I went for 2009. I still think it will take the whole 5 years of Wallace's first stint to just get our structure and list depth right before we challenge for a flag. We still need IMO one more cleanout at the end of this year as IMO class wins GFs not just hard work. That's why the Pies failed at the last hurdle in 2002-3 just like they did under Hafey in the late 70's and early 80's
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Our small brigade is coming along nicely. You can see the depth emerging in our midfield rotation - Cogs, Johnson, Krakouer, Hyde, Tuck, Hartigan, Newman, Jackson, Raines, Browny, Deledio, Tambling, Rodan*, Meyer, Roach. All of them apart from Johnson and Brown are young and could play for the next 10 years barring injury. I agree Bluey it will take until 2007-8 before most of the young guys start reaching their peak. Brisbane and Port had their future cores developing about 5 years before reaching the summit.
It's our big man department that will need the most work especially in our backline and for the future at CHF. Gas, AK, Graham, Stafford and possibly Richo won't be around by 2008 and Morrison is a strong chance to be delisted. That'd leave Simmonds and Knobel as our only big guys mid-career on our list. The rest are still young and mostly project kids who'll take a few years of development before we even see whether they are going to make it or not. In this year's draft we need to try and pick up a couple of quality KP kids. It would be a bonus if we could trade or pick up in the PSD an early 20 year old tall (preferably a KP defender) to fill in the gap caused by poor recruiting during Gieschen's and Spud's reigns. Brisbane, Port, Saints and Geelong all traded for a KP defender from another AFL club - Michael, Wakelin, Penny and Harley - so it's not a unrealistic option for us. We need one more smart draft to back up the last 2 to get our depth right
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