Which players need to step up next year and have a break out year or recapture their form .

The obvious one for mine would have to be C Oliver. 

Shane mcadam would be another. 

 

 

 

McAdam’s never had “form”, so he can’t exactly recapture it. And given his age (30 in May next season), a “breakout year” is highly unlikely. 
Obviously agree with Oliver and I think Sparrow needs to take the next step (and have a proper breakout season). 

There’s probably only a handful of players who broke even on their 2023 form or bettered it.

So in my opinion, heaps of them.

 

 

For us to go all the way, just about every player needs to have a big year.

Edited November 27, 2024Nov 27 by Demon Disciple

Howes being he is out of contract.

Oliver to give us the greatest impact.

Sparrow if he wants to remain in the best 22. 

Jefferson to prove the doubters wrong. 

Edited November 27, 2024Nov 27 by Lil_red_fire_engine

Breakout year for me, would be Adams, Fullerton, Verrell, Howes and Jefferson. 
 

All others mentioned have had breakout years, what we need is for some to recapture form and others to improve on prior best years. I would say we only had 2-3 players last year who performed above normal output. 

Howes will get another contract regardless. has shown plenty imho, and is still very young.

mcadam obviously needs to set the world on fire if he is to get another contract

jefferson will have a year like roo's first year where he comes into the team and takes a few marks and shows promise. 2025 is jeffos breakout year.

sparrow spent most of last preseason doing run throughs. a big preseason will set him right.

if we are goign to go top 4 we need oliver to return to his best but even getting 90% of the way there would be a big help.

trac needs a career best season if we are goign to make the pies give us 3x top 10 picks and a player for him at the end of the year.

Oliver - he is just as important to us contending for the flag as Petracca.

Edited November 27, 2024Nov 27 by Lucifers Hero

Whichever of our key position forwards is standing next to JVR next season. 

And If we want to win another flag in the next few seasons, we'll probably need JVR to become 2023 Jesse Hogan. He doesn't personally have the pressure on him to be that break out superstar.... Buuuuut we might need him to be that if the forward line does not develop a collective goal kicking synergy all on its own!

Edited November 27, 2024Nov 27 by John Demonic

The season will be determined by the form of our best players (Gawn, Petracca, Oliver, Picket, May and Lever).

Max and May will be 33 next year and are obviously still key players for us. If they can maintain their current level and Petracca and Oliver give us better production, we will be one of the better sides.

23 minutes ago, biggestred said:

trac needs a career best season if we are goign to make the pies give us 3x top 10 picks and a player for him at the end of the year.

Dreaming.

He will have a massive season and take us close to a flag! 

But neither Pies nor Blues even have a 2025 first pick and their 2026 and 2027 will be mid to high teens in compromised drafts so will drift out.

Chances of the club trading Petracca to them are close to zero.  So he stays. 🙌

Edited November 27, 2024Nov 27 by Lucifers Hero

On my way to work so have r got time to list all the players. I just went through our list and did a count of players I think need to have a better year this year than last. Didn’t count any new players. 

Reasons I think players should be better this year is due to injuries or poor form last year or natural progression. 

21 players I think should really be hoping to have a better year this year. Clearly they won’t all improve and some older players that had a good season may regress.  
To be a finals team I feel that at least half of that number needs to have a better year. 

Agree with Mathew Jefferson if Jeffo puts on the afterburners and lives up to expectations we are on our way, throw Clayton and Christian at better than 80% of their best into that equation plus the Duke, the Kolt, Brownie & Sharpe then Langdon & Lindsay will be the cream on top. I’m thinking a very bright future for Dees.

9 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Dreaming.

He will have a massive season and take us close to a flag! 

But neither Pies nor Blues even have a 2025 first pick and their 2026 and 2027 will be mid to high teens in compromised drafts so will drift out.

