Resource Beyond the "66 Game" Rebuild

[Jeremias]

Just want to add some further perspective to what we're seeing right now.

On the weekend we had the following players in the senior side -

LOB - 1
Dow - 4
Cuningham - 14
Garlett - 21
Kennedy - 22
SPS - 24
Fisher - 21
JSOS - 30
Charlie - 31
Graham - 39
Weitering - 46

That is half the side with less than 50 games of senior experience.

We lost our captain just before the bounce on the weekend, and our All-Australian captain-in-waiting Docherty is coaching from the sidelines for the whole year.

Two members of our leadership group - Cripps and Plowman - have 63 and 64 senior games to their name respectively.

We are frustrated and we are disappointed, and we have every right to be, but given the above it simply cannot be a surprise to anyone that we're virtually noncompetitive for large chunks of games right now.

Then consider the following -

Williamson - 15
Pickett - 10
Lang - 44
Marchbank - 26
Byrne - 17

There is a very good argument to be made that all of the above are in our best side. All are currently injured.

Not only are we incredibly young, but we've also been smashed by injuries already this year - including on game day when they hurt you the most.

And people really still wonder why we're in a bit of a rut at the moment?

Let me be very clear here - I am not using the above as an excuse for our performances - we were terrible on Saturday night, there is no denying or escaping that. It is outrageous that we lost to a fellow bottom 4 side by such a large margin, but I think we ought not to lose sight of the bigger picture, being what we're doing here right now and the reasons why we're doing it.

Fact: We are rebuilding, and we've stripped it right back in order to do it properly.

Given where we're at the most important thing is to get games into the young core that will (hopefully) form the nucleus of our next strong side. There will be good times and bad, but it is critical these kids are exposed to senior football both individually and as a collective, and that they are adequately supported by mature, experienced bodies.

Currently I'd argue we don't have enough of the latter where it matters most, but regardless, right now player progression and development is paramount. Results are largely irrelevant - to me it doesn't matter whether we finish with 3/4/5/6/7 wins. If you commit to a rebuild as we have, you take the poor performances along the way and you don't lose sight of the bigger picture.

Right now we've got a section of our supporter base frustrated, and the media are beginning to circle like vultures. In many respects I see this period as our most challenging since we committed to the rebuild. Now is not the time to deviate from the plan nor is it for the club at any level to make knee-jerk reactions.

Changing something drastically would be the absolute worst thing right now and you genuinely run the risk of running the club straight into the ground if you do.

The kids I've listed above - the kids we're tracking in this thread - are our future. They are the nucleus of our next strong side, you get as many games into them now as reasonably possible and we will be better off for it.

Yes, it will be ugly at times, yes it will hurt, but once these kids all get 50-100 games into them - individually and collectively - they will be amazing to watch.

I am as convinced as ever that we are on the correct path. I just hope like hell we don't cave to external pressure as the club has been prone to doing.

/rant

 

[Blue Baggers]

Dogs

2012 15th
2013 15th
2014 14th
2015 6th
2016 won

Hawks
2004 15th
2005 14th
2006 11th
2007 5th
2008 won

Dees
2012 16th
2013 17th
2014 17th
2015 13th
2016 11th
2017 9th


Common theme, rebuilds take at least 4 yrs to see improvement.

 

[TooBlue14]

Dogs

2012 15th
2013 15th
2014 14th
2015 6th
2016 won

Hawks
2004 15th
2005 14th
2006 11th
2007 5th
2008 won

Dees
2012 16th
2013 17th
2014 17th
2015 13th
2016 11th
2017 9th


Common theme, rebuilds take at least 4 yrs to see improvement.

Hawthorn were second last at 15th (16 teams) and weren’t affected by the drafts being taken away with gc and gws getting all first rounders basically and pre drafts.

Dees and dogs were basically last in those two early years as they had the birth years of gc and gws. Hence they still got to experience wins at the bottom. But also didn’t get pick 1 or 2 when they deserved to either side of gc or gws.

Our rebuild can be as quick as GWS as we have their lost msnager and we have brought in a lot of first rounders like them. Should get 2-3 This year with sos’s skill.

