Strategy How we can improve in 2018?

[SydCrow]

There should be plenty of organic growth again next year.

 

[Thetrader15]

Here are the players on our list that I'm looking to improve year on year (ranked in order of scope for improvement and partly based on likely opportunity):

• Milera - critical he steps up and I like the suggestions of others that we slot him into Smith's spot on the HBF
• Brad Crouch - now he's got through a year and can have some confidence in his body...can he smash the pre-season and take the next step to fulfil his potential like his brother
• McGovern - can he find the consistency to go from 10 goals / 1.5 goals per game to 15/2 which will make him a genuine top-line forward
• Gallucci - 1st round draft pick that needs to slot into Cameron's HFF and leave us no worse off in terms of output and forward 'synergy'
• Greenwood - showed glimpses of what he's capable of and has a genuine point of difference among our midfield group...can he build his tank, soak up more TOG and become a strong 20 possies a game midfielder
• Atkins - his best against average teams/free-flowing games is very good...can he lower the gap between his best and worst to become an AA-level wingman which I think he's capable of
• Doedee - can he move into the team seamlessly and help keep us a strong defensive unit...probably asking too much for him to be an intercept/rebound star straight off the bat but locking down the 3rd/4th opposition tall forward would be a great start.

Love to see Greenwood get a chance to rest up forward. IIRC, he was a FF as a junior so must be able to play that role

 

[GrommoT]

Games are often about levels.

We come with a level of intensity that is then matched against the opposition on game day.

When our levels are higher things are great, however when the opposite is true we are found wanting.

We need to demonstrate the ability to rise to the occasion and not only match the opposition's intensity and execution, but to then show that we can take it up another notch and place the pressure back on them.

This for me should be the underlying philosophy that the rest of the strategy and game plan should be built around.

Identify what is stopping us from doing this, then plan out a course of action to achieve this.

I think there are a lot of factors involved here and its a multifaceted beast that starts with the players minds.

I have a theory that we tend to have a set way of pacing ourselves for a whole game (dealing with capped rotations) which works often when a team comes at us hell-for-leather for the first quarter, then peter out somewhat and we come back over them.

To me, this seemed like what happened happen in the GF and I thought we were waiting for RFC to tire out and we come back at them - of course they never did until they had the game won

 

[mattymac]

I've been convinced for years that we will never go all the way while Dmac and Douglas are in our best 22. They're elite chokers.

They're so chokey they spread their choke through the team like a virus

Last of the old guard of panic merchants formerly represented by VB, Thommo etc

 

[Slippery Pete]

Let's keep this simple, how can we improve?

We could win the grand final.

 

[GROTTO]

I've been convinced for years that we will never go all the way while Dmac and Douglas are in our best 22. They're elite chokers.

They're so chokey they spread their choke through the team like a virus

Last of the old guard of panic merchants formerly represented by VB, Thommo etc

I felt that Douglas has never been the same player since his testicles injury. At least he had shown us he can perform well in the past. 400kay has never consistently exceeded expectations.

With that said, yes they are in an elite category of chokers.

 

[Ramify]

I felt that Douglas has never been the same player since his testicles injury. At least he had shown us he can perform well in the past. 400kay has never consistently exceeded expectations.

With that said, yes they are in an elite category of chokers.

Douglas had 1 season worthy of praise prior to that injury. This past season was as good as he had been besides that.

 

[baldandbroke]

Keath is a better kick than Talia, Hartigan and Lever. Not only that, he backs himself with ball in hand, has plenty of pace for a tall and is willing to try to break lines. Am I not understanding what you have written?

I agree, he appears to have more skill with his feet than both Harto and Talia ... but you wouldn't call him a distributor would you? Maybe I haven't seen enough of him to judge ...

I just can't see all three of them in the back half - it feels too tall and not enough pace / high end disposal.

If you were to pick two of the three ... surely it would mean Keath was left out?

Talia is one of the best stoppers in the game and Hartigan has improved immensely. That is no knock on Keath, he's just third in line.

 

[marty36]

I agree, he appears to have more skill with his feet than both Harto and Talia ... but you wouldn't call him a distributor would you? Maybe I haven't seen enough of him to judge ...

I just can't see all three of them in the back half - it feels too tall and not enough pace / high end disposal.

If you were to pick two of the three ... surely it would mean Keath was left out?

Talia is one of the best stoppers in the game and Hartigan has improved immensely. That is no knock on Keath, he's just third in line.

