Opinion 2013 preseason best 22

[Jhye Clark 13]

I agree with Pure_Ownage, it's extremely hard to see how he and HMc can play in the same side; so if he cements a place in the side, HMc is out.

If he cements a place in the side ahead of McIntosh it'll mean we have an exceptional ruckman on our hands, so I'd be extremely pleased with that result.

 

[FredLeDeux]

If he cements a place in the side ahead of McIntosh it'll mean we have an exceptional ruckman on our hands, so I'd be extremely pleased with that result.

Can't possibly disagree with that.
Not holding my breath though, at least not in 2013.

 

[strauchnyy]

Fb: rivers. Lonergan. Guthrie
Hb: enright Taylor. Mackie
C: Duncan. Selwood. Varcoe
Hf: steviej. Vardy. Bartel
Ff: Menzel. Hawkins. Chappy
Fol: Mcintosh. Kelly. Christensen

Int: pods. Caddy. Corey. Motlop

Emerg: smedts t.hunt. West

Others: horlin-smith (to play 5-10 games), Murdoch (10 games), j.hunt (10-15 games), stokes (10-15 games), kersten (5 games), walker (5 games), brown (5-10 games), McCarthy (5 games), stringer (5-10 games) and.... Pick #16 to play 5 games (depending on type of player).

Basically, we have the best depth in the afl.

 

[Vdubs]

Fb: rivers. Lonergan. Guthrie
Hb: enright Taylor. Mackie
C: Duncan. Selwood. Varcoe
Hf: steviej. Vardy. Bartel
Ff: Menzel. Hawkins. Chappy
Fol: Mcintosh. Kelly. Christensen

Int: pods. Caddy. Corey. Motlop

Emerg: smedts t.hunt. West

Others: horlin-smith (to play 5-10 games), Murdoch (10 games), j.hunt (10-15 games), stokes (10-15 games), kersten (5 games), walker (5 games), brown (5-10 games), McCarthy (5 games), stringer (5-10 games) and.... Pick #16 to play 5 games (depending on type of player).

Basically, we have the best depth in the afl.

No Dawson on your list at all?

 

[rooke33]

Probably for the best. I watched him pretty closely through the VFL finals series, and he has a long way to go before he becomes an effective 1sts No.1 ruckman. And, of course, he has not yet spent as long in the 2nds as West.
But I think it's going to make some of the natives restless.

I think McInthosh was recruited to fill the gap while Simpson develops, so I can't see them in the same team unless something happened to West.

 

[rooke33]

I think they'll play all of them at least early on, so no chance Pods misses round 1.

After all HMac will need careful management due to injuries, as will Vardy, and they won't want West to have the same workload as last year. So some rotation policy between the rucks and tall forwards makes sense.

The real question becomes what they will do in finals when they have to make a call on the best 22, I doubt it will be done early in the year.

I think the recruitment of McIntosh means that unlike most of last season West will have a genuine side kick and I would think whoever isn't rucking would be resting forward. So if we play Pod, Hawkins and Vardy, the forward line will contain those 3 plus a resting ruck, add to that Kersten will be knocking on the door. Surely that would make us too tall unless we can push Vardy further up the ground.

 

[FredLeDeux]

I think McInthosh was recruited to fill the gap while Simpson develops, so I can't see them in the same team unless something happened to West.

Not even then, I wouldn't have thought, just too slow together.
It's one or the other.
So, barring injuries, it's a max 5 or 6 games next year for Simpson.

 

[Gaz_Brownlow]

That's what excites me about Vardy he could fill a number of positions

That could be an amazing thing to see.

The one thing that I think gets people really excited about vardy is his tenacity and attack on the pill. He flies four deep and is not afraid to hurl himself at the ground....hasn't allways worked, but oh boy does it get everyone up and about and this is where the Riewoldt comparisons come in. Not sure if he has the Riewoldt tank, but if he could develop the gut running and play around the wing, we could have an absolute superstar on our hands!

The great thing bout it all is that we don't need to rely on him for anything. Hawkins is the man up forward and Pods is still a very good target....with Hmac and West we have two very good rucks, which means Vardy can be used in a number of positions to ease him into the team. Going to be an exciting year!

 

[Belisarius]

The hardest selection job I have seen at the Cats for many, many years.

We just do not know who will burst out of the pack of young players we haveforce themselves into the senior side.

In the midfield we now have THunt, Caddy, Bundy, Hyphen, Stringer and Duncan all having a csae to play along side our established players.

In the forward line we have Vardy, Motlop, Smedts, Menzel and Kersten all pushing a for a spot.

In the backline we Rivers, Brown and Guthrie trying to get into the team.

Runners in Murdoch and McCarthy.

Ruckman we have HMac and Simpson trying to establish themselves.

And then there maybe someone who just comes on that has not been mentioned like Bews, Cowan, Schroder and Walker.

I still think we will start conservatively and play largely the team close to that that played in the year's final. Then over the season things may change quite dramatically.

 

[DanA]

It's certainly a year where you want to have a good preseason. I have a feeling that any player that doesn't hit the ground running will struggle, because somebody else knocking at the door will.

 

[FredLeDeux]

It's certainly a year where you want to have a good preseason. I have a feeling that any player that doesn't hit the ground running will struggle, because somebody else knocking at the door will.

Yeah, the NAB Cup might even be interesting for once.

 

[strauchnyy]

No Dawson on your list at all?

Admittedly forgot about Dawson, however the relevant question is - should McIntosh or Vardy go down, do you bring in West or Simpson?

I think it would depend on the opposition.

You would also presume that West would come in for Vardy throughout the year, but if McIntosh went down, you would still want to test Dawson to see if he can cut it.

