Opinion Best 23 Pre Trade/Draft - Season 2024

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Want to see a few of the senior citizens phased out such as Tuohy who has been a wonderful servant but imo should have retired. Hopefully Mullin’s pre season will justify him playing in front of Bews as a small defender but atm Bews gets the nod.

B: Bews, De Koning, Z.Guthrie
HB: Stewart, Henry, Duncan
C: Holmes, C.Guthrie, Miers
HF: Mannagh, Cameron, Close
F: Stengle, Hawkins, O.Henry

Foll: Conway, Dangerfield, Bruhn

Int: Blicavs, Clark, Atkins, Rohan

Sub: Bowes

Want to see Knevitt fight and force his way into the team. Hawkins and Cameron to be managed allowing Neale to get games. Similarly Stanley and Conway to share the ruck responsibilities with preference given to Conway. And I want to see Murdoch debut this year when Duncan needs a spell. If Willis can also string a few together when Guthrie or Danger need a rest it would be beneficial for his development too.

Edit - Dempsey another that needs to go to another level next season
 
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foxdog50 said:
B Zuthrie, Blitz, Henry
CB Stewart, SDK, Duncan
C Holmes, Dangerfield, Knevitt
HF, Miers, Cameron, Mannagh
F Stengle, Hawkins, Close
R Stengle, Guthrie, Atkins
Int, Bruhn, Henry, Bowes, Rohan
Sub Clark

Obviously swapping Conway and Stanley threw out the year
We need to give Neale 10-12 games as Forward as he needs games into him..
I wouldn't mind playing Miers on to the wing as he does have a big tank in him..
I am a fan of Kolodjashnij, yes his poor games a very poor, but I wouldn't mind at all if his on our best 22
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Great effort. I think Knevitt will force his way in. Ruck looks light on.
 

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year of the cat said:
Want to see a few of the senior citizens phased out such as Tuohy who has been a wonderful servant but imo should have retired. Hopefully Mullin’s pre season will justify him playing in front of Bews as a small defender but atm Bews gets the nod.
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At the moment one is a footballer and one isn't. It isn't even close.
 
gogeelongcats said:
Great effort. I think Knevitt will force his way in. Ruck looks light on.
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We have to look at giving games to Knevitt etc..
I love Blitz in the way he can play anywhere, but we do have to play and give games to the younger mids in Knevitt, Clark etc and if that's on the wing to start of with, I'm happy to play Blitz as our Key Defender as he is a gun playing Defender or any position he does..
And thats why he can be our 2nd ruckman who gives Stanley/Conway a spell when needing a spell
 
foxdog50 said:
We have to look at giving games to Knevitt etc..
I love Blitz in the way he can play anywhere, but we do have to play and give games to the younger mids in Knevitt, Clark etc and if that's on the wing to start of with, I'm happy to play Blitz as our Key Defender as he is a gun playing Defender or any position he does..
And thats why he can be our 2nd ruckman who gives Stanley/Conway a spell when needing a spell
Click to expand...

I think it's more that you have Stengle as your ruck, regarding the 'light on' comment :p
 
year of the cat said:
Want to see a few of the senior citizens phased out such as Tuohy who has been a wonderful servant but imo should have retired. Hopefully Mullin’s pre season will justify him playing in front of Bews as a small defender but atm Bews gets the nod.

B: Bews, De Koning, Z.Guthrie
HB: Stewart, Henry, Duncan
C: Holmes, C.Guthrie, Miers
HF: Mannagh, Cameron, Close
F: Stengle, Hawkins, O.Henry

Foll: Conway, Dangerfield, Bruhn

Int: Blicavs, Clark, Atkins, Rohan

Sub: Bowes

Want to see Knevitt fight and force his way into the team. Hawkins and Cameron to be managed allowing Neale to get games. Similarly Stanley and Conway to share the ruck responsibilities with preference given to Conway. And I want to see Murdoch debut this year when Duncan needs a spell. If Willis can also string a few together when Guthrie or Danger need a rest it would be beneficial for his development too.

