Their age cliff is about to happen.
Hale
Burgoyne
Mitchell
Hodge
Lake
Gibson
All old and about to retire, could they have won it without those players? Prob not. We will only get to that age profile when the Cotch generation are about to retire. Our 25+ y.o. players are not that good.
The question for the Hawks will be how many go out on a high.
Of those listed, 4 have been specifically recruited from other clubs and 2 are from the 2001 draft.
What is the draft year that will form the backbone of an RFC era ?
RFC have some quality from the 1st round, but where is the depth ?
Really do need to invest in the draft and identify 2nd, 3rd & 4th round talent that can contribute significantly by being ranked 7th to 18th on playing list. That is where a squad will form to run deep into September.
Moneyball will not build a sustainable assault towards a top 4 & premiership squad, it just tops it up.