What do you really expect

[tazaa]

I think there are merits to both approaches. However, after living through those couple of years where we dropped 10,000 close games I'd personally prefer we tried the other approach for no other reason than to extend my life expectancy.

In all seriousness I think part of it comes down to the cattle at hand. There does seem to be some degree of uncoachability with our previous era of players, but hopefully this younger batch are more flexible. Didn't enjoy seeing everyman and his dog chasing the ball carrier at numerous occasions in the last game however...

Amazing to think we are back here and starting afresh.
It really does feel like 2010 all over again.
You make a good point about the players being different and hopefully more coachable.
I pray the average footy IQ of the next crop is infinitely better than what we saw in the last decade.

Just knowing when to pull the trigger, when to slow down play, etc.
Little things like tapping the ball on, taking the tackle to free up a teammate and not going for the same ball - and importantly hitting targets by foot when fatigued. Nothing I saw on Saturday gave me much confidence.

These are the challenges Nobles facing and I expect by 2022 that the list should start taking shape with footballers capable of achieving success.

 

[Shagga is all Class]

Expect bottom 3.

More list cutting at the end of the year with some older ones cut.

What I am looking for are a few of the younger individuals to step up and give us some hope.

And I fully expect to read at least 10,000 posts this year about JZ in the backline.

 

[shinboner magic]

Prior to preseason games was hoping to get out of bottom 4 with young guys coming through.
Now hoping for around 16th and working on a game plan for the future.
With solid improvement from our younger players

 

[Gasometer]

A bolter like the Pies of 2017-18 with a Zurhaar after siren kick to win the Flag by 1 point.


Wat

Wat r u looking at ‘eh?!

 

[The Warlord]

Lots and lots of sooking on here, that's what I expect.

 

[Val Keating]

Lots of low scores. Can’t see where our goals are coming from.

 

[Psicosis]

I hope Noble doesn’t do what Brad did early on and cop beltings for the sake of it.
There is learning and then there is coaching and I always believe that teaching players how to stem the flow is more rewarding later on when they are experienced then just laying down and taking the kill from a top 4 side.

He's actually said that playing kids will be dependent on opponent. I think round 1 vs round 4 should be good examples of this.

Port are a mature finals outfit, it would be crazy to go in with a really young 22. Expect the fringe 26+ Y.o's to play.

Crows in round 4 will be a good opportunity to blood a bit more of the youth & we very well may see a younger 22 with a couple of the first year players debuting.

 

[The Warlord]

Lots of low scores. Can’t see where our goals are coming from.

Yep. Can see defence gelling first and midfield clicking too but us falling down at half forward a lot

 

[DEVO]

A few wins, a few thrashings, but mostly 20-40pt defeats with encouraging signs from our young players.

 

[DuckYeah]

I expect a flag every year.. anything less is a fail

 

[The Warlord]

I also fully expect people will try and draw non existent links between our onfield performance and off field factors.

 

[Val Keating]

I expect a flag every year.. anything less is a fail

Agree with that sentiment but if this list wins the flag this year then I expect ASADA will be checking their piss.

 

[astrovic]

I've had this recurring dream (like an actual dream you have when sleeping) since about 2003 that we win the premiership in 2021.

No seriously. Specifically 2021.

Elements of the dream included:

- a new coach in his first season
- Having finished down the bottom between 2018 and 2020, so a lazarus-like rise from the scrap heap to the pinnacle
- a dynamic midfield based around a superstar kid with a supporting cast of new talent
- an old skipper deprived of success finally getting his dues.

Specifics and names have changes over the years of course, but these themes have been pretty consistent throughout. Oddly I haven'y been having this dream as frequently in the last couple of years - I just assume that's due to the dream about to become reality.

Get on board, folks. It's happening, dammit.

 

[Mav]

I normally expect us to be competitive every time we play, but this year I’m really expecting injuries, lots of injuries.

 

[jimandphilbadge]

Including finals, I expect nothing less than 25 wins.

What I foresee.... that's drastically different

 

[Event Horizon]

Hard to say. When I look at our best 22 or even best 28 players - I see 8 wins as a target for par, barring another horrible injury run. But when I look at our preseason results, and the manner in which they were played, it's hard to see who we can actually beat, other than Adelaide at home. So the optimist in me says, we can't be as bad as that, and will likely find some form at some stage, and should win at least 6-7 games.

I also suspect if can't do that, perhaps something isn't right with our coaches. Blakey being there gives me some confidence.

 

[Thndr]

 

[jimandphilbadge]

View attachment 1074123

If I looked like that bloke I'd happily take the big spoon

 

[Long Live the King]

Hoping Tom and Will tie for the rising star, Stephenson kicks 6 against the pies, Cunners gets into the AA team and Souva kicks 75...........in reality expecting

 

[Intothewind]

I'm expecting we lose every game in the first half of the season as the players learn each other and the game plan.

In the second half of the season we win 50% of our games, giving us around 5 wins for the year.

I'd be ok with that.

On Pixel 4a using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[DuckYeah]

Hard to say. When I look at our best 22 or even best 28 players - I see 8 wins as a target for par, barring another horrible injury run. But when I look at our preseason results, and the manner in which they were played, it's hard to see who we can actually beat, other than Adelaide at home. So the optimist in me says, we can't be as bad as that, and will likely find some form at some stage, and should win at least 6-7 games.

I also suspect if can't do that, perhaps something isn't right with our coaches. Blakey being there gives me some confidence.

This is my outlook... we have the pissiest draw we’ve ever had. I take pre season results every year with a grain of salt. Didnt we get touched up in pre season matches during 2013-16?

 

[samoodan]

A bit more optimistic than me, I'm thinking 4-6 is the pass mark assuming no injuries to the half dozen or so key players (Goldy, Jy, Cunners, Larkey, Taz). If we're as gung-ho about sticking to the super attacking style as we appear to be, then I think we're in for semi regular rogerings as well as dropping a few leads in the second half of games.

Agree. I reckon if we can keep blokes like Cunners, Goldstein, JY and Tarrant fit we will come to play in plenty of games. Those guys are too competitive to get smashed week in, week out.

But if they spend substantial parts of the year injured, we'll cop plenty of hidings and be battling for the spoon.

 

[samoodan]

Also, as the game plan starts to click, I am expecting some cracking goals with fast ball movement through the centre.

I live in Queensland and keep a regular eye on the Lions. They play exciting footy when they are on.

 

[hcd199]

A significantly different approach, plenty of experiments with different combinations of players in different positions, some of which will pay off for us and some of which will not. Plenty of younger players (including debutants) will get ample opportunity to step up - again, sometimes this'll pay off and sometimes it won't. The new game plan will start to take shape, and we'll develop a decent sense of whether we're on the right track fairly easily.

Overall, assuming we don't have the same disastrous confluence of factors afflicting us that we did in 2020, we shouldn't be nearly as bad as last year, and it would be seriously disappointing if we were. It does no-one any good to cop big losses regularly, nor to peddle flimsy excuses for such performances, and it will be crucial that there's a sense of high standards around the club, even if we're still very much 'rebuilding' and so can handle dropping games here and there if the signs that we're heading strongly in the right direction remain clear.

 

[Forever North]

I’ll be happy with around 6 wins and just being competitive. Can’t think of anything worse than becoming the next Carlton or Melbourne and having a decade of absolute shitness and misery. We should be trying to win every week.
2-3 years of spoons and the send North to Tassie bullshit will intensify. Our under 21‘s must become top shelf AFL players in the next few years.