Edit - Dempsey another that needs to go to another level next season
Click to expand...
Mostly I like the team but I think Dempsey will become a regular.

Harsh on O'Connor to take Bews over him based on 2023 form.

One big question for me concerns Bowes. What will his role be? He did appear to be best 22 in 2023 when available but I think the right move is to send Duncan to half back as you have, which means he is left with wing (however Mannagh/Dempsey will be gunning for that), back pocket (is he good enough defensively, with enough zip?) or midfield (surely too many ahead of him in the queue. I can't help but feel he won't truly come into his own until Duncan is gone but I do expect them to play him most games next year.
 
foxdog50 said:
B Zuthrie, Blitz, Henry
CB Stewart, SDK, Duncan
C Holmes, Dangerfield, Knevitt
HF, Miers, Cameron, Mannagh
F Stengle, Hawkins, Close
R Stengle, Guthrie, Atkins
Int, Bruhn, Henry, Bowes, Rohan
Sub Clark

Obviously swapping Conway and Stanley threw out the year
We need to give Neale 10-12 games as Forward as he needs games into him..
I wouldn't mind playing Miers on to the wing as he does have a big tank in him..
I am a fan of Kolodjashnij, yes his poor games a very poor, but I wouldn't mind at all if his on our best 22
Click to expand...
Stengle in the ruck is a bold strategy.

Can’t be worse than Ceglar or Orren Stephenson I guess.
 
For me mannagh is straight in (probably on a wing or hf).

B: Kolo SDK Zuthrie
HB: stewart J Henry Duncan/MOC
C: Holmes Guthrie Knevitt
HF: Miers Cameron Close
F: O Henry Hawkins Stengle
R: Stanley Danger Atkins
Int: Bruhn Mannagh Blicavs Dempsey
Sub: bowes/clark

Depth: rohan tuohy bews parfitt hardie (those guys are your mature depth plus jeka) plus blue chip kids in conway clark and neale to play as much as possible.
Osullivan edwards and furphy to develop in the gym and vfl.
Stevens Clohesy mullin and murdoch your more speculative depth plus make or break year for willis.
Wiltshire and humphries technically could come on being mature agers but we will see.

On the best 22
For me knevitt has to be in and mannagh and dempsey should be.
I dont think rohan or tuohy or bews are best 22 anymore they are injury depth as ollie henry dempsey and moc (in bews case) can fill the spots.
I would leave stanley out but conway isnt ready we need blitz to stay fit.
I would also surpass kolo if we had another ready kpd but we dont yet (unless jeka dominates).
I expect clark to also play a fair few games (at least 15) with injuries and what not and the same with conway he needs to play as many as he is physically capable. Probably the same with neale
 
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Throughout the year young players will be given as many games as our win/loss record allows, which will give older players a rest.

But if we're sitting 7th at the end of the H&A season, who are our locks to play finals? It's all or nothing, one last crack with Hawkins & Danger both in the side. There is no tomorrow. The side needs to beat Pies, Lions, Dees and Blues.

For me, not enough changes have been made to the list to initiate a massive shift in game plan to being super fast on foot or with the ball. Our main advantage is big bodies, finals experience and cohesion, so I think Scott will prioritise the players that have been playing finals with him for a long time. Which means maybe 4 changes from our 2022 Finals teams. (Selwood & Smith the only departures).

DEF LOCKS:
1. Stewart
2. SDK
3. JHenry
4. Zuthrie

MID LOCKS:
5. Danger
6. Guthrie
7. Blics
8. Duncan
9. Holmes
10. Atkins

FWD LOCKS:
11. Hawkins
12. Cameron
13. Miers
14. OHenry
15. Close
16. Stengle

RUCK:
17. Stanley vs Conway. At this stage Stanley gets the nod unless Conway has a Tim English style breakout.

