Strategy 2022 Rest of Season strategy thread

[ziad]

Can Rotham, Foley, Duggan, Petrucclle or Cole play in the middle? Add them to the mix with O’Neil, Edwards and Clark

The answere is clearly no. Foley is developing, but the otehrs have proven to be low grade plodders and bit part flankers.. Duggan was pitiful agaisnt quality oposition on the weekend. These are some of the list cloggers that are holding us back. Shuffling these deck chairs is just time wasting. O'Neil is an AFL mid, lovely bloke but not part of a competative midfield.

 

[Deplorable trumpster]

Well said. One problem we have is nobody to replace players dropped. Others may know the rule re using WAFL players but i think we need to have exhaused AFL listed players.
The standards and leadership must be from the very top. If this is not so there can be uncertainty and inconsistancy. Coaches are improtant but they dont sit at the very top.
I thought the effort against Brisbane was pretty good, it just highlighted that the very best effort of some isnt near the required standard. We should be moving plays out now as returning players make it possible just as we must move on players not competing as you wrote. A bit of survival tension will help if suported by good leadership and clear communication.

Yeah. Obviously we need to have enough available players to start dropping blokes. But once we do then the droppings should commence. And not for one week where they run around in the WAFL and get 20 disposals and then get picked again the next week. Drop them for long enough for them to have a real long hard think about their careers and to make a statement to the playing group about what happens when you fail to show the level of effort and commitment that is necessary.

The way i see it is we have a massive problem in terms of the mentality and attitude of the playing list. But given that we will finish in the bottom 4 no matter what that means that we also have an opportunity to do something about it without harming the club's long term interests by doing a mass dropping of senior players. Sadly though, none of this will happen. It looks like everything is going to get chalked up to Covid and it won't be until we are still in the bottom four 12 months from now, when all the Covid excuses are taken off the table and unable to be trotted out, that Nisbett and Simpson et al will accept and realise that Covid was not the cause of all the problems.

 

[ziad]

Yeah. Obviously we need to have enough available players to start dropping blokes. But once we do then the droppings should commence. And not for one week where they run around in the WAFL and get 20 disposals and then get picked again the next week. Drop them for long enough for them to have a real long hard think about their careers and to make a statement to the playing group about what happens when you fail to show the level of effort and commitment that is necessary.

The way i see it is we have a massive problem in terms of the mentality and attitude of the playing list. But given that we will finish in the bottom 4 no matter what that means that we also have an opportunity to do something about it without harming the club's long term interests by doing a mass dropping of senior players. Sadly though, none of this will happen. It looks like everything is going to get chalked up to Covid and it won't be until we are still in the bottom four 12 months from now, when all the Covid excuses are taken off the table and unable to be trotted out, that Nisbett and Simpson et al will accept and realise that Covid was not the cause of all the problems.

The Excuse capital for sure.
We are all half happy with pick #1 and have seen players crack in and get belted by Brisbane -that our best effort. Thus there are bigger issues than a win or marginally better performance. There must be an unbroken chain of trust within all in the club established. There clearly isnt as per the Nelson saga as it appears the CEO commenting publically on list positions. (Watch your backs) And all must be accountable.

We have been gifted a season to sort out the club from top to bottom. No start finding great S&C staff etc. etc.

 

[Mikevk123]

The main issue with the list is the lack of midfield depth coming through. The Eagles have some talented players but it’s no help when you can’t put up a battle.

I’d be looking at some young talented mids like Robertson, West, Garcia to help the transition.

 

[The Passenger]

The main issue with the list is the lack of midfield depth coming through.

This is so far and away our #1 priority.

XON is clearly the most consistently performed young midfield prospect and its still very questionable as to what level he's going to get to. It looks like his top ceiling is probably around the level of someone like Jack Redden, so a good player but not a superstar. There's a lot of improvement that needs to happen for him to reach that sort of level and is a long way in the distance (and still highly likely that he falls well short of that ceiling).

Greg Clark and Conor West have shown a lot of pluck and fight in their short careers but they are 24 and 23 so not super young and both have plenty of deficiencies which is why it took them so long to get a crack. They can definitely be something like your 5th and 6th string midfielders and would be handy players at that level but neither will be the leading lights in a top tier midfield.

Luke Edwards' game against Richmond (game #2 in his career) is the best single game any of the five mentioned in this post have played in the AFL but he hasn't come close to replicating that since so very hard to get a gauge on what his prospects are.

Jamaine Jones played another one of his better game on the weekend but unlike his other good game of 2022 against the Suns, this time he saw minimal midfield minutes. He's a super exciting prospect at time but he's never been more than a midfield pinch hitter and the one consistent feature of his fledgling AFL career is his inconsistency from week to week. I know he was battling a bit of a hamstring injury but going missing for weeks on end has happened numerous times already.

We need to nail the draft with some high impact midfielders over the next two to three years. It's an area of the field that can improve very quickly, especially when a club has their hands on some genuine blue chip draft selections.

 

[peeky]

The main issue with the list is the lack of midfield depth coming through. The Eagles have some talented players but it’s no help when you can’t put up a battle.

I’d be looking at some young talented mids like Robertson, West, Garcia to help the transition.

Our crappy midfield makes it hard (I think) to properly evaluate our forward line or our backline.

 

[KERRPOW]

This year is a complete write off.

May aswell experiment with youth in different positions to see if we unlock something.

Jameson in the ruck actually showed something worth persisting with (rookie list)

 

[Grahame]

As I mentioned elsewhere ... our selections need to be either Mentors or Trainees.

I don't care if Hurn or JK are only best 30 if they can assist the Trainees. (And yes they may only have the energy to play four of five.) Similarly for Shuey or Yeo who may not play regularly. And for those who aren't naturally mentors (TK? JD? Ryan?) then they must teach by example by playing to their ability and doing the 'one per centers'. If you cannot - or will not - assist in progressing the Trainees then back to the WAFL regardless of name or contract. This is about setting a culture for the future.

The other issue is we have 10 or so players in the 40-100 game category who have had enough games now to suggest most, if not all, are at best honest toilers if not straight out list cloggers. Most have shown glimpses here or there but nothing consistent. So unless they turn things around then the younger generation of players need to get games ahead of these guys i.e. West, Clarke, LEdwards, Trew, XON, HEdwards, BWilliams, Jamieson, Foley, Dixon, Strnadica, Hough, Naish, Winder, JWilliams, Bazzo, Joyce, Chesser.

It may be that some (JWilliams? Trew? Bazzo?) are just not yet up to AFL in terms of body or skills but a game or two would let them know what AFL is about and meanwhile the club would get an objective look at them. For the rest try to get at least four or five games into all of them and a dozen or more for the ones showing promise.