Prediction 2021 Best 22

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I think the idea of 'ruining' someone by having them play ruck is pretty overplayed. The entire game is physical now, players get hit all of the time wherever they play.

I'd rather Allen play second ruck and field a running player if Williams is unavailable. Allen's alright around stoppages, is a good link in the chain and can play around the field if we need. Vardy offers next to nothing these days, wherever he plays.
 
As much as I dont rate Vardy, Edwards should be our absolute last resort. He's not even a ruckman and is only really helping atm because he is tall and we have injuries.

its a unpopular opinion but we do need to find a role for Harry with Brander and Allen being ear marked for defending roles when Kennedy +Waterman comes back ..

Of course ideally its Williams and Nicnat but remember Harry played as a midfielder as a junior and then the growth spurt which encouraged him to be tried in the KP positions ..Hes now 200 cm and very competitive ,I watched him v Meek and he`s got some potential to be developed as a Ruckman ..
 
If we really think Vardy doesn't offer much as the 2nd ruck/backup both in the ruck and then when he rotates forward and would prefer an Allen type instead but don't want to risk him in the ruck/want to get games into him as a key forward why don't we look into Brander pinch hitting? He is flagged at being taller than Allen and whilst that doesn't translate to a good ruck you would think he would be as serviceable as Allen. Gets the game time into Brander (although completely out of position/dicked around again after wing experiments) and I would think maybe once the ball hits the deck Brander may be more use in the middle than either Vardy or Allen in midfielder duties. Maybe not as good a target for marking around the ground etc but more mobile. Then we have the flexibility of moving Allen and Brander through ruck, fwd or back where needed. Ideally Williams comes back asap and takes it but if your trying to fit Brander in on a wing/back/fwd anyway and have the height on the field (Vardy) why not use him over Vardy.

If we did I reckon tell Brander/Allen if/when they ruck to get on their bike and run the other ruckman ragged and use their higher mobility rather than necessarily try and match physicality with a ruck beast (just provide a contest and bring the ball to ground and then use your advantage over the other ruckman).

Guess the fundamental question is if you go with two rucks and Allen isn't one of them but is already playing then would Vardy or Brander offer more in the position and resting forward across the whole game?

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On a similar not how many 195cm plus players do we think we can field before starting to compromise team speed, agility, endurance, run and carry, ability to provide coverage and defensive pressure etc.

Gone are the days of only having your spine built this way and teams are generally stronger for it but there must be a general tipping point. Spine + 3 more?

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Nelson Barrass Sheppard
Hurn McGovern Witherden
Duggan Kelly Gaff
Jones Darling Cripps
Allen Kennedy Ryan

Natanui Sheed Shuey

Int: Petruccelle, Redden, Cole, O’Neill/Trew
 
If we really think Vardy doesn't offer much as the 2nd ruck/backup both in the ruck and then when he rotates forward and would prefer an Allen type instead but don't want to risk him in the ruck/want to get games into him as a key forward why don't we look into Brander pinch hitting?
Since his 2018 GF performance Vardy has been a liability in both the ruck and up forward. He loses 3 out of 4 ruck contests then turns into a traffic cone. In 11 games in 2019 he didn't take a single mark inside 50, only 5 contested marks all year and didn't kick any score, not even a behind. That's beyond poor.

So yes, I'd rather see Brander given a go in that role if that's how we structure the team. He may lose most ruck contests (no change), but then he turns into a useful player; mobile, able take a mark, able to link up etc.

If we did I reckon tell Brander/Allen if/when they ruck to get on their bike and run the other ruckman ragged and use their higher mobility rather than necessarily try and match physicality with a ruck beast (just provide a contest and bring the ball to ground and then use your advantage over the other ruckman).

Exactly. Use your strengths. And both those guys can take a mark inside 50, so are a threat if they get away from the oppo ruckman.

Guess the fundamental question is if you go with two rucks and Allen isn't one of them but is already playing then would Vardy or Brander offer more in the position and resting forward across the whole game?
Clearly, based on performances over 2019-20, there is no contest. Brander couldn't do worse in the ruck and it's impossible to do worse up forward than no marks i50 (contested OR uncontested), no goals, no behinds in 11 games.
 
With Yeo back yesterday and the prospect of others come back from injury in the next month or so, plus Willie back for round 23 (if he can keep out of controversy), here's a stab at a line-up for the finals.

It will hopefully be a real headache for the MC in terms of who they leave out.


