2009/10 premiership must come from the current list

[pahoffm]

2 good points made.

Phantom: We only have Pattison and graeme going around. No insurance.

billyBoy40:  With Simmo, knoble and patto playing seniors and sharing the ruck AND graeme devloping at Coburg, how are we going to get experience into another ruckster?

i think the only answer is to recruit another 'Angus' type and have him share with graeme at coburg or in Coburg's reserves.

PS: Another key position player would be handy

And this is exactly my point.  Even if we had surplus or break-even numbers of talls (rucks or KP's) - how do we get enough game time into them over the next few years so that by 2010/2011 they will be sufficiently experienced to carry us deep into the finals?

They don't get game time now.
Do you forget that Pattison spent much of 2004 & '05 at Coburg before getting more senior game time in '06.
Same can be said for Schulz, McGuane & Thursfield to some extent.
And Hughes will spend much time at Coburg in '07.

For the '07 draft,
I'd suggest that our 200+cm 1st pick will share ruck duties with Angus Graham. Possibly spend some time in 2008 rucking in Coburg 2nds, Coburg seniors in 2009, then some small time at Richmond in 2010.
Our 195+cm defender will play in Coburg's reserves in '08, Coburg seniors in '09, then up to Richmond in 2010.
Our 195+cm forward will do the same.

It's all a progression, and it's called list management.

 

[tiger in the night]

They don't get game time now.
Do you forget that Pattison spent much of 2004 & '05 at Coburg before getting more senior game time in '06.
Same can be said for Schulz, McGuane & Thursfield to some extent.
And Hughes will spend much time at Coburg in '07.

For the '07 draft,
I'd suggest that our 200+cm 1st pick will share ruck duties with Angus Graham. Possibly spend some time in 2008 rucking in Coburg 2nds, Coburg seniors in 2009, then some small time at Richmond in 2010.
Our 195+cm defender will play in Coburg's reserves in '08, Coburg seniors in '09, then up to Richmond in 2010.
Our 195+cm forward will do the same.

It's all a progression, and it's called list management.

Yep - can't fault that analysis. Makes me think our impression on finals footy is a good deal further away that 2009.

Oh - and thanks for that Fudge link. Haven't seen that before - that's terrific stuff.

 

[pahoffm]

Yep - can't fault that analysis.  Makes me think our impression on finals footy is a good deal further away that 2009.

We'll play finals footy by 2009.
It's when we can get ourselves into a position for a decent crack at a premiership that counts.

 

[evo]

If we're talking 09/10 alot seems to me to depend on whether Thirsty can become a decent full back.After only 6 games it's hard to tell.A smart move would be to look into another genuine full back/monster forward negator as a back up.

We still need more real quality mids.Only totally convinced on Lids so far,maybe Tambling.We need 3 or 4 more.Connors may be 1.

I think we're pretty well covered for the future forward line.

 

[FightingFury]

If we're talking 09/10 alot seems to me to depend on whether Thirsty can become a decent full back.After only 6 games it's hard to tell.A smart move would be to look into another genuine full back/monster forward negator as a back up.

We still need more real quality mids.Only totally convinced on Lids so far,maybe Tambling.We need 3 or 4 more.Connors may be 1.

I think we're pretty well covered for the future forward line.

Agreed bar the conviction on Tambling...talent for sure but needs to deliver on the field consistently before saying he's arrived.
Not overly worried about the forward line, but another 2KP defenders and another topline ruckman as well as the afoementioned mids, unless the current batch can breakout this season.

 

[momentai]

If we're talking 09/10 alot seems to me to depend on whether Thirsty can become a decent full back.After only 6 games it's hard to tell.A smart move would be to look into another genuine full back/monster forward negator as a back up.

We still need more real quality mids.Only totally convinced on Lids so far,maybe Tambling.We need 3 or 4 more.Connors may be 1.

I think we're pretty well covered for the future forward line.

I think you guys a being a bit pessimistic. I believe this is the best list we have had since the early 80's and that we have the services of the best coach since Tommy and the best admin since GR.

We can succeed in 08, 09 but I think we need to sacrifice game time for some of our regulars in order to get games into our second tier players in 07.

