Strategy 2022 Rest of Season strategy thread

[AsterixTheGaul]

With the horrid injuries that were upon the club before the season started, then the month of COVID giving us the spirited replacements and now NicNat going down, what should we do with season 2022?

It would be a waste of an opportunity for us to carry on and not reset our goals for 2022. More of the back in our champions until mathematically not possible feels like we miss out. In not wanting to be a naysayer, but season 2022 if a non starter.

Hell, SportsBet had us 3rd in the market to have the lowest wins. And that was before the NicNat news!



So what to do with the balance of the season?

Option 1 - Keep playing our best 22 and carry on regardless, back in the champions with credits in bank
Upside is we somehow creep into the 8 and peter out week 1
Downside is that we realistically already know we are screwed and we miss out on knowing whether Williams, Rotham, XON, Jamieson, etc are worth persevering with sand end up with a middle of R1 pick.

Option 2 - Accept finals are out for 2022 so balance youth with experience
Upside is that we get the benefit of enough senior players surrounding the youth, play the youth in their best position (ie West is not a high half forward and try XON as a permanent mid) and get experience into our next layer while keeping support around them.
Downside is we get all the stars back with 7 rounds to go and miss the chance of having a crack at a title. Also not able to announce this strategy and hence attendances at the game goes down with fans not liking losing.

Option 3 - Treat it as a 12 month pre-season and learn about our list
Upside is we find out what it would be like to hit the ground running with an 12 month preseason. Start experimenting with game strategy, know who is a keeper and who to get rid of, attract players and draft players that we see as key to our new game strategy
Downside is that we lose the spirit that is on offer and fans disengage.

Other issues to consider
Potential to pick up the best 19 year old who missed the draft and by being in bottom 2 or 3 at mid point in the season, we draft a Max Ramsden or someone similar)

Finish up with a pick in the top 4 come seasons end and get ourselves a high quality inside mid – you know the ones that really are the differentiators.

Based on SportsBet, we end up with picks 3, 21, 23 and 39.

 

[ziad]

Option 2 I thing gives us the best development and best performance

 

[The_Gambler]

just evolve with the current situation. B.Williams and Dixon to share Ruck and forward positions. Whoever is going better in the position ion the day spends more time there. If we want to play smaller we can play just the one of them (or Oscar Allen

12

Oscar Allen

Age

25

Ht

196cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.8

2star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.1

4star

No current season stats available

D

8.6

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

2.8

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.0

4star

G

1.2

4star

) as they are fit enough to play 80% plus of the game compared with 60%

And look, we won in 2018 without NN, and his season this year hadn’t been his matching winning best so far… so we look forward to him getting his fitness back and coming in fresh for the end of the year.

 

[KERRPOW]

Not sure, we'll probably end up finishing 10th or something i reckon.


The natanui injury isnt a bad thing in the long run. It provides a good 12 weeks for bailey williams to show something and maybe improve.

I think if fully fit we need to play our stars but B graders probably need to make way for youth.

I.e XON for redden
Foley for sheed
Rotham for hurn
JJ/petch for cripps
Gaff for naish

Hurn, kennedy and redden to retire at years end.

 

[Seadog]

Too early in the season to put the cue in the rack.
The inexperienced and youthful look like getting a fair crack out of necessity anyway.
If we lose the next 3 or 4 then we can look to start a long pre season, plenty of time.

 

[Barrybran]

just evolve with the current situation. B.Williams and Dixon to share Ruck and forward positions. Whoever is going better in the position ion the day spends more time there. If we want to play smaller we can play just the one of them (or Oscar Allen) as they are fit enough to play 80% plus of the game compared with 60%

And look, we won in 2018 without NN, and his season this year hadn’t been his matching winning best so far… so we look forward to him getting his fitness back and coming in fresh for the end of the year.

Throw Bailey in as number one ruck. We need Oscar to develop properly as a forward so I'd rather see Darling pinch hit in the ruck rather than screw up another young player's development.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Hurn, kennedy and redden to retire at years end.

