who will be most improved club in 2004

[aggotwang]

Geelong
Bulldogs
Carlton
St Kilda
Kanagroos

 

[Akalon]

Geelong. Despite most people's predictions for a dismal performance in 2004, I guarantee Geelong will be in the top 4 next year. We have a plethora of extremely talented young players and the new coaching appointments will compliment and provide the guidance Thompson could not with his former coaching staff and himself solely.

 

[Fire]

...Guarentee eh?

Geeling should improve dramatically, but a top 4 would have to be beyond their widest dreams at the moment.

Im tipping Port, Brisbane and Collingwood to fall (I dont care what anyone else thinks) but there would still be a lot of teams showing more promise to take their place than Geelong.

That being said, I would say Geeling will be the most improved out of the above.

 

[gold cup 1996]

A tough one, every year there is a side on a big rise from the year before and Melbourne seem to be in it every 2nd year, which would be next year (2004). But to get serious I feel St Kilda and the Kangaroos both just missed the 8 in 2003 so they don't count. Bulldogs should climb a bit, but not enough to say big improvers, Carlton can only improve but have along way to go if their last half of the year is any indication but have taken a step in the right direction and have cleaned out a lot of the dead wood might go up 3 or 4 places up. I feel Geelong will be the biggest improver although not sure if it will be enough to make the 8, but they were pretty competitive this year and didn't have many thumpings that I could think of. The other thing about Geelong is they have been rebuilding for about 3 or 4 years now and now is the time they must deliver, no more excuses about the Kiddie Cats, these Kiddie Cats from 2000 to 2003 are now men.

 

[GlovemanGayfer]

Well if 2 of these teams don't play final this year they should have new coaches! There are no more excuses for the saints and cats, their time is now

 

[riccardo]

We really are at the crucial point now at St Kilda. We're ready to get to the next level, its weather we can actually make the transition effectively.
Unlike our last tilt at the big time, when we improved dramatically and then dropped off (for various reasons), I think that we have been improving gradually over the last 2-3 years, and we will be set for a long period of, if not dominance, then some damn fne years ahead.
Having said that, the Doggies were struck down by injuries and thier luck just deserted them this year, they should have won at least 3/4 games they either lost or drew. Expect them to come out spitting chips this year, taking no prisinors and improving quite a bit.

 

[Nandoz]

Dogs...without doubt. Alot of people heavily under-rate the influence of Chris Grant on the Dogs outfit, and with a fantastic group of youngsters and an improving core group, with the inclusion of Stevens/Rawlings, i think the future is bright for the Dogs. This season was not a reflection of the Dogs position.

Lets just hope they can get it together off the field, so they can stay in the comp.

Good time for Doggie fans to sign up...

 

[chiliboy]

Saints to make top 4, Cats to win the spoon!!

I think Geelong has a shocking list, with a load of over rated youth!! Mark Thompson has not done anything at that club, and yet, he's still there!!

 

[evertonfc]

Originally posted by Nandoz
Dogs...without doubt. Alot of people heavily under-rate the influence of Chris Grant on the Dogs outfit, and with a fantastic group of youngsters and an improving core group, with the inclusion of Stevens/Rawlings, i think the future is bright for the Dogs. This season was not a reflection of the Dogs position.

Lets just hope they can get it together off the field, so they can stay in the comp.

Good time for Doggie fans to sign up...

Absolutely, well said.

The time is now, Doggies!

 

[pav_is_god]

I agree with Nandoz, this past season didn't really reflect what talent they do have at the Dogs:
-Johnson
-West
-Grant (coming back, incidentally i saw him in WA last Thursday, may be making a move to the E Girls!!! kidding )
-Rawlings (from PSD)
-Darcy
-others that a Dogs fan could probably point out to me...

Plus they've picked up a bit of class during trade week (eg Koops). All they need to do is gel together a bit better.

 

[evo]

Suprised you did nt even offer the Richmond choice.Decimated by injury this year and the addition of a 60+ goalkicker in Brown.

