I'd have all 3 emergencies in before Gwilt with demps moving to HBF.
Not much left after that 25 is there?
Yeah, still a good 4 or 5 quality players away from the best sides. With some luck that will be J Merrett, Browne, Gleeson and Fantasia (or someone) after the preseason. Then we need another 4 or so for the retirements that are coming soon. Still going to need to be very active in trading over the next couple of years. Time to white ant Port!
Can't believe I just read this thread.
Here's how I hope we line up in round 1.
Fletch Hooker Bags
Dempsey Hurley Hibberd
Colyer Watson Zacka
Belly Heppell Hocking
Cooney Carlisle Goddard
Chappy JoeDan Giles
Int: Winders Zerrett Stanton Howlett
Forwards might be too tall. Maybe swap Giles for someone on the bench.
I forgot to mention that Fantasia should play a few more games next year. Would love to see him hold a spot in the side. He showed a few good signs this year, tries to take the game on and has real X-factor. Remember that almost-wonder-goal against Carlton in the final round?
What is really striking me is the age of the best 22, midfield particularly. Even assuming Gwilt doesn't play unless we have injuries, we've got Goddard, Watson, Winderlich, Stanton, Chapman, Baguley, Cooney, Dempsey all north of 27, and with our 22 so stuffed to bursting with old guys we've got basically no room at all to give kids a sustained run. Zerrett Heppell and Daniher get a go, sure, simply cos they've earned it, but how are guys like Browne, Kav, Gleeson, Jerrett, Hams, Orazio, Ashby, Edwards etc (plus this year's draftees, of course) supposed to get senior experience and earn their spot when every year we bring in another supperannuant to crowd the kids out of the 22? BJ and Watson aren't really as problem cos they're still in top form, and there's no big rush on Baguley or Dempsey either, but we could lose any or all of the others at any time and the guys we'll be wanting to replace them in the guts of the midfield rotation will be 10-20 gamers rather than 50 gamers.
And my god the tall depth looks awful. The first-choice spine is great, but after that there is quite literally nothing. Injuries to any two talls at any given time - you know, like we failed to cover during the elimination final and lost because of it - and we're in deep trouble.
W're gambling absolutely everything on having a massive year and going almost completely injury-free in 2015 or, at the most generous, 2016. After that we've got all sorts of problems.
HM, I find it very interesting that in your list of old guys you didn’t include Fletch.
The only conclusion I can draw is that you expect him to outlast all of the blokes you listed.
With Hird coming back it could change again. Hird liked Melksham whereas Bomber didn't really give him a go. Senior coach and Senior Assistant have changed, I dare say the best 22 will as well.
What is really striking me is the age of the best 22, midfield particularly. Even assuming Gwilt doesn't play unless we have injuries, we've got Goddard, Watson, Winderlich, Stanton, Chapman, Baguley, Cooney, Dempsey all north of 27, and with our 22 so stuffed to bursting with old guys we've got basically no room at all to give kids a sustained run. Zerrett Heppell and Daniher get a go, sure, simply cos they've earned it, but how are guys like Browne, Kav, Gleeson, Jerrett, Hams, Orazio, Ashby, Edwards etc (plus this year's draftees, of course) supposed to get senior experience and earn their spot when every year we bring in another supperannuant to crowd the kids out of the 22? BJ and Watson aren't really as problem cos they're still in top form, and there's no big rush on Baguley or Dempsey either, but we could lose any or all of the others at any time and the guys we'll be wanting to replace them in the guts of the midfield rotation will be 10-20 gamers rather than 50 gamers.
And my god the tall depth looks awful. The first-choice spine is great, but after that there is quite literally nothing. Injuries to any two talls at any given time - you know, like we failed to cover during the elimination final and lost because of it - and we're in deep trouble.
W're gambling absolutely everything on having a massive year and going almost completely injury-free in 2015 or, at the most generous, 2016. After that we've got all sorts of problems.
HM, I find it very interesting that in your list of old guys you didn't include Fletch. The only conclusion I can draw is that you expect him to outlast all of the blokes you listed.
wouldn't surprise me!
I didn't list Fletch cos I'm more concerned about the age logjam in the midfield. The midfield we have so much depth as backup for ageing guys that we'll inevitably lose some talent there cos blokes aren't getting a go. In the spine we have so little depth as backup that Fletch pretty much has to play on cos we have no way of covering for him!
Funny that we have half the posters complaining that our kids/depth are no good and the other half complaining that the kids can't get a game.
