TOPIC:

PD1899 wrote:

30plusyeardrought wrote: Well if that's what happens then that's me done.
This club needs to go all out in 2018 to try and get this lot to play finals.
There's no guarantees that players in there third year will get any better,that the recruiting will get better and that senior players will stay on if there's another lean year.

I think more to the point there isn't anyone left to recruit for 2018 that is worth a multi year deal. How many people have we recruited over the past 10 years that have ended up list cloggers or $$$$ grabbers and not really helped us move up the ladder. Might be a bit harsh but apart from Bevan and Young I cant really think of any that have given us any real value for more than 1 year. So I say develop what we have this year as I think its the best young group we had to develop since 96.

True about players not staying and I put that down to us just being utter crap and they want out because they are probably told how the club is on the move only to be part of another bottom 3 finish.

Fair enough develop from within but be prepared to wait 4 to 5 years or longer before this current group can even come close to competing against the top 3 teams.

We have been mothballs for 3 and a half months that's plenty of time to recruit.

A couple of good questions were asked by the members in attendance at the AGM on Sunday. One member asked the board as to why there were no nominations for the current vacancies that were up for renewal. The board said that is because there wasn't and this member and a couple of others stood up and said that there were a couple of people willing to put their hands up but were advised not to. One was apparently even told that he was too old to apply for the board. The board responded with some carefully chosen words but I couldn't help but feel that they were backtracking a little bit.

Another asked the board what they intended to do to try and get the club out of the doldrums of the last 40 years and I thought their response was quite interesting in the fact that the answers they gave seemed to imply that our lack of success was out of our control.

They said that the club was not as profitable in the 80's as it was in the previous two decades and then in the 90's the club was being threatened with relocation and the board at that time were unstable. They then went on to say that in 1997 which was the clubs last finals appearance was also the year that the zones changed and Peel Thunder came into the competition. I think they said Perth lost the zones of Armadale and Kelmscott to South Fremantle. They have said that they are trying to get the zones reworked so that Perth can have some growth suburbs in their area. I think they mentioned that a review of the zones was part of a recommendation made by the Boston Consultancy Group.

While this is a good thing it basically sounded like the board was saying that the main reason we have been down the bottom of the ladder, for at least the last 20 years since Peel has been in the competition is because we have had a poor zone. Having good zones does help and to be fair Perth's hasn't been as productive as others but in my opinion, this just seemed to be a big cop out as to why we have failed as a club.

They talked briefly about the review that the club conducted at the end of the season. From what I could understand they have started to make some changes that were outlined in this review but the full report has not been submitted yet or was going through the final processes before it was ready to be submitted. Why this wasn't done from about June onwards when possibly the review could have been submitted by early October I don't know but it sounds like this review might be finalised in the next couple of weeks or even early next year. Is it really enough time to fully implement the changes that will be recommend in time for next season, probably not.

One of the recommendations that apparently has been implemented is that the players all underwent extra testing with the physios and fitness trainers at the club to try and get a better understanding of each players bodies and to try and help with injury prevention. Hopefully this can help as a team such as ours needs its best players on the park as much as possible for us to remain competitive on a week to week basis.

In terms of player losses, Tropiano is heading over to South Australia, Liam McKenna and Brent Latch are both travelling and Michael Sinclair is studying. There's four of our more important players that will not be at the club in 2018 or will have delayed starts. I'm not sure when McKenna is meant to be returning from his travels but some on here have suggested February. If that is the case it would mean he has missed virtually the whole preseason. What sort of impact do we realistically expect him to make coming of such a limited preparation.

As mentioned before on here the club spoke to Jake Spencer and he was very close to signing until the lure of family had him going to Redland instead. They didn't name names but apparently spoke to a couple of other top liners and the reason they didn’t come was due to family. It’s hard to attract players when you’re constantly down the bottom but when they make decisions based around family what can you do. Ex Gold Coast player Keegan Brooksby was another we spoke to but he moved to Adelaide for family reasons as well.

In regards to Zac Clarke and Simon Tunbridge there is some medical clearance or something along those lines that they need ticked off before they can play in a state based competition. I’m not 100% sure and only thinking outside the box here but both those players suffered long term injuries and complications from those injuries. Would they perhaps have had some sort of injury compensation and by playing could this affect their compensation unless they have this medical clearance. As I said I’m not sure just thinking as to why or what they would need a clearance for.