Six spots left.
18. I am 99% sure Rohan plays. Finals require his pressure acts and he has the ability to take big marks and kick a few big goals like in the Pies game. Might be sub.
19. Will Mullin have mastered the back flank to depose Bews or MOC? 50/50.
20. Will COS or Jeka have deposed Kolo in their first season? 50/50.
21, 22, 23. Fighting for final 3 MID & INT spots are those above plus Bruhn, Mannagh, Knevitt, Dempsey, Stevens, Bowes, Touhy, Parfitt.
Pretty sure Bruhn plays, so the fight is on for the final 2 spots.
 

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Max Rooke said:
Throughout the year young players will be given as many games as our win/loss record allows, which will give older players a rest.

But if we're sitting 7th at the end of the H&A season, who are our locks to play finals? It's all or nothing, one last crack with Hawkins & Danger both in the side. There is no tomorrow. The side needs to beat Pies, Lions, Dees and Blues.

For me, not enough changes have been made to the list to initiate a massive shift in game plan to being super fast on foot or with the ball. Our main advantage is big bodies, finals experience and cohesion, so I think Scott will prioritise the players that have been playing finals with him for a long time. Which means maybe 4 changes from our 2022 Finals teams. (Selwood & Smith the only departures).

DEF LOCKS:
1. Stewart
2. SDK
3. JHenry
4. Zuthrie

MID LOCKS:
5. Danger
6. Guthrie
7. Blics
8. Duncan
9. Holmes
10. Atkins

FWD LOCKS:
11. Hawkins
12. Cameron
13. Miers
14. OHenry
15. Close
16. Stengle

RUCK:
17. Stanley vs Conway. At this stage Stanley gets the nod unless Conway has a Tim English style breakout.

Six spots left.
18. I am 99% sure Rohan plays. Finals require his pressure acts and he has the ability to take big marks and kick a few big goals like in the Pies game. Might be sub.
19. Will Mullin have mastered the back flank to depose Bews or MOC? 50/50.
20. Will COS or Jeka have deposed Kolo in their first season? 50/50.
21, 22, 23. Fighting for final 3 MID & INT spots are those above plus Bruhn, Mannagh, Knevitt, Dempsey, Stevens, Bowes, Touhy, Parfitt.
Pretty sure Bruhn plays, so the fight is on for the final 2 spots.
Click to expand...

I agree with parts of that but what you are going to find is some over 30s will either get injured or lose form and that will push them out. You are already seeing this to a degree with guys like danger and duncan and rohan getting soft tissue injuries (stanleys was a different type of injury) and bews having the degenerative issue with his knee. 2 or 3 kids will become mainstays in the 22 like sdk and holmes did in 2022. I suspect those will be mannagh (even though hes not a kid) knevitt snd either clark or dempsey. Plus conway will push stanley out when his tank is ready but i think that doesnt happen til 2025.

On your bottom 6 i like rohan and i agree he adds a lot but ollie henry is a lock now, and if dempsey and mannagh both become locks as wing/hffs like i think they will then structurally theres no spot for him. Funnily enough i wouldnt be against picking him as a hbf (ahead of guys like bews and moc and bowes etc) as we lack speed in defence but whether we would be that radical i dont know. But he is good depth.

I think initially kolo plays (purely because we seem to like a 3 kpd structure than 2 but i can see osullivan in particular pushing him out but it will probably take 1-2 years). Its possible we drop kolo and use blicavs as the extra tall behind the ball (which would get clark and knevitt in) but i doubt we run that change unless his form drops and it forces our hand.

Bruhn mannagh and knevitt all make the best 22 for mine (which is partly why tuohy and rohan are in danger) and i think we have to play dempsey unless we want another club to poach him, and we will want clark in. I think guys like bowes and moc and parfitt are decent depth guys to have as they are hard workers and good culturally (and we lack players in the middle age bracket) but they dont necessarily need to be first 22 and guys like knevitt and dempsey have a much higher ceiling long term and should be the future.
 
rapidfire7 said:
Forwards and backs look good enough to compete for the flag. Mids and ruck division do not.

Really need one of the young guys to really step up in there.. Knevitt, Dempsey, Mannagh etc. Bruhn needs a big year too. Make or break for Parfitt.
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It's incredibly unlikely Knevitt or Dempsey take our midfield from average to good when they weren't even in the team last year. They're only 20 too.

