Depth in 2008

[Go_Dogs]

This year we seem to have extraordinary depth. By my rough calculations, we have about 34 guys who could come into the side and play a role each week. Obviously, some are better players and more important than others, but it's great to see such a big list of names (some unproven at this stage in O'Keefe, Ward and Stack) who are in pretty good form and should rightfully be looking at a piece of action at some stage this year.

Higgins will be out for an extended period, however it appears as though we will have the depth this year to cope with injuries significantly better than we have in the past. We have already witnessed it this year with West being out, and the side able to still get on top in the middle.

The players that I think make up this 34 are listed below:

Addison
Akermanis
Boyd
Callan
Cooney
Cross
Eagleton
Everitt
Giansiracusa
Gilbee
Griffen
Hahn
Hargrave
Harbrow
Higgins
Hill
Hudson
Johnson
Lake
McDougall
Minson
Morris
Murphy
O'Keefe
Ray
Skipper
Stack
Street
Tiller
Ward
Welsh
West
Wight
Williams


With this group, I'm pretty confident that *touch wood* even if we do pick up a few more injuries as the season wears on, we have a pretty solid list and should do a reasonable job of filling the gaps of injured players. We just need to make sure guys like Johnson, Harris, Cooney and a few others are monitored through the year and perhaps rested if we sow up a top 4 spot towards the end of the year.

Hopefully by finals time we can have this whole group fit, and free from niggling injuries.

I think it was interesting how quite a few (definitely including myself) perhaps overrated West Coast's depth which has this year, with the loss of some key players and some injuries, been exposed.

How do people think our depth compares to that of say, Geelongs?

I think we are up with the best of them.

[bornadog]

Griffen #16, I agree we are now reaping the rewards for the recruiting over the past few seasons which has allowed us to retire some senior players and replace them with a good bunch of kids. I do have a few concerns if we do have some injuries.

Are there any specific areas that you can see that if we did have an injury, how would we cover it? To me its mainly the backline which has been a problem for many years now, but starting to settle in. Can we cover the loss of a few of the guys in the backline like, Lake, Morris, Shaggy?

Other than the backline, we can bring in Rucks, (street), tall forward (Skipper) and midfielders. (Ray, West to come back, plus some inexperienced guys)

[Cyberdoggie]

Griffen #16, I agree we are now reaping the rewards for the recruiting over the past few seasons which has allowed us to retire some senior players and replace them with a good bunch of kids. I do have a few concerns if we do have some injuries.

Are there any specific areas that you can see that if we did have an injury, how would we cover it? To me its mainly the backline which has been a problem for many years now, but starting to settle in. Can we cover the loss of a few of the guys in the backline like, Lake, Morris, Shaggy?

Other than the backline, we can bring in Rucks, (street), tall forward (Skipper) and midfielders. (Ray, West to come back, plus some inexperienced guys)

Yeah any team can have depth, but it doesn't mean anything if you loose certain key areas.

With us we need a few key position players, and most importantly our drive and physical pressence.

Murphy and hahn have shown what a difference they make this year.
Hudson and minson are a good combination in teh ruck, i think we can get by with 1 out but both we would struggle
if we lost both cooney and griffen in the middle
or two of boyd, cross and west (our in and under players)
Brian lake is the most important sole player, without him we look weak at the back.
Dale morris plays a close second to brian.
Gilbee gives us run and precision from the back, we don't have many like him now that mcmahon, power, are gone and griffen is in the middle.

[dog town]

While I do agree our depth looks good this season it always will when we only have 2 players on the injury list. It is good in some areas but we need to keep working on it in other areas. Be interesting to see how we would cope if we had another run of injuries like last season.

[Go_Dogs]

Ok, so I'm re-upping this thread, but in relation to our depth in 2010.

I've done a brief run through of our list, and by my calculations (which are probably more conservative to those which I initially posted in 2008) we have about 28 guys who should be aiming to play 22 games, but will play between 10-22 as form, and injuries dictate:

Addison
Akermanis
Boyd
Callan
Cooney
Cross
Eagleton
Everitt
Giansiracusa
Gilbee
Griffen
Hahn
Hall
Harbrow
Hargrave
Higgins
Hill
Hudson
Johnson
Lake
Minson
Morris
Murphy
Picken
Reid
Tiller
Ward
Williams

Another solid group of players who would be aiming to play 5-10 games, pending form and injuries:

Grant
Markovic
Stack
Wood

And another group who will be eager to get a taste at some stage including:

Boumann
Howard
Roughead
Thorne

As well as some ready made depth on the Rookie List who could play senior football in 2010 based on the reports circulating about the players (as I have seen little to none at this stage) including:

Moles
Rose


This has to be the best our depth has looked, and it is strong across a range of positions since I have been a supporter of the club.

Obviously, as was allueded to above, we are still under pressure if we lose a few key players, but I think more than ever we have the ability and talent at our disposal to help cover any loss much more significantly than we have previously. By my count there are 38 players I have named who it would be reasonable to expect that they wish to play at least 1 game of senior footy in 2010.

[Mofra]

Fair update Griff; I don't think Reid is in line to play 22 games and may not get to double figures based purely on competition for spots. Wood is one I rate a touch higher, he'd be close to matching Reid in terms of where he is at.

Roughead & Rose are interesting ones - both are close to senior ready and I would expect both to debut in 2010.

