Demons4eva
Draftee
- Mar 25, 2013
- 4
- 6
- AFL Club
- Melbourne
Hi all. I'm new to this board but have been a Dees supporter and member for many years. My expectations for season 2013 are more to do with the development of our players rather than winning games. Don't get me wrong, winning games would be fantastic and I will be cheering the lads on at the G just as loud as anyone and will be just as disappointed if they lose. But I have to be a realist and acknowledge that we are playing against teams with alot more experience than us...the top teams have more than 3 times the number of games than the Dees do so we can't realistically expect to beat them. What I do expect is for the players to further adapt to the game plan, improve their skills from last year, increase the discipline and professinalism at the club and an increase in the players physicality and fitness.
What we are missing is the premium players that teams like Collingwood (Swan, Pendles, Beams) and Hawks (Buddy, Mitchell, Rioli, Roughhead) have. There are only two ways to get these players into our side (a) recruit them; or (b) develop them. Unfortunately option (a) has proven to be virtually impossible because players of that standard want success and that is something that the Dees can't currently offer. That means that option (b) is the only realistic option we have and as we develop our players success will follow which in turn will attract premium players to the club.
Although the pre-season results weren't that flash I was wrapped with the obvious increase in the players fitness and physicality and also the improvement in their skills. Their ball movement was alot quicker and their skills in close were noticeably improved. Obviously the skill errors were still there but I did see an improvement and that is what we need to build upon.
I personally think we need to stick with the group we have for at least the next two years because whilst the discipline and professionalism that Neeld has brought to our club is fantastic the results will take time to shine through. We are also about 3-5 years away from getting enough games into our current list to seriously compete with the top clubs for the flag. We need players like Watts, Trengove, Grimes, McKenzie etc to develop into the next crop of premium players. Watts has already shown a remarkable improvement since he has switched to the back line and got a few more games under his belt. For me he will be the next big thing for the Melbourne Football Club and we need others to come through over time.
So go Dees in 2013. Continue to work hard for each other and the results will come.
What we are missing is the premium players that teams like Collingwood (Swan, Pendles, Beams) and Hawks (Buddy, Mitchell, Rioli, Roughhead) have. There are only two ways to get these players into our side (a) recruit them; or (b) develop them. Unfortunately option (a) has proven to be virtually impossible because players of that standard want success and that is something that the Dees can't currently offer. That means that option (b) is the only realistic option we have and as we develop our players success will follow which in turn will attract premium players to the club.
Although the pre-season results weren't that flash I was wrapped with the obvious increase in the players fitness and physicality and also the improvement in their skills. Their ball movement was alot quicker and their skills in close were noticeably improved. Obviously the skill errors were still there but I did see an improvement and that is what we need to build upon.
I personally think we need to stick with the group we have for at least the next two years because whilst the discipline and professionalism that Neeld has brought to our club is fantastic the results will take time to shine through. We are also about 3-5 years away from getting enough games into our current list to seriously compete with the top clubs for the flag. We need players like Watts, Trengove, Grimes, McKenzie etc to develop into the next crop of premium players. Watts has already shown a remarkable improvement since he has switched to the back line and got a few more games under his belt. For me he will be the next big thing for the Melbourne Football Club and we need others to come through over time.
So go Dees in 2013. Continue to work hard for each other and the results will come.