Im the opposite - i have no fear no expectation anymore.
I know where we sit and any win this season will be hard earnt and apart from the bottom 3 sides of WC, North and Rich we wont be troubling any of the teams above and will be some big hidings as well in this season.
This is basically what ive been saying all b offseason.
People need to lower their expectations this year. Do that and your mental health will thank you.
Some players will improve. Some players will get worse. Some players will get injured. Some players will retire.
Overall, our list is weaker, and all other things being equal, our results will be worse. Sure a great run with injuries may help, but looking at our current injury list, that looks unlikely.
So expect poor results and youll sleep at night.
Now, doesnt mean we need to blow up the place. With some young additions and extra draft picks banked....i expect to improve in a year or 2.....just not now.
.....that is of course if we can hold our crap together and not blow up the place in the meantime......which im not confident on, but if everyone lowered expectations itd be more likely.
You know that won't happen.
The season will go one of two ways. We'll improve or by mid season the coach will be informed he won't be requires for 2027.
You see even if we enter the season optimistic we don't necessarily 'lose sleep' or worry excessively over results. It's a whole of season approach. The knowledge that if it goes pear shaped things won't be the same next year with a new coach and a new approach, and we start again...not from scratch, because we have some good youth.
Alternatively things start to gel and after a shaky start we come home like a house on fire. Lapses become a thing of the past and Voss gets an extension.
With Tasmania coming in the Draft won't bring us a lot of joy.
Potentially.
I cant remember if the rules are set in stone or not, but i believe part of the deal is that tassie must trade away some of their early picks/ concessions.
This is where we can try and get a leg up.
Trade away a 30yo Harry and get a top 3 pick.....or trades of that ilk.
It SHOULD make it a little bit easier to get top picks.
Now whether you use those picks on kids or other established talent is a later debate, but getting the picks should be a good start.
True... It's probably a question as to what our 'capital' looks like at the end of 2027 and that;s bit of an unknown.
Cowan is one name that is often linked to Tassie. How he goes over the next two seasons would determine his worth. We may want to keep him and he might want to stay.
“If you’re going to give it to me, I’ll give it back - it’s straightforward like that,” Dean told Fox Footy after the Blues’ four-point win against Richmond on Thursday night.
Dean got physical with Richmond spearhead Tom Lynch - who’s not one to shy away from some push and shove - throughout the evening.
“You’re not gonna cop it; obviously, you’re going to give some back and show that you’re not here to be pushed around,” Dean added.
I reckon sides think we're soft too Shawny, too many dish it out against our mob without any comebacks. Lynch has been a school yard bully to us for years...fancy some young no name punk like Faull thinking he could gut punch Weitering off the ball without any fear. We are too nice playing a gladiatorial sport.
We might not be equipped to deal with it now but give Harry Dean a year or two and anyone that wants to pull that crap will be looked after.
It is an issue, that presently we have lot of light bodies especially amongst our younger group. Some of them, because of their body type may never be giants, but a few years in the gym under a good strength and conditioning program can make a difference to their ability to make and break tackles.
The only saving aspect was that it was a win....and the fact that we have so many players that are playing well below what they're capable of...the Hollands brothers are a good example.
Some of our backs are much better value as forwards.
Take the win, take the break, make some changes and move on.
We have the breeze this quarter but the Richmond guys are getting good distance at the other end as well. Flynn Young just had a bit of a purple patch strode through about 4 Richmond players to set up a shot at goal and then shortly after kicked a goal himself.
I read a post in another place. I have no idea of its true or not but...The poster said he had been sitting with one of our former assistant coaches and a former player. They had been sceptical of our chances. When we got to the 22 point lead he turned to the coach and player and said it looks like you were wrong. They just told him to wait...and sure enough.
Yes, it is on the players but it is also on the coaches.
IMHO no-one gets off free of accountability for that 2nd half 'effort.'
Vossy has entered his fifth year at the helm and yet we saw anothersecond half debacle... in fact, worse than many that preceded it over the years. Absolutely the same shambolic forward line and delivery into the forward line, even with different personnel!
Its up to the onfield leaders to arrest 3,4,5 goal runs. If the senior leaders cant see it and do anything about it then we may all pull up stumps and call it quits. The ruck and midfield division (perhaps Walsh aside) got utterly trounced from about the 5 min mark of the third qtr. As I said, I was sitting at ground level behind the fwd pocket where Syd were kicking to in the 3rd and we watched 12 goals sail over our heads, it was embarrassing. Only four from key fwds, the other 8 were all mids/smalls. The usual suspects, Heeney, McInerney, Warner and Gulden all tore us a new one especially McInerney.
There will be some serious soul searching this week amongst the playing group and a loss to Richmond for the second year in a row will be unforgivable. I'm sure the coaching group will take responsibility but that in my opinion gives the midfield group a big out. I'll say again that I question the fitness of our most of blokes, after half time they all looked to be sweating profusely compared to the Swans. It's been hot and humid up here since I've been here so I'm sure there was an acclimatisation issue. Our fitness guy is ex-Syd so he should have known the conditions I would have thought. Pretty sure it was at the 3 qtr time break, Syd players who had been on the bench were in the centre square doing run through drills FFS. Interesting to see how we back up this week.
Jagga had a good debut no doubt. He will improve even more with experience and maturity and the kid will probably end up a champion but they're young guys him and Lord...and another two or three years could make a big difference to both of them. Lord may never be anything but a good footsoldier. I'll back him to at least reach that level...and that may be all we need him to be. We have many premiership players who were good footsoldiers.
