Players in 2007

[TorresIsGod]

Will our best players from the 2006 season, be able to play at the same high level in 2007, or will they go backwards, or will they infact, get even better?

Brendan Fevola: Can he once again kick 80+ goals? I think with the addition of Bryce Gibbs into the midfield, Marc Murphy playing a full season, with those two playing in the midfield, Nick Stevens may be able to get free a lot more and I think with the delivery Fevola will get, I think he will be able to kick 80+ goals in 2007.

Lance Whitnall: A great season at CHB, I would much rather Lance playing forward, but, during lean times at the club, he has gone back and done the job very well, if Thornton leaves, more pressure will be on Lance, as our key position defenders picked up via the draft will not settle in right away and may not play at all. I hope we can get some help for Whitnall in the back line regardless of whether Thornton leaves or stays. I feel with the captaincy on his shoulders, Lance will play as well as he did this season.

Heath Scotland: Scotland had a great year playing off half back and through the midfield, if we get the much needed help down back, Scotland will be even more effective running off his opponents and being damaging at the other end, with the midfield rotation, he will still get lots of the football, when he gets the football, he is dangerous with it, and can hit targets.

Kade Simpson: Just keeps getting better, is not afraid to run with the ball and bounce it and take on opposition players, we need more young players like Kade, Hopefully in 2007, Kade doesn't have to go into the midfield, and can play as a full-time wingman, his left foot is damaging, and on the run from 55m, there's no-one else in our team who I would rather have the ball.

Marc Murphy: 12 1/2 games for Marc, when he played, he was great, polled 2 brownlow votes, (for Collingwood fans, that's a whole 2 more than Dale Thomas )!! He constantly delivered the ball lace out to Fevola, with a full pre-season under his belt, he will be back for round bigger and better than last season, and will be raring to go. Can only get better.

Feel free to add anyone else to the list, and feel free to discuss this.

 

[RiCHii]

Big Sentanta the only way for him is straight up !

 

[jj1978]

I think Stevens will step up next year or else he's not serious about his football.

Fev, will be a huge catalyst in our revival... but we need him to have a full season of support from Waite, Fisher, Kennedy and Betts.

Bryan if not delisted I think will do a Fev and completely turn around his attitude and become the temp ruckman we need for the next 2 years.
Houlihan and Scotland to improve more and provide that extra silky touch we need around the ground.

Murphy and Gibbs with ball in had will cause every forward to wet themselves with glee and opposition defenders to shat themselves.

 

[as0l0]

for Fev and Lance, i think the key is the pre-season. if they take it seriously and work hard then they can do even better than last year (this year). The question is still out though on whether they will work hard.

 

[Jeremias]

Fev to kick 80+ and go back to back AA FF.

Josh to kick 25+ and come close to winning NRS

Harts to stay injury free and cement his position at FB early on in the season

A young midfield of Gibbs, Murphy, Walker, Simpson and Blackwell, with others in the rotation to give us PLENTY of possession and continuously drive the ball forward.

Another 7 or so debuts for young kids.

 

[butchyboy]

I think Stevens will step up next year or else he's not serious about his football.

Fev, will be a huge catalyst in our revival... but we need him to have a full season of support from Waite, Fisher, Kennedy and Betts.

Bryan if not delisted I think will do a Fev and completely turn around his attitude and become the temp ruckman we need for the next 2 years.
Houlihan and Scotland to improve more and provide that extra silky touch we need around the ground.

Murphy and Gibbs with ball in had will cause every forward to wet themselves with glee and opposition defenders to shat themselves.

The thing with Stevens is that he is real quality, dont be displeased with what he does/doesnt do as he gets the no1 tagger every week. This allows others i.e. Murphy & hopefully gibbs to run free and do damage unchecked, ie murphy at west coast last year.

Cheers

 

[btdg]

Fevola won't be as good next year, but his numbers will be roughly the same. I don't think we quite recognise right now just how brilliant he was this year - just kept competing, kicking miraculous goals, and performing in the most frustrating circumstances imaginable, without a single decent forward around him to take pressure off. Next year, I reckon he'll drop back a little bit (can anyone sustain that sort of effort?), but that will be offset by the improvement in the midfield, so he'll probably kick around the same number of goals.

