Biggest improvers in 2001

[Dylan12]

From our premiership era, Matthews brought through Brown, Black, Power, Bradshaw, Notting, McGrath, Headland, Copeland, McDonald, Charman. All of those players had the majority of their formative years under Matthews.

I know guys like Akermanis and Johnson had already been in the system for a number of years prior to Matthews tutelage, but the move of both to the back pocket completely rejuvenated both of their careers and in the process revolutionised or at least changed the way a back pocket position could play the game with flair and offensive rebound.

 

[dlanod]

I've posted this before, but here is the senior playing group that Matthews left for Voss. Four years after our last Grand Final, there are some signs of an attempted rebuild, but the list lacks cohesion.

http://finalsiren.com/Fixture.asp?TeamID=2&SeasonID=2008&Go=Go

While it is not translating to wins on the park, by 2013, I do feel Voss has built a better list, but at present he doesn't seem as capable as Leigh was of getting the most out of what he has. In 2009; however, coaching basically the same list to the finals was quite an achievement for Voss. Perhaps, looking back, that was as good as it is ever going to get for Vossie.

Great post. We have nine of those players still left on our list - roughly 75% (28 of 37) of that list turned over in five years. Given the average club delists 4 or 5 in a given year, we've turned over at least 50% more than that average club. A pretty crazy impact.

 

[steveys]

Yeh think Leigh couldnt have done more at the time. They were a great few years now we need to build and structure the team for another few years

 

[POBT]

It is only seeing the continued form and constant rejuvenation of the Geelong list that makes me second guess Matthews and the club. From a practical perspective, I was quite happy to accept that you either aim for sustained success or you focus on redevelopment - I believed that the two were mutually exclusive, at least to an extent. If Geelong continue to look like a top 4 side in 2013, I think that, even with the benefit of hindsight, it paints the Matthews era in a poorer light as it will show that it is possible to rebuild without bottoming out.

Having said that, Geelong never really bottomed out in the first place, at least not in a prolonged way.

 

[ZoBlitz]

It is only seeing the continued form and constant rejuvenation of the Geelong list that makes me second guess Matthews and the club. From a practical perspective, I was quite happy to accept that you either aim for sustained success or you focus on redevelopment - I believed that the two were mutually exclusive, at least to an extent. If Geelong continue to look like a top 4 side in 2013, I think that, even with the benefit of hindsight, it paints the Matthews era in a poorer light as it will show that it is possible to rebuild without bottoming out.

Having said that, Geelong never really bottomed out in the first place, at least not in a prolonged way.

Having exactly the same thoughts myself. I guess one of the questions is how could we have "refreshed" quicker? I always felt at the time that we gave some of the premiership players overly long contracts which usually resulted in them struggling to play out their final season. Maybe a tighter control of contracts and a greater willingness to move players on may have helped?

Realistically though, some of our recruiting from that period was just awful.

 

[POBT]

Having exactly the same thoughts myself. I guess one of the questions is how could we have "refreshed" quicker? I always felt at the time that we gave some of the premiership players overly long contracts which usually resulted in them struggling to play out their final season. Maybe a tighter control of contracts and a greater willingness to move players on may have helped?

Realistically though, some of our recruiting from that period was just awful.

I think there's some excuse that the quality of drafting for many clubs was pretty ordinary. I think the tale is that Richmond didn't have a dedicated recruiter when they had all those draft picks in 2004. Over time, drafting has become more scientific and so there far fewer airswings than was the case in the early 2000s and before.

But the difference in list management success between us in the Matthews era and Geelong in the last 14 years (ie since their crop from 1999) is pretty stark.