We are four games into this season and I think we have had a good look at where our team is, and we have a group of kids that we have brought in.
We should be able to see what the future holds.
So in saying that, where do people think we are in our rebuilding phase? Some teams have taken a good 5 or more years of hitting the draft to get their lists in order, and we hit the bottom along with other teams like North and Hawthorn, so we can measure ourselves against them.
I think we are ahead of where I thought we would be at this point. I think we are maybe 2 or 3 players away from an elite team, but we can get that in the next year or two. We have had a good amount of organic growth from the kids we have drafted. The McAsey disaster has hurt us, but a couple of late gems has made up for it somewhat.
Our forward stocks are ready to go.
When Tex goes we will be left with Thillthorpe, Fogarty, Rankine, Rochelle, Gollant, McAdam, Pedler, Cook, Murphy, Himmelberg and Newchurch.
No questions that there is the potential of the best forward line in the AFL there. They are all in the right age profile as well.
I think we still have some growth and movement from some of the younger ones. Cook has the potential to be a skilful half forward flanker. He can kick goals and has a little of the Robby Grey about him. Not sure why they are playing him off the hard back, but the club is known for selection high strangeness.
Long term I believe Pedler goes into the midfield. He is a hard at the ball, strong contested style and has the ability to break away and lace people out with that sweet left foot.
Newchurch I'm not sure if he will make it, and I think the club needs to give him a run of 3 or so games to see if he can do it.
I also think there is a good chance that Elliot could make a move down back down the track. His biggest positive is that hopefully he gets his brother to our club.
The backline is ahead if what I thought they would be, even with the disaster of McAsey.
Murray has improved out of sight, Butts is a very good big defender, Hinge has come along and Max has been a massive revelation. I follow the Jrs and was quite bullish on him, but he has come.in and played alot better than I thought he would. He is the best young defender we have had since Lever.
We have Worrell who can hopefully continue the improvement we saw last year, and Milera seems to have gotten over his injury woes. We have two holes that I see before it's an elite defence.
We need a dedicated small defender in the vein of Luke Brown. Max has done the job on some smalls, but he may be needed to take on some bigger boys, and some teams have more than 1 small forward.
The other hole is getting a replacement for Seedsman and Smith. We need that running defender who can rebound from defence into attack. Speedy and a long accurate kick.
Not easy to find, and none on our list so far. McPherson is too injury prone and Dawson will be in the midfield moving forward.
Rucks are ok. ROB can get back to his best and Strachan is a good back up. We do risk losing him to another team if he doesn't get any games. We have Thillthorpe who can chop out as second Ruck, and if he is injured them Himmelberg can do it.
We do need to look at a good young Ruck in the next draft or two.
Midfield. So this one is a little more open to question where we are.
Dawson showed that he belongs in the middle and can be one of the best in that position. He is inline for a AA jumper 4 games in, and he still has more to give.
Laird continues to get the ball and will stay in the middle. He isn't the youngest now, so might only have a few years left. Sloane is on the slow ship out and his best years are behind him.
Our mid stocks consist of Keays, Harry, Crouch, Dowling, Jones, Berry, Hately, Soligo, Taylor, Brown, Nankervis, Scholl and Bond.
It would appear Crouch has had his papers stamped, and Hatley just hasn't kicked on.
I'm not that fussed with Brown, Bond or Nankervis.
Soligo is a jet. He also can hit the scoreboard.
Berry can continue to improve, and he is hard at the ball and is a contested beast. His weakness is that he doesn't get alot of the ball, and doesn't have alot of hurt factor.
Jones has something we need to keep working on. He is quick, hard at it and can kick goals. Needs to work on his consistency and getting more of the ball, but I think he can. If he does get it together he can be a very good mid.
I like Harry. You know what you are going to get and he can continue to develop. Hard at it, can break away, and can kick goals.
Scholl is good enough and we have yet to see much of Tayor.
I really like Dowling, and I want to see him get some games. Gets alot of the ball and can hit the scoreboard in bunches.
I think Pedler moves into the midfield and will give us that hard contested ball winner with breakaway speed and a nice left foot. He has shown that he can kick goals as well.
There is also scope for both Rochelle and Rankine to have spells in the midfield.
We lack a couple of legit bigger line breaking mids. Another couple in the Dawson mold is exactly what we need.
The positive is that we have got a core of mids who do know how to kick goals as well. Keays, Pedler, Dowling, Harry, Soligo and Jones have all shown they can do it. I firmly believe that some mids can kick goals and some can't. It's genetic. The Crouch bros showed that. With the forwards we have, if we can expect 5 or 6 goals a week from our mids, it's going to put alot of scoreboard pressure on the opposition.
That's how I see it.
