Seeing Langford become Jobe Watson 2.0 , Francis play 20 + games, and watching Merrett get off the leash again with extra midfield protection 
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Disappointing that Tippa didnāt even rate a mention in that piece, but then again many others didnāt either, notably Saad.
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- Daniher and Fantasia both playing 20+ games alone screams finals bound to me.
- The rise of youth. Langford, Laverde, McKenna, Parish, Francis, Redman, Guelfi, McGrath and Begley. Over a third of our best 22 could be under 23.
- Shiel and Stringer to get back to their best and provide consistent AA form.
- Starting QB? With Goddard gone who steps into that position? Gleeson back from injury, extra tall defender and give Francis space, Ridley steps up or does a prominent midfielder move to half back?
- Can our two leaders have career best seasons? Can Zerrett get off the leash and become a goal kicking mid? Will more players sharing the midfield load help Heppell and will his disposal improve?
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If JD has another interrupted year with OP, Hooker stays forward.
Given Joe has had another hampered off season, Iād be pleasantly surprised if he plays anywhere near 22 games.
I think Stringer has a lot of upside this year. Seems way more settled and wouldnāt be surprised to see him gather a number of brownlow votes.
JOEDAN
Hooker wasnāt forward though.
Smack filled that role and Hooker went bask to shore up our defence.
As stated above in the article we only conceded on average 76 points against from round 9 onwards and Hooker was a big part of the reason why.
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From memory Joe has basically never had a full pre-season. Certainly 2016 and 2017 he missed a lot of sessions.
So as long as heās playing and wlactually fit, i donāt think an interrupted pre-season is a big issue for him
4 photosā¦ 4 players with their eyes closesā¦ What is the secret message here?
Just a bit sleepy I suppose DAF, but Howe looks like a complete zombie when taking a mark. Its hard to beat that one.
Canāt afford another poor start to the season need to bank as many wins early
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I justā¦I justā¦I just wantā¦
A bigger deck?
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Team for Round 1 will look something like this I believe.
B - Saad Hooker Francis
HB - McKenna Hurley Ridley
C - McGrath Heppell Zakka
HF - Smith Brown Stringer
F - Fantasia Smack Tippa
R - Bellchambers Shiel Zerett
I/C - Parish, Langford, Guelfi, Myers
Notable absentees - Daniher, Gleeson (I suspect they wonāt be right for round 1)
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Having Francis and Ridley in the same backline would be awesome.
Hooker and Hurley arenāt going to be around forever so now is the time for these guys to start learning off them.
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Agreed, hopefully Ridley can take the next step. He certainly has the skill-set for it, just needs a bit more experience and maybe a few extra days at the gym.
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Given the panic thatās swept some Boards re readiness for Round 1, I thought Iād do a Pessimistās Best 22 and see what it looked like.
B. MacNiece Hooker Zerk
HB. Saad Hurley Ridley
C. Zaharakis Francis McGrath
HF. Fanta Brown Tippa
FF. Bags Smack Stringer
R. Draper Hepp Merrett
I/C Langford Parish Ambrose Jok
Note: I included Saad, despite the Blitz reports of āfatnessā
I assumed Blitz was correct in that Laverde would be injured in a pre season game.
Smith, Shiel, McKenna and Belly are all obviously carrying undisclosed ailments- again according to Blitz.
And Joey, Gleeson, Redman, and Fridge are clearly victims of a fitness department that accepts mediocrity.
On the other hand itās not a bad ā ā ā ā ā ā ā side at all.
Whoops - I forgot Myers - but that just might be for historical injury reasons.
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FFS Langford still on the benchš
Put him in the guts
Iād put Guelfi in Bagsā place. Good to see that our depth is not bad.
Just running outta deckhands.
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No farkin way does Fanta play in a pessimist side.
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