With trade week completed, the upcoming 2001 National Draft takes up a large chunk of Robert Shaw's time. But Shaw also has to take a close look at where the club is at in terms of its list and its tactical approach to the game.
""Football departments are charged with cultivating a player list that will consistently reach finals and ultimately win premierships. As it stands I think we will go into 2002 with a very competitive list,"" Shaw said. ""I would think 85% of our playing list are moving into the prime of their football careers. Players like Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas are 23. Dean Solomon, Jason Johnson, Adam Ramanauskas and others are also very young in terms of their football careers. James Hird is only 27. So I think in terms of our list we are in pretty good shape.""
""We will look at this list over the next few weeks and identify where we can get better. We need to ensure players like David Hille, Rob Forster-Knight, Jordan Bannister and Damien Peverill continue to improve. These players have to make the jump. As a result of salary cap pressures and retirements, all our improvement will have to come from within so that is something we will be addressing,"" Shaw said.
Shaw will have a close look at how opposition side's took on the Bombers in 2001 and what fine tuning might be required. ""I think season 2001 saw a marked change in how sides took us on tactically and how they structured their side. Part of my role is to take an impartial look at what these sides did and how we handled it,"" Shaw said. ""The game keeps evolving and everyone wants to try and stay a step ahead.""
Shaw said the coaching staff will also sit down and look at where individuals needs to improve specifically and training trends and drills for 2002. He said the football department as a whole will also have a look at its internal working and where improvements can be made.
""We will sit down shortly and finalise the football component of the pre-Christmas training and how we fit that in with the fitness and conditioning work the players will do,"" Shaw said. ""We are a fair way down the track with that already.""
""The comment most often made to me away from the football club at this time of year is - 'you must be enjoying a well-deserved rest'. But this period now is as important as any during the season and in many ways sets up what will follow. I tend to find that once the season starts it just flies past. You get into a rhythym and in many ways it just looks after itself.""
