Looking ahead to 2024

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SpecialBruce said:
We will be fine if some players take the next step. If they don't we are screwed
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nods - that Will Ashcroft for example needs to really work on his consistency ... I mean his impact on games just fell of a cliff part way through the season!
 
This is my concern Doodee and Ash won’t play before the mid season break. They’ll then take some time to find their feet and the team some time to gel. Making top 4 is not guaranteed.

To take the next step are basically relying on:

  • Doodee as an upgrade on Lester
  • Payne as an upgrade on Gardiner
  • Ashcroft coming in for Ah Chee (slipping back to sub in place of Lyons

Gee whilst it’s nice to have Ash and Payne back. We’re relying a hell of a lot on a second year player coming off an ACL to make a massive difference in the midfield.

It’s possible Dev plays Dunkley’s defensive role and releases dunks to be an attacking mid. That could help, the mid rotation would run a bit deeper.


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Scubaveg said:
This is my concern Doodee and Ash won’t play before the mid season break. They’ll then take some time to find their feet and the team some time to gel. Making top 4 is not guaranteed.

To take the next step are basically relying on:

  • Doodee as an upgrade on Lester
  • Payne as an upgrade on Gardiner
  • Ashcroft coming in for Ah Chee (slipping back to sub in place of Lyons

Gee whilst it’s nice to have Ash and Payne back. We’re relying a hell of a lot on a second year player coming off an ACL to make a massive difference in the midfield.

It’s possible Dev plays Dunkley’s defensive role and releases dunks to be an attacking mid. That could help, the mid rotation would run a bit deeper.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
Click to expand...
We have a good shot at it next year.

Can't see any of our A Graders falling off a cliff , we just need some of Rayner ,Starcevich , Wilmot ,Kiddy , Fletcher , Hipwood , maybe Dev and McKenna to give us 10% or so more than they could this year.

We had a reasonable run with injuries over 2023 . In the end Ashcroft and Payne going down cost us a flag but hardly anyone else did so overall we had a better run than most. I'm very confident if Cal can get a good pre season in and have a bit of luck with injuries for a change he will become an important utility.

Lester and Gardiner whilst not key players are better backups than most teams have.

Doodee won't be playing till after the bye off 2 ACL's but I figure if we've given him 4 years we must really rate him.

I reckon we've got another 2 years of being right in a flag window. After that too conjectural to have any opinion.
 

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The biggest thing that could drive us up one spot next year is the pain of missing out this year.

Clearly our list is right in the mix and it isn't changing to any great extent and while some of the top teams have made changes they aren't shifting the balance of power.

As we've seen this year you wouldn't have expected Lester or Fletcher to be regular players in the second half of the season. We'll hopefully see some other players come through next season as well. Perhaps Lohmann after he decided to stay...

The other thing I would say is that over the course of this year Fagan changed the structure partly forced, partly not. If we start next season with 2 tall forwards and only 1 ruck then there is an opportunity to build on how that works best and also address some team balance issues alongside that. perhaps Lohmann or Tunstill gets more of a run as another mid+ sized forward - 5-10cm taller than McCarthy, Zorko, Bailey, Charlie.

One thing that I think would have been good on Grand Final day is having a faster Sub. I think pace as the sub is a big advantage when the rest of the players are slowing down. I don't think Lyons offers much as the Sub - although he may have been there tactically if they were worried one of the inside mids wouldn't get through the game with a pre existing niggle (eg. Robertson's "sore" wrist).
 
John_Proctor said:
The biggest thing that could drive us up one spot next year is the pain of missing out this year.

Clearly our list is right in the mix and it isn't changing to any great extent and while some of the top teams have made changes they aren't shifting the balance of power.

As we've seen this year you wouldn't have expected Lester or Fletcher to be regular players in the second half of the season. We'll hopefully see some other players come through next season as well. Perhaps Lohmann after he decided to stay...

The other thing I would say is that over the course of this year Fagan changed the structure partly forced, partly not. If we start next season with 2 tall forwards and only 1 ruck then there is an opportunity to build on how that works best and also address some team balance issues alongside that. perhaps Lohmann or Tunstill gets more of a run as another mid+ sized forward - 5-10cm taller than McCarthy, Zorko, Bailey, Charlie.

