2025 Best 23

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tiger_tough said:
In 4 months?

Why do you hate him so much?
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Hahaha Lalor was my boy and is my boy, First to claim him blah blah but he is coming off a serious hammy and his tank and conditioning would have taken some time without that interruption.

Be patient little grasshopper, just ****ing relax ay.
 
Morro said:
Hahaha Lalor was my boy and is my boy, First to claim him blah blah but he is coming off a serious hammy and his tank and conditioning would have taken some time without that interruption.

Be patient little grasshopper, just ****ing relax ay.
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Just ****ing stfu alright. Geez
 
Smillie, Armstrong, Trainor and Faull all play round 1.

Lalor will be held back to be unveiled with number 4 on his back in round 4 on the MCG as we roll the reigning premiers.

Alger and Sims will come in mid-year.

Hotton will play the last 5-6 games of the year and rack them up.

We finish second last with North finishing last.

Picks 1&2 come in 2025 and we are set.
 

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assuming we have a full list to pick from i would not hesitate to pick this team based on ability and what they have shown at AFL level.

B: Vlastuin - Balta - Trainor
HB: Brown - Gibcus - Smith
C: Campbell - Taranto - HRS/Banks
R: Nankervis - Lalor - Prestia
HF: Hotton - Faull - Clarke
F: Armstrong - Lynch - Alger

INT: Hopper - Smillie - Broad - McAuliffe - Banks - Mansell.

Doing the exercise just shows how shallow our mid stocks remain with only Dow, Sonsie, McIntosh and Ross not named. If we had delisted the first three this year no one would have batted an eyelid that shows how well they have been going.
Ross well he is a sevicable player but we have better options looking forward than him.

HRS Banks, Campbell and Smith are iffy wing h/b running selections. The two younger ones i have more faith in of becoming very good players than Banks and HRS.

With Lynch back no Kossie for me he was and remains a stop gap player.
We have so many tall forwards now what do we do with them all.
Simple answer is play them as much as possible next to Lynch. It is probably more about getting games into kids than anything else next year.
 
Moppey said:
assuming we have a full list to pick from i would not hesitate to pick this team based on ability and what they have shown at AFL level.

B: Vlastuin - Balta - Trainor
HB: Brown - Gibcus - Smith
C: Campbell - Taranto - HRS/Banks
R: Nankervis - Lalor - Prestia
HF: Hotton - Faull - Clarke
F: Armstrong - Lynch - Alger

INT: Hopper - Smillie - Broad - McAuliffe - Banks - Mansell.

Doing the exercise just shows how shallow our mid stocks remain with only Dow, Sonsie, McIntosh and Ross not named. If we had delisted the first three this year no one would have batted an eyelid that shows how well they have been going.
Ross well he is a sevicable player but we have better options looking forward than him.

HRS Banks, Campbell and Smith are iffy wing h/b running selections. The two younger ones i have more faith in of becoming very good players than Banks and HRS.

With Lynch back no Kossie for me he was and remains a stop gap player.
We have so many tall forwards now what do we do with them all.
Simple answer is play them as much as possible next to Lynch. It is probably more about getting games into kids than anything else next year.
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welcome back campaigner
 
tiger_tough said:
This would be my early round 1 side -

FB: Blight - Miller - Broad
HB: Brown - Balta - Vlastuin
C: Banks - Hopper - Ralphsmith
HF: Campbell - Lynch - Ross
FF: Bauer - Armstrong - Mansell
FOL: Nankervis - Taranto - Prestia
INT (from): McAuliffe - MRJ - Lalor - Smillie - Short - Sonsie - Smith - Green - Trezise, Trainor


Gibcus, Lefau, Clarke will likely slot in once they have recovered from the ACLs. Pre-season stand out from Armstrong, Sims, Fawcett, Ryan and Faull to start @ full forward.

