Success, failure or something in between? 

Ok.....go

Get some perspective: it was a success. Very young players playing in winning Melbourne sides, a huge percentage increase, a very young list in comparison to other clubs. Relax, the next few years will be good.

Improved. Still a work in progress. Some dizzying highs and some disappointing lows. 

Saw some good signs from young guys like Hunt, Omac, Petracca, Clarry and others. Great to see the continued emergence of Viney and Gawn, as well as TMac and Tyson.

But the highlight for me has been the emergence of Wattsy. Has always been a favourite of mine, and he has certainly repaid the faith this year. Couldn't be more rapt for him and the club

9 of last 11 flags won by the three teams that will probably finish 1 2 3.

And who will no doubt have the pick of the free agents.

Dees going ok considering

Just now, biggestred said:

9 of last 11 flags won by the three teams that will probably finish 1 2 3.

And who will no doubt have the pick of the free agents.

Dees going ok considering

Let's face it, everyone else is just making up the numbers. The system is rigged.

I expect much of the same issues as this year coming in with 10 - 12 victories. 

I hope to see a continued improvement in what emerged as a lethal ball  movement game. Still a few years off doing it consistently being quite a physically demanding style of play.

the natural improvement of the young brigade will allow us to begin to see the signs of consistency we crave however I believe that is 3 years and some good trades off being a reality.

look for Oliver to take over the afl starting next week and continuing on into eternity. 

Omac will fill out some more by eating protein and benching like a champion and begin to compete with his brother as the number one superstar of our back line. 

Look to see hogan having a year much like he has this year for Fremantle as we realise that although weideman isn't there yet he will get there and not having a giant ego to kick to allows our midfield and half backs to be more creative and develop a greater understanding of the possible avenues to goal.

petracca will continue the poor goal kicking tradition we have enthusiastically embarked on with him and his fellow superstar friend Jesse. However he will be doing it on his own.

jetta looks to be on the decline and it saddens me. He has been the undisputed champion of our backline since ingerson and shanahan reigned supreme. To see him slowly lose his faculties for the game will be nothing short of heart breaking.

dom Tyson will look to refine his abilities in the same way the great Nathan jones has through out his career leading him into an even greater form line than has been exposed this year under the cloud he left the year before.

look to see the weight of the world start to weigh heavily on big max. The fairy tale doesn't always work out in the real world and a body that big inevitably breaks down. The beard will stay however as his form declines it will become a point of contention amongst disgruntled fans and the media. I will expect Jake spencer to have something of a break out year as gawns injuries keep him off the park.

goodwin will be questioned early as the game plan refuses to click early leaving us looking a couple of k's off the pace. It will click in for one glorious patch of form in which we will win an outstanding 8/10 games in the middle of the season before once again succumbing to fatigue.

 

Anyone still think the gap between our best and worst has narrowed? That's one area of our game that Paul Roos was not able to fix.

3 minutes ago, von said:

 

look to see the weight of the world start to weigh heavily on big max. The fairy tale doesn't always work out in the real world and a body that big inevitably breaks down. The beard will stay however as his form declines it will become a point of contention amongst disgruntled fans and the media. I will expect Jake spencer to have something of a break out year as gawns injuries keep him off the park.

 

Seriously putting the injury moz on Gawn? What the actual [censored]?

8 minutes ago, Mickey said:

Seriously putting the injury moz on Gawn? What the actual [censored]?

It's just a simple fiction of reality my friend. Look at the situation at hand.

15 minutes ago, Chook said:

Anyone still think the gap between our best and worst has narrowed? That's one area of our game that Paul Roos was not able to fix.

The one thing is the gap hasn't shank but the best is better and the worst is also better. If anything the gap has widened as our better is much better while our worst is only a fair bit better. 

Where we have improved is we see the good far more often and the really bad far less often. 

it was a real up and down season.

 

a massive let-down in the last two weeks. hopefully not a sign of things to come in 2017.

 

there's nothing quite like going 'BANG!' after an appalling final round performance...here's my player ratings for the entire season after a flattening final round.

