The FOX Report - season 2016.
Positives:
Nearly made the finals.
Didn't make the finals.
Ross Lyon's season.
Our pressure harassing swarm game (when we can maintain it). At times we made the premiers look silly.
Breakout years from Hickey, Ross, Membrey and Acres. (The competition will recognize season 2017 as Acres' breakout year, but we all know better.)
Gresham.
Steven and Roo kept it up.
Dempster! Why does everyone want to retire our best defender? Look at his form, not his birth date.
Newnes and Roberton are good, and keep getting better.
Paddy McCartin - WILL be a player.
We got to see Pierce. This bloke has been a project for several years now. He's not there yet, but he will be!
We did it all without Carlisle or Freeman. These two will end up silencing their critics in a big way.
Jaxons was endorsed by tony74, so we can all now (with one exception
) enjoy what he shares with us, knowing that Jaxons is
ITK. That just leaves the question, who is Jaxons? I know, but if I told you, Aeon would have to kill you.
Less than Positives:
We only got to play Lyon once.
Travelling anywhere interstate that is north of Moorabbin!
Lee!!!! i'd have him out the door. But it seems that his shoulders are finally right, so no excuse not to it the gym Dudlee. Prove me wrong.
Our pressure harassing swarm game (when we can't maintain it).
Inability to apply scoreboard pressure against the best teams to make the most of our ascendancy - before our pressure game faltered.
Paddy McCartin - injuries.
Goddard's Achillies.
Second year blues for Lonie (though his last couple of games were hopeful) and Sinclair (don't worry though, this guy will be elite).
Billings shin splints. Compare his long bomb from outside 50 early in the year at the ;G, to his struggling to kick 40 metres later in the year.
We only got to play Lyon once.
Looking ahead:
We need one more key defender. Dudlee, that could be you. Do you want it enough?
There has been much talk about spending big on players like Fyfe, Martin, JO'M. But I'd be looking at the likes of Rance. Beats his man AND sets up play. And being a defender, he wouldn't cost as much as if he was a mid or a key forward.
But we do need one (ideally two) more very good midfielders, and one more elite midfielder. We have the cap space to use free agency for this if needed.
Our list building has been excellent. Whether we have Pelchin or Saynta or whomever to thank.
What we've done is targeted the spine first!
In recent years clubs with multiple early picks have failed to do this. Look at Carlton, Richmond, North, and Footscray (from when we were last a power).
Now looking at our competition.
Geelong and Hawthorn are desperately trying to stay afloat a bit longer, at the expense of their futures. I realize that hawthorn has had some amazing success stories with their senior top ups. Burgoyne's knee, head-case Lake, even the underwhelming Hale fulfilled a role and didn't embarrass himself.
But, if they can make something out of the biggest underachiever going around, that dud Vickery, then that would be pure genius. Not going to happen though. What a waste of $500K!
Collingwood, looks like Buckley is caving in, and going for top ups to save his job.
Port and Melbourne are, well, flakey.
Brisvegas still have not recovered from being Vossed.
West Coast are WEST coast. Pity for them most of the competition is played on the EAST coast.
Essendon would have been better off if most of their drug takers - had not come back. They will tie up their salary cap and hinder the rebuild. So sad. Not.
Freo. Lets see if Lyon is any better at rebuilding a playing list than he is at rebuilding a share portfolio. I'm tipping no.
Gold Coast have too much salary cap tied up in Ablett, and they have Eade. But they also have some great young key forwards, and a stack of early draft picks, with more to come when the likes of JO'M walk (cause he can't run???). They need to use those picks to bring in quality ready to go players to compliment the likes of Lynch. And they need to get rid of Eade. That would then mean, who would be his replacement? Well lets see. The core top end talent is there, just need to bring in some senior support. Now which coach would be interested in that?
Adelaide. Not sure what's happening with them? They should be better. Maybe that's something to do with Betty not being better when it matters playing away from his adoring morons sycophants at the Adelaide Oval? (But the again, it's not their fault. That's what drinking Adelaide water and Crow's coolaid does to you.)
Giants? I like WW's suggestion, and I think this will happen. Let them develop all their gifted (I mean in both senses of the word) early draft picks - for everyone else to then pick away from them. So sad. Not.
Sydney. What went wrong? Footscray had no key forwards (recruiting Cloke tells us all what they really think about their $1 million 'key' forward), no one who could stop Franklin, no one who could stop Tippet (though to be fair, that's what Tippet does best all by himself), and no GFs experience. A flag went begging, and they know it.
The premiers, Footscray. (Btw, WTF is a Western Bulldog? No such breed in my NSW greyhound breeders guidebook. not even in the just updated version.) Footscray play a very similar style to us. We can match their intensity. The difference is we have the key position players. Looking at the GF, how often were Footscray forced to bomb it long to medium Swan manning a smaller forward.
So, main threats I see are Sydney, Giants, Footscray, and the smoky would be a Lyon-lead Gold Coast. You heard it here first folks. (But they won’t win a flag, and we all know why.
)
st.byron wrote:White Winmar wrote:I didn't know Lyon broke his leg.
He stepped on his own integrity, trusting it to be solid, but alas.........
In summary, our future is very rosy. We will be very very serious flag contenders from 2018, and if things go our way, even from next year. Now, we just have to do something about our membership numbers! Less than Footscray? Less than North? Two clubs who used to hold their AGMs in a phone box. (Remember phone boxes?)
Thoughts Sainstationalists, thoughts Aeon?
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