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TOPIC: Post Season Analysis
Bizkit Post Season Analysis 6 years 7 months ago #1
| Bizkit |
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The season has come to an end and our supreme ruler Hg has taken out the big one in a commanding performance, putting on a show in the Grand Final. After year upon year of crunching our numbers and watching our mistakes, he has proven his time running the DuFFLe was an invaluable experience as his ability to draft and manage a team has improved drastically (in an Essendon under Hird and Dank sort of way). A game against Merc used to be a walkover but now his Quiksilvers have become the feared champions as the rest of us try to emulate his success. Congrats Merc.
In an effort to match Merc’s large body of stats/information and figure out where things have gone wrong for my Superstars, I went back over the preseason squad analysis and posed my thoughts on each squad and how their season evolved. 1. Bizkit – 4th “As always it’s hard to judge yourself but I was happy with most of the squad until missing out on Beams a couple of picks after I grabbed Hunter instead, hoping he’d last 6 picks to my next one. There’s a few wildcards amongst this lot with plenty of returning banned or injured players but top of the line ruckman, forwards and defenders should keep us towards the top end of the ladder.” Selecting Hunter who didn’t play a game for me instead of Beams possibly cost me the premiership with a higher ladder finish a certainty and a high PF/GF score likely with a proper mid instead of Gibbs. Injuries hurt key personnel with my ruck and backline decimated (and Hawkins inability to stop belting ppl) holding the squad back. Not a bad effort considering but I’d almost prefer not to have made the Prelim. Maybe next year I’ll have to tank for draft picks and go for the Stones Green Ginger Wine Richmond Cup, I’ve never had a chance at it so would be a nice change. 2. 391 – 2nd “This is probably the squad to beat for mine although depth may be a worry, especially up forward. A fantastic midfield even with Beams and Prestia returning from injury and with a top 3 ruckman and star forwards and defenders, 391 will go deep into finals.” I had 391 as the side to beat and I wasn’t wrong, their midfield destroyed everyone until the GF when the Mamils choked it away. Prestia wasn’t at his pre knee reco standards but Oliver had a breakout season to rectify that. A lack of depth in the forwardline hurt when SonSon didn’t hit the scoreboard but was masked by the strength of Titch and co in the middle. 3. CaptDazza – 5th “The Captain has gone to the dark side and embraced the OOFTIT’s, even picking up the absent hatstand as a marketing tool. I would like to say his side will be a mess and finish on the bottom but that’s just not going to happen, this side has scoring potential all over and will be hard to stop. The one hole will be the number two forward position which may require Reiwoldt being shifted around to cover positions. You wouldn’t bet against a top 4 position regardless of how much you want them to fail.” He sold his soul for the Slime and it got him into the top 4. Dazza should have noticed the Slime’s run home though and realised they were never going to do anything at the pointy end. As a result, he went down in straight sets. Nevertheless he had a strong season on the back of Kennedy, some handy marking from Roo and R Gray being stationed forward more. 4. Mercury – 1st “Merc followed his spreadsheets throughout draft night and picked a very talented and well rounded squad. Very good mid options along with a fantastic ruck will see him as quite a formidable opponent although I’m unconvinced by his forward depth. Nevertheless Hg has learnt plenty as the DuFFLe head honcho and is putting it to the test with this side. I think he’ll go deep into finals.” Well I had the top 4 predicted but Merc surpassed those expectations to win the whole bloody thing. The emergence of Ben Brown into a top 5 goal kicker was the icing on this squad as he turned it on come finals. The side was solid across the year but a few adjustments to the backline and midfield (Jones in was very handy) had it firing on all cylinders come finals time. I do find his lack of performance in seasons past questionable… 5. Blockerhall – 6th “When I first looked at Blockers squad I was surprised not to see more forward options but with Eddie Betts playing 22 games he should be fine. A number of young mids who should score well and a strong marking defence and ruckman mean Block is in for another successful finals campaign.” Blocker competed as he always does but was quite lucky to get into the top 8 by the slimmest of margins. His midfield was not as strong as thought with Ellis spending his time across half back and his lack of depth forward was exploited with Cam’s struggles but the strength both down back and in the ruck helped carry the Aeroplane’s to another finals campaign. 