I agree their list is better now but I think we’ve had remarkably similar highs and lows over that period.
I don’t think you could say they were better - between ‘16-21 we made 4 finals series, won 1 flag lost 1 GF and didn’t win a final in the other two years, and finished bottom 8 twice.
They made one GF, zero flags, finished bottom 8 3 times including 2nd last once, outside of their GF year made 2 final series for just 2 wins.
Similar yet we had higher highs and they had lower lows. Now the core of their side is still very very similar yet we’re worlds apart on field when they haven’t really added a huge amount of quality on field outside of Daicos and have actually lost more A graders too.
The whole difference has been the turn around off field which is helping them get more output out of the same core on field. There’s no reason we couldn’t be in a similar position and our support cast is very capable but the whole side is being seriously failed right now, is what I’m getting at anyway. There just shouldn’t be the difference in ability that is showing right now but here we are going backwards with every month that goes past
What Craig McCrae does is nothing special. He plays his players in roles to maximise their strengths and does not ask players to perform roles their are I’ll-suited to. Think Daicos behind the ball and not inside the centre contest or De Goey in the centre where he uses his pace and strength then drifting forward so he does not get burnt out.
Bevo does the opposite - he tries to use certain players to plug deficiencies created by poor recruiting resulting in confusion and poor role clarity.
Remember Young in the 2021 final series being our ruck, JJ played forward when he won a Norm Smith in defence, Hannan in defence, Williams in defence then wing, Libba and MacCrae as forwards, Dunkley and Buku as second rucks - the list goes on.
He asks too much of A graders and selects players who are not good enough continually, forcing others to cover for their deficiencies.
There is minimal differences in talent between most of the leading teams, that’s why we have draft - it’s just how they are used.