It was a frustrating year for Jack. He played about eight senior games. We played Jack at both ends of the ground, primarily as a leading, hit-up forward target but he also went through the backline as a key back. Jack also has the potential as someone who could play on a medium forward. He's made the decision that he may have better opportunities to play senior football elsewhere and we wish Jack all the best.
Luke Ball
Luke made an outstanding contribution to the football club in his first season, both on and off the field. He's extremely professional in his preparation. He leads by example and his ability to be the inside midfielder for us this year was critical.
Jaxson Barham (delisted)
Jaxson's year was full of endeavour and effort. He was a consistent performer in the VFL and came up for one senior game. Jaxson has the ability to run and carry, and with his terrific work ethic he'll be working on his disposal efficiency in the hope he finds a new AFL home.
Dayne Beams
The second year of AFL football can often be where form dips, but this was not the case for Dayne. He was really consistent and only missed one senior game for the year in a team that won the premiership. He had some terrific games against the top-four clubs which was a good indicator of how he's tracking. He'll be looking to spend some more time in the midfield next season and he'll need to use pre-season to show the playing and coaching group that he's going to take that challenge on.
Jarryd Blair*
He was promoted half-way through the year after terrific VFL form, and grabbed his chance. He's got sure hands in congested situations and played a great part in our GF win.
Jarrad Blight (delisted)
It was Jarrad's second year at the club and he played as a medium, running half back type. He did suffer from a few injuries which really curtailed his ability to have a consistent run of games and in the end Jarrad has returned home to Western Australia.
Leigh Brown
He is an experienced player who reads the football industry very well. He understood what his role was and understood how to play it. He spent some time in the VFL and was terrific in his endeavours to win his spot back, as well as be a leader to the young players. His consistent efforts throughout the season led to him being a premiership player.
Nathan Brown
He formed a key defensive group with Ben Reid and Simon Prestigiacomo, and finished the season extremely well with a couple of very good performances in the two grand finals. Nathan will be using those performances as a springboard into next season to target or challenge himself to be there week in, week out.
Simon Buckley
It was Simon's first year at the club after crossing from Melbourne and he was a member of the actual squad of 25 on a number of occasions but failed to get the nod. He was also part of the squad of 30 who trained throughout the finals, so that indicated Simon was near selection on a number of occasions. He got himself extremely fit, got over some injury worries and he'll be looking forward to a solid pre-season.
Jack Carter* (delisted)
Jack is a young, tall defender from South Australia who came to the club as very much a developing player. He spent the year in the VFL and Jack has chosen to return to South Australia to continue his football development.
Travis Cloke
Travis was very consistent this season. He led the competition for contested marks, plays a crucial role within our structure forward of the ball and is a very important part of our team.
Ryan Cook (delisted)
Ryan was a very consistent VFL player. He was terrific week in, week out, both on the field and also from a leadership perspective. He was a member of the senior squad on a couple of occasions, but after failing to earn his chance the club and Ryan have decided that he'll be looking elsewhere for an opportunity and we wish him all the best.
Anthony Corrie (delisted)
Anthony has terrific pace and the ability to run and carry, but for the second year in a row, however, being able to string multiple games together was difficult for Anthony given the condition of his body at times. So he's decided to return home to Brisbane.
Leon Davis
With our structure forward of the ball Leon was crucial. For most of the season he led the competition in forward-50 tackles, which we view as being very important. He did at times play injured, which in the long run probably had a big effect on Leon's ability to see out games and provide that dynamic pace that we're used to. Hopefully for Leon he'll be able to get rid of those lower-limb injuries over the pre-season.
Chris Dawes
Chris consistently improved his performance throughout the season, which led to him being a key forward in a premiership team - which is terrific for a young player. He still has lots of scope for improvement and a terrific work ethic.
Brad Dick
Brad was unlucky when he suffered his first shoulder injury of the season on our pre-season training camp in Arizona. He did the hard yards to come back. He's held in high regard, and as soon as he was physically ready he was put into the senior side, he contributed very well but unfortunately he then did his shoulder again. He's now gone through shoulder surgery and is already back on the track and has started his pre-season, which is great.
Alan Didak
Alan showed again that he's an elite-level performer with consistent output throughout the season. All Australian selection justified his season. He's a terrific member of the football club. He played with injury in the latter part of the year, which was great leadership.
Tristan Francis* (delisted)
Tristan is a hard-at-it midfielder who was unable to have consecutive games for the third year in a row as he suffered injury after injury. He will look to further his career elsewhere.
Josh Fraser (taken by Gold Coast)
Played a dozen or so games this year, including his 200th - a tremendous achievement. At times when we chose to play with two ruckman he played his role well. Josh has been a terrific servant of the club and is now off to the Suns and the club wishes him all the best.
Tyson Goldsack
Goldy was on and off the track due to injury. He had a terrific finish to season. He again showed his ability to run and carry the football, and he's developing his ability in the air. He's a very long kick of the ball, and he played very well in the grand final. He finished his year with an appearance in the International Rules in good fashion.
Tom Hunter*
Tom's a half-back flanker, half-forward flanker who's hard at it. He suffered a neck injury towards the end of the year but he'll be looking to further his development in 2011.
Ben Johnson
He re-invented himself. He showed spark all year, great pace and enthusiasm around the club and on the field. He played through the midfield and down back and had a great year.
Darren Jolly
Darren was great for the football club both on and off the field. He gave direction and leadership and his ability to assist the midfielders in getting first hand to the ball was terrific.
