Assessing our list

[Wazza]

I agree with just about all of the above replies but I disagree with "Mcveigh has silky skills"?? Maybe in time he will develop but doesnt impress me at all.

and I think Doyle has shown plenty in the last 2 weeks.

As for Schnieder if we want quality in the draft we will have to trade quality, we will pick up a couple of juniors but we will need at least 1 established player KPP this year so how are we going to get one?

I do believe LRT will be a great KPP for us eventually may take another season to develop.

Cheers

Waz

[CureTheSane]

I'll wait until our season is over before I comment.

As per usual with a thread of this nature contains many silly statements..

[Nico]

We have serious flaws.

1. We have too many players who can't kick very far.

2. But for Barry Hall we have no spine down the middle of the ground.

3. We have too many players who have overall poor disposal.

4. We have too many players who have little on field vision and very poor decision making.

5. For some reason we have lost the ability to genuinely create space and set up play.

6. We have no killer instinct which probably translates to an inabilty to concentrate on the task for 4 quarters, or an inabilty to carry out instructions for a full game.

7. Given point 6, are we less fit than last year?

8. We have lost the 2003 consistency, partly caused by injury, but every club battles with injury.

9. We have too many players who lack the "smarts" and don't play instinctively.

Given the above we seem to have a certain grit and determination which enables us to match it with the best sides, but display a level of mediocrity that in our current state will only deliver us a middle of the ladder performance year in year out.

We need to fix the above, or most of them, to put us back into the top 4.

[hammo]

What's the general view about trying to get Mark McVeigh to Sydney? A new start may be just what he needs and he is only 23.
I know it breaks a golden rule - don't trade with Kevin Sheedy because he never loses on trades and screws over the club he deals with.

[sharp9]

McVeigh is average. Why would we trade for him? Adds nothing at all. We need class....ball winning, clean hands. The only players we want from essendon are McPhee and Solomon.

We have the worst double grab crap centre square mob in the comp

J. Bolton
Fosdike
Mathews
Maxfield
Williams (2004)

Terrible hands and when they do get it in traffic tend to be facing the wrong way and standing still.

How many times has a Jude Bolton clearance been not what I would call a clearance but kick over the shoulder from CHB which bounces into space and, eventually, an opponent at CHF? Many, many times, my friends.

I have said it before and I'll say it again.

Midfield

Kirk (c)
N. Davis
Kennelly
Crouch
Ablett
Buchanan

Rotating with

J. Bolton
McVeigh
Schneider
Bevan
Mathews (who have been playing in other parts of the ground)

Plus youngsters off the bench in

Willoughby/Schmidt/McGlone/Malceski/Thewlis/Sundqvist

As far as I am concerned Williams, Maxfield and Fosdike do not figure in my plans for 2005. I'm building a premiership here!

[Bleed Red Blood]

Hall - Got to keep.

Davis - Wouldn't be able to get rid of him,even if anyone wanted too.

McVeigh - Talented,more game time.

Mathews - Trade,don't need him, terrible disposal.

O'Keefe -Keep.

C.Bolton - Keep, valuable player without getting heaps of alcolades.

Willoughby - No reason to trade a second year player.

Fixter - Needs to do something, prefebly this year.Can't see him going anywhere though.

Williams - Almost every team is on a youth policy, noone would take him.

Maxfield - Will play another year, I believe.Go to Vice captain though.

Fosdike -Trade, enough midfielders in the squad.

Schneider - Great disposal and pace.Can play forward.No reason to leave, or for Sydney to get rid of him.

Doyle - Can't trade/delist him.No depth in the ruck, pick up a 25/6 established ruckman if Ball retires.

Kennelly - Keep.Play on wing.

James - Give him some time on the ground!

O'Loughlin - Keep.

Ablett - Keep, good kicking, could be a late bloomer.

Barry - Not going anywhere.

Saddington - Could be the Pikeish player we need.

Nicks - Agree with Charlie in that it's one year contracts now.Need the experience he has at the moment.

J.Bolton - Got to keep him, hopefully he is the number 4 midfielder though, just not good enough for number one.

Schauble - What is he, 28?No reason to get rid of him regardless, one of our most important players.

Dempster - Not going anywhere.

Ball - Two years at most.If he only has one we need to push hard for an experienced ruckman.

Crouch - Keep.No more back pocket - true midfielder.

Powell - Keep him, though, like Fixter needs to prove himself.

Roberts-Thomson - One game this year?Needs to play to get better.

Kirk - Keep.

Buchanan - Great game.Could be a good player.Very disgusted with his mother, I am.

Warfe - Absolutely has to go, which I'm sure he understands.

Sundqvist - Hopefully we can rookie list him, but I doubt he will go far.Have enough midfielders,doubt he will get a chance.

Schmidt - No reason to let him go.

Goodes - Keep, duh.

Thewlis - Keep, give him some time on the ground if he is in the team!

McGlone - Give him a game.If he can get 40+ possesions against fully grown men in the ressies, I see no reason why he can't do the same at AFL level.

Malceski - Looked good from what I saw pre-season.Keep.

Erickson - Keep.Seems to be improving rapidly from what I have seen.

Bevan - Senior list.

Meiklejohn - He hasn't done much, needs to prove himself, back to rookie list, I would think.

M Davis - no idea about him.

Rogers - Got to keep him, no reason not to.

