Room to improve

[Cyclops]

Following on from Asagardian's analysis. We had a good year in 2002, well above expectations. How close were we to our full potential? Here's my guess-I've rated players for their 2002 form and their potential best (based on past performances or just what I reckon).

Rupert Betheras - 6/6 Gets every drop out of himself
Nathan Buckley - 8/10 Not his best year, still glowing.
Scott Burns - 7/8 Back to near his best
James Clement - 7/7 Top effort
Cameron Cloke - ?/?
Jason Cloke - 6/8 convincing debut
Richard Cole - 3/9 toe in the water
Tom Davidson - ?/?
Leon Davis - 6/8 producing in a lot of roles
Alan Didak - 3/9 toe in the water
Josh Fraser - 4/10 Weak in contests but still snatched nearly 40 goals
Glenn Freeborn - 5/5 roleplayer
Brodie Holland - 1/6 plays like a Docker
Ben Johnson - 5/6 got a lot done despite flaws
David King - ?/?
Ben Kinnear - 0/4
Paul Licuria - 8/8 not a flash in the pan
Tarkyn Lockyer - 6/7
Matthew Lokan - ?/?
Ryan Lonie - 6/8 Second year auto selection
Mark McGough - 4/8
Steven McKee - 5/5 laughable yet effective
Jarrod Molloy - 1/7 hope he comes back
Bo Nixon - ?/?
Shane O’Bree - 2/8
Simon Prestigiacomo - 7/7
Guy Richards - ?/?
Mark Richardson - 1/6 at the end
Anthony Rocca - 7/8 faded from a great start. Rucking, goals and leadership, not to mention biffs.
Heath Scotland - 4/6 The next Lockyer
Luke Shackleton - ?/?
Rhyce Shaw ?/?
Dane Swan - ?/?
Chris Tarrant - 5/9 Not quite enough goals this year but promises
Shane Wakelin - 6/6 at his best when not required to think
Tristen Walker - ?/?
Andrew Williams - ?/?
Shane Woewodin - ?/?

I guess what I'm trying to say is our defence had a great year in 2002, and I can't see them improving much. If we have bad luck (say Presti and Wakelin get injured) it could become our weakness.

The midfield can (and should) improve through maturity and recruiting enough to offset any ageing on the part of Bucks.

The forward line has quite a lot of room for improvement. We have a gang of very talented forwards and they all produce some of the time. Tarrant, Fraser, Davis and Didak can all kick 50+ goals, and Rocca is a (the?) top forward/ruckman.

 

[MarkT]

Pretty good summation there CAAS. I'd rate a couple a bit lower than you but can't agrue much overall with where you get to.

I think the midfield will be a lot btter. It was very good last year but O'Bree is fit, McGough tired last year and will be fitter for the season behind him, Cole did very little and he can only get better, Lonie is set to burn and of course we have added Woewodin. We will be faster and more polished.

That will help the forwrds with better centre clearance and delivery. Tarrant has big upside and Fraser, well who knows how far he'll go. Rocca has improved every year and will be better agin in 2003. He is set to explode. ND was a big loss but Didak will show how good he will be. He wont kill 'em in 2003 but he will prove that it will come. Leon is a mystery. Could be enough on his own to make a huge difference but may do little.

Backs are solid and Richo is a reasonable standby for the talls and Cloke and Clement can cover talls. To improve the backline I'd move Burns to replace Johnno but I wouldn't count him out from making that a very difficult decision.

The ruck is crap and won't be any better this year. McKee is a trier and plays within his limitation. Unfortunatele he is a very ordinary ruckman and is not capable of consistent centre contest feeds.

All in all the youngsters give us huge improvement potential but the weakeness we had last year remains in the ruck. It may have cost us a premiership in 2002 and may well again. I hope we can score more goals with a fitter and more seasoned forward line and an even better midfield. That could overcome what we lose from the ruck and be enough to win the flag.

 

[Murray]

Not bad, except that I think you rate Ben Johnson too high and Alan Didak too low.
I tend to agree with the rest.

 

[hotpie]

Betheras 6/8 not 6/6 - he is still on the improve
Cole 3/9 agree - the 9 is far more important than the 3
Didak 5/9 IMO
O'Bree 2/6 for mine. A tad overrated albeit injury problems

Very good summary - it shows a lot of players playing at their "full potential" and that is a problem.

Ruck division and Tarrant/Fraser/Williams in the forward line are where we need to improve.

 

[CAAS]

Originally posted by MarkT
Pretty good summation there CAAS. .

Sorry MarkT but it twas not me. Cyclops is the author. Full credit to him for his assumption.

We do have room for improvement. We need to focus on the goal kicking as we miss a lot of goals from 30 mtrs. We also need to work on our passes out of the backline as a lot of kicks landed short or went to far causing players to wait crucial seconds.
We are a good unit and big things beckon. I will be singing with anticipation all year and shall enjoy every minute of it.

 

[MarkT]

Originally posted by CAAS
Sorry MarkT but it twas not me. Cyclops is the author. Full credit to him for his assumption.

Opps. Too much of the first A there maybe.
Sorry Cyclops - good work by you!

 

[Cyclops]

No need to apologise Mark. To be confused with CAAS is flattering, and BTW you can never have too much of the first A.