Looking 3 years ahead

[Jabso]

2009 is a very important year, we need to have made a smooth transition between the younger generation and the older players.

In 2009:
- Rocca would be 50/50 to play on at this stage. He would be 32.
- Clement will be 33, but barring injury could still be playing good footy.
- Buckley (you never know ), Burns and Wakelin should be gone.
- Presti is a worry, will he still be in the side at 31?
- O'Bree (30), Lica (31), Lockyer (30), Holland (29), Johnson (28) are the aging midfield. Although Johnson may yet be in the peak of his career and Holland may have a few years left, for Lockyer, O'B and Lica the pace of the game may have passed them by. Hopefully by this stage they are in and out of the team or used off the bench or are 2nd tier midfielders instead of having to carry the load. Again Johnson and Holland may still be around their best.
- Certain deslistings would be: Morrison, Hall, Fanning, Walker.

So looking at our 22 let's have a look at the gaps we need to fill: (Age in 2009 inbrackets)

B: Iles (22), Anthony (21), Clement (33)
HB: O'Brien (23), Maxwell (26), Lonie (26)
C: Egan (23), Swan (25), Thomas (22)
HF: Tarrant (29), T.Cloke (22), Didak (26)
F: Cook (21), Rusling (23), Holland (29)
R: Fraser (27), Pendlebury (21), H.Shaw (24)

Int: C.Cloke (25), J.Cloke (27), Johnson (28), R.Shaw (28)

-The great unknown is Lica and O'Bree, I personally think Lockyer will be out of the team by this time. Presti may still be going strong.

- Richards unfortunately would be lucky to be in there.
- The big question is whether Rowe, Iacobucci or Davies can make an impact by then and slot themselves in the side
- Also can Richards fullfill his potential or will Cam Cloke develop into a hand ruckman cum forward?
- O'Brien hasn't exactly solidified his place but I think he will be in our 22 by then.
- Davis at 28? Who the hell knows where he will be. If he can improve on the back of his promising 2006 he will definately be in the team by then.
- Can Didak be a great midfielder?
- Will Jason Cloke be any good at this time let alone at Collingwood and will Maxwell be able to hold down CHB?


Then of course the harder questions are the development of the crop of the 2005 draft. We all know Thomas and Pendlebury will be good players at the very least, but what about Anthony, Iles, Stanley, Cook and the rookies in Nicholls, Cox and Toovey.

Idealisticly our future looks bright. However we must be sure to make a smooth transition as a young team with their experience stripped away from them could expose us to a lean year or two. However unlike Hawthorn we should still have a few good experienced heads around

 

[Murray]

Are we getting the other Lonie too?

That aside it's not a bad team.
Are you assumeing we are not drafting or trading in the next 3 years.

 

[Jabso]

Are we getting the other Lonie too?

That aside it's not a bad team.
Are you assumeing we are not drafting or trading in the next 3 years.

Damnit now I forgot who I was supposed to put there!
I have to assume that we are not drafting or trading. Any good players out of the next few drafts would be a bonus on what looks like an OK team at this very very very early stage.

 

[Murray]

Damnit now I forgot who I was supposed to put there!
I have to assume that we are not drafting or trading. Any good players out of the next few drafts would be a bonus on what looks like an OK team at this very very very early stage.

Yep, I agree that team looks OK.

I think the current crop of kids are going to be something special.
I heard Ross Glendenning say once that he believes players get to their absolute best at 28 years of age

 

[silverphoenix]

2009 is a very important year, we need to have made a smooth transition between the younger generation and the older players.

In 2009:
- Rocca would be 50/50 to play on at this stage. He would be 32.
- Clement will be 33, but barring injury could still be playing good footy.
- Buckley (you never know ), Burns and Wakelin should be gone.
- Presti is a worry, will he still be in the side at 31?
- O'Bree (30), Lica (31), Lockyer (30), Holland (29), Johnson (28) are the aging midfield. Although Johnson may yet be in the peak of his career and Holland may have a few years left, for Lockyer, O'B and Lica the pace of the game may have passed them by. Hopefully by this stage they are in and out of the team or used off the bench or are 2nd tier midfielders instead of having to carry the load. Again Johnson and Holland may still be around their best.
- Certain deslistings would be: Morrison, Hall, Fanning, Walker.