Bling, Pattison, Polak, Pollo, Raines and White all need a full season while fringe players like Hartigen, Hughes, Jackson, Mcguane, Meyer plus Casserly and Riewoldt all need to get as much AFL as possible. (I would hope for a min of 10 games each from this latter group.) 

Hall, Krakouer and Tiv are OK but if selectors don't give preference to the group above then players like Bowden, Brown, Johnson and Richo wont be around by the time we are ready. 

 

[pahoffm]

On a positive note, how about this for a practice match.

Richmond 23+yos v Richmond 22-yos

B: Newman, Gaspar, P.Bowden
F: Tambling, Schulz, Pattison

HB: J.Bowden, Hall, Moore
HF: Jackson, Hughes, Meyer

R: Knobel, Tuck, Hyde
C: Tivendale, Coughlan, Johnson
C: Polo, Raines, Howat
R: Graham, Deledio, Foley

HF: Brown, Rich'son, Pettifer
HB: Hartigan, Polak, Oakley-Nicholls

F: Simmonds, Kingsley, Krakouer
B: Thursfield, McGuane, White

And sitting on a common interchange bench,
King, Peterson, Edwards, Connors, Collins, Clingan, Casserley, Reiwoldt.

 

[Harro12]

If we're talking 09/10 alot seems to me to depend on whether Thirsty can become a decent full back.After only 6 games it's hard to tell.A smart move would be to look into another genuine full back/monster forward negator as a back up.

We still need more real quality mids.Only totally convinced on Lids so far,maybe Tambling.We need 3 or 4 more.Connors may be 1.

I think we're pretty well covered for the future forward line.

I think you guys a being a bit pessimistic. I believe this is the best list we have had since the early 80's and that we have the services of the best coach since Tommy and the best admin since GR.

We can succeed in 08, 09 but I think we need to sacrifice game time for some of our regulars in order to get games into our second tier players in 07.

Bling, Pattison, Polak, Pollo, Raines and White all need a full season while fringe players like Hartigen, Hughes, Jackson, Mcguane, Meyer plus Casserly and Riewoldt all need to get as much AFL as possible. (I would hope for a min of 10 games each from this latter group.) 

Hall, Krakouer and Tiv are OK but if selectors don't give preference to the group above then players like Bowden, Brown, Johnson and Richo wont be around by the time we are ready. 

This is the most sensible of the posts. I agree, why do others feel so pessisimistic. 'Oh the backline is shot!' 'Oh we don't have enough ruck back'. Hey, 'Newsflash!' we can only do so much each draft. IMHO the last 3 lots of trading/drafting whilst not having been perfect has been a pretty darn good effort. Unless of course people want to judge the likes of Tambling, Casserley, Meyer, Pattison and Hughes too quickly. (Just to name a few).

 

[FightingFury]

If we're talking 09/10 alot seems to me to depend on whether Thirsty can become a decent full back.After only 6 games it's hard to tell.A smart move would be to look into another genuine full back/monster forward negator as a back up.

We still need more real quality mids.Only totally convinced on Lids so far,maybe Tambling.We need 3 or 4 more.Connors may be 1.

I think we're pretty well covered for the future forward line.

I think you guys a being a bit pessimistic. I believe this is the best list we have had since the early 80's and that we have the services of the best coach since Tommy and the best admin since GR.

We can succeed in 08, 09 but I think we need to sacrifice game time for some of our regulars in order to get games into our second tier players in 07.

Bling, Pattison, Polak, Pollo, Raines and White all need a full season while fringe players like Hartigen, Hughes, Jackson, Mcguane, Meyer plus Casserly and Riewoldt all need to get as much AFL as possible. (I would hope for a min of 10 games each from this latter group.) 

Hall, Krakouer and Tiv are OK but if selectors don't give preference to the group above then players like Bowden, Brown, Johnson and Richo wont be around by the time we are ready. 

This is the most sensible of the posts.  I agree, why do others feel so pessisimistic.  'Oh the backline is shot!' 'Oh we don't have enough ruck back'.  Hey, 'Newsflash!' we can only do so much each draft.  IMHO the last 3 lots of trading/drafting whilst not having been perfect has been a pretty darn good effort.  Unless of course people want to judge the likes of Tambling, Casserley, Meyer, Pattison and Hughes too quickly. (Just to name a few).

