A legitimate question

[Exeter]

How are the Crows placed for the next 2-4 years?

Craig has done a phenomenal job and should be coach of the year.

But where is your squad at?

I thought you had quite a few ageing players, how's your crop of young blokes?

 

[afc9798]

How are the Crows placed for the next 2-4 years?

Craig has done a phenomenal job and should be coach of the year.

But where is your squad at?

I thought you had quite a few ageing players, how's your crop of young blokes?

We're doing OK and if we can get the forward set up right over Summer, then we will be thereabouts next year. Thye midfield still has a couple of years left in it and we have Reilly, Knights, Skipworth, Van Berlo, Mattner, Johncock etc. all able to take a step up. With a good pre-season I think that Johncock would be ready to go into the midfield, Knights is ready to be a regular with some time in there and Reilly needs to step up to the plate.

Overall, we are in pretty good shape and with the right recruiting to replace our obvious delistings, then I think we are looking good for a few more years yet. It will be interesting to watch a team like Brisbane to see how far down they have to go before regaining their momentum, they will be the benchmark of how well you can do against an imposed system of levelling.

 

[GoSarge]

Realistically, the squad still has a lot of fine tuning. We had a good run with injuries this year and hence our lack of depth was not really tested. Roo, Goodwin, Edwards and Mcleod are 28 or over and we probably have to look at replacing them through the middle in the years to come. IMO, Shirley, Doughty and Skipworth are servicable but dont really have a lot of improvement in them.

As far as KPP's go, Rutten and Bock have been revelations at FB and CHB respectively. Sarge, McGregor, Welsh and Hentschell all have some good years left in them up forward, McGregor and Hentschell particularly, and together they form a pretty strong (but not outstanding) forward line.

Next year, young talls such as Watts and Maric should push through. Watts has been in excellent nick in the SANFL (kicked 10 on the weekend) and Maric has performed strongly in the ruck for Port Magpies.

Young midfielders such as Knights (numerous games in the SANFL with more than 30 touches), Van Berlo (10 games with AFC already) and Reilly should also all take their games to the next level. Reilly has promised so much for us and considering the time and effort we have put in to him, it's time he delivered.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Its a good question and the one that would be much better answered after the pre-season.

IMHO, there are still a lot of question that need to be asked with our squad. I don't thin our depth is overly great. It hasn't been tested this year because we have had a pretty good run with injuries. Just the natural improvement of youngsters on our list should see us improve in the depth department next year.

I think we are most suspect in the midfield. We have Ricciuto, McLeod, Edwards, Goodwin and to a lesser extent Thomspon as proven consistent performers. All of those except Thompson will be 30 next year. This is a genuine cause for concern. Of the youngsters coming through, you can only pencil in Thompson as the genuine replacement. Reilly has shown glimpses here and there but he hasn't kicked on as expected this year. We are all hoping that Reilly steps up to the place and becomes a regular player in our midfield next year rather than utility off the bench.

As far as midfielders are concerned we have picked up a couple of good kids in last draft, Van Berlo and Knights. Both have had a taste of AFL footy this year. Van Berlo has been our number one emergency. He ended up playing 11 AFL games. He needs to beef up and develop his game a bit more to play in the midfield. His engine cannot be questioned. He is arguably the fittest player at the club. The player that we most excited here is Chris Knights. He is a medium midfielder with uncanny ability to find the footy. He is a sensational crumber and is a goal kicker when he is resting froward. His only downside could be his finishing. He needs to tidy up his disposal by foot a bit and his "non-preffered handball" but overall he is a genuinely exciting player. He regularly picks up 25+ touches and kicks a goal or 2 in the SANFL. He generally makes his teams best players week in week out.

As far as young midfield stocks coming through the system there are 4 genuine players that have a good to great AFL career ahead of them. Those 4 are Scott Thompson, Brent Reilly, Nathan Van Berlo and Chris Knights.

Now there are some queries about the following players as genuine onballers. Mattner has been very good for us on the wing this year. He went missing towards the end but overall he has been very good this year. Can he step up and become an genuine on-baller? I am not that convinced. Graham Johncock is one player that has all the tolls to play in the midfield bar one, aerobic capacity. He has worked hard over the last couple of years to improve his fitness but never quite got to the set benchmark. I suspect he might be one of those players that are just not naturally fit enough to turn into midfielder. Time will tell.

Another player that we could see in the midfield next year is Luke Jericho. We have used him mainly as a forward in his 20 odd AFL games. He has had some very good games as a deep forward for us. He has the size (190cm), pace and a thumping kick to become a damaging midfielder or a wingman. He needs to work on his aerobic capacity and clean ball handling if he is to play in the midfield. He has improved his ball handling and attack on the ball but he still need to improve these areas further if he is to play in the midfield. While he has improved this area of his game this year, he still double grabs the ball at times. He needs to tidy up that aspect of his game.