So looking at our 22 let's have a look at the gaps we need to fill: (Age in 2009 inbrackets)

B: Iles (22), Anthony (21), Clement (33)
HB: J.Cloke (27), Maxwell (26), Lonie (26)
C: Egan (23), Swan (25), Didak (26)
HF: Tarrant (29), T.Cloke (22), Thomas (22)
F: Cook (21), Rusling (23), Holland (29)
R: Fraser (27), Pendlebury (21), H.Shaw (24)

Int: C.Cloke (25), Johnson (28), R.Shaw (28), Leuenberger (20)

-The great unknown is Lica and O'Bree, I personally think Lockyer will be out of the team by this time. Presti may still be going strong.

- Richards unfortunately would be lucky to be in there.
- The big question is whether Rowe, Iacobucci or Davies can make an impact by then and slot themselves in the side
- Also can Richards fullfill his potential or will Cam Cloke develop into a hand ruckman cum forward?
- O'Brien hasn't exactly solidified his place but I think he will be in our 22 by then.
- Davis at 28? Who the hell knows where he will be. If he can improve on the back of his promising 2006 he will definately be in the team by then.
- Can Didak be a great midfielder?
- Will Jason Cloke be any good at this time let alone at Collingwood and will Maxwell be able to hold down CHB?


Then of course the harder questions are the development of the crop of the 2005 draft. We all know Thomas and Pendlebury will be good players at the very least, but what about Anthony, Iles, Stanley, Cook and the rookies in Nicholls, Cox and Toovey.

Idealisticly our future looks bright. However we must be sure to make a smooth transition as a young team with their experience stripped away from them could expose us to a lean year or two. However unlike Hawthorn we should still have a few good experienced heads around

Just a few changes there. I dont think that obrien will make the grade, his brain is too slow for AFL. This year we need to draft a ruckman, the best ruckman available, lets stop using crappy draft picks on maybes, lets fix the position that cost us 1 if not 2 premierships in the last 5 years. If we have to take leuenburger at our first pick then do it, if we can get meeson for a 2nd rounder, or even if we got meeson for a down grade on our first rounder with adelaide do it! Get a damn ruckman, our other need for the immediate future can be easily covered in this draft, an inside midfielder, grigg, proud, sellwood, adams, houli, conners, hurley hislop, bird ect. lots of midfielders who are top notch. Finally, a KPP backman. Yes id love to see C3 go back and hold down CHB, but i think he is more suited to CHF, Nathan brown could be our best bet.

Lastly ill leave you all with a question.

Should we try and nab a 2nd round draft pick from a mid table team (geelong, westurn bulldogs, fremantle, richmond ect) even if it is a player who is currently in our 22. Tex to the doggies perhaps? They need KPP's, wont be able to get any of the top level KPPs in this draft...

If we could, atm id look at drafting the following:

Pick 10-14, if we get 10, then plan for leuenberger, with the 8 pretty much set, then not many teams below us will be looking for a ruckman. This will work in our favour. If we have a later pick than the dogs, then trade with adelaide for meeson, theres enough inside mids in this draft to be sure there isnt much difference between (11-12)-16, if he wants to leave this will be the best deal that adelaide can hope for, they should be able to get a pretty good KPP with 11-12.

Pick 28-32, depending on what we got with our first pick, if we already have the inside midfielder, grab the potential key backman now, probly wont be around at our 3rd pick.

Pick 44-48, Liegh Adams, pray that he's still there, he hasnt been on the radar in many mock drafts so far, but i watched one of his nat champ games and im a fan.

