What are your expectations this year?

[Rossoneri]

I agree with a lot of it, but some of what you said I dont agree with

I am not going to talk about Lloyd, Lucas, Mal, Fletch, Smoke, Spike, Natrat, Nash, Alwyn, Pev, Paddy, Slats, Stants, Watto, Welsh and Licha. They have proved they can mix it with the best, and only have to maintain their standards or in the case of the younger ones, lift a couple of more cogs to become champs/and or great contributors.

Smokey - Inconsistent. Knights has said he wont be playing back anymore, will be more on a wing which I like. Needs to step up
Natrat - Poor skills and shocking decision making costs him. Needs work
Nash - Big fan of him, but has played around 15 games. Still very inexperienced. Has potential, so we will see what happens.
Pev - Loves his attitude, but is very slow and has poor skills. Cant play in the same team as Jason Johnson
Licha - Has had a good 18 months, needs to take another big step to get into elite.

Gus. Guy could be anything but was frustrated by close, niggling attention this year. Let him spend more time in on ball rotations and see if he has the motor and the ability to shake a tag. Talents there.

Agree, played better though when he went into the middle for the final few games. Wasted at HFF

Dempsey. Reminds me of a bigger Longy. If he gets his body right, look out...you won't catch him.

Agree, but his disposal lets him down as well. Runs fast but cant slow down to the right speed to get a decent pass off. Either slows down too much and unbalances himself or not enough and shanks the kick

JJ....his swansong, make or break year? You can't have all outside receivers. Him, Pev and Watto are the in and unders get the ball out types you need in your rotations. Just don't give it to JJ for the finishing pass or shot on goal

Gone. Slow and poor disposal. Can only be used as an in an under but our receivers dont have good skills either.

Hille and Chook: Given more game time and more confidence from up above (particularly Chook who I can't understand wasn't given more time beside Lloyd...nightmare match up)...you will get the consistency everyone is screaming for.

Chook is far better than Hille, if Chook can actually get his body right. Not sure if he lazy, but he was very unfit last year

Lovett: More consistency = champion. Not...well who knows what they will do with him.

Wouldnt say champion, but he is breathtaking in full flight. He is a hit and miss sort of player, you expect that. Just needs to alleviate his really really poor games

Rama: Love him to death but can he come up? I have my doubts not because of lack of heart but he virtually missed 2-3 years when he would have been in his prime.

With our current list, he is good enough to stay on it. I think he will be ok as an impact player off the bench. Skills havent deserted him

I agree with your views on Dyson, Jetta and Co. Gumby needs to build up eventually or he will get thrown around.
Johns, not sure on him. Not sure where he fits in

Ok, keeping in mind I havent been here for 7 weeks so I dont know whats been said or heard in the presses, my initial thoughts will be that we will probably 10-14 on the ladder. This will be due to youngsters being played more and the fact that Knights has been left with a pretty poor list of players who should be in their prime (24-28 year olds)

[Rossoneri]

Nash will be anything Ross...great either side of the body...we'll have him in our elite 10 in 2-3 years.

Demps hasn't played enough to have the experience to know when to shorten stride in the delivery process.... will come with game time.

Pev .... yes unglamorous but shit he gets the job done.

Smoke had a good year I thought....much closer to his AA form. Fully fit played in the right spot...mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Gumby.....start pressing 200kgs young fella

Thought Smokey started well then faded badly.

The potential (hate that word) is there, just think it will take a year or two (possibly longer)

[KaaN10]

I want Houli to play 10 games+ this year.

[Windy_Hill]

My expectations are quite bullish.

We finished last season significantly better than the season before and apart from the loss of Hird, you would expect that the team is overll better off - more experienced etc.

I dont see Hird's loss as a major impact as the key issues remain to be fixed - ie, mid-field quality and tighter defence.

Our mid-field has potential to be sure - Houli, Stanton, Hislop, Winderlich, Monfries, Lovett, Jetta, Davey etc

However, lets assume that only one will be truly great? Which one will it be? If the rest can improve by 10% then we are in with some dort of chance.

Defensively we have to get better and this is where I think we have real problems - Our 2 key defenders are effective but on their last legs and I cant see anyone ready to take over their role if needed.

Assuming we can cover the key Tall Defenders of Fleth and Mal and our Mid Fielders improve by 10% with at least one of them emerging as a Top 10 player then I think our forward line scorong power can really be exploited.

