdog]

End of our season comes around each year like a bad penny.
Ah well, when we finally get to the top, it will make it all the more lustrous.

Good:
What else can be praised about Langford. He's been exceptional in front of goal. Durable.
We proved we aren't a bottom 4 team even with the rebuild going on. This season to me had similarities to 2021
We were a top 5 team for most of the first half of the season.
We beat the Tigers, finally ticking that box off to shut their supporters incessant gloating at our misfortune.

The Bad:
The close loss against Collingwood after they fluked a halo effort end to end and kicked a goal 99/100 of times would've missed.
Close loss to Port Adelaide when Ridley went down. Seems Willie Riolli wasn't so clumsy seeing he later got done for 2 matches with his hit against Nathan Murphy.

The Ugly:
The multiple end of season annihilations.
Seems that Hawthorn, with way fewer wins, have made nice wins against the top teams. They also have a squad makeup that makes way way more sense than ours.

Ugh. The notion that Hawthorn will rebuild and compete before we do is a real stinger. At least that kind of parochial rivalry might cause some dumb coterie people to back a Team Dodoro rout.

 

[Ati Tude]

Really disappointing the way the season finished, but most of us would have taken 11 wins at the start of the season. Feels a lot worse the way the last 4 weeks went. Seems amazing we actually beat Eagles and Norf too. Scott has another pre season to work on game plan etc. Important for us to stand up more consistently next season to be able to show real progress.

When you look at recent drafts:

2022 - Tsatas and Davey could be players. Too early to know with Hayes. Martin as pre season pick is a jet.
2021 - Hobbs could be a future captain. Durham a useful mid season pick up.
2020 - Perkins is going ok but just. Need him to keep progressing. Reid has been unlucky with injury. Hopefully next year is his year. Important for our defence for him to work out. Cox worries me as a likely bust. Hope I'm wrong. Keep him in defence. Needs to muscle up. To have 3 early picks and be we are with them so far is disappointing. Saad and Joe would have been far far more useful so far.
2019 - traded out of 1st round. Harry Jones and Bryan at 30 and 38. Harry needs some luck with injury. Plays a role we really need to work out. Must keep Bryan. I really like him. Others will come for him.
2018 - nothing to talk about
2017 - nothing to talk about
2016 - McGrath at 1 and Ridley. Whilst we would now choose McLuggage or Taranto, my guess is they wouldnt look so good in our team. Sadly, when we got number 1 pick it wasnt a great draft. Ridley a great 22 pick.

I would describe the above as pretty average. If neither of Cox and Reid can become very good players, it is even worse. We also gave up too much for Shiel although GWS used one of those picks to get Caldwell and we now have him.

When you think about our team and who you could imagine playing in a top 4 side, i come up with:

Backs - Ridley, Redman, maybe McGrath. Some hope for Baldwin, Reid and Cox on basis too early to write them off. None of Kelly, Hepp, Hind (maybe depth) Laverde (maybe depth and if doesnt have to play on KPFs each week) or Zerk (will leave now anyway) are good enough. Too early to judge Hayes and Montgomerie.

Mids - we seem ok with Merrett, Parish, Caldwell, Hobbs, Tsatas, Setterfield, Sheil for depth, Martin, Durham (needs consistency but we could do better there too), Draper and Bryan. But my god they need to work on transition defence.

Forwards - 2MP and Langford. That's it. Perkins might be still be decent. Davey and Menzie are decent potential. Wanganeen and Voss still have hope especially Tex. Munkara is development guy but odds against him. I like the way Guelfi goes about it but doesnt do enough. Maybe send him back again, but he cant kick well enough. Stringer cant get on the park enough or at good enough fitness. Has limited trade value. Weideman is a dud. Hunter who knows. J Davey who knows.

Assume we are losing/cutting Walla, Stewart, Lord, McBride, Phillips, Zerk (will leave). I'd get rid of Snelling, Weid and D'Ambrosio too. If we could get anything (2nd round picks) for Stringer and Shiel i'd be happy to say goodbye. I want us to keep Parish. We cant afford to lose a 30 possession a game and high clearance player even if he cant kick. I'd be going after McKay as we need an established tall defender even if he isn't great.