While I’m not completely sold on Zac Clarke he is a ruckman and that is a position that we definitely need reinforcements in. What I would give to have someone like a Warren Carlyle come to the club for next season.

In regards to the young players that made their debuts this season the football department seemed pretty certain that you should be able to notice a difference in their body shapes for next year as most of them have been in the gym since the season finished.

I’m hoping that there are potentially one or two key recruits around the corner to complement the kids that we have seen play over the last two seasons. However, it’s early December and the player losses seem to outweigh the gains once again.

Suban gone to SF, so much for talking to the agent for all 3.
PFC not mentioned as being talked to.
One wonders about the fibs that emanate from AGMs.

Sinclair leaving is devastating. That means that our recruiting will not cover our losses and make it all but impossible to avoid our fourth wooden spoon in five years. Our backline conceded 112p per game last year - what's going to happen without Latch and Sinclair? McPhail and Giblett are well below the level required for league footy and tall forwards like Keitel, McInnes, Saunders, Shaw and Maister will dine out against us.

So much for the review. Perhaps that was intended to be in place for the 2019 season? I hope so, because the off-season has seen us lose 2 of our best 3 players, get outbid on Suban and Wellingham and only be able to recruit two good average players in Taylor and Yeo and two list cloggers in Lague and the small forward from EF. Seems a long way from the WAFL's stated aim of making Perth competitive again.

Demons Forever wrote: Suban gone to SF, so much for talking to the agent for all 3.
PFC not mentioned as being talked to.
One wonders about the fibs that emanate from AGMs.

Yep!
What they fail to tell you is that more often than not the boards of the day have contributed big time in our on field failings.

In 97 we went to a prelim final after finishing 3rd at seasons end,a terrific result and instead of building on the 97 result in 1998 they didnt recruit and build on that result,why?End result we finished second last.

Ditto in 2009 9 wins for the year,good effort for this club following year 2010 WOODEN SPOON,needless to say "where was the recruiting"

Same same in 2013 10 wins for the year(no finals)but great effort Bang!! 2014 another WOODEN SPOON.
no building on the previous years Why?

This club loves playing the blame game,look within!

Ted yep it will be another spoon in 2018 with lots of excuses but dont worry we are playing the kids(like every other wafl club),Doh!

Ted Nugent wrote: Sinclair leaving is devastating. That means that our recruiting will not cover our losses and make it all but impossible to avoid our fourth wooden spoon in five years. Our backline conceded 112p per game last year - what's going to happen without Latch and Sinclair? McPhail and Giblett are well below the level required for league footy and tall forwards like Keitel, McInnes, Saunders, Shaw and Maister will dine out against us.

So much for the review. Perhaps that was intended to be in place for the 2019 season? I hope so, because the off-season has seen us lose 2 of our best 3 players, get outbid on Suban and Wellingham and only be able to recruit two good average players in Taylor and Yeo and two list cloggers in Lague and the small forward from EF. Seems a long way from the WAFL's stated aim of making Perth competitive again.

I'm not sure what happened to the backline in 2017. In 2016 we conceded on average 86 points a game which was the best defensive effort by the club in 20 years. At the end of that year we lost Matt Taylor to the draft and Toby Gianatti left the club.

This year we conceded on average 112 points a game. With respect to Taylor and Gianatti, they were solid league contributors for us in 2016 but weren't superstars. I'm not sure if we changed our structures down back this season but to have roughly 4.5 goals more kicked against us in 2017 wasn't great and needs to be rectified in 2018 if we are to be competitive on a weekly basis.

The young players we have at the club will be one reason I go to watch the Demons in 2018.

In saying that though they will be on a hiding to nothing unless they can get some senior players around them.

Spot on Mr AFL - maybe the backline didn't get the protection in 2017 from the mids but those figures do tell a story. However Gibba got better as the year went on, Lague may be handy down back along with Taylor, unless they move him nearer the ball. Has to be a focus tho.

We can't rely on Giblett and McPhail to solve our defensive frailties. Marlon needs to get back to the form he showed in 2016. Young Morrissey shows promise and hopefully he stays fit and can develop into a good defender. With Sinclair gone the return of Bell is crucial. Does anyone know a possible return date for him.
Even though the reported return of Callum Collard is good news, I have heard this before and it hasn't eventuated. I'll wait to see if he is still there when the season starts.

Great post Cess, agree totally re Marlin, looked like he was a real find in 2016 and then 2017 a wreck. There was injuries etc so if fit he could be a big big improver.