"Coaching To Win" VS "Playing For The Future"

[Baggers]

Well it's worked before, and it will work again. So I'd say you're wrong!

Examples? Who?

[Mantis]

Play the kids and look for the No 1 pick........

I was waiting to see how long it would take for you to post this.  ;D

[ItsOurTime]

And this is where Hawthorn (sorry Carrots) get it absolutely spot on IMO. I heard Bolton recently say in an interview that they put heavy focus on ensuring that recruits do there time in the 2's and are not picked until they are 100% ready. When they are selected in the ones, they fit in and perform.There's that effin D word again!

Why do Hawthorn have 3 times as many games in their U23 players than we do?

[Gointocarlton]

Why do Hawthorn have 3 times as many games in their U23 players than we do?

Sorry I don't get it. I just went to Footywire and our U23s actually have 3 times the number of games than theirs!! (i.e. Us 156 games, Them 56)

[Gointocarlton]

Sorry I don't get it. I just went to Footywire and our U23s actually have 3 times the number of games than theirs!! (i.e. Us 156 games, Them 56)

Apologies, I made an error.

[Gointocarlton]

Apologies, I made an error.

My mistake, its US 156, Them 137 for the U23's. Still less games for them than us.

[ItsOurTime]

The number I was remembering was over the journey rather than as a snap shot. So if you have a 25 year old who played 30 games when U23 and 40 games afterwards ...  My bad.

[Gointocarlton]

The number I was remembering was over the journey rather than as a snap shot. So if you have a 25 year old who played 30 games when U23 and 40 games afterwards ...  My bad.

No matter, at the end of the day, it was one of the comments that you often hear that resonates in your head and stays there. I just am sick of watching other teams bring kids in and they do well and more importantly they look confident where as ours looks like dears in spot lights.

[Thryleon]

No matter, at the end of the day, it was one of the comments that you often hear that resonates in your head and stays there. I just am sick of watching other teams bring kids in and they do well and more importantly they look confident where as ours looks like dears in spot lights.

me too, but I suspect it's got to do with how well drilled the team they join is.

[Vivian]

No matter, at the end of the day, it was one of the comments that you often hear that resonates in your head and stays there. I just am sick of watching other teams bring kids in and they do well and more importantly they look confident where as ours looks like dears in spot lights.

And this is one of the reasons we find ourselves in such a pickle. Plonking lots of first and second year players into our side carries risks. We don't have strong personalities around them to give them pointers, help them to concentrate and provide support. Bringing in a few disgards from other clubs has been an attempt to add a bit of grit, but as we have seen, this also has issues if they aren't much chop as players.

Players like Menzal are a good example of the difficulty. Highly talented, he has already played a fair bit of footy, and had some injuries. He has not perhaps come on as much as some may have hoped. It was no bad thing in my mind to have him play in the NB for a bit when coming back. Murphy got a fearsome belting in his first few years, slotting straight into the senior ranks. Maybe this has had a negative effect on him.

Players of course need opportunity, but getting smashed about can be pretty damaging. The first professional job for anyone can be very formative, and a few bad experiences can affect a career. They are all human after all.