[Wil]

Originally posted by cressakel
And what about a capable seasoned Ruckman, surely you are not hanging your hat on Ball ( soon to retire ), Doyle, Meiklejohn and Erikson !!

I have a somewhat scary feeling that Doyle IS our seasoned ruckman (or will be next year). Meiklejohn is not a ruckman. Erickson is a couple of years away and will be another Doyle when he is ready.

How long do ruckman usually take to develop from being a rookie? Who is he youngest dominant ruckman in the league at the moment?

[sharpie]

My assessment:

Our smaller players:
Staying (unless surprise trade): Bevan J.Bolton Buchanan Crouch N.Davis Kirk Malceski McVeigh Schmidt Schneider Thewlis Williams Willoughby
Uncertain (some will stay, some will go): Ablett Fixter Fosdike Mathews Maxfield (possible retirement) McGlone Sundvist

Our taller players:
Staying (also unless surprise trade): Barry C.Bolton M.Davis Dempster Doyle Ericksen Goodes Hall James Kennelly Nicks O'Keefe O'Loughlin LRT Rogers (back to rookie list) Saddington Schauble
Uncertain: Ball (possible retirement) Meiklejohn Powell
Gone: Warfe

Of the other rookies, would expect Taylor and Potter to get another year, Hunt will probably move on.

Of the stayers, I dont expect the following to be seriously pushing for senior selection (other than the odd game), they get another year of development: Malceski Schmidt Willoughby M.Davis Ericksen
Next year will be a make or break year for: Thewlis Dempster Doyle James Nicks, and for any survivors from the 'uncertain' lists above.

Having said all this, I think it shows we have an excess of smaller players, and that is where our bargaining for trades will come from. I dont think we need to trade for a seasoned midfielder specifically, unless one falls into our lap. We dont have much depth for tall players, and certainly need a suitable ruckman from the trade period. The other is a key defender to free up the likes of C.Bolton, Goodes and Saddington, because I still think LRT or James need more time to develop before they can hold down a key position.

[Nico]

Originally posted by hammo
What's the general view about trying to get Mark McVeigh to Sydney? A new start may be just what he needs and he is only 23.
I know it breaks a golden rule - don't trade with Kevin Sheedy because he never loses on trades and screws over the club he deals with.

We have plenty of "serviceable players".

[Nico]

Paul Williams has unfortunately been injured a lot this year. If he has a couple of years left in him there is no way , if fit, that he is not going to be an asset. He is a quality player who adds a lot of dash to the midfield and would have been very handing in the lastQ last week.

Can't see the point of Rookie listing players like Rogers and Miekeljohn if they are not getting a game or even emergency listed. Find someone else with height that may be worth developing.

Also on Willoughby and Schmidt, it is amazing how players come out of nowhere in many clubs every season.eg. Schneider and Bevan, so hopefully we will all be pleasantly surprised if one or two of the younger players jump out of the woodwork in 2005.

[Wil]

Originally posted by Nico

Also on Willoughby and Schmidt, it is amazing how players come out of nowhere in many clubs every season.eg. Schneider and Bevan, so hopefully we will all be pleasantly surprised if one or two of the younger players jump out of the woodwork in 2005.

This is a great point. We need (and any team needs) at least one or two players to "come out of nowhere" every season. Scheider last year, Bevan this year with the Hyphen, Buchanen as suprises the past couple of seasons as well. Hopefully this trend continues. I just wish Roos would give some of the younger guys a bit more time in the Seniors.

[originalswan]

Ruckman/Key Position

A couple of suggestions for Ruck or more precisely key positions are the following two (Note both originally from NSW-ACT Rams)

1. Henry Playfair (Geelong) He is 21 y.o and 197cm and 90 kg (still growing). Earlier in the year Mark Thompson said "He rucked well...taking some strong marks".

2. Brent Staker (West Coast) He is 20 y.o and 196cm and 89kg.

Our problem in trying to entice these guys back to NSW is that they are now settling into their teams (Playfair having played 14 games this year and Staker playing 13 thus far).

If there was any chance that they were available they'd be worth pursuing (from what i've seen of them).

[Nico]

Re: Ruckman/Key Position

Originally posted by originalswan
A couple of suggestions for Ruck or more precisely key positions are the following two (Note both originally from NSW-ACT Rams)

1. Henry Playfair (Geelong) He is 21 y.o and 197cm and 90 kg (still growing). Earlier in the year Mark Thompson said "He rucked well...taking some strong marks".

2. Brent Staker (West Coast) He is 20 y.o and 196cm and 89kg.

Our problem in trying to entice these guys back to NSW is that they are now settling into their teams (Playfair having played 14 games this year and Staker playing 13 thus far).

If there was any chance that they were available they'd be worth pursuing (from what i've seen of them).

Maybe Geelong and WCE were better judges of players when they were drafted. We probably went for smalls when they went for talls, who knows.

[ROK Lobster]

Henry Playfair went to school in Syd (Shore?) but comes from down Mexico way (Holbrook, Howlong, one of theose H towns near the border). Don't know how keen he would be to come back?

[Nico]

Originally posted by ROK Lobster
Henry Playfair went to school in Syd (Shore?) but comes from down Mexico way (Holbrook, Howlong, one of theose H towns near the border). Don't know how keen he would be to come back?

Why would he come back when he is playing in a team that is going places. He looks to be a very good player in the making both in ruck or KP.