Elwood Blues1 wrote:
We have too many softish players who cant tackle and who cant fly the flag and get that spirit that the Kangaroos for example do have.
not going to happen anytime soon, you talk of kangaroos, who are their enforcers? they certainly arent their kids, its the senior players.
to get some of those in, we will need to recruit mature bodies.
also, i dont think that side is as slow as you may think it is
anderson, griggs, walker, bower, simpson, russel, houlihand, betts all have abut of toe about them
but that is also something we can look at in the upcoming draft.
but i do liken us to Geelong. I think we will improve next year, but still have a few shit games, but generally will be alot more consitent.
year after we will take another step, another pre-season, players becoming stronger etc.., year after that (2010) should see us aiming towards finals and having a fair crack.
i dont think our list is as bad as what many say, its the one thing i have agreed with on Pagan, we need time to give them a couple more preasons, time for them to mature into the roles.
Team for 2008 (im not a 100% sure of the ages, but they are what i think they are)
FF - Fisher (22) - Fevola (26) - Betts (21)
HF - Gibbs (18) - Kennedy (19) - Houlihan (25)
C- Simpson(22) - Scotland (26) - Russel (21)
HB - Thorton (22) - Waite (23) - Walker (22)
FB - Bower (20) - Setanta (23) - Anderson (19)
Ruck - Cloke (22) Murphy (20) Stevens (27)
Int - Krezuer (18) Aisake (21) Griggs (18) Blackwell (21) Hartlett (22)
and that doesnt include what else we get in this years draft
same team, 2010, and about 200kgs heavier and alot fitter across the board
FF - Fisher (25) - Fevola (29) - Betts (24)
HF - Gibbs (21) - Kennedy (22) - Houlihan (28)
C- Simpson(25) - Scotland (29) - Russel (24)
HB - Thorton (25) - Waite (26) - Walker (25)
FB - Bower (23) - Setanta (26) - Anderson (22)
Ruck - Cloke (25) Murphy (23) Stevens (30)
Int - Krezuer (21) Aisake (24) Griggs (21) Blackwell (24) Hartlett (25)
and suddenly, with all players around 10kgs more, some less, some more, and alot fitter and stronger, and we start to see a good side on the park.
if we do it right, we can create a dynasty, and that is with vastly using the majority of the team we have (assuming they come on as expected)
He knows how to find the nut and you need to have the nut to win games.
However, Very good post. Very good. It's interesting when you look at that list in 3 years time and consider the age the each player will be, we will be a hell of a lot better than we are now. Also with another 50 games under the belt. All we need is just a little patience. In the mean time, tank this year, pick up picks 1, 3, 18, and others and keep building. However I probably prefer scotland back flank, perhaps walker centre, or in the 2010 team perhaps bryce centre
As for the pace issue, I think you'll find the recruiters are already onto that. Apart from bryce, (who's not exactly slow) all our 2006 draftees are very quick. Grigg, Hampson, Austin, Anderson, Benjamin. Check out their draft camp results, all very impressive in the sprint sections
Voss for coach. Fresh