Looking at that team, if we have a good run with injury, I think it's far from guaranteed that we finish last. It's not bad on paper. Need a couple of youngsters like Brown, Banks, Ralphsmith, Campbell etc to have break out seasons. Plus a fit and firing Hopper and Lynch.
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im a fan of the 3 key defender + broad setup but yze loved using broad as the 3rd tall

the only times we had the 3 "keys" + broad set up that i can remember without looking through every game was the first 2 rounds with young, gibcus, grimes & broad with balta playing fwd, so maybe once gibcus comes back or if trainor pushes i can see a setup like that, especially if we treat trainor more as an intercepter/runner off half back and broad still 3rd tall
 
Hoos said:
See how he goes obviously, but It's not very often that key position players get thrown in straight away is it? That was my point.
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At this stage Curnow would be too strong for Tranor and McKay would be too fit. Better to wait and play him against a lesser forward.
 
sanaya said:
im a fan of the 3 key defender + broad setup but yze loved using broad as the 3rd tall

the only times we had the 3 "keys" + broad set up that i can remember without looking through every game was the first 2 rounds with young, gibcus, grimes & broad with balta playing fwd, so maybe once gibcus comes back or if trainor pushes i can see a setup like that, especially if we treat trainor more as an intercepter/runner off half back and broad still 3rd tall
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How many premierships did we win, to start with Rance Astbury Grimes and Broad. All over 192cm.
then we had Vlastuin who is strong in the air at 187cm. All in the same backline

When we lost Rance we had Balta step up.
The real key to that set up was Broad could and still does play on all types bar probably kpf's, Only when there is no one else.
His staple diet is third tall and medium types. He also provides lots of run and rebounds.

Grimes he was the same could punch out of his weight division on KPF'S but it was never ideal. His true value to us was his ability to play on third talls mediums and smalls with his third man up ability in helping out the two big key defenders.

Both these blokes are different to each other and both are or were a real point of difference to the kpd's we have/had.

The way i see it
Balta is Rance, Gibcus is Astbury just much quicker and way more athletic, and Trainor is Grimes but has way more tools to work with than Grimes ever did as a kpd.

Without him playing a game Trainor is a far more talented player then Miller Young and Blight. None of whom are a third tall intercept marking option imo who can do other jobs..All three have serious limitations.

Then we have Brown who should be the Broad replacement I thought Broady really struggled for a big chunk of the year but came home with a wet sail i'm wondering at age 31 is the writing on the wall.
If he is going well we do need his experince but i would be starting him on the bench.

Vlastuin who is also 31 but still playing well we dont have a replacement for him. Maybe Trezise who is a similar size who will defend but is he good enough in the air?

last we have not replaced Rioli at all and only have one real option looking long term in Smith who has a ways to go still if he gets there.
He does have great attributes for the role getting him to use those attributes and consistently play well at the level is our challenge.

I reckon we are short on for a small defender hence i was keen on Harrison oliver Hoping he would get to pick 21. He and Hynes never quite got to us. Alhough a bit bemused with the Trainor pick i have fully come around to it.
I was pretty disappointed we did not take Bo Allan with pick 14. Saying that may come back and bite me on the bum but we all knew there would be talls there to be had all rated similarly with our picks after pick14.

It is no slight on Jonty Faull he may be the pick of the tall bunch i just would not have taken him here and if in the clubs shoes i would have hoped he got to our next pick. No other club took a tall between 14 and 21 both times that was us.
It tells me that there was a good chance Faull would get to pick 18 or what became pick 21.
Is Jonty Faull so far in front of the talls that would be available that we just had to over look Allan and kids like Murphy Reid. Im not so sure.

Why Allen well He is a big brute of a running player with real pace and is strong in the air and his midfield work was pretty impressive as well. For me he was a cross between three needs. Hb and Rioli with run pace and vlastuin replacement with his size and strength and good in the air.
The only trouble with all that is he will end up a pretty darn good mid, that imo was the third option with
him. Start his career at half back and and build it into a mid. Giving us ultimately real flexability.
 
