I've been thinking about this theory lately, and posed it at the Glenferrie the other night to little fanfare, and I feel fairly confident that it will hold true next year.

Look at Richmond this year, and saw the improvement that was made, with really only a number one pick and a ruckman added to the side.

At the same time, I doubt anyone would have predicted that Shane Tuck would have been such a significant part of their team last year, after practically a coin toss between him and Tim Fleming to stay on the list.

So, we too, have the #1 pick, and will add a ruckman to our list in McLaren, and I spose Saddington would equal a fully fit Darren Gaspar.

That just leaves us to wonder who our Shane Tuck will be next year. Believe me there will be one, who else would have picked Ben Rutten as the AA full back?

Will Wiggo take the competition by storm? Prenda? Trent Sporn? Bannister? Chambers?

Thoughts?

i think it will be our rookie pick...."The Tyrant"

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R A D I C A L B R O T H E R S

Inspired by the One-Minute Sculptures of Erwin Wurm

"All in all is all we are..."

AB is the man.

Don’t think any of those can improve much and if we stay injury free none of them are likely to wear navy blue at all apart from maybe Wiggo. Wiggo’s strong overhead, courageous as all get up and a good set shot for goal. Maybe a spot in the forward line rotation.

I think the following players will improve:
Bentick, Betts, Bryan, Carrazzo, Fevola, Fisher, Hartlett, Livo, M. Murphy , McGrath, S. O’hAilpin, Scotland, Simpson, Thornton, Waite, Walker, Stevens, Teague, Wiggins (wishfull thinking maybe).
Luke Blackwell I’m tipping will be the bolter and really come on. Very impressed with the way he moves.

Not to sure how Davies, DeLuca, Raso, Russell, Saddington and Whitnall will go. Depends on how they’re used I suppose.

I think the following players will be the same or go backwards:
Bannister, Chambers, French, Houlihan, Koutoufides, Lappin, Longmuir, Prendagast, Sporn.

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There's so much I could say...

Im tipping Thornton.

I dont think any of our players that have been close to being delisted will take the step that Tuck has taken.

Players like Caraz, Simmo, AB, Bryan, Waite, Fisher and Carlos seem to have taken steps with every game they played last year and will be the big movers for us next year.
With Murphy, Saddington and MacLarn all coming into the side and Carlos being promoted plus the draft picks from last year and this year and depending how they come along, guys like Wiggo, Prenda, Sporn, Bannister, Davies and even Archie will find it hard to get a game next year.

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Not so best of TheSexySquad


AWWWWWW STEVENS.

This is the most delicious part of the process we're facing....the sheer unknown of it all.

I remember the young athlete in the reserves called Koutifides....he was a really promising hurdler....I doubt anyone could have envisaged in their wildest dreams how good he would become; I thought his mate and team mate Ang had a much bigger future.

We can't forget too that Wayne Johnston trained with us in two pre seasons before we asked him to stay....a bit of luck?....good judgement?

We knocked back Diesel twice....after that we didn't deserve to ever get him at all....crucial decisions that can make or break teams.

I saw Bruce Doull as a kid play HF flank in the reserves; when Barassi arrived, he put him on a back flank and encouraged him to play his natural game in the Seniors; he never looked back.

Cammo mentioned Shane Tuck....what a revelation this year! What brought on the change in his game?....A second chance? Who knows....

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No ones listening till you make a mistake.

If there's one thing I'm certain of, it won't be Luke Blackwell.

If you look at Denis' record of playing first year players, I can't see him getting the opportunity to have that much of an impact on games, let alone on a consistent basis.

Shit, could even be Houla.....

Daniel Cross is another one along with Lindsay Gilbee who went from being very inconsistent to more consistent performers, with Cross like Tuck becoming a very good ballwinner. Who on our list has similar build/speed to Cross/Tuck? Cross started as a tagger and still tagged while having his 5 kick 20 handball game

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

Adam Bentick.

I'm a huge fan of players who can win their own ball and kick with both feet.

Glen Manton....in the Winter Olympics.

Yeah; I'm an AB fan....he goes in and gets the ball.

P.S. Love your Mel Brooks sig; a classic....

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No ones listening till you make a mistake.

vin catoggio will be awesome next year

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Go Blues

In terms of big improvement it'll be Andrew Walker without a shadow of a doubt; he'll be just about reaching his ideal playing size and with money bags gone, denis wont have the luxury of playing Walks as a tagger. He should get more game time and licence to play more offensively.

Thoughts?

Richmond and the Bullies both enjoyed the New Coach Syndrome, and some of their players had better years than they've had in recent history as a result of this re-invigoration.

Tuck was a revelation, but a relatively freak occurence.

I'm not confident that we'll have a bolter, as such. But we should all be extremely happy if:

Adam Bentick proves that he's not a one-season wonder and is here to stay.

Setanta gets at least 8 games and proves that he's still on an upward curve.

Hartlett stays injury-free and shows glimpses, with the odd eyecatching performance, in the Bullies.

Murphy, if we take him, plays more than a handful of games and shows poise and potential.

McLaren gives us something in the ruck, just doing a job.

O'hAilpin The Younger gets good gametime in the Bullies Firsts, and shows a bit.

Lance doesn't sit on his arse now he's got a contract.

AW takes the next step(s)

As a whole, we should be really happy if the kids gel as a unit (on and off the field) and collectively show signs of better times ahead. That's what I'll be looking for in '06.

I believe we will still finish in the bottom 4.A fit Gaspar can never be underestimated and I think that was one of the main reasons the tigers improved.I cant see anyone on our list being as reliable as Gaspar was in 2005.


One of my mates new Tuck from his Gippy days and says he was one wild child so obviously the penny has dropped.


I may be wrong and sorry for repeating myself but I think it was disappointing not getting a deal for Fevola.Then again the Fev could kick 100 goals couldnt he?The wizard cup success was based on he and Whitnall in form up forward.Surely we cant rely on these 2 to lead us up the ladder.

Yeah you're probably right there...but Blackers looks the goods in my book.



don't think so

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There's so much I could say...

David Teague had a excellent first year with the club and I think Jason Saddington might have a similar honeymoon period...

Take the competition by storm type....Andrew Walker....more experienced now, will have a bigger stronger body this year and will be wanting to prove the critics wrong, I'm predicting he will be in our best nearly every week and go top 5 in the B&F...and be getting Kouta comparsions...

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

Waite and Fisher to shine - difficult for others to match up on given athleticism
Mclaren and saddington to assist in covering deficiencies
Betts walker and simpson improving on last year

I think that Simpson and Waite will be the big improvers next year, just as they were this year.

I predict that Simmo will get a bit more attention next year - he is unlikely to slip under the opposite teams radar. Ideally, we'll be looking to utilise his explosive speed and skills to cover the loss of Camporeale.

And Waite will seemingly take the second best defender each week, and hopefully he keeps leading them on a merry dance and taking marks on the wing and providing a leading target to the back half. This leaves the third defender to Fish, who, after a solid preseason, hopefully will kick a few goals and take a few screamers this year.

Apart from that, i'm not sure where else drastic improvement will come from. Walker will continue to develop into a very good player, but I don't expect him to tear teams apart each week. Hopefully Andrew can build on his defensive game, and really hurt the opposition on the rebound.

And hopefully Murphy or whoever we pick up will get some decent game time next year, although, as mentioned above, Denis' track record at playing kids isn't that impressive.

But with this list what other choice does he have?

(^Just realised how many times I wrote 'hopefully' above.)