One thing that I think would have been good on Grand Final day is having a faster Sub. I think pace as the sub is a big advantage when the rest of the players are slowing down. I don't think Lyons offers much as the Sub - although he may have been there tactically if they were worried one of the inside mids wouldn't get through the game with a pre existing niggle (eg. Robertson's "sore" wrist).
Click to expand...
Thought our GF sub performed well in the limited time he had....strong in the contest.....kept the ball moving forward.
 
John_Proctor said:
One thing that I think would have been good on Grand comeFinal day is having a faster Sub. I think pace as the sub is a big advantage when the rest of the players are slowing down. I don't think Lyons offers much as the Sub - although he may have been there tactically if they were worried one of the inside mids wouldn't get through the game with a pre existing niggle (eg. Robertson's "sore" wrist).
Click to expand...
Obviously your sub is someone who's not going to be in your best 22. That immediately means they'll have some deficiencies and whoever you pick will be a trade off. We went with a ball winning slow player, in the knowledge he should at least getting his hands to the ball. Our fast subs too commonly come in and can't get near the ball. Of course if we had a fast player that we could be confident of their ball winning ability, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be sub - they'd be best 22.
 
dlanod said:
Obviously your sub is someone who's not going to be in your best 22. That immediately means they'll have some deficiencies and whoever you pick will be a trade off. We went with a ball winning slow player, in the knowledge he should at least getting his hands to the ball. Our fast subs too commonly come in and can't get near the ball. Of course if we had a fast player that we could be confident of their ball winning ability, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be sub - they'd be best 22.
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Our fast subs commonly come in and are put on a wing or forward pocket where they can have little to no impact on the game.
 
briztoon said:
Our fast subs commonly come in and are put on a wing or forward pocket where they can have little to no impact on the game.
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Because they have no on-ball chops. Again - if they did, they'd be in the 22.
 
We need Jared Polec or Tom Cutler to be traded in as our permanent sub.
 

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martinson said:
We have a good shot at it next year.

Can't see any of our A Graders falling off a cliff , we just need some of Rayner ,Starcevich , Wilmot ,Kiddy , Fletcher , Hipwood , maybe Dev and McKenna to give us 10% or so more than they could this year.

We had a reasonable run with injuries over 2023 . In the end Ashcroft and Payne going down cost us a flag but hardly anyone else did so overall we had a better run than most. I'm very confident if Cal can get a good pre season in and have a bit of luck with injuries for a change he will become an important utility.

Lester and Gardiner whilst not key players are better backups than most teams have.

Doodee won't be playing till after the bye off 2 ACL's but I figure if we've given him 4 years we must really rate him.

I reckon we've got another 2 years of being right in a flag window. After that too conjectural to have any opinion.
Click to expand...
I tend to agree with still having a very good shot next year, and even 2025, despite the stats not being favourble for beaten GF making the GF or winning the following year.
Once we lose the GABBA for the redevelopment we likely struggle but that is too far to think about.
 
On the quiet said:
I tend to agree with still having a very good shot next year, and even 2025, despite the stats not being favourble for beaten GF making the GF or winning the following year.
Once we lose the GABBA for the redevelopment we likely struggle but that is too far to think about.
Click to expand...
Our window is a minimum of the next 2 years and possibly more should we keep recruiting good footballers to replace the ones getting near the end of their careers. Most of our list have their best footy in front of them so providing we keep them at the club, we are looking good.


P.S. Please dont let McIvor or that Gold 104.3 poster that I'm again happy to come 2nd!!!
 
Last edited:
Nathan Barley said:
Berry in a sling in a photo on Rayners Instagram stories. Wonder if it could be to get his shoulder strong enough to play on ball again
Click to expand...

Think the stars are aligning in that regard. Big pre season ahead for Bez.
 
From a fox article. Their 18 teams best 23.
Trade spree to ignite Swans amid scary Pies truth: Every AFL club’s best team in ‘24

Doedee and Ashcroft have to come out for round 1.
Barring injury the side they named is of course close to what may happen.
However, there is always changes from one year to the next
Unless we pick up an AFL ready winger in the remaining 3 drafts i think Wilmott needs to move into that position.
Berry, Wilmot & Fletcher is a good mix.

Lester should hold his spot until Doedee is ready.
Dev could hold Ashcroft spot but i don't think it is a given at this stage.
He showed loyalty in resigning so will be given every opportunity.
Other players may improve dramatically, or someone has a positional change.
Ah Chee was borderline best 22 for me this year and did play well when on the park. I still think borderline in 2024.
Zorko still needs to resign. In my opinion still best 23 if he stays on.

