Quoted PostQuoted PostJD BUCKETS HURLS (sorry AmbrosE) FWD GWILT STARTING 22WANT
All our big guys are training to play either back or forward this year. Looks like we will have a prefered option, but with the ability to swing anyone from end to end dependent on needs. Shades of Sheeds.You gonna be ok if Hurley goes forward?
he’ll be fine, until hurls drops something in front of his eyes, or goes for a leading chest mark and gets spoiled.
Quoted PostQuoted PostWas listening to Stanton's MMM interview last night and Wayne Carey asked him if it were true that Hooker will be spending more time fwd and 'swinging' back (I.e. Hurley, Carlisle) and Brent actually confirmed it. So expect another swingman!JD BUCKETS HURLS (sorry AmbrosE) FWD GWILT STARTING 22WANT
All our big guys are training to play either back or forward this year. Looks like we will have a prefered option, but with the ability to swing anyone from end to end dependent on needs. Shades of Sheeds.
I can see it now. Hird not only keeping Hurls mostly forward and Carlisle mostly back, but also mostly putting Joe at FB and Cale FF.
Quoted PostQuoted PostQuoted PostJD BUCKETS HURLS (sorry AmbrosE) FWD GWILT STARTING 22WANT
All our big guys are training to play either back or forward this year. Looks like we will have a prefered option, but with the ability to swing anyone from end to end dependent on needs. Shades of Sheeds.You gonna be ok if Hurley goes forward?
he’ll be fine, until hurls drops something in front of his eyes, or goes for a leading chest mark and gets spoiled.
You leave ol’ Trampoline Hands alone.
Hooker forward or back?
Needs a thread and a poll.
Quoted PostWhat is it about big angry blonds at Essendon and dropping sitters? Hurls had a serious case of the McDickfingers for a while there.Quoted PostQuoted PostQuoted PostJD BUCKETS HURLS (sorry AmbrosE) FWD GWILT STARTING 22WANT
All our big guys are training to play either back or forward this year. Looks like we will have a prefered option, but with the ability to swing anyone from end to end dependent on needs. Shades of Sheeds.You gonna be ok if Hurley goes forward?
he’ll be fine, until hurls drops something in front of his eyes, or goes for a leading chest mark and gets spoiled.
You leave ol’ Trampoline Hands alone.
Quoted PostQuoted PostQuoted PostJD BUCKETS HURLS (sorry AmbrosE) FWD GWILT STARTING 22WANT
All our big guys are training to play either back or forward this year. Looks like we will have a prefered option, but with the ability to swing anyone from end to end dependent on needs. Shades of Sheeds.You gonna be ok if Hurley goes forward?
he’ll be fine, until hurls drops something in front of his eyes, or goes for a leading chest mark and gets spoiled.
Won’t get the chance to be frustrated. He’ll injure himself & be gone for 6 weeks before he has the chance to drop enough sitters.
Please leave him back Hirdy. … Please!
1st
Quoted PostI reckon there is almost a direct correlation between Colyer's successful return to the side, and our second half of the season form imprivement. He made a massive difference to our one-paced midfield.His pace has always troubled opponents (He is dead-set lightning quick), but the fact he doesn’t shank every kick now has made him genuinely dangerous. He played a great final too.
If his rate of improvement continues as it did late last year, he could end up one of our most important midfielders.
Funny what happened when they gave a fringe player more than a week as a sub to gain some confidence at senior level.
and to think we had no one at vfl level capable of filling any sort of role, go figure where he came from.Edit hmmm i doubt most will get the sarcasm
Personally, my view is that the only one who can complain last year might be NOB. He was the only guy regularly getting good ratings from the VFL matches (well, and Steinberg but he was a rookie). Everyone else who did well got a go at the AFL, and many of them got multiple weeks. Gleeson, Zerret, Jerret, Colyer all got a good run.
