Alright, there's been a lot of negativity around our flatlining season, but here's just 3 simple reasons why I feel we can rebound strongly next year:
1. A fit list. This first one is obvious. We're missing way too many games from our experienced upper end players currently. We can lament how all the youth aren't up to it, but at the moment they're being expected to carry too much of the load, rather than being added into the mix gradually with good support around them. I think we'll miss the 8 from here, which adds an extra month to our of season to get our list healthy and reinvigorated.
2. Injection of talent. We have a strong draft hand, and a lower finish has the silver lining of improving that position. Whether we land a good trade target, or go all in on the draft, we should have some fresh new talent to add to our best 22 for 2022. Add to this some game time into our younger crew across the remainder of this year, and I think the short term pain will definitely be for the long term gain.
3. Soft cap increase. This one gets somewhat overlooked. We hear a bit about how tough clubs are doing with the cuts to soft cap. I think it was a Chris Fagan interview outlining some of the things within the club that you just wouldn't consider. Not enough staff to track GPS numbers at training. Assistant coaches having to play the role of sports scientist. Etc. PLUS we had an extra $100k cut compared to everyone else. That's equivalent to one additional role lost within the club. I believe we let go of a lot of coaching staff and prioritiesed recruiting staff. If this pays off with our draft hand, and we can add significantly to our coaching panel with an increased soft cap for 2022, I think this will have a really significant impact.
So that's just 3 simple reasons. Whether that means top 4 & challenge for flags again, who knows - it's a strong, even competition and premierships are hard to win. But I do think we'll rebound strongly next year with a few things going our way, and should be a competitive, finals winning team once again.
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1. A fit list. This first one is obvious. We're missing way too many games from our experienced upper end players currently. We can lament how all the youth aren't up to it, but at the moment they're being expected to carry too much of the load, rather than being added into the mix gradually with good support around them. I think we'll miss the 8 from here, which adds an extra month to our of season to get our list healthy and reinvigorated.
2. Injection of talent. We have a strong draft hand, and a lower finish has the silver lining of improving that position. Whether we land a good trade target, or go all in on the draft, we should have some fresh new talent to add to our best 22 for 2022. Add to this some game time into our younger crew across the remainder of this year, and I think the short term pain will definitely be for the long term gain.
3. Soft cap increase. This one gets somewhat overlooked. We hear a bit about how tough clubs are doing with the cuts to soft cap. I think it was a Chris Fagan interview outlining some of the things within the club that you just wouldn't consider. Not enough staff to track GPS numbers at training. Assistant coaches having to play the role of sports scientist. Etc. PLUS we had an extra $100k cut compared to everyone else. That's equivalent to one additional role lost within the club. I believe we let go of a lot of coaching staff and prioritiesed recruiting staff. If this pays off with our draft hand, and we can add significantly to our coaching panel with an increased soft cap for 2022, I think this will have a really significant impact.
So that's just 3 simple reasons. Whether that means top 4 & challenge for flags again, who knows - it's a strong, even competition and premierships are hard to win. But I do think we'll rebound strongly next year with a few things going our way, and should be a competitive, finals winning team once again.
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