So far in season 2023, the fluctuating form of the Blues has not been one to excite anyone.
The first four weeks yielded three wins and a draw but truth be told, they weren't with any authority or system. A horrible loss to the Crows in RD 5 jolted everyone back to reality, it was just so bad on all levels. The week after, in what was another poor game, the margin in the Saints loss flattered us. Last week's total annihilation of the Eagles, we were on a hiding to nothing there really, we were expected to win and win well, thankfully we did but it wasn't without some genuine errors and breakdowns in cohesion.
The month of May has us lining up to face four very serious opponents :
There is no doubt in my mind that these four weeks will determine our fortunes this year, in fact I'll go as far to say this month IS our season. Keep serving up the same crap we have and it will get really embarrasing !!
Win 0 - Lose 4 : its season over right there Win 1 - Lose 3 : its close enough to the end Win 2 - Lose 2 : the door is still open, slightly Win 3 - Lose 1 : we are well in the hunt and for good reason Win 4 - Lose 0 : we are a serious contender again
So, in the month of May, will we create total mayhem across the league or will we be sending out the mayday signal ??
Its nothing earth-shattering or a new revelation, every club should be aiming to win a flag within a five-year time-frame. The obvious exceptions are Essendon who just want to win a final in that time & St. Kilda who just want to win something.
Thing is, Cook is a proven performer who is not prone to making rash predictions or outlandish comments so most Blues fans should have some genuine expectation & excitement after reading that.
The other benefit of the Blues becoming a real challenger is that the membership base will crash right through the 100K barrier and more than likely get up around 120-130K.
One of the more intriguing aspects of our onfield plans is how the match committee & coaching dept. intend on using the three regular ruckman on our list.
At present, we have Marc Pittonet who is, in principle, match ready and as good as he is going to get. Then we have Tom De Koning who is still learning his craft but can be used up forward even though he has been used in stints up forward even though he does then to spoil Curnow & McKay in the marking contests. Lastly, there is young Markov who whilst still quite raw, apparently coming on in leaps & bounds.
The 'elephant in the room' is the fact that De Koning is out of contract at the end of this season and there is bound to be a handful of clubs interested in winning his services even though he isn't a fully finished product (or is he ??).
Should Markov be given some senior experience this year ??
Can De Koning be played as a permanent forward with some pinch-hitting in the ruck ??
Would Pittonet benefit from having Markov as his back-up instead of De Koning ??
Would the club ever consider moving Pittonet on and putting all their faith into the two younger guys ??
Should the club bite the bullet and trade De Koning this year & what effect would that trade have on the rest of the playing list ??
If TDK was to be traded, what sort of trade price should we be asking for given he may be offered crazy money to jump ship ??
Looking through the player profiles on the club website, they have been categorised into their supposed onfield roles. There are 14 names assigned as mids so if we were to break then down into an approx. quality level, it looks something like this :
A Grade - Cripps, Walsh B Grade - Cerra, Hewett C Grade - Kennedy, Cottrell, E. Curnow, Hollands, Acres, O'Brien D Grade - Dow, Binns, Philp, Cuningham
Some people will suggest others like Fisher, Martin & Fogarty may be played in the mids but realistically, that would only be in a 'Break Glass In Emergency' situation.
Hewett, Walsh, Cottrell & Kennedy are on the injury list, Zac Williams never ever looked like a mid when he came over plus the D-Graders have not fired a shot.
Heaven forbid what might happen if Cripps ever got injured long-term.
To that end, do we have enough genuine midfield depth to be competitive for a whole season with the group we currently have at the club ??
Brodie Kemp was picked up in the 2019 draft but was unable to play a game in 2020 due to his recovery from a serious leg injury, since then, he has eked out a mere 6 senior games.
Classed as a key defender on the club's website, I'm not sure that is his 'real' position given he is only 193cm tall. Some people are suggesting he will be added to the midfield brigade in 2023 but I'm not that sure about his tank and overall ability to play there.
