Prediction Clarkson says he can win a premiership within 4 years

[kazzooka]

We have beaten Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and tied with GWS. I'd say its a fair bit that come grand final day 1 or both sides will be teams we've beaten.

With Jaeger, Cyril, Stratton, Frawley, Ceglar and perhaps Lovell, O'rourke and a big fish next year we are a real chance.

The competition is really poor right now and no side can match hawthorn or Geelong's recent premiership sides. The thing that stands out is both those sides were full of 200+ game players with finals experience, GWS has heaps of talented players but they don't have the experience or the proven finals players like Hodge, Rioli, Burgoyne, Lewis, Mitchell, Selwood, Ablett, Chapman, bartel etc...

If they can keep the list together till they have a lot of games under their belt they could create a dynasty but it seems they keep trading guys out and getting more and more high draft pick kids.

 

[Randy Campbell]

No one is qualified to question Clarko.

 

[TazHawk15]

If Clarko says we can win a Flag in 3/4 years then all things being equal, that's exactly what we will do.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

Keep a lid on it Clarko - we're 13th on the ladder

 

[Lethality]

I don't like it. Goal should be just make the top 4, although they removed a lot of the incentive for that with the end of year bye . . .

 

[A Cut Above]

We built our dynasty around Hodge, Mitchell, Franklin, Rioli & Roughead. 5 utter champions, not merely run-of-the-mill A graders. Later we added Gibson, Burgoyne & Lake who I place in the same category, supported by dependable A graders in Lewis, Birchall, Sewell, Guerra, Bruest, Gunston, Smith & Hale.

There's no doubt Clarko's coaching played a role as did the depth of our lists in those glory years, but at the end of the day we lucked out drafting 5 all-time greats in the space of a few years who were the core & foundation of our success. Although I agree with the statement that in a sense its a team's bottom 6 rather than top 6 who win Premierships, those champions I mentioned have stood up in finals like few other players in this era and have got us over the line on countless occasions.

That explains why the club was so desperate to pay overs for JOM, imagining the he could become Hodgey's replacement and possible future captain. The Dogs would've been lost last year without Bontempelli, on-field leadership is huge in September. When I look at the list we have now after subtracting Hodge, Burgoyne, Gibbo & Roughead I see a lack of star power and leadership at least compared with our 3peat teams. Then again this 18 team competition may be weaker now as others have said, although GWS is going to be very strong for a long time.

My feeling is that to salute in 4 years JOM would need to deliver on expectations, we'd need 2 or 3 A-grader FA signings or left-field trades, and would still need to pluck some gems from the draft. Then again if Clarko can devise some sort of revolutionary gameplan that takes the league by surprise who knows what's possible, our 2008 team contained quite a few average players after all but also the champions I mentioned.
My gut feeling though is it will be very difficult given how many other teams have more scope for potential, Melbourne with their billion low draft picks for instance, Gold Coast with a decent coach, Sydney who will continue to have elite academy talent funneled onto their list, even Brisbane could become a powerhouse in 4 years - things change quickly in footy and we aren't the only ones with a plan for the future.

 

[bris tarangau]

We built our dynasty around Hodge, Mitchell, Franklin, Rioli & Roughead. 5 utter champions, not merely run-of-the-mill A graders. Later we added Gibson, Burgoyne & Lake who I place in the same category, supported by dependable A graders in Lewis, Birchall, Sewell, Guerra, Bruest, Gunston, Smith & Hale.

There's no doubt Clarko's coaching played a role as did the depth of our lists in those glory years, but at the end of the day we lucked out drafting 5 all-time greats in the space of a few years who were the core & foundation of our success. Although I agree with the statement that in a sense its a team's bottom 6 rather than top 6 who win Premierships, those champions I mentioned have stood up in finals like few other players in this era and have got us over the line on countless occasions.

That explains why the club was so desperate to pay overs for JOM, imagining the he could become Hodgey's replacement and possible future captain. The Dogs would've been lost last year without Bontempelli, on-field leadership is huge in September. When I look at the list we have now after subtracting Hodge, Burgoyne, Gibbo & Roughead I see a lack of star power and leadership at least compared with our 3peat teams. Then again this 18 team competition may be weaker now as others have said, although GWS is going to be very strong for a long time.

My feeling is that to salute in 4 years JOM would need to deliver on expectations, we'd need 2 or 3 A-grader FA signings or left-field trades, and would still need to pluck some gems from the draft. Then again if Clarko can devise some sort of revolutionary gameplan that takes the league by surprise who knows what's possible, our 2008 team contained quite a few average players after all but also the champions I mentioned.
My gut feeling though is it will be very difficult given how many other teams have more scope for potential, Melbourne with their billion low draft picks for instance, Gold Coast with a decent coach, Sydney who will continue to have elite academy talent funneled onto their list, even Brisbane could become a powerhouse in 4 years - things change quickly in footy and we aren't the only ones with a plan for the future.

Good post. However, I would like to think that Clarko would have considered all these before making that bold statement.

 

[Brishawk]

Keep a lid on it Clarko - we're 13th on the ladder

It's amazing what a couple of wins does for a person's outlook

 

[Thaihawk]

Just one!
Clarko is still chasing the Fourpeat!
Meh. Threepeat was a practice run

God, Dave, we think alike!

 

[Smooth Banana]

Just in time to send Cyril off with 5 premierships.

 

[Dave Id]

God

Isn't that the guy who was gunna replace Peter Hudson in 1967?

 

[Randy Campbell]

Isn't that the guy who was gunna replace Peter Hudson in 1967?

Not replace, just getting him to move to CHF.

 

[Dave Id]

Yep.
Think Geelong drafted him as a mature rookie some years later.

