Opinion 2013 Best 22

[loki04]

is toovey in your top dozen?
he's not in mine...
it is conceivable we go with less lock down defenders and by years end it is possible he is squeezed out
as much as i rate him he is not a lock in for the end of the season...
For all his defensive qualities he is NQR ball in hand
so is maxwell, so is obrien....even shaw is very error prone....kicks it out on the full flat out....
one of the main reasons our scoring dropped last year was our inability to turn defense into attack on the turnover without a dynamite ball user such as leon....
I rate Toovey but he has flaws.....can we carry 4 NQR back flankers.....something tells me it might change, we may go more attacking......seedsman may slot in down there, they may even give young a role down there
for these reasons toovey is not a lock for mine although at this stage clearly a best 22 player.......may not be as the season unfolds however

I'd kick Maxwell and O'brien out before Toovey you need at least 1 defender who can actually win 1v1 contests...

 

[Chris_2593]

I will give it a crack.

Backs: Toovey ~ Brown ~ Obrien
Halfbacks: Shaw ~ Reid ~ Maxwell
Centre: Young ~ Ball ~ Beams
Halfowards: Sidebottom ~ Cloke ~ Thomas
Fowards: Fasolo ~ Lynch ~ Blair
Rucks: Jolly ~ Pendlebury ~ Swan
Bench: Didak ~ Goldsack ~ Sinclair ~ Sub Johnson
Emergancy: Keefe ~ Russell ~ J.Thomas

 

[pendles2425]

I will give it a crack.

Backs: Toovey ~ Brown ~ Obrien
Halfbacks: Shaw ~ Reid ~ Maxwell
Centre: Young ~ Ball ~ Beams
Halfowards: Sidebottom ~ Cloke ~ Thomas
Fowards: Fasolo ~ Lynch ~ Blair
Rucks: Jolly ~ Pendlebury ~ Swan
Bench: Didak ~ Goldsack ~ Sinclair ~ Sub Johnson
Emergancy: Keefe ~ Russell ~ J.Thomas

I think you have hit the nail on the head with this team. A lot of people will disagree with Sinclair, but I think it is known that both bucks and the rest of Collingwood internally rate him very highly and will persist with him as much as they can.

 

[Soul_Pie]

FB: Toovey Brown O'Brien
HB Shaw Reid Maxwell
C: Thomas Beams Swan
HF: Sidebottom Cloke Young
FF: Fasolo Lynch Krak
Ruck: Jolly Ball Pendlebury
Bench: Blair Goldsack Johnson Sub: Didak

 

[Avatar]

I will give it a crack.

Backs: Toovey ~ Brown ~ Obrien
Halfbacks: Shaw ~ Reid ~ Maxwell
Centre: Young ~ Ball ~ Beams
Halfowards: Sidebottom ~ Cloke ~ Thomas
Fowards: Fasolo ~ Lynch ~ Blair
Rucks: Jolly ~ Pendlebury ~ Swan
Bench: Didak ~ Goldsack ~ Sinclair ~ Sub Johnson
Emergancy: Keefe ~ Russell ~ J.Thomas

I see no Krak given. By design?

 

[Chris_2593]

I see no Krak given. By design?

Ahh knew i forgot someone. Take sinclair out and Krak in.

 

[Swooop]

FB: Toovey Brown O'Brien
HB Shaw Reid Maxwell
C: Thomas Beams Swan
HF: Sidebottom Cloke Young
FF: Fasolo Lynch Krak
Ruck: Jolly Ball Pendlebury
Bench: Blair Goldsack Johnson Sub: Didak

Gets my vote for the best 22 and probably field positions aswell, though maybe Young on wing and shuffle Swan somewhere, but really it's about the best 21 really and from centreline forward they all run everywhere anyhow.

Like the back six, but do have a good feeling about Russell, so any injuries or poor form or player rotations/ specific matchups would quickly see him slot in there.