The backline is fixed with brown Kelly Harto and Talia as stopping defenders with laird as our only creative attacking defender we are in need of an attacking defender who will it be

Milera, Hampton, Gibbs, Sloane Seedsman Mackay

Preference would be for an elite ball user so you would think it needs to be out of

Milera seeds or Gibbs


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[Ramify]

I agree, he appears to have more skill with his feet than both Harto and Talia ... but you wouldn't call him a distributor would you? Maybe I haven't seen enough of him to judge ...

I just can't see all three of them in the back half - it feels too tall and not enough pace / high end disposal.

If you were to pick two of the three ... surely it would mean Keath was left out?

Talia is one of the best stoppers in the game and Hartigan has improved immensely. That is no knock on Keath, he's just third in line.

Id be surprised if we stick with the exact same structure this year with Smith going down.
Out of Tals, Harto, Dood and Keath, Keath is the one you want with ball in hand with the added bonus that he has the size and natural strength to play on
Key talls( this is a 1 year out of the game cricketer who I watched ragdoll Franklin twice in 1 game).

Lever and Smith out gives you a choice/decision between Dodee and his intercept or Keath and his rebound/kicking.

People on this board are very harsh on guys who have only played a handful of games.
Just have to reflect on Hartigans first year to see how unrealistic expectations can be.
To my mind Keath has potential to be better than all 3 of Hartigan, Talia and to a lesser degree Lever.

 

[1990crow]

Id be surprised if we stick with the exact same structure this year with Smith going down.
Out of Tals, Harto, Dood and Keath, Keath is the one you want with ball in hand with the added bonus that he has the size to play on

Lever and Smith out gives you a choice/decision between Dodee and his intercept or Keath and his rebound/kicking.

People on this board are very harsh on guys who have only played a handful of games.
Just have to reflect on Hartigans first year to see how unrealistic expectations can be.
To my mind Keath has potential to be better than all 3 of Hartigan, Talia and to a lesser degree Lever.

Agree with this. Keath has huge potential with another preseason under his belt.
Talia has gone backwards and we can only have one dour defender who can't kick I feel. That makes it a decision between Talia and Hartigan.. and I choose Talia purely based on his previous performances and expectation he can produce somewhere near his best.

 

[Redleg Crow]

Ok, enough with the organic stuff, now for the others:

Sloane - first sign the ******* contract. Then spend a summer getting tagged by Sam Gibson and learn how to break it.
Tex - Watch the GF again and again and again. Get fit, hit the packs, bring the ball to ground (taking a mark wouldn't go astray either)
Jenkins - Watch the GF again and again and again. Learn to use your fricken body.
Eddie - Just let nothing happen to you. We need another good year out of that ageing body.
Sauce - Taps aren't cool. You know what's cool? Taps to advantage.
Hartigan - Spend the summer kicking the ball. One of the worst turnover merchants in the the league. That needs to end. Learn from Kelly - know your limitations

Coaches - See Sloane - come up with some ideas, watch the GF again and again and again. Work out what to do with Gibbs - in the mid or quarterback role taking over from Smith? Give the kids a go.

Stay positive, for all but one Saturday we were the best team in the league.

 

[hippyhippy]

I was thinking about why the tagger was back in vogue.. It would appear the emergence of gws and gc has stretched the talent pool too far. With many clubs having very high top end talent.. Ie your sloanes and your Dustin martin's.. And the rest being sub par.. Think your Geelong and ports. Teams that do well will need excellent top end talent but also good depth with an even spread of talent after the top end. We were beaten whenever sloane was tagged and the rest didn't stand up. Gibson is probably a good strategic draft.

 

[pirate bob]

Agree with this. Keath has huge potential with another preseason under his belt.
Talia has gone backwards and we can only have one dour defender who can't kick I feel. That makes it a decision between Talia and Hartigan.. and I choose Talia purely based on his previous performances and expectation he can produce somewhere near his best.

Keath was playing cricket last preseason .. Keith appears to be a more naturally gifted footballer than both Talia and Hartigan. It'll be interesting to watch him over the next few seasons to see if that translates on the field

 

[Danger_zone]

Ok, enough with the organic stuff, now for the others:

Sloane - first sign the ******* contract. Then spend a summer getting tagged by Sam Gibson and learn how to break it.
Tex - Watch the GF again and again and again. Get fit, hit the packs, bring the ball to ground (taking a mark wouldn't go astray either)
Jenkins - Watch the GF again and again and again. Learn to use your fricken body.
Eddie - Just let nothing happen to you. We need another good year out of that ageing body.
Sauce - Taps aren't cool. You know what's cool? Taps to advantage.
Hartigan - Spend the summer kicking the ball. One of the worst turnover merchants in the the league. That needs to end. Learn from Kelly - know your limitations

Coaches - See Sloane - come up with some ideas, watch the GF again and again and again. Work out what to do with Gibbs - in the mid or quarterback role taking over from Smith? Give the kids a go.