As far as ruck prospects go, I think we are the best off we have ever been. We have Biglands who is a reasonable ruckman, Ben Hudson (will miss next year with knee reco) who have been an absolute gun for us, and we have 3 promising young ruckman in Maric, Meesen and rookie listed Jonathan Griffin. I think this is the area we are really set in for the future.

Key positions players is another area where we are very good in. In Ben Rutten we have a FB for the next decade. In Nathan Bock (who is prone to having a stinker here and there) we have a good young CHB/3rd tall type player that is still developing but playing good footy at the same time. Then we have Kenny McGregor who is equally good at either end of the ground and is still only 24. Trent Hentschel is one player that should develop into a very good key forward. He can also play either end of the ground and on the flanks. He even had a bit of a run in the midfeild this year. He is someone who can develop into 50 goal forward for us. Expect big things from Rodwy. Another youngster who is showing great promise in the local comp is Fergus Watts. Fergus has held CHF position for the Eagles all year. A side that was at the top of the ladder for majority of the year and only lost it in the last couple of rounds. He is the key forward that probably has most potential. He plays the game tough, good overhead mark and can play both key forward positions well. He kicked 10 goals yesterday in the semi-final after flying in from Perth the night before.

If Sarge decides to stay with us, then we are even more set with key forwards.

Overall, the future looks reasonably bright at the moment but that could change in the next 2-3 weeks. If Sarge and Watts decide to go back home then we could really be exposed in the key forward department. What ever we do we must keep on to Watts. Our rucks and KPP stocks look really healthy but we desperately need an injection of quality youth into our midfield. That would have to be our number one concern at the moment.

PS. Sorry for the long post

 

[relapse]

I have to agree I think we are well poised if the development of our younger players continue as we hope it does. We seem to have many guys that I can see being in our squad over the next 8-10 years McGregor, Hentschel, Watts, Knights, Van Berlo, Rutten, Bock, Thompson, Johncock, Reilly, Mattner maybe Maric (if he continues to develop).

I think we can continue to be a very competitive team for quite a while yet.

 

[snakebite01]

The more and more I think about it, the more I feel we shouldn't chase Pav this year if Perrie decides to go home. If we do, it'll mean losing 2 out of Watts, Reilly and our 1st round pick this year. When we desperately need youth pushed into our midfield especially, we can't afford this.

Therefore, I'd like to see us use Perrie (if he wants to go) to secure Waters, Butler or Schammer. That gives us another young midfielder that can push through next year, plus we can use our first round pick on a young mid aswell, preferably one with pace.

In a perfect world, Waters is homesick, Perrie is swapped for him and we pick up a pacy midfielder like Varcoe with our first round pick this year (don't know if he'll last that long though). That makes our midfield depth seem a lot better whilst also addressing the need for pace (Varcoe) and toughness (Waters). Varcoe could also address our need of a crumbing forward for a couple of years while he learns his trade.

Then Watts takes over Perrie's spot in the forward line. He is ready IMO, he's done his apprenticeship in the SANFL for 2 straight years and has really come along this year from last. We should aim to develop our own talent as much as possible rather than relying on others (Pav).

 

[GoSarge]

The more and more I think about it, the more I feel we shouldn't chase Pav this year if Perrie decides to go home. If we do, it'll mean losing 2 out of Watts, Reilly and our 1st round pick this year. When we desperately need youth pushed into our midfield especially, we can't afford this.

Therefore, I'd like to see us use Perrie (if he wants to go) to secure Waters, Butler or Schammer. That gives us another young midfielder that can push through next year, plus we can use our first round pick on a young mid aswell, preferably one with pace.

In a perfect world, Waters is homesick, Perrie is swapped for him and we pick up a pacy midfielder like Varcoe with our first round pick this year (don't know if he'll last that long though). That makes our midfield depth seem a lot better whilst also addressing the need for pace (Varcoe) and toughness (Waters). Varcoe could also address our need of a crumbing forward for a couple of years while he learns his trade.

Then Watts takes over Perrie's spot in the forward line. He is ready IMO, he's done his apprenticeship in the SANFL for 2 straight years and has really come along this year from last. We should aim to develop our own talent as much as possible rather than relying on others (Pav).

Superb post SB. With the continued development of Knights and VB, perhaps the inclusion of Waters (for Perrie if he decides to go home) and some astute drafting this year, we should make good progress with our 'next generation' midfield over Summer.

 

[Stiffy_18]

We should aim to develop our own talent as much as possible rather than relying on others (Pav).

Thats the plan.

Ever since Craig took over he has said that we will develop our own talent and not rely on trading alone to get better. Craig's record for developing youngsters is second to none IMHO and with the help of Alan Stewart, we should see some significant improvement from our youngsters in years to come.

