Quote Originally Posted by Olddog View Post
Things that could hold us back in 2024

1. Lack of pace in the midfield which too often sees the opposition mids streaming down the ground with our mids in their wake after a turnover - hoping Sanders and Harmes can help to lessen this problem.
Don't think Sanders is the answer for pace in the midfield. He is more likely to be still running in the last quarter as the others slow down, but don't expect him to burn others with pace. The answer to stop opposition mids streaming down the ground is for our mids to have a more defensive mindset. Harmes will have that. Will be interesting if the new assistant coaches can improve us in this area.

2. Lack of a true crumbing forward deep in our forward structure - love Cody W but he prefers to sit on peoples heads (including
those of his teammates) and when he does stay down is just an average crumbed.
Charlie Clarke is our hope here. I'm expecting Arty to have a slow start to the season following his injury recovery over summer. Last year he was the "one to watch" coming into Round 1. Clarke I think has that tag this year.

3. Not being one of the fittest teams coming into round 1. The debate rages as to best plan around fitness - be super fit to start the season and risk fade out late or come into season a little under done and hopefully come home strong. My observations of recent seasons is that we have trended toward the latter but for me early wins are gold in the bank. There are certainly cases of teams winning flags who have not been at full fitness starting the season but just about all those teams have had the class and skill to win early games and stay in or about the top 8 before powering home - I don’t think we are one of those teams so for me we should aim to be in the top few sides for early season fitness and being able to cover ground for 4 x 30 mins of footy.
New fitness boss, new approach. You're right OD, fitness is critical. Bevo openly said Round 1 will be the fittest team in his tenure. Let's hope he's right.