And I'd be getting Dodo and Sheeds the hell out of the place but I doubt that happens either.

Not sure how we break the cycle of mediocrity. Notionally this year has been a decent improvement and there is potential upside in many players but very flat the way the year ended. Compare where we are to say Kangas and Suns, they have a bunch of good kids and a bunch of draft picks this year. Feels like they better placed to make a run at it in say 3 years than us. We havent had enough low picks and the ones we have had, we haven't made count.

 

[mcgrath_truther]

i'll hold my tongue but i do hope that travis cloke isn't doing any work with our forwards. if memory serves he rarely kicked straight, though it may explain how s**t our goalkicking's been this year

 

[Mootsy]

View attachment 1786124

i'll hold my tongue but i do hope that travis cloke isn't doing any work with our forwards. if memory serves he rarely kicked straight, though it may explain how s**t our goalkicking's been this year

Give him a five dollar note and he’ll kick a goal, gauranteed.

 

[BratPack]

The only light in this team is a freight train coming head on.

 

[MiguelM]

I suppose we will be back to more games in the graveyard timeslot of 3:30 Sunday arvo.

 

[mike14]

The good:

• Langford's season
• Setterfield seems like a smart get
• Walla's goal in round 1 and the crowd reaction

The bad:

• defensive running is not there once again
• the backline without Ridley
• foot skills

The ugly:

• the list is very unbalanced
• there doesn't seem to be a plan (or at least not one being effectively communicated)
• our inability to competitive when it matters

Things I liked:
Merrett, Langford, Caldwell, Martin, Setterfield (when in), Bryan's last month, Hobbs overall (needs to keep improving)

 

[Zach Package]

Good: Cox, Baldwin, Menzie, Tsatas, Bryan, Hobbs, Davey, Perkins pre bye. Exposing kids in their preferred positions.

Bad: Scott completely packing it in the moment he was forced to deviate from his pre set plans and think on the fly.

Bad: ‘We need to take a look at the list’. Of course we need to take a look at the list, there are 17 other clubs that will take a look at the list this summer.

Genuine cowardice to trot out this line after the performances in the first 3 quarters of the year and now all of a sudden it’s the lists fault Scott can’t get them off the canvas for the last month of the season.

Don’t s**t on my leg and tell me it’s a brown kitten.

 

[citizen-erased]

View attachment 1786058
from memory (provided above) i had us in the bottom 4. last year was bad and expected that to continue with a new coach. wasn't totally right with the prediction but can't say i'm too far off.

agree with the overall list too, though i think that draper is firmly in our most important. he brings a physicality that no one else in the club really matches at the club.

Draper compounds our issue with low iq footballers.
Im on the bryan train

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Really disappointing the way the season finished, but most of us would have taken 11 wins at the start of the season. Feels a lot worse the way the last 4 weeks went. Seems amazing we actually beat Eagles and Norf too. Scott has another pre season to work on game plan etc. Important for us to stand up more consistently next season to be able to show real progress.

When you look at recent drafts:

2022 - Tsatas and Davey could be players. Too early to know with Hayes. Martin as pre season pick is a jet.
2021 - Hobbs could be a future captain. Durham a useful mid season pick up.
2020 - Perkins is going ok but just. Need him to keep progressing. Reid has been unlucky with injury. Hopefully next year is his year. Important for our defence for him to work out. Cox worries me as a likely bust. Hope I'm wrong. Keep him in defence. Needs to muscle up. To have 3 early picks and be we are with them so far is disappointing. Saad and Joe would have been far far more useful so far.
2019 - traded out of 1st round. Harry Jones and Bryan at 30 and 38. Harry needs some luck with injury. Plays a role we really need to work out. Must keep Bryan. I really like him. Others will come for him.
2018 - nothing to talk about
2017 - nothing to talk about
2016 - McGrath at 1 and Ridley. Whilst we would now choose McLuggage or Taranto, my guess is they wouldnt look so good in our team. Sadly, when we got number 1 pick it wasnt a great draft. Ridley a great 22 pick.

