Opinion The Great Roo Cull - 4 years on. How do you feel now?

Harvey was still an elite footballer when we told him he was finished. He could have kept playing for another 3 years. If I was a forward....I’d want him in the team.

Dal Santo could have stayed on for another 1-2 years.

Players that make good decisions and always hit targets are worth their weight in gold.
 
Harvey was still an elite footballer when we told him he was finished. He could have kept playing for another 3 years. If I was a forward....I’d want him in the team.

Dal Santo could have stayed on for another 1-2 years.

Players that make good decisions and always hit targets are worth their weight in gold.

You obviously didn't attend live games or you would see the issue of them continuing. They were done. The club is in a far better place now because of those decisions.
 
The club is in a far better place now because of those decisions.
Right...

Because the brand of footy we’ve been playing for the last few years has been nothing short of brilliant. The club is in a really strong position

and I’m the one that doesn’t attend games.

Let’s get rid of Tarrant & Higgins.
 
We're in the same place we were. Battling for 8th.

Some see the next great crop of young players. But we've seen a similar 4-5 crops over the past 2 decades and topped out as the worst prelim finalist of the group on 3 occasions.

I think we have a s**t load better list right now. Good runners make up more of the team than they had for ages.
 

The Anvil

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I don’t think anyone expected Wells to press the eject button, I do wonder if we called retirements at seasons end then Boomer could/would have utilized that list spot.

I suspect wanting an answer beforehand essentially locked the gate for him, the club was embarrassed enough in the whole thing to revisit and want to set themselves up to go through it again.


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True, but Im referring to the previous batches over the past 20 years. Ziebell/Cunners/Tarrant...Wells/Petrie/Motlop...none of these teams ever really challenged for a flag.

Im hopeful this crop changes that but the previous 20 years does nt give much hope of a genuine 16-18 win a season type of side.
No chance of an 18 win side this year....

It's been mentioned but the whole synergy of this side is good.

Also... We still have Ziebell, Cunners and Tarrant.

Out of the last four drafts we have Jy, Cam Z, Nick Larkey, LDU, TT who have all shown heaps at senior level. Can't really comment on last years draft but it looks better than most pre cull drafts IMO.

Then we have the good B Scott, Curtis Taylor, Kyron Hayen and Will Walker who have all shown something.

When did we last have a young crop like that?

It's not just the talent it's the synergy of it. The best example for mine is watching some of Jy and LDU last year. One goes sideways, the other in straight lines and there are times in games last year where their movement just leaves the opposition flat footed.

Plus everyone else who isn't young. Personally IMO our list is better than its been for a decade, the only real weakness is KPDs. Perhaps the only way around that is all out attack.

If you compare the way we played before and after the coaching change last year the one thing that stands out is adaptability and change during games.

We also seem to have more mental resilience. Instead of giving up leads we make other teams give them up. Upstairs we seem a lot stronger. And I reckon that's the most important thing. We should have been pushing thru the top six if things were normal this year. But the changes might suit us anyway.
 

Nutjob

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No chance of an 18 win side this year....

It's been mentioned but the whole synergy of this side is good.

Also... We still have Ziebell, Cunners and Tarrant.

Out of the last four drafts we have Jy, Cam Z, Nick Larkey, LDU, TT who have all shown heaps at senior level. Can't really comment on last years draft but it looks better than most pre cull drafts IMO.

Then we have the good B Scott, Curtis Taylor, Kyron Hayen and Will Walker who have all shown something.

When did we last have a young crop like that?

It's not just the talent it's the synergy of it. The best example for mine is watching some of Jy and LDU last year. One goes sideways, the other in straight lines and there are times in games last year where their movement just leaves the opposition flat footed.

Plus everyone else who isn't young. Personally IMO our list is better than its been for a decade, the only real weakness is KPDs. Perhaps the only way around that is all out attack.

If you compare the way we played before and after the coaching change last year the one thing that stands out is adaptability and change during games.

We also seem to have more mental resilience. Instead of giving up leads we make other teams give them up. Upstairs we seem a lot stronger. And I reckon that's the most important thing. We should have been pushing thru the top six if things were normal this year. But the changes might suit us anyway.

I think you could almost throw Taylor in with the above elite group of talents. Hasn’t done a heap at senior level, but the kid has it in spades.

I think the group coming through now has a lot more versatility as well and can play in more roles across the ground compared to the group coming through 7-8 years ago.