6. Slammen – 3rd “Slammo has not shied away from his OOFTIT strategy although he is scraping the barrel with most of them. Nevertheless he’s picked a well rounded squad with plenty of depth and cover in all positions. I hate to say it but Slammo is going to go close again this year.” I probably let my anti OOFTIT bias effect where I placed Slammo in this list but his squad was very, very good. I didn’t like him taking B Crouch off me who I was hoping to snare and he was a massive boost to what was the second best midfield behind 391. Handy defensive options balanced out a weaker forwardline but he went a long way, also suffering like Dazza at the hands of his OOFTIT’s finals failures to drop away at the end. 7. FD1016 – 8th “I’m bias again with this squad but it is a very well rounded squad with stars on every line as well as plenty of depth before Thomas was dumped. If Jenkins or Lecras are out then I can’t see anyone else kicking a goal. Witts will be the key though and if he can have the kind of season I expect then FD will be around the mark come finals time.” FD had a decent squad and a decent year to make the top 8. His lack of forward scoring options hurt and the backline wasn’t as strong as I’d hoped with Gibson chucking in the towel from the get go. Ross and Lyons had fantastic years to carry him in the middle and along with Witts, score very well. Just not enough polish in the support roles to get it done. 8. Nelson – 15th “Nelson has landed himself an incredible midfield but at the cost of his ruck and a forward or two. A lot will rest on Lynch there with very little back up but if Tippa can successfully transition forward then that may solve the issue. The ruck looks weak too so they’ll need the extra points in the midfield.” Unfortunately for Nelson his midfield never got going, highlighted by injury and form (poor Mickey). The rest of his side wasn’t strong enough to make up the shortfall which resulted in him just missing the top 8 before losing his final. He carried a lot of older players who lacked the consistency to do it week in/week out although Tippa forward would have helped a little. 9. Ooslumbird – 10th “Oos has a nice mix of older heads and kids on the verge of big things in his squad. There’s plenty of range in his players who could cover a few different positions on the field and with a strong ruck and forwardline, Oos will be banging down the door to finals.” Injuries to a lot of Oos bigger players (Cripps, Lids, Hogan, Rioli, Thompson) ruined any chance of making the top 8 long before the season had taken shape. That he came home like a freight train through finals to go on an incredible winning streak is testament to the whily old Ooslumbird’s DuFFLe skills. With a little more luck, maybe he could have given the whole competition a shake. 10. FreoSon – 11th “There are some talented players in Freoson’s squad and there’s some good all round depth across the field. The forwardline may not have the punch of many others but there are options there and the midfield will be strong. Old heads down back will score well and this squad will be around the mark in finals contention.” Sonia was desperately unlucky to miss out on the top 8 with what became a very imposing side. A strong and rarely injured midfield belted out consistent scores with the win guaranteed if Daniher kicked a bag. If not then they tended to go down but with a little more balance next season, they’ll be well in contention. 11. Davo – 17th “A very young side that is gambling on a number of kids stepping up, Davo will struggle for consistency. I worry about the ruck and forward depth but this side has many question marks amongst a huge amount of talent. Can the youth strategy pay off and see Davo taste DuFFLe glory? It will be tough for him this year.” Despite his lack of ruckman and intent to play or pick a team, Davo actually competed for large periods of the season to finish well in contention for the Richmond cup, only to go down in the first week. Injuries didn’t help and he probably gambled a little too much on youth but most of the kids he picked up did play quite well. Maybe next year his kids will pay off. 12. PurpleKit – 16th “PK may be a bolter this year with plenty of old heads guiding them towards finals. Ablett, Boyd, Monty and Buddy will go a long way for them and with up and coming stars like Stringer, Laird and Boak, they have a very strong side. If Hickey gets enough ruck time they’ll be tough to beat.” PK went the opposite strategy to Davo but with similar results. If the older blokes got on the park more he may have made the top 8 but as it was, they struggled to get the body right and maintain top form. A bit of a disappointing season for PK. 13. Alvin Prpl – 12th “Alvin has plenty of midfield depth but may struggle for solid forward scoring options as well as in defence. A lot will weigh on Bob Murphy’s return for his side to go far but Pendles and Kennedy will keep him competitive.” Alvin stayed competitive but wasn’t able to get those big scores on the board and threaten the big sides. The Pendles injury hurt late in the season as well as Miles not getting a gig for the Tigers although Kreuzer stepping up this season countered that slightly. 14. MattyT – 14th “I believe Matty made a mistake grabbing Neale at No1 but we’ll find out as the season runs its course. Aside from Neale there aren’t a lot of strong options in the middle and combined with a weak ruck and forwardline, I’m not sure they’ll be in contention at the pointy end of the season. The solid options down back may help Neale carry them up the ladder but if Dixon doesn’t fire then they are going to struggle.” Forward depth did become a problem as did Neale’s injuries in carrying the side. There were unfortunate issues all over the park for Matty that stopped his season before it had a chance to get going. A strong outright ruck option will be a priority next year opposed to the part timers he had this year. 15. Pollyanna – 7th “This may come as a surprise to a few DuFFLers but Polly is looking like a force to be reckoned with in 2017. A very handy midfield with their talisman in the ruck and who knows what could happen. Hurley will be very handy down back and there are plenty of potential goal kickers amongst the squad, the problem may be picking them on the right weeks.” I’m not sure why I had Polly so low on this list before the season and I’m going to put it down to a lack of checking