GWS history
2012 - 18th (two wins v gc and port)
2013 - 18th (went 0-17 and won 1 game)
2014 - 16th (went 2-1 from first three best Sydney in Rd 1)
2015 - 11th (went all out for a star in griffin - beat hawthorn who were eventual premiers)
2016 - 4th (finals in their 6th year won their first final v Sydney by 36 - lost to eventual premiers and realistically got closer than Sydney did in GF)
2017 - 4th (lost sheil in prelim by dog act - lost to eventual premiers but would of done better than Adelaide in GF. In fact they would of beaten Adelaide too).
2018 - currently first.

We didn’t start from rock bottom but we also didn’t get a shit load of first rounds pick but built them a lot smarter through creative trades.

Our time will come. We will get pick 1 or 2 lukosius, rankine, king, rozzee or Walsh (will be the top 5 at this stage) and both Hickmott look good at the moment and will play for WA U18s this year. BSOS already looks better than JSOS and is gonna be a regular for VIC (1 goal in his U18 debut). I expect to be in the conversation for a PP too. Once a our injuries settle and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year players get to 50–100 game range this team will be bloody exciting. Remember port was also here in 2012. Look at them now.

 

[AB_Blue]

Dogs

2012 15th
2013 15th
2014 14th
2015 6th
2016 won

Hawks
2004 15th
2005 14th
2006 11th
2007 5th
2008 won

Dees
2012 16th
2013 17th
2014 17th
2015 13th
2016 11th
2017 9th


Common theme, rebuilds take at least 4 yrs to see improvement.

Were channeling more of a Melbourne rebuke at the moment

 

[BrisbaneCFC]

Just want to add some further perspective to what we're seeing right now.

On the weekend we had the following players in the senior side -

LOB - 1
Dow - 4
Cuningham - 14
Garlett - 21
Kennedy - 22
SPS - 24
Fisher - 21
JSOS - 30
Charlie - 31
Graham - 39
Weitering - 46

That is half the side with less than 50 games of senior experience.

We lost our captain just before the bounce on the weekend, and our All-Australian captain-in-waiting Docherty is coaching from the sidelines for the whole year.

Two members of our leadership group - Cripps and Plowman - have 63 and 64 senior games to their name respectively.

We are frustrated and we are disappointed, and we have every right to be, but given the above it simply cannot be a surprise to anyone that we're virtually noncompetitive for large chunks of games right now.

Then consider the following -

Williamson - 15
Pickett - 10
Lang - 44
Marchbank - 26
Byrne - 17

There is a very good argument to be made that all of the above are in our best side. All are currently injured.

Not only are we incredibly young, but we've also been smashed by injuries already this year - including on game day when they hurt you the most.

And people really still wonder why we're in a bit of a rut at the moment?

Let me be very clear here - I am not using the above as an excuse for our performances - we were terrible on Saturday night, there is no denying or escaping that. It is outrageous that we lost to a fellow bottom 4 side by such a large margin, but I think we ought not to lose sight of the bigger picture, being what we're doing here right now and the reasons why we're doing it.

Fact: We are rebuilding, and we've stripped it right back in order to do it properly.

Given where we're at the most important thing is to get games into the young core that will (hopefully) form the nucleus of our next strong side. There will be good times and bad, but it is critical these kids are exposed to senior football both individually and as a collective, and that they are adequately supported by mature, experienced bodies.

Currently I'd argue we don't have enough of the latter where it matters most, but regardless, right now player progression and development is paramount. Results are largely irrelevant - to me it doesn't matter whether we finish with 3/4/5/6/7 wins. If you commit to a rebuild as we have, you take the poor performances along the way and you don't lose sight of the bigger picture.

Right now we've got a section of our supporter base frustrated, and the media are beginning to circle like vultures. In many respects I see this period as our most challenging since we committed to the rebuild. Now is not the time to deviate from the plan nor is it for the club at any level to make knee-jerk reactions.

Changing something drastically would be the absolute worst thing right now and you genuinely run the risk of running the club straight into the ground if you do.

