Where will our improvement come from?

[stui magpie]

We have a number of players on the list who, for one reason or the other, haven’t had a shot yet or have had shots and misfired. We may well have a mini clean out, but I want to look at some of the kids and where our side can improve.

Firstly, the regulars.

DeGoey – Still has lots of upside and improvement in him, if he stays fit he can go up a level yet as a midfielder /forward
Moore – Same. His performance against Cameron showed just how bloody good he can be. If he can start stringing games together consistently he’ll be All Australian CFB.
Stephenson – Sky’s the limit. Like DeGoey, he’ll start to move midfield more but such a weapon up forward.
Callum brown – Has his detractors but is getting better each week. Clear upside to him, will be an inside mid.
Cox – Still learning and still can improve. Vital to our structure IMO
Noble – hasn’t been dropped yet so that makes him a regular. Looking forward to seeing what he can do with an AFL pre season under his belt
Maynard, Crisp, Phillips, WHE, Thomas, Treloar, Adams, Sidey, Pendles, Roughy etc don’t have big scope for improvement, they just need to keep doing what they’re doing. I’d put Scharenberg and Langdon in the same category, they just need their bodies to hold up.


The in and outs.
Daicos – Plenty of upside to this kid, I have faith
Aish – I can’t get a handle on this kid, coming up 24 it’s now or never
Wills – 27 next year. Showed he can play, I don’t know if he has massive scope for improvement but getting a consistent run at it he improves the team.
Sier – Seems to have been around for ever but turns 22 in December. His best is good enough, he just needs to stay fit. I’m not sure if he and Wills can play in the same side, they both play the same role
Crocker – Like Sier seems to have been around forever and only 22 but unlike Sier hasn’t had injuries and has had a number of opportunities at AFL level and I just don’t think he has what it takes.
Appleby – Tries hard but I don’t see it. Maybe has massive improvement in him, I’m just not sure where it will come from as there’s nothing remarkable about him
Murphy – Similar to Appleby, but I sense there is scope here. Something about the kid.
Quaynor – Only had a short go at it before getting injured but showed something. Get a full pre season into him, lots of potential to work with here
Magden – I don’t think he’s going to get better, he is what he is. Basically a back up slightly undersized key defender


The unsighted. (at AFL level anyway)
Will Kelly – Had a crook ankle before the season started and just never got a run at it at VFL level. 194cm, athletic, lots of potential here.
Tyler Brown - Massive upside to this kid, just got to put some muscle on him.
Atu Bosenavulagi – Would seem to be loads of potential here, didn’t see enough of him at VFL level to really comment
Max Lynch – Just turned 21 and while he hasn’t set the world on fire at VFL level, ruckmen generally need more time than small players, Grundy being a clear exception. I don’t see potential star ruckmen there, but there’s plenty of grunts getting games as AFL ruckmen and the junior talent pool is very thin so I’d keep him, upgrade him if we have to
Keane and Tohill are Irish experiments with potential and neither are short, Tom Wilson a 194cm ex basketballer who played junior footy will benefit from an AFL pre season and we apparently have our hooks into Darcy Cameron from the Swans, 205cm 103kg ruck/forward.

So that’s it. I’m not sure whether to feel excited or depressed but there’s definitely enough players on our list with potential that we shouldn’t stagnate. I’d still like a 197cm athletic forward for Xmas

[RudeBoy]

Well done Stui for that analysis. Fwiw, here's my 2 bobs worth.

Where will improvement come from?

De Goey to get super fit and become our midfield Dangerfield.

Moore to become the All Australian CHB.

Stephenson to become even better.

Quaynor to become our fast, attacking half back.

Grundy to learn how to ruck properly.

Cox to become a consistent contributor now he can see properly!

Tyler Brown, Kelly and (hopefully) Bossanova to push for senior opportunities.

Sier to get super fit or else traded.

Who should we let go?

Ageing retirees should be Goldy, Greenwood, Wells and Reid.

Young players not good enough imo, who should be allowed to go elsewhere are Callum Brown, Daicos, Crocker, Broomhead, Lynch, Appleby and Madgen.

Depth only players (not expected to improve our team) are Noble, Aish and Murphy.

[stui magpie]

Cheers Rudie,

I disagree on Callum Brown and Daicos.

With Lynch, he's only a baby in Ruck terms so unless we really think he's just not going to make it, I'd hang onto him. Even if we do get Cameron. Play the 2 at VFL level interchanging between Ruck and FF.

We could also use an actual ruck coach, Pebbles was a good key Forward but him coaching Ruckmen would be like me teaching sky diving - just cos I did it once doesn't mean I know how it works. Rendell should be out there

[think positive]

[tbaker]

Our biggest improvement will come by fixing the injury debacle that's plagued us the past few years. Give us an injury run akin to Richmond/Geelong/Brisbane and we wouldn't even be having this discussion - it'd be more like "how can we keep all our players together"

[K]

Yup! Let's call for a professional external review.

[RudeBoy]

Won't next year be Callum Brown and Josh Daicos' 3rd or 4th yr with us?

Neither excite me in any way. Compare their impact to another small player, young Miers at the Cats, in just his first year. Or Stack at Richmond.

Despite my view, I expect Brown to be retained, but so far poor Daicos has not developed as I'd hoped. For a dwarf, he is neither fast, nor tough. I actually expect him to request a trade, probably to North, in pursuit of more senior opportunities.

[tbaker]

[Pies2016]

I’m bullish on the Irish boy, Keane.
Off a very low base but every time I saw him in the VFL ( only a few times to be fair ) he had the better of his opponent ( s )
Wilson could be interesting, the sample size is only small but we know the Cats and Hawks were also very keen on him.

Both are long shots given their backgrounds but if one of them can become a regular, then if helps us with our KPP stocks.

[stui magpie]

[RudeBoy]

Daics is certainly skilled stui, but imo, when you are a small player, you also need to be fast and/or tough. Sadly, he is neither.

[magpieazza]

The dilema for me is not so much if they have talent or not but if they can stand up and get on the ground next year.

Do we keep Grundy, Moore, Elliott ( and maybe even De Goey ) while they are up and about or do we trade them and get in the ball park area of 5 first round picks for all of them, maybe 7-8 if De Goey is in the mix.

Will they fall over with hammys next year, thus becoming chronic and invaluable?? Will Grundys head be in SA or Vic next year??
Chuck in Sharenberg as a possible trade hedge as well.

Would be ideal if they stayed and played in a premiership.

Just cast back to Travis Cloke when he was worth multiple first round picks and we could have traded him while his dad was holding us over the barrel for the whole season when negotiating over his contract. Instead we kept him and his form took a dramatic untimely nosedive and then he was traded for pick 70 something at years end.....
Its like playing the stock market, trade while you got value

To hedge or not to hedge.....

[Dave The Man]

By not getting Injuries the whole season and not have about 5 or of our Best 22 out of the side at end of the Season

[RudeBoy]

Unless I'm mistaken, Elliott is a free agent, so we can't trade him. However, I think we can receive a compensatory draft pick, depending on the size of the contract he accepts from another club.

Given his poor injury record, he would be one player I'd be willing to let go, in order to get us back into the draft.

[stui magpie]

^

Head agrees, heart says no.