I'll interrupt your newsflash to politely inform you of our *smile* woeful percentage last year.

The backline and onball brigade does need improvement to match the Eagles Swans Bulldogs (Who all gave us frightful pastings last year) before we mention premierships....isn't that what this threads about?

As for 'what more can we do' on the recruitment front, well we won't know until proven onfield will we??
Hopefully we've done well, as this was meant to be the best draft ever im sure every club thinks they've brained it before any of the boys have have earned a kick!

 

[Harro12]

If we're talking 09/10 alot seems to me to depend on whether Thirsty can become a decent full back.After only 6 games it's hard to tell.A smart move would be to look into another genuine full back/monster forward negator as a back up.

We still need more real quality mids.Only totally convinced on Lids so far,maybe Tambling.We need 3 or 4 more.Connors may be 1.

I think we're pretty well covered for the future forward line.

I think you guys a being a bit pessimistic. I believe this is the best list we have had since the early 80's and that we have the services of the best coach since Tommy and the best admin since GR.

We can succeed in 08, 09 but I think we need to sacrifice game time for some of our regulars in order to get games into our second tier players in 07.

Bling, Pattison, Polak, Pollo, Raines and White all need a full season while fringe players like Hartigen, Hughes, Jackson, Mcguane, Meyer plus Casserly and Riewoldt all need to get as much AFL as possible. (I would hope for a min of 10 games each from this latter group.) 

Hall, Krakouer and Tiv are OK but if selectors don't give preference to the group above then players like Bowden, Brown, Johnson and Richo wont be around by the time we are ready. 

This is the most sensible of the posts.  I agree, why do others feel so pessisimistic.  'Oh the backline is shot!' 'Oh we don't have enough ruck back'.  Hey, 'Newsflash!' we can only do so much each draft.  IMHO the last 3 lots of trading/drafting whilst not having been perfect has been a pretty darn good effort.  Unless of course people want to judge the likes of Tambling, Casserley, Meyer, Pattison and Hughes too quickly. (Just to name a few).

I'll interrupt your newsflash to politely inform you of our *smile*ing woeful percentage last year.

The backline and onball brigade does need improvement to match the Eagles Swans Bulldogs (Who all gave us frightful pastings last year) before we mention premierships....isn't that what this threads about?

As for 'what more can we do' on the recruitment front, well we won't know until proven onfield will we??
Hopefully we've done well, as this was meant to be the best draft ever im sure every club thinks they've brained it before any of the boys have have earned a kick!

Next time you use ' '(these) to quote someone will you be sure and get the quote right!? 'we can only do so much each draft.' carries a highly different meaning to 'What more can we do?' which is actually a question whereas what I actually typed was a statement not a question.

As for the pastings. I along with others are hopeful that the year of extra experience will alleviate this from happening again. The Sydney game in particular contained an unusually high amount of young players and Round 1 is round 1 we obviously over estimated the amount of work that we thought we'd done to be ready for a fast running team, hence by all accounts the outstanding work put in this pre season. (Particularly pleasing is the fact that 10 extra players beat a certain time for the first tan run.

Last point. You're quite agressive for no good reason. The point I made was simply regarding the level of pessisimism. If we didn't draft a strong marking defender (speculative as he is) then I am sure the equal amount of people would have whinged.

 

[evo]

If we're talking 09/10 alot seems to me to depend on whether Thirsty can become a decent full back.After only 6 games it's hard to tell.A smart move would be to look into another genuine full back/monster forward negator as a back up.

We still need more real quality mids.Only totally convinced on Lids so far,maybe Tambling.We need 3 or 4 more.Connors may be 1.

I think we're pretty well covered for the future forward line.

I think you guys a being a bit pessimistic. I believe this is the best list we have had since the early 80's and that we have the services of the best coach since Tommy and the best admin since GR.

We can succeed in 08, 09 but I think we need to sacrifice game time for some of our regulars in order to get games into our second tier players in 07.

