What areas will we need to strengthen in 2016?

[borderbarry]

A lot of posters seem concerned that when Roo does finish up, the Saints will be finished. WE thought the same when Robert Harvey finished, and the next season we were in the grand final. We thought the same when Lenny Hayes finished, yet his last season saw us on the bottom, and we improved from there last season. I amsure our forwards will cover for Roo when he finishes up.
Have faith.

[joeyjohnw]

A lot of posters seem concerned that when Roo does finish up, the Saints will be finished. WE thought the same when Robert Harvey finished, and the next season we were in the grand final. We thought the same when Lenny Hayes finished, yet his last season saw us on the bottom, and we improved from there last season. I amsure our forwards will cover for Roo when he finishes up.
Have faith.

Sometes losing your best player is the best thing for a club - having to think up new strategies and strengthen new players rather than relying heavily on the one performer. I can see how losing our experienced and skillful veterans over the next two years can be a good thing. Think baby bombers, cats premiership after losing Gary, and of course the bulldogs this year. It's about consistent team effort.
I wouldn't be too surprised to see Adelaide perform as well, if not better, next season even with the loss of danger.

[Toy Saint]

1. Midfield
2. Kicking efficiency
3 Winning more games

[To the top]

And addressing the trading loss by increasing revenue including particularly game day revenue so that the Club is independently viable.

[borderbarry]

We need to get a better return from Paddy in 2016, because we wont do as well with Bruce. He kicked most of his goals early in the season, but was quieter when the other clubs were onto him.

[samuraisaint]

According to Champion Data, we are the only club in the AFL with ZERO elite players. Even Brisbane had 2 and Carlton had one...

[samuraisaint]

A lot of posters seem concerned that when Roo does finish up, the Saints will be finished. WE thought the same when Robert Harvey finished, and the next season we were in the grand final. We thought the same when Lenny Hayes finished, yet his last season saw us on the bottom, and we improved from there last season. I amsure our forwards will cover for Roo when he finishes up.
Have faith.

Sometes losing your best player is the best thing for a club - having to think up new strategies and strengthen new players rather than relying heavily on the one performer. I can see how losing our experienced and skillful veterans over the next two years can be a good thing. Think baby bombers, cats premiership after losing Gary, and of course the bulldogs this year. It's about consistent team effort.
I wouldn't be too surprised to see Adelaide perform as well, if not better, next season even with the loss of danger.

Yes, but Adelaide have a lot more players playing well than we have at present. Champion Data rated 4 of their current list as elite - when they had Dangerfield they had 5, so they may be able to cover him, or at least have the numbers in the midfield to minimise the loss. We would really struggle to cover Roo or Joey at the present time with the list as it is.

[Superboot]

Quality midfielder needed, but what we are really lacking is a cool head, quarterback type, like Sam Mitchell.

[ROLS-LEE]

1. Stoppages
2. Clearances
3. Goal kicking accuracy
4. Overall kicking efficiency

Too much obsession/concern on here about 'replacing' Roo imho. We don't need a big hero fwd to win finals. We need three or four quality fwds all capable of kicking 40-50 goals each per season.

Couldn't have said it better myself. This is what we need to improve on.

[samoht]

I'd be happy if we could just strengthen Freeman's hamstring to get 20 plus games a year out of him (and whatever body part is troubling Billings and Hickey too, while we're at it).
That could be enough to get us in the 8!

[joeyjohnw]

A lot of posters seem concerned that when Roo does finish up, the Saints will be finished. WE thought the same when Robert Harvey finished, and the next season we were in the grand final. We thought the same when Lenny Hayes finished, yet his last season saw us on the bottom, and we improved from there last season. I amsure our forwards will cover for Roo when he finishes up.
Have faith.

Sometes losing your best player is the best thing for a club - having to think up new strategies and strengthen new players rather than relying heavily on the one performer. I can see how losing our experienced and skillful veterans over the next two years can be a good thing. Think baby bombers, cats premiership after losing Gary, and of course the bulldogs this year. It's about consistent team effort.
I wouldn't be too surprised to see Adelaide perform as well, if not better, next season even with the loss of danger.

Yes, but Adelaide have a lot more players playing well than we have at present. Champion Data rated 4 of their current list as elite - when they had Dangerfield they had 5, so they may be able to cover him, or at least have the numbers in the midfield to minimise the loss. We would really struggle to cover Roo or Joey at the present time with the list as it is.

We have a fairly young list in comparison to Adelaide. Obviously we would love to have a player at 18-22 step up and straight away cover Roo or Joey's absence, but that's not exactly how it's going to work. How it is going to work is that the team as a whole will step up and work harder to cover the loss. It's about working new strategies that aren't built around the gun players. I can see more than a few young players becoming 'elite' in the near future as well, remembering how young our list is.

[Bunk_Moreland]

According to Champion Data, we are the only club in the AFL with ZERO elite players. Even Brisbane had 2 and Carlton had one...

Don't mind that really. In the past we relied on 4-6 elite players and the bottom six fell away dramatically, even in 2009/2010.

In a year or two we will have an elite team with a much narrower gap between top and bottom 6

[ripplug66]

According to Champion Data, we are the only club in the AFL with ZERO elite players. Even Brisbane had 2 and Carlton had one...

Well that's it then. The game is obviously played on a stats table. Who is Carlton's by the way and while you are at who are Brisbanes?

[samuraisaint]

Carlton's is Simpson.

Brisbane's are Zorko and Beams.

