List Breakdown by Age

[Jars458]

Did this on the draft board but thought I would put it here.

Crows players 25 and under as at 1 Jan 2004

James Begley 23
Nathan Bock 20
Matthew Bode 24
Bret Burton 25
Michale Doughty 24
James Gallagher 24
Trent Hentschell 22
Luke Jericho 19
Graham Johncock 21
Chris Ladhams 23
Kris Massie 23
Martin Mattner 21
Ken McGregor 22
Ian Perrie 24
Brent Reilly 20
Ben Rutten 20
Jacob Schuback 20
Robert Shirely 23
Tyson Stenglein 23
Scott Welsh 25
Hayden Skipworth 20
Scott Stevens 22
Fergus Watts 18
Ben Hudson 25
Josh Kruger 20

25 players, even enough for three emergencies

Welsh Hentschell Schuback
Burton Perrie Ladhams
Johncock Stenglein Reilly
Bebley McGregor Mattner
Shirley Rutten Massie
Hudson Bode Skipworth
Watts Doughty S Stevens J Gallagher

Em: Kruger Bock Jericho


26 - 29 a brilliant group of key players

McLeod (27), Ricciuto (28), Edwards (27), Goodwin (27), Hart (29), Biglands (26), M Stevens (28) , N Basset (27) and J Torney (26)

30 and over

Smart (34) Burns (30) Carey (32) and Clarke (30) all of who are probably in their last year.

A very well balanced list in my view, with all the guys in the last year covered for the years ahead with the ruck the only real concern.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Pretty good balance IMHO. That 26-29 group is prety much the heart and soul of the side. Would like to see a VERY good young ruckman and another couple of more young gun midfielders in the under 25 catregory.

 

[MarksGirl-kbcrowgirl]

A good balance. How sad though - I don't like the idea of Roo, Goody, Stevo, Macca, Benny & Edwards all retiring round the same time

k
xx

 

[DaveW]

What worries me is how few top-liners there are amongst that group.

I'd say we have only five top tier players that are 25 or under - Burton, Johncock, McGregor, Stenglein and the injury riddled Welsh.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by DaveW
What worries me is how few top-liners there are amongst that group.

I'd say we have only five top tier players that are 25 or under - Burton, Johncock, McGregor, Stenglein and the injury riddled Welsh.

and 2 of them are 25. One of the remaing 3 is a star material while the other 2 are solid players without being spectacular.

 

[tribey]

Originally posted by DaveW
What worries me is how few top-liners there are amongst that group.

I'd say we have only five top tier players that are 25 or under - Burton, Johncock, McGregor, Stenglein and the injury riddled Welsh.

Massie and Begley will take the next step this season as fine linking half-back flankers now that they're both over illness and injury.

 

[lozstar]

Originally posted by MarksGirl-kbcrowgirl
A good balance. How sad though - I don't like the idea of Roo, Goody, Stevo, Macca, Benny & Edwards all retiring round the same time

k
xx

whatever ground they retire at will be flooded that day ( or even better - don't let them retire heh )

 

[Altum Volantes]

Originally posted by MarksGirl-kbcrowgirl
A good balance. How sad though - I don't like the idea of Roo, Goody, Stevo, Macca, Benny & Edwards all retiring round the same time

k
xx

As an Eagles fan, I can totally sympathise with you here.

Big group of class players all disappearing in a clump is what we went through in the late 90s, names like Heady, Pyke, Evans, Waterman, Hart, Mainwaring and ofcourse Worsfold (and probably more I'm shamefully forgetting) all went within a couple of seasons (or so) of each other.

Left a big void in our team, and while we managed to hold up for a bit, a couple of disapointing drafts and the team sunk fast.

The Crows face a similar dilemma, so yeah, for the sake of your sanity (trust me), just hope for class drafting and you should be able to strive through it with quality players like Johncock, Burton and the like leading the way.

 

[Mong]

We shouldn't underestimate McGregor.

At only 22 he has developed nicely and now has a good amount of experience behind him.

And being only 22 he still should have plenty of improvement still to come. He was very consistent for us in 03 and even around the whole league, McGregor would be one of the better key defenders and despite his lack of profile right across the country, there would be a lot of teams that would love to have such a young quality player to build a defense around.


****

 

[noddy]

Originally posted by ****
We shouldn't underestimate McGregor.

At only 22 he has developed nicely and now has a good amount of experience behind him.

And being only 22 he still should have plenty of improvement still to come. He was very consistent for us in 03 and even around the whole league, McGregor would be one of the better key defenders and despite his lack of profile right across the country, there would be a lot of teams that would love to have such a young quality player to build a defense around.


****

It wasn't all that long ago when 99% of Crow fans were calling him for all the useless tags that were in the English dictionary (myself included) but it just go's to show what a bit of patience & a lot of perseverance can achieve for some players, maybe Kenny is not yet in the same class as a Jakovich or a Leppisch but at 22 he still has a fair bit of improvement to come & a AA jumper in the near future would not surprise me one iota.

A bit of extra muscle wouldn't go astray though.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Originally posted by noddy
A bit of extra muscle wouldn't go astray though.

Why? I don't recall Kenny being out-muscled too often - quite the opposite in fact. This is more an issue for our other key defenders though.

 

[napsyd]

Originally posted by dyertribe
Massie and Begley will take the next step this season as fine linking half-back flankers now that they're both over illness and injury.

And all things being equal 2004 is the year we find out what Reilly really has to offer.

Surely at least one of Rutten and Hentschel will be a solid player for us for many years.

Schuback's early signs are very good.

Shirley showed a hell of a lot in the second half of 2003.

The brilliance of our older players is what keeps the younger ones from getting a run. We are fortunate and damned at the same time because of that.

