Make or Break 2017

[TheAnt]

While I agree the 2011 draft was not the greatest for players after pick 26 there were players that could have been selected.
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I like how you highlight Jackson Merrett but not Hill and Newnes

 

[THE THIN MAN]

I like how you highlight Jackson Merrett but not Hill and Newnes

I could also have added Sam Kerridge, Merrett has done more than Hill and Newnes.

 

[TheAnt]

I could also have added Sam Kerridge, Merrett has done more than Hill and Newnes.

Zach yes, but Jackson is fairly mediocre.

 

[Richoman Tigers]

Zach yes, but Jackson is fairly mediocre.

Fairly mediocre is being incredibly kind. He is a potato

 

[Goldust]

Fairly mediocre is being incredibly kind. He is a potato

No doubt he'll be the next Hislop and end up at Punt Road because we need some in and under ball winners and grunt!

 

[Tigertot]

it's not all that hard to see all of these guys being cut at season's end unless they step up this season. Lennon would easily be the most likely to stay, Lids spot is his for the taking but it's now or never for him.

A lot on here say lids spot is up for grabs and lennons for the taking. That alone makes me question lennons committment. Good/great players dont wait for a player to leave to demand their spot - they train and fight harder to be better and demand to get picked. Just take a look at rance - his early games were questionable on clean possessions but his determination on and off the track has raised him to elite. From all reports of dusty he is only going to get better because he is training harder.

 

[Mr Unbelievable]

I'm very bullish about this year !!!!

I'm a RFC supporter

BUT, I'm still ****ing bullish

 

[tugga]

While I agree the 2011 draft was not the greatest for players after pick 26 there were players that could have been selected.
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Dalhaus is a gun. Newnes will be a very good player.

 

[RunningBounce]

Ben Lennon
Jake Batchelor
Jacob Townsend
Kane Lambert
Taylor Hunt
Nathan Broad
Steven Morris
Daniel Butler
Todd Elton

Are these the only players out of contract at the end of 2017? I doubt any would find another club.

Ivan has to be in his last year on the list. Maybe no other retirements, barring injury.

10 is a middle-of-the-road number of players to lose, at a season's end. Carlton and Brisbane were possibly the worst lists in 2016, and lost 14 and 11, respectively.

 

[Oxxy]

Ruck?

Forward?

Back?

I dare you.

 

[HumanMeatball]

Ruck?

Forward?

Back?

I dare you.

Considering we got nankervis who is an asset to our ruck stocks yes we should improve in that area. Our midfield was greatly strengthened by the addition of prestia and caddy with vlaustin to play there to. A better midfield leads to Winning more ball reduces pressure on the defence, while we actually ranked third in the afl for marks inside 50 in 2016 and more ball and a new game plan should also lead to more scoring opportunities. We will improve but I have a sneaky suspicion you disagree

 

[TigerImposter]

Ruck?

Forward?

Back?

I dare you.

I expect us to majorly improve in the midfield mainly due to Prestia , but he will need to be injury free. With Nakkers surely our ruck stocks couldn't get any worse , so there will be improvement here. Forwards should see more of it if mids get first use, but I'm not holding my breath. Backline is meh meh or just plain awful apart from Rance and Markov ( Flossy I'm expecting to be in the guts so I'm not counting him). Ten wins will be a massive plus if we manage to get them.

 

[fargothegreat]

Gameplan. A new attacking gameplan developed with the help of the new assistants will make us a lot better team

 

[jreesosb]

Ruck will be better

Otherwise have we improved on last year? not sure. We'll see soon enough. Don't get me wrong I think we made the best of the situation we were in. Delidio wanted out, so we got something for him. Vickery wanted out - same thing. but do prestia and caddy make up for those two going? If the cards fall our way sure. We'll see. Again, I think we did the right thing by trading them, but I'd say we lost two good players and gained two hopefully good players with regards to those 4. (Prestia definitely has me hopeful, I'm not fussed about Caddy).
I reckon getting Nankervis tips our trading into us "winning" the trade period. but its going to be the old "do the guys buy in to the coaches game plan" etc etc that will dictate whether we improve on the actual ladder or not.

(Forward and backline seem essentially unchanged to me)

 

[tugga]

If our midfield doesn't improve with the addition of Prestia and Caddy, then I completely give up forever.
Other than that, not much.

 

[Tigz_09]

Midfield
Prestia and Caddy will boost our midfield for sure. If Jack Graham can get in the side and fill the task Townsend was drafted for it gets better still. Hopefully, The rotations will be better served with prestia/caddy in the side. Giving Cotchin and Martin time up forward and relying less on the Half Back Flankers to pinch hit along with the wingers. Should help stabalitise our playing positions a bit more. Giving everyone a specific role to play rather than chop changing.
Hopefully Vlaustin will get more of a look in for a midfield run too.

Small Forwards
Riolli should do better in his second season and Shia Bolton will give some more speed and quickness. Both of these guys around the fall of the ball should create more chances at goal. Plus having Dusty go forward more will also be an advantage.

KPP's are still a concern, but with all the talk about this years draft being the bee's knees for those positional players. With 2 first round picks at our disposal I'd like to hope we are going to do something about it.

