aboynamedsue wrote:
PROS
- Walsh. No second year blues, in fact he improved in difficult circumstances and is a B&F chance. Gun.
- Weitering. Has become the player we hoped he would be. An example for persisting with young talent because he had his doubters 18 months ago. Dow & O’Brien take note!
- Martin. We’d like him to be more consistent, but for a guy we got for nothing he has been a resounding success. A match winner type.
- Setterfield. After a shaky start to the year, established himself and should get better. I wish more tackled like him.
- Newnes & Pittonet. Exceeded expectations and should be handy over the next few seasons.
- Docherty & Williamson. Their form fluctuated, but it was great to see them back out there. They will be better next year.
- TDK & Harry. It’s exciting to have couple of talented young talls coming through. I’ve been critical of Harry but it looked the penny started to drop late in the season.
- E Curnow, Gibbons & Plowman were solid.
- Cottrall, Philp, Honey & Owies got a taste.
- Number of quarters won.
CONS
- No proper reserves competition meant our group of young players missed a year of development and the step up from 12 a side scratch matches to AFL was simply too much when they came in.
- Dow, O’Brien, Cunningham & McGovern did not take the steps forward we needed them to.
- Charlie, SOJ, Newman, Marchbank & Macreadie had wasted years.
- Stocker. We still don’t know what happened there. I hope he is busy getting fit somewhere.
- Kreuzer. The end came quickly and cruelly.
- Our bad was the worst in the competition and we showed it too often.
SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN
- Betts helped us pick up some extra members, TV viewers and ‘good will’ - but his on field impact was marginal. He applied good forward pressure and was like playing assistant coach, but simply did not kick enough goals.
- Murphy’s season was not as bad as some say (I expect him to be top 10 in the B&F) but it is an indictment on our young mids that he is still comfortably in our best 22.
- Casboult was a Pro in the first half of the year and a Con in the second half. He served up some absolute rubbish late in the season. He may have been carrying an injury, or the mental/emotional toll of 2020 may have got to him. It’s a shame because he was terrific before that.
- Cripps did not have one of his better seasons, but on the flip side, we won games when he was quiet. In fact, I thought there were times we looked better when he was out of the middle.
- Simmo retiring while still playing good footy.
WHERE WILL THE IMPROVEMENT COME IN 2021?
We will be better with Charlie, Marchbank, Newman, SOJ & Kemp available. But that’s offset to a degree by the loss of Simmo and the inevitability of other injuries.
A lot rests on the continued improvement of Docherty, Fisher, Harry, Setterfield, SPS, TDK & Williamson.
Martin, Walsh & Weitering must maintain their 2020 form; and we need at least a couple of Cottrell, Cunningham, Dow, Honey, Kemp, O’Brien, Philp, Ramsay & Stocker to step up a level.
Cripps should have a better year in 2021.
DELISTINGS/TRADES
It’s a very important off season coming up. Wrong decisions on our list could set us back significantly at this point. I suspect that the likes of Dow & SPS won’t attract the return to make trading them worthwhile. Moreover, the club has publicly said it will look to stabilise the list; ie. no major turnover planned.
Accordingly, I expect us to make the minimum number of delistings (noting the minimum number will increase if list sizes are reduced).
Kreuzer, Lang, O’Dwyer, Simpson & Goddard (rookie list) will be cut. Kennedy, Macreadie, Polson, B.Silvagni & Owies (rookie list) could go too, depending on list numbers next year.
RECRUITMENT PRIORITIES
It’s a no brainer, the best result would be to land a quality midfielder via FA so that we don’t need to trade out good players or picks. Carlton has not been good at doing this, so Austin & co will need to work very hard to turn it around.
A ruckman (ideally a 21-24 year old from another club or state leagues) and a small forward are needs I would attempt to address via DFA (there might be some decent players available via DFA this year, due to reduced lists), secondary trades (mid/late draft picks) or in the draft itself.
In short, I think the improvement will need to largely come from within in 2021; it will be a massive, massive bonus if we can somehow attract a quality midfielder via FA.
I agree with most of it
Not on Martin
Setterfield needs to get his hands dirty. He is often second in line at ball ups
That’s why his tackle numbers are high
Free Agency
I have said no
I’ll retract
Yes but it’s got to be the right player
We need a runner
Not a slow inside beast
On Martin
He isn’t as good as people make out
As I said before the industry for whatever reason overrates certain players
Shiel Cogs
Martin couldn’t even get a game at GC at timesNeeds a rocket up his arse
Care to elaborate on that.
Prefer something closer to the truth as to why he was dropped.
...and what do people make out of Martin's form or ability you don't agree with? Interested to see who said he was as good if not better than Dusty, Danger, Cripps ... or whoever....that should tell us something about those posters.