Itās great that no one will even blink that you have Fantasia in the Non-negotiable list. What a player he already is, just a massive triumph of talent identification later in the draft - you need plucks like that along the way to building a premiership list.
Ambrose is not best 22 replace with Francis
Brown is not best 22 replace with Stanton (I donāt think Stanton is best 22) who will be played on sentimentality. Would be surprised if Hocking doesnāt play, but where do you fit him in?
2017 - Bring it on !
I still reckon Francis will need a big pre-season and some VFL experience before he makes the side, immensely talented and with some conditioning I think he would be a great swap for Ambrose. And for Stanton I just donāt see a real place for him unfortunately, I just thought he was a bit slow and from what I remember his form dropped a bit at the end of 2015, but I hope he makes it. Yeah Hocking is a good one, probably could replace Brown or Laverde, so much depth itās hard to have any idea what the team will look like. What was your best 22?
Picking a best 22 is like politics, you just know someone is going to disagree with you.
I would say these are the 12 core, not negotiable players in the best 22. the rest can fight it out in the pre-season, intraclub matches and the NAB series to make up the team.
Ambrose is not best 22 replace with Francis
Brown is not best 22 replace with Stanton (I donāt think Stanton is best 22) who will be played on sentimentality. Would be surprised if Hocking doesnāt play, but where do you fit him in?
2017 - Bring it on !
I still reckon Francis will need a big pre-season and some VFL experience before he makes the side, immensely talented and with some conditioning I think he would be a great swap for Ambrose. And for Stanton I just donāt see a real place for him unfortunately, I just thought he was a bit slow and from what I remember his form dropped a bit at the end of 2015, but I hope he makes it. Yeah Hocking is a good one, probably could replace Brown or Laverde, so much depth itās hard to have any idea what the team will look like. What was your best 22?
pretty happy with your choices but for Francis and Stanton. Once again I wouldnt have Stanton in the 22 but I know theyāll play him. If I was selecting the team I would gave Buddha in lieu of Stanton.
we have so much depth that i feel with each best 22 that someone posts, they need to include a list of noticeable absentees
i think all of these teams look really good, but they could just about leave heppell out and i wouldnāt even realise as there is a heap of other quality on the field
I think Francis is still a mile off selection tbh, he was doing great things in the VFL yet could hardly break into the senior team due to injuries + conditioning, and now with so much more competition for spots heās not even going to be gifted the few games he got in 2016. Look for him to tear up the second half of the season or 2018 imo
E (from): LAV, Gleeson, Brown, Ambrose, Stewart, Bellchambers, Francis, Howlett, Bird, Redman, Morgan, McKenna, Long, McKernan, Eades, the remainder of the 2016 draftees.
That is my crack at the round 1 team. I would hope that LAV, Francis and Gleeson have gone past the likes of Kelly, Stanton and Goddard by the end of the the year.
That was really, really tough to put together. I am not sure if I am overrating our depth or if I should head to the lid off thread.
Almost certain Iāve forgotten someoneā¦ good problem to have I guess.
Iāve gone with the strong defence, play hurls on the 3rd tall and allow him and Goddard to do whatever they want. Will give Hurley/Hooker freedom to make up for the lack of defence from McGrath.
4/6 of our forwards can swap on the ball, negating the rotation system and any ālack of match fitnessā the media are hoping for.
Canāt wait to see what we can do this season, itās been a long time coming.
Francis and Stewart are the real game changers for the side. What they do this year could seriously change our thinking going forward.
Especially if Hooker goes well forward early.
I think people may be underestimating the gains that Francis has made already and where he will be in the 4-5 months time. He will easily run out VFL games, get to more contest and be involved allot more than this year. That kind of talent could be very hard to keep out of the side if he is running out games ok.
Iāve said it before and I will say it again. If you donāt have Hocking as starting 22 your wrong. He was VC for a reason and his work around the stoppages is second only to Jobe, he can tag, he be attacking, he can kick goals. He is an extremely important part of our midfield.
Francis and Stewart are the real game changers for the side. What they do this year could seriously change our thinking going forward.
Especially if Hooker goes well forward early.
I think people may be underestimating the gains that Francis has made already and where he will be in the 4-5 months time. He will easily run out VFL games, get to more contest and be involved allot more than this year. That kind of talent could be very hard to keep out of the side if he is running out games ok.
Iāve said it before and I will say it again. If you donāt have Hocking as starting 22 your wrong. He was VC for a reason and his work around the stoppages is second only to Jobe, he can tag, he be attacking, he can kick goals. He is an extremely important part of our midfield.
Id mark a few players as possible game changers
McGrath - could play every game and win the rising star, creating drive from half back, or we could develop him in VFL to beign with.
Francis agree he could have a breakout game forward or back. like Hurley did in his first year against Treadrea. He could also spend first half of season in VFL building Fitness.
Stewart - could he be ruck support and support Daniher as a genuine second tall, will depend on their chemistry.
Watson and Myers will add inside strength to what we missed last year.
B: Mark Baguley - Michael Hartley - Aaron Francis
HB: Andrew McGrath - Michael Hurley - James Kelly
C: Travis Colyer - Jobe Watson - Brent Stanton
HF: David Zaharakis - Joe Daniher - Kyle Langford
FF: Orasio Fantasia - Cale Hooker - Anthony Tipungwuti
FOL: Matthew Leuenberger - Dyson Heppell (C) - Zach Merrett (vc)