The most likely by far is Guthrie coming back and Danger fit makes everyone else look a lot better cause they're not asked to do as much.

Next most likely is Bruhn and Holmes stepping up massively although 4th season is still optimistic for inside mids.

Bowes, O'Connor or Parfitt absolutely breaking out is possible. Similar to what Guthrie did in late 2019.

Stengle or Close being dangerous rotating through midfield is another possibility.

All these are more likely than 19-20 year olds having a major impact on our midfield.
 
Pure_Ownage said:
I agree with parts of that but what you are going to find is some over 30s will either get injured or lose form and that will push them out. You are already seeing this to a degree with guys like danger and duncan and rohan getting soft tissue injuries (stanleys was a different type of injury) and bews having the degenerative issue with his knee. 2 or 3 kids will become mainstays in the 22 like sdk and holmes did in 2022. I suspect those will be mannagh (even though hes not a kid) knevitt snd either clark or dempsey. Plus conway will push stanley out when his tank is ready but i think that doesnt happen til 2025.

On your bottom 6 i like rohan and i agree he adds a lot but ollie henry is a lock now, and if dempsey and mannagh both become locks as wing/hffs like i think they will then structurally theres no spot for him. Funnily enough i wouldnt be against picking him as a hbf (ahead of guys like bews and moc and bowes etc) as we lack speed in defence but whether we would be that radical i dont know. But he is good depth.

I think initially kolo plays (purely because we seem to like a 3 kpd structure than 2 but i can see osullivan in particular pushing him out but it will probably take 1-2 years). Its possible we drop kolo and use blicavs as the extra tall behind the ball (which would get clark and knevitt in) but i doubt we run that change unless his form drops and it forces our hand.

Bruhn mannagh and knevitt all make the best 22 for mine (which is partly why tuohy and rohan are in danger) and i think we have to play dempsey unless we want another club to poach him, and we will want clark in. I think guys like bowes and moc and parfitt are decent depth guys to have as they are hard workers and good culturally (and we lack players in the middle age bracket) but they dont necessarily need to be first 22 and guys like knevitt and dempsey have a much higher ceiling long term and should be the future.
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Do you rate Dempsey?
 
Partridge said:
At the moment one is a footballer and one isn't. It isn't even close.
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One is an AFL footballer. The other is still a Gaelic footballer with upside.
Brains trust must see something in the guy. Certainly has the physical attributes to make the grade. Hard to tell with these Irish guys. I am still a fence sitter with O’Connor.
An interesting watch in 2024..
 
If Mullin came from the VFL rather than from Ireland nobody would be saying he was miles off it last year. We'd be super excited about his athletic ability and wondering whether he can be trained out of the odd bad decision, poor positioning, etc.

Overall we'd be excited and hope with another 10-20 games he could improve significantly.

It feels like because he's from Ireland we feel the need to overstate how far off the pace he is.

If Mullin made the mistakes Bews did early in the Stkilda game we'd never have heard the end of it. Somehow Bews managed to play one of the worst quarters I've ever seen and everyone basically ignored it.
 
Footy Smarts said:
If Mullin came from the VFL rather than from Ireland nobody would be saying he was miles off it last year. We'd be super excited about his athletic ability and wondering whether he can be trained out of the odd bad decision, poor positioning, etc.

Overall we'd be excited and hope with another 10-20 games he could improve significantly.

It feels like because he's from Ireland we feel the need to overstate how far off the pace he is.

If Mullin made the mistakes Bews did early in the Stkilda game we'd never have heard the end of it. Somehow Bews managed to play one of the worst quarters I've ever seen and everyone basically ignored it.
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Actually you're wrong about that, Bews copped it a bit that day and MOC drew praise as a permanent defender. In both cases, rightly so. I remember it because MOC to back pocket and Bews out was on my agenda for most of 2023. I like Jed when he's at his miserly best with the odd line breaking run, but he didn't offer either this year.
 
Footy Smarts said:
If Mullin came from the VFL rather than from Ireland nobody would be saying he was miles off it last year. We'd be super excited about his athletic ability and wondering whether he can be trained out of the odd bad decision, poor positioning, etc.