The kids I've listed above - the kids we're tracking in this thread - are our future. They are the nucleus of our next strong side, you get as many games into them now as reasonably possible and we will be better off for it.

Yes, it will be ugly at times, yes it will hurt, but once these kids all get 50-100 games into them - individually and collectively - they will be amazing to watch.

I am as convinced as ever that we are on the correct path. I just hope like hell we don't cave to external pressure as the club has been prone to doing.

/rant

TBH, I thought that Kennedy had actually played more games than this for some reason. I though he was well in to the 30+ games mark already.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

Graph: graphical representation of number of "youth" selected in the best 22, along with that youth's performance, by way of AFL Coaches Association votes, average youth AFL Player Rating*, and average SEN Inside Football Player Rating Points**
* Avg AFL Player Rating = total player rating / number of players in current 22.
** Avg SEN Inside Football Player Rating = total player rating points / number of players in current 22.


GAME 48 Rnd 4 - LOSS vs North Melbourne (30-116)
15 Youth Players
Coaches Votes:
Player Ratings Points (AFL,SEN):

Patrick Cripps - 484.4 (-4.1),
Lachlan Plowman - 310.5 (-2.9),
Jacob Weitering - 286.5 (-3.4),
Charlie Curnow - 279.9 (-3.3),
Aaron Mullet - 246.36(-8.4)
Samo Petrevski-Seton - 200.1 (+7.1),
Jack Silvagni - 166.4 (-0.7)
Matthew Kennedy - 144.9 (+6.9)
Zac Fisher - 163.7 (+1.9),
Nick Graham - 112.7 (+2.8)
David Cuningham - 92.6 (+3.2)
Jarrod Garlett - 107.9 (+10.4),
Cam O'Shea - 76.7 (+2.7)
Paddy Dow - 20.2 (+6.5),
Lochie O'Brien - 7.1 (+7.1)

Average: 180.01

Well it was a bleak week. We lost ground almost uniformly across the board, from Cripps down to SOS. Out bottom half made some gains, Garlett, Dow and O'Brien chief among them.

I unfortunately don't have time this week to do a full player review, if someone would like to, please feel welcome to. Lochie O'Brien was a bright ray of light on an otherwise dark day, and was rewarded with a 7.1 initial AFL Player Rating.

We played 15 youth this week, close to three quarters of our side. With that amount of kids in the squad we were always going to struggle.

I'm going to wait until we get a win, or at least a solid performance, to put forth a small thesis on the projection of the list.

You'll see we're currently sitting on an average of 180 AFL Player ratings points per player. Effectively, that means that we have 15 players of about Jack Silvagni/SPS's output running around out there each week on average. We'd like that number to be higher, a lot higher.

Thankfully, I expect there to be a small extrapolation in those figures as we come to the end of the season.

As most who follow this thread are aware, the AFL Player Ratings are prepared on a 40 game rolling average within the last two seasons. Every game less than the 40 played in the last
two seasons is effectively a zero on that players record. As each of those zeroes drop off, the players rating spikes.

Patrick Cripps has missed 7 games in the last two seasons, how ever unfortunately those goose eggs won't drop off for a while yet.

But others are more promising. Charlie Curnow is up to 31 games in his AFL Career and will be closing in on the 40 game mark by the back end of the season. Zac Fisher is up to 21 games played and will begin to edge towards 40 by the end of the season. Caleb Marchbank, despite the fact he continues to get him hurt has played 26 AFL Games and will hopefully crack 40 or at least get close to it by the end of the season. SPS and Jack Silvagni will break the 40 game mark by seasons end most likely and Matthew Kennedy will go close. This could cause a spike in our ratings. A well sought upward push.

You may scoff at the idea of basing this all upon player ratings but its something. While the AFL player rating system is not perfect the 40 game mark is something I have noted for a while now, and its probably accurate. There is no secret that third year break outs are common and coincidentally, a player who has played the majority of games in their first two seasons, or at least is on about 25 games played prior to their third season will hit that 40 game mark in their "breakout year".

The players listed above are therefore "breakout candidates". Charlie has already broken, the question is who will join him.

