Opinion Are we really that much poorer with the 2017 retirements?

[The wily weagle]

The question everyone has is "who is going to win the contested ball?"

This isn't a new problem either, and it will only be magnified without Mitchell or Priddis and a healthy Nic Nat


Naturally, we will look to remedy this with a few half back flankers on draft day.......

 

[Seadog]

on another note, i am super unconvinced by Duggans ability to be a contributing mid.

Ps. For anyone who cares Avishka is taking some time off BF.

His Mum is a hard lady.

 

[WCErevival]

The retirements of Butler and Giles will be felt for decades

 

[greatwhiteshark]

We seem to be the only club that thinks the ruck position is the most important position on the ground.
Aside from Shuey we have no midfield and therefore we will be in huge trouble getting supply of the footy.
10-16th for me is where we will be but happy to be surprised.

 

[ziad]

Here is another perspective.

Mitchell was brilliant but had aged and mentally retired during the season.
Prides was a brilliant extractor but age had caught up.
possibly Petrie will be the biggest short term loss.
Nic Nat was our most important midfielder - The day he kicked the sealer against GWS at Spotless he has got us back into the game through his inside work in packs. He is beast among beasts with huge power and brilliant hands. His leap is a bonus and while his rucking helped it was his inside power that won the contests. He is back.

Kids will improve but may not be brownlow winners - we need to be realistic. If the old guys didn't retire they would have just struggled through another season - so we are better off long term without them. Stop kidding yourself that we lost two mids in Brownlow form at their peak. Life has moved on for them.

If the boys commit we will be fine.

 

[Eaglespur]

Here is another perspective.

Mitchell was brilliant but had aged and mentally retired during the season.
Prides was a brilliant extractor but age had caught up.
possibly Petrie will be the biggest short term loss.
Nic Nat was our most important midfielder - The day he kicked the sealer against GWS at Spotless he has got us back into the game through his inside work in packs. He is beast among beasts with huge power and brilliant hands. His leap is a bonus and while his rucking helped it was his inside power that won the contests. He is back.

Kids will improve but may not be brownlow winners - we need to be realistic. If the old guys didn't retire they would have just struggled through another season - so we are better off long term without them. Stop kidding yourself that we lost two mids in Brownlow form at their peak. Life has moved on for them.

If the boys commit we will be fine.

Lots of its

Duggan and Sheed reallllly need to improve, 20% improvement on their previous output. if those two can do that we will be so much better.

That and if Redden can just get to his Brisbane level consistency this midfield will be competitive.

Venables I just hope can get some games and snag a few goals .

 

[FKASC]

My mistook

25 possies too

33 touches, 6 marks

He was actually our BOG by a mile if I remember correctly. Especially in the first quarter when the heat was on



Unless you were talking about the game in Melbourne ?

 

[kranky al]

33 touches, 6 marks

He was actually our BOG by a mile if I remember correctly. Especially in the first quarter when the heat was on

View attachment 472091

Unless you were talking about the game in Melbourne ?

Melbs

 

[FatPizza]

We seem to be the only club that thinks the ruck position is the most important position on the ground.

That's because we're the only team with Naitanui.

 

[kranky al]

If we were the only team with giles as our no 1 ruck we would have more of a hawthorn philosophy

 

[Nev57]

Just been consistently reading the large range of articles, posts from other board members and listening to various podcasts and such and people are constantly rating us to finish bottom 10, some even bottom 4

frankly I don't mind being rated as an underdog. but the fact is I don't think we're much poorer by the losses of priddis and mitchell considering they werent actually helping us win games last season.

with the return of kennedy and nic nat shortly as well as a hungrier bunch of kids surely things will change.

only concern I have is if the older squad members to flatline during games. otherwise it doesnt look as bad as it is

thoughts?

Nothing much could b done i think we did well last year considering we had the slowest midfield in the league, i think we will suffer pain this year, its gonna take time gor the new guys to impact hopefully sooner rather than later , its some of our experienced players that have to step up

On [device_name] using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[ChampRevesby]

We seem to be the only club that thinks the ruck position is the most important position on the ground.
Aside from Shuey we have no midfield and therefore we will be in huge trouble getting supply of the footy.
10-16th for me is where we will be but happy to be surprised.

All the opposition has to do is lock down Shuey and it will make it harder for the 2nd tier to take on the main role. At least when we had Priddis he would be willing to get first hands and take a defensive mid if necessary. Now I don't believe there is enough spread in the midfield for there to be a impact at stoppages against the tougher opponent. For the team to be as competitive as the last few years, Redden needs to be as consistent as Priddis at getting first hands and Sheed, Duggan and the like really need to improve greatly if we are to compete with the better teams. Be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

[Beutbrute]

This is a bit dire for me. Ainsworth was projected as a later pick, so not that highly regarded. Mutimer is a possible delisting this year/next. Partington is scrappy in possession and small for a mid. Venables is a flanker at this stage, with questions over his durability.

A very interesting year. Who knows, hopefully they may surprise.