Naitanui more than likely won’t be at the club next year either.

 

[Avalor]

Naitanui more than likely won’t be at the club next year either.

Why do you say that?

 

[Rowan18]

The win on Saturday shows what happens if you back yourself in and keep going. None of us thought we had a chance, yet the boys won. I say we keep going until it is obvious that we can't make finals. Let's see where we are at the mid season bye, if 4-9 we're cooked, if 7-6 then game on.

I had a glance at the ladder and laughed seeing teams like Freo and Saints so high up. Then I tried to figure out which teams are actually contenders. Melbourne are the current standout and Brisbane should do well (but they are flaky and innacurate), but you could throw a blanket over the rest. This looks like a very even year for the comp - there's no way we'd want to give up now.

What if we win our next 3 (Swans, Port, Tigers) and square the ledger at 3-3. Game on I reckon.

 

[Dylan82]

Why should the club fold after getting one of its best victories outside of finals?

We have effectively completed an extended preseason - it's now time to dig in, rather than cave in.



Naitanui's absence seems terrible - he is by far statistically the best ruckman in the competition.

But I have a suspicion there could be a bit of Ewing-theory going on here as well.

​

Nic doesn't do much outside of the stoppage these days and opponents are exploiting that. Generally, the more time he is on the ground, the more likely the opposition is going to accumulate a significant amount of uncontested possession.

The result is that the team has performed better recently when Naitanui has played less minutes.

​

As such, his injury may not necessarily be the disaster that it appears.


McGovern is back in AA form and the rest of the defence are joining in with him. The small forwards are the most exciting combination in the league, Darling is clearing out the rust, Kennedy just needs to be given half a chance and Allen is only a few weeks away. If O'Neill, West, Naish, L.Edwards (and Clark) can be integrated successfully with the senior midfielders that are returning, suddenly that midfield looks a very different beast.

Combine it with the prospect of a more proactive gameplan attacking the corridor and the ceiling for this year is higher than most would reckon.


No need to throw in the towel, there is plenty to remain excited about.

 

[THE A5]

Why should the club fold after getting one of its best victories outside of finals?

We have effectively completed an extended preseason - it's now time to dig in, rather than cave in.



Naitanui's absence seems terrible - he is by far statistically the best ruckman in the competition.

But I have a suspicion there could be a bit of Ewing-theory going on here as well.

View attachment 1369876​

Nic doesn't do much outside of the stoppage these days and opponents are exploiting that. Generally, the more time he is on the ground, the more likely the opposition is going to accumulate a significant amount of uncontested possession.

The result is that the team has performed better recently when Naitanui has played less minutes.

View attachment 1369930​

As such, his injury may not necessarily be the disaster that it appears.


McGovern is back in AA form and the rest of the defence are joining in with him. The small forwards are the most exciting combination in the league, Darling is clearing out the rust, Kennedy just needs to be given half a chance and Allen is only a few weeks away. If O'Neill, West, Naish, L.Edwards (and Clark) can be integrated successfully with the senior midfielders that are returning, suddenly that midfield looks a very different beast.

Combine it with the prospect of a more proactive gameplan attacking the corridor and the ceiling for this year is higher than most would reckon.


No need to throw in the towel, there is plenty to remain excited about.

I worry that XON, West and Edwards won't be good enough to strengthen our contested ball with Naita gone and the onus will go back to the three main senior guys. Clark I think could be very handy but I'm worried about his foot speed and his work outside stoppages.

 

[dajesmac]

I honestly think it may be a year where we can't employ a strategy too heavily, what we do will largely be dictated but what players we have available. I genuinely think we could aim to pick our strongest 22 each and every week and through necessity that will include some of the younger unproven guys. Williams and Dixon for instance are likely to get all the opportunities they could want by default for a good 8-10 weeks.

I really want L.Edwards and Chesser on the park this year - would be great to throw those guys some games once fit.

 

[Free Agent]

The thing with the Nic Nat injury. It won't have as big a impact as previous season as Nic Nat was really unfit and massively overweight this season. He could barely run much these past 4 games and looked like having a pretty poor season to what his done in previous seasons.