Quoted PostQuoted PostA reply to: @Paul Peos regarding QuoteLinkQuoted PostI would love to see Hooker give us the same output as last year. Not sure he will. I still have question marks over Hooker.Really? I’d be surprised if his next three seasons weren’t all better than the previous one. He hasn’t even hit his peak yet imo.
I hope so. Would love to be wrong. He was enormous last year as was Hurley down back. I think Hurley will continue to improve as he is a class above Hooker. There is just something about Hooker that leaves me unconvinced. Have been wrong before. Was on the Hislop bandwagon for longer than I would like to admit, thought Houli was hard done by and I thought Nash was going to be a gun.
Hooker will either be our next McPhee or the next Glass
Glass? Surely taking the mick. Hooker actually touches the ball, and passes it to teammates.
D Glass purely a stopper. Hooker’s gone past him, easily. Glass highly over-rated IMHO.
Glass was a damn good defensive player, but because he didn’t get much of it, he hit a ceiling.
Quoted PostQuoted PostQuoted PostA reply to: @Paul Peos regarding QuoteLinkQuoted PostI would love to see Hooker give us the same output as last year. Not sure he will. I still have question marks over Hooker.Really? I’d be surprised if his next three seasons weren’t all better than the previous one. He hasn’t even hit his peak yet imo.
I hope so. Would love to be wrong. He was enormous last year as was Hurley down back. I think Hurley will continue to improve as he is a class above Hooker. There is just something about Hooker that leaves me unconvinced. Have been wrong before. Was on the Hislop bandwagon for longer than I would like to admit, thought Houli was hard done by and I thought Nash was going to be a gun.
Hooker will either be our next McPhee or the next Glass
Glass? Surely taking the mick. Hooker actually touches the ball, and passes it to teammates.
D Glass purely a stopper. Hooker’s gone past him, easily. Glass highly over-rated IMHO.Glass was a damn good defensive player, but because he didn’t get much of it, he hit a ceiling.
So, a glass ceiling, so to speak?
Quoted PostQuoted PostQuoted PostQuoted PostA reply to: @Paul Peos regarding QuoteLinkQuoted PostI would love to see Hooker give us the same output as last year. Not sure he will. I still have question marks over Hooker.Really? I’d be surprised if his next three seasons weren’t all better than the previous one. He hasn’t even hit his peak yet imo.
I hope so. Would love to be wrong. He was enormous last year as was Hurley down back. I think Hurley will continue to improve as he is a class above Hooker. There is just something about Hooker that leaves me unconvinced. Have been wrong before. Was on the Hislop bandwagon for longer than I would like to admit, thought Houli was hard done by and I thought Nash was going to be a gun.
Hooker will either be our next McPhee or the next Glass
Glass? Surely taking the mick. Hooker actually touches the ball, and passes it to teammates.
D Glass purely a stopper. Hooker’s gone past him, easily. Glass highly over-rated IMHO.Glass was a damn good defensive player, but because he didn’t get much of it, he hit a ceiling.
So, a glass ceiling, so to speak?
Quoted PostQuoted PostWhat is it about big angry blonds at Essendon and dropping sitters? Hurls had a serious case of the McDickfingers for a while there.Quoted PostQuoted PostQuoted PostJD BUCKETS HURLS (sorry AmbrosE) FWD GWILT STARTING 22WANT
All our big guys are training to play either back or forward this year. Looks like we will have a prefered option, but with the ability to swing anyone from end to end dependent on needs. Shades of Sheeds.You gonna be ok if Hurley goes forward?
he’ll be fine, until hurls drops something in front of his eyes, or goes for a leading chest mark and gets spoiled.
You leave ol’ Trampoline Hands alone.
Until he goes into the back line and starts clunking marks with his arms outstretched and I knock the popcorn onto the floor and yell
Obviously, this thread depends on sanctions. But assuming the players win and are all available, my view is that with a good injury run, anything less than top 4 should have Hird in the spotlight. The list management is clearly aimed at getting a premiership this year or next. We have topped up with mature players and convinced older players and those on the periphery of the best 22 to stay on/at Essendon. I
More importantly, I do think injuries permitting we have a top four list.