Ideally, I would think the club would still want to pump 10 or so games into Dawson... although If he cant break into the side this year, its almost certain that he would look for opportunities elswhere.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Admittedly forgot about Dawson, however the relevant question is - should McIntosh or Vardy go down, do you bring in West or Simpson?

I think it would depend on the opposition.

You would also presume that West would come in for Vardy throughout the year, but if McIntosh went down, you would still want to test Dawson to see if he can cut it.

Ideally, I would think the club would still want to pump 10 or so games into Dawson... although If he cant break into the side this year, its almost certain that he would look for opportunities elswhere.

If you give Simpson 10 games, it means (barring injuries) you're only giving HMc 12 or 13 games, because they cannot play together.

 

[strauchnyy]

If you give Simpson 10 games, it means (barring injuries) you're only giving HMc 12 or 13 games, because they cannot play together.

I agree.

I think the arrival of McIntosh really does hurt Dawson.

Dawson will play games this year, however it would be when Mcintosh is injured (which I am sort of expecting) or in games where west and vardy are unavailable in which case, Simpson and Mcintosh can both play with one of them being subbed out during the game.

We will see how it pans out.

 

[DanA]

If you give Simpson 10 games, it means (barring injuries) you're only giving HMc 12 or 13 games, because they cannot play together.

Not strictly true. In the 5 or 6 games we play against bottom four opposition we could easily play both. Not ideal but if we want to develop him we need to give him games when we can.

 

[FredLeDeux]

I agree.

I think the arrival of McIntosh really does hurt Dawson.

Dawson will play games this year, however it would be when Mcintosh is injured (which I am sort of expecting) or in games where west and vardy are unavailable in which case, Simpson and Mcintosh can both play with one of them being subbed out during the game.

We will see how it pans out.

I just don't think they can be in the same team, subbing out or not.
Neither of them are very mobile.
And mobility for ruckmen has just become even more crucial. Replacing the bounce around the ground with a throw-up is expressly intended and expected to occur more quickly and to save time at every single stoppage, meaning the ruckmen have to get there faster.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Not strictly true. In the 5 or 6 games we play against bottom four opposition we could easily play both. Not ideal but if we want to develop him we need to give him games when we can.

Dan, just to expand on my previous post, each throw-up is now expected to occur 2 seconds quicker.
2 Seconds = 20 metres for Usain Bolt = 200 metres for Dawson Simpson.

 

[DanA]

Dan, just to expand on my previous post, each throw-up is now expected to occur 2 seconds quicker.
2 Seconds = 20 metres for Usain Bolt = 200 metres for Dawson Simpson.

You don't think we could play those two and still win against a bottom four team?

 

[FredLeDeux]

You don't think we could play those two and still win against a bottom four team?

Dunno, what position would Usain play?

 

[Cameron Barry]

I just don't think they can be in the same team, subbing out or not.
Neither of them are very mobile.
And mobility for ruckmen has just become even more crucial. Replacing the bounce around the ground with a throw-up is expressly intended and expected to occur more quickly and to save time at every single stoppage, meaning the ruckmen have to get there faster.

Fred, I was in Hobart for the Kangas v GWS game earlier this year, granted only GWS, but I swore Hamish was a clone everywhere. I think he even kicked 4? I reckon he covers ground pretty well and will be huge for us next year and going forward! Ominous, without arrogance.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Fred, I was in Hobart for the Kangas v GWS game earlier this year, granted only GWS, but I swore Hamish was a clone everywhere. I think he even kicked 4? I reckon he covers ground pretty well and will be huge for us next year and going forward! Ominous, without arrogance.

Well Cam, I hope you're right.
For one reason or another I have seen very little of him.
It was just that on the sign-up promo clip he didn't look like one of your elite all-day runners.

 

[Cameron Barry]

Well Cam, I hope you're right.
For one reason or another I have seen very little of him.
It was just that on the sign-up promo clip he didn't look like one of your elite all-day runners.

Two years out of the game was a big ask this year. Lets hope he gots lots of miles back into those legs and one endurance in the tank!

 

[footscore]

You don't think we could play those two and still win against a bottom four team?

nearly lost this year v Suns and although they were the top team of the year, we lost to Sydney as well having the big two blokes, not until Simpson was subbed in both games the game changed somewhat.

Two monsters doesn't seem to work not unless the other is super agile.

 

[FredLeDeux]

nearly lost this year v Suns and although they were the top team of the year, we lost to Sydney as well having the big two blokes, not until Simpson was subbed in both games the game changed somewhat.

Two monsters doesn't seem to work not unless the other is super agile.

That's what I've been saying, particularly given the latest Rule changes.

 

[smackdog]

Too much depth is a good problem to have, but may be an issue in free-agency. IMO unfortunately I believe the likes of Stokes, T Hunt (if we don't look after him), D Simpson, etc may seek options elsewhere in the near future. Need to get at least 10-12 games out of depth players listed below to keep them happy.

FB: Rivers Taylor J Hunt
HB: Bartel Lonergan Enright
C: T Hunt Selwood Christensen
HF: S Johnson Hawkins Menzel
F: Chapman Pods Motlop
R: West Duncan Kelly
INT: McIntosh Mackie Caddy Murdoch/Varcoe (sub - coin toss)

Depth players (10-12 games):
Murdoch/Varcoe, Smedts, D Simpson, Vardy, Guthrie, Horlin-Smith, Sherringham, Simpkin, M Brown.

Will not see a lot of:
J Corey (will struggle with pace and soft-tissue injury this year IMO - unfortunately I think it may be a case like Wojack of this year, should have gone this year)
O Stephenson (I think he's good but unfortunately sitting in 4th/5th place at the moment)

Gone end of next year:
J Corey, Chapman, Pods, J Hunt