Will RFC make the 8 in 2013?

[Rampstar]

another half century thread in posts for the Rampstar. a loss next week and the century will be a given. A triple century could be on the cards 

[wayne]

What many have missed saying is that Hardwick is a relatively inexperienced coach too. You cannot compare him to Williams or Roos. Both those guys also had far better lists to play with and could build for a flag. Hardwick inherited a terrible list followed by 2 heavily compromised drafts and an a mildly compromised draft. He has done ok. We as supporters are now expecting to win even against teams like Geelong. This wasn't the case 4 years ago.
What our players definitely need is an injection of self belief. That was what was really missing on Saturday. I was very interested in what Corey Enright had to say at the end of the game. He said that it was a tough game and it took them until we'll into the third quarter to "break us". In other words, they broke us mentally! We need to believe that we can stay in games against anybody. As long as we believe, we mentally can motivate ourselves to keep competing. If you continue to compete you are always a chance!
As for blooding players, I still feel that we need to keep playing youth. Vlastuin seems to make good decisions and has skill and courage. Ellis is improving. I still feel we are one tall player down. We should play a Griffiths or an Elton or even a McBean. These guys need to be played for a block of games. The coaches need to show they have faith in them. It's the only way they can truly step up.

Good post.

We're not Carlton, Hardwick didn't come in and take over a list that recently played finals and were seen as underperforming like the Blues under Ratten. Malthouse was brought in to win the Blues a flag and soon. Hardwick took over a basketcase and has now got a solid list to work with, but it is still developing and inexperienced. Calls for Hardwick to be sacked or replaced are silly, it's saying to the rest of the competition that we think we have a list that can win a flag, but Hardwick isn't good enough. So we bring in another coach and he's immediately under immense pressure to deliver finals and a flag with a list that still isn't good enough.

[Smokey]

of course we will fail
we r richmond

we need to exhume greame richmond, get his dna and clone him

thats our only hope

    Love your work X

[Phil Mrakov]

of course we will fail
we r richmond

we need to exhume greame richmond, get his dna and clone him

thats our only hope

Should've had him frozen like Walt Disney

[Chuck17]

OK everyone can rest easy and take a deep breath for a week before we start hyper ventilating again

[Rampstar]

OK everyone can rest easy and take a deep breath for a week before we start hyper ventilating again

I think its still a very fair question to ask. If the aim of a rebuild is to create the basis of a flag winning team, how do we go past for example

Geelong - who played 10 players with less than 50 games in their side over the last weeks and are on top
GWS - who got given junior superstar after junior superstar from the AFL
Gold Coast - see GWS
Collingwood - who are blooding lots of young kids with some great talent that flogged us afew weeks ago
Essendon - who seem to have gone past us at a rate of knots

If you rebuild a team and they arent capable of winning a flag then how do you describe the rebuild? How do we go past these sides?

[Chuck17]

I will leave the deep thinking to you Ramps, I am just going to enjoy this week.

[dwaino]

I will leave the deep thinking to you Ramps, I am just going to enjoy this week.

Rubbish. I demand you moan 

[Chuck17]

I will leave the deep thinking to you Ramps, I am just going to enjoy this week.

Rubbish. I demand you moan 

Well I was disappointed we didn't boost our percentage by more, I thought a 10-15 goal win would have been nice

[dwaino]

I will leave the deep thinking to you Ramps, I am just going to enjoy this week.

Rubbish. I demand you moan 

Well I was disappointed we didn't boost our percentage by more, I thought a 10-15 goal win would have been nice

Exactly. Wheels are falling off 

[Chuck17]

I will leave the deep thinking to you Ramps, I am just going to enjoy this week.

Rubbish. I demand you moan 

Well I was disappointed we didn't boost our percentage by more, I thought a 10-15 goal win would have been nice

Exactly. Wheels are falling off 

Sack Hardwick 

[Rampstar]

IMHO and it saddens me to say it but I believe this latest rebuild is on the verge of failure. I say this because a rebuild is supposed to be the basis for a club achieving the ultimate and in AFL Footy that is a premiership. In the game against geelong we only had 3 or 4 players who had played under 50 games of footy Geelong had 9 or 10. Collingwoods stocks of younger players also show more. Essendon for all the question marks have flown past us again. Port seems to have found plenty of young players who seem to find the balls to fight out of a problem. For all the redevelopment we have a bunch of panic merchants in our team, some who have been their for years, we have others who have specialised in turning over the football game in game out for years, our supposed stars never lift when the team is in trouble. We are on the verge of another failed rebuild and its sad for all of us because the only positive that our club has ever had over 30 years is the supporters and the members who year in year out do their bit by buying memberships and supporting the clubs fundraising plans.

If the reason for doing a rebuild is to get the basis to winning a flag then sadly I reckon this one is done and dusted. Sadly I think the last 2 years to many mistakes have been made in terms of which players were brought into the club the moneyball philosophy doesnt work in AFL IMHO. This rebuild wont win us a flag. Feel very sad for our supporters, deserve better but its not happening. Two years have been wasted and not enough quality kids have been brought into the club. The likes of Ellis and Conca and Vlastuin are good but its not enough. 1 quality kid a year is not enough. To become a decent club you need 2 years with getting 2 or 3 quality kids out of a draft. We havent done that.

[Jackstar is back!!!]

Ramps
Been saying this for nearly 8 years now

[harry bosch]

time for francis "i get first round picks right but thats about it" Jackson to go

of course if i was a betting man that won't happen

[DCrane]

It's the 2nd and 3rd round picks that have killed us Ramps, both pre and post Hardwick.
The first round picks are easy and have mostly picked themselves. It's looking like we have overpaid for Vickery at Pick 8 and I still think we have spent too lavishly on Conca (you can develop those players from lower round, even rookie picks) and I don't need to remind anyone that we are still paying the price for the Tambling pick.
But the critical 2nd and 3rd round picks have either been frittered away on stupid trades or just haven't come on and I think that is where we are hurting. The McLovin/Mitch Morton double hurts the most, Chris Mayne and Jack Steven both went after Morton, closely followed by nothing out of Griffiths/Post or Astbury.
Unfortunately the trend is continuing under Hardwick's watch and it's forcing him to use the likes of McGuane/Jackson/Lonegan/Nahas/Petterd etc to plug the holes.