saintsRrising wrote:rodgerfox wrote:
1. The maturing of already established footballers who are now in their prime.
The first one naturally happens. Keeping them at the club whilst you wait for this to occur is the controllable.
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Naturally?
Like Barry Hall?
Well yes. He became a very good footballer. For us before he left, then at Sydney also. He was a star in his last year at the Saints.
saintsRrising wrote:
Like Dal Santo? Personally I think it took Lyon to turn Dal into a better player.
Dal went from a unfit kid with skill, to a top 3 in a Brownlow. He only went backwards in Lyon's first 2 years at the club.
Dal is a perfect example of natural development.
saintsRrising wrote:
Some players the coach can take to another level...other like Fiora, the coach cannot. That is where he has to be pulling all the levers to get other players by aqusition, or by development.
Ray for example is an interesting one..a flawed player turned around so far.
You're right though, the natural development will only get you so far. But we're not talking about ordinary footballers. We're talking about All Australian's.
Guys like Dal who finished 3rd in a Brownlow, where according to Lyon's philosophy was still doing his AFL apprenticeship.
Reiwoldt playing a KP with the body of a 70 gamer.
gilbert showed the same dash and skill he shows now, but didn't have the engine or strength to play the top level for 4 quarters each week.
Now he does.
saintsRrising wrote:
CJ is another excellent case study....perserved with by the coacxh to be developed into an offensive midfield tagger.
Don't get me wrong, some coaches develop some players very well, and it's certainly an incredibly important part of footy.
But with our core group of players, they already had the runs on the board as kids as being very, very good footballer.
I think that for a kid who is AA at 21, it's fair to assume over 3 additional pre-season when he gets fitter, gets stronger and matures mentally that there will be a natural improvement.
saintsRrising wrote:
Waiting for players to "naturally" develop is what the previous regime did, or rather did not do.
A bit of a generalisation really.
saintsRrising wrote:
Take the sad example of Kosi in the ruck...never developed asa ruckman from what I could see...poor tapwork and did not know how to use his body in ruck contests. Left to develop naturally asa ruckman....to both his and clubs diservice.
Lyon played Kosi as a ruckman, and early on declared he would be a ruckman.
Look, obviously players need guidance and tutelage to mature into good footballers.
But even in local comps, guys that have played 50 games or are 2-3 years older than when they started, improve on where they were at when they were kids.
It's a natural thing. When you're stronger and tougher mentally, you're able to play better footy.