Great call on the “mental resilience” side of things. I think as well as the players, Scott had a lot to do with that also. The fact we squandered a 40 point lead against Geelong and Scott comes out and blames the roof being open when it rained. He should have been waiting in the rooms for the players. The games played in rain, hail and shine and no decent sides should be given up leads like that. We gave up leads regularly and really struggled when the heat was on at the end of a game.
Compare that to the second half of last year and little things like Simpkin’s kick at the end of the saints game, which indicates to me they’re more mentally tough.


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I think you could almost throw Taylor in with the above elite group of talents. Hasn’t done a heap at senior level, but the kid has it in spades.

I think the group coming through now has a lot more versatility as well and can play in more roles across the ground compared to the group coming through 7-8 years ago.

Great call on the “mental resilience” side of things. I think as well as the players, Scott had a lot to do with that also. The fact we squandered a 40 point lead against Geelong and Scott comes out and blames the roof being open when it rained. He should have been waiting in the rooms for the players. The games played in rain, hail and shine and no decent sides should be given up leads like that. We gave up leads regularly and really struggled when the heat was on at the end of a game.
Compare that to the second half of last year and little things like Simpkin’s kick at the end of the saints game, which indicates to me they’re more mentally tough.


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Even tho I supported Scott coaching to me that mental side of the game was his biggest weakness. Versatility, well lack of it and inability to adapt was probably his second biggest.

You can see me calling for new or better sports psychology all thru my posting here. It genuinely seems different under Scamper. He seems mentally tough. Scott wasn't I don't think. So many things he did wrong, for example going off half cocked at the umpires that day when he heard they had payed out LT.

Should have waited, checked the facts first then gone hard.

And yeah that kick of Simpkin's sums it up perfectly. He took control of the situation. He owned it and took responsibility. That was such a good sign IMO. So many games like that that we lost under Scott. I get the sense Shaw knows how to bring that out in players and Scott stifled it.

I tried to keep my lid on about Taylor. I gave him a vote after that Saints game, simply because he did crucial things that helped us win the game. These kids have the potential to be incredibly good, but as we all know potential is just a nice way of saying "something you haven't done yet."
 
Right...

Because the brand of footy we’ve been playing for the last few years has been nothing short of brilliant. The club is in a really strong position

and I’m the one that doesn’t attend games.

Let’s get rid of Tarrant & Higgins.

You're last sentence just sums you up really.

The brand of footy contained those two players, the unaccountable, lose games from ridiculous positions brand we had. The very one you moan and whinge and complain about adnauseam.

You'll find anything to complain about the club. You've become a negative sarcastic flog.

Pedobear 1.jpg
 
You're last sentence just sums you up really.

The brand of footy contained those two players, the unaccountable, lose games from ridiculous positions brand we had. The very one you moan and whinge and complain about adnauseam.

You'll find anything to complain about the club. You've become a negative sarcastic flog.

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We didn't lose games of footy because of those two....it's because of those two we managed to get into finals and win some those games.

I'm intrigued.....how have we bettered ourselves since the departure of Harvey & Dal Santo?
 
We didn't lose games of footy because of those two....it's because of those two we managed to get into finals and win some those games.

I'm intrigued.....how have we bettered ourselves since the departure of Harvey & Dal Santo?

Lol, because of those two we played finals did we. Okay Dan.
 

Nutjob

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We didn't lose games of footy because of those two....it's because of those two we managed to get into finals and win some those games.

I'm intrigued.....how have we bettered ourselves since the departure of Harvey & Dal Santo?

Sometimes you need to go one step back to go two steps forward. If we kept Harvey and Dal santo we could be in a worse off position than we are now. They would be retired now and we could have potentially missed on kids who are now showing promise. Imagine having another couple of mediocre years in 2017,18 and being stuck now potentially without the likes of Larkey and Zurharr, who we picked up late in 2016.
We were never going to replace them instantly, but we weren’t going to win a flag with them either. We got the best out of that crop and it wasn’t enough to win a flag. If an experienced list isn’t capable of winning a flag, then move on plain and simple.
In all honesty Dal santo was a passenger in his last year.


