To be considered once available: Hooker, Gleeson, Begley
Langford’s form in the JLT was a complete disgrace and a massive step back from the form he started to show late last year. Baguley form was very poor in both JLT games. Laverde showed way more across HF in 1/2 a game against Carlton so is ahead of Baguley. Brown deserves a spot in the 22 given his good JLT form. Problem is he can’t ruck and is not strong overhead which is why I’ve picked McKernan ahead of him.
I like it, but will all of Tbell, Smack, Joey and Brown work in the same team? Puts pressure on the smalls, rotations, more defensive pressure from fewer…
Edit: Have they ever all played in the same team before?
Smack seriously put his hand up in the VFL practice game although it was against average opposition, with lots of incoming ball. He must be considered and is a bonus chop out ruckman. We might even have to reduce TBells minutes on the ball to ease him back into it.
Begley, Redman, Gleeson need to get back touch/ form in the VFL and should not be brought straight into the AFL side even as depth, as some suggest. Stewart has had an uninterrupted pre-season and must be in consideration for a recall as depth in lieu of Begley.
Did the people posting teams in here claim to be “experts?” I missed that.
And to say Smack got the team up and going is a bit much. He was one player in a whole team that lifted. He’s line ball with Brown. Some people like Brown more, some people like Smack more.
Pretty much spot on, even though they’re quite different players, and offer different flexibility - Smack is a chop-out ruckman, while Brown can cover a KPD position.
FWIW - my “reach” prediction is that Stewart will be in front of both of them by mid-season.
Referring to “experts” was meant to be tongue in cheek and not to offend
-apologies if necessary
I think this forum is great because it allows all Essendon people to comment openly and frankly and is inclusive regardless as to how long one has been posting on this site
Clearly Smack was not the only one to improve after the game against the Blues
But watching him in action in the Geelong game and thereafter- the way he applied his aggression and protected lighter younger players and his ability to kick crucial goals had a lot to do with it
Yes Brown is a also a good player
If a choice is to be made between the two I prefer Smack every day of the week
Lets hope they both get a game and combine to smash GWS
No need to apologise. I make comments like that all the time. I was just calling you out on it haha.
I’m in the Brown camp. More for consistency and reliability than anything. We wont get into it though because i can’t see anybody changing their mind. It’s funny how Stewart has totally dropped out of the equation (for now). I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t played an afl game by seasons end that he requests a trade. Surely there’d be some teams screaming out for a player like him, even if just for team structure. I wonder if he could re-invent himself as a defender like some people here have suggested?
I’m gonna go with this. There a few blokes on notice, but I believe we will line up something close to this. The last 2-3 spots are always debatable. Parish, Langford and baguley will feel pressure if they don’t perform. I’m happy for that side to take the park for the first 3-4 weeks. Anyone treading water after that gets the cannon
I think we can play mckernan, bellchambers, daniher and brown.
would go like this
Daniher 80% forward 10% ruck 10% bench
Mckernan 70% forward 20% ruck 10% bench
Bellchmabers 70% Ruck 20% foward bench 10%
Just tell Brown to play his normal role, pushiong up the ground then runing back to 50. working his opponent, racking up kms and being a outlet for defence.
My friend reckons he hopes we do badly this year because he heard internally the board will go hard for Hardwick the following year if we don’t win a final this year