Preview 2025 Best 22 Discussion

[mattis117]

Nothing else to do right now, so was thinking who would I pick one after the other to get to my 23, came up with this:

1. Darcy
2. Serong
3. Brayshaw
4. Young
5. Pearce
6. Treacy
7. Jackson
8. Amiss
9. Bolton
10. Clark
11. Cox
12. Ryan
13. Chapman
14. Frederick
15. Walker
16. Draper
17. Switkowski
18. Johnson
19. Sturt
20. NOD
21. Wagner
22. Erasmus
23. Fyfe
24. Sharp
25. Simpson
26. JOM
27. Voss
28. Walters
29. Narkle
30. Reid
31. Aish
32. Reidy
33. Davies
34. Brodie
35. Murphy

No point going any further. Some serious depth going into this season.
From this IMO Sharp is not a guarantee on that wing. I could see Chapman sliding up the ground so they can play Draper and Wagner. JOM also pressuring for a wing spot and mid rotations.

Another thought I had, is if Freo were to make the GF, I hope that Fyfe is able to play and contribute. The champ deserves it.

 

[gungho]

Nothing else to do right now, so was thinking who would I pick one after the other to get to my 23, came up with this:

1. Darcy
2. Serong
3. Brayshaw
4. Young
5. Pearce
6. Treacy
7. Jackson
8. Amiss
9. Bolton
10. Clark
11. Cox
12. Ryan
13. Chapman
14. Frederick
15. Walker
16. Draper
17. Switkowski
18. Johnson
19. Sturt
20. NOD
21. Wagner
22. Erasmus
23. Fyfe
24. Sharp
25. Simpson
26. JOM
27. Voss
28. Walters
29. Narkle
30. Reid
31. Aish
32. Reidy
33. Davies
34. Brodie
35. Murphy

No point going any further. Some serious depth going into this season.
From this IMO Sharp is not a guarantee on that wing. I could see Chapman sliding up the ground so they can play Draper and Wagner. JOM also pressuring for a wing spot and mid rotations.

Another thought I had, is if Freo were to make the GF, I hope that Fyfe is able to play and contribute. The champ deserves it.

I'm not sure if you are rating these on most important to the team. If so, I have a few differences.
Mine would go like this.
1 Treacy
2 Young
3 Serong
4 Brayshaw
5 Pearce
6 Amiss
7 Bolton
8 Clark
9 Jackson
10 Walker
11 Freddy
12 Darcy
13 Ryan
14 Sharp
15 Chapman
16 Cox
17 Draper
18 Noddy
19 Sturt
20 Wagner
21 Fyfe
22 Johnson
23 Erasmus
24 Voss
25 Aish
26 Narkle
27 JOM
28 Banfield
29 Simpson
30 Worner
31 Walters
32 Reid
33 Reidy
34 Omac
35 Brodie
36 Davies
37 Murphy
38 Carr
39 Nichols
40 Jones
41 Riddle
42 Deelan

 

[DQ 4EVER]

I'm not sure if you are rating these on most important to the team. If so, I have a few differences.
Mine would go like this.
1 Treacy
2 Young
3 Serong
4 Brayshaw
5 Pearce
6 Amiss
7 Bolton
8 Clark
9 Jackson
10 Walker
11 Freddy
12 Darcy
13 Ryan
14 Sharp
15 Chapman
16 Cox
17 Draper
18 Noddy
19 Sturt
20 Wagner
21 Fyfe
22 Johnson
23 Erasmus
24 Voss
25 Aish
26 Narkle
27 JOM
28 Banfield
29 Simpson
30 Worner
31 Walters
32 Reid
33 Reidy
34 Omac
35 Brodie
36 Davies
37 Murphy
38 Carr
39 Nichols
40 Jones
41 Riddle
42 Deelan

1 Darcy
2 Serong
3 Pearce
4 Treacy
5 Clark
6 Young
7 Bolton
8 Amiss
9 Cox
10 Jackson
11 Chapman
12 Walker
13 Ryan
14 Surt
15 Johnson
16 Fyfe
17 Freddy
18 Sharp
19 Fyfe
20 Walters
21 O'Driscoll
22 Erasmus
23 Wagner
24 Brayshaw
25 McDonald
the rest

 

[mattis117]

Just realised I missed Banners, sorry BB

 

[Docker82]

You can add him to the list of people like Walters, Fyfe, O'Meara, Banfield.

I have them all out of the best 22, but I expect we will get 40 plus games out of them this year. (Based on training reports, O'meara and Banfield are ahead of the rest) They all need a good preseason to play round 1, and will be under pressure all year to hold their spot.

I think all are solid depth, when we have injuries.

Absolutely nothing wrong with the Aish we saw between 2020 and 2023. If he’s the worst player in your team you’re a bloody good team.

Thing is in 2024 he wouldn’t have been our worst player in the best 22 - he was just forced out due to similar level players that play his role playing slightly better than him.

I don’t have an issue with Aish being best 22 if that’s what ends up happening.

 

[chaosball32]

Fyfe, O’Meara and Banfield each played 22 games in 2024. Walters played 17 and would have played more if not for injury.

If we’re serious about actually achieving some success this year then this shouldn’t happen again. Aish was pushed out second half of the season and I rate his current contributions higher then the aforementioned four, but this is probably chalked down to team structure or “intangibles” or whatever.

Hurts to say about Fyfe and Walters being club legends and personal faves, everybody obviously wants the fairytale ending and so do I, but the reality is if we keep gifting games to these guys regardless of performance then we won’t make finals again. You can’t have senior players regularly not contributing or being liabilities. There needs to be some selection integrity, we have the depth to cover and I would argue we had the depth last year too. I hope that they have enough in the tank for one last hoorah, but in the likely reality they don’t we need to be open to change.