 

[Cevap_Roll]

Im on the game plan train.
Bring back the fast attacking footy we played 3 seasons ago that Dimma didnt think could win a final.
Some tackling too would go a long way to improving us.

 

[Goldust]

As others suggest, the midfield must improve with the addition of Prestia (who must play the bulk of games to justify using pick 6), Caddy and young Graham, who I think will be a steal. Added to Martin, Cotchin, Miles and Grigg there's plenty of scope to be pretty potent. That said, the midfield when it was Martin, Deledio, Cotchin, Miles, Griff was hardly the problem. Hoping both Markov and McIntosh play the wings.

Nankervis should improve the rucks but we are bare outside him. Hampson is an excellent tap ruck, but a liability elsewhere, while the decision to keep Maric on the list, who was cooked last year, remains puzzling.

I can see Rioli taking another big step up forward, but other than Jack the rest don't excite me too much. I wouldn't expect Bolton to have the impact Rioli had in year one (which was a mix of good, decent and poor, which is to be expected), but if we can't do better than the likes of Edwards and Griffiths we'll struggle.
As far as the backline goes, please stay fit Alex Rance.

 

[Madtiger2006]

Midfield will be a lot deeper and we'll get plenty more clearances. Lennon should be back to 2015 form with injuries and virus behind him. Bolton and Garthwaite can surprise up forward and Elton can be handy down back. Game plan to be more direct to

 

[Elton Johns Wig]

As others suggest, the midfield must improve with the addition of Prestia (who must play the bulk of games to justify using pick 6), Caddy and young Graham, who I think will be a steal. Added to Martin, Cotchin, Miles and Grigg there's plenty of scope to be pretty potent. That said, the midfield when it was Martin, Deledio, Cotchin, Miles, Griff was hardly the problem. Hoping both Markov and McIntosh play the wings.

Nankervis should improve the rucks but we are bare outside him. Hampson is an excellent tap ruck, but a liability elsewhere, while the decision to keep Maric on the list, who was cooked last year, remains puzzling.

I can see Rioli taking another big step up forward, but other than Jack the rest don't excite me too much. I wouldn't expect Bolton to have the impact Rioli had in year one (which was a mix of good, decent and poor, which is to be expected), but if we can't do better than the likes of Edwards and Griffiths we'll struggle.
As far as the backline goes, please stay fit Alex Rance.

If only we could clone him and have a squadron of Rances down back. The other backman who I hope stays fit is Grimes. He will never be a superstar, and I hate the way he draws frees by clenching his fist and raising his arm......but....when he stays fit, which is not often because spaghetti legs, he is better than a plodder. Ability to play tall/small, and actually does a mini Rance in leaving his man after reading play.

 

[juss]

Ruck and midfield will improve. If we can pull a genuine second tall target somewhere from either Elton or Griffiths then the forward line will improve.

 

[Roachy8]

OP cheekily did not include midfield as it is the main area we bolstered in the off.

I reckon the forward line will improve although this comes with a couple of proviso's...
Jack stays injury free & Griff/Elton or even Nankervis provide a big second tall target.
With the stated improvement from the mids and an anticipated faster more direct game style our forward line will get better service and will be more nimble/potent.
2nd year Rioli, Lloyd as a 3rd medium option, Dusty and Cotch more off half forward & possible injection of perhaps Bolton.

IF's and BUT's coming out of my A-hole but the above would at least make us far more watchable which can only be a good thing!

 

[RunningBounce]

Ruck?

Forward?

Back?

I dare you.

I'm not sure how this ended up joined to a thread about which players aren't gunna be around in 2018, but I'm not expecting any improvement in those lines in isolation during 2017.

I reckon Nankervis could be important to us, given our dearth of ruckmen, but his played 12 games. Personally, I don't put expectations on many, if any, players until they have 50 games under their belt.

The forward line still looks like the Jack Show. Same ol' same ol' that we've been struggling with for 5 years. How do you stop the opposition double teaming Riewoldt when every person at the ground knows his getting it? IF Griffiths improves on last year, we'll improve, but I'm not expecting that.

I thought the backline was the strongest line, last year, the end-of-season debacles aside. If any of them get injured, they'll go backwards as a group. Even moving Vlastuin to the middle will weaken the backline. So again, personally, I'm not expecting any improvement.

Gameplan. A new attacking gameplan developed with the help of the new assistants will make us a lot better team

This is what I'm expecting, although there's more hope than reason in it. But let's face it. Team selection and game plan couldn't get much worse. Coaching is the aspect that needs to improve the most.

 

[Grrr]

Rioli, Menadue, Markov, Short, Elton, Callum Moore and Chol all pretty much played together at the end of the season, little wonder we were spanked. Talented young players missing - Corey Ellis, McIntosh and Lennon. Add Prestia and Caddy and maybe Nankervis. Finally no Vickery (nothing personal but 3 possession games!), how the hell can we not improve. We lost Delidio, but he barely played last year (carrying injury all year). We need to get games into a few of the above, and we will be better.

 

[Roachy8]

Team selection and game plan couldn't get much worse. Coaching is the aspect that needs to improve the most.

Strongly agree here...