A Best 22 for 2016

[meow meow]

The blind faith in Kommer is a little crazy. Had one average season, back in 2013 and hasn't done a thing other than get injured since. Would play McKenna ahead of him every day of the week.

[silloc]

The blind faith in Kommer is a little crazy. Had one average season, back in 2013 and hasn't done a thing other than get injured since. Would play McKenna ahead of him every day of the week.

Yeah especially after 2 years out.

B: Baguley, Hurley, Pears
HB: Hibberd, Hooker, Goddard
C: Stanton, Myers, Heppell
HF: Zaharakis, Daniher, Watson
F: Dempsy, Mckernan, Bellchambers
Foll: Leuenberger, Z. Merrett, Hocking

Int: Colyer, Fantasia, Laverde, Howlett

(quick one, without 2015 draft crop. may have forgot a few)

[plumdog millionaire]

Hopefully...

In: Francis and Curnow
Out Dempsey and ?

[silloc]

Hopefully...

In: Francis and Curnow
Out Dempsey and ?

hopefully parish and Curnow... Francis is a swing man that is more so a backman, if we were forced to get two key position players weidemen would be the go.

I wouldn't put any first year players in our 22 apart from MAYBE parish

Also; I don't think GCS would've given up pick 3 if they thought we'd take francis

[Southstorm]

B: Baguley, Hurley, Pears
HB: Hibberd, Hooker, Myers
C: Stanton, Watson, Heppell
HF: Zaharakis, Daniher, Goddard
F: Kommer, Curnow, Bellchambers
Foll: Leuenberger, Z. Merrett, Hocking

Int: Bird, Parish, Laverde, Langford

:D

No way we'll get parish now, Melbourne are banking on us only taking one of either Weideman and Curnow. Then they'll take which ever one we don't pick. I hope I'm wrong but...

Also bird is not in our best 22 if Watson hocking myers are all fit

I'd say Bird is and Howlett isn't. Bird does everything Howlett does but more and does it better to boot.

[silloc]

B: Baguley, Hurley, Pears
HB: Hibberd, Hooker, Myers
C: Stanton, Watson, Heppell
HF: Zaharakis, Daniher, Goddard
F: Kommer, Curnow, Bellchambers
Foll: Leuenberger, Z. Merrett, Hocking

Int: Bird, Parish, Laverde, Langford

:D

No way we'll get parish now, Melbourne are banking on us only taking one of either Weideman and Curnow. Then they'll take which ever one we don't pick. I hope I'm wrong but...

Also bird is not in our best 22 if Watson hocking myers are all fit

I'd say Bird is and Howlett isn't. Bird does everything Howlett does but more and does it better to boot.

Howlett has speed

[Southstorm]

B: Baguley, Hurley, Pears
HB: Hibberd, Hooker, Myers
C: Stanton, Watson, Heppell
HF: Zaharakis, Daniher, Goddard
F: Kommer, Curnow, Bellchambers
Foll: Leuenberger, Z. Merrett, Hocking

Int: Bird, Parish, Laverde, Langford

:D

No way we'll get parish now, Melbourne are banking on us only taking one of either Weideman and Curnow. Then they'll take which ever one we don't pick. I hope I'm wrong but...

Also bird is not in our best 22 if Watson hocking myers are all fit

I'd say Bird is and Howlett isn't. Bird does everything Howlett does but more and does it better to boot.

Howlett has speed

I don't see Howlett being any quicker than Bird. Bird might do his best work as an inside midfielder but he certainly isn't slow. And if speed is what we really want, Howlett isn't a player who you'd choose to provide it.

[silloc]

our midfield lacks pace, bird is no better than howlett, howlett is faster than bird.... easy

[Southstorm]

I've seen enough of Bird on the wing to know he's decent at providing outside run and absolutely nothing from Ben Howlett to suggest he's faster than Craig Bird.

[PowerBug]

Why do people not like Howlett? I think he's an alright player ???

[elephants]

Why do people like Howlett? He's just an alright player.

[Southstorm]

Howlett isn't a bad player, he's just an inside player that's down the pecking order at the club and probably going to be further down the order as time goes on.