You are making a massive ■■■
You are making a massive assumption that all the old guys are on the park at once.What is really striking me is the age of the best 22, midfield particularly. Even assuming Gwilt doesn't play unless we have injuries, we've got Goddard, Watson, Winderlich, Stanton, Chapman, Baguley, Cooney, Dempsey all north of 27, and with our 22 so stuffed to bursting with old guys we've got basically no room at all to give kids a sustained run. Zerrett Heppell and Daniher get a go, sure, simply cos they've earned it, but how are guys like Browne, Kav, Gleeson, Jerrett, Hams, Orazio (plus this year's draftees, of course) supposed to get senior experience and earn their spot when every year we bring in another supperannuant to crowd the kids out of the 22? BJ and Watson aren't really as problem cos they're still in top form, and there's no big rush on Baguley or Dempsey either, but we could lose any or all of the others at any time and the guys we'll be wanting to replace them in the guts of the midfield rotation will be 10-20 gamers rather than 50 gamers.
And my god the tall depth looks awful. The first-choice spine is great, but after that there is quite literally nothing. Injuries to any two talls at any given time - you know, like we failed to cover during the elimination final and lost because of it - and we're in deep trouble.
W're gambling absolutely everything on having a massive year and going almost completely injury-free in 2015 or, at the most generous, 2016. After that we've got all sorts of problems.
I'm sure they will be rotated.
Damn, I Hope we get Hugh Goddard with our 1st pick.
What is really striking me is the age of the best 22, midfield particularly. Even assuming Gwilt doesn't play unless we have injuries, we've got Goddard, Watson, Winderlich, Stanton, Chapman, Baguley, Cooney, Dempsey all north of 27, and with our 22 so stuffed to bursting with old guys we've got basically no room at all to give kids a sustained run. Zerrett Heppell and Daniher get a go, sure, simply cos they've earned it, but how are guys like Browne, Kav, Gleeson, Jerrett, Hams, Orazio, Ashby, Edwards etc (plus this year's draftees, of course) supposed to get senior experience and earn their spot when every year we bring in another supperannuant to crowd the kids out of the 22? BJ and Watson aren't really as problem cos they're still in top form, and there's no big rush on Baguley or Dempsey either, but we could lose any or all of the others at any time and the guys we'll be wanting to replace them in the guts of the midfield rotation will be 10-20 gamers rather than 50 gamers.
And my god the tall depth looks awful. The first-choice spine is great, but after that there is quite literally nothing. Injuries to any two talls at any given time - you know, like we failed to cover during the elimination final and lost because of it - and we're in deep trouble.
W're gambling absolutely everything on having a massive year and going almost completely injury-free in 2015 or, at the most generous, 2016. After that we've got all sorts of problems.
HM, I find it very interesting that in your list of old guys you didn't include Fletch. The only conclusion I can draw is that you expect him to outlast all of the blokes you listed.
wouldn't surprise me!
I didn't list Fletch cos I'm more concerned about the age logjam in the midfield. The midfield we have so much depth as backup for ageing guys that we'll inevitably lose some talent there cos blokes aren't getting a go. In the spine we have so little depth as backup that Fletch pretty much has to play on cos we have no way of covering for him!
Given what has happened this morning, here is a best 22 thread.
B: Baguley, Hooker, Fletcher
HB: Gwilt, Hurley, Hibberd
C: Dempsey, Cooney, Stanton
HF: Zaharakis, Carlisle, Goddard
F: Chapman, Daniher, Ambrose
R: Giles, Watson, Heppell
Int: Z. Merrett, Hocking, Myers, Bellchambers
Emerg: Colyer, Winderlich, Howlett
Left-overs: O'Brien, Ashby, Pears, Melksham, Edwards, J. Merrett, Browne, Steinberg, Kavanagh, Dell'Olio, Gleeson, Dalgleish, Gregory, Kommer, Hams, Aylett, Thurlow, Rayner, Fantasia plus draft picks and Long.
Kommer in 22 when fit
You are making a massive ■■■
What is really striking me is the age of the best 22, midfield particularly. Even assuming Gwilt doesn't play unless we have injuries, we've got Goddard, Watson, Winderlich, Stanton, Chapman, Baguley, Cooney, Dempsey all north of 27, and with our 22 so stuffed to bursting with old guys we've got basically no room at all to give kids a sustained run. Zerrett Heppell and Daniher get a go, sure, simply cos they've earned it, but how are guys like Browne, Kav, Gleeson, Jerrett, Hams, Orazio (plus this year's draftees, of course) supposed to get senior experience and earn their spot when every year we bring in another supperannuant to crowd the kids out of the 22? BJ and Watson aren't really as problem cos they're still in top form, and there's no big rush on Baguley or Dempsey either, but we could lose any or all of the others at any time and the guys we'll be wanting to replace them in the guts of the midfield rotation will be 10-20 gamers rather than 50 gamers.
