Bojangles17 said:
Don't misquote cyber, Im referring to the strategy of rebuilding a side. My theory is that recent trends show that sides are built from the engine room first....without exception the sides that have shot up the ladder are those that have dynamic midfields with a load of options.
Ideally, you'd build a side with a view to balance and be bringing in players across the park in adequate proportions. Of course, this sounds nice in theory, but it assumes all the players you draft/recruit will come on nicely, which doesn't transfer to reality.
I'm just trying to think of a side in the modern era that fired-up predominantly on the strength of midfield potency. Adelaide may be the closest, although they did have a very strong defence as well.
Bojangles17 said:
Gone are the days that you start with a lockett type at FF and build a side around them....Good luck to you guys, dont take this as any more than a bit of off season banter...Im looking on with interest with how things unfold...
I don't think it was ever as simple as that. Similarly, you couldn't just build a strong side around a sole quality midfielder like Voss. You really need a balanced squad.
Another problem you get under the draft system, is that young midfielders almost always look better than young talls (in terms of the elite players available) when these players are 17-18. Accordingly, if you firmly subscribe to the "draft the best player available" theory, then you'll constantly find yourself loading-up on midfielders and the balance of your side will go out the window.
This is why I'm skeptical of that supposed theory, and still believe that most sides will always recruit the best player (outside of pick 1) in terms of what that player can bring to team balance and structure.
In essence, with good recruiting you need to:
1) Look as much to the future as the present.
2) Always keep team balance and structure in mind.
3) Take educated punts on high ranking talls if you have high picks to work with.* Painfully few good talls arise from picks outside the first round.
4) Back your club to get the best out of the kids you choose.
*(If you have pick 1, however, and there is a clear standout who isn't a KPP tall, definitely take him)
With regard to the Saints falling in the past 2 preliminary finals...
It may be worth noting that the Kangaroos lost 3 in succession before breaking through for the flag in 1996.
It should also be kept in mind that the Saints are effectively about to enter year 6 of their current flag quest in 2006.
Brisbane spent 9 years building up to their first flag in 2001 (working from the arrival of players like Voss, Lappin, Aker & co; through the boost from the Fitzroy takeover; through to the extra cap incentives provided by the AFL)
Port Adelaide spent 8 years building to its breakthrough 2004 flag.
Sydney were also no overnight success, given the initial seeds for this flag were sewn in the late 90s, with the snaring of players like Hall, Barry, Williams, Ball & Goodes.
There seems to be a willingness around at the moment to harshly criticise sides (St Kilda, Bulldogs, Hawthorn) that are preferencing a youth-generated approach to climbing the table.
History tells us that contemporary flags commonly take many years to build toward, no matter how you prefer to go about the process.
No matter what, they're bloody hard to win and most sides, not surprisingly, do not win them.
The big challenge is to work your way into a regular top four position and hope that the planets align for you...