Chances of the club trading Petracca to them are close to zero.

yeah i was being a bit silly re trac. but you know the media is gonna talk about it all year lol

For me, I think it's Sparrow and Petty that really need it.  By some stats I've seen, Sparrow seems fit enough and to be working hard enough, perhaps he just needs to be give a role and granted a bit more freedom to show off his attacking flair and be more damaging to reach his potential.  Petty playing backline would help.

Spargo probably also needs one to get a spot in the 22 and maintain relevance.  Salem is another.

Not that they reall 'need' it exactly, but I'd love JVR and Disco to go to that next level and become regularly damaging and dangerous key forwards.

An uninterrupted preseason would help several of these guys.  If we can maintain a fit list, then I think we could be in a position of having great depth again.  I'd really like to see us manage that situation by sufficiently resting players throughout the season to hit finals fit and fresh, as opposed to tired and banged up like in 2022 and 23.

Edited November 27, 2024Nov 27 by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

My vote is for Turner to have a Waterman like year and get the AFL world talking. Would give our fortunes a real boost.

Plenty but Harrison Petty is the key one for me. The foot was clearly an issue early on but if he gets a good pre season in I'm confident he can provide value whether forward or back.

Tom Sparrow another one who really needs to cement his place. The coaches could do him a favour too by dropping this HFF experiment. 

Oliver for obvious reasons and for god's sake Christian Salem if you can just recapture half of that 2021 form then we'll be in good stead.

McAdam will be playing for his career at this point so a big year from him is necessary, give us 10 possessions and 1-2 goals a game and you'll be in. Kade Chandler ditto, needs to get more of it and do better with what he does get.

I'm surprised that Jake Lever hasn't been mentioned, needs to stay healthy. To be honest you could name half the list. 

 

BAILEY FRITSCH - Recapture his spark and kick 60 goals

HARRY PETTY - Full preseason and injury free will straighten us up

JED ADAMS - Break into the side and show us what he can do

CLAYTON OLIVER - If he regains his 2021 form, I will be crying without shame at the G

A 60-goal year from Roo is in my letter to Santa 

2 hours ago, Lil_red_fire_engine said:

Howes being he is out of contract.

Oliver to give us the greatest impact.

Sparrow if he wants to remain in the best 22. 

Jefferson to prove the doubters wrong. 

Yep, spot on.

I'd add AMW. Make or break year for his career I reckon.

Petty, Oliver, Fritsch and Sparrow all need good years and if they do and our regular players stay on the park we will go well.

Jefferson and the new boys just need a bit of exposure and opportunity to develop under the more experienced players 

Turner, Petty and Oliver

11 minutes ago, binman said:

Yep, spot on.

I'd add AMW. Make or break year for his career I reckon.

It’s a bit early to say that about AMW I’d reckon. I think he’s shown enough that he has the next 2 seasons to make it.

Sparrow stalled this year. Perhaps because of the roles he was given he lost the ability to defend and attack. Was dropped at one point.

Oliver obviously

Spargo. Needs to show he is a key part of our next flag. Is one of the AFLs best deliverer i50

Petty. Was cruelled this year by Goodwin. Bereft of all confidence. Needs to cut loose.

Fritsch needs to show he can produce effort even when the ball is not delivered to him on a platter

Salem had a nowhere year in 2024.

Petracca needs to show he isn't scarred by the events of 2024. The knives will be out in the media if he shirks or coasts

Am a Jefferson sceptic - particularly his lack of physicality - so would love to see him step up. That would be a huge bonus for the team.

Bowey gets a pass for 2024 given his injury but would love to see him back to his best

Laurie is make or break in 2025

45 minutes ago, Left Foot Snap said:

My vote is for Turner to have a Waterman like year and get the AFL world talking. Would give our fortunes a real boost.

What a bonus that would be. Definitely has a bit of Waterman about him. Even reminds me of Jack Riewoldt. Moves a bit like him and has that determination and willingness.

Aside from the obvious ones, would love to see Bowey bounce back a bit next year and be a threat with his distribution. I think we missed him last season.