I doubt that complacency is going to be an issue, particularly with the guys that have yet to taste success in Whitecross and Anderson going to be pushing to make the team. Suckers, Langford and the Spang don't seem like they'll be satisfied with one, and Simpkin will be hurting and wanting to force his way back into the 22. Schoey will be wanting to convert all the doubters. More importantly, our core in Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis, Roughead, Rioli and Birchall will want to really solidify their legacy, and will never be happy with only being three time premiership players.
The issue is going to be midfield class, and our reliance on a couple of big names. We have plenty of guys pushing for spots in the midfield, and pace is no longer a problem, but you'll notice that 2 out of our best 3 on GF day are also the two that are going to need to be replaced in a year or 2, in Hodge and Mitchell. I don't know how much longer they've got left, but it'll be the end of an era when they do finish up. While we have a list full of hard players, it's the class of these two that means they are irreplaceable, and if either or both are injured, then while we may be able to replace them with tough, skilled players, it's just the "Hodge-factor" and the "Mitchell-factor" that we'll be missing. Hopefully we've got some more time to enjoy their careers, and they can farewell us with another premiership or two before they finish.
Lewis is in a similar position to Hodge and Mitchell, as he's added a rarefied class to his hardness after 2014, but he's got a couple more years in him, as does Roughead and Rioli, though Cyril's hamstrings may need to be managed, which is already the topic of another thread. Agree with the above posters who mention the nightmare scenario of Roughead being injured in September, which makes me wake up with cold sweats, thinking of 2011 again, however we have such a spread of goalkickers that we may be able to cover him.
Even though we can play the majority of the year with Hodge and Mitchell only spending a minority of game time in the centre square, the fact is for the biggest games of the year, we need to be able to throw them into the coal face. They can spend all season driving the play from the half back flank, but when the GF is there to be won, they need to be where the play is at its hottest. We saw how that worked this year, and we'll be wanting it to continue in the next. The problem is that it means we may be too reliant on them.
We can win without them, but can we win a GF without them, yet? I know that there is a succession plan in place, but I feel so much better with them in the team, fit and firing and going for their fourth premierships. Our reliance on them, with the risk of losing them, is our greatest weakness in 2015.
We've been lucky to have them at our club.