Wakelin with Leach and Schwarz......
* Improvement
- Richo going into the midfield. Took pressure of him playing forward. Point of difference allowed him to go back and help the midfield and backline.
- Tambling looks to have stepped up his fitness from what Wakelin has seen this preseason.
- Midfield will provide the biggest improvement ... Foley, Tuck, Cousins, Lids, Richo....
- Schwarz said the Tigers have versatility .... Brown, Lids, Richo can move from mid to forward.
- Backline has another year in unison. A year away from a really top backline.
- we have a lot of talent but are just waiting for all the stars to align. 2009 could be the year.
* Weaknesses
- There's massive pressure on us to perfrom.
- Haven't yet found the balance under Terry between offense and defence. They are an attacking side but haven't balanced that with defence. If they can find that balance then they could improve greatly.
- Schwarz said we don't tackle enough
- our disposal can be poor at times.
- We beat the sides we are expected to beat but not the good sides. Hawthorn was the one exception but they need to beat these better sides if they are to play finals.
- They should be taking the first 3 rounds on and aim to win all 3. If they win 2 then good. 1 okay. 0 the wheels may fall off.
Leadership
- The obvious choice was Richo but do you go for a 33 y.o. He has natural leadership qualities. A bit early to go with a Deledio. Cotch is one we haven't talked about. He will sure up the midfield more.
- Handling the pressure this year will come back to the leadership group. They have to say to the team to remain focussed on what we talked about at the start of the year.
What's acceptable in 2009?
- Making the finals obviously. Win 12-14 games and play 1-2 finals then Wallace gets another 2-3 years.
- Watching the Collingwood NAB Cup game we haven't changed up our structure.
