We seem to be assembling the best list that we've had for over twenty years. If we stuff this up, it could easily be a decade before we again have so much potential in our team.I really, realy hope our horizon looks further than say Robert Harvey at Collingwood or David Teague at Carlton.
Robert Harvey has put Sidebottom, De Goey, Adams and Pendlebury when he was fit, back into the midfield. The old stagers have lifted their performance at the cost of development of their kids. Harvey is a coach looking for wins to secure a job at a time where caretakers are getting a genuine look in (Rhyce, Ratten, Teague).
David Teague was green and left out Stocker, Williamson and Dow. He put it all on Cripps back and he now looks a broken player.
The time given to these guys is short and they're forced to take shortcuts to secure their near-term position.
We must refuse the bandaid, we need to take our medicine.
In the workplace you have a choice to meet the impossible demands of management. You can work late, put in the extra hours and constantly shift focus from task to task. Or you can work on improving processes (with the short term cost of letting tasks slip due to a lack of resources) and go for lasting improvment.
There are two "currencies" in the AFL. Draft picks and development of draft picks. 4-5 weeks from now to the end season will not sabotage development of our players. We have to nail that other currency and build up a critical amount of talent to create a dynasty. With LDU, Tarryn, Simpkin, Phillips, Powell and Stephenson we are building that critical mass. The time is now. Don't fu** this up for the love of god.