2011 Round 1 Best 22

[hawk_88]

After a season that saw many greats leave the club and various kids get games, the Crows best 22 is a bit of an unknown for those of us who do follow them closely.

So Crows fans.... What is your best 22 for round 1. Who in that side would be the bottom 6 and who would be the next 6 coming in?

[McRooster]

We will get a better idea this week when the Crows take on Fremantle at Thebarton Oval, Saturday @ 3.30pm.
Proper match format this time, will really test the metal of next tier opportunists against strong opposition. I'm going along and hope to ge a good look at who stands up and demands 'pick me'.

[DG]

I think it'll be something like this:

FB     Doughty     Rutten        Johncock
HB    Otten         Davis           Symes
C      Mackay        Vince          Sloane
HF    Douglas       Tippett        Knights
FF     Henderson   Walker        Dangerfield
R      Jacobs        Thompson    van Berlo
B       Maric (S)     Martin          Reilly      Stevens

Of those, i think the 6 that would need to perform regularly to avoid the chop are:
Doughty
Sloane
Henderson
Reilly
Stevens
Martin

The 6 (actually ive put 7!) that arent in the side that would be next in line are:
McKernan
Tambling
Smith
Jaensch
Porp
Petrenko
Gunston

Really want to see Smith and Gunston get a go though, i thought they looked quite good in the NAB Cup.  ;)

[hawk_88]

So you don't think Talia is a chance? Heard he made great progress in the SANFL last year.

[DG]

Unfortunately i dont think so yet, but would love to see him get a game, played pretty well in the SANFL last year. One thing in his favour is that we are a little light on in terms of defenders, so could potentially take Stevens' spot.

One bloke i did miss was Callinan (if he gets elevated). I dont think he'll play from the beginning, but he showed that he could offer us a bit last week, and Craigy is a big fan.

It will be interesting to see how the sub works this year, could potentially end up playing only one of Jacobs and Maric, and rotating Tippett though the ruck, would then open up a spot for someone like Talia.

[hawk_88]

It will be interesting to see how the sub works this year, could potentially end up playing only one of Jacobs and Maric, and rotating Tippett though the ruck, would then open up a spot for someone like Talia.

My bet is that most coaches that have Ruckman who can play in a key position as well will avoid using the sub on the ruck and rather rotate the rucks through that position. Tippet, Brown, Hale, Ryder, Clarke, Campbell, Fraiser, Bradley, Petrie just to name a few.