Is 2019 the last year of the window?

[Smartest Brain]

Going on actual results it seems the Giants peaked around 2016 . Injuries in 2017 and 2018 are said to be the main reason for poorer results in those years even though we scratched into the prelim in 2017. More players have been offloaded this year without much coming back to this point in time, but as always there are unknowns and maybe the new players recruited in the next month will be able to step up.

Looking past 2019 it seems to me Kelly and Cogs have a high chance of leaving the club due to massive offers. Especially if they have good years. Considering they are both very good players it seems to me like 2019 may be the last chance to utilize the still abundant talent in the team. If the coaching returns to more of a scoring gameplan to utilize the talent in the middle and forward line I can see 2019 having a high chance of success even with zero new player input. Of course we would have to be lucky with injuries.

I know we still don't know how the younger players are going to come up in the next year and a bit but is anyone thinking beyond 2019 right now and thinking things aren't looking as good as they were in 2016 for the club? Seems like the club is at a critical point in its history and these next 12 months are going to be extremely important to the short to medium term success of the club off and on the field.

 

[Danny88]

Agree with this. I think we will still be right up there this year. Talent wise it’s still there

I like your suggestion that we move to a more attacking game plan rather than the counter punch one we currently employ.

 

[Colonial]

Depends on our drafting and who we can keep from our out of contract players.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[captainMyCaptain]

Don't buy into the concept of premiership windows being open or closed but what I will say is that if we hold onto all the keys guys that are coming out of contract next year then I would expect us to be playing finals most years for the next 6-8 years and with a bit of luck getting close to winning a flag. But even if we lose a few guys we will still play a lot of finals in the next 8 years its just that we are more likely to be in the bottom half of the top 8.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

In 2016 we had an expanded list and cap. An awful lot of talent and insane depth.

Those day were never going to last and haven't.

Our game plan is to win. We're a contested ball team and aim to score goals by winning contests and creating opportunities. We differ from a team like the Eagles or the Hawks who avoid contests whenever possible, and seek to win them when they cant.

I believe it's why you see us bombing it into the 50 and kicking long to contests bringing the ball out of defence. We choose territory and back the players downfield to win the ball.

For all that I'm convinced our finals side this year, with less talent admittedly, would have beaten our finals side of 2016.

 

[captainMyCaptain]

In 2016 we had an expanded list and cap. An awful lot of talent and insane depth.

Those day were never going to last and haven't.

Our game plan is to win. We're a contested ball team and aim to score goals by winning contests and creating opportunities. We differ from a team like the Eagles or the Hawks who avoid contests whenever possible, and seek to win them when they cant.

I believe it's why you see us bombing it into the 50 and kicking long to contests bringing the ball out of defence. We choose territory and back the players downfield to win the ball.

For all that I'm convinced our finals side this year, with less talent admittedly, would have beaten our finals side of 2016.

Personally would favor our '16 team that had a fully fit Kelly and Greene, a Stevie that was still having an outstanding season, and Lobb in career best form.
But what is done is done and its time to move on

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

Personally would favor our '16 team that had a fully fit Kelly and Greene, a Stevie that was still having an outstanding season, and Lobb in career best form.
But what is done is done and its time to move on

It's opinion. I agree it's less talented. I remember Heater saying early in the season our side that year was more talented than his his teamates in 2010, but would have been flogged by them. The side did develop through the year and did play well in finals.

It's also the case we didn't leave the Olympic Park Precinct for finals that year.

My view, absolutely subjective and can never be proven, is that side wouldn't have withstood the onslaught early from the Pies at the G in front of a big noisy hostile crowd. We lost to a better side, but it was a huge effort in my view.

 

[dlanod]

I still think that including 2016 in a "flag window" is 20/20 hindsight. That year caught everyone unawares, when most people were expecting a finals berth at best making top 4 and a prelim was a substantial overachievement. 2017 should've been the start, but the preemptive removal of our cap concession threw a substantial spanner in the works - stripping our depth and causing the managed "exodus" over the last couple of years. Assuming we continue to keep the players we want to keep, I predict we'd still have three or four more years in a "flag window" with our current players in their prime - guys like Cogs, Kelly, Cameron, Greene, etc. After that I suspect it would be a managed rebuild or, if we're lucky, guys like Bonar and Taylor step up and are ready to take over.

 

[Smartest Brain]

I still think that including 2016 in a "flag window" is 20/20 hindsight. That year caught everyone unawares, when most people were expecting a finals berth at best making top 4 and a prelim was a substantial overachievement. 2017 should've been the start, but the preemptive removal of our cap concession threw a substantial spanner in the works - stripping our depth and causing the managed "exodus" over the last couple of years. Assuming we continue to keep the players we want to keep, I predict we'd still have three or four more years in a "flag window" with our current players in their prime - guys like Cogs, Kelly, Cameron, Greene, etc. After that I suspect it would be a managed rebuild or, if we're lucky, guys like Bonar and Taylor step up and are ready to take over.

Yes 2016 is hindsight. At the time we thought it was the start of the dynasty but it wasn't to be. It turns out 2016 was our best year so far.

We didn't really have any young players come up in the last year that I thought would be as good as the current crop. So the young talent coming up certainly seems to have gone down since the early years.