Kildonan
Premium Platinum
Having a settled line-up allows teams like Sydney to consistently improve their core playing group.
But what effect will it have if they suddenly have a run of injuries?
Players used at each club in 2006
Sydney..........24
West Coast....27
Adelaide.........28
W Bulldogs......28
Collingwood.....29
Hawthorn........29
Kangaroos.......30
Essendon........30
Fremantle........31
Port Adelaide...31
St Kilda...........31
Melbourne.......32
Carlton...........32
Geelong..........34
Brisbane.........34
Richmond........35
Sydney, West Coast, Adelaide and Collingwood all have relatively settled teams. W Bulldogs are running out of players to rotate through the team which explains their low number. At the other end of the table, Brisbane and Richmond are playing kids in order to develop a team for the future. Geelong are desperately trying everything/everyone to see if they can recapture their preseason form. Carlton and Melbourne are developing youth too, but with vastly different levels of overall team quality. Melbourne are successfully developing their kids and all the while maintaining a great level of competitiveness with the leaders of the competition. Carlton are still a while away from being competitive.
The policy of bringing in youth in a continual cycle of development allows a club to develop their future stars without dropping to the bottom of the ladder to do so.
The Saints recruiting policy seemed to aim for an accumulation of players around the 2001 draft crop. After this draft, the Saints did not recruit a great deal of youth, only returning to the youth policy last season. These kids will be ready to play a few games next year. I expect that we will again top up on youth in this 2006 "superdraft" and continue to trickle talented youth into the team. Meanwhile the policy seems to have tried to consolidate the squad in a similar approach to Sydney, but we have been denied this through injury.
The benefit is that, like last year, many of our second string or marginal players are getting some decent match time. Our depth players have become our regular players.
But what effect will it have if they suddenly have a run of injuries?
Players used at each club in 2006
Sydney..........24
West Coast....27
Adelaide.........28
W Bulldogs......28
Collingwood.....29
Hawthorn........29
Kangaroos.......30
Essendon........30
Fremantle........31
Port Adelaide...31
St Kilda...........31
Melbourne.......32
Carlton...........32
Geelong..........34
Brisbane.........34
Richmond........35
Sydney, West Coast, Adelaide and Collingwood all have relatively settled teams. W Bulldogs are running out of players to rotate through the team which explains their low number. At the other end of the table, Brisbane and Richmond are playing kids in order to develop a team for the future. Geelong are desperately trying everything/everyone to see if they can recapture their preseason form. Carlton and Melbourne are developing youth too, but with vastly different levels of overall team quality. Melbourne are successfully developing their kids and all the while maintaining a great level of competitiveness with the leaders of the competition. Carlton are still a while away from being competitive.
The policy of bringing in youth in a continual cycle of development allows a club to develop their future stars without dropping to the bottom of the ladder to do so.
The Saints recruiting policy seemed to aim for an accumulation of players around the 2001 draft crop. After this draft, the Saints did not recruit a great deal of youth, only returning to the youth policy last season. These kids will be ready to play a few games next year. I expect that we will again top up on youth in this 2006 "superdraft" and continue to trickle talented youth into the team. Meanwhile the policy seems to have tried to consolidate the squad in a similar approach to Sydney, but we have been denied this through injury.
The benefit is that, like last year, many of our second string or marginal players are getting some decent match time. Our depth players have become our regular players.