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Sometimes you need to go one step back to go two steps forward. If we kept Harvey and Dal santo we could be in a worse off position than we are now. They would be retired now and we could have potentially missed on kids who are now showing promise. Imagine having another couple of mediocre years in 2017,18 and being stuck now potentially without the likes of Larkey and Zurharr, who we picked up late in 2016.
We were never going to replace them instantly, but we weren’t going to win a flag with them either. We got the best out of that crop and it wasn’t enough to win a flag. If an experienced list isn’t capable of winning a flag, then move on plain and simple.
In all honesty Dal santo was a passenger in his last year.


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Probably would have got Larkey and Zurhaar.

LDU? Maybe not.

Might not have somehow scored Bailey Scott, Tarryn Thomas, Curtis Taylor, Jared Polec, Jasper Pittard and Aaron Hall in the same off season either.:smile:
 

Nutjob

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Probably would have got Larkey and Zurhaar.

LDU? Maybe not.

Might not have somehow scored Bailey Scott, Tarryn Thomas, Curtis Taylor, Jared Polec, Jasper Pittard and Aaron Hall in the same off season either.:smile:

I’m not so sure about Larkey. He was our last pick in the 2016 draft and if we had two less spots on our main list, I’m not sure how we would have used that pick. Potentially could have got him in the rookie draft, but so could have another club.



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Petrie and Firrito were absolutely finished and those kind of taps on the shoulder happen at every club all the time.

Dal Santo you could make an argument either way.

Harvey was still playing great footy and that is reflected in the fact that the coaches themselves voted him top 5 in the best and fairest. Even if he wasn't, he had earned the right to make that call himself.

All in all though I don't agree with the accepted widsom in the AFL that the older players get in the way of the development of the younger players. The older guys can be important in setting a standard that the younger guys have to aspire to in order to get a senior game. Gifting games to guys who have barely shown anything against adults over guys who are performing at a higher level doesn't seem like a logical progression to me. There is nothing wrong with earning your stripes in the reserves for a bit.
 
I’m not so sure about Larkey. He was our last pick in the 2016 draft and if we had two less spots on our main list, I’m not sure how we would have used that pick. Potentially could have got him in the rookie draft, but so could have another club.



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Maybe...

I would have kept Boomer for year. Not only cos we kind of owed him but because having a 450 game player who is the games record holder is a massive feather in the clubs cap as well. Especially one who was in that sort of form, still. We missed the flag but could still end up with some more kudos out of that period.

First year of a rebuild ... seeing how hard he worked off field would be a lesson for younger players maybe? Tho sacking Boomer and keeping Gibbo could have been a good lesson for the likes of Jy and Jed and even Kanye. They all seem to work hard in defence and it was a knock on him.

I do remember an interview with him the next year (2017) where he said how frustrating it was being better than some of the guys out there, but that it wasn't about that any more and he had to deal with that and move on.

That one spot... Would it cost Larkey? I dunno, someone could work it out I reckon.
 
I've always thought that if North had known that Wells was going to leave, then we may have kept Harvey.

Initially I thought the cull was a little too deep, we lost more than 2000 games, and as a result we recruited a player like Hrovat who I don't think we would have looked at if Harvey was on out list.

Now it may have been great decision.
 
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The only player that could have squeezed another season was Harvey, but the thought of seeing him struggle to keep up, be called a greedy bastard, possibly dropped etc is probably enough to think the right decision was made. Just my observation but I thought after breaking the games record he started to wane a bit which is understandable.
Hopefully we crack the top 4 in the next couple of years in order for these player decisions to be vindicated somewhat. However I have my doubts. I reckon we’ll just keep on floating around mid table with this list, unless several of our under 23’s go on to become genuine A graders rather than the next Atley, Wood, Ziebel, Dumont.
 
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4 years ago, I remember telling my mom that we should go after Justin Martin. He’s a very good player. When we passed on him and went after Simpkins instead, my mom told me it was a blessing in the skies because he was a “bad seed”. Well, I think history will show that my mom had been chroming for a bit too long. God bless her sole.
 

hellas_johnny

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Still disappointed in the decision. Boomer shouldve kept going a year. Dalsanto wasn't going on anymore and petrie was cooked. Spud i felt was still good enough but we did have enough if his type. What annoyed me was the fact that they kept waite on (as much as I loved him) even though they knew how injury prone he was. He then went on the missing half of the next 2 season's before retiring was completely contradictory to them letting go the because of their age. Then to make things worse even when waite was injured scott didn't play durdin or mckay in the team to replace him they lost a lot of development over the years
 
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