GWS Best 22.
B: Shaw Corr Tomlinson
HB: Griffen Davis Haynes
C: Scully Ward Whitfield
HF: Deledio Cameron Greene
F: Taranto Patton Himmelberg
Foll: Lobb, Coniglio Kelly
I/C: Shiel Hopper Setterfield, Perryman
EMG: De Boar Buntine, Reid
with Williams gone for season Griffen slots into HBF.
Mids Mids Mids.
Hopper, Setterfield, Perryman, Taranto will all be looking for more midfield time this year.
Key position wise they look ok Cameron/patton/himmelberg up forward. Davis is good down back and Corrs ok, Tomlinson settled. They would love for Buntine to live up to his pre draft hype to be taken at 5.
Shaw and Griffen are aging. Williams injured and Wilson gone.
If you were list manager, would look at shipping a mid of and getting in flankers who can play ‘that position’
As at the moment you have Taranto, Deledio and Greene, all starting forward, but would be in the midifled rotation at other clubs, but GWS need to give more opportunity to their young stars. This will be a balance for Cameron.
Prediction 1st - 4th again.
GWS will make the 8. Need to work on belief, win when its hard to go further in finals.
Their depth, may be tested if injuries hit as seem a little lighter on than previous year. I.e in Ruck if Lobb injured.
Does GWS have a soul as a club? No. Does Greater Western Sydney actually exist, as an entity, other than being generally known as a ■■■■ part of Sydney ? They might just as well have named it Greatest Waste of Space
It should have been called Parramatta, at least that town has existed for 230 years and is a real place with history, with tradition and is something distinct for a club to centre its tribal allegiances on.
GWS will never be all things to all people in the west of Sydney. It might just as well really mean something and have a focal point and some kind of significance rather than have a name that simply exemplifies the AFL boards ambition to appeal to a wider market.
IMO its better to start a club with a smaller stronger local group of supporters than a larger more diffuse group who drop off rapidly in a downturn. The appeal to a wider range will come over time, but the core group needs to survive the early days, it is identity and pride that are key ingredients in this.
Western Bulldogs were and always will be “Footscray”
Being staggeringly dismissed in this thread for mine. Their best players are still reaching their peak, their midfield is the best in the league bar none and full of two way running. They have match-winners in several areas of the ground - the one question mark as noted is their transition out of defence with the loss of Wilson and Williams. However I think they could easily afford the luxury of throwing young stars such as Whitfield and Taranto back there to distribute off half back and promote Hopper and Setterfield into an already imperious midfield rotation of Ward, Kelly, Shiel, Scullly etc - incredible depth. They will win the flag this year for mine.
I think rarely for GWS , their outs are better than their ins so I don’t think their depth is quite as good this year.
Still, they are incredibly talented and given their age demographic should still improve. They have also had poor luck with injuries so if that improves it’ll help them further. Top 2 I think.
Their best 2 down back are Shaw (32) and Davis (might as well be 32), they’ve lost maybe the most influential ruckman in the league, and their midfield is about 10 times better on paper than in the real world. They should go top 4 or close but their side was stronger in 16 and 17 and still couldn’t get it done when it mattered. Not sure what’s changing that this year.