Lachlan Keefe*
Lachlan is an extremely tall player capable of playing ruck as well as key positions. He was very consistent in his performances as a key defender, and has now been promoted to the senior list. Lachie should be aiming to make his debut at some stage next year.
Tarkyn Lockyer (retired)
Tarks again applied himself to every task that the coaching group gave him. He was in and out of the side, was an emergency for the grand final and finished off a 200-game career holding his head high. He is now part of the coaching group.
Brent Macaffer
Came into the side and took the role he was given by the coaching group with both hands. He developed and improved each week. There's still enormous upside with Brent, which is fantastic given he's a premiership player who still hasn't played too many AFL games.
Nick Maxwell
Nick had an interrupted season which meant it took him a little bit of time to get going. He certainly played his best footy towards the end of the year. His leadership skills continued to develop and he had a terrific couple of grand finals.
John McCarthy
For the third year in a row John was frustrated by injury. He's another player who for injury reasons was unable to string together consecutive games. He'll be looking to do so next season. It's really important he has a good summer because he's got a lot of talent.
Seamus McNamara*
Seamus came over from an American sporting background and took some time to adjust to the different aspects of our game. He's very confident that he will make the transition well and we'll be monitoring his progress in his second year.
Paul Medhurst (retired)
Paul was part of the group of 30 we wanted to take into the finals, being ready and fit for selection. He was in good form and came close to selection in the finals but unfortunately just couldn't crack a spot despite playing some pretty good footy up forward and through the middle in the VFL. He's now retired from AFL football and we wish him all the best.
Shane O’Bree (retired)
He finished his career at Collingwood extremely well, holding his head up high. He contributed to the success of the premiership team without playing in it. He's held in high regard and is now an assistant at Gold Coast and we wish Shane all the best.
Harry O’Brien
Another really consistent year by Harry, culminating in All Australian selection. He provided us with the option of a running defender, or that guy who can play that shutdown role. He enjoyed running up the ground at times and having shots at goal.
Scott Pendlebury
He continued his development into the more-elite level of the league's midfielders. He's hugely important. He's a young leader and his decision-making skills, which are of an extremely high standard, were on show throughout the finals. He can definitely get better.
Simon Prestigiacomo (retired)
His retirement will leave a big hole in our club, not only from a playing point of view but also from a teaching point of view. He was the backbone of our defence this year with the likes of Ben Reid and Nathan Brown. He had that well-documented injury and he made the call himself not to play in the grand final. He's a selfless player who had a terrific 15-year career.
Scott Reed*
Scott is a NSW Scholarship holder is his third year at the football club. This year Scott shifted forward for a number of games and showed everyone that he does have the ability to kick goals and possibly play as a third marking option up forward. That versatility, if Scott does continue his development, could well be utilised by the club given the new rotation laws.
Ben Reid
Made the transition after being drafted as a key forward to playing as a key back. He's a similar height but a different player to Nathan Brown and Presti, as he wins a bit more of the football. He's continuing to develop his skills in that area and he was able to play on some key forwards with great success this year.
Luke Rounds
Luke had a very good VFL year. He was curtailed three-quarters of the way through as he needed surgery on his shoulder. He was named emergency for the senior side three times, which indicated his development. He's put on more muscle mass since coming back to training. We're looking forward to playing him at either end of the ground.
Sean Rusling (retired)
Unfortunately Sean continued his run of being in the rehab group for much of the year. He came back, had a soft-tissue injury, then a fracture to his face and at the end of another frustrating year for Sean he's decided to retire from league footy. We wish him all the best.
Heath Shaw
Heath moved into the midfield at times this year, which was good. He has the ability to run and carry and is a terrific reader of the play. It was his first season in the leadership group this year, and his leadership skills developed as he went and he was a crucial part of that group and therefore leading the player group in the direction we wanted to take them.
Steele Sidebottom
Steele showed his natural ability and decision-making skills in both grand finals. He is continuing to develop into a very good AFL footballer. He's played two years and is held in high regard and he'll be looking forward to being a consistent performer in his third year.
Ben Sinclair
Benny was a first-year guy who impressed in pre-season training and played two practice matches in the senior side. He's very hard at it, but the load in his first year became very heavy and ground him down a bit. He's had an operation on his shin and is already training.
Dane Swan
He obviously had a tremendous year. He led the competition for disposals, which is all well and good, but in terms of our game plan he's very knowledgeable and he leads the other players well. He knows what he expects from himself and others. He's a valued member of the leadership group and playing group and we love having him around.
Dale Thomas
It was Dale's first full year in the midfield. It was probably his most consistent year. He's a player that works extremely hard in all areas of the game - offensive, defensive and in neutral situations - and he had a terrific finals series.
Josh Thomas
It was his first year at the club, he trained extremely hard early and he started the season very well. In his first season against men, the load probably took its toll towards the end and he needed a bit of a freshen up. He's now back training and we look forward to seeing him continue his development around stoppages and around the goals.
Alan Toovey
Alan is a really valued member of the back six. He's now starting to provide drive and run from the half-back line, but he also has that ability just to shut down players at times. He went into the midfield at times and that will continue next season.
Sharrod Wellingham
Sharrod was another player to improve and grasp his opportunity. He was a member of the midfield and also spent a little bit of time at half-back. He played with courage in the finals series, coming off an ankle injury late in the season. He played well in the grand finals and will look to cement his spot in the midfield next season.
Cameron Wood
Cameron would have learned a lot this year being around Darren Jolly. He's at training already. He'll be looking to ensure a high-performance attitude throughout pre-season to give himself the best chance to play AFL football next year.
* Rookie-listed player
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL.
