How long should a rebuild take?

[Freomaniac]

Where are my eagles mates? Spuddigger , Forward Press , Keys , remember when you chaps mocked me about missing out on finals for 5 years in a row?

 

[Freomaniac]

Sweet Jesus , come out here and defend the eagles lol

 

[Wish Wellingtons]

It takes three years. You should be making prelims while in the rebuild phase.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

That bit about your defence after 2018 just didn't ring true to me.

Your 2019 Preliminary Final defence was:

32yo Harry Taylor 250 odd games
29yo Zach Touhy 190 odd games
26yo Tom Stewart 60 odd games
25yo Jed Bews 70 odd games
23yo Jake Kolodjashnij 90 odd games
22yo Mark O'Connor 30 odd games
20yo Jack Henry 40 odd games

Also in the team were these players who would and could have played in defence during the season:

29yo Lachie Henderson 180 odd games
28yo Mark Blicavs 150 odd games

Your defence in the preliminary final had an average age of around 26 years and and average games played around 105. And you often had either Henderson and Blicavs playing there throughout the season. That does not qualify as extremely inexperienced in AFL terms. That games played average is above the median games played for an AFL team, comfortably. And it clearly wasn't the worst backline in the AFL, every one of those players played in a Premiership at some point.

Your 2019 PF backline was barely less experienced or younger than the 2017 Richmond Premiership backline, if at all.

Strange addition to your post, which otherwise mainly makes sense.

Perhaps it doesn't ring true because your experience line in the sand was 2 years after the changeover point i referenced.

Rd 1 2018 Stewart had played 20ish games but wasn't remotely the player he became. Taylor was injured in the first quarter of the first game and out half the year and Henderson was out most of the year from a preseason injury. Jack Henry had never played a game in the backline even in the vfl, he was a monty for delisting at that point. Kolo was being tried on the wing around then, not exactly a required player down back prior to this. Blitz had never played a game in the backline and Zuth debuted Rd 2 looking skinnier than a fitness influencer whose eaten nothing green juice and ozempic for a month.

We should have lost nearly every game in the front half of that year by 5 goals plus but were mid table by the bye.

 

[Coach_Required]

5 years is reasonable, to get your list in a position to start being competitive again.
Winning a flag is a different story, very hard to win and you need a bit of luck as well.

A rebuild to me isn't winning a flag, it's being in a position where the club is winning more and places itself with an opportunity to win a flag.

Up to the coaches and players you then have to go on and win it.

 

[Freomaniac]

Realistically (unless you're Sydney or Geelong and able to rebuild while in the eight) a rebuild should take at least 5 years, but not 10 years.

There is more player movement than ever, but the draft is still the main avenue for bringing in players, and draftees are 18. It's not until those draftees reach about 23 years of age or the 100-game mark that they really start hitting their peak. Your typical AFL player is in his prime from 23 to 28.

On the other hand, if you've been rebuilding for 10 years and not won a premiership, your list is probably ageing again and you've blown your chance.

What's your opinion on the crows rebuild since the 2017 AFL Grand final?

 

[Freomaniac]

Plenty of other avenues to bring talent in now though, such as MSD, supplementary sign ons and free agents. Then there's trading future picks to fast track, pick splitting and now talk of future picks.

You only really need to nail those 3x first rounders and have a few of those later picks become solid performers to get back into finals contention within a few years.

I'd say it's probably far more important to get the correct development team, coaching and fitness regime in place so that whoever you bring in develops properly.

People are fixated on high draft picks but WCE in 2018 won the flag with only 3x top 10 picks(Kennedy, Masten & Jetta), with Kennedy being the only real standout.

Obviously there were strong contributions from NN, Gaff and Sheppard throughout the year but only Sheppard managed to play in finals and even he went out injured in the first one.

Of the team that played in the 2018 grand final, only 7 of them were first rounders. 7 of them also came in via trades and that team was rock bottom right when GC/GWS entered the competition.

I'd say the success was more down to the right off-field appointments than the talent on the list necessarily. The exact same can be said for the club's fall from grace, obvious. Hawthorn in a similar basket, although they had more draft picks to play around with, as well as starting far earlier.

Your thoughts on the eagles current rebuild?

 

[Rotayjay]

What's your opinion on the crows rebuild since the 2017 AFL Grand final?

I think it's gone well. Eight years is a reasonable time frame, and the pieces are there. Maybe not all of them, and maybe those pieces are a bit raw, but I think the rebuild is practically finished. That our 2025 finals series was a complete failure is a separate issue.

 

[crows dude]

What's your opinion on the crows rebuild since the 2017 AFL Grand final?

We didn’t start it until 2020 once nicks took over

 

[Mr.X]

The best clubs compete for the flag most years, the worst clubs are in a constant state of "rebuild"

On SM-A225F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Correct.

Hawks, cats and swans are examples of clubs that never seem to be down for long

 

[HeHateMe]

4 years max

 

[Freomaniac]

Correct.

Hawks, cats and swans are examples of clubs that never seem to be down for long

Hawks didn't play one finals match between 2019 to 2023. That is 5 years in a row of no finals.

You also said hawks and swans have never been down for long. That is untrue.

Swans made finals in 1986-7. Both years Carlton made grand finals. After that, Sydney Swans next made finals... In 1996.

Go show me swans finals dominance from 1946 to 1995.

Also Hawthorn.... How many times did they make finals from 1925 to 1956? None. Thank the finals system. 4 finals spots in a 12 team league

 

[Crankyhawk]

This comes back to the ultimate question all sports fans must ask.

Which 10 year period would you prefer?

1. 1 Flag and 4 or 5 years of finals, followed by a spoon and several years near the bottom; or
2. A couple of prelims, 7 or 8 years of finals, and a couple of years just missing finals.

It's natural to say you want the 10 years with a flag, but option 2 would probably provide more long term enjoyment (if not the exhilarating brief high)

Port Adelaide and #sackhinkley show that fans want the flag and the cycle. I would choose option 1 also

 

[Mr.X]

Hawks didn't play one finals match between 2019 to 2023. That is 5 years in a row of no finals.

You also said hawks and swans have never been down for long. That is untrue.

Swans made finals in 1986-7. Both years Carlton made grand finals. After that, Sydney Swans next made finals... In 1996.

Go show me swans finals dominance from 1946 to 1995.

Also Hawthorn.... How many times did they make finals from 1925 to 1956? None. Thank the finals system. 4 finals spots in a 12 team league

Context is recent history, and last 30 years

What happened in the 1920’s, or 1940’s has no relevance to present day

 

[Mibie]

60 years

 

[nineteen eighty]

Should be playing finals at around the 5-6 year mark is my view. Once you are playing finals, you’re more than competitive and an expected improvement to prelim and then GF in subsequent years. Hawthorn is tracking nicely. Tigers tracked to that timeframe…with 2016 a backwards step. North and West Coast will be well beyond this timeframe. Who the heck knows what the Tigers will do through our rebuild.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

I found it interesting, listening to gettable, and them talking about North Melbourne rebuild being 5 or 6 years away from making finals.

Is a 8+ year rebuild too long?

Should we try to make it shorter?

Rebuilds are a poor run clubs way of claiming competency when they are managerially and tactically incompetent.

 

[Mr.X]

Rebuilds are a poor run clubs way of claiming competency when they are managerially and tactically incompetent.

Agreed, the well run clubs never fully bottom out, they find a way to avoid spoons