I just hope we can get enough continuity of performances and big bodies in the game to protect and develop the kids.

Let's look for a breakout, let's continue to look for the green shoots. They're coming. We just need to keep nurturing them.

 

[Metalcrusher]

Just want to add some further perspective to what we're seeing right now.

On the weekend we had the following players in the senior side -

LOB - 1
Dow - 4
Cuningham - 14
Garlett - 21
Kennedy - 22
SPS - 24
Fisher - 21
JSOS - 30
Charlie - 31
Graham - 39
Weitering - 46

That is half the side with less than 50 games of senior experience.

We lost our captain just before the bounce on the weekend, and our All-Australian captain-in-waiting Docherty is coaching from the sidelines for the whole year.

Two members of our leadership group - Cripps and Plowman - have 63 and 64 senior games to their name respectively.

We are frustrated and we are disappointed, and we have every right to be, but given the above it simply cannot be a surprise to anyone that we're virtually noncompetitive for large chunks of games right now.

Then consider the following -

Williamson - 15
Pickett - 10
Lang - 44
Marchbank - 26
Byrne - 17

There is a very good argument to be made that all of the above are in our best side. All are currently injured.

Not only are we incredibly young, but we've also been smashed by injuries already this year - including on game day when they hurt you the most.

And people really still wonder why we're in a bit of a rut at the moment?

Let me be very clear here - I am not using the above as an excuse for our performances - we were terrible on Saturday night, there is no denying or escaping that. It is outrageous that we lost to a fellow bottom 4 side by such a large margin, but I think we ought not to lose sight of the bigger picture, being what we're doing here right now and the reasons why we're doing it.

Fact: We are rebuilding, and we've stripped it right back in order to do it properly.

Given where we're at the most important thing is to get games into the young core that will (hopefully) form the nucleus of our next strong side. There will be good times and bad, but it is critical these kids are exposed to senior football both individually and as a collective, and that they are adequately supported by mature, experienced bodies.

Currently I'd argue we don't have enough of the latter where it matters most, but regardless, right now player progression and development is paramount. Results are largely irrelevant - to me it doesn't matter whether we finish with 3/4/5/6/7 wins. If you commit to a rebuild as we have, you take the poor performances along the way and you don't lose sight of the bigger picture.

Right now we've got a section of our supporter base frustrated, and the media are beginning to circle like vultures. In many respects I see this period as our most challenging since we committed to the rebuild. Now is not the time to deviate from the plan nor is it for the club at any level to make knee-jerk reactions.

Changing something drastically would be the absolute worst thing right now and you genuinely run the risk of running the club straight into the ground if you do.

The kids I've listed above - the kids we're tracking in this thread - are our future. They are the nucleus of our next strong side, you get as many games into them now as reasonably possible and we will be better off for it.

Yes, it will be ugly at times, yes it will hurt, but once these kids all get 50-100 games into them - individually and collectively - they will be amazing to watch.

I am as convinced as ever that we are on the correct path. I just hope like hell we don't cave to external pressure as the club has been prone to doing.

/rant

Love it J ...

 

[BLUEALLTHRU]

Just want to add some further perspective to what we're seeing right now.

On the weekend we had the following players in the senior side -

LOB - 1
Dow - 4
Cuningham - 14
Garlett - 21
Kennedy - 22
SPS - 24
Fisher - 21
JSOS - 30
Charlie - 31
Graham - 39
Weitering - 46

That is half the side with less than 50 games of senior experience.

We lost our captain just before the bounce on the weekend, and our All-Australian captain-in-waiting Docherty is coaching from the sidelines for the whole year.

Two members of our leadership group - Cripps and Plowman - have 63 and 64 senior games to their name respectively.

We are frustrated and we are disappointed, and we have every right to be, but given the above it simply cannot be a surprise to anyone that we're virtually noncompetitive for large chunks of games right now.

Then consider the following -

Williamson - 15
Pickett - 10
Lang - 44
Marchbank - 26
Byrne - 17

There is a very good argument to be made that all of the above are in our best side. All are currently injured.

Not only are we incredibly young, but we've also been smashed by injuries already this year - including on game day when they hurt you the most.