Back line
In my view, the main set of backline players of Hooker, Hurley, Fletcher, Hibberd, Baguley, Dempsey and Gwilt are as good a set as going around. I expect when all fit six of the above to play, and I don’t know who will miss out. It has the ability to shut down key forwards with Hooker and Bags, while Hibberd, Hurley, Demps and Gwilt all provide rebound. The only player with defensive questions is Dempsey - the others all both either do a job or provide rebound AND do a job.
Recruiting Gwilt means we have cover for everyone there except Hooker and Hurley. If either of those two go down, we have problems. It means playing Gwilt out of his weight class, robbing Peter and bringing Carlisle back, or promoting Steinberg. There are potential issues with all of those, although if Steinberg could step up it would solve a lot of them.
Midfield
This is now a strong unit which bats pretty deep. At the top end you have Watson, Heppell, Goddard and Stanton, with Chappy doing cameos. Zaha should push into this group, and hopefully Cooney is fit enough to. It obviously suffered a little that last year Watson was injured and Stanton seemed to be carrying something.
Colyer and Zerrett should both provide the outside run and carry, and danger around the HF line. They were huge parts of our 2014 side, and there is no reason both can’t continue to improve.
After them you have workhorses in Myers, Howlett and Hocking. Personally, I think Howlett will struggle to make the best 22 consistently, and that is only a good thing for the team. If Melksham can re-find his 2013 form he will also boost the midfield pressure. I also like the prospect of Jerret, and the reports on Edwards are promising.
A modern midfield really comprises of around 10-11 players with a number on the bench or in the forward line at any one time. If we can regularly put out ten of the following eleven - Watson, Goddard, Heppell, Stanton, Zaha, Cooney, Chappy, Colyer, Myers, Hocking, Zerrett - and complement them with a combination of Melksham, Howlett, Jerrett, Gleeson and whoever else stands up, we should do well. We probably can’t cover a plethora of injuries, but then who can?
My main hope about Hird is he gets rid of some of the Thompson rubbish and we start playing a bit more direct like we did in 2013. With Colyer, Zaha, Zerrett and Cooney we have the pace to make some breaks, we need to use it. Help out the forwards a bit. Obviously there are questions over our two-way running, but again we did well for most of 2013 under Hird.
Ruck
Ryder is obviously a loss, and we don’t know to what degree Giles will cover him. But I was one of the few who back at the end of the 2013 season was saying I would rather trade out Ryder than Belly (although I said the two of them were a weapon). So I really see it as Belly coming in to replace Ryder, and Giles being the cover we didn’t have this year due to injuries.
In my view, Belly matches Ryder. A better mark and forward player (although not as accurate a kick), I think he has more around the ground presence. Those areas are better than Ryder, but he probably was slightly behind in the tap work. But he is also younger. I think this will be a big year for him. Giles adds depth and another forward target. Last year we had to play Carlisle and JD in the ruck, please not happen again this year! And that lack of ruck depth is a concern. Two injuries, and our stocks are wiped out.
So again, injuries are key.
Forward line
I think in Carlisle and JD we will have one of the more dangerous forward combinations going around this year. Carlisle always looked good forward in his first years, and after taking a while to settle in (including ruck duties) the finish of his year was impressive. JD just got better as the year went on, culminating in the final where he was dominant. Getting both these guys on the park fit and firing is so important to us.
Whether we then use a ruck or Ambrose, we have options on the third tall forward. It gets a little trickier if one of Carlisle/JD go down and we have to use both Ambrose and a ruck, but the goal kicking ability of Giles and Belly does assist here.
