Positives;
- I agree that Yeo, Bennell, Lycett and McGovern have been really good pick-ups. I would add Ellis to that list - he hasn't been exceptional, but towards the middle of the year he started to be a good reliable player before his injury. He hasn't played a lot in the last few years so he may well develop into a very good acquisition.
- The last few games, the team has really clicked, and if we can play like that more consistently, we can do some damage in September.
- We haven't been that far off being a very good team. Many of the losses we can put down to awful kicking - Carlton game where we kicked 17 points we dominated a lot of the play. Against Freo we were in it for a lot of the game, Collingwood game. Win a couple of these and we are in the finals. So I think this has been a positive.
- I think Nic Nat will play better with Cox gone. If he has the number one ruck spot, he will have a defined role. He has looked better in the games that Cox missed this year, and has appeared to be a bit of a third wheel when Cox has played, like he is unsure what to do. Giving him the No 1 spot will at least put him in the centre of the action rather than hanging about on the periphery.
Negatives;
- The midfield is the obvious negative. It has looked better in the last few weeks, but we need to get a classy mid as a free agent or as a trade. Our current players may well step up, but if they don't, then we will spend another year really struggling in this area.
- Darling and Kennedy really need to impose themselves a lot more in games. Kicking goals is one thing, but if the ball isn't coming into the 50 as they like, then they have to make more of it when it hits the ground. It seemed to me that they were worked off the ball a bit too easily and need to use their bulk and ability at ground level a bit more effectively.
- Goal kicking looked good in the easier games, but went to shit when under pressure. Scoreboard pressure would have helped us win a few more games.
- Hand and foot skills still need improvement, especially around the packs to get the ball clear.
Whilst it has been a disappointing year, especially since we were on the cusp of playing finals, there has been some real positives which we can build on next year. If we can pick up a mature, classy midfielder in the trading period and continue the form we have shown at the end of this year, we can look forward to a good 2015.