Boy, there are a few. On field, off field, players, coaches, members, everything. The club needs to change if we want to survive and eventually become successful and win another premiership.
Let's start off the field. We are financially insecure despite apparently doing alright this year. We are not making any money, just losing a bit. Our board room is pretty ****e, I mean we have a guy called Gabriel Szondy who doesn't even wanna be there and the rest of the board aren't willing to step up or make some bold decisions. I hope they are not content with just beating the Gutnick clan, because that is in the past and they actually need to worry about the club and look to the future.
Now look at Collingwood if they want an example. Eddie McGuire came in and turned the club around, every aspect of it and made it a success. He is passionate and proud of his club, promotes it well, deals well and will win a premiership very soon, unfortunately. We need to do the same. Someone needs to step up and be a leader and take this club and turn it in to a success. I know one person who could do the job and that is Garry Lyon. Whether he is good enough on the business side of things is a different story, but he needs to get involved and help the club. Whether it is as a board member or the coach, he has to help.
Now lets take a look at the team list. In 2000/2001 it used to be strong. A little young but it had the potential there to do something good. But over the last couple of years we have just ruined it. We've lost big stars, leaders, and got pretty much no-one in return. Whether it's been a trade, retirement or a failure to sign a contract, we've lost Farmer, Simmonds, Woewodin, Schwarz, Ingerson, Powell, Leoncelli, Febey and Bishop. Look through that list. There are leaders and role models, experienced campaigners, key talls, gutsy smalls & classy players. Now what have we got in return? A couple of draft picks (which haven't stepped up to the plate yet) Ellis, Vardy, Bizzell, Heffernan and Moorcroft. Ellis isn't good enough and is injured anyway, Vardy is good but unfortunately injured, Bizzell has been nothing short of great, Heffernan is struggling and Moorcroft if pretty much done. The draft picks whoever they were have not made a name for themselves unlike a lot of other youngsters in the league who are developing. So recruiting has been very average, another negative on the board.
The actual team list is now **** weak. It lacks experience, toughness and class to be a threat. Let's look through the list. We have two great ruckmen, White and Jolly. However, White is not at the highest level of a Primus, King or Darcy and that is where he could and should be. You can out it down to injury but to me that's just an excuse. Now Jolly is playing great and he could do something good in the future. Jamar is a capable back up. So the ruck division is fine. And it should be after we traded Troy Simmonds off to Freo.
The on-ball department has been weakened. Woewodin and Powell were two massive losses. They were the in-and-under ball winers that every team needs, and we lost both of them. We still have two classy guns in Yze and Johnstone but they haven't stepped up this year. Heffernan has come along and is a skillful player, but not the tough replacement we needed. Godfrey has balls and tries hard but lacks the class. McDonald also tries hard and gets a load of tackles but isn't skillful enough either. Leoncelli looked past it and is now retired. Rigoni has grat strength but is getting older and injuries could keep him away. Thompson is a bull and should be starting every week but isn't. Whelan can play there a bit, and he gives his best, has nice pace and skill, but is no superstar. Either is Ward or Brown who can both play a bit on the ball. Bruce is very classy but not tough enough. Walsh can play on ball and should do it a bit more often, because he is a little terrier. Then we have the young Armstrong, another of the skillful/not tough players. I think that covers everyone that plays on ball. So as you can so we've got Godfrey and McDonald who try their best but aren't good enough, Rigoni and Thompson who have the strength but don't play enough and Walsh who is a backman. The rest are just fast, skillful on-ballers and struggle without a tough support cast.
