Universal Love Optimism for 2019

[EnolaGay]

Good luck with your recovery, Pill!

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

 

[Old Campaigner]

I think it has gone beyond optimism now, and expectation is well and truly the order of the day.

We have good talent in just about every position in the best 22, we have reasonable depth in most areas, we've been able to bring in some big name players with talent to burn, we've made shitloads of money and have one of the best training facilities in the league.

Barring serious injuries to key players I expect a number of heads to roll if we don't win a final as a bare minimum in 2019 and progress from there in 2020-21.

 

[DERO]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/...g/news-story/6fd61ad74d9579307ba9f441609d4921

Hey mate. Senior players due back Monday. A few came back early...

 

[Maxabillions]

Optimistic:

AFL ladder predictions 2019: Essendon set to soar, Sydney and Port Adelaide to dive, according top Champion Data
https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/a...a/news-story/848e3b0b7be73e34ab3f576a818a3e60

 

[Mercurial89]

There are going to be a lot of people getting the rug swept out from underneath them if we dont fire in 2019 with the way expectations are going this early.

Please take into account we dont know our best midfield balance. The biggest piece in our forward line hasnt played for over a year.
We have brought in a new defensive coach who is in charge of tightening the team defence,that may have some growing pains.
If one of the excuses for last years start was the team gelling and learning how they play we have just as much of that going into next year.

We have the talent but that only gets you so far. There are going to be some teams that missed out on finals that look really good on paper,and our start isnt exactly easy.

 

[fairbump_playon]

There are going to be a lot of people getting the rug swept out from underneath them if we dont fire in 2019 with the way expectations are going this early.

Please take into account we dont know our best midfield balance. The biggest piece in our forward line hasnt played for over a year.
We have brought in a new defensive coach who is in charge of tightening the team defence,that may have some growing pains.
If one of the excuses for last years start was the team gelling and learning how they play we have just as much of that going into next year.

We have the talent but that only gets you so far. There are going to be some teams that missed out on finals that look really good on paper,and our start isnt exactly easy.

I think this is all very true. I also think these moderating factors can co-exist with high expectations.

Daniher is the biggest puzzle piece. Everyone seems to be expecting him to slot straight in but OP is a real bugger of an injury. Fingers crossed though, with AFL quality medical treatment it should be a better result than what is often seen for kids at lower levels.

 

[Blind Turn]

My optimism lies in the fact that the majority of our list have not yet reached their potential. Laverde, Langford, Parish, McGrath, Ridley, Redman, Francis, and McKenna are only just beginning to ‘get’ it. Then, of course Stringer, Joe and Raz are capable of significantly lifting their output. I can’t see any best 22 players with the potential to fall away now that Goddard has left (Hooker, Myers and Zaharakis might be closest in this regard but they are still in their prime for the roles they play). Add in a sprinkle of Shiel and a pinch of Rutten and the possibilities are very exciting for fans. We should really be expecting to be right in the mix next season. The ‘improvement’ mantra needs to be replaced by the ‘results’ mantra.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

There are going to be a lot of people getting the rug swept out from underneath them if we dont fire in 2019 with the way expectations are going this early.

Please take into account we dont know our best midfield balance. The biggest piece in our forward line hasnt played for over a year.
We have brought in a new defensive coach who is in charge of tightening the team defence,that may have some growing pains.
If one of the excuses for last years start was the team gelling and learning how they play we have just as much of that going into next year.

We have the talent but that only gets you so far. There are going to be some teams that missed out on finals that’s look really good on paper,and our start isnt exactly easy.

Sorry but imo there should be no excuses next season. If we have bad start again and miss out finals again then the whole footy department needs to have an internal review starting with the head coach.

The club is good at walking the walk during the pre season it’s time to back that up on the field by having a really good season.

 

[DERO]

Sorry but imo there should be no excuses next season. If we have bad start again and miss out finals again then the whole footy department needs to have an internal review starting with the head coach.

The club is good at walking the walk during the pre season it’s time to back that up on the field by having a really good season.

Injuries should be the only thing that get in the way at this point. No excuses. We are locked and loaded.

 

[faible]

A final win is the bare minimum we should expect IMO.

We have talented players across the ground, plenty of young guys that should improve, and experience around them.

Shiel comes in to address one of the biggest flaws we had, and I think (like Smith) he was playing a non-preferred role at GWS so we should see some improvement from his 2018 season.

Daniher & Fantasia missed significant football, if they're both healthy and fit then our forwardline becomes incredibly dangerous once again.

Our defence was solid last year, really only struggling when the midfield were getting smashed, and our midfield seems to have gotten "it" finally.

All-in-all we have plenty of reason to be optimistic, though there's never any guarantees in sport.