The old Bomber Thomson argument again, which roughly goes that if you keep a coach for 8 years, no matter what, you will become Geelong. Why doesn't anyone use the Terry Wallace, Danny Frawley arguments? Did they only fail to turn the Tiges into Geelong because they only had 4 or 5 years? This article is good in that it is one of the few that attempts any sort of analysis and research. (Apart from Jordan Russell's draft number). And there is no doubt you need experience, but how much experience did the Hawks have in 2008, where were the Cats in 2003-5? Happy to give Ratts next year as we prematurely extended his contract to then. But you don't blindly give every coach 7 years in the expectation that you will be Geelong. The notable things with Geelong is that they have two gun father son players, they have drafted well deep into the draft. And they have had drafts where they have picked up a number of very good players - 1999 Ling Chapman, Corey Enright. What draft in the last ten years have we picked up 4 players anywhere near that quality? Only very broadly can Geelong be compared top other side. What about the Saints? Their side mainly dates form this millenium. They include similar numbers of high picks, but then they have about 16 players who are rejects or duds.

You judge a coach on improvement, getting the best from the side and ensuring the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Does Ratts do that? Not recently but by the end of 2011 we will know. Would Geelong have been as good had Thomson been sacked and replaced at the start of 2007? Who knows.

Geelong's best 22 contains six top-20 draft picks; Carlton's best 22 contains nine.

Maybe not a great comparison when Geelong have Ablett, Scarlett, Hawkins, Blake from father-son selections (Round 3).

Ok I dont agree

What about Essendon*, Melbourne and Richmonds improvements with young players. No excuses for lack of effort.

I buy that we are inexperienced but what I dont buy is the fact we dont put our body on the line, cant tackle and cleary dont know what to do when they have the ball.

As for the mids, mclean will be a fantastic addition and provided he can remain fit will redefine our midfield setup by releasing Judd to the open spaces.

Does point out that flaky poor form can be turned around.............doesnt really say much else though.

selwood - 18yrs v yarran - 18yrs, 11mths (cats player 1 year younger)

You have a short memory - Despite their improvements in the young players, their %s tell the tale. Essendon*, Melbourne and Richmond all have a long way to go and will experience a few more thrashings yet before they get to the top 4. Just look back to some of their games earlier in the season if you want evidence of that.

3 weeks ago, Essendon* had just lost 5 games in succession by an average of 44 points (including an 84 point loss)
Melbourne have looked good the past 4 weeks, but in the 5 weeks prior to that they managed just one draw and an average margin of 43 points in their losses
Richmond have had 2 big losses (50 & 82 points) in their past 3 games

Young talented teams will give you highs and lows - as the talent develops experience, the lows will be gradually diminished/less frequent.

We've also seen plenty of improvement in our 'young' players this season - just compare the '09 to '10 seasons of the following players - garlett, yarran, warnock, jacobs, walker, armfield, russell, hampson and robinson - despite some form slumps, they have ALL improved on their 09 seasons (as has henderson).