Best 23 in 2025

[adammania9]

And the fact that all are aging players are two years older

Technically yes, in the sense that everyone is aging always.

I don’t think many of our veterans were worse in 2024 than 2023. They held up their end of the bargain. I think we can reasonably expect the likes of Pendlebury, Howe, Cox, Elliott, Crisp, WHE etc to deliver similar levels of footy to what they did in the past two years

 

[Rusty Beam]

There are always injuries so there'll be opportunities for guys like Allen.

Allan needs to be given games IMO. Even if he’s performances are below the guy he’s replacing ie Sidebottom, Lipinski, WHE.

He’s not going to develop properly simply playing VFL and not being able to string games together at AFL level. That’s before even worrying about him getting itchy feet.

 

[Fat Jesus]

Allan needs to be given games IMO. Even if he’s performances are below the guy he’s replacing ie Sidebottom, Lipinski, WHE.

He’s not going to develop properly simply playing VFL and not being able to string games together at AFL level. That’s before even worrying about him getting itchy feet.

He will be because he's way better than some here think.

 

[Vankri]

Not going to have a crack at it yet but with our new acquisitions and with so many coming back from injury riddled seasons we have some really interesting calls to make.

Who plays on the HBFs: obviously Houston is a given at high half back but last year towards the end we sent IQ on a wing and Jaicos back and we’ve lost Noble and it’s unlikely Markov is best 23 anymore so who brings the leg speed? Plus we’ve got Perryman who seemingly may start behind the ball going by Leppa’s comments. Fly also rotates players a lot across HB and mid. What I’d like to see is actually sending Crisp back for that combo of run from half back and excellent intercept mark skills which plays into our game style and is something we sorely missed from someone like IQ this year compared to 23. Also allows Perryman to focus on defensive midfield position which I can see him improving (sorry Titch and Pendles).

Our tall defence dilemma: we’re building a great strength in rebounding defenders with now probably league best talent there (Houston, Maynard, IQ, Crisp, Perryman, Jaicos all very strong options) but it leaves us with a challenge with our tall backs. Do we go with Moore and Howe like a few are suggesting knowing it forces Howe to play too tall or are we playing Frampton (or Tomlinson) out of necessity? I think there are teams we can’t do without a second 195cm+ defender like the Dogs or Carlton or teams with two ruck setups so I’d go with the two tall + Howe formula meaning a great HB misses or spends more time in the middle, but maybe it’s a case by case during the season and we try without it against smaller forward lines to really aim to dominate teams through intercept and rebound like we did in 23.

Inside mid rotations: Nick is a given but after that it’s an open question. Who lines up in the equivalent centre bounce from the 23 GF before the Jordy goal? Does Pendles still have it in him to be part of core inside mid work and play sweeper or does he actually play further back? Does Sidey continue with a tagging role and if so against which teams? Can Titch recover his 2023 form? Does Jordy split his time with the forward line? Do we actually need another big body rotation there we haven’t seen much of before like Bruz or Beau? What’s I’d love to see here is Allan coming on and imposing himself to get us frothing about him and Nick as a duo for ten years. Long odds but not impossible as I think the natural talent and physical attributes are there. Would reshuffle the deck considerably if so.

The ruck dilemma: Cameron has come on incredibly well but we still looked structurally more sound when Cox came back in. Does Cameron have it in him to play 80% game time in the ruck? My hope is that with McStay now fully recovered from his ACL I’d love to at least give it a go with Cameron first and Mcstay ruck forward, allowing us to bring an extra runner in or even something like Membrey especially if the sub goes.

Tell you what though, Fly wanted a team with versatility and he got one. Many multi-position players I haven’t even touched on like WHE or Bobby and Jaime on a wing. Exciting times and some cool stuff to look for in the pre season training.

 

[Jelly Bean]

Not going to have a crack at it yet but with our new acquisitions and with so many coming back from injury riddled seasons we have some really interesting calls to make.