B: Brown, Balta, Blight (Trainor)
HB: Vlastuin, Gibcus, Smith
C: Ralphsmith, Hopper, Banks (Clarke)
HF: Smillie, Faull, Short (Hotton)
F: Alger, Lynch, Mansell
R: Nankervis, Taranto, Prestia (Lalor)
INT: Broad, Ross, McAulliffe, Bauer (Lefau), Campbell

EMG: Sims, Kozi, MRJ, Green

Will wait to see preseason training and match form. Fiddled around hoping the team looks something like this. (Players in brackets mostly not available for selection for first month or 2 of the season). Dow, Ryan, McIntosh should be ressies players and only depth for injuries IMO.

Prettty inexperienced and ordinary looking side will be plenty of 60 - 120 point thrashings. No. 1 picks a lock. Hopefully No. 2 pick also.
 
Moppey said:
How many premierships did we win, to start with Rance Astbury Grimes and Broad. All over 192cm.
then we had Vlastuin who is strong in the air at 187cm. All in the same backline

When we lost Rance we had Balta step up.
The real key to that set up was Broad could and still does play on all types bar probably kpf's, Only when there is no one else.
His staple diet is third tall and medium types. He also provides lots of run and rebounds.

Grimes he was the same could punch out of his weight division on KPF'S but it was never ideal. His true value to us was his ability to play on third talls mediums and smalls with his third man up ability in helping out the two big key defenders.

Both these blokes are different to each other and both are or were a real point of difference to the kpd's we have/had.

The way i see it
Balta is Rance, Gibcus is Astbury just much quicker and way more athletic, and Trainor is Grimes but has way more tools to work with than Grimes ever did as a kpd.

Without him playing a game Trainor is a far more talented player then Miller Young and Blight. None of whom are a third tall intercept marking option imo who can do other jobs..All three have serious limitations.

Then we have Brown who should be the Broad replacement I thought Broady really struggled for a big chunk of the year but came home with a wet sail i'm wondering at age 31 is the writing on the wall.
If he is going well we do need his experince but i would be starting him on the bench.

Vlastuin who is also 31 but still playing well we dont have a replacement for him. Maybe Trezise who is a similar size who will defend but is he good enough in the air?

last we have not replaced Rioli at all and only have one real option looking long term in Smith who has a ways to go still if he gets there.
He does have great attributes for the role getting him to use those attributes and consistently play well at the level is our challenge.

I reckon we are short on for a small defender hence i was keen on Harrison oliver Hoping he would get to pick 21. He and Hynes never quite got to us. Alhough a bit bemused with the Trainor pick i have fully come around to it.
I was pretty disappointed we did not take Bo Allan with pick 14. Saying that may come back and bite me on the bum but we all knew there would be talls there to be had all rated similarly with our picks after pick14.

It is no slight on Jonty Faull he may be the pick of the tall bunch i just would not have taken him here and if in the clubs shoes i would have hoped he got to our next pick. No other club took a tall between 14 and 21 both times that was us.
It tells me that there was a good chance Faull would get to pick 18 or what became pick 21.
Is Jonty Faull so far in front of the talls that would be available that we just had to over look Allan and kids like Murphy Reid. Im not so sure.

Why Allen well He is a big brute of a running player with real pace and is strong in the air and his midfield work was pretty impressive as well. For me he was a cross between three needs. Hb and Rioli with run pace and vlastuin replacement with his size and strength and good in the air.
The only trouble with all that is he will end up a pretty darn good mid, that imo was the third option with
him. Start his career at half back and and build it into a mid. Giving us ultimately real flexability.
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The reason no other club took a tall between our picks was because Faull was already off the board. Allen would have helped short term at half back but long term he's going to be a mid, but half backs are one of the easier positions to fill and we've got Kellaway and Tanner Armstrong who we can pick up in these next two drafts.
 
