I’m expecting Baldwin to replace Francis and Reid to replace Stewart.
But both Stewart and Francis have a lot of upside. The current coaching group have been great at bringing untapped talent to fruition. Fingers crossed for the players and the team that we can get the most out of these guys.
I reckon Reid will play round 1, next year. I just feel like they want to get as many games into him as possible.
If Baldwin plays well in the VFL, he will replace Francis pretty quickly.
Reid is an interesting one. He would have played a lot more this year if he was physically ready. As it stands, illness and back injury prevented that.
Is this coming preseason going to make him robust enough to survive at AFL level? I’m not convinced. I think he’ll play 10 games throughout the year maximum, most of which he’ll be pushed around by bigger bodies. 2023 will be the year he locks down his best 22 spot.
Ealier in the year I wouldnt have thought Reid could replace Stewart but as the year went on Stewart was intercepting and playing as the 3rd tall a lot more then he was at the start which Reid might be capable of. I wouldnt be surprised if Lav and Ridley take the main forwards and Reid plays the 3rd tall/intercept role.
Don’t forget Kelly.
Kelly will mostly play on smalls/mediums, not talls.
He can also play on talls. He is versatile.
Im sure if we play someone with 4 tall forwards he will take the shortest of them.
Or he does a lockdown role, and Ridley can run free.
There is a variety of scenarios.
Could Francis do a monster preseason and push himself into the midfield or wing he needs to do something.
So then Reid and Ridley are intercepting? There are a variety of scenarios but generally there will be a clear set up, lets say we are playing the dogs. Laverde on Bruce, Ridley on Naughton, Reid/Stewart on English and Kelly on Weightman. Reid/Stewart would be intercepting. If we want Ridley intercepting he would switch with Reid/Stewart not with Kelly.
Who is your dealer? I want me some of whatever you got.
More chance of pigs flying than Francis being a mid fielder
Unfortunately he’s not got and never will have the sort of tank required to play in there. If he did, yeah I could see him being a very decent option in there with his size.
Francis will never be a mid IMO…he hasn’t got the awareness or the agility. I can only see him being a KPD or a KPF…thats it.
Having said that, would love to get a dozen straight games into him as a key forward, but with Jones there abouts and the other youngsters, its easy to see Francis may struggle to be in our best 22 on exposed form…which is a shame as he could be a very good player, if he could only gets his head together and stay fit for an extended period.
I am afraid Aaron will be one of those guys that just was not meant to be what he could have been…a coulda shoulda but didn’t fella
I think he’ll increasingly become a depth player. He’s going to find it tough to score a best 22 gig next year aside from injuries, especially if we keep prioritising getting games into kids and try to play Reid or someone like Baldwin most weeks.
If we assume Kelly is a senior regular (we picked him up for a reason), the only conceivable spot for Francis at his current formline is forward. He ain’t going to displace Ridley, Heppell, Redman, or Laverde on exposed form, and Stewart has height and size Francis can’t replace. My back-of-the-envelope best 22 even pushes Hind out of the backline on to the wing. It’s seriously crowded when it comes to selection pressure - blokes like Waterman, Guelfi, Durham and Cutler who did some very good things last year simply don’t fit, and that’s when I’m not even trying to squeeze Reid or this year’s first pick in.
Unless he finds a massive form spike from somewhere, I see him bouncing between the ones and the VFL a lot next year.
agree with this he may be bouncing between first and seconds.
assuming he plays forwards at AFL LEVEL, where would you expect or want to play him at VFL level
forward? work on developing leading patterns/ goal kicking
Midfielder to get more of the footy?
N o
I am betting in decades to come football fans all over the land will recall Zach Reid, ‘ The Prince of Defenders’.
He is and will be a gem. If you thought May and Lever were good, watch out for Reid and Ridley in a year or so.
Nada