Have we progressed from last year?

[Dave]

I wonder how Roos will sum up this season?

[Mike_B]

We've discovered that re-listing Buchanan was a good move and that Paul Bevan has a big future.

We also realised (reconfirmed maybe) that we really need an effort across the board to win games.

Will be a very interesting trade/draft period for us - some tough calls will have to be made if Roosy is going to stick with what he has said of looking for a couple of key players this off-season.

[desredandwhite]

I think we're about the same really.

2003 - Good win in the first week of finals, monstered by a better team the next game.

Same for this year. There were a few games that we really SHOULD have won that perhaps we may have won last year.

The question is - where to from here? Are we a champion or two short of a real chance? Are we headed in the right direction? Do we need continual improvement from some players?

Cold hard fact is that 15 teams each year aren't going to get it right.

[NMWBloods]

It's hard to tell if we have progressed. We have added the new game plan, with the tempo control, however it's obviously a long way from being perfected. Also, in the process of doing it, we seem to have partly lost the dynamic running play we had previously. How good/bad this year was will really depend on how we go next year, and what we have learnt from the 2003 & 2004 seasons and how we put it into practice. Having said all that, I don't think we can become a premiership threat without two really good, highly skilled midfielders, which we currently don't have. Possibly also a CHB.

[Doctor]

No we haven't. But we haven't gone backwards either. Brisbane and Port are still better than us (and yes I know we knocked Port out last year), Collingwood have gone backwards (hooray!) but Geelong and St Kilda have improved. I'd say we're at about Geelong's level, but I think their personnel may have more potential than ours.

[barry]

We've gone marginally backwards. And our lack of a decent midfield will haunt us until its fixed.

[Damien]

Originally posted by Doctor
I'd say we're at about Geelong's level, but I think their personnel may have more potential than ours.

My number one worry is that we may match them now, but are they just going to get better and better.

Has to be a big trading period this year.

[Dave]

The best thing to come out of this season for me was Bevan.
Monty also rates high.

[ugg]

I think we've stayed around the same, but teams like St Kilda and Geelong have overtaken us. Roos may have to devise another game plan just as he did this year when teams start figuring out how to beat us. Our window of opportunity may be starting to slip away as our better players head towards retirement age.

[Mike_B]

Well, Roosy just re-iterated most of our thoughts - not a bad year, but still short on talent compared to other clubs and its something that needs to be addressed and we still rely too much on everything going our way.

[NMWBloods]

At least I feel some confidence (it's all relative) with Roosy at the helm - he usually seems to have a reasonable and realistic handle on things. He's done fairly well in his first couple of seasons coaching and is still learning, so we hope that continues to progress, along with the team.

[ROK Lobster]

You'd have to think Roos would be a big + for us come trade time too. Bevan and Buchy have been the finds of the year. Hall's and ROK's improvement have been good. Need a midifeld gun and a genuine CHB/Fullback... and a couple of new knees for Mick O'L

[Thunder Shaker]

Bevan and Buchanan may yet be the midfielders we're looking for, but time will tell.

In the meantime, we will delist a few players, and have maybe 5 draft picks at our disposal. I think 3 should be spent on midfield prospects, 1 on a KPP and 1 traded for a midfielder who will give us at least 5 years of service. Let's not chase big-name players from other clubs; our drafting is working well enough.

Ricky Barham has had a lot of work to do, but if we get more like Bevan in this year's draft then he's surely up to the task.

As for the progress question, it is hard to tell. The two seasons are different. I would say that we have progressed in some areas of the game, and gone backward in others. Overall, I would say that we're slightly behind last year, but that last year was exceptional.

Where to from here? More good midfielders, so we can get more inside 50's. Less flooding into defense. Keeping players between the runners from defense and the goals will help.

I would love to see "Bazza's Paddock" trialled sometime. This is where everyone's inside D50 except Bazza and his man, then we run the ball out of defense for Bazza to mark. If Bazza is in a 50/50 contest inside F50, those are good odds - I should take them.

[Schneidergirl]

While I am absolutely shattered/empty/disappointed/let down you all have made great points above.

Bevan & Monty have been terrific. Anyone see how hard the tackles Bevan laid on were?

Pebbles MIP... well done.

There's always next year, or the year after, or the year after that... etc.

ALSO.... Stuie LOST the toss!!!

[Mike_B]

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/09/11/1094789693513.html

Interesting that Roos rated the season 8/10 - I probably would have given it a 7 myself, but I do agree that we did have t deal with injury to a few key forward through the year and only got them on the field together at the end of the season when we played our best footy.

Good to see they are targeting an established midfielder and ruckman, but for all of you interested in Crwaford - read Roosy's thoughts on that issue!