Which, out of the following clubs, will end their Premiership drought first?

[TheHoneyBadger]

My position hasn't changed. It's critical that the Dogs nail the draft, but beyond that, what transpired this off-season shouldn't affect the club in the bigger picture. A few were critical of our KPP stocks (and rightfully so), and while we've gone some way to addressing that already, we must continue to do so through the draft.

Really impressed by St Kilda in recent weeks, for what it's worth. They've got their young guns locked away, and they're well positioned in the draft. It's probably not the approach to a rebuild I'd have taken, but they're handling it well.

 

[a_fighting_fury]

So does anybody still think the current Bulldogs side is building towards a flag?

Personally I think they've put all their eggs in one basket with Boyd.

With that sort of money they could have got a better spread of talent and be more like Port Adelaide in their approach, but I see what their trying to do.

 

[aussierulesrules]

Boyd was exactly what the WB needed on an on-field sense. Not ideal that he has cost them so much (both in terms of what/who they gave up/lost to get him and how much money he is to be paid) but structurally his acquisition is HUGE, as his type (especially how good he is) are very very hard to come by, unless you have pick 1 in the right draft, or get lucky with a F/S prospect. The rest of the pieces they can get with lower picks and through trades and FA, etc.

Losing all of Griffen, Cooney, Higgins, Gia and to a much lesser extent Jones will almost certainly set them back in the short term though (and then you've got all of Murphy, Boyd and Morris turning 33yo next year and Minson 30). So they will contend again soon enough and probably more strongly now that they have a Boyd, but it may now be a year or two later than it was looking like being.

 

[TwentyNine]

None of them any time soon. All a long, long way off it.

 

[The_Flying_Egg]

So does anybody still think the current Bulldogs side is building towards a flag?

It was a hard off season, but long term the club improved by getting Boyd. In this thread alone numerous people mentioned the need for young key position players. Club hasn't lost anyone who will be very helpful in 4 or 5 years time

 

[TN25]

I genuinely think St Kilda. Building a strong list (slowly). The likes of Petracca, Billings, Membrey, Acres and Dunstan. May not be better then the Bulldogs or Richmond but reckon we will catch up.

 

[Ketchup]

Melbourne. Easily.

 

[TazHawk15]

Melbourne in 2020 with Al Clarkson as coach.

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

Melbourne. Easily.

You think their current list is building towards a flag?

 

[12Chill]

I'm loving watching these rebuilds unfold.

The Bulldogs have Roughead, Bontempelli, Macrae, Liberatore, Stringer, Boyd, Dahlhaus, Johannisen, Daniel, Hunter, Wallis and Hrovat along with Hamilton, Webb etc.

Melbourne have Oscar and Tom McDonald, Tyson, Hogan, Petracca, Brayshaw, Neal-Bullen, Stretch, Salem, Viney, Toumpas, JKH, Kent etc.

St Kilda have Goddard, Webster, Wright, McKenzie, Steven, Billings, Dunstan, Acres, Templeton, Longer, Hickey, Newnes, Membrey, McCartin, White, Lonie etc.

All have very promising lists. I think the Dogs will have the first crack at contending with Bontempelli, Stringer and Macrae developing RAPIDLY, if this keeps up they could do very well in a couple years. 2018 is when Saints should be making top 4 calculations. Not sure about Melbourne.

Richmond probably need more depth but Ellis, Menadue, Drummond and especially McKenzie are great additions, as was Lennon last season. Richmond should push for a premiership first since they are already a finals team but it's too hard to predict who will actually win one in the near future.

 

[aussierulesrules]

I think Melbourne are now ahead of, or will in the short term go ahead of WB, for the reasons I stated in my previous post above (re WB) and because of the Roos factor at Melbourne and the fact I think Melbourne are a huge chance to be a lot more competitive this year and then don't have the impending important retirements that both St Kilda and WB look like having over the next couple of years.

