Last year Carlton (especially early) were like us in 2018. Backed their mids to win the footy and just had the rest of the players cheating forward, running in waves. Couldn't keep it up all game and let the opposition back in. Collingwood smash teams on transiton but still requires a massive fitness base to run both ways as much as they do.
Because the dynasty teams ( Brisbane, Geelong, Hawthorn, Richmond) all were the best teams in the league in their second up season after winning. We were not, in fact we were barely hanging onto the top 4 by the end. Even reverting back to our 2021 best doesn't win us a flag this year and I don't see the improvement from the rest of the list. We already had Gawn, Trac, May, Oliver playing at an AA level and it didn't help us against good sides last year. We've fallen behind in the last couple drafts, haven't added any real quality to the list since Pickett and Jackson
I'm not gonna punch my flag in the ground as hard as flogster but 3-8th yeah.
I don't think Bowey, ANB, Spargo, Mcevee or our other flanker types make the top teams best 22
Same draft as Jones. Though Jones has had a much tougher career basically carrying the team in some very dark days, Pendlebury is immensely better, infact he is by far the best player from that draft it's not funny.
We'll agree to disagree on this one, I don't think there's a hard and fast rule. I reckon the guns are the guns, but I was let down by the B-graders playing at a low level last year. Ie. Spargo, Sparrow and Neal-Bullen drying up as sources of goals.
I get where you're coming from, but don't fully agree here. Bowey was a really good addition I reckon, and we've obviously had to be patient for Laurie and JvR but excited to see them get a gig. Laurie especially is no guarantee, but you don't know until you try. In many ways, we would have benefited from some young guys getting more game time last year, but the coaches were so shit scared of not winning the flag that they stuck with half-fit experienced guys, or older and unimpressive options, and sleepwalked into their biggest fear.
Jones was a really good player, but Pendles is just a freak. Josh Kennedy (the KPF) was also in that draft and wasn't too far off Pendles, but there were no other truly elite players in there. There were times when Daisy/Ryder/Hurn/Jones/Murphy/Birchall were elite but for a few years at most. Pendles has been A-grade since the year he started.
When you look at the names in isolation from last night, the flankers aren't all that impressive. Z.Guthrie, Hoskin-Elliott, Bews, McInnis, Hill, Miers stand out especially. They're just well drilled to fit their system, as the likes of ANB and Rivers were in 2021. In shit teams, they'd all be equally pretty shit. See how good Hill looked last night compared to how ordinary he was at the Giants. System trumps all at the top end of a sport where equalisation means there's rarely an absolutely dominant team.
Ehh they weren't actually that bad , not including Alice Springs we averaged 42.5k at home which was the 4th best in league. We're just not as big as the big 4 and probably never will be.
We weren't 4th we were 6th after the H and A.
Hence why I said NOT Including Alice Springs - which brings down the average a fair bit - especially when compared to clubs that don't have a home game in a sub 10k venue. If we're gauging home game support I'm not including it.
We also got given a heap more night games, we had a lot of poor Friday and Saturday night crowds.
I don't think our 2021 finals series has any meaning at all now. The cats are better, and the pies and swans didn't exist. We didn't face anyone as good as this year's top 4
I can be proven wrong by JVR and co, but as of right now we don't have anyone after Pickett and Jackson who are bonafide best 22. Collingwood Geelong and Sydney have added a heap
Yep the coaches were too scared to experiment last year, look how many games Melksham was given despite only being good in one of them. We'll know more in a month or two about how good our younger options are realistically going to be in the immediate term.
