The Bombers are looking down the barrel at finals action again, but need to find the consistency they lacked last year to really challenge. These are the players I think are key to finding that consistency.
1. Jobe Watson
Naturally the general of the midfield and Bombers skipper is top of the list. Watson needs to back up is stellar 2009 season and dominate the midfield again. If he can get more 30 possession games on a more consistent basis, the team will be getting first use of the ball more frequently and that goes a long way to winning games.
2. Tayte Pears
Pears is widely recognized as Fletchers successor as the general of the backline after his fantastic 2009 season. After another solid preseason under his belt I would expect him to improve even more and hold down the opposition’s number 1 forward even more effectively than last year. If he can achieve this, opposition sides will be forced to look elsewhere for their goals and hopefully this will lead to lower opposition scores and therefore more wins.
3. Patrick Ryder
Ryder really came of age in 2009, but with the imminent return of the Bombers number 1 ruckman in David Hille is is critical that Ryder doesn’t start taking a back seat when he becomes support ruckman. He will probably see more time in the forward line so he needs to start kicking goals as part of the forward structure. When he rotates into the ruck he needs to make sure he is working just as hard as when he was number 1 ruckman, and if he can achieve this it will be like the Bombers have two number 1 ruckman, making it difficult for opposition sides to counter.
4. Angus Monfries
Monfries is important to the structure of the Bombers lineup. Not only does he provides a valuable goal scoring option, which the Bombers need, but he also provides the option of applying a forward tag on a player. He did this against Hathorn when he tagged Luke Hodge basically out of the game and helped make sure the ball was able to make it forward. His work doesn’t stop up forward though as you can frequently see him pushing up the ground to take a mark on the wing when the ball is coming out of defence. When left unmarked he is a very dangerous player and I would expect him to play a very vital role in keeping the team structured in 2010.
5. Jay Neagle
Neagle has shown glimpses of his full potential in recent years, but 2010 is by far his time to shine. With Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas both now retired, Neagle needs to step up and be the tall Full Forward that he is expected to be. If he can take over the reins then the Bombers will be able to kick more goals, but if he can’t then goals could be hard to come by. 2010 is Neagles year to shine.
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Ryder is an interesting one. Hopefully for the Bombers sake he still takes it upon himself to stand up even with Hille in the team!