And people really still wonder why we're in a bit of a rut at the moment?

Let me be very clear here - I am not using the above as an excuse for our performances - we were terrible on Saturday night, there is no denying or escaping that. It is outrageous that we lost to a fellow bottom 4 side by such a large margin, but I think we ought not to lose sight of the bigger picture, being what we're doing here right now and the reasons why we're doing it.

Fact: We are rebuilding, and we've stripped it right back in order to do it properly.

Given where we're at the most important thing is to get games into the young core that will (hopefully) form the nucleus of our next strong side. There will be good times and bad, but it is critical these kids are exposed to senior football both individually and as a collective, and that they are adequately supported by mature, experienced bodies.

Currently I'd argue we don't have enough of the latter where it matters most, but regardless, right now player progression and development is paramount. Results are largely irrelevant - to me it doesn't matter whether we finish with 3/4/5/6/7 wins. If you commit to a rebuild as we have, you take the poor performances along the way and you don't lose sight of the bigger picture.

Right now we've got a section of our supporter base frustrated, and the media are beginning to circle like vultures. In many respects I see this period as our most challenging since we committed to the rebuild. Now is not the time to deviate from the plan nor is it for the club at any level to make knee-jerk reactions.

Changing something drastically would be the absolute worst thing right now and you genuinely run the risk of running the club straight into the ground if you do.

The kids I've listed above - the kids we're tracking in this thread - are our future. They are the nucleus of our next strong side, you get as many games into them now as reasonably possible and we will be better off for it.

Yes, it will be ugly at times, yes it will hurt, but once these kids all get 50-100 games into them - individually and collectively - they will be amazing to watch.

I am as convinced as ever that we are on the correct path. I just hope like hell we don't cave to external pressure as the club has been prone to doing.

/rant

Couldn't have said it better my self. Nice J

 

[Jeremias]

Love it J ...

Couldn't have said it better my self. Nice J

Wasn't particularly well written, but the doom and gloom just frustrates me.

I understand the frustration but a bit of perspective never goes astray, and sadly external analysis generally lacks the perspective it requires.

These days 99% of what is written in the media is sensationalist garbage, and unfortunately there are too many who follow that rhetoric blindly because they just don't know any better.

The more I think about our current predicament, the more I see a comparison between us and the Philadelphia 76ers over in the NBA, who after the 2012-2013 season effectively decided to strip things right back and start afresh. It's actually not a bad discussion topic, I'll start a new thread on it. All I'll say for now though is....

Trust the Journey.

 

[Jabba73]

Wasn't particularly well written, but the doom and gloom just frustrates me.

I understand the frustration but a bit of perspective never goes astray, and sadly external analysis generally lacks the perspective it requires.

These days 99% of what is written in the media is sensationalist garbage, and unfortunately there are too many who follow that rhetoric blindly because they just don't know any better.

The more I think about our current predicament, the more I see a comparison between us and the Philadelphia 76ers over in the NBA, who after the 2012-2013 season effectively decided to strip things right back and start afresh. It's actually not a bad discussion topic, I'll start a new thread on it. All I'll say for now though is....

Trust the Journey.

Who is Ben Simmons?

 

[CJMB]

I can't wait for next year when this thread evolves to become Track the post-rebuild ascent...

 

[FlowersByIrene]

I can't wait for next year when this thread evolves to become Track the post-rebuild ascent...

Hahaha well hopefully there is an ascent but I'm on board

 

[kjr8]

Dogs

2012 15th
2013 15th
2014 14th
2015 6th
2016 won

Hawks
2004 15th
2005 14th
2006 11th
2007 5th
2008 won

Dees
2012 16th
2013 17th
2014 17th
2015 13th
2016 11th
2017 9th


Common theme, rebuilds take at least 4 yrs to see improvement.

Please don't let facts get in the way of a good story.

 

[BJuddy]

Who is Ben Simmons?