B: Broad - Miller - Vlastuin
HB: Short - Blight - Gibcus
C: Hugo - Hopper - Banks
HF: Mansell - Balta - MRJ
F: Campbell - Lynch - Lalor

1R: Nank - Taranto - Prestia

Bench: Smillie - Ross - Brown - McCaulliffe
Sub: Sonsie

Not a fan of Balta forward but I think we have enough key defenders that we will try to get a look at Balta and Lynch up front again.
 
sante said:
B: Broad - Miller - Vlastuin
HB: Short - Blight - Gibcus
C: Hugo - Hopper - Banks
HF: Mansell - Balta - MRJ
F: Campbell - Lynch - Lalor

1R: Nank - Taranto - Prestia

Bench: Smillie - Ross - Brown - McCaulliffe
Sub: Sonsie

Not a fan of Balta forward but I think we have enough key defenders that we will try to get a look at Balta and Lynch up front again.
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Like this line up a lot, however I'd make the following adjustments for better balance

Blight and Gibcus to swap positions with Broad and Vlastuin. Doesn't really mean much as players don't really line up in the pockets so to speak, but I like the idea of the more mobile types being up across HB, rather than closer to goal.

Similar move in the forward line with Balta and Campbell swapping positions so Campbell can play the high HF role. I'd also swap Lynch and Lalor and put Lalor as the deepest forward which would have Balta and Lynch lining up around 25m out so that they'd be marking options for the quick long kick out of the middle.

With the midfield group, I'd like to have a bit more of a mix between youth and experience in the starting line up and rotations. Perhaps use Taranto as the full time centre then have Hopper & McAuliffe as the other 2 starting mids to begin and then Prestia & Smillie to come in as the rotations. Ross can play as the extra midfielder either on the inside or outside.

The only issue I have is the lack of a 2nd ruck as I'd rather we didn't move Balta into the ruck after he got injured in that role last year. I'd like to see us go with Ryan in a now or never scenario where he is pushed to try and take the number 1 role from Nankervis if we're looking long term results rather than short term success.
 

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_RT_ said:
Like this line up a lot, however I'd make the following adjustments for better balance

Blight and Gibcus to swap positions with Broad and Vlastuin. Doesn't really mean much as players don't really line up in the pockets so to speak, but I like the idea of the more mobile types being up across HB, rather than closer to goal.

Similar move in the forward line with Balta and Campbell swapping positions so Campbell can play the high HF role. I'd also swap Lynch and Lalor and put Lalor as the deepest forward which would have Balta and Lynch lining up around 25m out so that they'd be marking options for the quick long kick out of the middle.

With the midfield group, I'd like to have a bit more of a mix between youth and experience in the starting line up and rotations. Perhaps use Taranto as the full time centre then have Hopper & McAuliffe as the other 2 starting mids to begin and then Prestia & Smillie to come in as the rotations. Ross can play as the extra midfielder either on the inside or outside.

The only issue I have is the lack of a 2nd ruck as I'd rather we didn't move Balta into the ruck after he got injured in that role last year. I'd like to see us go with Ryan in a now or never scenario where he is pushed to try and take the number 1 role from Nankervis if we're looking long term results rather than short term success.
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Didn’t even think about the second Ruck role. Definitely agree Ryan should be given a go, Sonsie drops out of the team then, no idea who should be sub though. You’d probably just rotate it between a few of the younger boys.
 
Just want to focus on our forward line with this post.

If all players are fit, I'd go with a forward line like this:

Bauer - Armstrong - Campbell

M.Rioli - Lynch - Mansell

  • Faull / Fawcett / Gray would be the players id try and rotate with Armstrong and depending on form /bench or injuries.
  • Clarke / Alger would be the smalls I'd look at injecting depending on form/ bench or injures of those named.
 
Full development long term future mode best 22

B: Gibcus Balta Blight
HB: Vlastuin Broad Banks
C: Campbell Taranto Ralphsmith
HF: Mansell Sonsie Rioli
F: Lynch Lalor Fawcett
R: Ryan Hopper McAuliffe
INT: Nankervis Smillie Ross Brown
SUB: Match Up Dependent

VFL:
B: Trainor Miller Young
HB: Short Trezise Smith
C: McIntosh Prestia Clarke
HF: Alger Bauer Hotton
F: Armstrong Sims Faull
R: Hayes-Brown Dow Green
INT: Lefau Gray Koschitzke Colina

Interesting exercise this one when you try and get sides where the development of the kids is the priority over playing the best possible 23 with regards to trying to win as many games as possible.