[Mantis]

Fair update Griff; I don't think Reid is in line to play 22 games and may not get to double figures based purely on competition for spots. Wood is one I rate a touch higher, he'd be close to matching Reid in terms of where he is at.

I thought Reid showed a fair bit last year and if it wasn't for his groin injury he probably would have held his position in the team for the finals. His game against Geelong late in the season was very good and did a few outstanding things in the game which I am sure made the MC sit up and take notice. His injury gave way shortly after, but I think he left the team showing that he has a few strings to his bow.

I understand a position in the midfield rotation will be tough, but assuming he gets over his off-season surgery within the expected timeframe I think he will become a permanent fixture in our side after about the first 1/3 of the season.

Agree that Wood will also push for selection, but I have Reid in front at present.

[Sockeye Salmon]

You should never bring back 2 year old prediction threads.

McDougall and Wight? Agggh.

[Go_Dogs]

You should never bring back 2 year old prediction threads.

McDougall and Wight? Agggh.

Both fair enough calls at the time

Wight did play some reasonable football for us in 2008.



To Mantis and Mofra, yes - Reid playing a significant role in the side is still up for debate, but based upon his progression and performances late last season, much like you Mantis, I think he will be rated fairly highly internally. He certainly seemed to reach the required level, and especially in the game against Geelong he showed that he can match it against the best in a high intensity contest. I think that performance alone would have seen him move up the pecking order quite significantly.

Wood is another who is hard to place, because I think he has some very good qualities, and the coaching staff obviously rate him pretty highly for his athletic prowess as well as his footballing ability. He is certainly one who could figure in quite a few games based on what we know, however I think he needs to add a bit more versatility to his game before he really grabs a spot with both hands. Our backline is going to be just about as tough to break into as our midfield!

[Mofra]

To Mantis and Mofra, yes - Reid playing a significant role in the side is still up for debate, but based upon his progression and performances late last season, much like you Mantis, I think he will be rated fairly highly internally. He certainly seemed to reach the required level, and especially in the game against Geelong he showed that he can match it against the best in a high intensity contest. I think that performance alone would have seen him move up the pecking order quite significantly.

His performance against Geelong was brilliant, but if given a choice of Reid retaining his spot, or Cross coming back into the side, I would think Cross will win out every time. It will probably take Eagleton & Akermanis retirements before Reid can force himself into our best 22.

[Go_Dogs]

His performance against Geelong was brilliant, but if given a choice of Reid retaining his spot, or Cross coming back into the side, I would think Cross will win out every time. It will probably take Eagleton & Akermanis retirements before Reid can force himself into our best 22.

Fair points, and certainly Cross would be a long way in front of Reid in the pecking order.

If I were Reid though, I'd be fairly hopeful about my chances of displacing one of the older blokes, who may struggle a bit as the season wears on. Rocket has been fairly confident in giving the kids ago, and for mine, a guy like Reid who will be able to handle the finals pressure and pace, the contested style, will be looked upon favourably and given the opportunities, because come September, he could be a pretty important player.

Eagle has obviously been a favourite of Rocket's, so he's got credits in the bank, but he's one who I think will come under pressure towards the pointy end of the season. If his kicking loses a yard, or his pace does, his uncontested style might be exposed more often.

[w3design]

Having watched quite a bit of Reid at Willy, I think he is certainly up there at the top of the 'ready for promotion youngsters' list. That said he may still have a job finding a place in the top 22 if only for structural reasons. He is very much a midfielder in the Cross/Boyd mould, and you seem to need variety in your mid field group... skillful types [ Coony/ Aka etc] and outside receivers/runners [ Eagles] as well as the in and under lads. Ward seems to be next cab off the rank as an extra in and under type. So where does Reidy slot in given no injuries [ fingers crossed]?
I know it is a great problem to have from a team/club perspective, but the kid has earned a chance. Any suggestions as to where to slot him, or who should make way for him from our best 22?

[Swoop]

It's certainly a problem for Reidy to have so many similar types in the same side as himself and this no doubt would have been a consideration for him before re-signing with us. It's good to know he weighed everything up and decided to stick with the dogs and back himself, I think the the surgery puts him behind the 8 ball but I'm confident by the end of the season he will be knocking the door down and demanding a spot in the 22.

He is a great contested ball winner and as stated previously he is in the same mould as Cross, Boyd & Ward, the one thing I will say that I believe he does offer is a bit more explosiveness and this can be seen from his under 18 highlights footage.

[LostDoggy]

And he places terrific bumps to the likes of Roughead, was that not the incident that buggered Rougheads shoulder?

[FrediKanoute]

Fair points, and certainly Cross would be a long way in front of Reid in the pecking order.

If I were Reid though, I'd be fairly hopeful about my chances of displacing one of the older blokes, who may struggle a bit as the season wears on. Rocket has been fairly confident in giving the kids ago, and for mine, a guy like Reid who will be able to handle the finals pressure and pace, the contested style, will be looked upon favourably and given the opportunities, because come September, he could be a pretty important player.

Eagle has obviously been a favourite of Rocket's, so he's got credits in the bank, but he's one who I think will come under pressure towards the pointy end of the season. If his kicking loses a yard, or his pace does, his uncontested style might be exposed more often.

The amount of times I've read this in a thread is getting towards unbelievable figures! Eagle has been on a downwards trend for the last 5 years. Every year the boards run hot with hope that some kid with zip experience, some potential and bucketloads of hype will displace him.

Its a statement that is true of every player on our list......lose form/fitness ect and you will be passed and replaced.