The Blueprint - Our Plan for 2010 and Beyond

[Madden]

I think its reasonably clear that we will likely not be playing finals in 2010. Although I'm disappointed in that (and expected better), I am trying to see the rest of the season as an opportunity to answer some questions about our future. Making the finals last year was an unexpected bonus but it may have served to cover up some of the underlying cracks in our structure. We now have a real opportunity to focus and provide clarity in relation to the players who will be part of our next serious finals attempt.

Personnel

We need to use the remaining 17 rounds to answer some crucial questions about our personnel. We should be attempting to build a list which will be around at the time we are pushing for our next premiership - the only problem is that at the moment we don't even know when that next premiership is going to be. I think it's increasingly unlikely that the 2012 deadline that the board set itself is going to be achievable. I see it being more realistic that we should be pushing for 2013-2014. My analysis will be predicated on that assumption.

There are four categories of questions that need to be answered about our players if we are to start to build a potential premiership winning list.

Question 1:
Do the following have what it takes to be regular, consistent, senior players?

In my opinion this is the most critical question. Our list is full of players in their 3rd/4th season who have shown glimpses of talent, but they may potentially make it as regular senior players, or they may not. This year is a golden opportunity to give them a go (maybe not all at once, but perhaps in small groups) and make a determination as to whether they possess the attributes to be regular players in our 22.

Ranked in order of urgency:

1. J. Neagle
2. S. Gumbleton
3. L. Jetta
4. B. Houli
5. D. Myers
6. S. Lonergan
7. H. Hocking

Question 2:
Do the following young players possess the required talent to perhaps be regular senior players in a few years?

We have quite a few young players who could be anything, or could be nothing - that of course, is the nature of the draft. We need to give them all a handful of games each so we can determine who we primarily put our time and attention into in the next few years.

Ranked in order of urgency:

1. J. Melksham
2. B. Howlett
3. D. Daniher
4. M. Still
5. T. Slattery
6. T. Colyer
7. A. Long
8. J. Atkinson

Question 3
Do the following players have the consistency, longevity, and skill to be senior, premiership winning players?


We have a number of players who are coming into their mid-20's but yet the jury is still out on them. In a lot of cases, this is because the player has had a bad run with injury. Nevertheless, players in their mid-20s should be starting to develop the consistency, class and poise needed to be regular players in a top 4 side. We need to make calls on the following urgently to determine whether or not they are up to this standard, or whether they are perhaps just 'good ordinary' players.

In a sense, a determination on these players can only be made once we have successfully answered questions 1 and 2.

Ranked in order of urgency:

1. J. Winderlich
2. B. Prismall
3. H. Slattery
4. R. Dyson
5. A. Davey
6. J. Laycock

Question 4
Do the following older players have what it takes to be veteran senior players in our next flag tilt?

This is probably the least important question, but nonetheless its worth considering. We have a number of players in their mid-to-late 20s on whom the jury is still out. They are still worth playing for a few more years yet but I think its important for us to know, for certain, whether or not they have the longevity to be a part of our next assault, and if not, to plan for their succession accordingly.

1. A. Welsh
2. N. Lovett-Murray
3. M. Williams
4. M. McVeigh

Overall

I understand that answers to these questions will never be concrete, and that we may not be able to answer the queries on all of the players I've mentioned. But if we use the rest of the year to focus on at least attempting to answer these questions then it is my strong belief that the way to our 17th premiership will be much clearer.

Would be interested in anyone else's thoughts.

[Windy_Hill]

I have no doubt that we have a squad that has the basic talent to go forward. After all, apart from a handfull of exceptional players, most of the 60 players drafted every year are pretty much all as good as each other.

So our squad is in the main, probably no better or worse than any other club. Sure, we seem to lack a couple of marquee players in the mid-field but who knows, perhaps JAke Melsham will become one of those players?

