Time to start planning for 2024

[TheGedemondan]

It is time to start planning for 2024.

We have a inept coach, and a football manager who is even less capable of doing his job well.
The football club management is still celebrating the "successes" of the trip to Port Lincoln and the advertising screen (all the key things for a football to celebrate) to pay any attention to the actual football.

So, for the rest of 2022 we will have bad selection, a terrible game-plan and a lack of skills due to the useless Rawlings. Over the season and over the summer Rob Harding will drive more players away and recruit badly.

Fortunately West Adelaide's management has been celebrating their 2015 premiership for so long they are completely incompetent, so we should avoid the spoon this year. Can't be so sure about avoiding it next year.

[Adelaide Hawk]

This has been a concern for me for some time. I would like someone to explain what the plan is for junior development. It seems to me all we are doing is giving as many kids a game in the hope of finding a handful that will be drafted to AFL clubs. There doesn't appear to be any continuity to bring them through the system and into the league team. As we are seeing, precious few are finding their way into league football at a time when we are recruiting from interstate like crazy just to fill a squad.

Here are numbers of players since 2017:
2017: 69
2018: 68
2019: 57 (in a truncated season)
2020: 53 (even in a premiership season)
2021: 63
2022: 42 - not even at the halfway mark.

I think it's ridiculous. How are kids supposed to be indoctrinated into the Norwood system when not being given the opportunity to settle down?

[Ellangowan]

With the salary cap, long lead in season with time commitments it is difficult to retain mature experienced players these days.
Plus the status of the league has fallen.
Back in the day you would agree a team need 5-8 players that had passed 100 games in the best team to win a flag.
I heard the other day our highest games player was 81!
(Panos has not played yet).
I thought how could we possibly be highly competitive in 2022 with so much inexperience and skill.
( I wonder how this team would compete against our best John McInnes seconds team of the 70’s).
The modern SA league gets enormous turnover every year how do you keep mature players?
I know it is the same for every team,
so the club may be needing another serious review,
approaching 8 years now since a flag!
Ps
It’s tough as my other teams are,
Bayern Munich 10 flags in a row
Celtic United 10 flags in 11 years sorry if you are Rangers!
Melbourne FC going just fine right now.
Cheers and Keep at it boys.
Enjoy Mother’s Day everyone

[Grivas]

Maybe go back to developing a formula that works in the current Climat. The last period of success 2012-2014 was a result of Basset undertaking a review and setting up the club across all grades. At one stage in 2012, all 3 grades were undefeated until round 12. Some great recruiting, Suckling, Cacha, Newton. Warren, Batsanis etc, but heaps of players from the reserves coming in and becoming premiership stars, Webber, Baulderstone, Smart, Jeffries etc.

[Turbs17]

Grivas makes some excellent points however this type of review approach doesn't seem to be on the clubs radar. As evidenced by yesterdays under 16 result, there are problems from bottom to top. As I have said so many times on this forum the clubs inability to develop and improve players is in my opinion the biggest issue.

[Ellangowan]

North Adelaide had a big club review not long before they knock us off in that GF in 2018.
Don’t want think about that again.
Someone on here said our U16’s only kicked 3 goals yesterday!

[vert57]

With the salary cap, long lead in season with time commitments it is difficult to retain mature experienced players these days.
Plus the status of the league has fallen.
Back in the day you would agree a team need 5-8 players that had passed 100 games in the best team to win a flag.
I heard the other day our highest games player was 81!
(Panos has not played yet).
I thought how could we possibly be highly competitive in 2022 with so much inexperience and skill.
( I wonder how this team would compete against our best John McInnes seconds team of the 70’s).
The modern SA league gets enormous turnover every year how do you keep mature players?
I know it is the same for every team,
so the club may be needing another serious review,
approaching 8 years now since a flag!
Ps
It’s tough as my other teams are,
Bayern Munich 10 flags in a row
Celtic United 10 flags in 11 years sorry if you are Rangers!
Melbourne FC going just fine right now.
Cheers and Keep at it boys.
Enjoy Mother’s Day everyone

From the Budget of the Anzac day round in Port Lincoln
Ave age 23
Ave games played 23
3 players over 50 games

From the Budge of the Anzac day round in 2021
ave age 24
ave games played 37
10 players over 50 games

From the budget of the Anzac day round in 2019
(2020 IIRC was covid)
ave age 25
ave games played 69
11 players over 50 games

[Manny]

In the 4 games we have lost this season, 3 have been under 3 goals and 1 by under 5 goals and that includes last years finalists.

We just cant kick goals but if that can be turned around we are competitive enough to win games.

Not sure if that will be this year but I cant question the commitment of the young group and who knows what the return of Pascoe and Nos will do.

If we were winning games by less than a goal playing the same style of play we would be singing the praises of a gutsy group of players. Winning or losing makes all the difference and i dont think we are that far off. (BTW I'm not a supreme optimist and expect to be slaughtered when we play North )

[n-redlegs]

The club is a joke, crap culture on and off the field.

Too many passengers employed off the field.

Players disconnected from the supporters.

Recruitment absolutely appalling.

We have a team that barely kicks 10 goals every week.

We need an independent review and a few cleared out.

[Adelaide Hawk]

I have my concerns, like everybody else, and we'd all love to see the Redlegs performing better on the field.

However, I will say we shouldn't allow our frustrations to dictate to our judgements. I don't believe things are quite as dark as what some appear to believe. When we view the top 5 in the competition (apart from Adelaide), they have lost the odd player here and there, but in essence have been very settled line ups over the past 3 or so seasons.

South Adelaide have suffered the same fate as Norwood, losing a number of essential players from last season and they are now in 6th spot. The two teams we saw last Saturday was a battle between 6th and 7th. We knew going in that a top 5 season was only a possibility at best, and if we expected better then we shouldn't allow our expectations to override reality.

[Grivas]

Well said Manny and AH.

[Adelaide Hawk]

Speaking of recruiting, I see where Patrick Naish was one of the 7 West Coast players who went nightclubbing. Did we dodge a bullet?