Hi all,
I am relatively new to this forum so am unsure if its common practice to have some kind of mid-year summary thread.. but I took the initiative since we are at the halfway point of the season! Already!! Plus i am going out of my mind with boredom in lockdown! Thought it would be great to hear everyones thoughts with just the ONE request.. that we keep the discourse civil and related purely to the first 11 rounds so far .. not who will or won't make it, not who we need to trade/delist/draft, and not about past players we've already traded!! Cheers guys!!
What has worked :
Don Pyke - Forward line has not looked this dangerous since our peak under John Longmire in 2014! We are getting it inside 50 fast and furious and the synergy between the forwards is impressive!! Against Carlton our three main forwards Franklin, Heeney and Papley each had 3. Hayward had 2, Wicks 1 and two midfielders Joey and Parks also chipped in. It doesnt get any better than that!! Its no coincidence that this is happening under Pyke! His Crows team had a LOT of avenues to goal! We have always had these avenues but havent always used them! Now we are!!
Tom Hickey - What an outstanding recruit!! Some later draft picks for a guy who has been a top 3 ruckman in the competition!! Its been a while since we have had a steal this good and it reminds me of the haul that landed us Joey and McGlynn!! He has made us 8th in the AFL for clearances and 4th for inside 50s, both areas we struggled in last year!!
Callum Mills - His move to the midfield must be seen as a roaring success so far! He will likely be leading our best and fairest to this point AND having another big body in there has helped Joey and Parker wind back the clock and play with so much more freedom!! Hickey has helped with this too!! With these three stars leading the way we havent had to rely on huge strides from the younger midfielders as much as I was concerned we'd have to!
The Cygnets - SO impressive! Chad the main one here, our favourite for the Rising Star. McInerney continued his wonderful form from last year, he is one smooth moving kid!! Seems long ago now but how important were the three 2020 draftees in our first month?! McDonald, Campbell and Gulden sensational starts. Rocky ride since then as expected in the first year but cant wait to see them all back out there!! Sam Wicks the surprise package of the year! What a little go-er! Oli Florent becoming a star before our eyes! Tommy McCartin's had some excellent games in the unenviable position of full back!! Well before his time but is embracing the challenge! Will Hayward proving the doubters wrong, have loved his fight and determination! McLean! A virtual non factor to this year, now very much in the conversation of a best 22 KPF, likely competing against Logan McDonald once the senior pair of Reid & Buddy reunite!
Depth - Much improved!! At times so far we have had very talented players like Hayward, Blakey, Stephens, Campbell and McDonald in the reserves!! And when called upon, the likes of Sinclair and Brand have come in and performed their roles well and competed hard!!
What hasn't worked :
Not much!!!
Poor quarters - We have turned up for every game prepared for the fight this year! We have only lost 4 games, 3 of them by single digit margins! What has cost us in those games and NEARLY cost us in our wins were lapses!! Quarters or ten minute periods where we drop away defensively! Let the opposition get easy ball! This will happen with younger teams im sure of it but if we can minimise how often this happens we should have a red hot chance in any game we play!!
Injuries - We have been blessed with our injury run this year, haven't we? Havent suffered any serious injuries and we've had some miraculous recoveries from injuries too! The only downside being any injury that has come has come to important players - Franklin, Hickey, Heeney, Rampe, and two of our brightest young stars Campbell and Gulden! It hasnt cost us too much luckily but we will want to keep them on the park!!
Big bags - We have had 5 players kick a bag of 4 goals or more against us! Taylor Walker, Shane McAdams, Ben King, Rory Lobb, Tom McDonald. Three of those forwards did it in wins over us! If we allowed this in a final we would be in big, big trouble! We've needed a bit more stability in our back six!! Rampe, McCartin, Fox, Melican and Brand have all missed games this year!
2019 draft - i have mentioned Chad and how great he has been so he gets an A+. However half way into the season and there's been no major impact from Stephens or Gould. Stephens has come in and shown he can win the ball but not much else. Gould has struggled to even get on the emergency list!! I had hoped at least one of those two would be a regular contributor in the team by this point! There is still time though!!
Summary :
All in all, 7-4 is a tremendous result for a team that was 16th last year. We have surpassed our total number of wins from 2020 already!! It gives credibility to the point Longmire made many times, that we had so many injuries to such key players, combined with a lack of competitive ruckmen and it was a doomed year!! We have flipped the script and finals are now a very real possibility!! Lots of work still to do but credit to all involved!!
Predictions to rd 11 :
B&F - Mills
Rising star - The Chad
Most improved - Can Hickey win this even though he wasnt previously a Swan?? :P
Disappointment - Blakey
Best Coleman chance - Lance!
AA smokey - Mills or DAWSON (who i cant believe i hadn't mentioned to now! He's been unreal!!)
Final ladder position - 7th
CHEER CHEER
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Originally Posted by Nico
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