cecil89 wrote:
2: I have real doubts on the recruitment of Shaw and O’Shea, but the rest are necessary. We traded out our proven mid-tier players and attacked the draft with the picks we received in return. We then had no mid-tier players left on the list and had to fill those gaps on the cheap (not giving up valuable picks we could invest in youth). That’s led to a weak group of players in that age bracket and will only be properly rectified with time.
If you only read one post in this thread, make it cecil's above.
Some of the issues we're facing at the moment have their roots back in the Elliot era. I know that's a long time ago, but IMO it wasn't until Bolton arrived that we properly attacked the draft with an identified purpose and clear direction.
As cecil has noted, in order to do that we had to trade to get draft picks, which exposed the weaknesses the playing list already had when Bolton arrived.
We’re often compared with Hawthorn under Clarkson for obvious reasons. You look at their 2008 premiership side and it’s remarkable at what they achieved so quickly. That side had senior experience in the form of Croad, Crawford, Dew and Guerra to help guide the kids. Not a lot, but it was enough. We have Murphy and Kreuzer.
That said, it’s also no surprise that the Hawks didn’t really hit their straps until another five or so seasons, after those senior players mentioned were gone and the kids had matured.
Bolton is right, and it’s an oft used term, but we reset. That meant starting from ground zero.
A 66-game rebuild has been the term bandied about, but remember, this was a ground zero rebuild and if the core group of talent on our list is to reach the potential we hope it has that’s not unlikely to happen until beyond 2020. Guys like Doc and Cripps will be the elder statesmen, Dow, SPS et all will be just reaching their mid-20s.
So while the media froths and bubbles flipping from one opposing “expert analysis” to the other we have to remember where we’re coming from and that this is going to take time.
Like, Bomber Thompson 8 years kind of time.
Like, Hardwick shoulda been sacked, lolwut, how did they do that, kind of time.
We’re in year 3. It’s not Bolton’s fault that we’ve been faffing about since the early 2000s. He’s come here wanting to do a job and to do it properly. Not to pretend we’re a year or two away from a flag.
The only catch is that we don’t know if it’s going to work.
All we know is that it’s the first time we’ve taken a reasoned approach to build a list that can sustain us well into the future.