NBs 2020

[LP]

Tough start to the coming year for the NBs losing Fisher and Anderson to WA.

[crashlander]

Tough start to the coming year for the NBs losing Fisher and Anderson to WA.

Indeed. Not quite the start we were looking for.  Fisher and Anderson (and Deven Costigan) have been signed by Swan Districts and will be significant losses. Jesse Palmer has gone to Collingwood (VFL) after an ordinary season in 2019.

However, there have been some gains:
[1] Will Lewis (Dandenong Stingrays) However, as he has also been registered as a 19 y.o. for the Stingrays, I wonder how many games he will actually play ...
[2] Jordan Cunico (Geelong) At 25 Cunico appears to be a decent acquisition with hopes that a good year will see on the Carlton list. Not sure he has what it takes to be a senior Blue, but he should improve the NB midfield.
[3] Cody Hirst (Sydney) Hirst is the only other guy (other than you know who) who was selected at the mid year draft and not retained. He was playing very good football in Vic before he was selected. He probably feels he has something to prove.
[4] Joe Richards (Wangaratta) Richards is a 2 time B & F in the Ovens and Murray league. Otherwise, I don't know much about him.
[5] Tim Jones Jones has been with the NB's before and was a decent contributor.
[6] Jake Bartholomaus (NEAFL) Jake has been very impressive in the NEAFL. Hopefully he can do something similar for the NB's.

No word about many of the others, although Kye Quirk will be an NB in 2020 and a few other youngsters (Wheeler and Oscar White). Quite a number of NB's have been training with the AFL Blues, including Tom Wilson (who we really missed last year).

With the younger AFL lads, the NB's should have a decent midfield this year.

[crashlander]

I just wish it was a big easier to find out who is on our horizon. Thee habit of the NB's is to only finalize the list just before the season starts. However, I am much happier that the NB website does indicate when someone is coming in. It was only a few years back where there was NO information until the season was starting. That frustrated me a large amount.

[Thryleon]

Facebook has been doing better in this domain of late.

[tonyo]

We are badly hampered by the fact that the NBs don't seem to be able to recruit/keep quality mature players.  The non-Carlton part of the NB list seems to be full of try-hards and journeymen that give minimal quality support to the younger Blues who travel through there.  You only need to look at what Hawthorn does with Box Hill (eg bringing in Deledio this year) which seems to fast-track development of their younger brigade. 

If Carlton's $$ books are now looking so rosy, perhaps we could invest a few bucks at Cramer St. so we can get some better returns on the mid-range young players who come to our club and then leave after two years with little to show for it. 

[Professer E]

Hit nail head. Flush.

As a development side,  the NBs are a fail.

As a standalone club,  with the aim of winning flags,  they are also a fail.

So what is their purpose,  and why aren't they being resourced and funded accordingly?

Every strong club at AFL level is strong at the second tier.  The Muppet's that run CFC can't seem to grasp that singular basic fact.

[spf]

Hit nail head. Flush.

As a development side,  the NBs are a fail.

As a standalone club,  with the aim of winning flags,  they are also a fail.

So what is their purpose,  and why aren't they being resourced and funded accordingly?

Every strong club at AFL level is strong at the second tier.  The Muppet's that run CFC can't seem to grasp that singular basic fact.

Agree with this, Northern should be a focus or a standalone team.

Why do we not put in place a plan to win the VFL premiership? Would that not be beneficial for the development of a young list? Why would we not offer Daisy Thomas a guaranteed contract on the supplemental list (rookie or alike), and have him as a playing line coach for Northern?  We should be offering contract deals in the same way that Williamstown does for ex-AFL players to strengthen our list.

Our kids should be good enough to displace them or have to tough it out for a spot. If they cannot, then they are not going to be long term players anyway.

[LP]

Why would we not offer Daisy Thomas a guaranteed contract on the supplemental list (rookie or alike), and have him as a playing line coach for Northern?

If the rumored reasons for Daisy sacking are true they aren't going to put him in charge of teenagers!

But I think Daisy would make an extraordinary mentor for the more senior types, just as Fev might be such a figure!

[DJC]

Agree with this, Northern should be a focus or a standalone team.

Why do we not put in place a plan to win the VFL premiership? Would that not be beneficial for the development of a young list? Why would we not offer Daisy Thomas a guaranteed contract on the supplemental list (rookie or alike), and have him as a playing line coach for Northern?  We should be offering contract deals in the same way that Williamstown does for ex-AFL players to strengthen our list.

Our kids should be good enough to displace them or have to tough it out for a spot. If they cannot, then they are not going to be long term players anyway.

I suspect that the stricter VFL salary cap rules will make it harder to retain experienced players.  With that qualification, I have often wondered why the NBs haven’t signed up a couple of our delisted players; the likes of Kerridge, Lamb, Daisy, Buckley, etc would provide the NBs’ playing group with a core of mature, hardened players.  That should help the development of our youngsters and make the NBs a truly competitive outfit.

[spf]

I suspect that the stricter VFL salary cap rules will make it harder to retain experienced players.  With that qualification, I have often wondered why the NBs haven’t signed up a couple of our delisted players; the likes of Kerridge, Lamb, Daisy, Buckley, etc would provide the NBs’ playing group with a core of mature, hardened players.  That should help the development of our youngsters and make the NBs a truly competitive outfit.

Do it I say. For what reason have we not done this already? Put a plan in place, and aim to play finals every year here on in, with a premiership in the next three years.