While I get the desire to throw all the new kids into the AFL side from the get go, I've only opted to select Lalor & Smillie for the senior side, with Hotton(when fit to start in VFL) along with all the young KPP in Faull Trainor Armstrong & Sims all being given starting spots in the VFL line up to start their development, which means the likes of Lefau Gray & Koschitzke being relegated to the bench in the VFL, which shows just how much things have changed post the draft and the influx of quality young KPP to the list.
 
Obviously im on the youth bandwagon as much as possible. What i think they may do though is another matter.


Vlastuin 31/233 - Balta 25/104 - Gibcus 21/20
Short 29/175 - Miller 25/46 - Broad 31/148

McIntosh 31/190 - Taranto 27/152 - HRS 23/50
Nankervis 30/157 - Hopper 28/142 - Prestia 32/225

Campbell 20/21 - Kossie 24/62 - Mansell 24/53
M Rioli 22/36 - Lynch 32/220 - Lefau 26/10

Ross 24/70 - Ryan 24/23 - Dow 23/34 - Sonsie 22/23.
Other options
Banks 22/21 - Young 26/28 - Brown 21/19 - Clarke 21/17.

I think we will get an early handle on it all concerning on how YZE is going to play kids.
The above 26 players represent the sum total of our experienced players

The other team including the last four mentioned would go something like this based on experience.

Bauer 22/7 - Young 26/28 - Trainor 19/0
Brown 21/19 - Blight 23/3 - Smith 20/4

Trezise 22/8 - McAuliffe 20/9 - Banks 22/21
OHB 24/0 - Lalor 19/0 - Hotton 19/0

Smillie 19/0 - Gray 21/0 - Clarke 21/17
Alger 19/0 - Fawcett 19/0 - Green 21/6

Faull 19/0 - Armstrong 19/0 - Sims 19/0
 
_RT_ said:
Full development long term future mode best 22

B: Gibcus Balta Blight
HB: Vlastuin Broad Banks
C: Campbell Taranto Ralphsmith
HF: Mansell Sonsie Rioli
F: Lynch Lalor Fawcett
R: Ryan Hopper McAuliffe
INT: Nankervis Smillie Ross Brown
SUB: Match Up Dependent

VFL:
B: Trainor Miller Young
HB: Short Trezise Smith
C: McIntosh Prestia Clarke
HF: Alger Bauer Hotton
F: Armstrong Sims Faull
R: Hayes-Brown Dow Green
INT: Lefau Gray Koschitzke Colina

Interesting exercise this one when you try and get sides where the development of the kids is the priority over playing the best possible 23 with regards to trying to win as many games as possible.

While I get the desire to throw all the new kids into the AFL side from the get go, I've only opted to select Lalor & Smillie for the senior side, with Hotton(when fit to start in VFL) along with all the young KPP in Faull Trainor Armstrong & Sims all being given starting spots in the VFL line up to start their development, which means the likes of Lefau Gray & Koschitzke being relegated to the bench in the VFL, which shows just how much things have changed post the draft and the influx of quality young KPP to the list.
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Here we go again the train wreck Sonsie chooo choo lol
 
Moppey said:
How many premierships did we win, to start with Rance Astbury Grimes and Broad. All over 192cm.
then we had Vlastuin who is strong in the air at 187cm. All in the same backline

When we lost Rance we had Balta step up.
The real key to that set up was Broad could and still does play on all types bar probably kpf's, Only when there is no one else.
His staple diet is third tall and medium types. He also provides lots of run and rebounds.

Grimes he was the same could punch out of his weight division on KPF'S but it was never ideal. His true value to us was his ability to play on third talls mediums and smalls with his third man up ability in helping out the two big key defenders.