At the end of the day JL’s job is on the line this year, if we wants to continue to play it safe and be risk averse then he likely won’t be at the club next year. I think we will get a good idea of his approach on the Thursday before round 1.

 

[theGav56]

Nothing else to do right now, so was thinking who would I pick one after the other to get to my 23, came up with this:

1. Darcy
2. Serong
3. Brayshaw
4. Young
5. Pearce
6. Treacy
7. Jackson
8. Amiss
9. Bolton
10. Clark
11. Cox
12. Ryan
13. Chapman
14. Frederick
15. Walker
16. Draper
17. Switkowski
18. Johnson
19. Sturt
20. NOD
21. Wagner
22. Erasmus
23. Fyfe
24. Sharp
25. Simpson
26. JOM
27. Voss
28. Walters
29. Narkle
30. Reid
31. Aish
32. Reidy
33. Davies
34. Brodie
35. Murphy

No point going any further. Some serious depth going into this season.
From this IMO Sharp is not a guarantee on that wing. I could see Chapman sliding up the ground so they can play Draper and Wagner. JOM also pressuring for a wing spot and mid rotations.

Another thought I had, is if Freo were to make the GF, I hope that Fyfe is able to play and contribute. The champ deserves it.

The issue I have Darcy right up there is that he is more replaceable than the other top players

If he was leaving we could trade for a replacement or work with Jackson.

With the losses of Darcy, Treacy and Pearce last season, I think Darcy was the one we missed the least.

However I do acknowledge that the loss of Pearce came on top of Cox and MacDonald, and Treacy the loss of Taberner.

 

[theGav56]

At the end of the day JL’s job is on the line this year, if we wants to continue to play it safe and be risk averse then he likely won’t be at the club next year. I think we will get a good idea of his approach on the Thursday before round 1.

I think that has turned around.

Playing Fyfe instead of Erasmus/Brodie, Walters instead of Simpson/Reid, is not being risk averse. Those are the risky options.

Playing Taberner last year instead of Reidy was the risky option and it didn't pay off for us.

But they are on the list, and if they are managed well, they could have a role to play.

 

[mattis117]

The issue I have Darcy right up there is that he is more replaceable than the other top players

If he was leaving we could trade for a replacement or work with Jackson.

With the losses of Darcy, Treacy and Pearce last season, I think Darcy was the one we missed the least.

However I do acknowledge that the loss of Pearce came on top of Cox and MacDonald, and Treacy the loss of Taberner.

I don't agree, however, that's because I'm hoping Darcy brings out his best football, which as we know is Doig medal quality. That is not replaceable.

 

[eastfreo75]

The issue I have Darcy right up there is that he is more replaceable than the other top players

If he was leaving we could trade for a replacement or work with Jackson.

With the losses of Darcy, Treacy and Pearce last season, I think Darcy was the one we missed the least.

However I do acknowledge that the loss of Pearce came on top of Cox and MacDonald, and Treacy the loss of Taberner.

We won 70% of games when Darcy played.

 

[TheLastCall]

We won 70% of games when Darcy played.

We looked so much better with both Darcy and Jackson in the side. Jackson was breaking down when he had to shoulder the ruck duties. The two ruck structures will extend both players playing life.

 

[theGav56]

We won 70% of games when Darcy played.

That's a tricky statistic. It's the last 4 games that derailed our season and those losses included both Treacy and Pearce absent along with McDonald. They also included playing Cox and Taberner who were clearly underdone, along with Reidy as it became apparent that going with Jackson as #1 had it's problems.

My opinion is that an available Darcy in that situation would have been less impactful than either Treacy or Pearce.

And I'd also suggest that with both available we may have walked away with 4 wins significantly changing that percentage.

 

[eastfreo75]

That's a tricky statistic. It's the last 4 games that derailed our season and those losses included both Treacy and Pearce absent along with McDonald. They also included playing Cox and Taberner who were clearly underdone, along with Reidy as it became apparent that going with Jackson as #1 had it's problems.

My opinion is that an available Darcy in that situation would have been less impactful than either Treacy or Pearce.

And I'd also suggest that with both available we may have walked away with 4 wins significantly changing that percentage.

Very true. Can be a combination of missing players.

Having Darcy allows Jackson to destroy the other teams second ruck or wear down their first ruck and allows Jackson as an arial and ground threat in the forward line. Ruck structure is the most important part of the whole team.

Our structure was a messy all season with the tall outs.

 

[pK75]

That's a tricky statistic. It's the last 4 games that derailed our season and those losses included both Treacy and Pearce absent along with McDonald. They also included playing Cox and Taberner who were clearly underdone, along with Reidy as it became apparent that going with Jackson as #1 had it's problems.

My opinion is that an available Darcy in that situation would have been less impactful than either Treacy or Pearce.

And I'd also suggest that with both available we may have walked away with 4 wins significantly changing that percentage.

Not really, both Treacy and Pearce were playing in the 1st Port game and the Carlton game, we lost those, Darcy in my mind is more important to our W:L ratio and the 70% win rate with Darcy (not forgetting that includes rushing him back for the WC game, and playing him clearly hampered in the Bombers game). A fit Darcy is closer to a 90% win rate, that’s how important he is to our overall prospects.

 

[Matt_352]

Hey guys, list is looking good for 2025. Is Erasmus any shot at some solid midfield time this year, saw that he was killing it in the WAFL. Thinking a potential break out candidate for fantasy