I am expecting a finish of between 6-9

[Rossoneri]

Pretty optimistic I say betwen 6-9 but fair enough. I think the coach has at least attempted to address the situation of KPP in defence. Currently we have Mal and Fletch. The youngsters include Ryder and Johns (apparently anyway). We have recruited Daniher and Pears so it gives us a chance to develop them and see how they go.

[robrulz5]

I think playing a final would be a fantastic result for the side. I just hope our younger players can develop well this season and actually know their roles within the side, unlike previous seasons when they seemed lost at times.

We can't expect alot but it would be good if we could be more consistent that last season.

[keri]

I always start off with high expectations, because I know as long as everyone tries their hardest I won't be dissapointed.

Smokey needs to show that he has the ticker. I don't like seeing guys stop running after a man. That's what I've always loved about Lucas and Welsh. They might be slow (Although Welshy has improved his speed) but they run after the man anyway.

[Sismis]

My expectations are quite bullish.

Can someone explain to me what Bullish means? It seems to be the adjective of choice for everything from the stockmarket to football and I have no idea what it means.

Where we finish this year is irrelevant. As long as we give everyone on the list a crack and try new things to develop a new game plan. I think with the star power we still have, we can still be very competitive however we are very susceptible to injury and one or to could severely curtail our success gamewise.

Lovett and McPhee are the key to where Essendon is. These guys have promised so much and have not lived up to it. For me are the guys in their prime who could become genuine A grade stars. With Hird retireing we need at least one of these guys to step up into the role of GO TO GUY.

Guys like McVeigh and Licha need to at the very least maintain their excellent form from last year.

[Windy_Hill]

My expectations are quite bullish.

Can someone explain to me what Bullish means? It seems to be the adjective of choice for everything from the stockmarket to football and I have no idea what it means.

Where we finish this year is irrelevant. As long as we give everyone on the list a crack and try new things to develop a new game plan. I think with the star power we still have, we can still be very competitive however we are very susceptible to injury and one or to could severely curtail our success gamewise.

Lovett and McPhee are the key to where Essendon is. These guys have promised so much and have not lived up to it. For me are the guys in their prime who could become genuine A grade stars. With Hird retireing we need at least one of these guys to step up into the role of GO TO GUY.

Guys like McVeigh and Licha need to at the very least maintain their excellent form from last year.

Sis, it simply means, in stock market terms, that the market is expected to go through a period of sustained growth and thus is attractive to investors. The opposite is a Bear market.

I guess the term has "crossed over" into the common vernacular to mean anything that has a positive or promising outlook.

Its an overused wank of an expression actually

[bpdons]

My expectations? 15th, as high as 10th if we do very well. We need to get some quality draft picks soon - and use them wisely.

[Crazyman]

My expectations

A decent payrise, passing my Uni exams and raising a healthy bubby boy

As for the footy - in that mix of clubs that will either just make it or just miss it 6th - 10th

If we exceed expectations maybe a top 4, but only if we really exceed expectations...

[Sismis]

My expectations are quite bullish.

Can someone explain to me what Bullish means? It seems to be the adjective of choice for everything from the stockmarket to football and I have no idea what it means.

Where we finish this year is irrelevant. As long as we give everyone on the list a crack and try new things to develop a new game plan. I think with the star power we still have, we can still be very competitive however we are very susceptible to injury and one or to could severely curtail our success gamewise.

Lovett and McPhee are the key to where Essendon is. These guys have promised so much and have not lived up to it. For me are the guys in their prime who could become genuine A grade stars. With Hird retireing we need at least one of these guys to step up into the role of GO TO GUY.

Guys like McVeigh and Licha need to at the very least maintain their excellent form from last year.

Sis, it simply means, in stock market terms, that the market is expected to go through a period of sustained growth and thus is attractive to investors. The opposite is a Bear market.

I guess the term has "crossed over" into the common vernacular to mean anything that has a positive or promising outlook.

Its an overused wank of an expression actually

Thanks for that. I actually thought it meant simply being stubourn, but it didn't make sense.

There's also the fact that's one letter off being an interesting anagram.

[tony coz]

Given that Knights has made mention of the fact that he will be giving the young guys a go this year I think in all liklyhood there will be a few blow out losses this year. Having said that I think that loosing Hird will be a major loss which will keep us out of the finals. We will will either finish in a similar position to last year or down towards the bottom of the ladder.

The only way we can make the finals is if Mcfee, McVeigh, Welsh, Lica, Watson, Lovett.....those middle run players take the next step and start to really impose themselves on a game and to do so consistantly.

