Barring no injuries. And I highly doubt we will land anyone else his trade period.
Our best 22.
B: Francis - Hurley - Gleeson
HB: Saad - Hooker - McKenna
C: Zaharakis - Heppell - McGrath
HF: Fantasia - Stringer - Smith
F: Tippa - Daniher - Laverde
R: Bellcho - Shiel - Merrett
INT: Langford - Parish - Guelfi - Begley
B: Francis - Hurley - Gleeson
HB: Saad - Hooker - McKenna
C: Zaharakis - Heppell - McGrath
HF: Fantasia - Daniher - Smith
F: Tippa - Smack - Stringer
R: Bellcho - Shiel - Merrett
INT: Langford - Parish - Guelfi - ???
I’m open to suggestions on the final bench spot - bags, begs, Redman, another trade target…
I feel the rest looks pretty settled though smack selection is no doubt speculative and some what controversial.
The other thing to consider is that if Francis explodes next year we could be afforded the luxury of playing hooker forward again and posting one of Ambrose, brown or Hartley back again. Really the only direct match up I’d say hooker has to take is Hawkins otherwise we like him to float as much as possible for his intercept ability. If Francis, and a fit gleeson can provide that I’m not sure there are too many forward lines which would force him back.
Thoughts?
Shouldn’t we wait until after the trade and drafts?
Myers and Redman in for Guelfi and ???
Still not sure what Guelfi is, exactly. Love for him to work on his kicking this off season and push for Zaha’s wing.
I like his (guelfi’s) versatility and commitment in the contest. I forgot about Myers, somehow.
Redman showed heaps, in two games, he needs to back it up before he’s an automatic selection
My best 22 exactly. No changes. Well selected.
p.s. Smack partnering Joey the only consideration for mine.
It’s a fascinating 22 now. Blokes that are almost always picked when available are now real chances of missing a spot.
I think the Hooker forward or back argument is real. Linked to this is Ambrose selection. He is an important cog I think given all the medium forwards running around now. Smack obviously won’t fit if Hooker forward, which I think in some ways would be a very sad result.
I also have Redman in my 22. What that kid showed in his 2 games is very difficult to ignore. And I say that knowing Gleeson has to find a spot, and Ridley and Begley we’re both given opportunities before him in 2018.
In addition our coaching panel continually back in experienced players. I think Baguley and Myers will get played almost every game in 2019. While I’d play younger players in front of them, it cannot be denied that their 2018 form had them in the 22.
Guelfi’s a goer but he is too keen to dump it on the boot without looking, for mine. And he doesn’t have the penetration to get away with that. Fixable, I think.
Midfield is interesting
Heppell, Shiel, Zerrett, Smith, Langford, Zaharakis get picked every week
Assume McGrath and Parish come on and make a case for the same
Stringer, Fantasia, Tippa in the rotations
Myers, Begley, Guelfi, Mutch, Clarke, Colyer, Houlihan fight it out for the scraps
I feel like we are still missing a bit of goal sense in that group and that we haven’t really got anyone outside of zerrett who cuts teams up by foot
I don’t agree, has a laconic 60 metre kick in him easily.
Guess it was someone else turning it over a bunch.
Langford is incredible by foot.
I think tippa is the best and most reliable kick in our side. McKenna can really hurt opponents by foot. So can Francis though he is still erratic.
I think our issue is not so much having enough guys who really hurt as it is having too many that hurt us by foot. Across the board we need to set a decent standard of efficiency by foot and make sure players who aren’t elite kicks aren’t going for too much. Those same guys also need to make damn sure they don’t burn overlap runners who should get the handball. Heppell does this routinely and he most certainly does not have the kicking licence that zerret has.
And yeah langford has legit hurt factor by foot
You said he lacked penetration. Which has nothing to do with turnovers.
Oh yes. So much this.
The Francis lid is already in orbit for mine.
I hope Shiel’s inclusion sees Hepp’s role simplified somewhat.
I thought we burned him out a bit at times with how much work he got through spreading and presenting on the outside, as well as leading the charge on the inside. End result, huge TOG, huge posessions, but a few too many turnovers. Feel like he’s the type who tries to do everything all the time, until you tell him not to. Shiel’s skillset helps us balance things out.
Hepp should be set as the primary clearance mid; Shiel, Smith and Zerrett inside/outside. Langford off the back of the pack and Myers the fresh legs off the bench. Sounds good in theory…