on my part. The big surprise of the season lead by Paddy, Polly made good inroads into the top 8 before falling at the first hurdle. Dusty was the number one contributor but there were plenty in the side who pushed hard to get them into finals with what became a pretty well balanced side. 16. Awake – 9th “Awake has gone hard with his midfield selections and will not struggle there regardless of byes or injuries. The problem will be whether his ruckman and forwards can score enough and I don’t think they will. The scoring changes bring his defenders back to the pack too but they should be good enough against most sides.” Again I have placed someone lower than I should have based on my write up but I probably underestimated Danger’s ability to get useless handballs and one-twos. The forwardline was a struggle all year but McEvoy competed well in the ruck to support a strong midfield and bring home the Richmond cup. Awake should consider the season a success and push on to the top 8 finals next year with some shrewd drafting. 17. Moptop – 18th “I’m struggling with Mop’s side this season. I see plenty of potential but at the same time plenty of questions. His ruck worries me and I’m not sure they’ll play enough games. Similarly the forwards concern me although I had planned to grab Schache late as a real bolter this season and I do rate him highly. Fyfe will do his thing and they should be able to make finals but a few players will have to have break out years to go all the way.” A midfield of Fyfe and M Crouch should have had teams shaking in their boots but Moptop wasn’t able to have the same impact as last season. The ruck and forwardline did cause problems and without any stars down back, they became easy pickings despite some strong midfield competitors. Fyfe’s struggles early made it hard for them and they never really recovered. Maybe next year. 18. Straddo – 13th “Straddo has some very handy players in his side and will be looking to make a big statement this year. Cotchin and Lewis will have to lead the midfield as the third position there may not be as strong as other sides. Shaw in the backline will make up the difference though so he’ll be hoping his ruckman can get on the field and score well which isn’t normally the case for Campbell or Luey.” Straddo’s season came undone along with many of his players lack of form this season. Those that got on the park struggled and were promptly dropped, leaving him with issues all over. There were some bright sparks like Menegola and Papley but they were all too fleeting. Luckily there’s always next season. |
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FD1016, pollyanna, slammen said You Beaut
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Mercury Post Season Analysis 6 years 7 months ago #2
| Mercury |
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Biz on me: I do find his lack of performance in seasons past questionable.
Geez, what does a bloke have to do? I haven't played for a number of years, albeit filling in for players with a no-show and tainted with their squads. I must admit, I was expecting that you would all be bowing, virtually, before me and then later at the post-season drinks, in person as you offered up your glass of single malt for my approval. Too much? No, not at all an unreasonable expectation. |
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FD1016 said You Beaut
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Mercury Post Season Analysis 6 years 7 months ago #3
| Mercury |
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PS: Nice analysis, Biz. And you were right with Polly's squad. His Ryder-led band of misfits were seriously underestimated - even by Polly!
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FD1016, Bizkit, pollyanna said You Beaut
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Davo Post Season Analysis 6 years 7 months ago #4
| Davo |
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Also don't be half an hour late for draft night because you have a new job and miss picking the most crucial position on the ground....
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Mercury said You Beaut
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purple kit Post Season Analysis 6 years 7 months ago #5
| purple kit |
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I think your analysis was spot on Biz.
"If Hickey gets enough ruck time they’ll be tough to beat." unfortunately for me he only played the first 4 games and after that the Refreshers struggled to fire a shot. well played all, especially Merc ofcourse. |
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Mercury, Bizkit said You Beaut
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FD1016 Post Season Analysis 6 years 7 months ago #6
| FD1016 |
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Don't live in an area where they turn the bloody power of just when they bloody well feel like it. Bloody hell.
Anyway, yet again I will thank Biz for selecting my side in my hour of darkness. Witts was a star and I may even forgive you for the Slimers in my side. Well Mitchell anyway :D And thanks to 391 for picking my team in my absence. Still owe you two a beer or two - I won't forget! Most of all thanks to Mr Mercs. I just don't know how he does it! Crikey that sounds like an award acceptance speech, without the award... I'll miss all the Docker-ites with whom I've sat for the last 23 years : / Anyway, roll on next season, new stadium, new seats, new people, new hopes... same expectations :) |
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purple kit, Mercury, Bizkit, slammen said You Beaut
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