From his limited senior appearances, he definitely showed some innate skills that could & should see him become a regular player for the club. However, the big question is where is his best position ??
We have way to many hbf's already and as mentioned before, is the midfield really his go ??
Kemp is one of a handful of the new brigade that I have very very high hopes for but I'm concerned that given his size, he may be used like Jack Silvagni has been in the past, the old fashioned 'utility' who plugs a gap anywhere on the field when there is the need.
For mine, if that does happen, then that may be the best way to ruin his career as he would never be settled into a permanent position and become a regular piece of the defensive unit or midfield etc.
I'm not aware of whether he can go forward or not but that is an option for the club to consider.
So, what are your expectations for Brodie Kemp this year and where do you see him being used (i.e. what is his best position) ??
My son is in the midst of a seven-month overseas trip, he has taken all his leave owed plus long-service from the RAAF to do it.
Thus far, he has been on safari's in Africa, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, attended weddings in the UK & US, been to Croatia, Spain, Portugal and everywhere inbetween. He has a 20-day trip through Sth. Amercia yet to come too.
He's currently in New York city where he saw AC/DC, been to two ice-hockey matches and just phoned me from the baseball.
There was a "jumbotron" screen at the game on which a guy in the crowd was being broadcast proposing to his girlfriend. He looked up at her and said "oh no, I've dropped the ring". Everyone in the stadium went completely nuts laughing at him whilst the 3-4 rows around him were on all fours trying to help him find it. The look of embarrassment was priceless apparently !!!
Based on the fact that Casboult has signed a one-year extension, Jones has another year to go on his contract and young McKay is still learning the caper, I'm somewhat concerned about how we will structure up in 2017.
The forward-line is certainly one of our issues to be dealt with at a list management level but how do we improve on what we had this season essentially with the same forward personnel ??
Is it only a matter of bolstering the midfield platoon or is there something else we can do tactically to make it more potent ??
Dylan Buckley was drafted in 2011 but debuted in RD 3 of 2013 yet to date, he has only managed 31 senior appearances.
Of greater concern is what strategic position is he best suited to ??
He's been trialled up forward as a goal-sneak but looked like a fish out of water, he has also been thrown into the midfield but it wasn't his strongest role. It's only been as a small defender where there has been any consistency of performance.
Out of contract at the end of this year, he is firmly under the microscope with no guarantees to be retained either.
I can't find a role for him at all in our team so I'm expecting him to be given a 1-year extension with some serious KPI's to go with it. Failure to cement a core position in the team will see him not achieve the KPI's and in turn, will be delisted at the end of 2017.
The last time Bryce Gibbs played some decent consistent football was that stellar season he had leading into signing that end of season mega-contract of his. Since that deal was struck, he has been lethargic & spasmodic in most games only giving us the occasional teaser of what he is really capable of. This has frustrated many a Blues fan as he is one of a small handful of players who we have expected more from every week.
Whilst I haven't had the pleasure of watching the last three games due to no coverage up here in Sydney, the one thing that everyone I speak to talks about is how well Bryce Gibbs is playing right now. We have always know that he is a very smart player who knows where to get where the ball is going to be plus he is extremely precise by foot whether it is kicking for goal or delivering to a team-mate.
The thing is, what has made him fire up all of a sudden ??
It is my strong belief (and I have nothing to back up this claim) that he has been told, in no uncertain terms, that unless he delivers to his optimal level every week, he will be dropped to the seconds until such time that he does start delivering. Further to that, if he ends up being in the seconds he will find himself in a new environment next year.
Gibbs is a player who prides himself on never playing seconds so that sort of threat would certainly be something he would want to avoid because he wouldn't like the embarrassment of being dropped. He has been quite comfortable at Carlton and if he was traded elsewhere, he would be under more intense scrutiny than ever before.