I reckon Ben Simmons for us would be Charlie, flashy as does stuff that no one else can.
Joel Embiid for us would have to be Crippa absolute Bull

 

[Jeremias]

AFL Player Ratings as at the conclusion of R5

Patrick Cripps - 29
Sam Docherty - 75
Lachie Plowman - 212
Jacob Weitering - 233 (-1)
Charlie Curnow - 239 (-1)
Sam Petrevski-Seton - 346 (+11)
Sam Kerridge - 357 (-4)
Zac Fisher - 386 (+13)
Jack Silvagni - 394 (+3)
Matthew Kennedy - 423
Darcy Lang - 439
Caleb Marchbank - 449 (+1)
Nick Graham - 455
Jarrod Garlett - 464 (-5)
David Cuningham - 480 (-3)
Ciaran Byrne - 488 (-15)
Tom Williamson - 506 (+1)
Jarrod Pickett - 543 (-4)
Harrison Macreadie - 558 (-4)
Paddy Dow - 577 (+17)
Harry McKay - 586 (+21)
Lochie O'Brien - 622 (+10)
Cameron Polson - 643 (-2)

Another loss on the weekend, but a much better performance against the Eagles, and certainly more reminiscent of what we saw last year.

Some big gains from Harry, Dow, LOB and Fisher on the back of career best games, with SPS continuing his steady climb.

Plenty of red there too, but not overly concerned by that given most losing ground did not play on the weekend, whilst the few who are did not slide significantly and will bounce back.

 

[Mr_Plow]

Charlie's rise seems to have stalled because of the 2 year window thing. He played round 2-5 of 2016 (which no longer contribute), but missed round 6-14.

So he is currently rated based upon 28 games played or so since that time?

I think he should be back to additive ratings for a while after this coming round. If he maintains this career ~10ppg average, he should be in the top 100 by the end of round 18. If he maintains this year's 13.6ppg average, he could reach ~60 or so.

 

[The Flying Doormat]

Only another 16 games to go.

 

[The Blue Baggers]

Time to question the game plan !!

As a starting point why no small forwards & no tackling pressure in the F50 ??

 

[Big_Luch]

Time to question the game plan !!

As a starting point why no small forwards & no tackling pressure in the F50 ??

Great point. Our inside 50s rebound so quickly. Forever we had no key fwds for our smalls to crumb to. Now we have the opposite problem.

 

[Juddernaut08]

Great point. Our inside 50s rebound so quickly. Forever we had no key fwds for our smalls to crumb to. Now we have the opposite problem.

Bolts said similar stuff during the presser. We give a lot of love to the Cas/McKay/Curnow trio but their combined pressure was non existent. Need a team effort in pressure coming out but the bigs need to take immediate responsibility as the mids are running back to do the zone thing

 

[Big_Luch]

Bolts said similar stuff during the presser. We give a lot of love to the Cas/McKay/Curnow trio but their combined pressure was non existent. Need a team effort in pressure coming out but the bigs need to take immediate responsibility as the mids are running back to do the zone thing

Id persist with the three talls. But i don't see how silvangi stays in, he tries to put pressure on but you need more lightning quick for that role with our mids and setup.

 

[Mr_Plow]

Cripps jumps 9 spots from 29 to 20, mostly because he missed Rd6 in 2016, so that doughnut drops off and the massive game he just had gets added.

Because of his leg injury late last year, he'll continue to carry 3 doughnuts in his rating for a while yet, but as long as he stays healthy, he should stick around the ~20 mark, possibly hitting the teens.

 

[Jeremias]

AFL Player Ratings - as at the conclusion of R6

Patrick Cripps - 20 (+9)
Sam Docherty - 73 (+2)
Lachie Plowman - 218 (-6)
Jacob Weitering - 236 (-3)
Charlie Curnow - 239
Sam Kerridge - 348 (+9)
Sam Petrevski-Seton - 349 (-3)
Zac Fisher - 374 (+12)
Jack Silvagni - 386 (+8)
Matthew Kennedy - 420 (+3)
Caleb Marchbank - 443 (+6)
Darcy Lang - 447 (-8)
Nick Graham - 466 (-11)
Jarrod Garlett - 467 (-3)
David Cuningham - 485 (-5)
Ciaran Byrne - 505 (-17)
Tom Williamson - 506
Jarrod Pickett - 546 (-3)
Paddy Dow - 564 (+13)
Harrison Macreadie - 565 (-7)
Harry McKay - 572 (+14)
Lochie O'Brien - 613 (+9)
Cameron Polson - 650 (-7)

Well done to Patrick Cripps - into the top 20 for the first time in his career, and I suspect he'll remain in there for quite some time. At the pointy end of the rankings, a weekly jump of 9 spots is seriously impressive.