Nice thinking about Luke Ball back in the middle, missed him badly last year.

 

[Soul_Pie]

Gets my vote for the best 22 and probably field positions aswell, though maybe Young on wing and shuffle Swan somewhere, but really it's about the best 21 really and from centreline forward they all run everywhere anyhow.

Like the back six, but do have a good feeling about Russell, so any injuries or poor form or player rotations/ specific matchups would quickly see him slot in there.

Nice thinking about Luke Ball back in the middle, missed him badly last year.

Yeah, I was weighing up putting Young on a wing, but he is the master of the goal from outside 50 and can spot targets inside 50 which is crucial but I suppose the role he plays is almost a forward running winger. The positions kind of morph into eachother anyway so I guess it's semantics really.

Ball is crucial in my view, he is auto best 22 if fit, in terms of attack at the ball he is an absolute freak, and defensively he is as accountable as they come. He is an absolute leader out there on the ground and sets a great example.

Russell, I think, is at least there to put pressure on some of our defenders, is a huge upgrade over Buckley and has really good upside. He will definitely get his chance at some point during the season, and he very well may take it because our defense was quite leaky last year.

I am really excited for this team, though. Injuries permitting this will have been an incredible off season for us.

 

[Number 10]

I can't decide on a definite 22 as yet but I feel like Elliot will be the dark horse that no-one is talking about. There are 5 small forwards who can tackle inside 50 - krak, Elliot, Kennedy, fasolo, Sinclair and I feel 3 of those will be used each week and possibly one as a sub. I feel like Elliot is the best tackler of that group and the best mark, even considering fasolos strength and krakouers aerial ability. He also looks to have put on a fair bit of muscle so is more advanced than Sinclair and Kennedy in that regard. Either way you look at it, with the addition of caf, we have gone from fas, ugly, krakouer as our only real pressure/small forwards in 2011, to 6 high quality ones who would all get their fair share of games in most other teams.

It's going to be an exciting position to keep tabs on over the next 2 years.

 

[Vicky Park]

completely disagree i think thomas is under rated in his importance to collingwood, he is our talisman
thomas was one of the best players in the game in 2011
his 2010 season was great also
fwiw i dont rate sidebottom that highly.....
thomas is a match turning gun.....
i rate him massively, right alongside pendles, cloke and swan...
i dont think collingwood supporters have problems over rating our guns, we have problems over rating our chaff, the skill level of our bottom 10 last year was appalling.....goldsack a serial fumbler just when he looks like grabbing the game, sidey continually dropping his kicks short.....obrien maxwell turning it over continually....toovey fumbling a handball recieve when we have a quick chain of gives going.....nath brown bombing high rain makers....heath shaw continually making errors then pointing at others....
the list goes on and on.....
our guns are as good as any....the rest need to improve big time

Gifted, absolutely agree with you about Daisy, but I'm still hanging onto my belief in Sidebottom. Also agree we tend to overrate our B and C graders. But reading your list of issues with our 'bottom 10' of 2012, I have to ask again - how come we finished top 4? Maybe we also tend to focus on the worst performances of individuals, ahead of their better and more consistent games. We Pies fans can be pretty demanding and unforgiving.

 

[jonbe54]

The most interesting facet of best 22 selection this year is likely to be ruck/foward mix. For the first time in my memory we have deep stocks in this area and with Bux calling for an 'animalistic' approach it looks to be an exciting period.

 

[wednesdaywarrior]

Not a lot of love for Ben Johnson on here. Fully fit he has to be in our side....for his run out of the backline. I would prefer him over Obrien or Maxy

If BJ displays that Michael Tuck-like durability to keep producing his best, he is in our best 22. As discussed on a previous thread, his numbers and impact when fit and in form (he is rarely out of form when fit) are significant and underrated. However, you'd expect to see a trend down in his play or a continuation with injury now that he is aging. I hope not as I think a big factor in winning flags is in being able to eke out some good final years from veterans Geelong (with half their bloody team) Swans (Bolton, LRT, Malceski, Goodes etc). Likewise, it would be a huge boost to our team to get productive/resilient seasons from: Didak, Jolly, Johnson, Maxwell and others.