Both these blokes are different to each other and both are or were a real point of difference to the kpd's we have/had.

The way i see it
Balta is Rance, Gibcus is Astbury just much quicker and way more athletic, and Trainor is Grimes but has way more tools to work with than Grimes ever did as a kpd.

Without him playing a game Trainor is a far more talented player then Miller Young and Blight. None of whom are a third tall intercept marking option imo who can do other jobs..All three have serious limitations.

Then we have Brown who should be the Broad replacement I thought Broady really struggled for a big chunk of the year but came home with a wet sail i'm wondering at age 31 is the writing on the wall.
If he is going well we do need his experince but i would be starting him on the bench.

Vlastuin who is also 31 but still playing well we dont have a replacement for him. Maybe Trezise who is a similar size who will defend but is he good enough in the air?

last we have not replaced Rioli at all and only have one real option looking long term in Smith who has a ways to go still if he gets there.
He does have great attributes for the role getting him to use those attributes and consistently play well at the level is our challenge.

I reckon we are short on for a small defender hence i was keen on Harrison oliver Hoping he would get to pick 21. He and Hynes never quite got to us. Alhough a bit bemused with the Trainor pick i have fully come around to it.
I was pretty disappointed we did not take Bo Allan with pick 14. Saying that may come back and bite me on the bum but we all knew there would be talls there to be had all rated similarly with our picks after pick14.

It is no slight on Jonty Faull he may be the pick of the tall bunch i just would not have taken him here and if in the clubs shoes i would have hoped he got to our next pick. No other club took a tall between 14 and 21 both times that was us.
It tells me that there was a good chance Faull would get to pick 18 or what became pick 21.
Is Jonty Faull so far in front of the talls that would be available that we just had to over look Allan and kids like Murphy Reid. Im not so sure.

Why Allen well He is a big brute of a running player with real pace and is strong in the air and his midfield work was pretty impressive as well. For me he was a cross between three needs. Hb and Rioli with run pace and vlastuin replacement with his size and strength and good in the air.
The only trouble with all that is he will end up a pretty darn good mid, that imo was the third option with
him. Start his career at half back and and build it into a mid. Giving us ultimately real flexability.
Click to expand...

It’s not just about Faull getting to 18. If we took Faull at 18, Trainor was going to be snapped up by Sydney at 19. And if we took Trainor at 18 Sydney take Faull at 19. So Faull at 11 and Trainor at 18 was the only way to ensure we got both.


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given some of the commentary about players not being there for round one Lalor, Hotton Gibcus Lefau for starters and trying to work out who the club will pick id say this is on the cards.

Vlastuin - Blight - Smith i hope. probably Short god forbid.
Brown - Balta - Smillie i hope. Probably Broady.

HRS - Taranto - Banks
Nankervis - McAuliffe - Prestia. Probably Hopper instead of McAuliffe.

Mansell - Koschitzke - Campbell
M Rioli - Lynch - young tall. Hope Algar shows enough.

Broad - Hopper - Ross - Miller/Sims.
Clarke.

Outside of Short it is probably the most experienced side we could field. Just know Yze is going to start the season with the older blokes.

Potentially just three newbies.
 
richoplzbreed said:
B: Brown 17, Balta 25, Blight msd (Trainor 21)
HB: Vlastuin 9, Gibcus 9, Smith msd
C: Ralphsmith 46, Hopper 7 , Banks 29 (Clarke 30)
HF: Smillie 7, Faull 14, Short (Hotton 12)
F: Alger 53, Lynch 11, Mansell psss
R: Nankervis 35 , Taranto 2, Prestia 9 (Lalor) 1
INT: Broad 67 , Ross 43, McAulliffe 40, Bauer msd (Lefau psss), Campbell r12

EMG: Sims 28, Kozi 52 , MRJ 51, Green 55

Will wait to see preseason training and match form. Fiddled around hoping the team looks something like this. (Players in brackets mostly not available for selection for first month or 2 of the season). Dow, Ryan, McIntosh should be ressies players and only depth for injuries IMO.