I think the key issue for us is

1) Building up a core group of players with more than 50 games experience. (see Saladin's excellent post on this issue)
2) Having a strong football department and coaching panel.
3) Having a strong leadership group of 100+ gamers

Right now we are weak on all three of the above criteria. Points 1 and 3 will occur naturally over time. Point 2 however is where I fear we need to make change. I would love to see what impact an experiences, premiership winning coach would have on our young squad.

[robbie67]

I think we have to go with the talent we have in the spine. Pears, Hurley, Gumby, and even Hooker have to be who the team is now built around. Pears being out may be a blesssing, as we can have a look at the likes of Neagle, Daniher again. Ryder I think is just lacking a bit of form, and will probably come good. Hille just needs to get his confidence back, so I am in no panic about our Ruck stocks.

The mid-field, and the small backs/forwards are the obvious places we are in deep shit. This is where we have to find players, and not pretenders.

[DC2]

Add a legitimate small crumbing forward who kicks goals regularly.

Monfries is good and I like him but he aint a crumber. Not suggesting to give him the ass, just need a crumbing small to add to our forward line.

[Boyler_Room]

Small crumbing forwards... tall forwards... blah blah. None of it matters if the ball doesn't make it to the forward line.

Eliminate the "handball at all costs and at every opportunity" rule that seems to be in play and perhaps we'll start seeing a forward line that functions somewhat like a forward line.

[Rossoneri]

We need:
midfielders who can hit targets and make smart decisions x 3
small defenders who get 5 touches but keep their opponents to 3 touches x 1
an attacking defender who can hit targets and make smart decisions x 1
small forward who can kick 40 goals a season x 1.

Also need a game plan and players with heart.

[jimmyc1985]

Agreed. Part of the issue though is that, for mine, i reckon i can look at 8-10 of those guys and already say they won't be around in the event we're going to be competing for a flag, as they're not good enough to get regular games in a top 4 team. In no particular order, these guys would be Welsh, McVeigh, Slattery, Laycock, NLM, Dyson, Davey, Atkinson, Lonergan and Neagle. Clearly, we're not going to get rid of all of them immediately at the end of this year, so we'll be carrying dead wood into next year. Worst comes to worst and it all goes to shit this year and we have to rebuild aggressively, we're screwed for at least 5 years with Gold Coast/West Sydney draft concessions.

Hille just needs to get his confidence back, so I am in no panic about our Ruck stocks.

Already starting to get concerned about this very issue. Hille is pushing 29 and has maybe 2 decent years left; Laycock's a complete waste of time; Ryder hasn't taken 'the next step'; the jury's out on Bellchambers/Bock. We haven't used a national draft pick on a ruckman since 2005 (Ryder), and instead we've tried to fluke one via the rookie and PS drafts. Reckon we need to seriously consider using our first or second pick in this year's draft to get a ruckman.

[robbie67]

I reckon Hille still has 3 or 4 good years in him. To be honest, I dont think it's as crucial as it was 10 years ago. Basketball has gone to the shitter in this country, so we wont have a shortage of Rucks like we did then.

[Rover 7]

We need:
midfielders who can hit targets and make smart decisions x 3
small defenders who get 5 touches but keep their opponents to 3 touches x 1
an attacking defender who can hit targets and make smart decisions x 1
small forward who can kick 40 goals a season x 1.

Also need a game plan and players with heart.

Here's your man.
Who said this.

Yeah, we reckon he's good, but he probably wouldn't fit our game plan'.'' Carroll won't divulge which club that was, only that they're ''struggling''

About a school kid named Barlow last year.

[ealesy]

As in Michael Barlow, because he certainly was not a school kid last year.

He was a mature age recruit who had been performing very well in the VFL, we selected Kyle Hardingham ahead of him. A bloke yet to play a senior game, and who isn't close to getting a Senior game at the moment against a bloke who has probably had 2 BOGs, 5 games into the season.

One a half-back flanker with some speed and shocking skills, the other a slower inside midfield who wins clearances and gets the ball. I know which one the coaches reckon would fit in with our gameplan better, I also know which one our team needed and they aren't the same bloke.

Hindsight is lovely to have, but that looks like a massive cock up on our part.