We can win the 2011 premiership

[geelong_crazy26]

the football community seems to be saying one thing, gone gone, everywhere i read, this is the view everyone seems to have and seems quite happy thinking it.

but the way i look at it is that we still have a strong core group of players aged between 23-28, and this is the key ingredient to winning a premiership.

given a strong new game plan and a injection of new quality youth i can see us possibly pushing up there.

in my opinion the following must happen if we are to remain at the top.

menzel, duncan, t hunt, simpson or vardy, gillies must play the entire year and prove themselves as quality young players and inject a rhythm of youth hunger and pace to the side.

hawkins must improve and step up as a solid key position forward.

ottens must be given a full pre season to get himself fit and play out the entire year.

st kilda after 08 were in a similar position as we are now, and they regrouped very quickly because they had a quality group of players aged around the 23-28 bracket they moulded around bringing a couple of players up, we can do the same.

we still have probably the best group of 23-28 year olds in the AFL at current.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

also great emphasis on the new gameplan part...

 

[jim boy]

menzel, duncan, t hunt, simpson or vardy, gillies must play the entire year and prove themselves as quality young players and inject a rhythm of youth hunger and pace to the side.

This lot may be the new coreys, scarletts, kelly's etc, but it is that lot circa 2002. Will still need a good 4-5 years to move from average->good->great->elite.

 

[Reg Hickey]

No, we can't.

We were at least 10 goals off the pace when it mattered this year, we have just lost our best player and our coach, and several of our guns who are already looking old and slow are going to be another year older and another year slower in 2011.

We would need to overcome all that, and a new coach would need to somehow devise, test and embed a brand new gameplan in a very experienced player-led side over a single preseason.

You're dreaming.

It's time to rebuild.

 

[SriLankanCat]

I agree we are good enough to win.

Ablett is a big loss but our midfield has some guns in it! Bartel, Corey, Chapman, Varcoe etc.

Taylor Hunt, Laidler etc are up and coming players and it is exciting for our team. We have 3 first round draft picks we can utilise as well.

I think Darren Milburn may call it quits but we have some players that can stand up. Harry Taylor is still young, Scarlo has a year or two left in him, Enright had another top year, Hunt had one of his best seasons. We have a lot of positives to look forward too.

Tomahawk has had injury worries this year but people forget he looked good at times this year and i reckon next year will be a year when he really steps up to the plate. We probably need to fine tune our balance and structure and hopefully we will do that.

Promising times ahead. A new coach also will be good for us, give some freshness to the team!

Bring on 2011!

 

[Vdubs]

No, we can't.

We were at least 10 goals off the pace when it mattered this year, we have just lost our best player and our coach, and several of our guns who are already looking old and slow are going to be another year older and another year slower in 2011.

We would need to overcome all that, and a new coach would need to somehow devise, test and embed a brand new gameplan in a very experienced player-led side over a single preseason.

You're dreaming.

It's time to rebuild.

There is no way you are negative. If I said that , I can understand the criticism, but what you say is 100% spot-on. Could not have worded it any better. Time to accept reality. It was an awesome display by Pies this GF and most of this year. They are superbly fit and fast and strong, and will likely be UP for 2-3 years looking at the young age of their list.

I'm not particularly concerned if we don't even make top 4, or top 8 next year as long as we can see there is a process taking place that will be able to bear fruit again in the forseeable future.

 

[Redemptionin09]

While you should always aim to win and win as often as you can....the invariable dip in standard is coming...natural order of things, it's the price you pay for premierships.

In this transition phase the expectations should be more realistic not negative...never negative..just realistic.

The one thing supporters will always turn in droves to see is a team that gives its all and plays for the jumper each and every week.

effort is what you ask for.

The best thing to do is move on quickly from this 'downturn' and realise the potential of the youth we have coming through...based on what we've seen...Taylor Hunt, Mitch Duncan, Allen Christensen, Daniel Menzel, Tom Gillies, Mitch Brown...it's fair to say a couple of those will come good in the future.

Not to mention young boys already established to the side Trav Varcoe and of course captain in waiting Joel Selwood.

Don't give up...these boys will go places together...maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but some day...all they need is folks to stick by them through thick and thin...like we did when the kids came through in the late 90's and early 00s.

chin up mate, short term pain, long term gain, the present may be bleak but the future is bright.

 

[Turbocat]

So we can win it IF 5 kids play all year and IF Hawkins becomes an elite forward and IF Ottens plays the full year out and returns to some form.

Whats the odds of all that happenng?

The 5 kids playing all year may happen but only if we are rebuilding I would have thought but maybe
Hawkins becoming elite , not sure if he can but I'll give you this , his time has come. 2011 is 5 years post draft and he should be ready to be a man ,not just big boy.
Ottens , I would say he is gone. I don see him being a factor for us at all. If we had Mumford now we would say good bye to him , and trade time could make his backups even thinner.