Prettty inexperienced and ordinary looking side will be plenty of 60 - 120 point thrashings. No. 1 picks a lock. Hopefully No. 2 pick also.
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It may be inexperienced but ordinary ?. The numbers i have put against each name is where each player was originally drafted.
Draft numbers as your well aware is only an indicator of potential and quality and often wrong. But we do now have our share of good picks spread right thru that team and over the next two drafts that should only improve significantly. 16 in that team of yours was taken between 1 and 30 and there is still a few left not named.

If we have the majority of our picks right then ordinary is a bit harsh.

On Smillie at hf he was a mid hb at draft time. With Trainor probably not right early rounds then play Smillie across hb instead.That would allow Bauer to start at hf. Gibcus is another you should have in brackets very unlikely they will rush him so Blight would play.
 
Moppey said:
It may be inexperienced but ordinary ?. The numbers i have put against each name is where each player was originally drafted.
Draft numbers as your well aware is only an indicator of potential and quality and often wrong. But we do now have our share of good picks spread right thru that team and over the next two drafts that should only improve significantly. 16 in that team of yours was taken between 1 and 30 and there is still a few left not named.

If we have the majority of our picks right then ordinary is a bit harsh.

On Smillie at hf he was a mid hb at draft time. With Trainor probably not right early rounds then play Smillie across hb instead.That would allow Bauer to start at hf. Gibcus is another you should have in brackets very unlikely they will rush him so Blight would play.
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Considering Lynch, Lefau, Gibcus, Clarke, Lalor, Hotton, Trainor are all behind the 8 ball with injuries of course. We were the worst team in history last year and have just gotten weaker after we've lost the Legendary Dusty, our BnF Rioli, arguably 2nd best player and leading Goalkicker in Bolton, solid contributors in Graham, Pickett and Baker. I'd say describing the team as ordinary is actually being very generous. Vlastuin and Broad are 2 of our best players and both are over 30 with sore backs from carrying too many passengers. Hopper, Prestia and Nank are always bloody injured too.

Other teams would laugh if their most promising youths did as little as Banks, Ralphsmith, Campbell and Brown last year, yet our season was so deplorable we tried to convince ourselves they were really, really good when reality was all were mediocre in the worst team in history. Endless posters use superlatives like Great, Brilliant, Phenomenal.... to describe MRJ when reality is he's a passenger carried by surname alone. Samson Ryan and Kozi are 2 of the worst contracts in footy. Short and McIntosh were putrid yet retained there spots.

History tells us the odds are out of the 8 we just took 2- 3 will be busts, the KP players we won't know for 4-5 years minimum.
I'm not stupid obviously Lalor could be the next Dusty.... or the next Matt Scharenberg, Trainor the next Rance..... or the next Paddy McCartin, Smillie the next Cripps or the next RCD, Hotton the next Bolton or the next Cale Morton....... Yze needs to find a balance between getting games in the kids without cooking them. Rewarding reserves form, dropping underperformed best 22, whilst his underlying motive may not necessarily allign with the clubs future (his personal motive maybe all about getting another 2 year contract extension no matter what) he may prefer guaranteed average slop of McIntosh, Short, Dow, MRJ over the peaks and troughs of the kids.

I'm not looking at our 2025 team through Rosed coloured lenses projecting to the kids as 100 game veterans I'm looking at it for what it is...... <<<<<<<< than our 2024 team (worst in history) so I change my assessment of ordinary to f@cken sh1thouse. I endured the mid 80's garbage teams with my fellow 3000 members we had back then even though our red seated section often only had about 500 people, usually the same faces week in week out. As bad as Laffy, Des Ryan, Andy Goodwin, Brendan Bower, Esler etc. we're they at least had a crack and the team could kick goals, unlike last year where players gave up 5 mins in and we'd scored 2 - 3 goals to half time. I'm prepared for pain and will be shocked if we win 3 games. So long as the kids get rewarded and sooner they play 40+ games together the better.
 

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