Fisher, McKay and Dow the other significant movers. Kerridge deserves some recognition too - has played very well over the past fortnight, not everyone agrees with him being in the side but his mature body is critical right now.

Time for a YTD update.

YTD Movement

Zac Fisher +120
Harry McKay +82
Sam Petrevski-Seton +73
David Cuningham +61
Charlie Curnow +57
Caleb Marchbank +55
Cameron Polson +54
Paddy Dow +48
Tom Williamson +42
Jack Silvagni +40
Matthew Kennedy +40
Harrison Macreadie +39
Jarrod Pickett +36
Lochie O'Brien +19
Jarrod Garlett +16
Patrick Cripps +10
Sam Docherty +6
Jacob Weitering +6
Lachie Plowman +3
Nick Graham +2
Ciaran Byrne -2
Darcy Lang -14
Sam Kerridge -36

Plenty of green shoots in that lot.

A 0-6 start is obviously disappointing, but it is critical we keep everything in perspective, and do not lose sight of the end goal.

We should not underestimate the challenges being thrown at our young group right now, and for the most part they are responding very well. The results have not yet come, but there is improvement from the kids each week, and it is important we stay the course and continue to build.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

Graph: graphical representation of number of "youth" selected in the best 22, along with that youth's performance, by way of AFL Coaches Association votes, average youth AFL Player Rating*, and average SEN Inside Football Player Rating Points**
* Avg AFL Player Rating = total player rating / number of players in current 22.
** Avg SEN Inside Football Player Rating = total player rating points / number of players in current 22.


GAME 49 Rnd 5 - LOSS vs West Coast (69-79)
14 Youth Players
Coaches Votes: Patrick Cripps (10), Zac Fisher (1)
Player Ratings Points (AFL,SEN):

Patrick Cripps - 483.4
Lachlan Plowman - 311.3
Charlie Curnow - 280.2
Aaron Mullet - 251.7
Samo Petrevski-Seton - 206.1
Sam Kerridge - 199.7
Jack Silvagni - 171.6
Zac Fisher - 178.8
Jed Lamb - 135.6
Jarrod Garlett - 106.8
Cam O'Shea - 67
Harry McKay - 25.5
Paddy Dow - 28.6
Lochie O'Brien - 11.7

Average: 176.76


GAME 50 Rnd 6 - LOSS vs West Coast (59-80)
14 Youth Players
Coaches Votes: Patrick Cripps (8), Zac Fisher (2)
Player Ratings Points (AFL,SEN):

Patrick Cripps - 498.8 (+15.4),
Lachlan Plowman - 304.3 (-7),
Charlie Curnow - 281.9 (+1.7),
Aaron Mullet - 249.2 (-2.5)
Samo Petrevski-Seton - 206.1 (+0),
Jack Silvagni - 180.1 (+8.5)
Matthew Kennedy - 150 (+5.1
Zac Fisher - 188.8 (+10),
Caleb Marchbank - 123.9 (+5.3)
Cam O'Shea - 65.2 (-1.8)
Paddy Dow - 36 (+7.4),
Harry McKay - 34.2 (+8.8),
Lochie O'Brien - 17.9 (+6.2)

Average: 181.26

The average is creeping upwards, we are beginning to see the likes of McKay, Dow and Lochie begin to gather momentum. Our average is not helped by O'Shea who is tumbling down the ratings quickly, nor by the stall from some of our more experienced players like Mullet and Plowman. Overall, we saw a positive uptick this week on the back of Cripps, Fisher, SOS and the first year players all taking strong strides.

My apologies that I didn't end up getting to do a write up for last week. The long and short of it is CRIPPS WAS HUMONGOUS and picked up 10 coaches votes. Bravo.