If Watson or Hocking gets injured he'll be the next cab off the rank.

[Southstorm]

The blind faith in Kommer is a little crazy. Had one average season, back in 2013 and hasn't done a thing other than get injured since. Would play McKenna ahead of him every day of the week.

Kommer's best is better than McKenna's best easily. If not Kommer, then Fantasia, but nobody applies forward pressure at our club like Nick Kommer.

[H1bb3i2d]

The blind faith in Kommer is a little crazy. Had one average season, back in 2013 and hasn't done a thing other than get injured since. Would play McKenna ahead of him every day of the week.

Kommer's best is better than McKenna's best easily. If not Kommer, then Fantasia, but nobody applies forward pressure at our club like Nick Kommer.

For me, it's the fact we need a forward pocket that can chase, tackle and kick a few goals. I don't really rate Kommer that highly, but he's the only forward pocket on our list so I just hope he can provide.

Hopefully...

In: Francis and Curnow
Out Dempsey and ?

hopefully parish and Curnow... Francis is a swing man that is more so a backman, if we were forced to get two key position players weidemen would be the go.

I wouldn't put any first year players in our 22 apart from MAYBE parish

Also; I don't think GCS would've given up pick 3 if they thought we'd take francis

Francis to me is most comparable to Mackie in size/position. He's a great mark and has decent size to him so he can play tall when needed, but we have Hooker and Hurley and not many teams play a 3rd tall. That should allow him some Mackie-like freedom to create off half back, and drift forward to hit the scoreboard. I'd love to see him line up round one over someone like Gwilt/Pears/Steinberg. That's definitely the only hole in our otherwise strong defence.

Presuming the Dees now take Parish at 3, Francis is 100% the best player available at 4. As much as I don't think Weideman is the 5th best player in the draft, we may as well find Joe a partner to built an 8-10 year forward line with. We may not get a better chance than this to draft a young KPF, they take longer to develop, mids are easier to find later in the draft and we should have another top 10 pick next year in a draft with a stronger pool of quality midfielders available.

I would have loved Parish because he's what we need, but oh well. You can't fill 3 holes with 2 picks.

If next year we find a classy outside player who can still win his own ball, a solid inside midfielder to take over from Watson and find a small forward somewhere along the way, we're well on our way.

FB Baguley, Hooker, Hibberd
HB _______ Hurley, ________
C Goddard, Watson, Colyer
HF Zaharakis, Daniher, Z Merrett
FF ________, ________, ________
Foll Leuenberger, Hocking, Heppell

Bench Stanton, Myers, ________, ________

I think these guys are the only locks in our 22.
-Francis*, Gwilt, Gleeson & Dempsey vie for the back 6. Room for Gleeson/Demspsey on the bench as a flexible back rotation who can also play up the wing and forward line.
-McKernan, Bellchambers or Weideman* at FF. Probably Bellchambers, although I'd prefer Joey deep and McKernan up the ground.
-I'd like one of Edwards or Langford to get a game every week in the forward line. Hopefully Kommer or McKenna can provide a little pressure, but we'll probably play Ambrose instead.
-Cooney gets the other bench spot at full strength.
-Howlett and Bird provide midfield depth to guys like Myers, Watson and Hocking who seem to get injured a bit.
-Laverde and J Merrett will get plenty of opportunities, no team has a 0 injury list. Laverde running around getting 25 touches in the VFL isn't the worst thing for his development.
-Pears, Steinberg, Browne, Kavanagh and O'Brien are all depth guys who have one final year to become best 22. A deeper draft next year will see them gone otherwise.

That's about all of my thoughts on our list for 2016! Looking into it the future is much brighter than some would suggest. We were on par with North last year and a much younger list. A nice run with injuries and WADA and I think finals would be a real chance, but with so many teams around the mark (Pies, Port, GWS, Geelong) it's unlikely. Injuries will probably decide the middle part of the ladder, sadly.

From an AFL point of view, if the Suns, Saints, Dees and Lions can all make some inroads it could be a ripper of a season!