I would describe the above as pretty average. If neither of Cox and Reid can become very good players, it is even worse. We also gave up too much for Shiel although GWS used one of those picks to get Caldwell and we now have him.

When you think about our team and who you could imagine playing in a top 4 side, i come up with:

Backs - Ridley, Redman, maybe McGrath. Some hope for Baldwin, Reid and Cox on basis too early to write them off. None of Kelly, Hepp, Hind (maybe depth) Laverde (maybe depth and if doesnt have to play on KPFs each week) or Zerk (will leave now anyway) are good enough. Too early to judge Hayes and Montgomerie.

Mids - we seem ok with Merrett, Parish, Caldwell, Hobbs, Tsatas, Setterfield, Sheil for depth, Martin, Durham (needs consistency but we could do better there too), Draper and Bryan. But my god they need to work on transition defence.

Forwards - 2MP and Langford. That's it. Perkins might be still be decent. Davey and Menzie are decent potential. Wanganeen and Voss still have hope especially Tex. Munkara is development guy but odds against him. I like the way Guelfi goes about it but doesnt do enough. Maybe send him back again, but he cant kick well enough. Stringer cant get on the park enough or at good enough fitness. Has limited trade value. Weideman is a dud. Hunter who knows. J Davey who knows.

Assume we are losing/cutting Walla, Stewart, Lord, McBride, Phillips, Zerk (will leave). I'd get rid of Snelling, Weid and D'Ambrosio too. If we could get anything (2nd round picks) for Stringer and Shiel i'd be happy to say goodbye. I want us to keep Parish. We cant afford to lose a 30 possession a game and high clearance player even if he cant kick. I'd be going after McKay as we need an established tall defender even if he isn't great.

And I'd be getting Dodo and Sheeds the hell out of the place but I doubt that happens either.

Not sure how we break the cycle of mediocrity. Notionally this year has been a decent improvement and there is potential upside in many players but very flat the way the year ended. Compare where we are to say Kangas and Suns, they have a bunch of good kids and a bunch of draft picks this year. Feels like they better placed to make a run at it in say 3 years than us. We havent had enough low picks and the ones we have had, we haven't made count.

A lack of star power from the top of the draft (like top 10) is going to be an issue for us.

We got McGrath who will always be a handy small defender but that’s it. Weak draft

Some hope for Perkins but we need to get him into the midfield. Really hope we can have Reid and Cox as decade-long key defenders which would be a very good result, but one has hardly been on the park and the other has been played on the ******* wing. Not a good start.

In between we traded picks for Shiel which has not been a good trade. We really overpaid there.

Tsatas, who knows

 

[Mikevk123]

The good?

Merrett was outstanding for most of the season and really progressed as a leader. Ridley continued his excellence. Redman was very good for most of the year. Langford was outstanding and really took the next level.

Draper showed how important he is to our team. Martin, Caldwell and Hobbs have all shown talent and have a bright future. Setterfield was a handy recruit.

 

[brutus76]

BAD AND UGLY

ONE WAY RUNNERS
TRAINING STANDARDS
STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
NOT ENOUGH MONGREL
FORWARD LINE BEREFT OF STRUCTURE AND COHESION
TOO MANY PLAYERS THAT ARE GREAT ATHLETES NOT GREAT FOOTBALLERS (AS IN KICKING SKILLS AND FOOTY SMARTS)

GOOD
Tsatas (just needs to fill out)
Langers
Hobbsy the Horsham Hobgoblin
Caldwell as a tagger/run with type
Perks similar getting different roles
Zerrett (trying his guts out as Captain)
Setterfield (i think is a good pick up and will come good)
Tex and the Daveys (2024 look out)
OFF FIELD settled (bar the recruiting and list management positions) - BARHAM and VOZZO been outstanding
record membership
Marto
Redders
DP3 has been very good but his disposal has been TRIPE SHEIITE
Bryan (I like the boy - needs to play more often)

 

[outersanctum]

I was loving this season.. right up to the point when I wasn't. The last 7 weeks have been ugly.. like very very ugly. Potentially one of the worst 7 week patches in the last 10 years.. and that is saying something. The way we played these last 7 weeks could easily justify firing Scott in the same way they justified (correctly) giving Truck the boot.

