Albury pipped Wangaratta in an eight-point thriller, but the Pies have reloaded with two gun forwards. Can the Tigers hold them at bay? Andrew Moir takes a look at the big questions facing the Tigers in 2019
ALBURY LOST IN 2017 BECAUSE IT WAS TOO SMALL, COULD THAT HAPPEN AGAIN?
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Absolutely. Wangaratta won because it had three bigs up forward in Michael Newton, Josh Porter and Tom Whittlesea and a clever goalsneak in Ben Speight. The only one missing is Whittlesea.
And Albury has lost its tallest defender in Michael Thompson and hasn't replaced him with a like.
SO WHAT CAN ALBURY DO TO STOP THAT FORWARD LINE?
Well for starters, it has one of the most credentialled coaches the league's seen.
Peter German has coached at four AFL clubs and a number of VFL outfits so there's nothing he hasn't seen.
However, a coach is only as good as his players and it will be asking an enormous amount for a kid like teenage giant Ben Kelly, when he's not playing Murray Bushrangers, to handle the rampaging Porter or classy Newton.
On paper, it looks the difference between the two.
WILL THIS BE THE LAST YEAR FOR SHAUN DALY, JOEL MACKIE, CHRIS HYDE AND LUKE PACKER?
Look, no decisions (at least publicly) have been made but if you're a betting man, you would say yes.
Daly is 34 in May, Mackie is 33 after the season, Hyde is 37 just before finals and Packer is 35 around the same time.
Look, opposition teams have been praying that quartet and maybe one of two more, like Dean Polo, are on their last legs, but they just keep winning comps.
The Tigers have worked desperately to make sure they're not the West Indies of the mid-1990s, where all the guns go at the one time.
Q&A WITH JAKE GAYNOR
Q: You had such a blinding debut, are you wary of the second season syndrome where you will be targeted more?
A: I haven't really thought about it too much, I've just been focusing on what I can do to improve my footy under 'Germo' (coach Peter German). I'll just play the game as it comes and if I get a bit of attention, it won't really phase me.
Q: What are the areas you want to improve?
A: Just leadership skills and being more vocal on the ground, just more inside work and improving my skills.
Q: What's the biggest coaching difference between the Shaun Daly-Chris Hyde era and Peter German?
A: They're all similar game plans, like 'Germo' hasn't come in and made a big change to anything. He knows a few things on what he wants to work on and how to improve on footy, he'll have a massive impact.
Q: What impact will Peter have?
A: He's been in football nearly his while life, he's coached a lot of football, he's been everywhere, he knows what players are like, he knows how to get teams up and about, he'll be unreal for us.
SEASON SNAPSHOT
ARRIVALS
Lachie Taylor-Nugent (North Albury), Cooper Page (Altona), Lachie Tiziani (GWS), Ray Leonard (Caulfield Grammar)
DEPARTURES
Mat Walker (Hawthorn), Charles Gaylard (retired), Michael Thompson (KSC), Rhys King (Queensland), Tom O'Brien (Melbourne), Daniel Cross (work)
VFL-LISTED PLAYERS
Jake Page (Coburg), Nick Coughlan (Werribee)
THE A-TEAM
B: Luke Packer, Brady Morton, Dean Polo
HB: Shaun Daly, Kieran Ellis, Luke Daly
C: Fraser Duryea, Michael Duncan, Chris Hyde
HF: Lachie Tiziani, Brayden O'Hara, Lachie Taylor-Nugent
F: Joel Mackie, Dean Heta, Jim Grills
Foll: Zach Bye, Elliott Powell, Jake Gaynor
Int: Will McIntosh, Jessy Wilson, John Mitchell
* No VFL-list players included
2019 DRAW
R1: Wangaratta Rovers (h)
R2: Lavington (a)
R3: Wodonga (a)
R4: North Albury (h)
R5: Corowa-Rutherglen (a)
R6: Wangaratta (h)
R7: Myrtleford (a)
R8: Wodonga Raiders (h)
R9: Yarrawonga (a)
R10: Lavington (h)
R11: Wangaratta Rovers (a)
R12: Wodonga (h)
R13: North Albury (a)
R14: Wangaratta (a)
R15: Corowa-Rutherglen (h)
R16: Yarrawonga (h)
R17: Wodonga Raiders (a)
R18: Myrtleford (h)
2018 BEST & FAIREST
1st: Jake Gaynor
2nd: Chris Hyde
3rd: Dean Polo
2018 MOST GOALS
1st: Brayden O'Hara 35
2nd: Charles Gaylard 34
3rd: Chris Hyde 29
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