I'm devastated like everyone about how we lost but you have to look at the bigger picture.

You can't buy finals experience like that.

Some of our exciting youngsters went missing in that last qtr.

Gibbs I thought was missing for a lot of the game but what can you expect for a 20 yo in his first final?

We will have Austin/Waite/Jamison to add to Bower/Thornton...look at the flexibility and depth we will have in key defensive positions.

Another summer of skills work/gym for our youngsters. Robinson, Yarran, AJ...they've had a taste of it now and they'll want more! Improvement in the game plan and working on our apparent weaknesses that we are all aware of (kickouts, defensive stoppages/throw ins.) Murphy still has room for improvement in terms of another pre season and accountability.

The biggest improvement could come in the middle of the ground...Warnock/Kreuzer/Hampson.

Kreuzer and Hampson got monstered tonight by one ruck who was a part timer before this year and one who is 192cm.

Yet I'm betting not many will take into account the core strength needed to play in this position. Warnock has been in the system 4 years (like Mitch Clark)...he will almost be ready to go but he won't be over worked because we have the flexibility. Another pre season for Hampson learning where to position himself and palm the ball. Kreuzer another summer in the gym. They're still babies when it comes to ruckmen.

We are doing well out of the middle as it is but wait until the three above get going!

The concern IMO is the forward line...we have some variety there with a star FF, two crumbers, one established and one up and coming. Another in Yarran who can play as a crumber but he's more dynamic than Betts and Garlett - he can also lead up the ground and provide more creativity. Kreuzer will spend more time up there and with more strength will hold more marks.

_________________
"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

Sorry to be a prick but its not like the other 15 teams around us wont be improving as well.
We still lack so many fundamentals and as a style of play we haven't improved much in 2009. Improvement in the players is one thing, but is Ratts & co. going to improve as well?

Sorry i'm just in the sh!ts after that

_________________
C'mon Blueboys!

So, the seasons over and were done and dusted for 2009. We played 23 games of football and won 13 of them. Better than any of the last 6 years but still nowhere near the standard that we expect.

Where to from here? We have a young list with a good group of core players either coming into or already in their prime. The final against Brisbane will be worth 20 games of experience to these young players.

Our midfield lacks grunt and that’s known. Judd has filled in for the extractor role but we need a Mitchell type clearance king. Hadley is serviceable but lacks pace and speed in a football sense. But we have Walker, Carrots, Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Joseph, etc who we can rotate through their with some great cameos from our trio of Indigenous small forwards (who are not CHFs despite the fact we kick it to them as if they were). However, it surely must rate as one of the best midfields in the comp that’s only going to get better as time goes on. With the continuing development of Hampson and the (hopefully) addition of Warnock our rucks seem as if they’ll hold up well for the future. Our strength is our fleet of runners with the ability to have some seriously good midfield rotations going. IMO there’s really no dramas here.

Our backline, whilst young and in-experienced, held up marvelously in my eyes. Sure we struggled to contain the power forwards, but we finally managed to stop the 10 goal smashings (bar 2 games). Bower gives some amazing run and despite some heart in mouth handballs, is close to our best defender. Another pre-season in the gym and he’ll be good to go. Mark Austin showed that he has a football brain. Has class, has that indescribable look of belonging at AFL and again, once his body hits his prime, will be an AFL grade key position player. Bret Thornton battled manfully, as always, as a flanker playing fullback. In my eyes he’s developing into one of the best drifting defenders in the league and reads the play superbly to be third man up.

Now add a fit and firing young Michael Jamison (I’ve got faith in his body coming good with a solid pre-season), who has shown that he has the ability to hold the best of the best. So we’ve got Bower, Austin, Jamison playing on the big lads with Thornton giving great support. That’s a developing backline sure, but its showed that, with some serious midfield pressure, that in the future it has the ability to not only provide great drive but also a degree of flexibility in holding a range of opposition forward lines. Add in Armfield, who improves weekly and the ever-improving Jordan Russell and the small/medium forwards who used to butcher us can finally be contained. (Please note I’m not advocating all these players play in the same side each week, just a general analysis of our backs, and I’ve left Waite out for a reason).