Bling, Pattison, Polak, Pollo, Raines and White all need a full season while fringe players like Hartigen, Hughes, Jackson, Mcguane, Meyer plus Casserly and Riewoldt all need to get as much AFL as possible. (I would hope for a min of 10 games each from this latter group.) 

Hall, Krakouer and Tiv are OK but if selectors don't give preference to the group above then players like Bowden, Brown, Johnson and Richo wont be around by the time we are ready. 

This is the most sensible of the posts.  I agree, why do others feel so pessisimistic.  'Oh the backline is shot!' 'Oh we don't have enough ruck back'.  Hey, 'Newsflash!' we can only do so much each draft.  IMHO the last 3 lots of trading/drafting whilst not having been perfect has been a pretty darn good effort.  Unless of course people want to judge the likes of Tambling, Casserley, Meyer, Pattison and Hughes too quickly. (Just to name a few).

I'm not really pessimistic,in fact for the first time in years I'm fairly optimistic that we have the right people to identify what is required to build a side capable of vying for a premiership.

However the thread subject is questioning who are the players we have right now that would make up a 9/10 premiership side.

The way I see it,to be a serious contender it's paramount you have a top flight centre brigade who can deliver consistently and particularly under pressure on the big day.

The 2 real quality sides and the teams who have won 4 of the last 5 premierships West Coast and Brisbane had one thing in common.A top notch midfield.

-Brisbane had Voss,Lappin,Black Akermanis and Power
-West Coast Judd,Kerr,Cousins Embley and Fletcher.

All these players ,bar Fletcher are/were the premier midfielders in the league.

Right now our midfield for 09/10 is looking like Coughlan,Foley,Deledio,Tuck,Tambling and Polo.If people can say to themsleves they have the potential in 2 or 3 years to be similar to the 2 above midfields ,then fair enough.Personally I have my doubts.As I said in my initial post im  confident 'Lids will be in that class,and reasonably confident of Tambling.Guys like Polo Foley,White Raines are looking promising but the question remains do they have what it takes to become elite.This is not 'writing anyone off'-it's just trying to anser the question posed honestly.

I'm reasonably confident we will be playing finals if not in 07 then in 08-010.I havn't been able to honestly say that  for years.But if we're going to be a real serious Premiership contender then these 2 midfields should be seen as a benchmark to aim for.

I agree with you that we can only do so much each draft and since Wallace has joined we have drafted fairly well.But we've only just started doing what teams like West Coast have been doing for years.Given that we are unlikely to be getting high and priority picks by ending bottom 2 in the foreseable future then we have to keep sifting through the potential midfielders,as we have been doing.Thankfully, Wallace(unlike Frawley/Gesichen) fully understands this.

Quite a few of young guys are looking promising and it's exciting to watch so many kids coming through the club.It's the only real way in modern footy to build a real top class side.

 

[Harry]

If we're talking 09/10 alot seems to me to depend on whether Thirsty can become a decent full back.After only 6 games it's hard to tell.A smart move would be to look into another genuine full back/monster forward negator as a back up.

We still need more real quality mids.Only totally convinced on Lids so far,maybe Tambling.We need 3 or 4 more.Connors may be 1.

I think we're pretty well covered for the future forward line.

I think you guys a being a bit pessimistic. I believe this is the best list we have had since the early 80's and that we have the services of the best coach since Tommy and the best admin since GR.

We can succeed in 08, 09 but I think we need to sacrifice game time for some of our regulars in order to get games into our second tier players in 07.

Bling, Pattison, Polak, Pollo, Raines and White all need a full season while fringe players like Hartigen, Hughes, Jackson, Mcguane, Meyer plus Casserly and Riewoldt all need to get as much AFL as possible. (I would hope for a min of 10 games each from this latter group.) 

Hall, Krakouer and Tiv are OK but if selectors don't give preference to the group above then players like Bowden, Brown, Johnson and Richo wont be around by the time we are ready. 

This is the most sensible of the posts.  I agree, why do others feel so pessisimistic.  'Oh the backline is shot!' 'Oh we don't have enough ruck back'.  Hey, 'Newsflash!' we can only do so much each draft.  IMHO the last 3 lots of trading/drafting whilst not having been perfect has been a pretty darn good effort.  Unless of course people want to judge the likes of Tambling, Casserley, Meyer, Pattison and Hughes too quickly. (Just to name a few).