I'm sure Bolton would of spoken to all of the players individually and laid out what his expectations of them all was. With Gibbs, I reckon Bolton would not have minced his words and would of spelt out quite strongly that Gibbs had a higher level of demands being placed on him due to his seniority, contract status & overall ability.
Thankfully, he has responded and we are the beneficiaries. All he has to do now is 'maintain the rage' because those threats are there to stay.
Good coaching by Bolton, good response (for now) by Gibbs.
- have been trialled in certain positions - have been pigeoned-holed into a specific role - seem to always be played out of position - don't have a specific role according to their playing strengths.
If you were Brendan Bolton, how would you best use these guys :
Murphy Jones Gibbs Smith Simpson Armfield Walker Casboult Buckley Everitt Jaksch
I am not a fan of the "Best 22" discussion when the team has been so poor for so many years and we have entered a major rebuild/reset.
Who are they being measured against ?? Other 'non-performers' & 'untried newbies' at the club would cover a lot of them right now.
At present, we could argue ad-nauseum about who is in our best 22 but whatever 22 was agreed upon, it isn't going to match it with the top end of the competition and won't for a couple more years to come.
It would find it far more exciting & interesting to focus on who would make an "AFL Final Four 22" right now and over the next year or two add names to it as the players develop and the playing list gets turned over and built.
I'm sure we will have a terrific team that will produce results once all that hack work has been done but right now, there are way too many unknowns about the influx of new faces for us to talk with any certainty about who is capable of doing or being what.
B : Docherty, TBA, TBA HB : TBA, TBA, Simpson C : TBA, Cripps, TBA HF : Gibbs, TBA, TBA F : TBA, TBA, TBA R : TBA, Murphy, TBA I/C : TBA, TBA, TBA, TBA
A handful of other players (eg. Kreuzer) will have claims to being in that team but due to injuries & consistency levels, they are considered to be 'on the cusp' until they have proven they are worthy.
Also, we all have genuine beliefs that some of the new kids (eg. Weitering) will be a super players for us but at present, they still haven't played a senior game and therefore, cannot be considered.
Over the past 10-years, far too many players have been "gifted" games when they (a) have not genuinely earnt selection & (b) are not physically ready to play senior footy.
Based on the premise that we have just embarked on a three-year rebuild and realistically are no chance to win a premiership for some time yet, I'm hoping that the club also implements a selection policy to achieve greater results in the long-term.
There is nothing at all to be gained by dropping Weitering, McKay, Curnow, Cunningham & Silvagni in the deep end from Round 1 and leaving them there.
Let's face the reality of the situation, the gulf between U/18 football and AFL seniors is just too wide a gap for most young players to bridge. Most of these young players do not have the physical armour to protect themselves against players with 4-5 years worth of intense gym-work on their side. There is obviously the risk of injury plus the young players normally struggle to adapt to the tempo of senior footy as well.
We have just traded in Sumner, Lamb, Plowman, Phillips, Gorringe & Kerridge who have been in the AFL system for 3-4 years and are far more developed & ready to play senior football. They are the players that must be persisted with in 2016 on top of others like Jaksch, Graham, Whiley, Buckley, Boekhorst, Dick etc. They all need to be given the opportunity to play senior footy consistently because they are going to be under additional scrutiny going forward.
For the new kids, if they warrant selection, then by all means, give them a game against Melbourne or GWS etc, but make them earn it first. I don't want to see another situation like when Gibbs was placed in the leadership group before he had even played a game at the club.
Nurture these new guys in the seconds for a couple of years (let then play around 50-games in the VFL first) plus we will be adding another 3-4 newbies next year to join them in the seconds too. We also have Smith & Foster in need of some long-term development in the seconds as well.
We are all very excited about the latest draftees, let's not burn them out unnecessarily. Long-term strategy for sustained success, there is no hurry right now.
Who cares if we finish bottom four next year anyway, it opens us up to better draft picks next year as a bonus.
