how would they go - they would get flogged just like they are now
the only 3 quality players out are Brown, simmons and cogs
the real reason we are where we are is because our senior players like richo, bowden, tivendale, kraka and johnson are all soft physically and mentally (i am not disputing their football ability) just their hardness at the contest, at the man and their ability to change the course of the game (they are all front runners) we get bullied by everyone and have done for years, teams like kangaroos, swans, dees, bombers, pies, port, crows, lions, eagles have all made us their bitches for years.
when your core of senior players have this trait you are in trouble for a long time, the kids need time to build their bodies and take over from the core group, the question is are lids & bling going to take the game by the scruff of the neck physically and mentally as these are our quality mids (im not sure)
we are relying on a first gamer kid like riewoldt to be our spark....... thats a worry
i said a long time ago we need hardness, hard players that can physically and mentally take the game and the opposition on - i dont see it in our ranks anywhere
i look at a side like the kangaroos and pies - they dont have the best lists and dont have too many stars but they do have hardness and mental toughness and their culture ensures that they play that way
in my mind this is our biggest problem and has been for years, we dont have, and wont recruit hard players.
for years we have idolised soft players (no disrespect) but knights, brodders, gale, campbell, bowden, richo, browny, daffy - all good players but all lacked physicality and mental toughness
we need players with grit and mongrel like archer, king, voss, J.brown, kerr, they dont grow on trees but until we recruit a real mongrel with some size and presence for the middle and players like riewoldt, foley, polo get the body mass to insert some physical presence we will continue to get bullied by every other team for a long time to come.