I'm not really pessimistic,in fact for the first time in years I'm fairly optimistic that we have the right people to identify what is required to build a side capable of vying for a premiership.

However the thread subject is questioning who are the players we have right now that would make up a 9/10 premiership side.

The way I see it,to be a serious contender it's paramount you have a top flight centre brigade who can deliver consistently and particularly under pressure on the big day.

The 2 real quality sides and the teams who have won 4 of the last 5 premierships West Coast and Brisbane had one thing in common.A top notch midfield.

-Brisbane had Voss,Lappin,Black Akermanis and Power
-West Coast Judd,Kerr,Cousins Embley and Fletcher.

All these players ,bar Fletcher are/were the premier midfielders in the league.

Right now our midfield for 09/10 is looking like Coughlan,Foley,Deledio,Tuck,Tambling and Polo.If people can say to themsleves they have the potential in 2 or 3 years to be similar to the 2 above midfields ,then fair enough.Personally I have my doubts.As I said in my initial post im  confident 'Lids will be in that class,and reasonably confident of Tambling.Guys like Polo Foley,White Raines are looking promising but the question remains do they have what it takes to become elite.This is not 'writing anyone off'-it's just trying to anser the question posed honestly.

I'm reasonably confident we will be playing finals if not in 07 then in 08-010.I havn't been able to honestly say that  for years.But if we're going to be a real serious Premiership contender then these 2 midfields should be seen as a benchmark to aim for.

I agree with you that we can only do so much each draft and since Wallace has joined we have drafted fairly well.But we've only just started doing what teams like West Coast have been doing for years.Given that we are unlikely to be getting high and priority picks by ending bottom 2 in the foreseable future then we have to keep sifting through the potential midfielders,as we have been doing.Thankfully, Wallace(unlike Frawley/Gesichen) fully understands this.

Quite a few of young guys are looking promising and it's exciting to watch so many kids coming through the club.It's the only real way in modern footy to build a real top class side.

Great post

 

[TOT70]

I'm not really pessimistic,in fact for the first time in years I'm fairly optimistic that we have the right people to identify what is required to build a side capable of vying for a premiership.

However the thread subject is questioning who are the players we have right now that would make up a 9/10 premiership side.

The way I see it,to be a serious contender it's paramount you have a top flight centre brigade who can deliver consistently and particularly under pressure on the big day.

The 2 real quality sides and the teams who have won 4 of the last 5 premierships West Coast and Brisbane had one thing in common.A top notch midfield.

-Brisbane had Voss,Lappin,Black Akermanis and Power
-West Coast Judd,Kerr,Cousins Embley and Fletcher.

All these players ,bar Fletcher are/were the premier midfielders in the league.

Right now our midfield for 09/10 is looking like Coughlan,Foley,Deledio,Tuck,Tambling and Polo.If people can say to themsleves they have the potential in 2 or 3 years to be similar to the 2 above midfields ,then fair enough.Personally I have my doubts.As I said in my initial post im  confident 'Lids will be in that class,and reasonably confident of Tambling.Guys like Polo Foley,White Raines are looking promising but the question remains do they have what it takes to become elite.This is not 'writing anyone off'-it's just trying to anser the question posed honestly.

I'm reasonably confident we will be playing finals if not in 07 then in 08-010.I havn't been able to honestly say that  for years.But if we're going to be a real serious Premiership contender then these 2 midfields should be seen as a benchmark to aim for.

I agree with you that we can only do so much each draft and since Wallace has joined we have drafted fairly well.But we've only just started doing what teams like West Coast have been doing for years.Given that we are unlikely to be getting high and priority picks by ending bottom 2 in the foreseable future then we have to keep sifting through the potential midfielders,as we have been doing.Thankfully, Wallace(unlike Frawley/Gesichen) fully understands this.

Quite a few of young guys are looking promising and it's exciting to watch so many kids coming through the club.It's the only real way in modern footy to build a real top class side.

Well said. Build a team to play regular finals series together and the rest will look after itself in good time. The missing links will become evident over time and the challenge for the club will be to find them. Players can be traded for to bolster a weakness or a young draftee can unexpectedly fill a spot.