 

1. jesse hogan - 5.5/10. a real hit and miss season. if he doesn't mark the ball he doesn't get involved in the play, provides little to no defensive pressure, and can't do much below his knees. could be a superstar, but might not be

2. nathan jones - 7.5/10. still too many cotchin-like games where he is 'busy' but doesn't do much with the ball, but his best is still great and 
generally speaking when he's up and about we look a better side

3. christian salem - 2/10. great last game, but he needs to actually play regularly to achieve more out of his football as he is clearly one of our more naturally talented players

4. jack watts - 7.5/10. probably his best season, but he still goes missing throughout games and has lapses into poor second efforts on too many occasions, and needs to continue to work on that

5 christian petracca - 6.5/10. shows a tremendous amount of promise, but he dips in and out of games too frequently for my liking and for a player with such exquisite skill too often tries to overdo it

6. chris dawes - 1/10. hope he gets another crack at another club, but he's fundamentally had a shocking four years at melbourne through both injury and poor form, good luck for your future

7. jack viney - 8.5/10. a great season, but his last several weeks have been very poor and his disposal needs a lot of work as too often he makes mistakes at key moments

8. heretier lumumba - 1/10. hope he retires, good luck for your future

9. jack trengove - 3/10. i'm happy that he's been able to come back to play afl-level football, and i'm hoping he can come back but i definitely see him as that sort of 28-32 on the list player who can play a role when required

10. angus brayshaw - 4.5/10. i really question how good he'll be; his disposal under zero pressure and hitting a teammate short is the worst i've ever seen even if his effort cannot be questioned

11. max gawn - 11/10. an amazing season. he's clearly tired as the year has gone on, but he's had an absolutely brilliant 2016, i'd say 9/10 in reality

12. dom tyson - 7/10. a very good second half of the year in particular, but he's another player whose disposal is poor and he often loses possession at key moments in games by turnover or by being caught holding

13. clayton oliver - 7/10. i understand that they're probably managing him, but he's clearly our second best clearance player already - big things expected and i would rather he play in the afl than the vfl

14. lynden dunn - 2/10. depth at best. others have gone past him and his inability to adapt to the gameplan was glaring

15. billy stretch - 7/10. an up and about and lively player who more often than not makes the correct decision, think he'll be a good 'n as he makes the 'right' decisions more often than not

16. dean kent - 7/10. vital to giving us some genuine run through the midfield into the f50, we need him to have another strong fitness base; that said, another with dodgy disposal at times under pressure

17. sam frost - 7/10. can't understand why they persisted with him as a forward / ruckman early in the season; looks at home down back and provides great contest and run; same story as so many of our players re disposal by foot

18. jake melksham - gets a pass, for now...but i have massive doubts as to what he'll bring to the side

19. ben newton - 1/10. had an interrupted preseason which probably put him on the back foot, but i think he's a likely player to be cleared off the list

20. colin garland - 1/10. i still can't fathom giving him a three year deal at the end of last year; should've been two as he's not in our best 22 and barely a depth player as key defensive cover

21. cam pedersen - 5/10. massive mistake not to have him in against carlton, as for the most part he's serviceable and provides a great contest; misses too many games through injury and goes missing in patches too yet i think we have to retain him to give us depth in talls

22. viv michie - 1/10. probably a case of an excellent player at a lower level but not afl-ready, as his disposals at afl provided no advantage for the side despite his deceiving efficiency and his defensive coverage was non-existent, good luck for the future

23. bernie vince - 6/10. really hope his last seven or so rounds were due the knock against the power in darwin, as he has been pretty ordinary in the second half of the year and hopefully father time has not suddenly caught up with him

24. jay kennedy-harris - gets a pass, for now...his body clearly let him down all year, but if it's true that carlton are offering a second round pick for him i'd take it; don't reckon he's fast or skillful enough based on previous years

25. tom mcdonald - 8/10. by far and away our best tall defender, and whilst he makes mistakes and stuffs up attacking plays from time to time, we're better for having him than not

26. sam weideman - 3/10. probably a mistake playing him against carlton, but once that was lost might as well have played him against the cats, despite how little readiness he had for the afl-level game, but in truth the same was true for o mac in his first games too

27. liam hulett - pass, really thought he'd have made the senior side ahead of the weed as he looks the more physically ready player at this stage

28. oscar mcdonald - 6.5/10. we had to blood him at some stage, and he's ahead of the older options in terms of his ability to impact the play...probably both positively and negatively, although his run of games since the bye has been impressive

29. jayden hunt - 7.5/10. the find of the season, with his pace a massive weapon that whilst occasionally sees him run into trouble, i'd rather encourage his willingness to take the game on than curb it

30. alex neal-bullen - 2/10. a super disappointing second season at afl level, unable to replicate any of his vfl form; his skills didn't look up to snuff, but like other youngsters he either deserves more time or an opportunity elsewhere

