Having now had a good look at the Prospectus my expectations have been watered down for the long suffering demons.  Its a great reference but also gives pause for thought when it comes to your own team.

My enthusiasm  for the dees in 2016 remains buoyant, however after reading the prospectus it is obvious our depth is still a major concern.  Lets hope and wish that Macca develops Petracca, Oliver, Weideman, Brayshaw, Salem and Hogan and they stay injury free and all get long term contracts.  Those guys will be the core of any success along with Viney, Gawn, Mcdonald brothers, and Jonesy.

Other than those named, it drops off rapidly and we still need to recruit some decent cattle to make top 4 in the coming years.  

Still hopeful of a better year in 2016 and knocking on the door of the 8.  We all still wait and wish!!!!

20 minutes ago, Soidee said:

Having now had a good look at the Prospectus my expectations have been watered down for the long suffering demons.  Its a great reference but also gives pause for thought when it comes to your own team.

My enthusiasm  for the dees in 2016 remains buoyant, however after reading the prospectus it is obvious our depth is still a major concern.  Lets hope and wish that Macca develops Petracca, Oliver, Weideman, Brayshaw, Salem and Hogan and they stay injury free and all get long term contracts.  Those guys will be the core of any success along with Viney, Gawn, Mcdonald brothers, and Jonesy.

Other than those named, it drops off rapidly and we still need to recruit some decent cattle to make top 4 in the coming years.  

Still hopeful of a better year in 2016 and knocking on the door of the 8.  We all still wait and wish!!!!

Forget the prospectus, it's based on the past...if it was so accurate we wouldn't need to play any games or finals for the year. Just go on what the prospectus says.

It will look a whole lot different for the 2017 season, guarantee it.

Based on past stats, and giving not-exactly-educated predictions of improvement.

44 minutes ago, Soidee said:

Having now had a good look at the Prospectus my expectations have been watered down for the long suffering demons.  Its a great reference but also gives pause for thought when it comes to your own team.

My enthusiasm  for the dees in 2016 remains buoyant, however after reading the prospectus it is obvious our depth is still a major concern.  Lets hope and wish that Macca develops Petracca, Oliver, Weideman, Brayshaw, Salem and Hogan and they stay injury free and all get long term contracts.  Those guys will be the core of any success along with Viney, Gawn, Mcdonald brothers, and Jonesy.

Other than those named, it drops off rapidly and we still need to recruit some decent cattle to make top 4 in the coming years.  

Still hopeful of a better year in 2016 and knocking on the door of the 8.  We all still wait and wish!!!!

End of this season we remove the last of the dead wood from the list, then 12 months after that we will have real depth. But according to some we had depth last year, that lasted until about round 4.

3 hours ago, rjay said:

Forget the prospectus, it's based on the past...if it was so accurate we wouldn't need to play any games or finals for the year. Just go on what the prospectus says.

It will look a whole lot different for the 2017 season, guarantee it.

I think we recruited Weideman with a healthy view on the past, his 2014 season may have helped with the decision.

2 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

End of this season we remove the last of the dead wood from the list, then 12 months after that we will have real depth. But according to some we had depth last year, that lasted until about round 4.

I think some say our greater depth is based on recent past seasons... not the afl mean depth rate.  depth is always a moving prospect.

 

I agree BbA, we are fast trimming the list of those who wouldn't work in an,  'Elsternwick house of repute' ?

1 minute ago, dee-luded said:

I think some say our greater depth is based on recent past seasons... not the afl mean depth rate.  depth is always a moving prospect.

 

I agree BbA, we are fast trimming the list of those who wouldn't work in an,  'Elsternwick house of repute' ?

Daily Planet?

6 minutes ago, Demon Head said:

Daily Planet?

That's bringing back some memories....

3 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

End of this season we remove the last of the dead wood from the list, then 12 months after that we will have real depth. But according to some we had depth last year, that lasted until about round 4.

Maybe because we had 10 or so top 25 players injured by about round 4 and they didn't come back till round 20. That will always stuff up your depth.  My hope this year is that we have zero injuries to our top 20 players. Big ask you say except the top sides seem to do it every year, that is one reason why they get there. if we go through the season with minimal injuries I think we can make a play for the finals but a lot of luck is needed. 

8 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

Maybe because we had 10 or so top 25 players injured by about round 4 and they didn't come back till round 20. That will always stuff up your depth.  My hope this year is that we have zero injuries to our top 20 players. Big ask you say except the top sides seem to do it every year, that is one reason why they get there. if we go through the season with minimal injuries I think we can make a play for the finals but a lot of luck is needed. 