Pick 60-64, Finally a smokie just cause it might give Chris the reason to settle down. Robbie Tarrant, having his little brother around might give Chris the perfect reason to pull his head in and be a leader of this team.

So a better look at that:

Either leuenberger at 1st round pick (if we have pick 9-10) down grade and get meeson if we have a later pick (11-12) and an inside mid, grigg, houli, hislop are the best bets here.

2nd rounder, either best availabe mid if we picked up ML, or Nathan brown as a key backman

3rd rounder, another midfielder in adams.

and finally the smokie in Tarrant (have we had a word in his ear and told him to lie low?)

Cheers SP

 

[Jabso]

I'm not sure if Robby is good enough but if he is remotely good enough a late pick or a rookie spot wouldn't hurt at all in terms of helping Taz.
Then again he is in Melbourne atm and you'd think Chris would be around him a fair bit anyway.
I doubt it would affect Taz much anyway.

I'm not going to speculate on picks yet, if at all. Last year I read as much as I could on the draft as we weren't going to make the finals. Admittingly I thought that the rumours we would take Thomas 2nd or 5th were absurd and he could even slip to our 2nd round!!!!!

 

[gormanisahack]

I'm not sure if Robby is good enough but if he is remotely good enough a late pick or a rookie spot wouldn't hurt at all in terms of helping Taz.
Then again he is in Melbourne atm and you'd think Chris would be around him a fair bit anyway.
I doubt it would affect Taz much anyway.

I'm not going to speculate on picks yet, if at all. Last year I read as much as I could on the draft as we weren't going to make the finals. Admittingly I thought that the rumours we would take Thomas 2nd or 5th were absurd and he could even slip to our 2nd round!!!!!

as i understand it, if r.tarrant doesn't get picked up this year even though he is in yr 12(young) he can nominate for the draft next year.

 

[nipper]

as i understand it, if r.tarrant doesn't get picked up this year even though he is in yr 12(young) he can nominate for the draft next year.

Yes, he has had a few injuries this season but he has another year. Compared to other players he will be raw if picked up this year however there are teams who could see that as an asset. Personally, I think he will go this year.

 

[Shedmania]

B: Iles (22), Anthony (21), Clement (33)
HB: O'Brien (23), Maxwell (26), Lonie (26)
C: Egan (23), Swan (25), Thomas (22)
HF: Tarrant (29), T.Cloke (22), Didak (26)
F: Cook (21), Rusling (23), Holland (29)
R: Fraser (27), Pendlebury (21), H.Shaw (24)

Int: C.Cloke (25), J.Cloke (27), Johnson (28), R.Shaw (28)

Would not want these players in my 22. There are a number of other 50/50's as well.

 

[silverphoenix]

Would not want these players in my 22. There are a number of other 50/50's as well.

then you must cry yourself to sleep every night you see the bumbers take the feild with duds like bolten, hennemen and cole running around...

Ill also assume you didnt bother reading the topic at all, either that or you have a super powers that allow you to see into the future and can without a doubt tell us that Anthony or Obrian wont make the grade. Atm the only one that i have doubts on from Jabso's list is Cam Cloke, but im willing to give him minimum 2 years to become a power house full forward.

 

[Stakerz]

B: Iles (22), Anthony (21), Clement (33)
HB: O'Brien (23), Maxwell (26), Lonie (26)
C: Egan (23), Swan (25), Thomas (22)
HF: Tarrant (29), T.Cloke (22), Didak (26)
F: Cook (21), Rusling (23), Holland (29)
R: Fraser (27), Pendlebury (21), H.Shaw (24)

That is very, very good. That puts a grin on my face, mate.

 

[Jabso]

Two years ago if I made a team like this (I think I did too) I would of left alot of blanks especially in the backline. Anthony looks good, Maxwell will always be servicable if not a great player the only question is whether J.Cloke can step up. Not only this but in 2009 we may still have Lica and O'Bree for depth.