 

[Max_Headroom]

Despite not being in the list of teams to pick between, i firmly believe that Hawthorn will be VAST improvers this year ... 2001 wasn't a fluke and the Hawks will be out to prove that a couple of years in the wilderness has not decimated our high prospects of serious success. Given a decent pre-season (unlike the last 2 years) and a quality fixture (which we have landed) in conjunction with some major playing acquisitions, you will find that the Hawks have potentially the most potent list on their day in the comp. I am expecting nothing less than a top 4 finish for the Hawkers this year ...

 

[Bulldog1954]

Originally posted by pav_is_god
I agree with Nandoz, this past season didn't really reflect what talent they do have at the Dogs:
-Johnson
-West
-Grant (coming back, incidentally i saw him in WA last Thursday, may be making a move to the E Girls!!! kidding )
-Rawlings (from PSD)
-Darcy
-others that a Dogs fan could probably point out to me...

Plus they've picked up a bit of class during trade week (eg Koops). All they need to do is gel together a bit better.

Smith and Murphy are also class players. The problem however is after our topliners the gap to the next group of players is immense, we need some of our middle ranked players to step up for us to improve

 

[X_box_X]

I reckon the Bulldogs will improve the most out of that lot (moving the most places up the ladder). I think St. Kilda is a ruckman away from making the Final Series. But, I can't see St. Kilda jumping up much.

Bulldogs to jump about 5-6 places, IMO.

 

[mellowyellow]

Originally posted by evo
Suprised you did nt even offer the Richmond choice.Decimated by injury this year and the addition of a 60+ goalkicker in Brown.

I wouldn't be to concerned that there is doubt about our ability to be big improvers next year.

Our list, in my opinion is better then the likes of Geelong,Bulldogs, Roos and carlton, so i'd expect us to be far more competive given a kind run with injuries.The inclusion of Brown,as you point out will also generate more opputunties up forward and threw the midfield.

As for the big mover...well i'd expect the saints to make the most signifcant climb upwards. Making a top 8 position given there list and the vast improvement this season is nothing less than most saints supporters would expect.

 

[benny's buddy]

Originally posted by chiliboy
I think Geelong has a shocking list, with a load of over rated youth!! Mark Thompson has not done anything at that club, and yet, he's still there!!

Yes, some of the youngsters didn't do as well this year as they did the year before but Geelong does not have a LOAD of over rated youngsters.

On Mark Thompson, he has done a lot. He has built from the ground up a good young team that has the potential to go places in the not too distant future. Also, he's built a very strong backline that proved more than once last season that it can work well together.

I think once there is a properly functioning forward line, people will start to have a different view of the Cats. Because once that happens, they will start winning those games that they lost by 4 goals or less (and there were a lot this year).

I think the future is bright.

 

[TheFoxhat]

& where's the rest of the F#$%&*@ poll...

 

[whythelongface]

Carlton will improve......to their collection of wooden spoons.

 

[SonOfScray]

I'd like to sat Footscray, but I can't see any huge improvements yet. I think that the Saints have started to break the 'potential' tag and start showing it, I can see them having a big year in 2004.

 

[The Fireman]

Good luck to the Doggies next year I hope thay do well and hope that little RAT Brown rues the day he turned into a mercenary.

 

[Fall Out Boy]

Originally posted by chiliboy
Saints to make top 4, Cats to win the spoon!!

I think Geelong has a shocking list, with a load of over rated youth!! Mark Thompson has not done anything at that club, and yet, he's still there!!

Yet we still manage to bend your club over time and time again.

Speaks volumes for Melbourne.

 

[lozstar]

St Kilda or Bulldogs..

 

[Slax]

Saints & Doggies out of that list. Richmond will improve also.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Why isn't Melbourne in there?

Takes away all respect from the list you put up there by leaving out Melbourne.

 

[Portia]

Geelong should be the most improved.

Melbourne disappointed this year - if they do get a lot better, I don't know that there's much actual squad improvement, just better results, if that makes any sense. I dunno thats improvement if you're getting back to where you should be after a **** year.