Teddy Hopkins wrote:
I actually disagree with these posts but it may be because I am looking through navy blue glasses.
Have a look at what we have. And I am not talking about the oldies. Or rejects from other clubs such as Newman, Newnes even though they are servicable.
Forwards: McKay, TDK, Kennedy, Harry, JSOS, Martin, Fisher, Cuninham, Curnow C, Gibbons, Owies, BSOS.
Mids: Dow, O'Brien, SPS, Kemp, Walsh, Martin, Fisher, Cuningham, Ramsay, Philp, Cripps, Honey, Gibbons, Setterfield Cottrell.
Backs: SPS, Stocker, Docherty, Plowman, Marchbank, Weitering, BSOS, Williamson.
Rucks: Pittonet, TDK.
These are the players I believe could be the future. There a lot of good players and decent prospects there. Just need to get games into them to find out.
I agree that (subject to some tweaking) the raw talent is there. It’s now about continuing to develop that talent.
The questions I have are:
(a) do enough of the players in this group have a win at all costs mentality?
(b) are we developing these kids to have a win at all costs mentality?
Chris Judd said after retirement he was astounded by how different the expectations were walking through the door at West Coast and Carlton. I’m paraphrasing here, but he pretty much said at West Coast it was all about winning flags and at Carlton it was more about winning contracts and remaining on the list. This is my biggest worry. Are we demanding success and a win at all costs mentality of every player that walks in the door? This is what creates a ruthless culture. It’s between the ears. It’s got little to do with raw talent. If we demand anything less of our players, all the talent in the world will only take us so far.