Reading Mofras post on whether Eade was holding back I started to think about Player development. Its clear to me that Eade has his eye on developing our player list almost constantly.
Player development is an interesting issue in todays footy. It used to be that players would sit in the reserves developing, doing an apprenticeship until they had consistently dominated - and then they were ready. I think Wallace did this too much when he was with us and it was part of his weakness, but hes changed his tune at Richmond.
Todays player doesn't seem to have the patience for an apprenticeship of that length. But also it seems that to ensure players do develop they need to be given a taste of the speed and intensity of AFL footy so that they can see what they are working towards etc.
It also seems rare that almost every team will not have a number of development players in the team who are being blooded/given a taste each week.
When you look at our list the development path of an apprenticeship is rare - Cross probably fits the bill well, but still got tastes of league footy in his 3rd and 4th seasons before coming a regular in season 5. But guys like Murphy, Hahn, Higgins, Griffen, Cooney were all eased in, in their first seasons in roles where they could get a taste, but also get some time in the VFL. Others like Hargraves, Gilbee, Gia all played a bit of VFL footy but they certainly got plenty of tastes of senior football.
In the current team we have Higgins, Wight, and Addison as real development players with Harbrow and Williams all having had tastes this year. I think its crucial that Eade continues to find opportunities to blood and develop our younger players. I never thought I would say this but our team actually still needs to find a few more midfielders,hopefully two more Matt Boyd clones