Get the team to the finals for experience first and worry about what is needed for premierships when the jump required is achievable.

 

[FightingFury]

Next time you use ' '(these) to quote someone will you be sure and get the quote right!?  'we can only do so much each draft.' carries a highly different meaning to 'What more can we do?' which is actually a question whereas what I actually typed was a statement not a question.

As for the pastings.  I along with others are hopeful that the year of extra experience will alleviate this from happening again.  The Sydney game in particular contained an unusually high amount of young players and Round 1 is round 1 we obviously over estimated the amount of work that we thought we'd done to be ready for a fast running team, hence by all accounts the outstanding work put in this pre season. (Particularly pleasing is the fact that 10 extra players beat a certain time for the first tan run.

Last point.  You're quite agressive for no good reason.  The point I made was simply regarding the level of pessisimism.  If we didn't draft a strong marking defender (speculative as he is)  then I am sure the equal amount of people would have whinged.

Split hairs all you like.

I'll quote you verbatim then
'Oh the backline is shot"..........No one said this.
'Oh we dont have enough ruck back'.......no one said this either,maybe because it makes no sense?!

"Newsflash" was condecending smartarse reference to the posts by Evo and myself for daring contend our mids and backline are currently not premiership standard.
You think they are, tally ho for you....I don't and remarked so.

As Evo eloquently posted, I'm far more comfortable with our recent drafting, but after 2005 we had a totally imbalanced list and thus attention was required almost everywhere on the ground.
It won't and can't be resolved within 3 years and I still believe the midfield and backline need further surgery before any top 4 scenarios can be realised and thats what the topics about!!!

We got 4 hidings and that included one in the last round (WCE) so I don't buy your excuse about young players not ready for Rd 1 either.

Lastly, no apology for what you see as 'pessimism'
Its what I believe is a missing piece of jigsaw in our frame.
If you found the response aggressive then I suggest you re-read what is a sarcastic post from yourself and ask what triggered it.

I'm not really pessimistic,in fact for the first time in years I'm fairly optimistic that we have the right people to identify what is required to build a side capable of vying for a premiership.

However the thread subject is questioning who are the players we have right now that would make up a 9/10 premiership side.

The way I see it,to be a serious contender it's paramount you have a top flight centre brigade who can deliver consistently and particularly under pressure on the big day.

The 2 real quality sides and the teams who have won 4 of the last 5 premierships West Coast and Brisbane had one thing in common.A top notch midfield.

-Brisbane had Voss,Lappin,Black Akermanis and Power
-West Coast Judd,Kerr,Cousins Embley and Fletcher.

All these players ,bar Fletcher are/were the premier midfielders in the league.

Right now our midfield for 09/10 is looking like Coughlan,Foley,Deledio,Tuck,Tambling and Polo.If people can say to themsleves they have the potential in 2 or 3 years to be similar to the 2 above midfields ,then fair enough.Personally I have my doubts.As I said in my initial post im  confident 'Lids will be in that class,and reasonably confident of Tambling.Guys like Polo Foley,White Raines are looking promising but the question remains do they have what it takes to become elite.This is not 'writing anyone off'-it's just trying to anser the question posed honestly.

I'm reasonably confident we will be playing finals if not in 07 then in 08-010.I havn't been able to honestly say that  for years.But if we're going to be a real serious Premiership contender then these 2 midfields should be seen as a benchmark to aim for.

I agree with you that we can only do so much each draft and since Wallace has joined we have drafted fairly well.But we've only just started doing what teams like West Coast have been doing for years.Given that we are unlikely to be getting high and priority picks by ending bottom 2 in the foreseable future then we have to keep sifting through the potential midfielders,as we have been doing.Thankfully, Wallace(unlike Frawley/Gesichen) fully understands this.

Quite a few of young guys are looking promising and it's exciting to watch so many kids coming through the club.It's the only real way in modern footy to build a real top class side.

Fantastic post.........couldn't agree more.

 

[tigersnake]

Yeah evos post is good, and i mostly agree, but i'd put it even simpler, unless at the very minumum 1, and probably 2, of our young midfielder become bona-fide, game-greaking, superstars with leadership qualities we might get top 4 but won't threaten for a flag.