 

[noddy]

Originally posted by Kane McGoodwin
Why? I don't recall Kenny being out-muscled too often - quite the opposite in fact. This is more an issue for our other key defenders though.

Then why was he not tested on the stronger/guerrilla type forwards (not including Brown) of the competition.

 

[noddy]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by dyertribe
Massie and Begley will take the next step this season as fine linking half-back flankers now that they're both over illness and injury.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by napsyd
And all things being equal 2004 is the year we find out what Reilly really has to offer.

Surely at least one of Rutten and Hentschel will be a solid player for us for many years.

Schuback's early signs are very good.

Shirley showed a hell of a lot in the second half of 2003.

The brilliance of our older players is what keeps the younger ones from getting a run. We are fortunate and damned at the same time because of that.

I agree with dt in that with a full pre-season Massie & Begley can establish themselves in our starting 22 especially Massie who i think could even be part of the mid-field rotation.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Originally posted by noddy
Then why was he not tested on the stronger/guerrilla type forwards (not including Brown) of the competition.

Got me absolutely stuffed & IMO the coaching staff made a huge blunder by not playing him on the Lynch, Tredrea, etc. Couldn't have done any worse! When he has played on bigger guys such as the 200cm+ Stafford, he has held his own.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Originally posted by noddy
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by dyertribe
Massie and Begley will take the next step this season as fine linking half-back flankers now that they're both over illness and injury.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I agree with dt in that with a full pre-season Massie & Begley can establish themselves in our starting 22 especially Massie who i think could even be part of the mid-field rotation.

IMO, Massie is already part of our best-22. If Begley can add some consistency & play like he did in his 1st few games, it will be very handy. ie. Has the talent, just needs improve his mental toughness.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by Kane McGoodwin
IMO, Massie is already part of our best-22. If Begley can add some consistency & play like he did in his 1st few games, it will be very handy. ie. Has the talent, just needs improve his mental toughness.

I agree about Massie. This time last year I was not convinced he would be in our best 22 but after his solid season in 2003 I am convinced. I just LOVE the way he plays his footy. A very tough player that ALWAYS puts his body on the line. Who can forget that passage of play in the final against West Coast. Massie breaks away from HBF and passes a handball to Shirley who coughs it up but Massie follows on throws his body on the ball gathers it as he is getting up he gets a heavy knock from Gardiner's hip. He still holds his ground and gives a long hands pass which ends up being a goal.

I like the toughness we have in some of our players. The likes of Massie, Torney, Shirley, McGregor and Mark Stevens (and to some extent Reilly) are the sort of blokes you go to war with. They will never let you down as far as putting their body to the line. We can now add Watts to that group.

As for Begley, he is a very skillful player that is a bit up and down but his year wasn't as bad as some on this board believe. His career so far has been ruined with injuries and that might be the reason for his inconsistency. If he can get over that I am sure we have a very good player on our hands. Begley is another one who puts his body on the line. Who could forget his 1st game against Brisbane when he got knocked out by Lepptisch.

 

[Portia]

Originally posted by Kane McGoodwin
Got me absolutely stuffed & IMO the coaching staff made a huge blunder by not playing him on the Lynch, Tredrea, etc.

As I recall, he's played on Tredrea in the past and been well beaten. Maybe he's got delicate confidence?

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by Porthos
As I recall, he's played on Tredrea in the past and been well beaten. Maybe he's got delicate confidence?

I can't remember him ever playing on Tredrea. Smart always picks up Tredrea except the pre-season game where Hart had him for a short period at the start. Tredrea got injured in a tackle (dislocated knee cap) and left the field.

 

[spindoctor]

In that ill-fated final against Brisbane, McGregor and Perrie had a positional mix-up for about five minutes and McGregor was playing well on Lynch, read him well, cut off his lead and positioned himself for punching away the mark. I thought Ayres had finally clicked. However instead they returned to their normal positions and Lynch kicked a couple more on Perrie. I nearly tore my hair out.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by spindoctor
In that ill-fated final against Brisbane, McGregor and Perrie had a positional mix-up for about five minutes and McGregor was playing well on Lynch, read him well, cut off his lead and positioned himself for punching away the mark. I thought Ayres had finally clicked. However instead they returned to their normal positions and Lynch kicked a couple more on Perrie. I nearly tore my hair out.

I remember that but to be fair we didn't have that many options really. The match commitee made a couple of blunder at selection and with match ups. I am confident McGregor can go with Lynch but we did that we had no one who could go with Brown. I think we got a bit more flexibility with our list now.

Round 2 next year we are playing Brisbane. Brown won't play because of the suspension so i would expect McGregor to get Lynch. If he doesn't then there is something seriously wrong with the coaching staff.

 

[Jars458]

Lynch is the only gueriila in the AFL and this is his last year

You guys crap on far too much about this so called guerilla types

McG has been very good the last two years and I hope he continues to develop. If he continues to do so at the current rate he will be the best player in aFL history by the time he is 27

 

[MarksGirl-kbcrowgirl]

Originally posted by lozstar
whatever ground they retire at will be flooded that day ( or even better - don't let them retire heh )

maybe we are just emotional females...................but I am planning a whole box of tissues for that day! Hopefully it is still a few years away *fingers crossed* before we have to face it

k
xx

 

[DaveW]

Originally posted by Jars458
Lynch is the only gueriila in the AFL and this is his last year

You guys crap on far too much about this so called guerilla types

Our friend in Los Angeles said this a couple of months ago.

 

[lozstar]

Originally posted by MarksGirl-kbcrowgirl
maybe we are just emotional females...................but I am planning a whole box of tissues for that day! Hopefully it is still a few years away *fingers crossed* before we have to face it

k
xx

We've still got Wayne and Nigel retiring next season

It'd be nice for none at all, hopefully the year after has none!