Considering how we finished last year.....

[bruce29]

....I think the bombers have improved in leaps and bounds. Im getting kinda sick of bomber "supporters" hanging sh**t on our team. Consider.......last year we came 15th on the ladder with 3 wins.......this year we've mustered 8 great wins to date against many fancied teams.......we've particurlary punished the interstate teams.ie sydney, west coast, brisbane, adelaide, freo...yes we've struggled at times and lost winnable games (carlton) but we've shown great poise this yr.......and it can only improve nxt season and beyond........thoughts??

 

[bomberlegend2007]

I dont think we are hanging it on the bombers. We are saying that we could improve on the list that we have.And that we can improve on the style of football that we play.
I am happy that we have won 8 games then the 3 and a half last year but i think we need a few more years to have a tilt at the flag.

 

[hulld]

we are in a very interesting position. most people would agree with me that our future looks quite bright after the kids we have drafted in the past couple of drafts.

but on the other hand, our best 4 players are about 30 years old or older.

i am satisfied with how we have travelled this year, but i wonder if maybe we needed just one more year of tanking......i mean blooding youngsters and getting good draft picks.

i know that it would mean short term pain, but there would be long term gain.

but not for one second am i saying that i preferred last season to this year. if we make the eight none of this will be relevant

 

[Darealrath]

Everyone knows we've improved but there is still a way to go, particularly in the midfield. We have a gun forward line and arguably the best backman in the league (and overall a pretty good unit back there) and it's being wasted, and has been for about 5 years now.

 

[RED AND BLACK SOLDIER]

we are in a very interesting position. most people would agree with me that our future looks quite bright after the kids we have drafted in the past couple of drafts.

but on the other hand, our best 4 players are about 30 years old or older.

i am satisfied with how we have travelled this year, but i wonder if maybe we needed just one more year of tanking......i mean blooding youngsters and getting good draft picks.

i know that it would mean short term pain, but there would be long term gain.

but not for one second am i saying that i preferred last season to this year. if we make the eight none of this will be relevant

I doubt we will have to tank, we've lost alot of important player's to injury and we have a difficult run home so i doubt we will make the 8. Im guessing we will finish about 11th which will give us pick 6, and im guessing that will get us a pretty decent player. Kruezer will go number one and then the other 5 teams will take 5 of these players in Cotchin, Mastern, Rioli, Palmer, McEvoy, Ebert, Morton and Maric, which will leave us with one of these players, there maybe other players we might go for but im sure you'd know more about than i would as i have only heard and read about these players (except for Mastern and Palmer who i saw on Foxtel where Palmer kicked 5 and dominated). Is there any players that i have missed? and if we finish 11 (and get pick #6) who do you think we might get?

 

[Burzum]

Hopefully Cotchin or Masten, if we're lucky.

 

[ant555]

Hopefully Cotchin or Masten, if we're lucky.

Im very keen on Chris Masten , the only trouble is if the Blues fail to win another game their bloody priority pick will stuff things up. If we cant make the finals when we meet them would should tanl just to stuff them up













ps. no im not serious about the tanking part

 

[ant555]

....I think the bombers have improved in leaps and bounds. Im getting kinda sick of bomber "supporters" hanging sh**t on our team. Consider.......last year we came 15th on the ladder with 3 wins.......this year we've mustered 8 great wins to date against many fancied teams.......we've particurlary punished the interstate teams.ie sydney, west coast, brisbane, adelaide, freo...yes we've struggled at times and lost winnable games (carlton) but we've shown great poise this yr.......and it can only improve nxt season and beyond........thoughts??