And now to the forward line. We bitch and moan that we’re just too Fev-centric which is 100% true. Next year I feel this will all change. The injury of Jarrad Waite mid year ended any chance of us doing any serious damage in September. He’s just too important to our structure I feel. He’ll be back next year, bigger than ever and, touchwood, with his freak athleticism still intact. The defense, whilst developing, has shown it can handle the absence of Waite (just). The shifting of Waite forward semi-permanently (swinging down back when required) will ease the load on Fev significantly, and allow Kruezer (praying Robbie W can cut it) to develop into the CHF we know he can be without being the primary target Jack Watts style. That’s 3 big forwards, each with mobility and size. Our weakness goes to our strength. Add in our fleet of runners/small forwards/mids, it seems a balanced forward line capable of kicking some big scores and maintaining pressure.

Now it’s some wishful thinking through there, and of course injuries will happen. But with the continuing development of our young squad and the experience it can draw from Season 09, I feel we do have what it takes to be a genuine threat sooner rather than later.

Pick 11

Fair enough marci but Geelong IMO won't be a threat next year. Likely to make the 8 but won't win it. History shows that.

St Kilda won't have a similar year...their chance might only be this year. Hawthorn will come back. Adelaide will challenge. The Dogs will challenge.

_________________
"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

There is upside, I grant you that

My biggest concern is the coaching (and I am not only talking about Ratten) and the development of players / structures ect

What has Matty Lappin done to prove he is worthy of being our forward coach

_________________
A macfart a day helps you work rest and play

The biggest improvement we can make is in the coaches box. We cant expect to improve if we continue to be so bad defensively through the middle
Our injury list wasn't that bad so hoepfully this trend continues in 2010. Expected marginal improvements in players is expected, lets hope that is enough to see us take another step. I have my reservations

_________________
C'mon Blueboys!

bloody hell, you blokes!!!!!! how can you be so rational and well thopught out after a loss????

however, those are some very well thought out and optimistic posts, and really do put the year into perspective

well done, i'm already looking forward to next year

_________________
my last one was rubbish

I'm in the shits.

But it's the best effort for close to a decade.

We saw a young developing side give it their all.


I'm proud of the boys... next time it will be different.


Get your memberships everyone, you'll want priority acces to finals tickets for the next 5 years.

_________________
Cheap Bike Insurance
Selling Baseball Cards

Gotta agree with this....two major deficiencies this year.... have been poor tactically and very poor defensively. There are many others but these are what cost us a final next week against the Dogs.

_________________
"Truth, for the tyrants, is the most terrible and cruel of all bindings; it is like an incandescent iron falling across their chests. And it is even more agonizing than hot iron, for that only burns the flesh, while truth burns its way into the soul"     — Lauro Aguirre

Player development is also a problem. We just cant seem to be able to fast track any recruits ala Crows.
I hope they are fair dinkum in their review of the players and the footballing departments because we need more improvement everywhere

_________________
C'mon Blueboys!

To me the upside from this result are that, the glaring deficiencies in the coaching box are even more obvious, and secondly the players should have realised by now what it takes to win in a final.

_________________
Scott, things aren't as happy as they used to be down here at the unemployment office. Joblessness is no longer just for Philosophy majors - useful people are starting to feel the pinch.

Glass is half empty as far as I am concerned
We have not got a spine. No proven Big bodied backs and forwards coming through
Coaching decisions are substandard at best. Match day tactics, Positional development, Pressure, tackling.
The midfield is half as good as it thinks it is.
Lack of quality football people on the board
President is learning on the job and quite frankly lacks dynamism

Ratten might be a coach that will take us only so far.

_________________
My Blue Heaven

He's taken us far enough in the past year to say indictate that he will
take us further than the distance of which you speak...

_________________
Cheap Bike Insurance
Selling Baseball Cards

I'm not happy with aspects of our play but many seem to be blaming tonight's final qtr capitulation on Ratten.