We also need Matty to return to top form. Comand the ball and start taking those pack marks again. He needs to stop falling over and playing for the free kick. He is to good for that and besides he should be leading by example. We need 80 plus goals from him this year.

[billyduckworth]

I think the three key factors will be:
(1) the draw (as always)
(2) injuries and suspensions
(3) the number of young players used

(1) the draw:
Our first few rounds are relatively difficult, without being horrendous. If we get a few wins under our belt, confidence will grow. Conversely, if we only win 1 or 2 out of our first 6, it will be hard to recover

(2) injuries and suspensions:
This is always the great unknown factor. Our run last year wasn't too bad overall. Will the new regime really improve our fitness & recovery?

(3) the number of young players used:
Sheedy always talked about playing the kids but seldom actually did it. If Knights really does play a lot of youngsters, then we have to expect a few beltings here and there (but maybe also the occasional surprise win to balance things out).

Overall, my prediction is 9th/10th, but I would love to see us sneak into the 8 so the youngsters can get some finals experience.

[keri]

Let's hope we can keep the soft tissue injuries down, and there are so few we don't have to have a chart!

Jesus. I'm starting to sound like Pollyanna!

[swoodley]

I think the three key factors will be:
(1) the draw (as always)
(2) injuries and suspensions
(3) the number of young players used

(1) the draw:
Our first few rounds are relatively difficult, without being horrendous. If we get a few wins under our belt, confidence will grow. Conversely, if we only win 1 or 2 out of our first 6, it will be hard to recover

(2) injuries and suspensions:
This is always the great unknown factor. Our run last year wasn't too bad overall. Will the new regime really improve our fitness & recovery?

(3) the number of young players used:
Sheedy always talked about playing the kids but seldom actually did it. If Knights really does play a lot of youngsters, then we have to expect a few beltings here and there (but maybe also the occasional surprise win to balance things out).

Overall, my prediction is 9th/10th, but I would love to see us sneak into the 8 so the youngsters can get some finals experience.

Gee Bill...not too bad!!! I'd hate to have a repeat this year of last with 23 hammies on F111's chart, Lovetts knee, Hirds calf, Fletch had some issues and the worst of them all that was a real killer was Alwyn.

We MUST be due to a "Geelong/Sydney" type of run of luck injury wise.

But we don't want to waste it this year when we most likely won't feature prominently in the finals.

Wait until we are a real contender and then have the injury free year (can we order that )

[tom9779]

Blokes I need to step up:

Gus. Guy could be anything but was frustrated by close, niggling attention this year. Let him spend more time in on ball rotations and see if he has the motor and the ability to shake a tag. Talents there.

Dempsey. Reminds me of a bigger Longy. If he gets his body right, look out...you won't catch him.

JJ....his swansong, make or break year? You can't have all outside receivers. Him, Pev and Watto are the in and unders get the ball out types you need in your rotations. Just don't give it to JJ for the finishing pass or shot on goal

Hille and Chook: Given more game time and more confidence from up above (particularly Chook who I can't understand wasn't given more time beside Lloyd...nightmare match up)...you will get the consistency everyone is screaming for.

Lovett: More consistency = champion. Not...well who knows what they will do with him.

Rama: Love him to death but can he come up? I have my doubts not because of lack of heart but he virtually missed 2-3 years when he would have been in his prime.

Dyson, Gumbleton, Hislop, Hocking, Houli, Jetta, Lonergan, Neagle, Reimers: The fate of 2008 rests in this groups hands. Dyson if he gets more game time and gets 80+ minutes a game should gain confidence and then who knows what he can do....God knows we need his kicking/delivery skills. Gumby will be anything but I worry that he appears to have not spent too much time in the gym, upper body wise. Still growing? Hislop, Hocking, Jetta (if his attitude is 100%...will be a gun...when he kicked that 50m goal after being flattened by that Crow hack, I thought..."yep you've got something, son."), Lonergan and perhaps Reimers are our future midfield...can they step up so soon after an intensive apprenticeship? Neagle is an exciting talent....but where do you play him.

Similarly to Jay, Lee, Johns, and some of the recruits play in positions where we are strong...forward and back...so they may have to await their chance.

Thoughts?

I personally think, its Brent Stanton who we need to stand up.

We need leadership and consistently good performances in the middle.

Got to come from a 3rd-4th+ players. we need a midfielder, who puts in 16->18+ good games of footy.

simple as that. I'd hope for a lift off the half back line as well...