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#1
Okay - some of this will sound harsh, but it's my thoughts on what the Crows should do.
The first thing is recognize that finishing 9th - 11th is much worse than finishing 14th. And, after recognizing this, we call Ayres into our office, thank him for his efforts, and fire him, effective immediately. We give D Jarman the job, after letting him know that he's not coaching for his future and has been chosen because he won't be trying to take stop-gap measures to protect his job for next year.
Because it's not about a position or two on the ladder this year, it's about answering some questions that will help secure the future of the club.
First thing we do - we relegate Doughty, Mattner, Shirley and Gallagher to the SANFL, where they play out the year. Sorry - we know what you can do, and you're not part of our future. We put any of them on the table at the end of the year, hoping for a pick late in the draft, but assuming we'll have to delist.
We bring in Smart and Mark Stevens into the side, so that there are some veterans for the juniors to have around. True veterans with success, no twenty five year old nobodies. And players who will add their knowledge now, but will be leaving at the end of the year, so the juniors will be able to progress further in 2005 with added responsibility.
We tell Reilly that he is going to be on the wing for the rest of the year. We tell Watts he is going to be at centre half forward, that it's okay to stuff up and make mistakes as long as he's attacking the footy, and he is going to have an orange with Carey at half time each game to hear what he's doing wrong. We tell Perrie that he's going to be at full forward for the rest of the year, and he's going to run and jump at everything. We bring in Krueger when he's fit and we let Bock stay in the back pocket and Henschel in the back half. We give players like Skipworth, Schuback, Bode and Ladhams enough time in their appropriate spot for us to KNOW. Plus we try other options at full-back beside Bassett, to see if we can build that from within or if we need to find that in the offseason.
The season plays out, and we make some hard decisions. We've built up Perrie's value, and we trade him. We delist/retire Burns, Carey, Doughty, Gallagher, Mattner, Shirley, Clarke, Smart and Stevens. A lot, but that's okay. We hopefully have a priority pick - I know, that's hard to stomach - and we're bringing in three quality kids at picks two, four and eighteen (say), plus the pre-season pick for someone who we're stealing away from a Vic team because we have so much salary cap room. We speculate late in the draft, to see if we can come up with a one or two diamonds in the rough. We seriously look at Andrews, Hazell and Parker.
We trade Perrie and Burton, and we seriously look at offers for other players who may have a higher value on the market than they currently have for us. We HAVE to discuss moving McLeod, Goodwin and even Johncock for the right offer - the only player than the club deems untouchable for emotional reasons is Ricciuto. Welsh, Bode and Massie would also be on the table.
We try to put a package together for Ottens - but need to know that we have enough hand to get him preseason if Richmond act like smartarses. We prioritise at least one of the SA draftees from 2002 - players like Schulz, Bell, Faulkner - as it was a disgrace that it could be such a deep and strong year for SA draftees and we let them all (bar Jericho) leave the state.
Who we trade for will be based on a position of knowing better what we really have with our juniors and midlist players. Do we have a full back? Are we okay for wingmen and small forwards? Do we have enough ruck stocks to survive the next couple of years until our pick 4/18 matures, or is that a priority? Do have enough speed?
Finally, we put together the right coaching staff. Carey and Jarman for forwards. Bring in Rehn. Look at the coaching freeagents such as Wallace and see if any are good fits. But start thinking NOW.
The first thing is recognize that finishing 9th - 11th is much worse than finishing 14th. And, after recognizing this, we call Ayres into our office, thank him for his efforts, and fire him, effective immediately. We give D Jarman the job, after letting him know that he's not coaching for his future and has been chosen because he won't be trying to take stop-gap measures to protect his job for next year.
Because it's not about a position or two on the ladder this year, it's about answering some questions that will help secure the future of the club.
First thing we do - we relegate Doughty, Mattner, Shirley and Gallagher to the SANFL, where they play out the year. Sorry - we know what you can do, and you're not part of our future. We put any of them on the table at the end of the year, hoping for a pick late in the draft, but assuming we'll have to delist.
We bring in Smart and Mark Stevens into the side, so that there are some veterans for the juniors to have around. True veterans with success, no twenty five year old nobodies. And players who will add their knowledge now, but will be leaving at the end of the year, so the juniors will be able to progress further in 2005 with added responsibility.
We tell Reilly that he is going to be on the wing for the rest of the year. We tell Watts he is going to be at centre half forward, that it's okay to stuff up and make mistakes as long as he's attacking the footy, and he is going to have an orange with Carey at half time each game to hear what he's doing wrong. We tell Perrie that he's going to be at full forward for the rest of the year, and he's going to run and jump at everything. We bring in Krueger when he's fit and we let Bock stay in the back pocket and Henschel in the back half. We give players like Skipworth, Schuback, Bode and Ladhams enough time in their appropriate spot for us to KNOW. Plus we try other options at full-back beside Bassett, to see if we can build that from within or if we need to find that in the offseason.
The season plays out, and we make some hard decisions. We've built up Perrie's value, and we trade him. We delist/retire Burns, Carey, Doughty, Gallagher, Mattner, Shirley, Clarke, Smart and Stevens. A lot, but that's okay. We hopefully have a priority pick - I know, that's hard to stomach - and we're bringing in three quality kids at picks two, four and eighteen (say), plus the pre-season pick for someone who we're stealing away from a Vic team because we have so much salary cap room. We speculate late in the draft, to see if we can come up with a one or two diamonds in the rough. We seriously look at Andrews, Hazell and Parker.
We trade Perrie and Burton, and we seriously look at offers for other players who may have a higher value on the market than they currently have for us. We HAVE to discuss moving McLeod, Goodwin and even Johncock for the right offer - the only player than the club deems untouchable for emotional reasons is Ricciuto. Welsh, Bode and Massie would also be on the table.
We try to put a package together for Ottens - but need to know that we have enough hand to get him preseason if Richmond act like smartarses. We prioritise at least one of the SA draftees from 2002 - players like Schulz, Bell, Faulkner - as it was a disgrace that it could be such a deep and strong year for SA draftees and we let them all (bar Jericho) leave the state.
Who we trade for will be based on a position of knowing better what we really have with our juniors and midlist players. Do we have a full back? Are we okay for wingmen and small forwards? Do we have enough ruck stocks to survive the next couple of years until our pick 4/18 matures, or is that a priority? Do have enough speed?
Finally, we put together the right coaching staff. Carey and Jarman for forwards. Bring in Rehn. Look at the coaching freeagents such as Wallace and see if any are good fits. But start thinking NOW.