We need a couple of bigger line breaking mids, a small defender and a replacement for Smith and Seedsman.
We should be able to see what the future holds.
So in saying that, where do people think we are in our rebuilding phase? Some teams have taken a good 5 or more years of hitting the draft to get their lists in order, and we hit the bottom along with other teams like North and Hawthorn, so we can measure ourselves against them.
I think we are ahead of where I thought we would be at this point. I think we are maybe 2 or 3 players away from an elite team, but we can get that in the next year or two. We have had a good amount of organic growth from the kids we have drafted. The McAsey disaster has hurt us, but a couple of late gems has made up for it somewhat.
Our forward stocks are ready to go.
When Tex goes we will be left with Thillthorpe, Fogarty, Rankine, Rochelle, Gollant, McAdam, Pedler, Cook, Murphy, Himmelberg and Newchurch.
No questions that there is the potential of the best forward line in the AFL there. They are all in the right age profile as well.
I think we still have some growth and movement from some of the younger ones. Cook has the potential to be a skilful half forward flanker. He can kick goals and has a little of the Robby Grey about him. Not sure why they are playing him off the hard back, but the club is known for selection high strangeness.
Long term I believe Pedler goes into the midfield. He is a hard at the ball, strong contested style and has the ability to break away and lace people out with that sweet left foot.
Newchurch I'm not sure if he will make it, and I think the club needs to give him a run of 3 or so games to see if he can do it.
I also think there is a good chance that Elliot could make a move down back down the track. His biggest positive is that hopefully he gets his brother to our club.
The backline is ahead if what I thought they would be, even with the disaster of McAsey.
Murray has improved out of sight, Butts is a very good big defender, Hinge has come along and Max has been a massive revelation. I follow the Jrs and was quite bullish on him, but he has come.in and played alot better than I thought he would. He is the best young defender we have had since Lever.
We have Worrell who can hopefully continue the improvement we saw last year, and Milera seems to have gotten over his injury woes. We have two holes that I see before it's an elite defence.
We need a dedicated small defender in the vein of Luke Brown. Max has done the job on some smalls, but he may be needed to take on some bigger boys, and some teams have more than 1 small forward.
The other hole is getting a replacement for Seedsman and Smith. We need that running defender who can rebound from defence into attack. Speedy and a long accurate kick.
Not easy to find, and none on our list so far. McPherson is too injury prone and Dawson will be in the midfield moving forward.
Rucks are ok. ROB can get back to his best and Strachan is a good back up. We do risk losing him to another team if he doesn't get any games. We have Thillthorpe who can chop out as second Ruck, and if he is injured them Himmelberg can do it.
We do need to look at a good young Ruck in the next draft or two.
Midfield. So this one is a little more open to question where we are.
Dawson showed that he belongs in the middle and can be one of the best in that position. He is inline for a AA jumper 4 games in, and he still has more to give.
Laird continues to get the ball and will stay in the middle. He isn't the youngest now, so might only have a few years left. Sloane is on the slow ship out and his best years are behind him.
Our mid stocks consist of Keays, Harry, Crouch, Dowling, Jones, Berry, Hately, Soligo, Taylor, Brown, Nankervis, Scholl and Bond.
It would appear Crouch has had his papers stamped, and Hatley just hasn't kicked on.
I'm not that fussed with Brown, Bond or Nankervis.
Soligo is a jet. He also can hit the scoreboard.
Berry can continue to improve, and he is hard at the ball and is a contested beast. His weakness is that he doesn't get alot of the ball, and doesn't have alot of hurt factor.
Jones has something we need to keep working on. He is quick, hard at it and can kick goals. Needs to work on his consistency and getting more of the ball, but I think he can. If he does get it together he can be a very good mid.
I like Harry. You know what you are going to get and he can continue to develop. Hard at it, can break away, and can kick goals.
Scholl is good enough and we have yet to see much of Tayor.
I really like Dowling, and I want to see him get some games. Gets alot of the ball and can hit the scoreboard in bunches.
I think Pedler moves into the midfield and will give us that hard contested ball winner with breakaway speed and a nice left foot. He has shown that he can kick goals as well.
There is also scope for both Rochelle and Rankine to have spells in the midfield.
We lack a couple of legit bigger line breaking mids. Another couple in the Dawson mold is exactly what we need.
The positive is that we have got a core of mids who do know how to kick goals as well. Keays, Pedler, Dowling, Harry, Soligo and Jones have all shown they can do it. I firmly believe that some mids can kick goals and some can't. It's genetic. The Crouch bros showed that. With the forwards we have, if we can expect 5 or 6 goals a week from our mids, it's going to put alot of scoreboard pressure on the opposition.
That's how I see it.
We need a couple of bigger line breaking mids, a small defender and a replacement for Smith and Seedsman.
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