Dogwatcher wrote:There's the old cliche that "you'll never play with this bunch of blokes again" around grand final time.
Here's Centrals' 2010 premiership side. Five players are left: Jenner, Thomas, Goodrem, Dutschke, Williams.
You expect some turn over, but this is only three seasons ago. Quite amazing, really.
FF: James Boyd (Eagles), Daniel havelberg (teaching out west), Eddie Sansbury (headed north)
HF: Chris Gowans (retired), Daniel Schell (retired), Andrew Hayes (West Adelaide via Port)
C: Jack Gunston (Hawthorn), James Gowans (retired), Kyle Jenner
HB: Jay Nash (Nuri), Yves Sibenaler (retired), Paul Thomas (C)
FB: Lee Spurr (Freo), Heath Lawry (South Gawler), Trent Goodrem
Ruck: Jason Mackenzie (retired), Ryan Williams, Ian Callinan (Crows)
Interchange: Scott Dutschke, Brayden O'Hara (Albury), Jason Sutherland (gone to Mars).
I'm happy to be corrected (anyone? spelly?), but I reckon that losing 12 players from GF one year to round 1 the next year, might be a record. And the Norwood 2013 premiership side has managed that record, obviously 'assisted' by the one-off of Crows and Pahhhhhr listed-players departing. The rundown is 6 AFL draftees/rookie draftees, 2 Crows/Pahhhhhr players (leaving aside the 2 who were Pahhhhr-listed in 2013 but were delisted and fall into other categories), 2 moved interstate and 2 retired.
Touch wood, we've bottomed out now and with McGuinness confirming he'll stay, there's hopefully little risk of any of the 'remaining 9' not fronting up in 2014. But given the current rates of turnover in the comp, you'd expect there'll be fewer than 5 of the class of 2013 left at the Parade once the end of 2016 rolls around.