But I don't want Scott gone. I don't think he is the problem. I think our recruiting is the beginning and middle of our problem. our fitness department is the end. The rest is all just decorations on a s**t pile.

I have tried to be objective about our list but it really, truly is not good enough. Merrett and Langford are the only ones that would probably get a pass mark for me this season. Ridley was injured, Parish injured and butchers the ball, Martin went missing in the back end. Laverde and Zerk get beaten too often. McGrath was meant to be a blue chip midfielder and instead is a handy B grade back pocket. Hobbs gives away too many frees. Draper has no footy IQ. Wright has played one good season in his entire career, and it wasn't this one.. Snelling, Guelfi, Walla, Davey all didn't deliver a lot. Stringer overweight and under delivers. Perkins has moments but fails to stand up to the heat. Setters was injured. Caldwell is solid with stand out games but inconsistent. Durham is a worker but not going to win you games. Cox is a still mystery.. Jones and Reid can't get on the park. Redman did exactly nothing after getting his money.

Seriously.. the lack of talent on the list is glaring. Plus they are just not fit enough, work hard enough or have enough footy IQ. There is a reason why we are always struggling to get a team on the park and it starts with our training standards.

The signing of Heppell has really pissed me off.. the dude was on one leg most of the season.. gives away at least two goals a game due to direct turnover clangers and usually 'creates' a couple more goals for the oppo due to his complete lack of leg speed and ability to stuff up routine handballs.. I would hate to be his team mate running past.. most times it will be a slow, loopy handball that leaves you exposed for crunch and broken ribs. If the club truly thinks he deserves a list spot next year.. then I don't know what game they are watching.

I just don't see how we improve when we literally keep trust the same man to try and bring talent into the club despite him showing that he can't do it.

We can ALL predict the offseason.. every man and his dog will be linked to the club.. Duds will be 'difficult' to trade with.. we will miss all of them.. we will pick up some retread middle ager for 'depth'.. he will spend our first two rounds on speculative skinny half back flankers and then wonder why they spend their whole career undersized and injured.. and so it goes on.

This club breaks you. Every time I think I'm out... they drag me back in. Only to break my heart again.

 

[windyhill]

Good: carton, melbourne wins.
Bad : dodoro
Ugly : sheedy lurking.

 

[ant555]

Where to next ?
Will pretty much be the same story until they can improve on the contested ball winning front both ground level and marking.
They had a reasonable game plan going but everything came undone when sides just zoned the middle of the ground and stopped the short kicking game.
We had no other direction to go because we could not win contested footy at ground level nor could we take a contested mark.

 

[DERO]

Good: we were in the game more often and for longer until the rot started to set in. Hobbs, Caldwell and Bryan showed that they are the future. Langford is elite, Merrett showed that he is a leader. Tired/ injured players seemed to have an impact. We did have 10 of our best 22 on the sideline injured in the last game. Ridley is possibly our most important player.
Bad: Lack of depth in key positions at both end of the ground. We have about 28 small forwards on the list and none of them are that flash. I am including Massimo on that list. Snelling, Guelfi, Davey x 2, Wanganeen, Walla, Munkara, Massimo, Menzie. People talking about list balance should consider this. Granted some may be given different roles but that is a lot os small forwards.
Ugly: Listless at times with an obvious lack of effort. We really did look like witches hats at times in the back-end of the year. Fundamental skill errors, inability to stick tackles. I can forgive young players or players carrying a niggle I guess but McGrath, Parish, Shiel, Heppell etc have no excuses.