Booney wrote:whufc wrote:I know Geelong have been all in regarding a list to win a flag here and now and they have achieved that, so it has to be considered somewhat. successful.
IF Geelong are to miss the finals and with a Tassie team on the horizon will this force Geelong to go into a full rebuild mode and release/trade more of the over 30's than they had originally planned.
Hawkins, Smith - 34
Tuohy, Dangerfield - 33
Stanley, Ceglar, Blicavs - 32
Rohan, Duncan, Menegola - 31
Guthrie, Stewart, Cameron - 30
13 players that you could argue have their best football behind them. We've been writing them off as too old for a long time but it feels like the end is getting closer now and the reason is many of these are their keys, still.
Cameron and Hawkins still one of the best 1/2 forward duos in the comp.
Stanley, Blicavs and Ceglar are their ruck division.
Stewart and Tuohy are their back line generals.
Dangerfield, Smith, Duncan (fading quickly though) and Guthrie are still some of their best mids.
System and culture will ensure they remain in the race but the likes of Parfitt, Bruhn, Homes, Clark and Atkins need to push Dangerfield, Smith, Duncan and Guthrie out of the midfield and make it theirs in the next 18 months.
The problem with old guys is that need to be managed. If you can manage them then there is no one better to have running around in the finals. History has shown Geelong has not managed to do that very often with only 2 Grand Finals in ten seasons. Plenty of those Prelim final losses were all about elder statesmen running about at half rat power.
If we can get to the finals and avoid an interstate semi, we might still be a chance with so many of our older players missing significant amounts of football this year. We could go into the finals with blokes like Cameron, Duncan, Dangerfield, Guthrie and Dangerfield not having played 20 games. This has also given a few youngsters a genuine taste. I think Bruhn is top of the class, he looks a genuine find. Has pace and knows where the goals are. Henry looks promising also and he will stay in games longer as he develops. Knevitt has also shown a bit even though some of his shots at goal are truly winceworthy. Unheralded players Zuthrie, Meyers and Close are developing before our eyes and young tall Neale has re-signed in what is an important signing for the club. Of some of the younger brigade I see a trade in Parfitt's future as he has had opportunities and not grasped them and I'd like to see Bowes HTFU a bit in terms of his aggression at the footy.
Of the old guard Touhy will retire I think and Menegola will either hang them up or try and get a gig elsewhere. Smith and Hawkins, the oldest players are showing plenty, even during a season where we haven't been able to manage our older players so expect Smith in particular to have a week off if get close to getting the band back together. Don't think Ceglar survives and we cant keep him on the park. He's not the answer.
Geelong don't go into full rebuild mode but they do clear out their list and will do so again next year. I hear we are into Darcy and Parish next year but I think we won't be able to afford Hodor but Parish who knows. We certainly need more midfield run so I expect the club to put significant development into Whyte, Clark, Knevitt, Bruhn and maybe even Bowes. We aren't going anywhere but let David King and his disciples write us off.
regards,
REB
Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2023 12:34 pm