Who were the 10, top of my head I can think off Kent, VB, Salem, Trengove/Petracca were never going to play, Frost,  Dawes, ??

24 minutes ago, Demon Head said:

Daily Planet?

hahaha, is that its name, I've only eva been passt it, never inside ???  whats it like D H ???   

On 2/7/2016 at 6:30 PM, Soidee said:

Having now had a good look at the Prospectus my expectations have been watered down for the long suffering demons.  Its a great reference but also gives pause for thought when it comes to your own team.

My enthusiasm  for the dees in 2016 remains buoyant, however after reading the prospectus it is obvious our depth is still a major concern.  Lets hope and wish that Macca develops Petracca, Oliver, Weideman, Brayshaw, Salem and Hogan and they stay injury free and all get long term contracts.  Those guys will be the core of any success along with Viney, Gawn, Mcdonald brothers, and Jonesy.

Other than those named, it drops off rapidly and we still need to recruit some decent cattle to make top 4 in the coming years.  

Still hopeful of a better year in 2016 and knocking on the door of the 8.  We all still wait and wish!!!!

Things can change quickly.  Sydney won 3 spoons in a row (92, 93, 94) and played in a GF in 96.  Barassi changed their culture and they've never looked back.  I hope Roos is our Barassi and Viney our Paul Kelly.

And remember, nearly half the competition play finals.  There are bog ordinary teams playing finals.

Footscray won 14 games in 2015 with a percentage of 115 and I don't rate them.  They won 7 in 2014 ( the same as us this year).

This is Inside Footy's best 22 for the Dogs in 2016:

Morris I Roberts I Johanissen

Murphy I Hamling I Wood

Macrae I M. Boyd I Wallis

Dahlhaus I T. Boyd I Dickson

Picken I Redpath I Stringer

R: Minson I Liberatore I Bontempelli 

I: Stevens I Hunter I Suckling I Roughead

By comparison* here's a rough Dees best 22:

Jetta I Dunn I Garland

Salem I T. McDonald I Lumumba

Vince I Viney I vandenBerg

Brayshaw I Pedersen I Kent

Garlett I Hogan I Petracca

R: Gawn I Tyson I Jones

I: Frost I Oliver I Watts I Bugg

Irrespective of whether you'd have Pedersen in for Dawes, Harmes for Watts, or Stretch in for Oliver/Bugg, I see no reason we can't be as good as the Dogs quickly.

There are 8 top 10 rated players in this line up (can't wait until Weideman is ready and hopefully Trengove).  The Dogs have 4.  What other club in the country outside of the expansion clubs would have 8 x top 10 draft picks in their lineup ?  I accept where you're drafted means nothing if you're no good, but I have great confidence we're now getting it right.

rjay is right.  On past performances we're mediocre, but our list and best 22 right now is anything but.  All we need is belief, trust and our really talented young players to evolve.

 

*I read nothing into our round 20 encounter.

EDIT: changed Dawes for Pedersen due to continual calf injury

9 hours ago, ProDee said:

Things can change quickly.  Sydney won 3 spoons in a row (92, 93, 94) and played in a GF in 96.  Barassi changed their culture and they've never looked back.  I hope Roos is our Barassi and Viney our Paul Kelly.

 

Actually, Barassi is our Barassi. Irrespective of his involvement with other clubs, always was, always will be.

[PS: I know what you mean, though and don't disagree.]

8 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Actually, Barassi is our Barassi. Irrespective of his involvement with other clubs, always was, always will be.

[PS: I know what you mean, though and don't disagree.]

Not when he was at Sydney for those 3 years; just like Roos isn't Sydney's Paul Roos while he's employed by us.

15 hours ago, rjay said:

Forget the prospectus, it's based on the past...if it was so accurate we wouldn't need to play any games or finals for the year. Just go on what the prospectus says.

It will look a whole lot different for the 2017 season, guarantee it.

I acknowledge the prospectus is based on previous season, however it is one of the best resources based purely on statistics.  I don't live my life based on stats, but when you read through the book it is fairly accurate in respect of mid range players who are highly unlikely to improve that much in the future.  Insofar as the dees are concerned, Matt Jones is a case in point.  We have a number on our list who will not get better, and that is my point.  We have more than our share of those who won't get better.

On the positive side we have at least 12-14 players who have heaps of improvement in them with our young top 7 or 8 who can reach greatness.  The potential is there and all the more reason to sign up Hogan and those who can take us into finals.