It's also in many cases their 'unwanted' first rounders which puts us well behind.
Yes, I agree we're not getting the cream of their talent, but we are still getting pretty good players. And don't forget, we have a number of our own "top end" 1st rounders, so we are getting as close as it's possible to get IMO.
Isn't the problem with that though, that we're trying to do a duplication of the GWS/ Gold Coast situation without the draft concessions.
(We may pick up Ben Silvagni but at this stage the one he's likely to replace would be his brother.)
We've only been able to do it by giving players up along the way, so we have got more 1st rounders than the expansion clubs, but clearly it's at a cost.
Amazon operated at a loss for about 4 years before it turned a profit, and my simplistic knowledge of the business world leads me to believe they still have years where they lose money.
If the model, methods and personnel are sound, then sometimes you need to sit tight and have faith. I see little value in returning to the "sack coach after 5 minutes" model.
The starting point in all this is purely and simply whether or not you believe in the current regime and current approach, whatever the short term evidence may tell you. If Bolton is doing exactly what he outlined when he applied for the job, and he was awarded the job based on being able to stay true to the course, then the club should have the guts to back him in, 100%, no ifs or buts.
Im gutted we lost, but we were so close to pulling off a win despite how poorly we played for the majority of the game. I said it in the In Game Thread, there was a point late in the last where if we kicked 2 in a row, the Bullies sphincters really would have tightened. Sure enough, we got one then Charlie got in great position and shanked one he really should have kicked. It would have been on like donkey kong but alas. Point is, we've got a hell of a lot of room for improvement but only need to do a few things better at certain points in games when they are in the balance. I say again, I'm gutted we lost (more so for the boys than us supporters) but it can turn around very quickly if we grab our chances when they present.
I think they had exactly 1/2, but reality is they fielded the average youngest side this season, and it was naive for BB to use our youth as an excuse!
I thought BB post-match analysis was accurate, the problems were clear and he identified them.
Thanks gents. That's still 10 more than us, and IMO counts for a lot. Adding up each player's age and taking an average can give a distorted view of the age profile.
BB was a bit naive in the post match presser, he used age and experience as a reason for the troubles, but we were just beaten by a younger less experienced side as CheatsFC TV liked to remind us!
How many players from the 2016 GF took the field last night ?
The result was disappointing but we were missing 4 of the top 5 from last year's B&F along with Weitering, Pickett and Byrne, so considering that we finished 16th with them all playing it's hardly surprising that we're struggling. There were positives however. McKay is very clean, no fumbles or indecision unlike some of our more senior players, and will be a nice player in time, maybe even a top liner, and Fisher is going from strength to strength. There's also a lot to like about both O'Brien and Dow, so I expect better performances when we can at least get Murphy and Kreuzer back in the side, it's hard to be patient but there's just no other option.