I think what Townsend lacks in ability he makes up for in toughness which we are severely lacking! I’d rather have a guy like him out there making opposition players look over their shoulders and our guys walk taller than Zacka who only gets a kick when we’re winning. I’m sick of watching us getting bullied around the midfield with no one capable of doing anything about it!
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Positive its townsend.
ill Be interested if these guys go ahead of Langford, Laverde, Clarke and others.
If they do, the above should all be delisted.
Cutler is best 22. Essendon courted him for months. The wing is his to terrorise with his size and power.
Hibberd fills an important role inside. Will be fascinating to see how his “newly” developed inside skills translates in the seniors? He’ll be given every opportunity to prove his worth. At this stage, he’s a 60:40 chance to become best 22. Reckon Hibberd will make the most of his chances ‘cause his professionalism will get him over the line.
Townsend adds size and mongrel to the forward half of the ground. How he fits into best 22 is unclear given the tackling/pressure of a returning Smith. The selection looks like Truck’s call so he likely wants him to fill a role, probably as coverage for injury?
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I haven’t seen much of Hibberd, but hep looks cooked and bringing in stringer into the centre means we are down a talented player in the forward line. He could be the next paddy Ambrose and just do an awesome job at playing a role for the team a beating he’s man.
Time will tell, good luck Mate
P.S fark Carlton
Big fan of these three guys coming in… bigger, harder bodies in the middle, on the wing, up forward, providing much needed protection for our little blokes all over the ground. These guys will add to the numbers… I expect Lav, Lang and Ambrose to add to the complement of hard-running guys asked to throw their weight around.
Important to add more of these types to the best 26-28 (there won’t be a best 22 for us next year playing more of a Tige’s game) as there will be attrition playing this way. Finally, we look to be putting together a style that might have a chance come finals.
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If he’s back to full fitness I see no reason why he can’t play career best footy
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Dunno about Townsend, but there is a good chance hibberd and cutler play round 1 imo
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Mitch Brown 16 games - replaced by Daniher …Stewart/Gown/Laverde…Jones
Mark Baguley 10 games - replaced by Snelling/Mosquito/ Begley / Ned Cahill
Zac Clarke 9 games - replaced by Phillips/ Draper/…Bryan
Dave Myers 7 games - replaced by Hibberd/Townsend/Clarke
McNeice 5 games - more games Ridley/Guelfi repositioned?
Hartley 3 games - Zerk-Thatcher
TOm Jok 1 game - wing - Cutler/Mutch/Ham/Hibberd
I would say our depth is adequate to replace the guys who filled in games for us last year.
And overall we are probably better suited for a tilt with a stronger list… and better senior depth (more AFL hardened bodies)
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My view is Townsend, Hibberd and Cutler are not automatic upgrades or guaranteed a spot in our best 22.
But, it takes players like these stepping up and wanting success and striving for the ultimate prize together to win a flag.
So for mine, I still believe we have the list to win the premiership this year. But the improvement, desire and desperation for success must come from our existing players, who want to win it and do it together, for each other. Gleeson, Parish, Guelfi, Begley, Francis, McGrath, Langford, Laverde, Redman, D Clarke, Snelling and Smack are the ones who are good enough and would fit into a system with any other successful side and look like world beaters.
Those guys are the ones who must step up and want it enough (together with Hibberd, Townsend and Cutler) and work with Shiel, Merrett, J Dan, Tippa, Stringer, Raz, Saad and McKenna. These guys are stars but cannot win a premiership on their own. They’ll get targeted, tagged and brilliant efforts from these guys is not enough.
So I welcome our recruits, and hope they have the hunger and desperation and that the guys they are competing with to get into the best 22 can be just as hungry and desperate to win it together.
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i took Smith out…because I think When Baguley was playing earlier in the year Smith was there…so he’s not really taking Baguleys games.
ie Baguley played first 7 games with Smith (who also played first 7/8 games)
Still rate Smith.
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If you’re talking about significant ins then he should be there somewhere.
I don’t know if he and Snelling can play in the same side. I hope so.
And…I’m not sure where the panic over small forwards is coming from.
But anyway, he’s a lock for the side and will be replacing someone from the last half of the year.
I was more talking about replacement depth that has been cut…
Daniher for Brown is obviously the exception…as the rest of the players are depth replacing Depth.
Smith is a significant in, and hopefully in Leadership group too.
Think Smith should be more mid than forward though…
and Due to stringers fitness or lack thereof he should be more forward than Mid.
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To my mind we have significantly weakened our key position depth, and replaced it with big bodied runners.
Yep… yay.
The quality of the KPPs we had running around at the end of last year wasn’t great (mainly due to age and injury but that’s still likely to be a factor next year).
So we’ve gone all out getting in more hard-bodied ruck-rovers… ala Richmond. No probs with that, in the circumstances… many of us have been crying out for years for that to happen. Sounds like the Richmond boys, Truck and Cara, are properly taking over the reigns.
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in the short term yes, but not much point having Hartley on list if wont play him.
but long term
additions of Bryan(Ruck) Jones (Fwd) will help improve our KPP stock for years to come and better overall going forward.
I think at the very least, we now have harder bodies on the track during the week at training which will help the development of our core group. Forget best 22s at this stage, it’s going to be a tough summer for the likes of Parish, McGrath, Zerrett, Shiel, Clarke, Langford and Laverde who have to front up to Hibberd, Cutler and Townsend every other day. That in itself improves our list on 2019 IMO.
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I’m not sure that we’ve adequately addressed who’s going to play the Jake Long role though…
Can’t remember who said it might have been Shiel.
When Shiel arrived at the club said the Giants train way harder than Essendon also Smith was surprised at the lack of intensity at training everyone had to up their training standards when Smith arrived. guys like Hibberd and Townsend will do the same they will be hungry as for another crack at the top level and will bust their nuts for a spot in the team.