31. jack grimes - 1/10. just looks cooked as an afl level player; i'd like to think he'd make it elsewhere, but unfortunately i think his lack of pace and skills sees him exposed at afl level

32. tomas bugg - 4/10. a lively player who is aggressive and in-your-face, he misses too many targets by hand and foot and goes missing for too many extended periods of time to be a best 22 player

33. jack spencer - no rating, never got a go so unfair to rate him, but i worry if he's our back-up if gawn goes down

34. mitchell king - unfair to rate, hopefully the season out will see him learn a lot a la gawn, hogan and petracca

35. ben kennedy - 5.5/10. i think he's better than others, as i like his turn of speed and his ability to impact the scoreboard, plus i think he 'goes when it's his turn...he's probably not best 22, but he's not far off it

36. jeff garlett - 4.5/10. see, i would've had kennedy's buzziness in the forward 50 ahead of garlett's for the majority of the year; no doubt jeff is a more talented player but he doesn't do nearly enough with his talent

37. aaron vandenberg - 6/10. i basically see vdb as playing a default chf role - he gets up the ground, competes in the air, tries to hit the scoreboard, provides some defensive pressure, but he's really let down by his disposal when he gets it it, which is infrequently

39. neville jetta - 8/10. our best defender by a street, as there's no one else in the side that can play the role he does, to lock down on the best small forward plus also provide a lot of run out of the defensive 50

41. mitchell white - 2/10. he doesn't offer much more than depth, and it would be a surprise if he was upgraded to the senior list after the mandatory two years on the rookie list

42. josh wager - 3/10. he's first cab off the rank, more or less, for tall(ish) defensive coverage, and he's able to provide a bit of run, but he really doesn't impress as an afl-level or afl-ready player

43. james harmes - 4/10. he was good in patches in three roles, from a marking half forward to a wingman and then as a defender, but his disposal is just nowehere near good enough

44. josh smith - unrated, hopefully he can continue to develop at casey next year and become a surprise packet

45. matt jones - 6.5/10. a really surprisingly successful season, he's a player who has got a lot out of himself and runs hard both ways; don't really want him in best 22, but he's better than other depth options at this stage

46. dean terlich - unrated, all the best for the future

47. max king - unrated, all the best for the future

 

i think that's it?

 

what's clear i think is that we desperately need:

- a kurt tippett-type, a player who can play both forward and move into the ruck - watts has battled away admirably playing that role but he's not best-suited to it.

- class and skill through the midfield, particularly players who can break lines, hit targets and impact the scoreboard, someone like a fit jaeger o'meara would be ideal, but we don't even seem to be in the conversation to land him, and he's not played a game for two years so fitness is a massive concern

 

of course, these sort of stars hardly grow on trees!

 

in terms of victorians that we could 'lure home' i'd love gaff and 2 metre peter please, preferably traded for a packet of stale twisties so as not to upset the balance of our list.

3 hours ago, von said:

I expect much of the same issues as this year coming in with 10 - 12 victories. 

I hope to see a continued improvement in what emerged as a lethal ball  movement game. Still a few years off doing it consistently being quite a physically demanding style of play.

the natural improvement of the young brigade will allow us to begin to see the signs of consistency we crave however I believe that is 3 years and some good trades off being a reality.

look for Oliver to take over the afl starting next week and continuing on into eternity. 

Omac will fill out some more by eating protein and benching like a champion and begin to compete with his brother as the number one superstar of our back line. 

Look to see hogan having a year much like he has this year for Fremantle as we realise that although weideman isn't there yet he will get there and not having a giant ego to kick to allows our midfield and half backs to be more creative and develop a greater understanding of the possible avenues to goal.

petracca will continue the poor goal kicking tradition we have enthusiastically embarked on with him and his fellow superstar friend Jesse. However he will be doing it on his own.

jetta looks to be on the decline and it saddens me. He has been the undisputed champion of our backline since ingerson and shanahan reigned supreme. To see him slowly lose his faculties for the game will be nothing short of heart breaking.

dom Tyson will look to refine his abilities in the same way the great Nathan jones has through out his career leading him into an even greater form line than has been exposed this year under the cloud he left the year before.

look to see the weight of the world start to weigh heavily on big max. The fairy tale doesn't always work out in the real world and a body that big inevitably breaks down. The beard will stay however as his form declines it will become a point of contention amongst disgruntled fans and the media. I will expect Jake spencer to have something of a break out year as gawns injuries keep him off the park.

goodwin will be questioned early as the game plan refuses to click early leaving us looking a couple of k's off the pace. It will click in for one glorious patch of form in which we will win an outstanding 8/10 games in the middle of the season before once again succumbing to fatigue.

