Further improvement to be a REAL flag shot this yr

[kaos theory]

I'm rapt with the way we are playing so far. But we need to consider what it will take to win during the finals against teams like the cats, hawks & dogs. So even though we have been great so far, I'm looking at where further improvement can come from.


So far :
we have added to the midfield with goddard & gram new inclusions, ball is fitter, and dal & monty have added hardness and defensive play to their games, lenny is lenny & CJ & mini adding good support.

Our backline looks solid with blake, gilbert, fisher & ray adding more dash, and the return of baker is important.

Forward line is working better with kosi fully fit, and many crumbing opportunities for schnieder & milne, plus rotations through the forward line (e.g. goddard), and more goals from mids.

Overall: More flexibility, more hardness & more tackling pressure, more attacking play.


Improvement:
look at the team from yesterday and who can come in:

B: Farren Ray, Jason Blake, Zac Dawson
HB: Jarryn Geary, Sam Fisher, Brendon Goddard
C: Jason Gram, Luke Ball, Nick Dal Santo
HF: Stephen Milne, Nick Riewoldt, Adam Schneider
F: Lenny Hayes, Justin Koschitzke, Sam Gilbert
Foll: Michael Gardiner, Clint Jones, Leigh Montagna
I/C: Steven Baker, Andrew McQualter, James Gwilt, Steven King
Emg: Colm Begley, Ben McEvoy, Robert Eddy

Players who would normally expect to be in the 22

- Maxy
- Raph
- X. clarke
- Armo
- Eddy

Long term injured players who by the second half of the yr would normally expect to get into the 22:
- Goose
- Dempster

New/young players who would expect to get games & improve this year:

- McEvoy
- Begley
- Stevens
- Miles

We now seem to have very good depth. I think there are a few player inclusions that could work to bring us up a level. There is some good talent in the wings. And we will NEED that talent come the business end of the season. But its getting harder to pick who moves out:

The possible candidates to move out are:
- Dawson: been good, and will get better this yr & beyond, but there is an much better player for his position in the sidelines.
- Gwilt: Getting better. Good penetrating kicking, but lacks a little in decision making and quick disposal, especially by hand.
- Jones: Great run & pressure, still lacks a little on the offensive side. Disposal (hand & foot) getting better, but in the pressure cooker of a final?
- Mini: Good skills, working harder, but there are a couple of candidates in the wings that can do his job as well, if not a little better?
- Geary: Has a lot of upside if we persist. The most skillful of these group. Decision making getting better.

Beyond these 5, I can't see any other player, barring injury and bad form slump, who would lose their spot.

Possible Changes:

- Maxy for Dawson

Obvious choice, you can't go past max.

Now it gets harder:

Raph must come in. He adds quality & versitlity, but who goes for him? You have to replace like with like. So the closest is gwilt?

A fit & firing X. clarke also adds more skill, pace & offensive pressure, but who does he replace? Remember, you need team balance, so you need to replace like for like...

I would like to see armo & eddy come in. Especially Eddy. He has come up leaps & bounds in the pre-season (before the umpire ran into him).

Therefore, settling on the 'best 22' is getting much harder, which is a good thing. Players will be fighting to keep their spots, BUT there will need to be adjustments, and more talent needs to come in.

All other things being equal, in a final, we will need to rely on talent to get us that edge. And there is some good talent in the wings, which will put pressure on that bottom 5....

[matrix]

so we're not a real flag threat already???
shesh i wouldve thought there was about 4 or 5 sides that were a real threat

[kaos theory]

I'm refering to getting into a GF.

I'm not necessarily refering to top 4. We did that last year and got spanked by the two GF finalists.

We are, at this stage, in the mix with cats, hawks & dogs as a threat....but I'm looking at what's needed to get into the GF and win it.

[matrix]

wasnt dissing the post.
i just think we have it already....
hard work and belief

[Saintersss]

I think Jones is in our best 22. He was last year, and has been even better this year.
Shut down, McVeigh (16 disposals), mcleod (no influence), and Kerr(although Kerr still got 27 disp. Jones beat him).
Baker going to defence, looks like Jones will step up as the new number 1 tagger in the team.

Not to mention he provides quality pressure and tackling (14 against WC) which is our thing at the moment.

One problem with dropping players such as Gwilt, geary ect. is that they are improving out of sight so far this season and their confidence is growing and I think it'd dent their confidence slightly if they did get dropped. The players who are currently out of the side will have to be playing really good footy to replace any one of them (bar Max, who is a straigt inclusion)

[kaos theory]

I think Jones is in our best 22. He was last year, and has been even better this year.
Shut down, McVeigh (16 disposals), mcleod (no influence), and Kerr(although Kerr still got 27 disp. Jones beat him).
Baker going to defence, looks like Jones will step up as the new number 1 tagger in the team.

Not to mention he provides quality pressure and tackling (14 against WC) which is our thing at the moment.

One problem with dropping players such as Gwilt, geary ect. is that they are improving out of sight so far this season and their confidence is growing and I think it'd dent their confidence slightly if they did get dropped. The players who are currently out of the side will have to be playing really good footy to replace any one of them (bar Max, who is a straigt inclusion)

Generally agree....

But, at full fitness, raph is a better player than most of those 5 'bottom players'. Also X clarke adds something some of the others don't have...

