After the preseason I am less confident than in the months earlier. Perhaps this is a result of all the positive publicity we have obtained on the back of Cousins arrival and the accompanying praise for our list as a result but whatever the reason I began to start to lift my expectations higher than I now understand I should have.
I still think the eight is a strong possibility but I believe the advent of the zone and the adoption of the strategy may hurt our chances more than if they were out of the equation. We had success against the Hawks last year but unfortunately I think we played far above ourselves on that day and Hawthorn far below.
The fear I have is with our skill level. To run through the zone you need a combination of good decision making and a series of excellent desposals. Historically we have possessed neither. Our turnovers ahev continued to hurt us for years and I worry this has only improved maginally.
One positive I did take away from the Brisbane game and MTs most recent training report is that we are beginning to use the strategy to switch play, particularly in the backhalf, and go around the zone. This is a good ploy and makes us far less predictable if we are switching between the two 'zone breaker' strategies.
But my fear remains that we may loss otherwise winable games due to our turnovers when facing a zone which I believe will be used frequently upon us due to the speed of our list.
I expect Cousins will be a good contributor but not a match winner and Richo will slow down this year
I expect Rance, Browne, Polo, to break into the team this year and Thomson and Nahas to find themselves playing more as the year progresses.
I believe Hawthorn will not be in the GF this year, Sydney/Saints/Collingwood will all drop out of the eight.
I hope TW is around next year to reap what he has sowed but I fear another coach may take all the credit in years to come.
Exiting year with a lot of expectation
Stripes