Overall we'd be excited and hope with another 10-20 games he could improve significantly.

It feels like because he's from Ireland we feel the need to overstate how far off the pace he is.

If Mullin made the mistakes Bews did early in the Stkilda game we'd never have heard the end of it. Somehow Bews managed to play one of the worst quarters I've ever seen and everyone basically ignored it.
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The same would absolutely be said if it was anyone from the VFL - half our young players every year get bagged whether they've played senior games or not. There's no shortage of experts who know with certainty who will and won't make it. It's an annual tradition.
 
Partridge said:
The same would absolutely be said if it was anyone from the VFL - half our young players every year get bagged whether they've played senior games or not. There's no shortage of experts who know with certainty who will and won't make it. It's an annual tradition.
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Nah nobody says Knevitt or Dempsey aren't footballers and are miles off it. Mullin had a very similar season. His performances at AFL level were better than Dempsey.

Same happened to MOC in 2017 when he was given a couple of games and late 2018 when he cracked our best team. His performances were perfectly standard for a sub 10 gamer (he was actually one of the few that had a good final in 2018) but people talked about him like he was amongst the worst debutants ever seen.
 
Predicted Round 1 team from Fox Footy.

B: Jake Kolodjashnij, Sam de Koning, Zach Guthrie
HB: Jack Henry, Tom Stewart, Jed Bews
C: Max Holmes, Cam Guthrie, Mark Blicavs
HF: Ollie Henry, Jeremy Cameron, Tyson Stengle
F: Gryan Miers, Tom Hawkins, Brad Close
FOLL: Rhys Stanley, Mitch Duncan, Patrick Dangerfield
I/C: Tom Atkins, Gary Rohan, Tanner Bruhn, Shaun Mannagh, Mark O’Connor (sub)
 
Smurph18 said:
Predicted Round 1 team from Fox Footy.

B: Jake Kolodjashnij, Sam de Koning, Zach Guthrie
HB: Jack Henry, Tom Stewart, Jed Bews
C: Max Holmes, Cam Guthrie, Mark Blicavs
HF: Ollie Henry, Jeremy Cameron, Tyson Stengle
F: Gryan Miers, Tom Hawkins, Brad Close
FOLL: Rhys Stanley, Mitch Duncan, Patrick Dangerfield
I/C: Tom Atkins, Gary Rohan, Tanner Bruhn, Shaun Mannagh, Mark O’Connor (sub)
Click to expand...

If he is fit Tuohy will play. Add Bowes and it is a solid 25 before the potential of one of the younger players really breaking out.

Do we have any injuries that would put anyone in doubt for R1? Seems like Jack Henry and Cameron are already doing pre season work? Conway the only other guy with a question mark at the moment?
 
Smurph18 said:
Predicted Round 1 team from Fox Footy.

B: Jake Kolodjashnij, Sam de Koning, Zach Guthrie
HB: Jack Henry, Tom Stewart, Zach Tuohy
C: Max Holmes, Cam Guthrie, Mark Blicavs
HF: Ollie Henry, Jeremy Cameron, Tyson Stengle
F: Gryan Miers, Tom Hawkins, Brad Close
FOLL: Rhys Stanley, Mitch Duncan, Patrick Dangerfield
I/C: Tom Atkins, Gary Rohan, Tanner Bruhn, Mark O’Connor, Shaun Mannagh (Sub)
Click to expand...
From that team (essentially Fox Footys best 22) I’d probably make one change. Tuohy in and Bews out. Also would shuffle some positions around.

Could make our VFL team look something like this. If no injuries of course and not taking into account any resting which will definitely happen.

B: Bews, Jeka, Murdoch
HB: Mullin, O’Sullivan, Bowes
C: Dempsey, Clark, Knevitt
HF: Parfitt, Foster, Mannagh
F: Clohesy, Neale, Edwards
FOLL: Conway, Hardie, Stevens
I/C: Willis, Foster, Wiltshire, Humphrey
 
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