 

[loki04]

Gets my vote for the best 22 and probably field positions aswell, though maybe Young on wing and shuffle Swan somewhere, but really it's about the best 21 really and from centreline forward they all run everywhere anyhow.

Like the back six, but do have a good feeling about Russell, so any injuries or poor form or player rotations/ specific matchups would quickly see him slot in there.

Nice thinking about Luke Ball back in the middle, missed him badly last year.

You don't feel the backline needs a little bit of a shake up or new additions?

I reckon Russell will start off in the back 6 from there it will be up to him to hold it.

 

[Chris_2593]

I think this will be Johsnons last year to be honest. I really cant see him keeping his spot in the side for the whole year.

 

[wednesdaywarrior]

In my mind it more comes down to whether there is any room for more midfielders and I don't see why there can't be room for one or both of Martin and Dwyer if their form remains strong.

They may not even get the opportunity to debut and as rookies no guarantees they even get elevated but I'm pretty happy with Martin's average of 26+ disposals per game in his first year at VFL level. Going through his other numbers are also encouraging with 5.4 marks per game, 5.2 inside 50s per game, 5.2 clearances per game, 4.8 tackles per game and 13 goals, 12 behinds from 17 games. The numbers really stack up. And looked great in the game v Tasmainia off a forward flank really hitting the scoreboard on the day. He could even become an eventual Luke Ball replacement through the midfield. His numbers while this is only VFL were better in all these average per game category (Kicks, handballs, disposals, contested possession, uncontested possession, clearances, inside 50, marks, goals averages per game) than the 2011 Luke Ball who's only edge was at 2.1 more tackles per game. The other thing with Martin is that having only had the one season in the VFL his ceiling is a real unknown and there is nothing to suggest he can't continue to improve.

Then Dwyer is a guy who goes beyond the numbers with his agility and sidestep to create space. He has averaged more than 20 diposals per game in all recent seasons, averaging more than 5 marks per game and more than a goal a game. I'd love to know his goal assist numbers from 2009-2011, I can only imagine they'd be the best in the VFL so he is no scrub either and could easily displace a Ben Johnson who he is superior to in disposals, contested and uncontested possessions, marks, inside 50s, clearances, tackles and goals per game.

.

It will be interesting to see how they both go considering your and legend status's divergent views.

Statisically last year we were ranked 8th for overall tackles. (Swans first, Geelong second). I suspect our midfield itself were down on tackles. Ball was injured, Beams ranked 16th overall and Swan and Pendles have never been negative style players. We only employed a tagger twice that I can recall. Clarke on Stanton (big tick but a slow track); Blair on Mitchell (huge fail). Wellers was a potentially good tagger but is now gone. This (stoppage tackling)was a definitive weakness in our team last year, alongside the no second ruck/forward issue which shredded whatever confidence Dawes had left, the muddled and indefinite kick in set up and the general lack of forward potency which led to a percentage that would have placed us around 6th to 8th.

So in 2013, you can talk all you like about how talented our midfield is but the question remains, who is stopping it going the other way or who is stopping at the stoppages?

The answer will be I suspect one or all of the following: 1. Luke Ball 2. Josh Thomas 3. A more defensive emphasis in the game plan, particularly when the opposition has the ball,(will we look at Sydney's 'sling shot' when playing highly attacking sides like Hawthorn and Carlton? 4. Kyle Martin?

I guess I'm wondering KM just how good a defensive player Martin can be. I like the fact he can find the ball, push forward and hit a target and his numbers and development are impressive. But he looks pretty slight of build. I'd love to see him add a few kgs and bore in at the stoppage like Luke Ball (if indeed he is being groomed as the Luke Ball replacement). To me this is the hole he needs to fill and if he can, I agree with you he's potentiall best 22.