BRISBANE

B: Brandon Starcevich, Harris Andrews, Tom Doedee*

HB: Conor McKenna, Jack Payne, Keidean Coleman

C: Hugh McCluggage, Josh Dunkley, Jaspa Fletcher

HF: Cam Rayner, Eric Hipwood, Zac Bailey

F: Charlie Cameron, Joe Daniher, Lincoln McCarthy

FOLL: Oscar McInerney, Lachie Neale, Will Ashcroft*

I/C: Callum Ah Chee, Jarrod Berry, Darcy Wilmot, Dayne Zorko, Deven Robertson (sub)

Key off-season ins: Tom Doedee

Key off-season outs: Jack Gunston

WE SAY: Not much changes for the side that was runner-up by less than a kick. At full strength they might even start next season as premiership favourites. While it was a quieter trade period, the addition of Tom Doedee as a free agent is a big pickup — even if he’ll miss the first half of the year recovering from an ACL. Ryan Lester or Darcy Wilmot takes his spot in the back six in the interim. The mind wanders to what could have been had Will Ashcroft been in that Grand Final side, ditto Jack Payne who established himself as one of the breakout key defenders in the game. Ashcroft will of course miss half the year with his own ACL tear, so watch for the Lions to improve after the bye. Dev Robertson gets a shot in the squad with Ashcroft sidelined, though you wonder if the Lions promised him a more secure spot in the side to get him to re-sign instead of heading west? New recruit Brandon Ryan will probably start his stint has new club out of the starting squad on balance reasons but the Lions rate him enough to sign him for three years so we’ll probably see a fair bit of him eventually. At the very least he’s depth in the way Jack Gunston was at the end of 2023.
 
Section 5 said:
From a fox article. Their 18 teams best 23.
Trade spree to ignite Swans amid scary Pies truth: Every AFL club’s best team in ‘24

Doedee and Ashcroft have to come out for round 1.
Barring injury the side they named is of course close to what may happen.
However, there is always changes from one year to the next
Unless we pick up an AFL ready winger in the remaining 3 drafts i think Wilmott needs to move into that position.
Berry, Wilmot & Fletcher is a good mix.

Lester should hold his spot until Doedee is ready.
Dev could hold Ashcroft spot but i don't think it is a given at this stage.
He showed loyalty in resigning so will be given every opportunity.
Other players may improve dramatically, or someone has a positional change.
Ah Chee was borderline best 22 for me this year and did play well when on the park. I still think borderline in 2024.
Zorko still needs to resign. In my opinion still best 23 if he stays on.

BRISBANE

B: Brandon Starcevich, Harris Andrews, Tom Doedee*

HB: Conor McKenna, Jack Payne, Keidean Coleman

C: Hugh McCluggage, Josh Dunkley, Jaspa Fletcher

HF: Cam Rayner, Eric Hipwood, Zac Bailey

F: Charlie Cameron, Joe Daniher, Lincoln McCarthy

FOLL: Oscar McInerney, Lachie Neale, Will Ashcroft*

I/C: Callum Ah Chee, Jarrod Berry, Darcy Wilmot, Dayne Zorko, Deven Robertson (sub)

Key off-season ins: Tom Doedee

Key off-season outs: Jack Gunston

WE SAY: Not much changes for the side that was runner-up by less than a kick. At full strength they might even start next season as premiership favourites. While it was a quieter trade period, the addition of Tom Doedee as a free agent is a big pickup — even if he’ll miss the first half of the year recovering from an ACL. Ryan Lester or Darcy Wilmot takes his spot in the back six in the interim. The mind wanders to what could have been had Will Ashcroft been in that Grand Final side, ditto Jack Payne who established himself as one of the breakout key defenders in the game. Ashcroft will of course miss half the year with his own ACL tear, so watch for the Lions to improve after the bye. Dev Robertson gets a shot in the squad with Ashcroft sidelined, though you wonder if the Lions promised him a more secure spot in the side to get him to re-sign instead of heading west? New recruit Brandon Ryan will probably start his stint has new club out of the starting squad on balance reasons but the Lions rate him enough to sign him for three years so we’ll probably see a fair bit of him eventually. At the very least he’s depth in the way Jack Gunston was at the end of 2023.
Click to expand...
Gardner will be best 22 when round 1 comes providing he is fit.
 

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