Brendan Bolton said "we feel their frustration" referencing the club's loyal supporters. While I do not doubt Brendan does, and in fact I am sure his frustration's are even higher than some of ours, but there is something different between the frustraiton felt by someone who has control over the outocme of the situation and people like us, supporters who have no such control.

But, despite the frustrations we are all suffering after our wrost start to a seaosn in the club's history, there are SOME green shoots continuing to push through. In the game agains the Bulldogs we had some standout performers.

Starting with the two players who received coaches votes, Patrick Cripps (8) and Zac Fisher (2). Patrick Cripps was best on ground (screw you Luke Beveridge) against the Dogs. In a phenomenal performance Cripps had 32 disposals, including a collosal 24 contested possession. He went at a lazty 75% disposal efficieny too and only had 4 clangers (three of which were frees against). The man has takne his game to another level and I can comfortably say his disposal is ELITE. He went inside 50 three times and was unlucky not to have a goal assist to his name following a lack of conversion from our forwards. Cripps has 12 clearances, out of our total of about 25. He also laid 9 tackles in a ferocious effort. There isn't anyone better in my mind. Zac Fisher has quickly become a quality AFL player. In probably his best game for the club, Fish picked up 28 disposals, including 12 contested possession, had 7 clearances to carry the lions share with Cripps. He also had 1 rebound 50 and 4 inside 50's along with 5 tackles and a goal.Star. Sam Kerridge is very underrated on here. Creeping up to 61 games played in his career, Kedge does the hard stuff, he gut runs hard, and was easily our top runner for the night (in front of Ed Curnow) and picked up 28 disposals to boot. He went at 71% efficiency too, and although he had 6 clangers (two of which were free kicks) he is playing well and not butchering the ball very much at all. He had a clearance, 5 rebound 50's and an inside 50 to cap off a strong game. Charlie Curnow didn't hit the scoreboard much, scoring 1 goal 4 but could have had a bag if a few things went his way. He continues to impose himself on the contest however, having 19 touches, taking 11 marks and putting the ball inside 50 four times. Matthew Kennedy, while looking injured, soldiered hard to collect 18 touches with only 1 clanger. He laid 8 tackles which is exactly what we want from Bam Bam. Paddy Dow had a bit of a breakout game, collecting the ball 14 times, having 4 inside 50's and a goal assist. He is looking better and better at the top level with his run. Sam Petrevski-Seton needs to work his way into form, he only found the ball 14 times and could have used it better. But he did lay 5 tackles which will definetly impress the coaching staff and the supporters. Harry McKay had less impact than his four goal performance last year, he remains dead eye in front of goal with one from one. He took 5 marks, including two contested. Lachie Plowman made a few defensive lapses, by despite a lot of negative hyperbole about him, still went at 75% efficiency in his 8 touches and didn't have a clanger recorded. He had 5 1%ers but would look to be involved more than that. How about Aaron Mullett, he's doing enough to get by, her had 8 touches and didn't do too much else but wasn't our worst. Jack SOS had a lot of pressure acts and kicked a goal but needs to directly impact the game more after only touching it 8 times and not doing tooo much else. Has some tricks though. Caleb Marchbank looked like he wasn't ready, fumbled a couple of times that cost goals. He had 11 touches and 7 clangers, look Caleb will find his form and will want to forget this game. Lochie O'Brien only had 9 touches but mate the most of them, finding 5 rebound 50's and disposing of the ball with precision. Cameron O'Shea, what more is there to say, 14 touches, 1 clanger, 5 marks, and not much else to trouble the score sheet. He wasn't at his worst this week but doesn't add a whole lot to our side.

 

[Cripps 'n' Blue Bloods]

Cripps jumps 9 spots from 29 to 20, mostly because he missed Rd6 in 2016, so that doughnut drops off and the massive game he just had gets added.

Because of his leg injury late last year, he'll continue to carry 3 doughnuts in his rating for a while yet, but as long as he stays healthy, he should stick around the ~20 mark, possibly hitting the teens.

Still only rated on 37 games I believe.