 

[Billyc]

I've said it before - in the modern game and with a coach of Clarkson's quality, we need 5-6 genuine star players and the rest can be B graders and role players. Players are largely pawns when you have a coach like Clarko but you do need those 5-6 top liners. We need to go hard at trades and free agents over the next two years and I agree it is realistic.

 

[killerspud]

If we assume anyone 28.5 years old now won't be there, it means we lose: Gibbo, Hodge, Burgers, Rough, Poppy, Birch, Henderson, Frawley and Smith.

That leaves us with a potential team of:

FF: Gunston - O'Brien - Stewart
HF: Breust - Schoey - Rioli
Ce: Hartung - Howe - Shiels
HB: Duryea - Burton - Sicily
FB: Hardwick - Brand - Stratton

Ru: Ceglar
RR: O'Meara
Ro: Mitchell

I/C: McEvoy, Pittonet, Nash, Glass, Langford, Lovell, Kiwi...

... boy that's a lot of gaps to fill to end up with 10 - 12 A graders...

Firstly many of those are only experience and confidence away from from being A-Graders. Guys like Duryea and Langford have performed on the biggest stage when its counted so don't discount them rising to it again especially with more opportunities available.

Secondly you don't need 22 A-graders to win a flag. 22 players who have worked together as a team and follow the same set of rules and plans yes but there are plenty of teams out there with better players who don't win flags.

Have a little bit of confidence in our coaching staff and recruiting staff - they talk to each other and know what we need - they are the best in the business

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Firstly many of those are only experience and confidence away from from being A-Graders. Guys like Duryea and Langford have performed on the biggest stage when its counted so don't discount them rising to it again especially with more opportunities available.

Secondly you don't need 22 A-graders to win a flag. 22 players who have worked together as a team and follow the same set of rules and plans yes but there are plenty of teams out there with better players who don't win flags.

Have a little bit of confidence in our coaching staff and recruiting staff - they talk to each other and know what we need - they are the best in the business

You are not serious in suggesting Langers or Doc could become A graders are you???

Agree you dont need 22 of them but I would think you probably need 3 - 5 elite players, another 5 - 7 A graders and the rest B, etc...

Mitchell, O'Meara and Burton are the three that at the moment for mine could rest easily in the elite category...

 

[Agent Smith]

I think Clarko is right. Let's face it, there are no really good teams any more. This year's flag will be won by a good to average team. If our younger players come on like we think and hope they will, there's no reason why we won't be up there again very soon.

Guess it's up to us to raise that premiership standard again.

 

[OzJohnnie]

Clarko is an idiot.

 

[The German Hunter]

Guess it's up to us to raise that premiership standard again.

Ours don't count remember, they were won against interstate teams

 

[killerspud]

You are not serious in suggesting Langers or Doc could become A graders are you???

Agree you dont need 22 of them but I would think you probably need 3 - 5 elite players, another 5 - 7 A graders and the rest B, etc...

Mitchell, O'Meara and Burton are the three that at the moment for mine could rest easily in the elite category...

they are already premiership players

three afl premierships between them -

Both of them have been really good moved forward over the past few weeks

for *s sake back them in instead of slagging them off

 

[Leather Poisoning]

Ours don't count remember, they were won against interstate teams

Just watched highlights of the 2014 grand final again. We murdered them. It was brutal. We slapped them around and brutalised them with sheer contempt.

I'll tell you right now that the 2017 premiers won't be doing that to the runner up.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

they are already premiership players

three afl premierships between them -

Both of them have been really good moved forward over the past few weeks

for ****s sake back them in instead of slagging them off

Learn to read maybe or are you on the sauce?... I'm not slagging anyone off. I just identified that not all players are A graders. Surely you remember Greg Madigan playing in the 1989 premiership.

Perhps not worth us exploring this any further. Anyone who implies that because a player has played in a premiership, he's automatically a star for life or an A grader, needs to spend a little more time using head over heart. Just sayin' killerspud...

Oh your name...

#webothlovethehawks

 

[The German Hunter]

Just watched highlights of the 2014 grand final again. We murdered them. It was brutal. We slapped them around and brutalised them with sheer contempt.

I'll tell you right now that the 2017 premiers won't be doing that to the runner up.

A lot to prove to a certain number 23...
Money don't buy happiness or premierships!

 

[killerspud]

Learn to read maybe or are you on the sauce?... I'm not slagging anyone off. I just identified that not all players are A graders. Surely you remember Greg Madigan playing in the 1989 premiership.

Perhps not worth us exploring this any further. Anyone who implies that because a player has played in a premiership, he's automatically a star for life or an A grader, needs to spend a little more time using head over heart. Just sayin' killerspud...

Oh your name...

#webothlovethehawks

So you don't think that Duryea and Langford have the potential to become A-graders or at the very least solid role players that can help win a premiership

(which they have already done by the way - Duryea twice - both of them have actually played starring roles in a finals series Langford was unforgettable in 2014 and how about Duryea's game in a prelim in Perth in 2015???)

Both of them can play a variety of roles - they seem to confidence players and yes they have been inconsistent but they have proven that they can do it when it counts. And yes I remember Greg Madigan

I think Clarko's point was that he has the group pretty much already with one or two more to be added to make a tilt at a flag in the next few years - I'll back his judgement of our team over yours every day of the week (even with your 26,000 posts worth of big footy experience)

#yeswebothreallylovethehawks

 

[Leather Poisoning]

A lot to prove to a certain number 23...
Money don't buy happiness or premierships!

I think there was more to it than that.

People talk about the Brisbane sides being a mix of brutality and skill - our 2014 matches them. The attack on the man and ball was savage.