Wont be as big of a lost as you think.

Shuey, Yeo and Kelly come back into the side this week to cover overweight Nic Nat

 

[The_Gambler]

The win on Saturday shows what happens if you back yourself in and keep going. None of us thought we had a chance, yet the boys won. I say we keep going until it is obvious that we can't make finals. Let's see where we are at the mid season bye, if 4-9 we're cooked, if 7-6 then game on.

I had a glance at the ladder and laughed seeing teams like Freo and Saints so high up. Then I tried to figure out which teams are actually contenders. Melbourne are the current standout and Brisbane should do well (but they are flaky and innacurate), but you could throw a blanket over the rest. This looks like a very even year for the comp - there's no way we'd want to give up now.

What if we win our next 3 (Swans, Port, Tigers) and square the ledger at 3-3. Game on I reckon.

Wouldn’t say no one expected us to win….

Same this week playing Sydney without buddy and papley. That’s a significant blow to their scoring power and they lose 2 match winners. If we stop rapid ball movement and rebound we are a big chance of winning. Like last week Kennedy, darling, Ryan or rioli could pop up and kick 2-3 in a quarter and win the match

 

[ziad]

Wouldn’t say no one expected us to win….

Same this week playing Sydney without buddy and papley. That’s a significant blow to their scoring power and they lose 2 match winners. If we stop rapid ball movement and rebound we are a big chance of winning. Like last week Kennedy, darling, Ryan or rioli could pop up and kick 2-3 in a quarter and win the match

beware of parker up front, tough match up.
Still they are without Hickey as well.

 

[The_Gambler]

beware of parker up front, tough match up.
Still they are without Hickey as well.

Hurn if he plays forward, Nelson if he plays mid. He doesn't have the speed to hurt us, just needs a close match up from a mature body. Heeney is the most likely to kick 5 goals on us, not sure we have a good match up for him

 

[BrotherDodge]

The result is that the team has performed better recently when Naitanui has played less minutes.

View attachment 1369930​

Agree with most of this, but while I'm too lazy to dig into the data, I suspect there's a correlation vs causation thing with Naitanui's TOG. It makes sense that we'd rest him more when things are going well, and run him harder when things are grim or injuries have buggered our rotations.

 

[WCErevival]

The thing with the Nic Nat injury. It won't have as big a impact as previous season as Nic Nat was really unfit and massively overweight this season. He could barely run much these past 4 games and looked like having a pretty poor season to what his done in previous seasons.

Wont be as big of a lost as you think.

Shuey, Yeo and Kelly come back into the side this week to cover overweight Nic Nat

He may be out of form and fat but his ruck work was still at least breaking even. Dixon was getting ragdolled in the ruck by Grundy. We were just lucky Grundy doesnt do a lot with it. Having Nic out will definitely weaken our contested work.

 

[Doashuey]

Look, we are in the business of winning footy games and that wont ever change. And nor should it- once a team doesnt prioritise winning it can be a long way back to regaining that mindset.

That doesnt mean we just play the big name, big money players at the expense of those having a crack and developing. I do think we need to change the way we select teams and now we have seen what enthusiastic youth can do when given their chance. I 100% think senior players that have been out of the team should be made to play WAFL and work there way back in if they have been out for more than a few weeks. It drives standards. This will naturally also allow us the chance to get experience into our young players while also giving us the best chance at winning and getting back into the 8.
If you asked me last week, then Id say no chance of top 8 so best to finish as low as possible for the draft picks. After what I witnessed on the weekend, with the class to come back into the team, the exciting brand of footy we started playing and the relative evenness of the competition, perhaps we are a chance to do some damage. Lets have a red hot crack over the next month and see where we are at.

 

[kaiserchief13]

The thing with the Nic Nat injury. It won't have as big a impact as previous season as Nic Nat was really unfit and massively overweight this season. He could barely run much these past 4 games and looked like having a pretty poor season to what his done in previous seasons.

