Better and faster ball use will help in this regard too!
First hands on the ball hasn't helped, faster ball use only comes into play when you have the ball. Nthmond built a flag on causing turnovers in their defence and running like chooks out of D50, we along with other clubs couldn't keep up with them. If we tried that on they would run us down.
Hopefully the new guys like Pickett and Garlett will help in this regard. But we are generally a slow team. You need exceptional talent like a Sam Mitchell type to offset a lack of speed. And the game seems to be getting faster.
Hard to imagine why being able to kick both feet is no longer valued in recruiting, the reason Mitchell was so good was that he could go either way and deliver the ball efficiently to someone 25 - 30m away. It broke up the opposition defense, in a way we don't.
Pickett looks interesting to me, he's the one who looks to have the X-Factor, but can he deliver it regularly enough or for long enough!
Garlett has the leg speed, he's got SPS covered in this regard. SPS is a magnificent lateral mover but might lack the pace that saw him compared early in his career to a McLeod type player.
Garlett and SPS are both hard as nails, but their size is a problem because it's leave them less than durable. You need a deep list that can carry them late into the season, a bit like the way the Dawks have mothballed Rioli in recent years.
I think the problem with the Crows in the GF was that they thought they were not favourites - and consequently didn't turn up.
But yes, kudos to Richmond - they get a lot out of a rather motley crew.
Walker and Jenkins were rubbish, those vertically challenged spud Nthmond defenders you refer to made them their bitches, which dealt players like Betts out of the game!
There seems significant more attention to detail with other teams working out our players than we put into other teams IMO.......
Yes I agree, we do seem to be lacking in the opposition analysis department. But I think part of the problem is our medium sized players are generally too slow. Last season guys like E. Curnow, Kerridge, Lamb, Thomas, Plowman, White, Smedts, Graham, Gibbs, etc., just couldn't keep up with the oppositions breakaway players.
Add to that, we let defenders run off guys like Wright, Thomas and Silvagni while bombing the ball predictably to either Casboult or Kreuzer instead of looking for the loose players. We can have all the talls we like, but if we fail to make use of those in the open we won't win many games.
Ive had a look at the competition, and it pains me to say that they are a better than even money chance to go back to back, and even if they don't, they will be in the frame for another flag in 2019 and possibly even 2020 unless things change drastically. They are actually a pretty young side.
With youth comes earning potential, they do well again this year and the kids will start asking for more $, and opposition will start offering more $.
The greater player power and free agency becomes, the less chance clubs have of sustaining a list.
Your family cooking story reminded me of the very rare culinary talents of my ex and dearly departed mother in law who could cook anything you threw at her down to the same consistency and bland flavour.
It's an incredibly rare and very special talent, almost like magic when you think about it!