What could he have possibly done in the final qtr? Don't people understand experience/momentum/home crowds...what actual move could he have made?

As a young team we will learn to cope with momentum swings, especially in finals. When the opposition come at us we won't conceed 6 goals. We had our chances but it wasn't Ratten's fault that we capitulated like that.

I'm more interested in aspects of our play for next year like transition from defence to attack and being more defensive the other way.

Limiting the speed at which the opposition can spread from stoppages when we don't win the ball.

Flooding but actually flooding properly - not spectating.

A zone which doesn't run back to goal...a zone which can quickly re-organise when a team is trying to switch the ball.

_________________
"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

Spot on to a tee. We have a full forward who time is against, with no apparent replacements. We have a midfield that is not prepared to work back. Our defence is frail. What guarantee do we have that Waite will fulfill his potential after a serious knee injury? Jamison's body is already shot.

_________________
I'm back, after years in the wilderness!

In contrast to some of the emotive tripe I've read tonight, a measured, mature and knowledgeable post.

Agree 1000% re fwd line - Waite and Kreuze will spend plenty of time there in the next few years with the emergence of Hammer and Warnock giving us some exciting flexibilty. Backline will be the envy of all clubs - reminder, Jamo has Bradshaw's number. Still, pick 11 on a young key fwd is a must - Fev not getting any younger.

If we are going to make top 4 next year, we need substantial improvement. Every team will improve, so we really will have to work on our deficiencies.

Great improvement this year, and you;d expect Garlett, Yarran, Kreuzer, Robbo & AJ all to improve with another pre-season and being a year older. But then every club has youngsters like this that will improve, and some seem to be developing them a bit faster than us.

Need to bolster or reconfigure our pretty much every department, including in the box.

Not convinced that we have Ratts getting the best help he can get. And IMHO, he could definitely use a hand on matchday too.

If we haven't got our structures working a hell of a lot better next year, there is something wrong in the way it is being taught/coached.

Need to recruit another key defender. Jamo to come back, but we can't just expect every key player to be fit and playing. JR has found his spot. Thornton is a very good defender. Bower has developed well, but we need Jamo, and another tall defender. Hopefully there is one at pick 11.

Absolutely need an inside mid/extractor. Hadley should be that man but has been cruelled by injuries. If Haselby was a few years younger... but he's too old now so he's not an option. It is a waste of Judd having him being that player, using him as a stopgap solution, rather than using him to his full potential.

Mids need to become a hell of a lot more defensive. They can dominate in patches, but there is still a hell of a lot more improvement to go. Unsurprisingly, there is a lot to learn from the way the Saints mids work so hard going back the other way.

Fowardline - hoepfully Waite and the Kreuze will be played there next year. We can't sacrifice Kreuzer as a permanent ruck at the moment or we'll shorten his career. Besides, he could really develop into a great forward who can rotate through the midfield. Then we have our mosquito fleet running around at lower altitude.

Hampson, Jacobs and the tall man of undetermined height can carry the ruck, with Kreuzer to help out. A lot depends on Warnock, but hammer should develop nicely.

We are coming, but we have some important choices to be made, and a lot of work to do if we are going to arrive at our desired destination.

_________________
I would like to thank Collingwood for helping me keep faith in my old man. He always told me that 'People are thick'.

I think the problem is not what he could have done, more why did he load up late in the third and leave us with nothing that we could do in the last...

We were really good for three quarters, and you saw Judd, Scotland and Stevens scrapping their way into the game in the third. They took us to the level we needed to be at to win. Our young blokes were never going to step up and take the reins, so why didn't we try and stagger their time on ground so each could take a turn marshalling the troops.

Don't underestimate their influence.

Also, we didn't get monstered in the ruck statistically, won the hitouts 50-34, and won the clearances 34-32 or thereabouts. Clark did throw them around at times but we still got our fair share of hands on the ball. They were just so much more intense in the clinches. That's been a negative for us all season, and really disgraceful to see against a side like Essendon*.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.