Move on ... Target GWS now.

..I think about 400..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Sitting at the G yesterday watching a side that was brilliantly coached and drilled coupled with a list that has been well put together made me realise how far away we are.

Reading most of the talk about us going after this player and that player from different clubs has me worried. Our list is poor, very poor. Look at Hawthorn yesterday, nearly all of their players are good to elite users of the ball. How many do we have in that category?

If we keep topping up with average players from other clubs we will stay an average side. We need a full rebuild. Go back to the draft, get kids who are mentally tough and elite users of the ball. Then we are we are emerging and are a club that others can be excited about we then recruit players that can fill a need and improve our side. Over the next 2-3 years we need to be bringing in 5-6 new kids through the draft. They can then be topped up with a Docherty type. And we need to get rid of the dead wood. Too many handy type list cloggers on our list. We need to make the tough decisions.

IMO clubs like the Western Bulldogs, St Kilda & Brisbane are doing it right. Going back to the draft, making tough decisions on favourite players and at least trying to build the next great side. That's what it takes now to win a GF.

Given the quality of sides like Hawthorn, Port & Sydney and the emergence of GWS and Gold Coast over the next few years, half baked measures are not going to get it done. We may improve, we could make the finals, but we won't challenge for a flag.

IMO we need to bite the bullet and do a full rebuild from the ground up. Do it now and build a future around Yarran, Gibbs, Menzel, Cripps, Docherty, Henderson, Sheehan etc and it can happen and happen quickly but we need to acknowledge where we are and plan properly for the next great side, not just a good side.

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#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Good users of the ball are essential. It's why Hawthorn is always in the contest even when down. It also makes it possible to execute a game plan properly.

Constantly whilst watching the blues, in just about every passage of play, there are too many poor kicks.

Only 4-5 in the team you can genuinely feel comfortable when they have the ball in hand. It's why we are limited.

Just far too many average kicks touch it in any passage of play.

Carrazzo, Robinson, Lucas, Jamison, White, Rowe, Garlett, Bell, Casboult, Walker, Kreuzer, Wood, Warnock, McLean, Armfield, Curnow, Waite, Holman, Ellard and Johnson are all poor to at best average kicks.

Which is a substantial part of the list. A couple more could have been added, bu they are either too young or inexperienced to judge yet.

I didn't put Murphy in, he is generally a good kick - but his goal kicking is awful. I'd back against him 9/10.

Kicking efficiency is and all those stats aren't really too accurate. This is more about who you can fully trust when they have the ball - and we only have a few to consistently rely on.

I am not sure why we can't take steps to improve each year while building a team that can win a premiership. The two aren't mutually exclusive. Going to the draft might not be half baked, but it provides no more of a guarantee of a premiership. Surely it is getting players that will improve the side year on year that should be the goal and that will require both trading and draft picks depending on who is available.

I think what needs to be looked at, if at all possible, is how do Hawthorn go about it, what are their processes which get the players so focused on the big picture. Spanger couldnt get a gig with Weagles or the Swans and yet slots right in at the Hawks and is now a premiership player. They have their fair share of recycled players too, and how do they seem to get it so right with recruiting? In 10 years they have gone from 2nd last to 3 X Premiers. I used to really hate them, but after yesterday I have begrudging respect. Ill certainly buy Clarkson's book when he does one

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Success is not built on success. It's built on failure, it's built on frustration. Sometimes it's built on catastrophe

Draft picks are over rated. Every other crap team is using the draft to rebuild so why would we succeed more then them? Look at the grand final teams they had 6-7 players who played for someone else. Just look at our team and alot of our better players came from other clubs. We should think outside of the box and be trading draft picks for ready made players who are in the 20-22yo range, atleast we know what kind of player they are. Atleast we get value for the draft pick instead of getting another Lucas, Bootsma or Watson.

We should also be back in Ireland looking for another kid to recruit every year. Even if we only have a 50% strike rate in 10 years we will have 5 players in the seniors who didn't cost a draft pick. I know that's easier said then done but we need to try something new instead of following the pack. Use 3 spots on the rookie list for Irish recruits and if no good after 2-3 years de list them for another player.

