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In light of Parrot's thread about perspective, I thought I'd start my own, while the Kangaroos game was our worst of the season and we struggled badly, here are a few other things to look at.
The 22 Carlton players that took the field had an average age of 23y and 218d while the 22 Kangaroo players that took the field had an average age of 25y and 238d. That's a whole two years (which means two-extra pre-seasons under their belts and a possible 50 (including finals) extra games under their belts.
They had a combined game experience of 2737 while Carlton had only 1797 (940 less).
They had 6 players with less than 50 games experience, we had 9.
They had 14 players with over 100 games experience, we had 8 (to go with the 7 over 150 compared to our 5).
We had 3 teenagers playing, they had 0 (Lachie Hansen turned 20 on the day).
While we've come on leaps and bounds this season, the side could still get younger if Austin and Bower come back in but it would even itself out if the likes of Houlihan and Betts make a return to.
Let's compare this with out 1995 Premiership team and our 1999 grand final team.
Average age of 26y and 281d for a combined total game count of 2677. 12 of the players had played over 100 games (4 in the 200's and 1 over 300). 4 of the boys had played under 50 games.
Average age of 26y and 123d for a combined total game count of 2807. 14 over 200 games and 1 over 200 games (Rice 199th game) to go with 1 over 300 games. 3 of the boys had played under 50 games.
Look at the differences in experience and games and the fact that these guys were big bodied players who had previously played in finals and tough hard matches and knew what to expect when everything was the line.
We may play finals next season, we'll definitely play finals in 2010 and by 2011 we should be ready to go, this season would have done wonders for the kids, playing the last 5 weeks in arguable season defining games, they know what to expect, the Kangaroos are the ultimate battle hardened well drilled side, they taught us a lesson of which we need to watch again and again and take notes from.
The 22 Carlton players that took the field had an average age of 23y and 218d while the 22 Kangaroo players that took the field had an average age of 25y and 238d. That's a whole two years (which means two-extra pre-seasons under their belts and a possible 50 (including finals) extra games under their belts.
They had a combined game experience of 2737 while Carlton had only 1797 (940 less).
They had 6 players with less than 50 games experience, we had 9.
They had 14 players with over 100 games experience, we had 8 (to go with the 7 over 150 compared to our 5).
We had 3 teenagers playing, they had 0 (Lachie Hansen turned 20 on the day).
While we've come on leaps and bounds this season, the side could still get younger if Austin and Bower come back in but it would even itself out if the likes of Houlihan and Betts make a return to.
Let's compare this with out 1995 Premiership team and our 1999 grand final team.
Average age of 26y and 281d for a combined total game count of 2677. 12 of the players had played over 100 games (4 in the 200's and 1 over 300). 4 of the boys had played under 50 games.
Average age of 26y and 123d for a combined total game count of 2807. 14 over 200 games and 1 over 200 games (Rice 199th game) to go with 1 over 300 games. 3 of the boys had played under 50 games.
Look at the differences in experience and games and the fact that these guys were big bodied players who had previously played in finals and tough hard matches and knew what to expect when everything was the line.
We may play finals next season, we'll definitely play finals in 2010 and by 2011 we should be ready to go, this season would have done wonders for the kids, playing the last 5 weeks in arguable season defining games, they know what to expect, the Kangaroos are the ultimate battle hardened well drilled side, they taught us a lesson of which we need to watch again and again and take notes from.