Whitnall will drop off a lot next year if he remains as a defender. He did a great job this year playing as a zoning defender, being the second or third guy up in contests and using his knowledge of the game to win the ball. But teams will eventually start to exploit this by playing through his opponent. Hawthorn did so this year and Croad demolished Whitnall. Once that happens, his confidence drops, and consequently so does his ability to read the game. Plus, I have no faith in his ability to come back in shape for a second consecutive year. For me, Whitnall has to go forward again, where he can be a star if he has someone playing the Hamill role - crashing packs, taking physical pressure off him. Don't know if Kennedy can do that, but if not the only other options are to trade for someone, or give Prendergast a shot in that role (which I have said for years, but for some reason we insist on playing him as a midfielder, despite his having some of the worst disposal skills in the league).

Murphy will find it tough going next year with high expectations based on his performance this year. He's a class act, though, so I'd expect some good efforts, before he really takes off in 2008.

Scotland got rotated into the 'sweeper' role this year that Lappin had the year before -the small quick guy who hangs around half-back as a designated kicker. He didn't really give us that much run through the lines though, compared to what other teams are getting from similar players, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him go back up to the wing and Simpson or Walker given a shot back there. That would see Scotland get less kicks, but I don't think he'll drop off - he just won't have the same role and get so many 'cheap' kicks.

Simpson - may go into the Scotland role, but I'd prefer to see him on the wing. Should be better with another year under his belt, better team-mates around him, but he needs to kick a lot more goals to take pressure off the forwards. He's the one guy I can see really improving though - PAgan has taught guys like him before and got them doing exactly that, running through the lines off the wing, winning the football and kicking 2-3 goals a game (think Brent Harvey, Shannon Grant etc at North).

 

[audas]

I hope Fev struggles to get anywhere near the same number of goals as he will, hopefully, not be our sole target up forward. With Fish and Waite finally fulfilling the expectations placed on them, kennedy stepping up, Eddie back in the goals, and the midfield making significant contributions it will be a goal fest that everyone shares in.

I think Walker will become a huge headache for the opposition. Commentators will be drooling over him as he is finally let off the leash. He wont be shutting anyone down, rather coaches will be rotating whoever they can onto him vainly trying to slow him down.

Kouta will be doing nothing but running amok. No pressure, no statesmen like behaviour. Someone annoys him, BANG. Really look forward to seeing it, bit of agro from the big man.


Can see lance spending a bit of time at chf educating kennedy on the use of space. might be good for waite and fish as well.

Betts will spend a lot more time in the forward line at kenndy, lances (etc) feet being the opportunist he is. Look foward to that.

I can see Wiggins and Russel being a lot more solid and causing some unexpected headaches as the oppositions better players are thrown at our higher rated players, these guys will then gain more freedom.

Worry about bentick, carrazo. Both have shown promis but with so many coming through need to find the extra gear.

Blackwell needs some weight, he has good vision, but then again we will have murph and gibbs for that.

Overall biggest thing next year will be walker.

 

[Blah Blah Blue]

I think Walker will become a huge headache for the opposition. Commentators will be drooling over him as he is finally let off the leash. He wont be shutting anyone down, rather coaches will be rotating whoever they can onto him vainly trying to slow him down.

agreeing to disagree re Caro, really support your comments especially about Walks. Reckon the 2007 imrovement will be 50% + more than the improvement we saw in 2006 from 2005.

Be really interesting to see what role he'll have next year, hope ''mid fieldish'',get out there and do your thing. Big pre season, aerobic capacity up he could just set the ground alight.

Also was so impressed with Carlos. Also think he could do a [fair] bit of ruckwork?? Saw him in the Bullants finals and some of his ruckwork/taps were really impressive. Mobile. Jimmy Stynes 2??

 

[Bluebear]

Lets face it.......if we draft Gibbs, Stevens will have to improve next year. With Simpson, Murphey and Gibbs being the main receivers he will want to pull his socks up a bit.........God I can't wait for some competition for senior spots.......watch this team take off when that starts to happen!

 

[Aussie Joe]

Overall biggest thing next year will be walker.

I would love to see Walker let loose in the midfield rotating with Gibbs, Murphy, Simpson, Scotland and Stevens.

 

[blues4flag]

Walker to improve further, and be regarded as one of the AFL's best young talents. I can very easily see that happening, considering he gets his kicking and desicion making right.