OPPOSITE to 96 - long way from our 3rd flag

[No 1 Draft Pick]

I HOPE more than anything I am wrong but I really feel the Crows now are very different to 96 unfortunately.

Look at some of the youngsters Cornes had put away in our formative years:

Rehn
Hart
Roo
Mods
Wellman (swapped for Jars)
Smarty

Im not sure if Cornes gets enough credit for this - they were the ones that won us the flags. They underperformed in the first 6 yrs (93 excluded) but were ripe to be fully exploited by Blight

Add excellent pre-season draft picks ups - Goodwin/Edwards/Vardy and Johnstone at the main draft and the big trade, Mc Leod for Groom (still cant believe this one) , and we had approx 10 ALL-AUSTRALIAN or NEAR type players. Most were in the prime of their career.

Things now are very different - our best 4/5 are still ALL-AUSTRALIAN or NEAR but are in their last few years.

We cant possibly make top 4 next yr can we? Top 8 would be best case scenario and may actually hinder us more long term than bottoming out over the next 2 yrs or so. I know we wont follow this strategy but getting 2 of the first 5 draft picks (plus pick 17) and also first PSD (Cooney here we come) would make a massive difference. You also have more bargaining power in terms of trading withthe PSD (eg Richmond getting Simmonds for Fiora)

Part of me wants to perform at our best over the next 2 yrs and finish 5-10th but part of me knows this will hurt us even more longer term

 

[Crow-mosone]

Look how far away we felt in 1999/2000

a bit of luck, good spirit, and a couple of smokies developing beyond expectations and things can change. I agree though we don't have that 'gun' class of young player coming through, to really take things by the scruff of the neck. Or do we? that's the great thing, you're never too sure.

Re: the Mcleod/Groom thing, I think posterity gets in the way here, me and my mates were thrilled when that happened but let's not forget Chris Groom was shaping as an absolute KPP gun, he was young, tall, great hands and movement - it was only injury that held him back. after all they also gave us a pick, rather than just presume Freo were daft, think about how this guy must have been rated.

The point I am making is that today, we would not make that trade. In the same position I think we would be too timid to trade a prospect like that, even though we have come out a long way in front.

 

[dA Crow]

But also remember in 96 would you have been confident then that we would have won the next 2 flags? True, we can say in hindsight that we had "better" players then , but who can tell what the future will hold for the crop of players we have now, they have alot of improving to do in , hopefully a short amount of time. So you never know what is just around the corner.

 

[jc67]

Were closer than you might think, in 96 who rated those players as outright champions?
and we currently have a few that i certianly wouldent rate some as outright champions now either

PS; I played one of those trade game and this is what i ended up with,
new afl trade game post
Opinions anyone?

 

[arrowman]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing

It's not fair to compare 96-97 to 2004-2005. 96-97 was a freak transition; at the end of 2004 we shouldn't be despairing because we can't see us winning a flag in 2005, we should be thinking a few years further out.

We have a gap in our list (in the 22-25 age group) due to some dud recruiting in the past few years but overall the list is nowhere near as bad as some think.

As for finishing "too high on the ladder for decent draft picks" - our trade options were limited this year because of the high number of retirements; that is, we didn't have good enough trade options to trade for high draft picks and trading for lower picks was pointless. Next year we'll have maybe 1 retirement (Clarke) and the option to trade up a bit with some players who were marginal this year.

 

[tribey]

Add excellent pre-season draft picks ups - Goodwin/Edwards/Vardy and Johnson at the main draft and the big trade, Mc Leod for Groom (still cant believe this one) , and we had approx 10 ALL-AUSTRALIAN or NEAR type players. Most were in the prime of their career.

In that same period we also picked up Peter Caven, Kym Koster, Troy Bond and Shane Ellen - key contributors in our 97 and 98 campaigns.

Without Robert Shaw's magic touch in the 95/96 recruitment phases coupled with Graham Cornes quality recruiting between 91-94 (yes yes, I know the recruiting staff have a big say too) we'd currently be Fremantle.

 

[No 1 Draft Pick]

I agree our list isnt that bad - its a mid-range list thats current best players are within 3 yrs of retirement - the real issue could come in 3 yrs time if we dont get things right now. My original point has probably been debated alot during the year - about the effects of 'bottoming out' and the much faster fix that can bring. Fantasia reckons the top 6 of this draft are all 'potential Brownlow medalists'. The 3 bottom teams will get 2 each plus the cream of the PSD. You cant beat natural ability....or in Neils words when he worked with SA Inst of Sport 'You cant polish a ********'

But I also have faith in the club, the coaches/development team, and a numbr of young players coming thru. We need to temper expectations of some of these young guys who are unproven at senior level - Watts, Krueger and even Rutten . They have potential yes but its theres a long way to go

Fingers crossed