 

[bulletproof]

Very doubtful, I am afraid.

 

[DanA]

Not time for a rebuild just a rejuvination. 2012 is time for a rebuild.

New game plan, improved fitness program and comitment to playing some fresh faces could very well put us right in the mix.

We were slow against Collingwood but Menzel, T.Hunt, Duncan and Motlop add a hell of a lot more pace to the side. A fit J.Corey makes a big difference too.

We're down but not out yet

 

[DanA]

So we can win it IF 5 kids play all year and IF Hawkins becomes an elite forward and IF Ottens plays the full year out and returns to some form.

Whats the odds of all that happenng?

The 5 kids playing all year may happen but only if we are rebuilding I would have thought but maybe
Hawkins becoming elite , not sure if he can but I'll give you this , his time has come. 2011 is 5 years post draft and he should be ready to be a man ,not just big boy.
Ottens , I would say he is gone. I don see him being a factor for us at all. If we had Mumford now we would say good bye to him , and trade time could make his backups even thinner.

Agree we need to address the ruck situation and Ottens is no solution.

 

[leorex]

I'say we will be a very good team in'11.I'll say top 4.

two things might happen we meet Collingwood in th GF
and steal a win , like Hawthorn in'08.Doubtful being Malthouses last year.
or meet Collingwood in GF and get smashed.I don't want us to be like the old Geelong,getting into the GF only to get smashed.The coach saying close but not close enough and not brave enough to make the necessary changes because we got close.I can see this happening to St.kilda.
I'll rather have a transititon year and then dominate the next 4 years

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Agree we need to address the ruck situation and Ottens is no solution.

Agree...we need to go to trade week with the sole priority of getting something done about this. If we can, it will seriously help us in 2011 but more importantly build for a sustainable future of success (once the kids that we will hopefully play next year have 50 or more games into them) as it's the major hole on our list.

 

[Belisarius]

I see us being good enough to play finals in 2001. And if we add 4-5 kids this will be a good experience for them come the following season. But as DAN A points out - 2011 could be a year of a lot of retirements - and to key players.

I see Ling, Ottens, Mooney at the very least going. Probably Corey as well.

So if we do not start playing some of the kids and see who is up to it we could have a dismal 2012.

Like the idea someone wrote about Scarlett becoming a Maxwell type player - at some stage and let Gillies or another try out for FB.

2011 has to see some guys moved on so we can make the space to see who in the reserves can play at senior level - so we know where we stand and what we need when use our draft picks in the future.

I like Menzel, THunt, Duncan and Simpson for sure to get games in the seniors. Motlop, Vardy, Christensen, Laidler, Drum and Gillies also need a few appearances. we will get injuries - so they should ge a a turn at some stage.

But if we trade a few - like Blake, Stokes, JHunt and Mackie - and DJ, Gamble and West - we open up the side for selections like these. If we do not then we may not play them before - or as much as we should - the 2012 season - when we face huge retirements.

I think a new coach - might help pave the way also for a tweak of the game plan. But it has to start next season. Trade and pick - if we just get 1 good KP/ruckman out of this it will help a lot IMO.

So get Wells and tell him we need to get one really good player re trading some of ours - and then pick the best you can from the draft picks we have available.

I think he can do it - if given Carte Blanche over the trade period. I am sure he will get mids that have pace and can kick well - as well as the tall we need. This sets us up for the following season draft selections.

Cannot see us being a serious threat to a flag until 2013 season - though we will get good finals experiences for the kids during this time. And you never know - we might do a ' 08 Hawthorn in btween this time.

 

[Claude Balls]

To win another flag soon two things need to happen:

1. The group of Duncan, Menzel, Brown etc needs to produce at least 4 very good players.

2. These 4 very good players need to become so before Bartel, Kelly, SJ and possibly even one of Enright and Chapman begin to wane significantly.

We can't win it next year simply because the team we had this year wasn't good enough, and 12 months is not long enough for either a new gameplan or our developing young players to make up the difference.

The only way I can see us being a realistic chance is if we trade very succesfully.

 

[Cats408]

Of course we can people shouldn't just automatically think the we will slide down the ladder.

 

[Roos08]

Of course we can people shouldn't just automatically think the we will slide down the ladder.