We have a decent number of youngsters to work with and develop in Meesen, Watts, Van Berlo, Maric, Knights, Gibson, Jericho and maybe Hinge and Griffin. Those are only the players that haven't been in our best 22 this year. On top of that we have players like Hentschel, Bock and Rutten who will only get better.

Why do we have to sell the farm to get a superstar? Why should we trade our best picks and best youngsters to get a superstar player. I would love to have Pavlich. Crickey he is a SUPER player BUT would it be really worth it to get Pavlich and sacrifice 3-4 youngsters for him? Whats to say one of those youngsters won't develop into a superstar player?

We need to be VERY careful with this. We are in a very vulnerable state and after a reasonably successful year it is easy to take the eye off the ball. We have aging guns who won't be around much longer and our depth is questionable.

What we need is to treat this year in the same manner we treated last year. In other words if one of the established players wants to move on, and we are no chance of keeping him, then make sure you get someone/something of quality for him. We lost Stenglein but we got Thompson and Gibson in return. If we lose Sarge make sure we get compensated properly and use the picks wisely.

Its seems to me that people are losing the sight of the bog picture. The worst thing we could possibly do at this stage of redevelopment is to "top up" for a tilt at the flag. We came close this year because of great run with injuries, a lot of luck and some fine managment. You can't count on a good run with injuries next year and you can't hope the luck is on your side and the ball bounces your way. We need to be better than that.

While the year has been pleasantly good, we are a LONG way away from being a contender year in and year out. We must rebuild our list from the bottom up and that can't be done if we trade our youngsters and/or picks for one player in the middle of his career. Thats not smart list managment. We have done this sort of thing in the past and I hope we have learned something from it.

 

[blighty]

The more and more I think about it, the more I feel we shouldn't chase Pav this year if Perrie decides to go home. If we do, it'll mean losing 2 out of Watts, Reilly and our 1st round pick this year. When we desperately need youth pushed into our midfield especially, we can't afford this.

Therefore, I'd like to see us use Perrie (if he wants to go) to secure Waters, Butler or Schammer. That gives us another young midfielder that can push through next year, plus we can use our first round pick on a young mid aswell, preferably one with pace.

In a perfect world, Waters is homesick, Perrie is swapped for him and we pick up a pacy midfielder like Varcoe with our first round pick this year (don't know if he'll last that long though). That makes our midfield depth seem a lot better whilst also addressing the need for pace (Varcoe) and toughness (Waters). Varcoe could also address our need of a crumbing forward for a couple of years while he learns his trade.

Then Watts takes over Perrie's spot in the forward line. He is ready IMO, he's done his apprenticeship in the SANFL for 2 straight years and has really come along this year from last. We should aim to develop our own talent as much as possible rather than relying on others (Pav).

Pavlich eventually will have to make a statement of his playing status in 2006.

If he says he wants to play with the Crows...we will have to satisfy Fremantle..

That may involve Perrie, perhaps Stevens or Ladhams[Fremantle are keen for a quality midfielder]..
Those three players would walk into the Current Fremantle team...

that's more than enough to complete the deal... Watts doesn't come into the calculation....in any scenario

I also understand both the WA clubs would like high draft choices to chase Mitch Clark & another WA kid 197 cm tall KPP...in that case Reilly needs to be offered in return for that high first round pick...

 

[Crow-mosone]

Pavlich eventually will have to make a statement of his playing status in 2006.

If he says he wants to play with the Crows...we will have to satisfy Fremantle..

Pav will only declare he wants to play for us, if we have agreed that with him.

 

[Exeter]

I'd be very surprised if the Big Croat wasn't at Freo next year.

The year after?

Who knows?

 

[GoOsH1]

In a perfect world, Waters is homesick, Perrie is swapped for him and we pick up a pacy midfielder like Varcoe with our first round pick this year (don't know if he'll last that long though). That makes our midfield depth seem a lot better whilst also addressing the need for pace (Varcoe) and toughness (Waters). Varcoe could also address our need of a crumbing forward for a couple of years while he learns his trade.

There's this misconception from the SA guys that waters and butler want to come home, or that we are looking to trade them. Thing is, they don't want to leave, and we don't want to trade them. Since about the middle of last year both your supporters and the port supporters have had butler, or waters, or both in every single trade idea you've come up with, but all the wishing in the world isn't going to make it happen. You guys want them because they're going to be guns, and that's why we're keeping them, simple as that.
Until Waters or Butler come out and say that they want to be traded back to SA (As Stinger came out last year and said he wanted to go to WC), it's pointless coming up with trades involving them, because they're not going to happen.

 

[Blue Red and Gold]

Last year there was some homesickness for Beau, he wasnt sure what to do, but West coast, his family and friends convinced him to stay over there and he hasnt looked backed.

He has overcome this homesickness and he is not interested coming home this year or in the new future.

He would be a great player to have and would fit the mould perfectly at the AFC but I cant see this happening for a while.