Down back, we lack key talls and experienced ones. Nicholson is no good, he must go. Ellis when fit just scrapes in but he won't solve our problems. Miller does alright and he is still young, Ferguson hasn't impressed me yet and is a little small, Broadbridge is a strange one because he does alright when he plays, but I don't know if he is the answer either. Now we have Chris Lamb who looked like the solution last year, but he has all of a sudden been dropped this year and will probably be traded by our ignorant board. He should be playing at full back and Miller should be centre half back. They are the future, but in Lamb's case it's not happening. The small defenders are Ward, Walsh, Whelan, Brown and Bizzell. The W's and Brown are all small, fast players and only one of them is really a tough nut. They can be good at times but sometimes they are not. They need to provide us wth more run and help out in the midfield. As for Bizzell, what a champion. He has been awesome but unfortunately has had to play as a tall this year, which has been hard for him. What we need is a classy tall defender that we can rely on. The likes of Fletcher, Leppitsch, Michael, Wellman, Clement, etc... are the type of players that are going to win you premierships. Now Nicholson or Ellis. If we can sign as great defender, stick Lamb in the team then it will help our problems a lot.
Up forward, it's a case of having the potential but not knowing how to use it. I don't know who the forward coach is, but he must get the sack. The forward set-up is a rabble. We have the best bloody forward in the league, a monster who can take a strong mark, kick a long goal and burst through any pack. But we constantly find ourselves taking his space, always looking for him even when he isn't the right option (which makes it easier to defend him) and feeding him with rubbish passes that don't give him a chance. We must leave the entire 50 for him to lead in to, stick a crumber in like Armstong next to him, another marking forward who doesn't take his space (Vardy is the best at that position but is injured). Stick a tall player at centre-half forward but make sure they stay the hell out of Neita's way and chuck the versatile Robbo and Green on the flanks. Once that is done, don't always look for Neitz, it is too predictable.
So what does the team need? A key centre half back or centre half forward (if we could use White in a deal to snag an experience tall that would be great), we need some tough midfielders, we need new board members and...
Now in to the coaches box. Sack Neale Daniher. His time is over at the club. He has been here 6 years without a flag and doesn't look like getting one in the next 4 years, which will equal 10 eyars without the flag. That's far too long, get rid of him and bring in someone fresh. Garry Lyon or Terry Wallace are the two I want. I appreciate what Neale has done, but the team is too inconsistant and is now too weak, so it's time to let someone else have a try.
Just had to get that off my chest.
Let's start off the field. We are financially insecure despite apparently doing alright this year. We are not making any money, just losing a bit. Our board room is pretty ****e, I mean we have a guy called Gabriel Szondy who doesn't even wanna be there and the rest of the board aren't willing to step up or make some bold decisions. I hope they are not content with just beating the Gutnick clan, because that is in the past and they actually need to worry about the club and look to the future.
Now look at Collingwood if they want an example. Eddie McGuire came in and turned the club around, every aspect of it and made it a success. He is passionate and proud of his club, promotes it well, deals well and will win a premiership very soon, unfortunately. We need to do the same. Someone needs to step up and be a leader and take this club and turn it in to a success. I know one person who could do the job and that is Garry Lyon. Whether he is good enough on the business side of things is a different story, but he needs to get involved and help the club. Whether it is as a board member or the coach, he has to help.
Now lets take a look at the team list. In 2000/2001 it used to be strong. A little young but it had the potential there to do something good. But over the last couple of years we have just ruined it. We've lost big stars, leaders, and got pretty much no-one in return. Whether it's been a trade, retirement or a failure to sign a contract, we've lost Farmer, Simmonds, Woewodin, Schwarz, Ingerson, Powell, Leoncelli, Febey and Bishop. Look through that list. There are leaders and role models, experienced campaigners, key talls, gutsy smalls & classy players. Now what have we got in return? A couple of draft picks (which haven't stepped up to the plate yet) Ellis, Vardy, Bizzell, Heffernan and Moorcroft. Ellis isn't good enough and is injured anyway, Vardy is good but unfortunately injured, Bizzell has been nothing short of great, Heffernan is struggling and Moorcroft if pretty much done. The draft picks whoever they were have not made a name for themselves unlike a lot of other youngsters in the league who are developing. So recruiting has been very average, another negative on the board.
The actual team list is now **** weak. It lacks experience, toughness and class to be a threat. Let's look through the list. We have two great ruckmen, White and Jolly. However, White is not at the highest level of a Primus, King or Darcy and that is where he could and should be. You can out it down to injury but to me that's just an excuse. Now Jolly is playing great and he could do something good in the future. Jamar is a capable back up. So the ruck division is fine. And it should be after we traded Troy Simmonds off to Freo.