My choice is:

Maxy for Dawson
Raph for Gwilt
Eddy for Mini
I would like to keep Geary. He has a lot more upside, but I would also like to get X into the team....


NOTE: I'm NOT saying these changes should occur now, but over the next 2 to 4 weeks, gradually, some of these changes are possible...

Its tough choice, but we should be looking for improvement where we can....a good problem to have right now...

[matrix]

max for dawson
raph for gwilt
x for mini (mini stiff tho)
thats my thoughts.....

[vacuous space]

Eddy for Mini

What's the point of this one? McQualter isn't much older than Eddy (about 16 months older). McQualter has better disposal skills. He finds more of the ball. He does all the team things. I think McQualter is the better player. This one seems like change for the sake of change.

And why, of all of them, do you want to keep Geary in? He's the youngest, least experienced of the bunch. He also looks the least comfortable.

Hudghton's a walk-up start. X and Raph haven't earned that. Eddy certainly hasn't. Our 'bottom players' have all performed admirably. If Hudghton's fit, he comes in, probably for Dawson. I wouldn't change anything else except as required.

[starsign]

I'd be praying for a decent run with injuries over the distance (which we are due for IMHO) and the great improvement shown by our 2nd and 3rd tier players to steadily continue ...then everything will take care of itself in regard to these hypothetical selection issues

[kaos theory]

What's the point of this one? McQualter isn't much older than Eddy (about 16 months older). McQualter has better disposal skills. He finds more of the ball. He does all the team things. I think McQualter is the better player. This one seems like change for the sake of change.

And why, of all of them, do you want to keep Geary in? He's the youngest, least experienced of the bunch. He also looks the least comfortable.

Hudghton's a walk-up start. X and Raph haven't earned that. Eddy certainly hasn't. Our 'bottom players' have all performed admirably. If Hudghton's fit, he comes in, probably for Dawson. I wouldn't change anything else except as required

imo Eddy is in for a big improvement this year. I like mini, has a good pedegree, so its a tough one....just my opinion, but we will wait and see. I think RL is very keen on eddy.

Disagree on raph. He has certainly earned a sopt in the best 18. Was one of our best late last yr, and was probably best on field before he got injured in round one.

Again, it will be tough to drop any of the bottom 5, bar dawson for max, but in the long term, to extract further improvement, some of these others will be considered.

On geary, I think his up side potential is higher than most of those other 5 for this yr. Yes, at times he has indisicivness, but imo will offer slightly more class...

[perfectionist]

Until and unless any or all of those players who are out play a number of games with the Zebras and prove a) they are in form and b) their hammys or thighs or calves or whatever are up to what is required to play at the elite level, then leave the team as it is. We will get injuries so others will get their chance. But the team that played yesterday, and with only one change from round 1 (Hayes for Clarke who was injured), has delivered three of the best wins we've seen for a while. Stick with them!

[borderbarry]

Maybe X for Schnieds?

[hotdish]

A few thoughts on our improvement:

*Keep our weekly team changes to a minimum (ie it'd be great if we only used 30-32 players of our list this year) - the strongest teams always have minimal squad turnover, especially in last half of season (ie if Lyon wants to blood some kids, do it soon...)
* Keep injuries to a minimum (obviously)
* Get returning injured players to play 2-3 games in VFL before returning (ie Maguire, X, Raph, Dempster etc.)
* Get Armitage into the midfield rotation - the kid can play and kicks goals

All in all, we are looking good at the moment. The game plan is solid, we aren't relying on Roo to win us games and the midfield depth is there.

[matrix]

Maybe X for Schnieds?

actually thats not too bad an idea.
mite send a rocket up him to pull his finger out

[vacuous space]

On geary, I think his up side potential is higher than most of those other 5 for this yr. Yes, at times he has indisicivness, but imo will offer slightly more class...

More class? He's been getting less ball than the others. His disposal efficiency (65%) is significantly behind that of Gwilt (78%), Jones (75%) and McQualter (79%). The only place he's outperformed Gwilt and McQualter is tackles. IMO, he's the last player in the side at the moment. Other than Dawson - who's probably out as soon as Max is ready - he's the most likely to go out.

I don't see any need for change right now, unless it's to bring back somebody who clearly makes the side better. Max does that. X doesn't. Raph doesn't. Both are extremely capable players, but so are the guys currently in the side. They showed that yesterday. That's why, barring any injuries or suspensions, I'm expecting them all to stay for the moment.

[kaos theory]

More class? He's been getting less ball than the others. His disposal efficiency (65%) is significantly behind that of Gwilt (78%), Jones (75%) and McQualter (79%). The only place he's outperformed Gwilt and McQualter is tackles. IMO, he's the last player in the side at the moment.

Which is part of the reason he has more upside than the other. Look at the spoil & goal against the crows last week, and the one handed mark in the second qtr, this week. That's natural ability. Yes, the others are doing well, and maybe a little more, but imo he has more upside than the others as we go through the yr.

Also, agree, other than maxy, and baring no injuries, etc. there problably be no changes over the next few weeks at least....But, there are guys in the wings, who at their best are better players than the bottom 5, so eventually they need to be given a shot at improving the team further.

[Solar]

geary s more upside and also a body that allows him to play multiple positions, I have him in front of mini now (yes mini is playing that better football but might have reached his limit).

I could actually see gary becoming a very good half forward