Having said that, its interesting that Port and Sydney won flags with good rather than great ,hardworking midfields, but they had good forward lines. Brisbane had both and so got a hat trick, WC forward line is not nearly up to flag standard but their glut of midfield superstars compensates, just (1 point).

If 2 or 3 of the following occur:

Deledio becomes Juddesque
Tambling becomes McLeodesque
Polo become Goodwinesque
Foley becomes Bellesque
White becomes Crouchesque

etc etc, fill in the rest, we will threaten for a flag. You need go-to dependable superstar leaders to win flags, find a couple of them, and that takes a bit of luck as well as nouse, and I'm confident that good recruiting and coaching, of future and current players, will fill out the rest of the side. Deledio looks most likely, Brown is one and would still be around.

 

[Mr Brightside]

ullhair Axe to become Bellesque My man have you not seen our boy Axe play,unlike Bell he is at the bottom of the pack working his arse off, not crusing around the back pockets getting cheap sideways kicks,Id be happy with the others though

 

[craig]

The lack of quality talls has been a long standing problem, with only Riewoldt and Hughes the most exciting options.
The forward li9ne is not an issue for the future as our list stands currently in terms of taller key targets.
Schulz still yet to prove anything of substance apart from an ability to get injured and only really performed at a standard required of him over possibly less than 10 games.
McGuane is unproven and could easily not make the grade, and another 190cm lightweight and as for Moore imo he isnt good enough either and yet another 190 cm type. Our defence needs height and big bodies.
As for young genuine talls or prospective rucks at the pre discussed 195cm + mark weve got Pattison who despite the odd show of promise has a long way to go and Graham who wont make it as far as im concerned
Thursfield at 190cm is not a genuine tall with players at 188 cm or round the 6"2 mark playing in the middle ie Bowdens, Tuck, Lids etc, and Willy is also coming back from a serious career threatening injury but fingers crossed he comes good, without him and a hopefully rejuvenated Polak the future keys of our defence looking at our current list is non existant.

The trading for Polak was a desperate measure to try and plug some gaping holes in the list, and i still believe we shouklda taken McKenzie or M, Brown when available. I understand Edwards is very promising but reminds me of our selection of Fiora over the Pav. Hopefully Edwards becomes the player he is supposed to become for the main reason being we need him to as his class in the middle will be pivotal.
I still feel a little like the club has not realised how poor our defence still is, and Polak on his own wont fix it. Should Will struggle ( and as his proud prez) i pray he comes back 100% the tigers will continue to try a half arsed defence with the likes of P Bowden, and Hall which has all the trademarks of the little boy trying to plug the holes in the dyke wall.

A McKenzie or Brown or Will Schofield all woulda been a move in the right direction to have depth in height and body size down back as our keys come 09. As it stands IMO we dont have any.

P Bowden, J Bowden, Hall, McGuane and Moore are not key defenders.

 

[craig]

Was gonna try to do a side as well like you guys and good on you all for giving it a go but i couldnt quite simply as by i find it pointless looking at the current list and trying to apply it to 3 years ahead simply as there should be a minimum of 18 changes to the list by 2010.

Well done all and what this thread amongst others shows is that the punters are starting to increase the idle of their engines as the footy draws closer by the day, with a distinct lack of footy news we are doing the best we can.

The intensity and passion is starting to well back after a hiatus.

Tis gonna be fever pitch come the Pre season games.

Well done

 

[Mr Brightside]

I certainly agree with most that our potential forward line is looking the goods,but I also see our backline coming along well,I for one think Reiwoldt may well play at CHB for a lot of his career.
Spoke to FJ pre xmas an told me how he had seen Jack play at CHB(not many have apparently)an how well he played there.
Thing about premiership backlines recently is there is not a lot of 195+key backs in them,I personally see Polak,Sarge,Reiwoldt an Will been able to cover most types of key forwards,Players need to be more flexible nowdays(big gorilla fullback would be nice though).Players like JON,Casserly,Polo,PB are all capable of playing on talls an smalls an Im sure come 09 Joel,Sugar,Newy,Raines will all be still playing good footy