rpfc

That's all you had to say.

I wasn't giving a random set of mids - I was giving the Top 6 Uncontested Possession winners at the club. And HBF is the easiest position in the world to play but that doesn't mean the soft kicks are just lined up for you - you have to work. Lynden Dunn - Lands latest HBF crush - averaged 8.6 UPs last year (=324th in the league). If Clisby was 'just doing what a HBFer should be doing' he was doing it well, and better than anyone else. And, finally, if Vince and Jones managed 14+ UPs next year we would be a far better team. It would mean that Vince is doing what we got him for, and that others are helping Nathan to get the ball in the first place so that he can spread himself and get the footy in space.

Clisby also averages 13.9 Uncontested Possessions in the AFL which is ahead of Cross (13.8), Vince (13.5), Matt Jones (13.3), Terlich (12.7), and Nathan Jones (12.3). That tells me he works hard to spread and provide options.

No he doesn't. We need to develop his game and his body properly and if that involves him not playing until he is 20 then that is what good teams clubs do.

Yes. Agree. Like.

Especially as Roos and co. has had a month to work with them.

Watts was 17, Hogan will be 19 - the club fanned the Watts hype to a devastatingly pathetic degree - "Welcome Number 1 Draft Pick Jack Watts and the Melbourne Football Club" as intro for that QB PR grab. Other than the fact they are highly rated juniors about to begin their AFL journey - their situations are nothing alike. And this isn't about expectations - it is about who we are 'keen to see.' Lots of Dees fans lying to themselves here.

What do you mean by 'expecting a superstar?' - the OP just says 'keen to see in 2014.' I think, to a man (or woman), all Dees fans are most keen to see number 1 running around. That's just my opinion. ...of others opinions.

What you say makes sense - I just do not believe that our luck will allow such a blue-sky scenario so soon after our annus horribilis that was last season. If we triple our wins and improve our percentage by 60% it will still mean a 6 and 16 team with a percentage of 86. Is that a great deal of improvement? Relatively speaking it is.

I think a number of people interpreted it like you have. I just find it funny that so many are 'keener to see' players not named Hogan. I just wonder whether some are projecting their own nervousness about having so much excitment and hype surrounding a player - and attempting to dial back their own hopes and expectations... It's ok, people. He will be good. Very good.

Do we? We have Cross and Vince as proven experienced AFL players. We have lost Sylvia from that bracket. I see potential in Tyson, Michie, Trengove, Riley, Viney, Evans, Watts, Howe, and Toumpas, and they are capable of bringing something more to a terrible midfield - but it is far from a guaranteed improvement in 2014.

Dreamteam points are not dynamic, you just get certain amounts of points for kicks, handballs, and marks - no matter when or where those marks are taken or what you do with those kicks and handballs. Supercoach uses Champion Data to score which does take into account these things, but even that doesn't give true worth. Tom McDonald could have 10 touches and towel up Riewoldt but Dreamteam or Supercoach does not reward him. At some point, one's own subjective analysis has to be used to judge players and teams - in lieu of non-existent perfect stats.

I am too. I just don't believe it will happen as quickly as some on here seem to think. Confidence, when you lose it, takes a while to restore - even with a great coach. 2014 will have it's tough times, hopefully without the dark times.

lol Better than Sydney? Certainly won't happen in the year you bear in your name.

Do those that don't mention Hogan know he has yet to play an AFL match yet? How can you not have him as the number 1 in the terms of this thread? You're keen to see Fitz? Really? I am more keen to see the bloke that is about to take his spot in the side. (No offence to Fitz)

Yep. I just think there is no escaping the fact that we are soft in the clinches, terrible in the clearances, and timid with our running - the things that Roos will try and get them to do will be very similar to what Neeld wanted them to do. But Roos garners repsect and confidence from the outset, and another thing I like - there is nowhere to hide when Paul Roos is your coach.

Let's aim a little higher than a gameplan that suits 'the talents' of a 2 and 20 team, shall we? It's Paul Roos doing the instruction with a heavy base of former Sydney people, I expect it to be based around disciplined hard work around stoppages that may look a little slow until the players marry that with the hard running that we have seen Sydney do for a decade.

And Vince and Trengove. I would like someone to help Jones - these are the two (with Cross) to do so in 2014.

Hogan. If that requires explanation: you're 'being a Dees fan' wrong.

More delusional?

Well, I feel threatened... Some stats are going to give you a clearer picture of progress in 2014 than the ones you have listed. Games experience for example is fine, but linear, and doesn't tell you how you play, only who you are playing ie. lots of kids... I will be keeping a close eye on UPs, CPs, clearances, I50s, maybe tackles, and I also will be looking at how we go relatively to our opponent.

That depends on two things; how good his footy is, and what exactly he does off-field...

From what Cross said on the HUN website - there are a few boys scarred from how pathetic they have been. Need to get over that in a hurry, this is the closest thing to a clean slate with an upgrade in personnel. Start having some confidence in yourself and your teammates or you will struggle.

No, not 'except when.' I don't give plausible deniability to professionsal sportsmen and women. This is their chosen profession that they take so seriously but if their employers are behind something they can just close their eyes and 'Sgt Schulz' the whole thing? And individuals should trust 'their own' doctor - Bruce Reid is a Doctor that works for Essendon - he is not 'their own Doctor.'

lol If they appeal anything, it isn't because of the severity.