TOPIC:

To me it seems our season may be over before it really got started.
So disappointing as I thought (quite incorrectly in hindsight) that we had recruited really well.
I think we recruited well but it didn't add to the depth (that I thought it had).
I thought we were going to have a really strong midfield but (injuries aside), an aspect of the midfield that I think we lack is pace and clearances.
So we need to address that.
We didn't initially strengthen our forward capacity but now with the inclusion of Busher I'm more comfortable.
A gun pacy small forward would be good.
All in all another season where I have misjudged our playing strength.

Yeah, bit hard DF. Injuries have taken the wind out of your sails- only hope is you eek out a few wins and be close enough to come storming home

wrote:

To me it seems our season may be over before it really got started.
So disappointing as I thought (quite incorrectly in hindsight) that we had recruited really well.
I think we recruited well but it didn't add to the depth (that I thought it had).
I thought we were going to have a really strong midfield but (injuries aside), an aspect of the midfield that I think we lack is pace and clearances.
So we need to address that.
We didn't initially strengthen our forward capacity but now with the inclusion of Busher I'm more comfortable.
A gun pacy small forward would be good.
All in all another season where I have misjudged our playing strength.

We all get it wrong sometimes DF. It is hard to criticise the recruitment of Smith although some say he has a history of serious hamstring injuries.
Loersh I think was worth the gamble and may pay off in the coming years, time will tell.
Dalton is starting to show his value.
Jye Clark shows great promise.
Jordan Reid is a fail.
Hitchcock is showing a bit in the reserves but not setting the world on fire.
Oscar Bird hasn't shown much.
Kane La Fontaine shows a bit but is a bakcman so he is in the queue
Avery is an exciting talent excelling in the colts and might be capable of progress to league but again, who's spot does he take? He could get drafted and we never see him play league football.
Haydn Busher could turn out to be our recruit of the year that just fell into our lap. What a bonus, just hope we are not going to see more of him in the medical room than on the park like he was before he left for Claremont.

And of course we can count McInness, Grey and Fisher as recruits in my book because they were only on loan last year. All 3 had serious injuries this year already. If we had all of the above available for selection then look out.
 

Did anyone see the colts play this morning? Quartermaine ended up with 25 disposals and 10 marks! I daresay he wasn’t playing in his usual position of deep forward. The usual criticism i’ve heard about him is that he is quite immobile and was trying to work on that, so this could be a step in the right direction for him

DD, I thought that Jack Avery acquitted himself quite well on debut. Was handed a poisoned chalice v Sokol but he kept him to only one goal after quarter time. His Colts record was very good and he did quite well in his ressies debut last week.
We may lose Matty Taylor for a few weeks so it opens up an opportunity for Jack to get some more games under his belt and, who knows, we may have uncovered a talented defender.
 

satan311 wrote:

Did anyone see the colts play this morning? Quartermaine ended up with 25 disposals and 10 marks! I daresay he wasn’t playing in his usual position of deep forward. The usual criticism i’ve heard about him is that he is quite immobile and was trying to work on that, so this could be a step in the right direction for him
 

Yes. He started at full back on $ regular full back who was playing full forward so work that out. He was good in defence. He moved further up the field, had a run through the middle and ended forward. He had a good game.

Speaking of recruits, Hedley Smith has appeared on our list. He’s a Thornlie lad originally and spent the last 2-3 years in Melbourne playing in the vfl for Coburg then Sandringham.  He kicked 5 on debut for Coburg. From what i read he went over and initially didn’t make it into the VFL, but worked his arse off in a lower league for a year before making the grade. Hopefully he works just as hard over here and makes the grade. 



coburgfc.com.au/lions-in-focus-hedley-smith/

Interesting. Age 25 but no hgt or wgt details.
Looks to be a small forward or a midfielder. From the highlights it seems he runs hard, goes for the hardball, and has good good skills by foot or hands.
Have to wait and see if he fits into the team.

satan311 wrote:

Speaking of recruits, Hedley Smith has appeared on our list. He’s a Thornlie lad originally and spent the last 2-3 years in Melbourne playing in the vfl for Coburg then Sandringham.  He kicked 5 on debut for Coburg. From what i read he went over and initially didn’t make it into the VFL, but worked his arse off in a lower league for a year before making the grade. Hopefully he works just as hard over here and makes the grade. 
 

Since he is on the list do we assume he will/can play for us this season do you think Satan?

Fair question, DD. I’m assuming he is going to play this year as they don’t normally add someone’s name up on the senior players list unless they are ready to play. Having said that, it’s past the June 30 deadline so they would have needed to have finalised it weeks ago. Hopefully someone can confirm if they saw him at training this week.