It has been greatly improved there is no questioning that but for us to improve even further to the level of serious finals side there are some area of our game that need looking at.
I put it into a thread the other day but i will repeat it here again

1. Poor skill level. Across the board our skills are simply not good enough.
2. We seem to have no idea on how to pass the footy. We continually kick the high and not to the advantage of our own players.
3.Our midfield doesnt know how to block or clear a path at clearances.
4. We continually have two or 3 players running to the same spot.
5. Despite having numerous drills at training that focus at running the ball down the lines we still stand around in groups on match day and handball to stationary targets.
6. We dont have enough hard runners in the midfield who also have some skill and class.
7. A lot of the time we are happy to play the "me" game . At stages we simply dont work hard enough. Players make short leads an when someone covers it they dont lead again as the feel they have done enough.
8. We zone off and let players get a 3 meter break on us too easily.
9. We refuse to shepphard. Rather than giving a handball and then blocking to get a player in the clear we try and position ourselves for another cheap stat.
10. We never make any serious attemps to guard the mark.
11. We seem to lack confiedence in attacking ball carriers. More often than not we simply try and coral players rather than pressuring them.

These are things that havnt changed in the last 5 or 6 years and until they do we may well make the finals a few times but we will never be a serious contender. Hopefully a few of our young midfielders can go some way to eliminating a few of these issuse over the next few seasons.

 

[ant555]

we are in a very interesting position. most people would agree with me that our future looks quite bright after the kids we have drafted in the past couple of drafts.

but on the other hand, our best 4 players are about 30 years old or older.

i am satisfied with how we have travelled this year, but i wonder if maybe we needed just one more year of tanking......i mean blooding youngsters and getting good draft picks.

i know that it would mean short term pain, but there would be long term gain.

but not for one second am i saying that i preferred last season to this year. if we make the eight none of this will be relevant

Why does everyone seem so keen to tank. So far it hasnt taken any side to a premiership. Yes the Hawks are looking good but so did the Sanits a couple of seasons ago when they won their first 10 games.
Success in the draft is being able to do what Sydney, Geelong, Port and the Eagels have been able to do and that is be able to find decent players in the middle to end of the draft.

 

[bruce29]

Why does everyone seem so keen to tank. So far it hasnt taken any side to a premiership. Yes the Hawks are looking good but so did the Sanits a couple of seasons ago when they won their first 10 games.
Success in the draft is being able to do what Sydney, Geelong, Port and the Eagels have been able to do and that is be able to find decent players in the middle to end of the draft.

Who did these teams get?

 

[monty1104]

Since 2000, Sydney have drafted such players as: Luke Ablett, Amon Buchannan (twice), Adam Schneider, Jarrad McVeigh, Nick Malceski. Not too bad considering they only had 3 first round draft picks in that time.

Now Geelong. They have got Josh Hunt, Jimmy Bartel, James Kelly, Steve Johnson, Ablett jnr, David Johnson, Andrew Mackie, Kane Tenace, Mark Blake, Brett Prismall, Nathan Ablett, Matthew Egan, Travis Varcoe, Matthew Stokes, Joel Selwood and Tom Hawkins. Not too shabby I wouldnt say.

I really cant be stuffed doing the other 2 teams, but just think of guys like S.Burgoyne, Judd, Kerr, Hansen, Pearce and you get the idea.

 

[hulld]

Why does everyone seem so keen to tank. So far it hasnt taken any side to a premiership. Yes the Hawks are looking good but so did the Sanits a couple of seasons ago when they won their first 10 games.
Success in the draft is being able to do what Sydney, Geelong, Port and the Eagels have been able to do and that is be able to find decent players in the middle to end of the draft.

i didn't say i wanted to tank. i was only saying that the benefits are there. i am pleased with how we have gone this year

 

[Jono B]

Regardless of how we went last year, the fact is that we are 8-7 and we should be definately be aiming at playing finals.

 

[DynamoUltra]

Last year you lost 5 games by under 3 goals and were lamenting how much better you were than the ladder showed. This year you have won 6 games by under 3 goals. Maybe you're at the level you thought you should have been at last year?

 

[Jono B]

But I also think other teams play a bit harder against a team in the top eight.

 

[drew_j]

Last year you lost 5 games by under 3 goals and were lamenting how much better you were than the ladder showed. This year you have won 6 games by under 3 goals. Maybe you're at the level you thought you should have been at last year?

Add to that the injuries we had last year and you may be onto something.