Final thought/question: does everyone have to be a replacement for someone all the time? (Wellers, Dawes, Tarrant etc). So in effect no one can replace Luke Ball til Luke Ball is injured or retires. Can we play two or more defensive mids with room for a Josh Thomas say in the team alongside Ball if he shows form. Sydney roll out around 4 or 5 of these hard inside players alongside eachother year after year and whenever one retires there's always an array of apprentices ready to take up the slack (Kelly - Kirk - Bolton - Jack/Hannaberry/Parker). Why are we restricted to one?

 

[gifted1]

You don't feel the backline needs a little bit of a shake up or new additions?

I reckon Russell will start off in the back 6 from there it will be up to him to hold it.

I do
So many people are dishing up last years line up plus ball lynch and young
Guarantee bucks and staff will be thinking differently
Backline is in need of a shake up.....think it will happen at some point during 13

 

[Quicky]

*Bold are those who I view as players we just can't play without. Underlined are those new to our 22.

The key surprises will be Kyle Martin and Sam Dwyer. They are both guys where unless you've watched them several times at VFL level you probably won't fully appreciate how ready they both are and how able they both are to contribute.

Kyle Martin I see as a Sharrod Wellingham replacement. He can win his own ball through the midfield, can shut down a guy or play some off a forward flank. Then Dwyer is more a pacey/agile, highly skilled type who can really add some much needed playmaking to the midfield with his ability to find those inside 50 targets. Both are just such natural fits to our team and in going through our team they feel like those missing midfield links.

B: Harry O'Brien Nathan Brown Alan Toovey
HB: Heath Shaw Ben Reid Nick Maxwell
CEN: Sam Dwyer Luke Ball Kyle Martin
HF: Alex Fasolo Travis Cloke Dayne Beams
F: Steele Sidebottom Quinten Lynch Jarryd Blair
FOLL: Darren Jolly Scott Pendlebury Dane Swan
BENCH: Andrew Krakouer Jordan Russell Clinton Young
SUB: Dale Thomas

*Lachie Keeffe would be in my best 22 but I don't see him coming back till later in the year and even then needing a year before he gets back to his best so for these reasons and with too many talls down back was excluded.

*Other notes:
Clinton Young I expect to start the season very slowly. Will start the season very much underdone with his ankle issues and I expect a number of poor games where people will be requesting he get dropped. But I think he can be just inside our best 22 and come good as the year progresses.

Dale Thomas I also expect to start very slowly having also missed the preseason with that late ankle surgery and my expectations while I expect he plays better than last year are still not all that high and I wouldn't be against playing him as a sub at times if not producing every week.

Jordan Russell is another will he/ won't he be inside the best 22 but with the a position for another rebounding defender in there he has that opportunity.

Krakouer I'm pretty happy with and with the full preseason I see no reason why he isn't best 22.

Then the starting 18 minus the two speculative rookies from the VFL should play the season no problem pending injuries.

I really like this line up. It has a real lot of experience and some new faces. Not sure about using Beams on a half forward line and the structure of that midfield but thats semantics.

I notice no Goldsack and Macaffer. Not a fan of the third tall? With Cloke our only full time tall, with Lynch spending minutes in the ruck, that may be a stretch.

Also no love for Didak? Or Johnson? Didak is a match winner. Johnsons performances are seriously underrated. Although in terms of run and carry it will be interesting to see if guys like Dwyer and Martin can push him out. My bet is Johnson would make it over one of those two.

