Look while one can, and should, work on many things including player development to become a better team, I think we all know the key problem is our lack of quality mids.
One can also raise other positions, but they are not as critical as our midfield problem.
6 games this year have been lost by 10 points or less. We have not had an AFL quality midfield in one game this year. Improve that and we should win more games. Though we need to improve ia lot to become a true Top 4 Team, and to be Top 4 you will need the better ball use and decision making that some of our players around the ground lack.
Crouch was our best mid last year, and he has played part of 1 game.
Steele has not been the player he was..
In particular we lack the burst type mids. The club hoped that Dow may help, plus also Henry, and while both have offered glimpses, neither is anywhere near the gun burst players that most teams have, many having multiples of.
However while we all know what our Number One Problem is, the solution to it is not readily solvable for us.
Gun mids do not want to join us. The club may keep mentioning that it has a big war chest. Well guns from other clubs have shown that they are not joining us for money alone if they have other options, and true guns, or players that are likely to be guns, always have other options.
So that really means that we Dalrymple to draft for as well as he ever has.
This year and beyond he has to not only nail our first round pick (maybe two if Battle ) goes but we need him somehow find some more.
So the club is just going to have to keep churning through the draft to find them. I think the powers that be at St Kilda know this, and this is why it is clearly a club strategy at present to try and get the AFL to make the draft a fairer process.
That and maybe, just may a player from another club who is starved of opportunity.
Oh, and yes we have to hope like hell that Pou has a huge preseason and comes back with a man's body next season to be one of the gun mids that we so desperately need. If not, the just drafting kids to try and find the say 3 mids+ that we need is going to take years.
We probably also need Crouch do do a Lazarus and play good mid football for us for a year or too. Not sure his knee will allow him too though. Otherwise Pou if he does come back better is going have to try and carry our midfield group single handed, and that is not going to happen on a week in, week out basis.
One can also raise other positions, but they are not as critical as our midfield problem.
6 games this year have been lost by 10 points or less. We have not had an AFL quality midfield in one game this year. Improve that and we should win more games. Though we need to improve ia lot to become a true Top 4 Team, and to be Top 4 you will need the better ball use and decision making that some of our players around the ground lack.
Crouch was our best mid last year, and he has played part of 1 game.
Steele has not been the player he was..
In particular we lack the burst type mids. The club hoped that Dow may help, plus also Henry, and while both have offered glimpses, neither is anywhere near the gun burst players that most teams have, many having multiples of.
However while we all know what our Number One Problem is, the solution to it is not readily solvable for us.
Gun mids do not want to join us. The club may keep mentioning that it has a big war chest. Well guns from other clubs have shown that they are not joining us for money alone if they have other options, and true guns, or players that are likely to be guns, always have other options.
So that really means that we Dalrymple to draft for as well as he ever has.
This year and beyond he has to not only nail our first round pick (maybe two if Battle ) goes but we need him somehow find some more.
So the club is just going to have to keep churning through the draft to find them. I think the powers that be at St Kilda know this, and this is why it is clearly a club strategy at present to try and get the AFL to make the draft a fairer process.
That and maybe, just may a player from another club who is starved of opportunity.
Oh, and yes we have to hope like hell that Pou has a huge preseason and comes back with a man's body next season to be one of the gun mids that we so desperately need. If not, the just drafting kids to try and find the say 3 mids+ that we need is going to take years.
We probably also need Crouch do do a Lazarus and play good mid football for us for a year or too. Not sure his knee will allow him too though. Otherwise Pou if he does come back better is going have to try and carry our midfield group single handed, and that is not going to happen on a week in, week out basis.
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