Yeah - I’m hoping big Cox will play against the Hawks round 1 - depends on injuries between now and then…Weideman could play instead of Jones also if he’s right to go as we need a back up ruck for Draper
I think there’s about 0 chance we see a proper ‘best 22’ take the field any time this year so I’ll change the criteria a bit and have a stab how I think we’ll line up round 1.
we will know more in terms of what this might look like after the practice matches against GCoast & the Saints. We really need at least one of our talls in Cox, Stewart, Reid or Hayes to cement a spot as a key position defender. Zerk looks solid - but Laverde and Ridley aren’t really key position defenders
Agree our defence likely will be a bit leaky - but we do have a few proven options in attack;-
Peter Wright kicked 53 goals last year
Stringer and Tippa kicked 41 & 34 goals respectively in 2021
Jones & Weiedman average 1.3 goals a game
Menzie & Davey look like exiting small forward options
I am far less worried by our forward line and ability to score than our defence
Our backline looks really settled. It does have a weakness against big KPFs. It won’t stop too many fast breaks where the midfield has failed to do its job. However a settled back 6 is worth a lot.
I think the simplified game plan is going to help them a lot simply by getting more pressure on the ball coming in.
I think an interesting question for Scott is whether we play 3 small forwards to maintain pressure, rather than our previous set ups often having midfielders there.
You look at Geelong, and they play 3 smalls each week - Close, Myers and Stengle.
With that in mind, we might see Perkins playing VFL this year to work on his midfield craft