 

[Quicky]

is toovey in your top dozen?
he's not in mine...
it is conceivable we go with less lock down defenders and by years end it is possible he is squeezed out
as much as i rate him he is not a lock in for the end of the season...
For all his defensive qualities he is NQR ball in hand
so is maxwell, so is obrien....even shaw is very error prone....kicks it out on the full flat out....
one of the main reasons our scoring dropped last year was our inability to turn defense into attack on the turnover without a dynamite ball user such as leon....
I rate Toovey but he has flaws.....can we carry 4 NQR back flankers.....something tells me it might change, we may go more attacking......seedsman may slot in down there, they may even give young a role down there
for these reasons toovey is not a lock for mine although at this stage clearly a best 22 player.......may not be as the season unfolds however

I think who are locks or not has a lot to do with the strength of the side. A stronger side is likely to have more locks than a weaker side. I don't know why it has to be 12? Seems a strange concept. Why can't it be 13 with Toovey the 13th lock?

FWIW I think you are seriously underrating the job that Toovey does for this side. He is our best and most reliable small defender. My thoughts are there will be a shake up in the back line but it won't be at Tooveys expense.

 

[Fruit]

Don't underestimate the possible impact of Brent MaCaffer. He was enormously important in the lead in to our premiership in 2010 and gave us a real lift. He struggled with injuries in 2011 which affected his fitness and consistency and of course the reco last season. I'm banking on him being a real surprise packet this season.

 

[Knightmare]

It will be interesting to see how they both go considering your and legend status's divergent views.

Statisically last year we were ranked 8th for overall tackles. (Swans first, Geelong second). I suspect our midfield itself were down on tackles. Ball was injured, Beams ranked 16th overall and Swan and Pendles have never been negative style players. We only employed a tagger twice that I can recall. Clarke on Stanton (big tick but a slow track); Blair on Mitchell (huge fail). Wellers was a potentially good tagger but is now gone. This (stoppage tackling)was a definitive weakness in our team last year, alongside the no second ruck/forward issue which shredded whatever confidence Dawes had left, the muddled and indefinite kick in set up and the general lack of forward potency which led to a percentage that would have placed us around 6th to 8th.

So in 2013, you can talk all you like about how talented our midfield is but the question remains, who is stopping it going the other way or who is stopping at the stoppages?

The answer will be I suspect one or all of the following: 1. Luke Ball 2. Josh Thomas 3. A more defensive emphasis in the game plan, particularly when the opposition has the ball,(will we look at Sydney's 'sling shot' when playing highly attacking sides like Hawthorn and Carlton? 4. Kyle Martin?

I guess I'm wondering KM just how good a defensive player Martin can be. I like the fact he can find the ball, push forward and hit a target and his numbers and development are impressive. But he looks pretty slight of build. I'd love to see him add a few kgs and bore in at the stoppage like Luke Ball (if indeed he is being groomed as the Luke Ball replacement). To me this is the hole he needs to fill and if he can, I agree with you he's potentiall best 22.

Final thought/question: does everyone have to be a replacement for someone all the time? (Wellers, Dawes, Tarrant etc). So in effect no one can replace Luke Ball til Luke Ball is injured or retires. Can we play two or more defensive mids with room for a Josh Thomas say in the team alongside Ball if he shows form. Sydney roll out around 4 or 5 of these hard inside players alongside eachother year after year and whenever one retires there's always an array of apprentices ready to take up the slack (Kelly - Kirk - Bolton - Jack/Hannaberry/Parker). Why are we restricted to one?

Pendlebury I probably consider one of the better two way mids on our list and while it's always talked about what he does with ball in hand is one of the better tackling mids despite perception. Beams is improved after being previously a one way guy but that defensive side much improved. Ball is not a great two way runner but his asset is his tackling ability and he'll get our tackle numbers up then Swan is the pure one way running offensive guy.

Josh Thomas if fully healthy and with improved endurance is a guy who can play seniors. Probably again more pure ball winning and tackling special than a two way guy in a similar way to Ball so if things work out they could be largely interchangable but I don't see him as a lockdown guy with his strength more in his ability to shark those taps and win his own footy.

