Despite being less than a month until the start of the AFL Draft, almost all of the league's 18 clubs will believe their starting line-ups are close to complete
But irrespective of this confidence, every roster still has holes.
Due to the nature of the league, it is almost impossible for two sides to be in exactly the same place, so some of these gaps may be chasmic, whilst others may be wafer-thin.
However, if left unattended, those of any magnitude could lead a side to ruin.
Geelong
Although the discourse surrounding Geelong’s age demographic is about as tired as the ill-informed chatter about Covid, the appearance of the Cats’ current roster does provide some cause for concern.
While the pivot city side shifted 10 names off their list via retirements, trades or delistings since their hefty preliminary-final loss to eventual premiers Melbourne, the aging nucleus still remains.
Of the 34 names that remain under Chris Scott’s tutelage ahead of Round 1 next season, 10 will be above the age of 30 by the time the Sherrin hits the turf to commence the Cats’ 163rd campaign.
Though this much was drilled into our eardrums ad nauseum throughout the course of the 2021 season, a further three names – Sam Menegola, Cam Guthrie and Luke Dahlhaus – will join this tricenarian crew before 2022 comes to a close.
Still, when raw numbers are viewed, one will also find that more than 60 per cent of the Hoops’ cattle will stay under this precipice throughout the entirety of next year.
While this does prove that not everyone at Kardinia Park needs a walking frame, the level average level of experience from this current collective in their 20s and below is somewhat of a red flag.
When the 21 names that are aged 29 or below are placed under the microscope, the collective come together to produce a mean of 52.6 games played.
However, when this bar is lowered to only contain those that won’t reach their 25th birthday over the course of the next calendar year, this figure falls to 28.7.
Sure, an immaturity in years is also certain to correlate with inexperience in terms of appearances, but with only six of these 15 players earning a place in the Cats’ last contest, has enough been done to re-lay a foundation of youth that won’t crack in coming campaigns?
The clearing of 10 lockers will mean that Geelong’s savvy list management team will be able to fill them with their range of draft picks.
As it stands, the Cats currently haul consists of the 22nd, 30th, 32nd, 34th, 50th and 91st selections at November’s national draft.
And as Stephen Wells has an unparalleled track record at obtaining top-end talent well outside of the first-round, there is unlikely to be many 'Kill Bill' sirens sounding amongst blue and white backers.
Given the ever-consistent side are set to lose class on every line across the near future, a scattergun approach to plucking names with these picks could be implemented.
But as Geelong will almost certainly stagger the retirements of names like Hawkins, Selwood, and company, a steady, needs basis tactic is more likely to be employed.
While the Cats are quite obviously tooled to compete for the here and now, chance upon chance will be afforded to Scott and his charges so long as key names still call the club home.
Still, if the September summit continues to remain out of reach, at what point are the losses cut and the future seen as the priority?
Good article. For more on holes in your list, and more about the available juniors, see https://www.ozfootylistmanager.com/2021-lists.html