 

Can mods just seriously ban this troll.

3 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Can mods just seriously ban this troll.

What's wrong? I thought I was allowed to forecast some predictions for the future like everyone else on here does. Some things seem fairly plain to see. My predictions would fall into the plain to see category surely.

Ten wins is a success. Especially when you consider four of our most experienced players Dunn, Garland, Dawes & Lumumba played less then 25 games between themselves. Most would of expected closer to 80.

I was hoping for 9 wins at the start of the year and we got 10.

Ended on as very sour note. But looking at the Richmond game, i suspect it could be a theme this week when teams playing for positioning in the 8 play teams playing for nothing.

 

32 minutes ago, AngryAtCasey said:

Ten wins is a success. Especially when you consider four of our most experienced players Dunn, Garland, Dawes & Lumumba played less then 25 games between themselves. Most would of expected closer to 80.

I was hoping for 9 wins at the start of the year and we got 10.

Ended on as very sour note. But looking at the Richmond game, i suspect it could be a theme this week when teams playing for positioning in the 8 play teams playing for nothing.

 

it really did end badly, the last fortnight was pretty much unforgivable.

 

i was thinking we might get around 6-8 wins, so from my perspective we over-achieved.

 

and yes, you're right, it's an indictment on the side that four of the most experienced players were complete non-entities.

At the start of this season I  wanted 10 wins, as it made our track improvement look substantial. Here it is under Roos:

 

2013- 2 wins (Before Roos)

2014- 4 wins (1st year)
2015- 7 wins (2nd year)
2016- 10 wins (3rd year) 

But now that we got 10 wins, i feel somewhat confused; greedy even.

only because we have played some amazing footy against some sides and some atrocious footy against others. But by golly gosh we are now finally on the right path. Get on for the journey, finals is our goal next year!

Whilst it would certainly be handy to pick up a few quality players in the off season, I'm not sure that any sort of cull of our playing list is required, beyond the few obvious delistings.

I'm now just looking forward to what another preseason will do for our young team.  It's pretty incredible that we have been able to compete against many of the sides out there this year, when you consider the realitive youth of our list, it is a case of boys playing against men in a lot of instances.  Hoping our game goes to that next level with some more physical and mental maturity.

We spend upteen hours berating and pilloring the Toiges for 'achieving' 9th.

We haven't even made that mark and come away with a sub100  percentage. 

I don't necessarily concur it was our youth just tiring. Others managed better,  why?

Im glad  to see a few decent wins but for all of our supposed talent we are still very wide of the mark.

2017. Its Make or break. 

51 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

2017. Its Make or break. 

Agreed,this time next year we will know for sure.

 

12 minutes ago, Emerald said:

Agreed,this time next year we will know for sure.

 

Make or break what? It'll be pretty much the same as this year.

This may of been brought up before....

For those who attend training do we have a kicking coach?

How much time is spent purely on set shots on goal?

Who can we get to fill this role as kicking coach?

I've read comments with regards to Hogan and Petracca that it should be easy to fix up in one pre season. If it's that easy why did it get to where it is now? There are plenty of examples of  players from other clubs that have continued to struggle with set shots for years.

 

10 hours ago, DemonAndrew said:

it was a real up and down season.

 

a massive let-down in the last two weeks. hopefully not a sign of things to come in 2017.

 

there's nothing quite like going 'BANG!' after an appalling final round performance...here's my player ratings for the entire season after a flattening final round.

 

1. jesse hogan - 5.5/10. a real hit and miss season. if he doesn't mark the ball he doesn't get involved in the play, provides little to no defensive pressure, and can't do much below his knees. could be a superstar, but might not be

2. nathan jones - 7.5/10. still too many cotchin-like games where he is 'busy' but doesn't do much with the ball, but his best is still great and 
generally speaking when he's up and about we look a better side

3. christian salem - 2/10. great last game, but he needs to actually play regularly to achieve more out of his football as he is clearly one of our more naturally talented players

4. jack watts - 7.5/10. probably his best season, but he still goes missing throughout games and has lapses into poor second efforts on too many occasions, and needs to continue to work on that

5 christian petracca - 6.5/10. shows a tremendous amount of promise, but he dips in and out of games too frequently for my liking and for a player with such exquisite skill too often tries to overdo it

6. chris dawes - 1/10. hope he gets another crack at another club, but he's fundamentally had a shocking four years at melbourne through both injury and poor form, good luck for your future