Our rebuild is coming along fine, and I am not trying to say that we are not on the right track, merely that we will need to manage expectations - our track record the last three seasons indicates that we have been quite poor after round 11 and this is due to having a young inexperienced side at present who fail to see seasons out, combined with an overreliance on our veterans who have to be managed over the course of a season.
When Riewoldt and Joey retire, along with Fisher and Dempster, I don't think we are going to be able to cover them straight away. For this reason I hope that these retirements are staggered over the next 3 seasons and don't happen all at once.

[ripplug66]

Carlton's is Simpson.

Brisbane's are Zorko and Beams.

Our rebuild is coming along fine, and I am not trying to say that we are not on the right track, merely that we will need to manage expectations - our track record the last three seasons indicates that we have been quite poor after round 11 and this is due to having a young inexperienced side at present who fail to see seasons out, combined with an overreliance on our veterans who have to be managed over the course of a season.
When Riewoldt and Joey retire, along with Fisher and Dempster, I don't think we are going to be able to cover them straight away. For this reason I hope that these retirements are staggered over the next 3 seasons and don't happen all at once.

Well that just proves the stupidity of CD elite. Steven has all 3 covered on last years form. Only Beams is a better player in previous years. I like looking at players to decide and the only one close to elite last season was Jack.

[magnifisaint]

Carlton's is Simpson.

Brisbane's are Zorko and Beams.

Our rebuild is coming along fine, and I am not trying to say that we are not on the right track, merely that we will need to manage expectations - our track record the last three seasons indicates that we have been quite poor after round 11 and this is due to having a young inexperienced side at present who fail to see seasons out, combined with an overreliance on our veterans who have to be managed over the course of a season.
When Riewoldt and Joey retire, along with Fisher and Dempster, I don't think we are going to be able to cover them straight away. For this reason I hope that these retirements are staggered over the next 3 seasons and don't happen all at once.

What a crock of s*** that Champion Data is then.

[citywest]

One way to strengthen the team (for 2018 and beyond), is the following strategy.....

1. Give Pierce and Holmes at least 12 (AFL) games each in 2016.
1. At the end of 2016 trade Hickey for pick 20 or better.
2. With the Hickey pick draft the best possible midfielder from the National Draft.
3. From 2017 our ruck division will be Longer, Pierce and Holmes.
4. Rookie a long term project ruck in the 2016 Rookie Draft.

[ripplug66]

One way to strengthen the team (for 2018 and beyond), is the following strategy.....

1. Give Pierce and Holmes at least 12 (AFL) games each in 2016.
1. At the end of 2016 trade Hickey for pick 20 or better.
2. With the Hickey pick draft the best possible midfielder from the National Draft.
3. From 2017 our ruck division will be Longer, Pierce and Holmes.
4. Rookie a long term project ruck in the 2016 Rookie Draft.

Makes no sense because if you play those other 2 in that many games it means Hickey hardly plays at all thus has bugger all value.

[citywest]

hickey play as a permanent forward and fills in when Longer or one of the other 2 are injured.

[ripplug66]

hickey play as a permanent forward and fills in when Longer or one of the other 2 are injuries.

And how does Roo, Membery, McCartin and Bruce also fit into that forward line? It will actually lower his value playing as a permanent forward based on last years form. Lets face it Pierce and Holmes aren't playing around 12 games this season baring injuries.

[spert]

Get more of the ball- especially the midfield. Too many games were lost over the last couple of years where our midfield just didn't get enough of the ball for half the game , and if you ain't got he ball, you don't win the game. That I think is a combination of strength, endurance and outright skill- a big ask to fix that. We need a strong HFF with good burst ability, and more strength in the backline. Carlisle will help in that area.

[To the top]

As I have put elsewhere, if you look at a side viz:-

Fisher Goddard Dempster
Roberton Carlisle Webster
Riewoldt Armitage Montagna
Billings McCartin Acres
Lonie Bruce Freeman
Hickey Gilbert Steven
Longer Dunstan Newnes Gresham

there are 13 of those players either drafted (in the top 20 except for Lonie) or recruited to the Club with Hickey and Roberton being those on the list longest after coming from the Clubs they came from.

Given that, 2016 is a season where we look for the skills of our recruitment department to impact on-field, and impact significantly given the fitness of Roberton, Hickey, Webster, Billings, McCartin, Acres, Freeman and Dunstan who have all had injury concerns and missed pre-seasons and matches since coming to the Club.

So, in 2016, we start to find out.

[Life Long Saint]

Jack Steven is elite.

No. He is not!

Ablett, Fyfe, Pendlebury, Mitchell, Dangerfield, Kennedy, Priddis...
They're elite.

I like Jack...I really do but he is not in their class.

He is good but he has too many deficiencies in his game to be seriously considered elite.

[To the top]

Jack Steven is 112 games into his league career.

Could you list the number of games played by those you have listed?

Then draw a comparative.

I would also expect that Steven will still significantly improve once the depth around him matures - and, hopefully, we will see that in 2016.

[ripplug66]

Jack Steven is elite.

No. He is not!

Ablett, Fyfe, Pendlebury, Mitchell, Dangerfield, Kennedy, Priddis...
They're elite.

I like Jack...I really do but he is not in their class.

He is good but he has too many deficiencies in his game to be seriously considered elite.

Most of them are champions. How do you rate Simpson, Beams and Zorko? Jack has elite pace and ball getting ability. His main problem is his kicking but that is because he is told to take the game on.