Dynasty or Rebuild ?

[Mr Brightside]

Just tried the Cornes over the top statement

No matter what happens over the next 3 weeks it’s going to be as crucial off season as there’s been in some time. With list reductions a reported tight salary cap, a bunch of stars over 30 who are all crucial to a flag tilt next season and a ” potentially “ very good bunch of youngsters .

Balmey is going to have make such decisions as do we let Basher go to free up space ?

Do we get a stop gap ruck while Soldo is out ?

Do we let Broad go ?

Do we hit the draft hard to free up space and build for a tilt or do we top up now with good but not stars like Crouch ?

Do we put a player like Lambert or George on the market after not having there best year ?

Do we lock away Balta on a long term deal and let Astbury go ?

Is it worth going after a Toby Greene , A grade type to go full on in 2021 ?

Do we give the Captaincy to another and let the Skip “ concentrate on his footy”

So on an so on , we are in a great time and IMHO the best team going around, however it is a very interesting time.

In Balmey we trust

 

[Tony Braxton-Hicks]

You're right that we've reached peak Dusty, Cotch, Jack, Shed, Houli etc. We have some good types below them but not too many that will be maintaining that level as our veterans inevitably diminish.

I don't think this will be the draft to punt on juniors. It will surely be a guessing game, and they've all lost a year of development.

This may be an advantage for us as it will hopefully lower the chances of the bottom teams drafting the next AA generation.

One more tilt...

 

[bringbakflemmo]

I reckon let Chol, Houli and Lambert go ( depending on contract situation for Houli and Lambert ).
The game is too quick for Lambert now ( similar to Dahlhaus from the Cats).
Wouldn’t want Toby Greene he’d be a PR nightmare as he can’t stay out of trouble.
We’re still pretty well placed depending on player’s motivation next year.
The ruck is where I see our main weakness.
Kebab Callum has the ability to become our ruck next year once his suspension is complete.

 

[Gazmatron]

Interesting point. Surely have to use the draft to upgrade Baker and possibly Stack. Have 4 of last years picks except for Dow untried plus Turner, RCD and CCJ. Might be one to chance on a KP choice or 2. Agree decisions on Houli and possibly Astbury need to be made

 

[Harry]

Dynasty

 

[Streak]

Don't see the need for wholesale changes at the moment. We are still a formidable team and right in the mix. While the window is open you surely don't change anything too much.

Talk of moving Houli, Lambert, Baker, Astbury, Broad and even Pickett or Stack is very premature.

I do agree we have a ruck issue that needs addressing, and I don't see a mobile KPF on our list developing to take over from Jack when he goes, but pretty damn comfortable with the rest of it as is.

We need to keep a few things in perspective.

1. We are still a very good chance of winning this year's flag. We are the only team left who knows how to.
2. This has been a very unpredictable season. Covid has made it so. Even more difficult to judge where we are actually at.
3. If one player, Lynch, plays the other night we are having a week off, pure and simple.
4. Our game plan with the guys we have still stacks up as amongst the most effective in the league.

 

[caesar]

You're right that we've reached peak Dusty, Cotch, Jack, Shed, Houli etc. We have some good types below them but not too many that will be maintaining that level as our veterans inevitably diminish.

I don't think this will be the draft to punt on juniors. It will surely be a guessing game, and they've all lost a year of development.

This may be an advantage for us as it will hopefully lower the chances of the bottom teams drafting the next AA generation.

One more tilt...

Correct and draft hugely compromised with Next Gen, Father Son

 

[Sintiger]

There is a lot of over the top comment coming from the media because we lost one footy match.
We won the vfl flag last season, we have a great batch of youngsters coming through. Sure we have to plan for Jack, Cotchin, Houli and a few others to go and I would like to see us concentrate in the draft on key defender and key forward.
However we aren’t North and we are well placed with young players imo.
Whatever happens on the next few weeks I still like the way we are placed at the moment and I reckon we will be thereabouts for a few years yet.

 

[Mr Brightside]

Chances of having as many of the top shelf stars as we have now again are remote , so I say go hard now and worry about tomorrow tomorrow. In saying that we’ve done a great job of drafting while been in the window.

