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I don't see any sudden change in strategy. To me, GT was very consistent in picking up players who were young enough that they could put in 5-10 years for the club if they made it. There wasn't any topping up, just an effort to recruit from all available sources.
How well did we utilise the "rookie" resource?
Seems West Coast/Adelaide have had it down pat for some time....
The reason the Dogs have 'gone backwards' this year is incredibly simple -
They have injuries to key players.
West and Johnson carried them last year and made their young guys look better than they are - this year West and Johnson's form has been down.
Eade isn't a good coach. Even last year they consistently had 100 points kicked against them - even when they won. This is not sustainable. You cannot consistently let oppositions kick 100 points against you and expect to be a genuine contender.
Teflon wrote:How well did we utilise the "rookie" resource?
You know the answer to that, so why even bother bringing it up? The flipside to our extremely well-documented rookie list woes is we have more drafted players on our list than anybody else. Explain to me how that's a bad thing. And while you're at it explain to me what the rookie list has to do with a thread about topping up.
rodgerfox wrote:The reason the Dogs have 'gone backwards' this year is incredibly simple -
They have injuries to key players.
West and Johnson carried them last year and made their young guys look better than they are - this year West and Johnson's form has been down.
Eade isn't a good coach. Even last year they consistently had 100 points kicked against them - even when they won. This is not sustainable. You cannot consistently let oppositions kick 100 points against you and expect to be a genuine contender.
Most accurate post in the thread.
The Western Bulldogs have very poor depth, and had a terrific run with injuries to their key players last year.
With several long-term injuries in 2007 coming to key players, and a drop in form for others, the shallowness of their depth has been exposed.
Eade bought some insurance with McDougall and Akermanis, but they haven't been able to cover the positions the Dogs have lacked.
They should only play AFL games now when it's raining. Slow games of footy are so much better to watch.
Unfortunate that this thread is getting lost in the wake of what's gone on tonight. An insightful discussion, probably moreso because (by and large) we can be more objective when analysing other teams weaknesses than our own.
e.g. Dogs - Injuries, we've gotten so used to a long injury list at St. Kilda, we almost apologise for not being a top 4 side without a full list. Swans - Have done the opposite to what's considered general wisdom and traded away plenty of draft picks, taken on plenty of reclamation projects, and had success doing so. (I think more than a small degree of this is that their 2s play in a questionable league, and they therefore have an impreative to do well at the trade table).
Not agreeing with everything (e.g. I think Eade is a great coach, who has a list weak in KPP playing at a KPP paradise a couple of years ahead of schedule), but I already know what I think, so I hope this thread will continue, and I'm basically crapping on as an excuse to give this thread a...
*bump*
and get it back up onto page 1 on a night when every thread is about that m0th3rf%&$ing s&%$full c&%$ s&%$ing pharce of a kangaroo court they call the tribunal.
"Everything comes to he who hustles while he waits"
- Henry Ford
Interesting comments about Sydney. To be honest, haven't looked at them too closely.
They got Ted Richards. This year they have Luke Brennan. Bucking my trend a little bit. I'd even put Peter Everitt in that group, even though he's a proven veteran. Also a ruckman.
Speaking of which, can you believe Carlton want to offer a 31yo Brendan Lade a three year contract?
But back to Sydney, just a quick scan over their list shows 8 players with previous club experience, in two groups:
Rejects - Craig Bolton (Brisbane), Luke Brennan (Hawthorn), Amon Buchanan (Carlton), Ted Richards (Essendon).
Non-Rejects - Barry Hall, Peter Everitt, Darren Jolly, Nick Davis.
A couple of success stories in Bolton & Buchanan and to a lesser degree with Richards that shoots me down.
Be interesting to see the same analysis of each club's list....
Poster formerly known as SENsaintsational. More wisdom. More knowledge. Less name.