Stay positive, for all but one Saturday we were the best team in the league.

I actually didn't think of that. Getting tips from the best tagger in the league on beating a tag.

Man, this Gibson pick up has blown my mind on so many levels.

 

[baldandbroke]

Id be surprised if we stick with the exact same structure this year with Smith going down.
Out of Tals, Harto, Dood and Keath, Keath is the one you want with ball in hand with the added bonus that he has the size and natural strength to play on
Key talls( this is a 1 year out of the game cricketer who I watched ragdoll Franklin twice in 1 game).

Lever and Smith out gives you a choice/decision between Dodee and his intercept or Keath and his rebound/kicking.

People on this board are very harsh on guys who have only played a handful of games.
Just have to reflect on Hartigans first year to see how unrealistic expectations can be.
To my mind Keath has potential to be better than all 3 of Hartigan, Talia and to a lesser degree Lever.

So how do you see the defensive end setting up in 2018?

Surely we are moving Doedee into the intercepting role. Maybe Keath ends up pushing out Hartigan? Seems unlikely.

Kellly - Talia - Brown
Laird - Keath - Doedee

 

[marty36]

So how do you see the defensive end setting up in 2018?

Surely we are moving Doedee into the intercepting role. Maybe Keath ends up pushing out Hartigan? Seems unlikely.

Kellly - Talia - Brown
Laird - Keath - Doedee

Not looking for much run and disposal efficiency in that lot


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[kulak]

Lots to say here.

Key ones
- Greenwood! Was dominating the GF until he did his other calf
- Brad Crouch, can he complete a pre-season?
- Gibbs
- Talia, can he recapture form/fitness?
- Our forward line can improve for contested matches by being better at ground level, more Gallucci / Jarman / Hampton / whomever is good enough

 

[Simmo28]

With the trading period now over, the Club and the fans can move onto the next phase of life - planning for 2018!

Let's keep this simple, how can we improve in each of these zones:
- forward (Cameron gone)
- midfield
- defense (Smith out with injury; Lever gone)

With Gibbs' inclusion, our midfield will be bolstered. However, our defense looks to be the weak link once again with the loss of Lever and Smith. Who should we pick from the SANFL side? Maybe we should make positional changes?

Ummm, premiership?


MCrouch 2018 Brownlow Winner

 

[Sammydaniels]

Look as we just keep our heads held high n rise above everyone else we should be good I know we have a very high chance of winning the flag


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[Carmo]

one thing to improve for the future - don't bring brothers of our AFL players into SANFL, didn't work with lever, nor tippett, it makes them leave!

 

[1970crow]

His resilience is definitely the problem. Hopefully he comes out of it with a solid season like B.Crouch.
I think he was our best tackler last season until he got injured. A bit more time out on the field and he'll start to find the ball a bit more often too.

I thought his possession numbers were deteriorating and he was on the verge of being dropped. Tackling is all he had left as a midfielder but he was barely getting tagging numbers in terms of getting the ball. A fit Greenwood made us much better. I reckon Hampton's future lies in being a bigger, faster, stronger and much better version of Mackay. But he'd need to be one of our fitter players to play that role and regularly having to be off his feet is a major impediment.

 

[1970crow]

Do exactly what we did this year but turn up on the last Saturday.

We turned up, they just wore us down with much greater running power. We were up within a few minutes if half time, but the longer it went, the worse we got. And that's to be expected when you go in with an injured mid and 2 extra talls. This not turning up accusation is a complete fabrication.

 

[1970crow]

No your right

CEY
Cheney
Beech
Jarman
Hunter

Out of contract


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Thought first time rookies get 2 years.

 

[1970crow]

I think the improvement is going to be having the Crouch Brothers with a full PS under their belt with Sloane and Gibbs now. That is as elite a midfield as you get.

I also see addition of Poholke as my smokey to play 15-22 games.

If Poholke is going to play, wouldn't Rocky have been a handy inclusion? But inside info was zero interest as his style wasn't a need. Surely it would be for a flag challenging team that has Poholke playing 22 games.

Not having a go at the kid, I liked what I saw in the NAB. But surely if he's playing, Rockliff would have been a better option for this flag window.