My sense is again the club aren't looking for a tagger or a negating specialist. At stoppages Ball is a relative stopper with his tackling game and I'd say similar about Pendlebury who also is very good in this aspect. Who is stopping the other way? Probably no one specifically and it seems we are going to back in our inside players to get the job done and get it forward more often than not and trust in the quality of our defenders who other than Maxwell are strong enough 1v1.

I always find with footballers that you let them be who they are as opposed to who you want them to be. So when I'm saying this I'm talking you don't make a natural inside ball winner into a lockdown player just because you need one, you play the guy to best get the maximum out of their game to allow them to play to their best and without a natural stopper on our list I'm ok with not having one. Maybe a Dale Thomas can become a stopper and Sidebottom in a more outside capacity can do this and Clarke as you mentioned had that success stopping Stanton but outside of this I'm not really seeing anyone else who can even play this type of role at this stage. Maybe a Marley Williams down the track with his unique body and strength but again his more ball winner.

Martin was recruited as another ball winner and will contest with Josh Thomas for a position through the midfield and could contest as a rotation midfielder this year who can play inside/outside/forward. I'm not too concerned by his build as an inside type. He's a similar size to Sam Mitchell really and probably ends up with a similar playing weight after a year with the club. Martin is a ball winning midfielder first but he has also shown the ability to really adapt as he showed in the state game v Tasmaian on a forward flank so plenty of encouraging signs. I'm curious with his ability to adapt to know whether he could play some type of lockdown role and I'd be willing to give him a trial in this type of role at some point to see whether he can do it, but until I've seen it, it's guesswork. But from everything I hear he's a mature guy who will really train and play on edge and add that to his strong VFL production, ability to handle a tag through the second half of the season and that swift improvement with that ability to play against a different level of competition right away and this is where my optimism with Martin comes from.

I don't see anyone as specific replacements. An example of this could be a second ruckman. There are so many different types of second ruckmen that you really have to work them to their strengths to be able to correctly integrate them. There is the Drew Petrie who can play as a pure key forward and just play those minor ruck minutes as required then you've got the your Leigh Brown who can play further up the field or deep as required. It's just a case of it being a guy who can work with your no.1 ruckman and work to their preferences - so if they are a Todd Goldstein you wouldn't want a guy who requires regular ruck minutes to be effective. Then be able to fit reasonably with the forward structure assuming those extra minutes come in the forward half.
With midfielders that is probably one of the main exceptions where you can't win without a number of inside ball winners. But I'd rather a guy be drafted for his ability and then play him to his strengths rather than trying to make him who you need him to be. Even if it can leave a weakness here or there - say no negating mids because they'll always be something missing in any team.

I think we can expand our midfield unit. Whether that means we play less guys as forward specialists I don't much mind but I think Adelaide have the right idea with all those mids who can win their own ball not only through the midfield but then also up forward.
Sydney also excellent and they do it more because it's suits their playstyle which works well on their ground and creates an advantage but I do think we could certainly add more power and ball winning mids and use more in games. Pendlebury and Beams are more finnesse mids the the rest of the midfield from here gets built around them. Swan and Ball are both 28 so they might both play to 31/32 but you'd hope we can integrate some powerful mids or other rare contested ball guys to play alongside Pendlebury and Beams with that contested ball side really the most vital aspect to winning and the thing all the strong clubs do well.

 

[doppleganger]

The most interesting facet of best 22 selection this year is likely to be ruck/foward mix. For the first time in my memory we have deep stocks in this area and with Bux calling for an 'animalistic' approach it looks to be an exciting period.

Hardly call Jolly, Cloke and Lynch as deep stocks.

Not really that much of an improvement from last year IMO.

Lynch is a slight upgrade on Dawes.

But then it is still just the kids, who may not be ready yet.

 

[Knightmare]

I really like this line up. It has a real lot of experience and some new faces. Not sure about using Beams on a half forward line and the structure of that midfield but thats semantics.

I notice no Goldsack and Macaffer. Not a fan of the third tall? With Cloke our only full time tall, with Lynch spending minutes in the ruck, that may be a stretch.