And my god the tall depth looks awful. The first-choice spine is great, but after that there is quite literally nothing. Injuries to any two talls at any given time - you know, like we failed to cover during the elimination final and lost because of it - and we're in deep trouble.
W're gambling absolutely everything on having a massive year and going almost completely injury-free in 2015 or, at the most generous, 2016. After that we've got all sorts of problems.
You are making a massive assumption that all the old guys are on the park at once.
I'm sure they will be rotated.
Even if they are - so what? We rotate one of them out every single week it only means we get to squeeze one kid (or more likely, Melksham) in to the 22 per game. We have probably a dozen guys in need of senior experience, and they aren't going to get it. Some of them will probably look to leave the club because of it, under the new 'contracts mean nothing' AFL paradigm.
The club is betting everything on a pair of 5s. We're stocking up heavily on ageing recycled guys while our own midfield core is ageing too, and trying to cobble a flag together by topping up even though we have no tall depth and the whole push could be utterly miserably derailed by a couple of injuries to the wrong blokes (where would we be if Hooker did a knee, for instance? We have absolutely no cover for him worth the name). And while we shoot for this particular rainbow, we've got a generation of younger guys running around in the 2s not getting the senior experience they'll need if we're going to be a serious flag threat during the NEXT window, while Zaka/Hooker/Hurley/Belly are in their primes.
The structure of our list at the moment scares the crap out of me. House of cards.
As opposed to the structure of the Hawthorn list, which had 5 players over 30 when it won the grand final. The Hawks also had Cheney and Schoenmakers spending signficant time in key defensive posts.
Pick #17 can't get a starting spot in the midfield?
This isn't the blitz I remember
You need to remember with free agency there is more scope to change lists quickly. Free agency will be nuts in a few years and there will be 28 and 29 year olds everywhere.
Add this to the new trend of overage rookies you have date I say a paradigm shift.
Play your best 22. If a kid is good enuf they will earn it. Many youngsters will now spend 3 or 4 years developing.
I'd have all 3 emergencies in before Gwilt with demps moving to HBF.
Not much left after that 25 is there?
I disagree - I think there's plenty of depth there. After the 25 listed (and I won't go into who should go into / out of that):
J Merrett, Melksham, Gleeson and Kommer would push for a spot in the best 22 of most sides (assuming Melkshake stops spazzing it up and gets back to his best and that Kommer returns to 2013 form).
O'Brien, Ashby, Pears, Steinberg, Kavanagh, Dalgleish, Dell'Olio, Gleeson, Dalgleish, Hams and Fantasia have all showed glimpses at senior level.
You need to remember with free agency there is more scope to change lists quickly. Free agency will be nuts in a few years and there will be 28 and 29 year olds everywhere.
Add this to the new trend of overage rookies you have date I say a paradigm shift.
Play your best 22. If a kid is good enuf they will earn it. Many youngsters will now spend 3 or 4 years developing.
I agree
Gold Coast & GWS have shown us that even if kids are stars at footy, men are better at AFL level.
With Hird coming back it could change again. Hird liked Melksham whereas Bomber didn't really give him a go. Senior coach and Senior Assistant have changed, I dare say the best 22 will as well.
Melksham played 16 games in 2014 so your claim that Bomber didn't give him a go is ridiculous. His form certainly didn't warrant so many games.
And after 5 years it would be nice to think that the reason Melksham could get a game in 2015 would be more than because the coach likes him.
Melksham needs to do massively more to hold a permanent place next year.
Bags. Hook. Fletch.
Gwilt. Carlisle. Hibbo
Demps. Jobe. Cooney
Bell. Hepp. Zerret
Goddard Hurley. Zaka
Chap. JD. Kommer
Bench
Giles
Hocking
Myers
Colyer.
Winders will obviously be nursed.
Zerret to take Stantons role…
Hurls and JD are a better combo
Kommer is an absolute lock with his pressure.
Gwilt in, Demps to wing for more pace.
Things are not so bad I suppose but we still lack pace even with that side…