4thchicken wrote:
more than enough talent - just need the development put into them.
IF we assume that kouta retires (on form he could go again), our best team for next season would be
FB - thornton, Setanta, flint
HB - Scotland, Waite, Lappin
C - Walker, gibbs, Simpson
HF - Kennedy, Whitnall, Fisher
FF - Houlahan, Fevola, Betts
Followers - Aisake, murphy, Stevens
Bench - hampson, Carazzo, Blackwell, Grigg
First 3 emergencies - Russell, Bower, benjamin
That assumes kouta retires (though the last 2 games would suggest he could go around again).
Also sitting on the sidelines would be bentick, hartlett, anderson, wiggins, edwards, austin, and all the draft picks for this years draft (at this stage would appear to be along the lines of ND - 1,3, 21,37, etc (assuming melbourne go past us). Picks 1 and 3 would be expected to be in first 22 by the end of the 08 season pushing 2 more players out of our 22 and into the depth column (say carazzo and hampson). The only real losses retirements on the horizon would be lappin, and perhaps lance - and they would be after the 08 season
Good post. The point being made here is that we have the talent, we just don't have the age.
In three years time we will only be definitely losing 2 star players through retirement (Kouta and Lappin). That will be a lot less than most clubs. Yes there may be a few others, but that will be well and truly compensated by the growth of the youngsters below them. When Walker, Gibbs, Murph, Simmo, etc hit their early to mid 20s, Fev, Stevens, Scotland, Waite, etc will be in their late 20s and we will then have the right mix of talent, age, experience. We have the talent, we are just not at the right stage of their development yet.
The only major hole I see is that we need a mobile rap ruckman desperately. If Hampo or Aisake don't come on like we expect, that will be the major hicup to our premiership aspirations. We'll need to trade for one which may take away a good player, or we'll have to lose a high draft pick (which may be fair compensation to make our run at a bunch of flags in 2010-2015).