The real concern is the small forwards, as it has been for a while. Winders in my view was poor forward, it was only when he got shifted to the backline that he found any consistent form. If Winderlich can re-discover the form prior to 2014 in the forward line, our attacking ability there jumps a huge amount. In 2013 when fit he was supremely dangerous up forward. If Chappy or Cooney spends more time here, it might also help things. Edwards is a wild card - someone who could assist ground and air side. We will obviously rotate people through such as Watson/Goddard/Zerret/Colyer as well. Overall, we should survive.
But we really lack someone who can be put down for 25-30 goals a season, and have done so since Monfries left. Still cursing that one. Winders may fill that void. Getting a Fantasia/McKenna/Laverde to step up here would be huge, but I’m not betting on it. So we will need to just hope we get the midfield rotators right.
Summary
I think our best 22 can match pretty much anyone with defence, all but the very best (i.e. Hawthorn) in the midfield and ruck. The tall forwards are unproven but I’m making the call by the end of 2015 they’ll be rated with anyone outside the top 2. Even without a small forward, that leaves us in a position where we can compete with anyone IMO. I think we should be aiming for top 4, and then see if we can ■■■■■■ it.
The issue is injuries and ASADA. There are just a raft of areas, especially talls, where a few injuries would leave us awfully exposed. That nearly our only tall depth is on the rookie list (McKernan & Steinberg) also restricts our flexibility.
Nice report, Ants. Don’t forget about Langford if necessary. Very much like a Caracella, in my view.
Really good summation and agree with 99% - my 2 cents if I may…
Backline - agreed but Hurley is also more then capable of shutting down his man (not just Hooksy & Bags) and I believe if he is left down back under Hird - he will further improve his game both offensively and defensively putting him in AA consideration. As you say, one of the best backline’s in the comp if not the best.
Missing link: 197cm KPB however perhaps Gwilt with his experience & exposure to better players around him, may lift and fill this void for the next couple?
Midfield - couldn’t agree more and looking at the names in there, there’s some real quality in the disposal dept. obviously with the experienced ones but also in Hepp, Zaka, Zerrett, Colyer’s improved disposal and I think Jerrett’s a bit of a wild card here too. Very smart and clean player who was damaging at times. With the clean skills in our midfield, we should definately be more bold with the pill and play more direct, forward footy.
Also, injuries are inevitable so looking at our fringe players alone, all are capable of stepping up; Howlett, Melksham, Jerrett, Browne, Gleeson, Edwards, Dalgleish, NO’B, Hams, Kav, Lav.
Forward line - well need we say more about “Joey and Jakey if fit” but what is interesting is our 3rd ‘lead up type’ fwd situation. With our twin towers giving nightmares to most key backs, our 3rd target may get some breathing space and kick a decent tally too. We have options in playing 2 rucks but if not, we have Ambrose, Langford, LaVerde and Edwards all roughly around 190cm and very capable - inexperienced but capable. Then you have the resting mids too in Goddard, Watson & Coondawg who are proven goal kickers.
I wouldn’t be losing sleep over Monfries, Davey is more the type we currently need but if Kommer can overcome his tendinitis issues and also throw Fantasia in the mix, these guys can hopefully be the type to create goals from nothing. Also, could Howlett come onto contention here more?
We 100% have the stocks in the fwd line however, the issue is they’re 2/3 years behind the development of the rest of our list (who are ripe & ready) and we’re ultimately depending on fast tracking that development to put us in flag contenders category.
Last but not least - Fark Arseada.
Back to back flags; 2015, 2016. Lid off.
I’d be bringing Hibberd into the midfield arena.
A reply to: @Mootsy regarding QuoteLink
I'd be bringing Hibberd into the midfield arena.
I would leave him where he is. We dont need him in the middle
Interesting to see how true this thing about Baguly spending time forward pans out to be.
They better not ■■■■■■ do either of those things, there’s flexibility and then there’s stupidity
They better not ■■■■■■ do either of those things, there's flexibility and then there's stupidity
Is that related to the genius/insanity conundrum of Sheeds?
