Where will our improvement come from?

[warburton lad]

Our improvement comes from as follows:

Daicos- will be in his fourth season- must be given a license to kick long and quickly (too many his kicks are dinky- sideways efforts which explains his high disposal efficiency) Have him train endurance with Steele or Phillips.

Kelly- a very fine young player who is a very quick tall-running defender. Needs a full preseason and may surprise as a round one selection in 2020.

Murphy- an upgrade on Scharenberg- fearless, quick and a thumping kick.

Lynch- persist with another season- continue to run as Grundy's running partner to develop that tank.If we get Darcy Cameron, they can share ruck/full forward duties in the VFL

Cox- needs to bulk up but being able to see the ball in flight will help his marking; no doubt. Essential as the man who gives Grundy relief in the ruck.

Tyler Brown- if he can add muscle to his frame and continue to work on his running, the sky is the limit- definitely a chip off the old block this one.

Bosenavulagi- has the X factor, but needs a tank to go with it- if he works hard enough, he may feature early in 2020.

Quaynor- has had a taste- will definitely be needed in the team for the change-up in pace.

Greenwood- retain on minimum chips should feature in Round 15 in 2020.

Dunn- delist, then rookie him. Back up if we are in dire need.

Scharenberg- needs to work really hard on increasing his pace over the summer- even with three reconstructions, it can be done.

Sier/Wills- possibly only one spot in the team- they both need immense preseasons as if we are to improve on 2019, it will be based in large part on what they can provide.

Hoskin-Elliott - has the goods to be a star, but needs to find his 2018 form, and fast. If he were challenged to be a wingman, it may give him an opportunity to show his full range of skills- certainly provides a great marking option for bombs out of defence.

Elliott- must be retained- he is one of a number of X-Factors in the current forward set up. We have been incredibly patient and supportive; I'm hoping Jamie will recognise this and stay.

De Goey- time to elevate from immensely talented to a genuine star in the comp. Play the majority of game time in the middle and release Sidebottom to go forward as a crumbing half-forward/goalkicker.

Sidebottom- a change of role where he becomes an engineer of goal-assists. Is uniquely skilled and is good off either foot.

Pendles- we need to use his marshalling skills off half-back- who better to launch attacks from the back-half. Alternately, he can play forward, changing on the ball with De Goey.

Goldsack/Wells/Crocker/Reid/Murray/Broomhead- time to move on

Langdon- if he can do a full preseason, he will be a massive boost to our back half

Beams- totally in the lap of the gods; if he comes back well-rested and physically recovered from the multiple surgeries that would be great. I pray that he enjoys a full return to a strong mental health and this, above all else, is what I pray will happen for him and his friends and family. Would love to see him back for round one 2020.

Thomas- a huge preseason to enable him to have a run through the midfield- our midfield strength is currently more apparent than real so we will need to develop the depth from within.

Appleby- Needs a huge preseason in both the gym and on the track- needs to find a yard of pace, but also work on his capacity to hold his ground in one-on-ones. Too easily pushed off the ball at present.

Noble- I believe that he may struggle to back up- unless he can reinvent himself as a fast, gut-running winger/forward. Very few can catch him, can he be a fast, crumbing forward?

Loads more could be written- but, short of a few recruiting coups, we will be relying more than ever on continued improvement from within- the burning question is, how hungry are our players for the ultimate success.

Floreat Pica all.

[think positive]

Yeah me too, however if we can pick up a ready made KPP, Whosover 6 foot, I’d apologise to my heart! It can take 1 more hit!

[RudeBoy]

I like your loyalty to our players Laddy, but in all honesty, I suspect Scharenberg, Daicos and Elliott will all seek trades elsewhere.

[think positive]

[RudeBoy]

[think positive]

[bally12]

Our improvement will come from:

- change of game style. The defensive down-the-line, supposedly "safe" game style is dead. Richmond has blown this style away. When we beat Richmond we hit them hard on the counter. When we go, we need to go, and fast, using the centre corridor at every opportunity. Keeping the ball locked in your forward line for long periods isn't the way to score, as we saw in the last 10mins of the Giants game.

- being aggressive with selections. Give the kids a go. If a player has been 2 years in our system, he needs to be given a taste of seniors. I remember Bucks had given up on Mayne, and was only because we had injuries that he got a chance, and took it. I don't think we even gave Ceglar a chance, and look at him now...turned into a pretty good marking ruckman. To not give Broomy a go after he put in an amazing recovery, and was in the bests week after week in the 2nds, is simply shameful. You can make all the bsh#t docos you like, and say things that sound cool, but it's always actions that count.

- a change of psychology. We are a nice, and fair team. Nice guys never win. Giants pushed the boundary, and got away with it. This is especially true of our inside mids. They all need to be bulls, and their mindset needs to be ruthless and aggressive from the start. Too often we come out and wait for the oppo to land the first punch. Watch the 1-point win against the Eagles again and you'll see DeGoey single-handedly put the frighteners up the Eagles when he went into the middle, and turned the tide and won the game for us. Putting Adz, Sidey, Pendles, Thomas on the inside at stoppages is just asking for trouble.

- Grundy should have maximum of 3 modes of tapping the ball, like a tennis serve...clear the inside zone, where our outside runners swoop....drop it close, which he loves doing.....grab it out of the ruck himself and kick forward. At all times our mids should know what he's going to do. Keep the oppo guessing. It can't be that hard to take advantage of his ruck dominance. We just need a simple system. I mean what is going on down there...it's like dumb and dumber.

- Our training should be geared towards power and acceleration, and our mids rotated heavily through the bench, a-la Swanny. Long-distance runners just don't get it done at AFL level. Compare the effectiveness of Philips with Martin/DeGoey type.
At stoppages all our players should be on the move. No standing around bludging. Same goes for the forwards. Repeat leads to lose your man. Our team needs to be dynamic.

- Get a skills coach that knows what he is doing. Saying a teenager cannot be taught skills is ridiculous, especially kicking skills.

- Hand the captaincy to Adams. Pendles is a great player, but he's not a tough type that will bust through a brick wall. Enough words, and more leading through actions. I don't know DeGoey personally, but if he's up for it, and wants to lead mean into battle, I'd make him vice-captain. The guy has that ability to take the team on his shoulders. He did it against the Eagles. Crisp, Mayne, Moore, the other vice captains. Mix it up a bit. Side by side still remains our motto.
Tell the supporters we will take it to the opposition, and hear a different Collingwood crowd really get their roar up. Last few years it's like going to to the tennis, just sitting there watching them play a boring style.
Come on Pies.

[Lazza]

Darcy Cameron could be a real smokey. Will be watching him develop.

[Kill for Collingwood]

Why the !@&$@ would Elliott want to leave after all his shit and current form?
And why would we want him to FFS.
If he is genuinely fixed, he's arrived at the prime of his career; and a bloody star!!!

[derkd]

[ThePieMind]

[23 YIPPEE!!!]

Main thing is to trade some players namly the more injured ones and the ones that seam to be passengers for draft picks and start to re build on raw young talent

[23 YIPPEE!!!]

Need an entire review of every ones position

[Skids]

[derkd]