7. jack viney - 8.5/10. a great season, but his last several weeks have been very poor and his disposal needs a lot of work as too often he makes mistakes at key moments

8. heretier lumumba - 1/10. hope he retires, good luck for your future

9. jack trengove - 3/10. i'm happy that he's been able to come back to play afl-level football, and i'm hoping he can come back but i definitely see him as that sort of 28-32 on the list player who can play a role when required

10. angus brayshaw - 4.5/10. i really question how good he'll be; his disposal under zero pressure and hitting a teammate short is the worst i've ever seen even if his effort cannot be questioned

11. max gawn - 11/10. an amazing season. he's clearly tired as the year has gone on, but he's had an absolutely brilliant 2016, i'd say 9/10 in reality

12. dom tyson - 7/10. a very good second half of the year in particular, but he's another player whose disposal is poor and he often loses possession at key moments in games by turnover or by being caught holding

13. clayton oliver - 7/10. i understand that they're probably managing him, but he's clearly our second best clearance player already - big things expected and i would rather he play in the afl than the vfl

14. lynden dunn - 2/10. depth at best. others have gone past him and his inability to adapt to the gameplan was glaring

15. billy stretch - 7/10. an up and about and lively player who more often than not makes the correct decision, think he'll be a good 'n as he makes the 'right' decisions more often than not

16. dean kent - 7/10. vital to giving us some genuine run through the midfield into the f50, we need him to have another strong fitness base; that said, another with dodgy disposal at times under pressure

17. sam frost - 7/10. can't understand why they persisted with him as a forward / ruckman early in the season; looks at home down back and provides great contest and run; same story as so many of our players re disposal by foot

18. jake melksham - gets a pass, for now...but i have massive doubts as to what he'll bring to the side

19. ben newton - 1/10. had an interrupted preseason which probably put him on the back foot, but i think he's a likely player to be cleared off the list

20. colin garland - 1/10. i still can't fathom giving him a three year deal at the end of last year; should've been two as he's not in our best 22 and barely a depth player as key defensive cover

21. cam pedersen - 5/10. massive mistake not to have him in against carlton, as for the most part he's serviceable and provides a great contest; misses too many games through injury and goes missing in patches too yet i think we have to retain him to give us depth in talls

22. viv michie - 1/10. probably a case of an excellent player at a lower level but not afl-ready, as his disposals at afl provided no advantage for the side despite his deceiving efficiency and his defensive coverage was non-existent, good luck for the future

23. bernie vince - 6/10. really hope his last seven or so rounds were due the knock against the power in darwin, as he has been pretty ordinary in the second half of the year and hopefully father time has not suddenly caught up with him

24. jay kennedy-harris - gets a pass, for now...his body clearly let him down all year, but if it's true that carlton are offering a second round pick for him i'd take it; don't reckon he's fast or skillful enough based on previous years

25. tom mcdonald - 8/10. by far and away our best tall defender, and whilst he makes mistakes and stuffs up attacking plays from time to time, we're better for having him than not

26. sam weideman - 3/10. probably a mistake playing him against carlton, but once that was lost might as well have played him against the cats, despite how little readiness he had for the afl-level game, but in truth the same was true for o mac in his first games too

27. liam hulett - pass, really thought he'd have made the senior side ahead of the weed as he looks the more physically ready player at this stage

28. oscar mcdonald - 6.5/10. we had to blood him at some stage, and he's ahead of the older options in terms of his ability to impact the play...probably both positively and negatively, although his run of games since the bye has been impressive

29. jayden hunt - 7.5/10. the find of the season, with his pace a massive weapon that whilst occasionally sees him run into trouble, i'd rather encourage his willingness to take the game on than curb it

30. alex neal-bullen - 2/10. a super disappointing second season at afl level, unable to replicate any of his vfl form; his skills didn't look up to snuff, but like other youngsters he either deserves more time or an opportunity elsewhere

31. jack grimes - 1/10. just looks cooked as an afl level player; i'd like to think he'd make it elsewhere, but unfortunately i think his lack of pace and skills sees him exposed at afl level

32. tomas bugg - 4/10. a lively player who is aggressive and in-your-face, he misses too many targets by hand and foot and goes missing for too many extended periods of time to be a best 22 player

33. jack spencer - no rating, never got a go so unfair to rate him, but i worry if he's our back-up if gawn goes down

34. mitchell king - unfair to rate, hopefully the season out will see him learn a lot a la gawn, hogan and petracca

