What Clarko said about finding players who can play in premierships

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I'm watching our last game of the year versus GC whilst the GF is fresh in my mind. Comparing to see who could actually play on that last day in September.

For sure's
Sheezel
Tarryn
Bailey - He'll be the best winger in the comp soon
Jy
Corr
Larkey
WillPhill
PC - If he cleans up his set shot and brings the same defensive intensity he had in the second half of the year

Need work but can get there
Bergman - Probably the closest to the 'for sure' category but needs more games. Such a smart footballer, with good height and athleticism
Ford - So much competition in his position, could be on the outer once we establish a small forward or two
Goater - Disposal lets him down, moments of brilliance but also head-in-hands moments
Xerri - I actually think he isn't far off, we know he works hard. Rucks just need to do the simple things right, be aggressive, bring the ball to the ground in a contest, and give the ball to our best users, especially with the standing rule
Powell - I want him to succeed so badly but he is so inconsistent

No chance
Greenwood - More an age thing
Turner - He has the intangibles but his skills aren't there
Curtis Taylor
Tucker
Lazzaro - Depth midfielder who will dominate VFL but realistically no role for him
Dawson
 
Murphy is a lot better footballer than you give him credit for, doesn’t get beaten all too often. Was stiff today. When he got concussed I actually thought that was a big loss for the pies.
Is he really 79 kgs?

Cos if he is then Dawson is a very similar size. A little bigger maybe but mobile as well.
 
NUMBER 1 INGREDIENT TO WIN A FLAG - Players who can kick a football.
Without that, forget about it. Clarko knows this. 2008 proved that.
Guys need to be able to hit targets 40-50m away with penetration. To do this under pressure, in big games, with opposition systems in place, takes a hell of a lot of skill. Pies have a stack of guys who can do that. Particularly out of defence. It's a far cry from the recent NM bomb it down the line 45 times a game & hope for a stoppage.

I look at our list, and I'm not sure I trust more than 3-4 players to consistently hit targets. Guys who chop the ball up, can't kick 40m plus, or just bomb it long, aren't gonna take us to a flag, regardless of whether they try hard, are highly regarded internally, have amazing running patterns or are top blokes and all that rot. They're just not.
 
I was listening to a discussion on the radio yesterday morning about Brisbane's situation a few years ago after 5+ senior players left, nobody wanted to be traded there, etc...they drafted country Vic boys & built the culture from there.
Interesting part of the discussion for me (that I could relate to our current situation) was that they built the culture from the kids up, not from the senior players down.
We don't have a Moore, Pendles, etc who really inspire their team mates.
I see Sheezel,Wardlaw,Phillips & a few others as the ones to drive this & set the standards over the next few years. It's important we find ways to develop them & slowly let them have input starting this pre season.
If it were up to me I'd have Larkey as stand alone captain next year (impressed by the way he speaks, the way players look up to him & don't think it would affect his game). I'd have Simpkin & LDU as his deputies .
 
I was listening to a discussion on the radio yesterday morning about Brisbane's situation a few years ago after 5+ senior players left, nobody wanted to be traded there, etc...they drafted country Vic boys & built the culture from there.
Interesting part of the discussion for me (that I could relate to our current situation) was that they built the culture from the kids up, not from the senior players down.
We don't have a Moore, Pendles, etc who really inspire their team mates.
I see Sheezel,Wardlaw,Phillips & a few others as the ones to drive this & set the standards over the next few years. It's important we find ways to develop them & slowly let them have input starting this pre season.
If it were up to me I'd have Larkey as stand alone captain next year (impressed by the way he speaks, the way players look up to him & don't think it would affect his game). I'd have Simpkin & LDU as his deputies .
which is why I want to draft watson vs hoping that we'll be able to trade his type in when we get good.
 
Obviously we have gaps to fill in our list. KPD, KPF and a crumbing, tackling small forward or 2.

But the Pies have proved that system and coaching is king. McRae has them playing 100% to the strengths of the list.
The bottom 5 or 6 that played today aren't flash, but they all fit the system in one way or another.

Speed and pressure is their foundation, Clarko has to find what will work best for us. It can turn faster than people think, if you have a plan and stick to it.

Pies are a very experienced side as well, think I counted 15 of their 23 today were 27 or older by the end of the year. At this stage we have only 3 confirmed players (Greenwood, Corr, McDonald), for next year in that age bracket. Although a couple more will likely sign on
Yep. I think the difference between good-average coaches like Scott and great coaches - like Clarko, and obviously McRae - is the great ones build a system around the players they have when they start, then recruit for it. Scott had an idea of a system an moulded players to it, often meaning we had blokes not playing to their strengths.

The game will keep evolving, with our list you’d think lightening quick ball movement, insanely well drilled defensive zone and a forward line that constantly shifts mediums and mids around to bamboozle the defence and get lots of goals where the oppo stands around pointing at each other and arguing after them is the way to go if that makes sense.

Speed and pressure are where it’s at now and you’ll always need that but I reckon with the list we are building we’re gonna see some surgical ball use - short angle changing kicks when moving slowly and handball chains through the corridor on turnover - when we have a mature side that has been playing our way for four or five years. But it’s the experience part that is most important. Four years I reckon.
 
I was listening to a discussion on the radio yesterday morning about Brisbane's situation a few years ago after 5+ senior players left, nobody wanted to be traded there, etc...they drafted country Vic boys & built the culture from there.
Interesting part of the discussion for me (that I could relate to our current situation) was that they built the culture from the kids up, not from the senior players down.
We don't have a Moore, Pendles, etc who really inspire their team mates.
I see Sheezel,Wardlaw,Phillips & a few others as the ones to drive this & set the standards over the next few years. It's important we find ways to develop them & slowly let them have input starting this pre season.
If it were up to me I'd have Larkey as stand alone captain next year (impressed by the way he speaks, the way players look up to him & don't think it would affect his game). I'd have Simpkin & LDU as his deputies .
Agree with Larkey as captain but l would only have 1 vice captain and that should be LDU...Both LMac and Simpkin just dont seem to have whats needed to lead...Simpkin cant hurt a team like LDU can and trys to come the heavy to often plus his kicking is not the best...He's a good player but LDU and Larkey seem to epitomize the Shinboner culture more than Simpkin..
 
Agree with Larkey as captain but l would only have 1 vice captain and that should be LDU...Both LMac and Simpkin just dont seem to have whats needed to lead...Simpkin cant hurt a team like LDU can and trys to come the heavy to often plus his kicking is not the best...He's a good player but LDU and Larkey seem to epitomize the Shinboner culture more than Simpkin..
100%.

Simpkin mistakes tough guy for leadership. Put him in an enforcer role if that is his strength.

He does not lead by example on the field, too many cheap shots and frees.

He may be passionate. but that is not enough to lead us out of the wilderness.

Larkey as captain.

LDU to lead the middle.

Shezzel to lead the backline.

This is not a popularity contest. The coach chooses his on-field leaders to enact his game plan.

The leadership on filed this year has been abysmal. Good mates are not always best leaders.
 

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