Use late draft picks to pick up mature players who haven't played AFL before- like a Barlow, Brown and Hibberd. Players who are 19-22yo who have plenty of footy in them if they make it.

I could go on and on about the way i would go about it. The bottom line is try something different then following the pack. Alot of kids dominate against other kids their age but when put against the best players in the world are crap. Atleast when they are 20-22 you have time to assess if they are any good and pay thier true value in draft picks. Then take a risk with late round draft picks on 18yo.

They only topped up with Lake when they were actually right near the top and would have spent SFA to get him.

Carlton went after Thomas while the club is in no man's land, committed big dollars and lost a lowish pick at the same time.

All clubs make list management errors, but Hawthorn don't make monumental blunders like Carlton made with Thomas.

The key is...do you ever see Hawthorn overpaying?

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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

Get an astute coach who demands and educates

Train hard
Demand and strive for success
No compromise
Play as a unit
Don’t back down
build a team
team comes first rather than an given individual
Did I forget anything?

build a team
most power clubs don't happen over night build the foundations first before we top up and go for the cup then if players get selfish and demand more by that time you have surplus and don't have to cave in to their demands and other will want to come over to a successful club.

Lake
Gibson
Hale
Spangher
Mc Evoy
Burgoyne

6 out of 22 came from other clubs.

Lake, Gibson and Burgoyne came to the club on good money but probably slightly less than they might have earned elsewhere because of the prospect of playing in premierships.

Hale, Spangher and Mc Evoy are handy at best but fill a role.

The key to Hawthorn is they have a core of leaders in Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis and Roughead who have been at the club all their careers and would die for each other.

We don't have one player in that category at the moment.

Gibbs (and possibly Henderson) are the only ones I can see who could be that type but two just isn't enough.

Somehow we need to find a group of young guys within about a three year period who can grow up together. They need to be midfielders and key position players whose quality as players is beyond question allowing them to form a unit that drags the club along with them.

If we can find five very very good footballers with great work ethics and unquestionable hardness, get them to 150 games each, add ten good players from the draft and then top up with half a dozen ring ins to fill the gaps then we're a chance.

Shouldn't be too hard.

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

You can add Gunston to that list also

Well spotted.

A third of their team (not including the sub)!

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

We are.

Problem is - you're only allowed 1 irish player as a category b rookie at a time. Hence why Sheehan is on regular rookie list.

Are we going to move Byrne off the category b rookie list this year?

Surely Warnock couldn't be on that sort if dough....no wonder Eddie Bettes wanted more money, what idiot signed off on Warnock's contract?

In a year or two when most of our experienced players have gone Thomas will be one of our few leaders. Might look like a good decision getting him. Hoping anyway.

Hallelujah! Agree 100%. Unfortunately the only people who disagree with this strategy are the ones making the decisions at the Blues. Our strategy appears to be to aim to play an elimination final every few seasons, not win a flag or create a dynasty.in 2004 we finished above the hawks and 4 years later they won a flag and are now the most powerful club in the land and the most successful in all our lifetimes. Alas we are run by relatives of really wealthy people who seem to have little understanding of footy clubs and long term development

Spot on. Every player comes via the draft, they may end up at another club by careers end, but they are all in the draft at some point. Drafting is an inexact science and the hawks have used high picks on duds ie dowler and thorp , but over three years they traded for picks and git some real quality. In 2004 they added franklin roughhead and lewis to hodge and mitchell. They were the stars that they built the 08 flag around. They then brought in players like gibson and lake to stay at the top, and they had a bit if luck in prelims. They swapped a first rounder for burgoyne, we swapped one for mclean, they gave up pick 30 for gibson, we gave up puck 25 for warnock. Good drafting, and trying to trade fir lots of picks and then when the flag is in sight get short term quality to fill a need.

I wouldn't mind seeing us rookie Joel Wilkinson at the end of the year. Had a terrific year with the Northern Blues and has genuinely elite AFL athleticism. At least gives him a chance of making it.

No more half-back flankers please!