17th Premiership wrote:
Pardon?
Last year was wasted? How exactly?
And I don't mean simply and glibly listing out all our negatives - that has little relationship to whether or not the year was wasted, unless one of the negatives is that we didn't achieve anything, didn't progress at all, didn't start to turn the big ship around.
Because I saw a lot of gains last year (and acknowledging that we still have a long way to go...):
- We brought in a range of promising young recruits who have shown some promise (e.g. Weitering, Silvagni, C Curnow, Plowman)
- We assessed and drew a line through a number of players who were getting old or not performing (e.g. Everitt, Jamo, Walker, Clem Smith, Tutt, Whiley...)
- We traded/recruited new players who either look like they might improve our list (Marchbank, Pickett, SPS, Fisher) or will at least provide some opportunity to plug gaps and MAY turn out better than those they are replacing (Palmer, Smedts)
- We took a big step towards better, systematic team defense. More evident in the first half of the year but something I believe we can build on
- We won more games than anyone expected which helps with belief
- Our rookie coach has got a year of experience under his belt (and he seems like the type of coach who would take the time to reflect and adjust, as his mentor Clarkson has done several times...)
- We have turned over 2/3 of our well-documented crap list.
Not really sure what you would have liked to see last year that you would not consider a 'waste'?
Just play all the kids? How did our VFL team go? How do you think we would have 'developed' with more of them in the senior team?
It's one thing to recognise our flaws and challenges.
It's another thing just to gratuitously and impatiently whinge and moan - very easy to do from the comfort of your keyboard.
I agree, in a perfect world, McKay would have had a taste, and C Curnow played a few more games, but injury and illness prevented that.