The on-ball department has been weakened. Woewodin and Powell were two massive losses. They were the in-and-under ball winers that every team needs, and we lost both of them. We still have two classy guns in Yze and Johnstone but they haven't stepped up this year. Heffernan has come along and is a skillful player, but not the tough replacement we needed. Godfrey has balls and tries hard but lacks the class. McDonald also tries hard and gets a load of tackles but isn't skillful enough either. Leoncelli looked past it and is now retired. Rigoni has grat strength but is getting older and injuries could keep him away. Thompson is a bull and should be starting every week but isn't. Whelan can play there a bit, and he gives his best, has nice pace and skill, but is no superstar. Either is Ward or Brown who can both play a bit on the ball. Bruce is very classy but not tough enough. Walsh can play on ball and should do it a bit more often, because he is a little terrier. Then we have the young Armstrong, another of the skillful/not tough players. I think that covers everyone that plays on ball. So as you can so we've got Godfrey and McDonald who try their best but aren't good enough, Rigoni and Thompson who have the strength but don't play enough and Walsh who is a backman. The rest are just fast, skillful on-ballers and struggle without a tough support cast.
Down back, we lack key talls and experienced ones. Nicholson is no good, he must go. Ellis when fit just scrapes in but he won't solve our problems. Miller does alright and he is still young, Ferguson hasn't impressed me yet and is a little small, Broadbridge is a strange one because he does alright when he plays, but I don't know if he is the answer either. Now we have Chris Lamb who looked like the solution last year, but he has all of a sudden been dropped this year and will probably be traded by our ignorant board. He should be playing at full back and Miller should be centre half back. They are the future, but in Lamb's case it's not happening. The small defenders are Ward, Walsh, Whelan, Brown and Bizzell. The W's and Brown are all small, fast players and only one of them is really a tough nut. They can be good at times but sometimes they are not. They need to provide us wth more run and help out in the midfield. As for Bizzell, what a champion. He has been awesome but unfortunately has had to play as a tall this year, which has been hard for him. What we need is a classy tall defender that we can rely on. The likes of Fletcher, Leppitsch, Michael, Wellman, Clement, etc... are the type of players that are going to win you premierships. Now Nicholson or Ellis. If we can sign as great defender, stick Lamb in the team then it will help our problems a lot.
Up forward, it's a case of having the potential but not knowing how to use it. I don't know who the forward coach is, but he must get the sack. The forward set-up is a rabble. We have the best bloody forward in the league, a monster who can take a strong mark, kick a long goal and burst through any pack. But we constantly find ourselves taking his space, always looking for him even when he isn't the right option (which makes it easier to defend him) and feeding him with rubbish passes that don't give him a chance. We must leave the entire 50 for him to lead in to, stick a crumber in like Armstong next to him, another marking forward who doesn't take his space (Vardy is the best at that position but is injured). Stick a tall player at centre-half forward but make sure they stay the hell out of Neita's way and chuck the versatile Robbo and Green on the flanks. Once that is done, don't always look for Neitz, it is too predictable.
So what does the team need? A key centre half back or centre half forward (if we could use White in a deal to snag an experience tall that would be great), we need some tough midfielders, we need new board members and...
Now in to the coaches box. Sack Neale Daniher. His time is over at the club. He has been here 6 years without a flag and doesn't look like getting one in the next 4 years, which will equal 10 eyars without the flag. That's far too long, get rid of him and bring in someone fresh. Garry Lyon or Terry Wallace are the two I want. I appreciate what Neale has done, but the team is too inconsistant and is now too weak, so it's time to let someone else have a try.
Just had to get that off my chest.
Loved his speccies & pace for his size. Has never been the best in contested situation but he was a favourite of mine. Don't really think we've lost much in that trade.
. He took a fair while to regain his place in the Sandringham firsts (even rookie lister Dale Carson has gone past him imo & prob kept him out a bit longer). Admittedly Sandy firsts are pretty strong but the VFL reserves comp is a joke to be honest. 