35. ben kennedy - 5.5/10. i think he's better than others, as i like his turn of speed and his ability to impact the scoreboard, plus i think he 'goes when it's his turn...he's probably not best 22, but he's not far off it

36. jeff garlett - 4.5/10. see, i would've had kennedy's buzziness in the forward 50 ahead of garlett's for the majority of the year; no doubt jeff is a more talented player but he doesn't do nearly enough with his talent

37. aaron vandenberg - 6/10. i basically see vdb as playing a default chf role - he gets up the ground, competes in the air, tries to hit the scoreboard, provides some defensive pressure, but he's really let down by his disposal when he gets it it, which is infrequently

39. neville jetta - 8/10. our best defender by a street, as there's no one else in the side that can play the role he does, to lock down on the best small forward plus also provide a lot of run out of the defensive 50

41. mitchell white - 2/10. he doesn't offer much more than depth, and it would be a surprise if he was upgraded to the senior list after the mandatory two years on the rookie list

42. josh wager - 3/10. he's first cab off the rank, more or less, for tall(ish) defensive coverage, and he's able to provide a bit of run, but he really doesn't impress as an afl-level or afl-ready player

43. james harmes - 4/10. he was good in patches in three roles, from a marking half forward to a wingman and then as a defender, but his disposal is just nowehere near good enough

44. josh smith - unrated, hopefully he can continue to develop at casey next year and become a surprise packet

45. matt jones - 6.5/10. a really surprisingly successful season, he's a player who has got a lot out of himself and runs hard both ways; don't really want him in best 22, but he's better than other depth options at this stage

46. dean terlich - unrated, all the best for the future

47. max king - unrated, all the best for the future

 

i think that's it?

 

what's clear i think is that we desperately need:

- a kurt tippett-type, a player who can play both forward and move into the ruck - watts has battled away admirably playing that role but he's not best-suited to it.

- class and skill through the midfield, particularly players who can break lines, hit targets and impact the scoreboard, someone like a fit jaeger o'meara would be ideal, but we don't even seem to be in the conversation to land him, and he's not played a game for two years so fitness is a massive concern

 

of course, these sort of stars hardly grow on trees!

 

in terms of victorians that we could 'lure home' i'd love gaff and 2 metre peter please, preferably traded for a packet of stale twisties so as not to upset the balance of our list.

Harsh on both Salem and H. You give a pass to other players due to not being able to get on the park but not these two? Salem especially was pretty good when he could play but he couldn't play for most of the season due to illness. 

13 hours ago, Chook said:

Anyone still think the gap between our best and worst has narrowed? That's one area of our game that Paul Roos was not able to fix.

The 2013 Melbourne would have lost by 200 points yesterday. We've seen over the last few years that middle of the table sides can get flogged if they don't show up. Geelong last year lost by 111 points to Sydney. Ess with their '12' in the squad got done by 100 points a few times. I know 100 point defeats are terrible and shouldn't be accepted, but they're not as disasterous or rare as they're made out to be. Hawthorn were a 10 minute patch from losing by 100 to GWS. There aren't that many teams that can keep their worst under 100 points, So I do think the gap has narrowed.

15 minutes ago, Chris said:

Harsh on both Salem and H. You give a pass to other players due to not being able to get on the park but not these two? Salem especially was pretty good when he could play but he couldn't play for most of the season due to illness. 

Salem played eight games, Lumumba five.

 

Other than games against the Tigers and yesterday for Salem, I'd say they had very poor years.

Overall, I'm rapt with the improvement this season. Our best wins gave us all an insight into how our future will look, and our worst losses reminded us all that we are still the baby team of the competition. Question marks over the on-field leadership remain, Jones, Vince and Jetta had a solid years statistically but lack support when the ball isn't bouncing our way. Just on Nev, to even mention him as a staple in the leadership discussion is a testament to himself and the club, considering where his career was at a few years ago. I'm of the belief that the club needs to look at ways to bring in a top line mid in the 23-26 age bracket during this upcoming trade period. There are a few handy types that will be available this season and here's hoping we have a red hot crack at nailing one of them. 

The personal highlights were Jack Watts sticking it up all of his critics, and Jayden Hunt's debut season. The x factor and drive he provides off the half back line are attributes we haven't seen in the red and blue for quite some time. 

The disappointments of 2016 were Jesse's goalkicking in the back half of the season and Brayshaw/Salem not getting a good run at it due to injury. 

Here's hoping the boys push each other this pre season and we accelerate towards finals success starting next season.