 

[TigerFurious]

There is a lot of over the top comment coming from the media because we lost one footy match.
We won the vfl flag last season, we have a great batch of youngsters coming through. Sure we have to plan for Jack, Cotchin, Houli and a few others to go and I would like to see us concentrate in the draft on key defender and key forward.
However we aren’t North and we are well placed with young players imo.
Whatever happens on the next few weeks I still like the way we are placed at the moment and I reckon we will be thereabouts for a few years yet.

Well said. We’ve been quietly building a core group of youth for a few years now and I think we’ve done a great job considering our draft position of recent years.

As the likes of Cotchin and Riewoldt retire, we’ll use the free’d up cap space to target high profile free agents and trades to compliment our next generation of youth. The overall goal being to remain competitive and not crash down the ladder like so many good teams before us have done.

 

[WesternTiger]

Dynasty

Nuf said.

 

[tigertim]

A bit of column A an a bit of column B. Coming into ‘21 I don’t think we should go in with largely the same list. Cotch, Jack, Shed, Houli, Dusty, Grimes, Astbury all 30+. Pickett and Lambert 29, Lynch, Caddy, Broad and Prestia 28. We,re suddenly an “old team”.

Ideally you‘d want to let a few go (retire or trade) and rejuvenate with some recruiting of very good talent from other clubs (Like we did at the end of ‘16 and Lynch in ‘18.)

In terms of the draft this season its gunna be a bit of chook lotto. It may be the season to trade rather than draft.

 

[Tenacious]

Evolution not revolution

 

[Baloo]

There is a lot of over the top comment coming from the media because we lost one footy match.
We won the vfl flag last season, we have a great batch of youngsters coming through. Sure we have to plan for Jack, Cotchin, Houli and a few others to go and I would like to see us concentrate in the draft on key defender and key forward.
However we aren’t North and we are well placed with young players imo.
Whatever happens on the next few weeks I still like the way we are placed at the moment and I reckon we will be thereabouts for a few years yet.

Yep. And if the padding on the posts was half a cm thinner I reckon we would have won that match we lost. That would have put is within 8 points with about 6mins to go and Lions were scared.

If Cotch, Jack, Dusty, Shed all retire this year then we're looking at rebuild. But we can lose 2 of those 4 and still have a team that's going to have a real shot of winning 2021

 

[fastin bulbous]

I have a sneaking suspicion that cotchin will retire and Houli will retire/get traded. I believe trading houli is the right idea. Too many good young back men not getting a game atm. I am not against trading dtld and Higgins either but the effect on cohesion and leadership would be huge if we let too many leaders out the door. If we get crouch I will be very disappointed. We should only be trading for need and we don’t need a slow cokehead in the midfield. Focus on recruiting at least one marking forward, defender, talented mid the next few years and trade for short term ruck cover.

 

[Brodders17]

I'm certain we have at least another tilt at a flag in this group and I'd be doing everything to maximise that chance. They are so hard to win you have to risk a sharper downturn when you have the opportunity.

Having said that, I'm also certain that if we don't address our ruck situation for 2021 in the off-season we won't win the flag next year.

I think we can still win even if we dont make any change to our rucks for 2021, but we certainly run a big risk of it costing us.

Otherwise I think we keep doing what we are doing, no big changes needed. Even after we won in 2017, there would have been few who would have thought we have finished 3rd this year with no Rance, Jack on the decline, Cotch slowing down, Shedwards hardly playing, ditto Houli and Astbury, and even Broad no longer in our 'best 22'. We have added t our team brilliantly and would expect to continue.

 

[kiwitiger]

If the window is still open we go for it I think ,

Full throttle for dynasty

 

[waiting]

If the window is still open we go for it I think ,

Full throttle for dynasty

Friday will tell us more.
Week at a time.
IF we LOSE access what went wrong. Where we lost it. What we need. Players who can’t take us further. Go and get the types required and go again while we still have the opportunity because the slide can be quick if we sit & wait.

Let’s see Friday how it pans out.

 

[year of the tiger]

No way do you talk of a rebuild when you are in the mix for back to back to back flags

 

[Birdman19]

Dynasty....Just like the KISS album with the best KISS song.