Also no love for Didak? Or Johnson? Didak is a match winner. Johnsons performances are seriously underrated. Although in terms of run and carry it will be interesting to see if guys like Dwyer and Martin can push him out. My bet is Johnson would make it over one of those two.

Beams and Martin really interchangable. I'd start Beams on a forward flank but he'd still play primary inside minutes as I do value him as top 2/3 mid but to integrate all the mids they all (minus perhaps Pendlebury) will get periods forward.

Goldsack I find being a confidence guy when he comes off injury and doesn't have that full preseason (most seasons) he struggles. I initially had him in my squad and I still give him a chance as that third forward having played that role so well this year and I do believe it his best role but just without that full season until I see him play strong football I'm just not certain. Macaffer was incredible in 2010 but until I see him play that same football I'm just not sure again until I've really seen it but his best as we all know is very good so as with the majority of the list I haven't written him off either.
The third tall forward I'm ok with having but at the end of the day I want the best 22 out there. If a Goldsack/Macaffer is inside that best 22 then they play, if not then I'm ok going the extra midfielder and trusting Cloke/Lynch to take enough marks. While I'm pro Swan the full time midfield, without the 3rd tall I think Swan could even become the extra marking target at times up forward if struggling and provide that option clubs as required so I don't think it's something you can't win without even if it means we are playing small ball.

Didak I'm not yet down on just yet and I was probably one of the few to value what he contributed in 2012. If fully fit and if he continues hitting his targets by foot again then he can again be best 22 and is probably in that best team instead of Dwyer, but I see the two largely interchangable and wanted to offer something a touch alternative and probably less thought about.

Johnson I'm not so confident about this season and I feel this could be a semi-transition period where he gets phased out in a similar way to O'Bree/Lockyer and company in 2010. Add in the addition of Clinton Young who plays that same outside role and I'm not so sure he gets too many more senior games this year with Seedsman, Clarke and others really pushing for that same spot and sure to also receive senior games.

Counting the depth I've found 41 players I'd be comfortable with having play senior footy this year (the whole list minus Richmond, Yagmoor, Oxley, Hartley, Ramsay and Broomhead) and in saying that Broomhead and Ramsay can still come good and push for games late season if performing at VFL level.
It's just not a fun year to have to find just 22 guys to play every week but a great problem to have.

 

[doppleganger]

B - Toovey, N.Brown, M.Williams
Loose Back - Maxwell
HB - H.Shaw, Reid, Harry O

Foll - Jolly, Pendles, Ball
C - Beams, Swan, Sidebottom

HF - Didak, Cloke, Krak
F - Thomas, Lynch

Bench - Blair, Goldsack, Young, Macaffer

Maxwell came 5th in the BnF for fecks sake, he is a brilliant organiser and help defender, he ALWAYS leads the side for desire indicators...if people want to see a desperate Collingwood then Maxwell should be first picked.

I still hold a slim hope that we will see another quality season from Didak, and by quality I mean 30+ goals and being a league leader in assists. If he cant get up Fasolo comes in to the 22

Thomas, with his injury his aerobic capacity may be limited...if so he could be best used primarily up forward IMO, a forward line with Thomas, Krak and Didak ooozes x-factor and class. Plus Thomas provides the manic defensive pressure.

 

[THATSGOLD]

Spot on Matty Keefe is a gun

Calm down he's not in the best 200 players in the league. Like Witts is a gun too? Neutral supporters should put our players in to perspective.

 

[THATSGOLD]

Pendlebury Swan Thomas and Beams are elite.
Jolly Cloke and Reid are elite on their day.
Heath Shaw Luke Ball and Sidebottom are in the top 100 players in the league.
Lynch isn't in the best 200 players in the comp.
Big gap between those I mentioned and the rest of the squad for 2013.
Young Harry Blair Toovey Maxwell Johnson Krakouer Brown need to have a massive year to pinch the flag.