You've definitely been supporting Perth for too long

 

[FKASC]

All the opposition has to do is lock down Shuey and it will make it harder for the 2nd tier to take on the main role. At least when we had Priddis he would be willing to get first hands and take a defensive mid if necessary. Now I don't believe there is enough spread in the midfield for there to be a impact at stoppages against the tougher opponent. For the team to be as competitive as the last few years, Redden needs to be as consistent as Priddis at getting first hands and Sheed, Duggan and the like really need to improve greatly if we are to compete with the better teams. Be interesting to see how it plays out.

I can envisage us using GC’s second rounder on another B grade mature age inside mid like Redden.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

That's because we're the only team with Naitanui.

We also had him at his best and our midfield was still average.

 

[RookiePick]

We have the Kennedy and the backline to be a contender with an average midfield.

The problem is our midfield without Naitanui is quite possibly the weakest in the league. Imagine Naita rucking to the Swans or Geelong mids. it would be carnage.

 

[Corn69]

Don't know why everyone including the fans are putting a line through us so early on. I mean sure we lost a cooked Priddis and almost cooked Mitchell, but this game has shown us time and time again that no individuals are greater then the team. Look at the 2015 season, we lost Emac and were trashed by the dockers, but it was our belief, desire and game plan that carried us to the grand final. Anyone can look at the numbers and say that's where the game is won and lost, but it is the fans belief in the team and the players belief in themselves that can make the impossible happen. The Bulldogs and Richmond both believed and they achieved the ultimate glory. I am not wanting the young guys to have an instant impact, I want the senior players to inspire the young ones to have an instant impact. I for one will watch every game with the belief that we are good enough to defeat any team, anywhere, no matter the odds.

 

[kranky al]

I can envisage us using GC’s second rounder on another B grade mature age inside mid like Redden.

 

[Astro7]

It's not that we're poorer with the retirements - both a necessity and a good thing- but we're poorer
because we didn't get a walk up midfielder in the draft, not a gun anyway. what we did get is unknown
at this stage, so we appear to have a weak midfield...still!!? (okay they picked up some good future talent across the field
and took a gamble on our developing midfielders to be sustainable)

Also we don't know the improvements made, if any, in the preseason regarding players, coaches,
tactics etc..we know they've worked on forward supply,contested ball and clearances and more scoring avenues.
We don't know how long NN will last..we hope he basically plays okay footy and survives a season.
Walls has tipped us for the wooden spoon!? (must be on medication?)
Others have us tipped 8th with a sniff at finals. Most have us around 11-13th.
Cometti is gobsmacked we didn't pick up Schloithe and says if we get injuries, we're paper thin for depth?
It's all an unknown quantity with just a few days to kick-off!

Even if we lose to Sydney, we may go home with the knowledge that we'll be competitive for rest of
season and win some games and it'll be worthwhile watching the youth emerge and the transitioning evolve.
Or we may go home with that gut-sinking feeling that we have to endure a whole season of the dissapointing
reality we just witnessed, if it was that bad...
Hell, we may be pleasantly surprised, shocked even at a good result!...
anythings possible right now before we hit the wall of reality...

 

[The wily weagle]

I read an article today online about Gaff putting his hand up to play as an inside mid.

I laughed a lot, then i cried a bit.

 

[Tom_Thumb]

I would love to see something happen in AFL, the re-emergence of the Key Position Players as the premier positions on the field. I can remember back when I played the mids ( ruck rover, rover and the centreman ) were only there to get the ball to us big blokes. Perhaps this can happen with the right kind of ruck work and blocking types. It is a very stop start type of game but kicking long to contest's and strong marking is our strength.

 

[The Dodger]

We are going to be poorer in some areas but not in others. You can't replace that much experience with kids and not lose something but it was always on the cards and why some wanted a refresh sooner than others as there will be the teething window.

But transition in defence should pick up a bit once the younger crop learn the positioning required.

Our contested ball was shit last year with Priddis & Mitchell in the side. But I don't think thats a plug and play thing. The dynamic needs to work together better to get their share of footy and not rely on the "only guy who goes in and gets it". We are going to struggle in cont poss but as I said we did last year as well so here's to trying something new and seeing how it goes. But we are going to have to be patient with the response.

 

[RookiePick]

Port turned up to play in JLT1 and we held our own. Freo gave us an absolute spanking.

The Sydney game will be a much better indicator of where we are at with 4 points on the line.

It is pretty obvious already that an injury to Shuey, Redden or Sheed will be very hard to cover for - we are super light for ball winning power.

 

[ChampRevesby]

Port turned up to play in JLT1 and we held our own. Freo gave us an absolute spanking.

The Sydney game will be a much better indicator of where we are at with 4 points on the line.

It is pretty obvious already that an injury to Shuey, Redden or Sheed will be very hard to cover for - we are super light for ball winning power.

Definitely a better showing especially against a strong opponent in JLT. But the unstructured forward line entries and low scores in both games is a problem too.

 

[FKASC]

Our two second rounders for Daniel Rich