What are your expectations for 2017?

[Lods]

For the sake of unity and club cohesion we need to create an environment where there is no room for folks to start doubting we are on the right track.
That means we have to show real signs of progress.
Some see that in terms of improved on-field efforts....green shoots.
I believe that's a little too intangible and that it has to be progress in terms of games won and ladder positions.
Its why I believe last place would be a disaster...it's because of the detrimental effect it would have on our confidence and unity.
Once the cracks appear in a clubs path we all know how quickly they widen and once that starts it's hard to reverse that process....only success stops that!


Not expecting finals but..... 9th to 12th
9-10 wins.

If we're basing it on our own expectations I'd have to give it 49/100.
That's probably because my expectations were too high.

The reason it wasn't a major fail (the disaster) in my opinion  was there were some good signs from the youngsters and we were generally a lot more competitive.

We only dropped a game in terms of games won... but lost a couple of spots on the ladder.
That's because some sides progressed, while we basically played a 'standing still' game.
Results took a secondary role to experimentation and getting games into youngsters.

So here are the things I'll be looking at in the coming months.

Once a season finishes some of the 'unity of effort' dissipates. Some players look for a change of club others are discarded or traded. It's the time of year where any off field grievances that have been bottled up sometimes surface. So I'll be looking for signs that folk are holding the line and are committed to the approach we've embarked upon.

While there is a strong focus on our youth, our wins this year have come on the backs of strong performances from our senior players. Look at the Jim Park voting for those games and there's only a sprinkling of the younger group. If we lose some of that senior experience we need the youngsters to really step up or bring in some talented mature (22-23+ year olds)

Forwards...If we go into 2018 without a strong Key forward (or two) expect another dismal year. We need to find 50 more goals from somewhere.  Lose Casboult and there's another 20-30 we start behind. Hopefully Curnow, McKay and others can supply some of that but we really need to bolster this area. An improved midfield may provide greater opportunities but we still need those 'finishers'.

Lots of talk about who we might pick up through trade but until they're here we aren't any better.
Cripps desperately needs help and just how important he is to our efforts was shown when he was injured.

The club have been really good at selling the rebuild.
How would we be regarding this season if they hadn't been able to convince folks that it was a long term thing?
I'm surprised there hasn't been a bit more fragility in the faith of supporters...but it seems to be holding.
Wins like the Hawthorn game buy some time...too many results like the Swans game will cause a few cracks.