I don't think there are too many that believe we will "slide" down the ladder as such. It's just that Collingwood will be very, very hard to beat

 

[geelong_crazy26]

i dont agree with what the majority are saying, but i can see exactly where they are coming from with saying it.

of course its all what if's, as is for almost every other club in the AFL.

if hawkins can become a good player next year, it will compensate for the loss of ablett and more critical for the structure of the team.

the players who will decline would be- corey, scarlett, milburn ling, hunt, wojinski, mooney,

milburn and ling should retire, and wojinski really doesnt look to be slowing down at all, didnt in 2010, may or may not in 2011, this will depend his impact. and scarlett injury free will do his job, he is a elite player, and injury is the only thing which stops this calabur of player.

ottens given a pre season should be better then he was, as ruckman can play good football well into there early thirties.

chapman, enright, mackie, johnson, kelly, taylor, bartel, byrnes, stokes, will do there job, wont slow down.

hawkins selwood and varcoe can improve given there young status, hawkins must improve to be any chance, also podsiadly can improve, he has only played a handful of games and is a first year player, he can and most likely will get better next year.

i dont think its as bad as people think for the list.

if some of the younger players such as gillies, menzel, t hunt, duncan, brown come along and have an impact, i can it revitalizing us.

 

[rooie]

if we look at the two teams that played the 09 prelim, which we won and then won the GF, then that played the 10 prelim, which the pies won and then won the GF, you will see that it is indeed possible to be not good enough this year but good enough next year.

They made some game plan changes, some starting 18 changes and it was enough to lift them over the line.

I will reserve judgment on the much reported demise of our club until about round 12 next year.

 

[Big Fozza]

i'm surprised at the negativity in this thread. i think we'll finish top 4 next year and give it another shake in September. i think he we need 3 things:

1. massive preseason to get fitness up
2. change of tactices to have more focus on forward pressure + less handballs (fwiw i think gaz going will help out wiht the latter). i don't think that we need a massive revamp to our strategy just need to tweak it
3. selection on form and nothing else. dropping establsihed players back to the magoos when they have a bad game - make them prove themsleves before getting selected again. i don't beleive that the young guys have to play every game. i think that if their form warrants a game and someone has an off week then by all means but EVERYONE has to earn their spot.

...maybe i'm just a glass half full kinda guy

 

[RegHickeyStand]

Voss, before he bought over Fev:


We can win the 2010 premiership!



Seriously. Think about it.

 

[The rabbi]

Don't give up on us, baby We're still worth one more try I know we put our last one by Just for a rainy evening When maybe stars are few Don't give up on us, I know we can still come through

​

 

[Vdubs]

i'm surprised at the negativity in this thread. i think we'll finish top 4 next year and give it another shake in September. i think he we need 3 things:

1. massive preseason to get fitness up
2. change of tactices to have more focus on forward pressure + less handballs (fwiw i think gaz going will help out wiht the latter). i don't think that we need a massive revamp to our strategy just need to tweak it
3. selection on form and nothing else. dropping establsihed players back to the magoos when they have a bad game - make them prove themsleves before getting selected again. i don't beleive that the young guys have to play every game. i think that if their form warrants a game and someone has an off week then by all means but EVERYONE has to earn their spot.

...maybe i'm just a glass half full kinda guy

Again, you may be right, but we are slow and ageing, and the quick young ones are inexperienced, so next year is unrealistic given it took the Pies 2-3 years to get their fitness levels and tactics to where it is now. We are effectively 10 goals behind them, like we were a 10 goal better side than most teams in07/08., and we can not go back to our past to go forward. This is not negative.

We all have different ways of enjoying our team, and I don't expect much so if good happens, excellent, but if we continue to slide, it's expected. By me anyway. Not sure about glass1/2 full or empty.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Voss, before he bought over Fev:


We can win the 2010 premiership!



Seriously. Think about it.

come on , do you honestly think that we are in the same position as the lions were 12 months ago? we have far more talent and no copmarison can be made

who of the other 16 clubs has a better chance of winning the flag ? only collingwood and lets just see how they go after winning a flag.they might be just like hawthorn after 08

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Again, you may be right, but we are slow and ageing, and the quick young ones are inexperienced, so next year is unrealistic given it took the Pies 2-3 years to get their fitness levels and tactics to where it is now. We are effectively 10 goals behind them, like we were a 10 goal better side than most teams in07/08., and we can not go back to our past to go forward. This is not negative.

We all have different ways of enjoying our team, and I don't expect much so if good happens, excellent, but if we continue to slide, it's expected. By me anyway. Not sure about glass1/2 full or empty.

in 2008 we were 76 points up on st kilda at 3 quarter time in a final , so we were a 15 goal better side then they were that year , come 2009 we were about 2-4 goals better

we were 12 goals better than collingwood in 09 and 12 motnhs later they have overtaken us/

It is too simplistic to say we are an ageong side that cant improve

ablett is a loss, if hawkins becomes the player we hoped he would be that will more than compensate for ablett leaving

sure some players will decline , however some players will improve and some new fresh blood will come into the side plus a more effective game plane will more than compensate for our players who have declined

we can be a better side next year than 2010 and even 2009