FB: Josh Rotham, Tom Barrass, Shannon Hurn
HB: Brad Sheppard, Jeremy McGovern, Alex Witherden
C: Jarrod Brander, Luke Shuey, Andrew Gaff
HF: Jamie Cripps, Jack Darling, Dom Sheed
FF: Willie Rioli, Josh Kennedy, Liam Ryan

R: Nic Naitanui, Elliot Yeo, Tim Kelly

I: Bailey Williams, Liam Duggan, Oscar Allen, Jack Redden

S: Jack Petruccelle / Jermaine Jones / Nelson / Cole

Sorry to Ah Chee, X O'Niell etc...
If we want the "3-headed monster" up forward in the starting line-up then Oscar and Willie can swap
It feels like the starting backline is a bit one-paced (bar Shep) so it was a toss-up between Witherden and Nelson for the last spot there and I like the way Witho uses the ball better than Nelson.
 
The team line up against the Giants is unbalanced with too many talls. Once the ball hits the ground the tall forwards were not in a position to apply pressure thus leading to easy opposition exits.

This is my ideal team and hopefully we have everyone ready after the bye.

B: Hurn, Barrass, Rotham
HB: Duggan, McGovern, Witherden
C: Sheed, Shuey, Gaff
HF: Ryan, Darling, Cripps
F: Allen, JK, Jones
R: Nic Nat, Yeo, Kelly
I/C: Petch, Brander, Redden, Rioli (However before he comes back any one of Waterman, Nelson, Cole, XON, AhChee and even Williams).

Who should be in Rioli's place?

Nelson or Cole:
Only one of them can be on the side but having them does provide the perfect team balance with one specialist defender on the bench. I would prefer Cole over Nelson as Nelson is soft and cannot break a tackle like Dusty or Yeo can. Cole has been decent in every game he's played and he's someone you can trust more as he's more composed with ball in hand but can cause the odd brain fade like Nelson.

Waterman: He gives it his all every match but it doesn't always mean that he'll be consistent as he can go missing at times. He can work harder than nearly everyone in the team yet still goes missing in bad games but he's best 22 based on ability for sure when he's firing and can be a match winner. I think he can work in the team with Allen doing 35% of the ruck work plus spending another 10% of game time on the bench, JK plays 85% TOG and Darling plays 90% TOG which would give him about 70% of forward time and another 10-20% defense time to avoid clogging up the forward line with too much talls.

AhChee: He can provide midfield and forward depth which will help optimize midfield and small forward rotations. Unfortunately, he's too inconsistent as he has one great game only to go missing the next few games.

XON: To me he plays too safe with his disposals being close or sideways rather than going forward first. Will be a good player in the future. He would be an extra midfielder in the rotation.

Williams: For Williams to work in my suggested team only THREE tall KPFs must be on the field Nic Nat would play his usual 60% TOG but JK would have to play 80% TOG, Darling 90% TOG and Allen plays 85% TOG. That gives Williams 40% of ruck time with two or all three of them in the forward line and 45% time in the forward line when one of JK, Allen and Darling is off AND while Nic Nat's rucking. Waterman cannot play when Williams is in the side with this setup otherwise we'll be too tall.

Who will be our defensive rotation down back if Nelson or Cole don't get selected in my best team?: Brander can rotate down back. He can play on KPFs and mid sized forwards as shown in the WAFL. If Cole or Nelson play then Brander stays on the wing.
 
I honestly think with us being too tall. All we really need is to drop Waterman for a small. Our small forwards are not delivering and applying pressure in the forward line. It needs to be addressed quickly.

Waterman has to go and not come back unless there's an injury to a tall forward. He is making us too tall and creating a hole in the pressure we need to apply from the small forwards.

Our issue going forward are the midfield and small forwards both not delivering.
Cripps fumbles so much and Petrol needs to find consistentcy. Goes missing way to much.
Ryan was super quite against GWS and we dropped Jones which we needed badly. Once we get Rioli back I'd like to see all of Ryan, Rioli, Jones in the side with one of Cripps and Petch.

Waterman isn't offering anything and is too slow with his defensive efforts.

Our backline and tall forward are set.
Our midfield once we get Shuey and Yeo back will start to look and deliver a lot more.

Just right now we have to get our small forwards right. They were all pretty bad on the weekend.
As for our midfield we lack a speed and grunt. We need to use the mid season draft on a quick aggressive midfielder asap.
Mostly used for depth when a player goes down.



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Prediction 2021 Best 22

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