Unless WB have almost no injuries, I expect the loss of the likes of Griffen, Cooney, Higgins and Gia and the fact Tom Boyd is not likely to be ready to make a big difference yet will probably set them back in the short term, whereas I think Melbourne will be better in both the long and short term, as a result of their offseason list changes. They then don't have the equivalent of Murphy, Boyd and Morris looking like retiring any time soon.

They've lost Frawley from their best team, but could effectively add Hogan (huge, he looks so ready to go it's not funny), Frost, La Moomba, Garlett and Newton, who could all add something immediately, then from the draft they added ready-to-go talent in Petracca, Brayshaw, Stretch and Neal-Bullen, any of whom could potentially play from as early as round 1 this year.

Of the lower ranked 3, I see Melbourne climbing the ladder first, if they can "un-Melbourne" themselves, followed by probably WB, given they started their rebuild about two years before us, although that is now a bit more up in the air as we wait to see how the loss of Griff, Coon and co affects them and how many injuries they get, as, like us, their depth looks pretty damn young and inexperienced. Their rebuild has possibly been set back at least a year due to their offseason experienced losses and then of course they'll need to offset the eventual losses of Murphy, Morris and co., so for those reasons I think they're probably pretty level with us as far as how far along the rebuild they are, with Melbourne a decent chance to surge ahead of both over the next couple of years.

As for Richmond, I still don't see that as a premiership winning list, unless they pull a couple of big rabbits out of their hat.

 

[bkozican]

Melbourne, It makes cents...I mean sense.

 

[leekok]

The obvious answer is Richmond. They are the best of all the sides up for the vote.

 

[12Chill]

The obvious answer is Richmond. They are the best of all the sides up for the vote.

That doesn't mean you're actually going to win a premiership. 8 teams a year make the top 8, not all of them win grand finals within the next few to half a dozen years.

 

[rClifford]

For Richmond to win one we would need to get a big name player or two next off season or have some good improvement in our players that are middle tier to fringe players perfect examples of them would be conca and vickery

 

[aussierulesrules]

Yep, there are going to be a lot of teams with their chequebooks open in the next couple of offseasons in an attempt to either climb into that top 4 or not drop out of it, so a lot of it is going to come down to which of those teams land those big fish and which don't.

 

[gillon]

Richmond won't win won with their current list. The others are unlikely to as well. GC/GWS dominance is imminent, out of the list though, I'd say the Dogs are the best chance.

 

[12Chill]

Richmond won't win won with their current list. The others are unlikely to as well. GC/GWS dominance is imminent, out of the list though, I'd say the Dogs are the best chance.

Obviously WBD, Melb and Saints won't win with current lists, they're all in rebuild...

 

[DEVO]

None. Ever.

I don't think we'll ever seen the smaller Melbourne clubs achieve any success ever again. They might make the occasional Semi Final or Preliminary Final, but they don't have the resources in this day and age to compete with the rich Melbourne clubs and the Interstate clubs.

Unfortunately I include North Melbourne in that group as well, although I do hope I wrong. About North.

 

[windyhill]

Stk.
Stripped it right back after coming so close twice. Smart Saints, will be right back amongst in 3-4 years.

On track !

 

[Mitchell54]

Surprised there's so many people choosing Richmond. There going nowhere. I'm with Melbourne.

Melbourne & St Kilda. It will be one of them.

 

[Bulldog1954]

Surprised there's so many people choosing Richmond. There going nowhere.

The thread was started in 2014, when Richmond were the only competitive side of the 4. Doubt, anyone would pick them now.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Don't think any of them will win one in next 20 years so who knows

 

[JD Tomahawk]

I think the Giants and maybe the Suns will be to good and these clubs won't win a flag until their reign is over. One of them might get lucky.

 

[Procrastinator35]

What did Franco Cozzo say, when he accidentally trod into a tin of paint?....

Foot-Is-Gray!