[silloc]

The blind faith in Kommer is a little crazy. Had one average season, back in 2013 and hasn't done a thing other than get injured since. Would play McKenna ahead of him every day of the week.

Kommer's best is better than McKenna's best easily. If not Kommer, then Fantasia, but nobody applies forward pressure at our club like Nick Kommer.

For me, it's the fact we need a forward pocket that can chase, tackle and kick a few goals. I don't really rate Kommer that highly, but he's the only forward pocket on our list so I just hope he can provide.

Hopefully...

In: Francis and Curnow
Out Dempsey and ?

hopefully parish and Curnow... Francis is a swing man that is more so a backman, if we were forced to get two key position players weidemen would be the go.

I wouldn't put any first year players in our 22 apart from MAYBE parish

Also; I don't think GCS would've given up pick 3 if they thought we'd take francis

Francis to me is most comparable to Mackie in size/position. He's a great mark and has decent size to him so he can play tall when needed, but we have Hooker and Hurley and not many teams play a 3rd tall. That should allow him some Mackie-like freedom to create off half back, and drift forward to hit the scoreboard. I'd love to see him line up round one over someone like Gwilt/Pears/Steinberg. That's definitely the only hole in our otherwise strong defence.

Presuming the Dees now take Parish at 3, Francis is 100% the best player available at 4. As much as I don't think Weideman is the 5th best player in the draft, we may as well find Joe a partner to built an 8-10 year forward line with. We may not get a better chance than this to draft a young KPF, they take longer to develop, mids are easier to find later in the draft and we should have another top 10 pick next year in a draft with a stronger pool of quality midfielders available.

I would have loved Parish because he's what we need, but oh well. You can't fill 3 holes with 2 picks.

If next year we find a classy outside player who can still win his own ball, a solid inside midfielder to take over from Watson and find a small forward somewhere along the way, we're well on our way.

FB Baguley, Hooker, Hibberd
HB _______ Hurley, ________
C Goddard, Watson, Colyer
HF Zaharakis, Daniher, Z Merrett
FF ________, ________, ________
Foll Leuenberger, Hocking, Heppell

Bench Stanton, Myers, ________, ________

I think these guys are the only locks in our 22.
-Francis*, Gwilt, Gleeson & Dempsey vie for the back 6. Room for Gleeson/Demspsey on the bench as a flexible back rotation who can also play up the wing and forward line.
-McKernan, Bellchambers or Weideman* at FF. Probably Bellchambers, although I'd prefer Joey deep and McKernan up the ground.
-I'd like one of Edwards or Langford to get a game every week in the forward line. Hopefully Kommer or McKenna can provide a little pressure, but we'll probably play Ambrose instead.
-Cooney gets the other bench spot at full strength.
-Howlett and Bird provide midfield depth to guys like Myers, Watson and Hocking who seem to get injured a bit.
-Laverde and J Merrett will get plenty of opportunities, no team has a 0 injury list. Laverde running around getting 25 touches in the VFL isn't the worst thing for his development.
-Pears, Steinberg, Browne, Kavanagh and O'Brien are all depth guys who have one final year to become best 22. A deeper draft next year will see them gone otherwise.

That's about all of my thoughts on our list for 2016! Looking into it the future is much brighter than some would suggest. We were on par with North last year and a much younger list. A nice run with injuries and WADA and I think finals would be a real chance, but with so many teams around the mark (Pies, Port, GWS, Geelong) it's unlikely. Injuries will probably decide the middle part of the ladder, sadly.

From an AFL point of view, if the Suns, Saints, Dees and Lions can all make some inroads it could be a ripper of a season!

I don't really care who we pick with 4,5, I think the holes in attack warrant even going both Curnow and Weidman... Probably debating about it is useless. So we'll wait until after the draft. But for what it's worth, I think Curnows could bring quicker returns and might suit better.

You GOTTA give pears the third tall spot, right? poor guy...

I think a lot will change as far as a new coach goes and who he thinks fits where, so expect some curve balls.

Also Steinberg needs to be upgraded or delisted, he has been on the rookie list 3years which is max.