Wont be as big of a lost as you think.

Shuey, Yeo and Kelly come back into the side this week to cover overweight Nic Nat

Why is it acceptable for Naitanui to be overweight? Surely he should be told to leave the club and train by himself to get his fitness up?

 

[KERRPOW]

Wouldn’t say no one expected us to win….

Same this week playing Sydney without buddy and papley. That’s a significant blow to their scoring power and they lose 2 match winners. If we stop rapid ball movement and rebound we are a big chance of winning. Like last week Kennedy, darling, Ryan or rioli could pop up and kick 2-3 in a quarter and win the match

Heeney and Parker to kick a bag.

 

[Free Agent]

Why is it acceptable for Naitanui to be overweight? Surely he should be told to leave the club and train by himself to get his fitness up?

It's not acceptable and when I seen him after the longest pre season we've had in years was expecting everyone to come back super fit. Was the first thing I noticed is Nic Nat and his weight. Dissapointing to see him like that as this could of contributed now to his knee injury. Being heavier in the ruck means his landing heavier on his knees.

Strength and conditioning over the last few season has been a absolute joke. Would sack them all and start a fresh with some new staff next season. They should know better. Nic Nat should of got the same serve Gov got when he was overweight.
Darling is another underdone player and it shows in his running capacity. He is a lot slower then previous season. Mostly his fault by vaccine refusal as he probally didn't do much strength training in the legs in the off season on his own. Has lost a serious yard of pace and gets found out on his defensive pressure way too easy. He can't catch anyone running out of defence. Remember in his first few season how many times he would chase someone down. Won't do that this season. Will mean our smalls will have to work harder then before to apply that pressure. It's too late now because you can't just magically build strength in the legs overnight. He will be a found out a few times this season. Just hoping our smalls can work harder and cover this weakness of Darling and apply that forward defensive pressure we needed.

Sent from my CPH2025 using Tapatalk

 

[kaiserchief13]

It's not acceptable and when I seen him after the longest pre season we've had in years was expecting everyone to come back super fit. Was the first thing I noticed is Nic Nat and his weight. Dissapointing to see him like that as this could of contributed now to his knee injury. Being heavier in the ruck means his landing heavier on his knees.

Strength and conditioning over the last few season has been a absolute joke. Would sack them all and start a fresh with some new staff next season. They should know better. Nic Nat should of got the same serve Gov got when he was overweight.
Darling is another underdone player and it shows in his running capacity. He is a lot slower then previous season. Mostly his fault by vaccine refusal as he probally didn't do much strength training in the legs in the off season on his own. Has lost a serious yard of pace and gets found out on his defensive pressure way too easy. He can't catch anyone running out of defence. Remember in his first few season how many times he would chase someone down. Won't do that this season. Will mean our smalls will have to work harder then before to apply that pressure. It's too late now because you can't just magically build strength in the legs overnight. He will be a found out a few times this season. Just hoping our smalls can work harder and cover this weakness of Darling and apply that forward defensive pressure we needed.

Sent from my CPH2025 using Tapatalk

Surely Simpson is the one who can send Naitanui off to lose weight?

 

[kranky al]

Not sure, we'll probably end up finishing 10th or something i reckon.


The natanui injury isnt a bad thing in the long run. It provides a good 12 weeks for bailey williams to show something and maybe improve.

I think if fully fit we need to play our stars but B graders probably need to make way for youth.

I.e XON for redden
Foley for sheed
Rotham for hurn
JJ/petch for cripps
Gaff for naish

Hurn, kennedy and redden to retire at years end.

Hold ah said hooold up ah said hooooold up there bwoy

Kennedy and bunga yeah but redden?

Was one of our best performers over the year last year and i had him as one of our best on the weekend.

 

[KERRPOW]

Hold ah said hooold up ah said hooooold up there bwoy

Kennedy and bunga yeah but redden?

Was one of our best performers over the year last year and i had him as one of our best on the weekend.

Theres honestly nothing special about redden that XON cant do next year.