2026 rolling best 23

I’d love pou tonight

Have you tried prune juice?

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He is one I’m not keen on. I like confidence and all, but he just seems like a twat and not sure he has the game to back it up.

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fair enough, i have no idea what his personally it like, jsut like his highlight reel

Perkins and Robey playing forward together is a must, both handsome so that helps

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Ross the Boss reckons he’s going to do everything in his power to make sure they sign him.

So ■■■■ him…and RTB too.

I’d like to think we look something like:

FB: McGrath - McKay - Ridley
HB: Clarke - Reid - Redman
R: Bryan - Sharp - Durham
C: Fiorini - Martin - Duursma
HF: Merrett - Caddy - Robey
FF: Wright - Langford - Kako
I/C:Perkins - Parish - Cadlwell - Farrow - Roberts

With a few under an injury cloud at this time (some guaranteed to be missing, I’d have the following replacements:

  • Ridley (Kondogiannis)
  • Bryan (Visentini)
  • Martin (Tsatas - to the bench and Parish on-field)
  • Robey (May to FF, Langford to the HFF)
  • Langford (May - ADW to the HFF if Robey out too)
  • Perkins (ADW or El-Hawli if multiples are out)

I think that ‘Best 23’ is actually a competitive side. Not to go deep into finals, but to certainly make it tougher for opposition sides for longer. We’d get to see a glimpse of what a successful Essendon side might look like if that team gets 10 weeks continuity.

And I appreciate that’s a big if.

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Ridley McKay Nguyen
Redman Reid Roberts
Fiorini McGrath(c) Duursma
Perkins May Merrett
Langford Caddy Kako

Vigo Durham Caldwell

Bench: Parish(mid), Sharp(mid), Clarke(def/wing), Robey(fwd/mid), 2MP(ruck/fwd)

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I’m at a loss to see what Perkins has done to be included in any best 23 equations.

He starts in the VFL for me, especially with his groin issues now meaning he’ll have a limited pre season.

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Ridley McKay Nguyen
Redman Reid Roberts
Fiorini McGrath(c) Duursma
Robey May Merrett
Langford Caddy Kako

Bryan Durham Caldwell

Bench: Farrow(def), Sharp(mid), Clarke(def/wing), Parish(mid), 2MP(ruck/fwd)

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He was third in the goalkicking last year. If we’re basing it on what players have done, it’s not outrageous…competition is limited. Has plenty of work to do nonetheless.

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Wasn’t that a savage indictment on the rest of the forwards?

Sounds like there’s going to be an interesting contest for the small/rebounding defenders in the back line. Seh, Johnson, Nguyen and farrow app might be right in the conversation. The incumbents are McGrath, Roberts, Redman and prior

Could McGrath and Roberts be looking at new roles?

Could we go a bit smaller down back and play Redman as the third tall consistently (maybe injuries dictate that).

We definitely need one or two genuine attacking weapons at half back

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I really hope Brad persists with Roberts down back, we don’t need any more midfielders currently and his competitiveness and grunt is exactly what we need down back

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