Who plays on the HBFs: obviously Houston is a given at high half back but last year towards the end we sent IQ on a wing and Jaicos back and we’ve lost Noble and it’s unlikely Markov is best 23 anymore so who brings the leg speed? Plus we’ve got Perryman who seemingly may start behind the ball going by Leppa’s comments. Fly also rotates players a lot across HB and mid. What I’d like to see is actually sending Crisp back for that combo of run from half back and excellent intercept mark skills which plays into our game style and is something we sorely missed from someone like IQ this year compared to 23. Also allows Perryman to focus on defensive midfield position which I can see him improving (sorry Titch and Pendles).

Great post except where you are suggesting Crisp has excellent (or any) intercept (or otherwise) marking skills...

One of the poorer overhead in our team.

 

[Vankri]

Great post except where you are suggesting Crisp has excellent (or any) intercept (or otherwise) marking skills...

One of the poorer overhead in our team.

He did it in 2018 and can do it again!

 

[Matt_352]

B: Maynard ~ Tomlinson ~ Howe
HB: Crisp ~ Moore ~ Houston
C: J.Daicos ~ N.Daicos ~ Sidebottom
R: Cameron ~ Mitchell ~ Perryman
HF: Elliott ~ Mihocek ~ DeGoey
F: Schultz ~ McStay ~ Hill

Int: WHE ~ Membrey ~ McCreery ~ Quaynor Pendlebury

 

[Pistol Night]

B: Maynard ~ Tomlinson ~ Howe
HB: Crisp ~ Moore ~ Houston
C: J.Daicos ~ N.Daicos ~ Sidebottom
R: Cameron ~ Mitchell ~ Perryman
HF: Elliott ~ Mihocek ~ DeGoey
F: Schultz ~ McStay ~ Hill

Int: WHE ~ Membrey ~ McCreery ~ Quaynor Pendlebury

There's ya 2025 Premiers people.

 

[timokane]

Like this best 23 in 2025 thing gets the juices flowing.

this is mine for now:

FB: Howe Dean Tomlinson
CB: Maynard Moore Josh Daicos

7

Josh Daicos

Age

26

Ht

178cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.6

4star

K

8.3

3star

HB

7.3

5star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.6

5star

CL

1.3

3star

D

16.2

4star

K

9.2

4star

HB

7.0

4star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.5

4star

CL

1.5

4star

D

13.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

6.2

4star

M

3.2

4star

T

4.2

5star

CL

1.2

4star

C: Quaynor Nick Daicos Hill
CF: De Goey McStay Houston
FF: Elliott Mihochek Pendles
R: Cameron Crisp Perryman
INT: De Mattina Membrey TJ McCreery
Sub: Allan or Sidey

my explaination:

I think best to have Houston play more forward of the ball and play more like winger.
need for speed so i have Hill and Quaynor who needs some run in the middle nowadays get out there and run.
Perryman and Crisp to now take on full time the on baller roles.
Keep both Nick Daicos and De Goey freed up just forward of the ball.
Dean to now take over the full bakc role the times arrived.
Tomlinson and Howe in support.
mix it up on the int so i have De Mattina TJ along with Membrey and Beau there for that added experiance.
Sub i have toss up between Ed Allan and Sidey.
Pendles champ to just park himself up forward and kick a handy goal or 2. Ditto Elliott.
Like to play Houston on the wing first up or centre.
To me looks really balanced and with a nice mix of young and old there.
A potential line up for a premiership winning line up team in 2025.

 

[LuckyLee]

Hopefully 2025 will be like 2010, when old players like O’Bree, Lockyer, Medhurst, Fraser & Anthony were in the side at the start of the season but had been pushed out by younger players by the time we got to Finals.




Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[3rdMan]

Hopefully 2025 will be like 2010, when old players like O’Bree, Lockyer, Medhurst, Fraser & Anthony were in the side at the start of the season but had been pushed out by younger players by the time we got to Finals.




Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

It's going to depend on their performance (and that of younger players).

We have good senior depth so it's going to make it tough for young players to crack the team. Injuries will happen and they'll have to take their chance when they get it.

Sidebottom when announcing he'd be playing on said he hopes to be replaced by players like Allan. So looks to have the right attitude.

 

[cfc19902010]

Allan has to play

Watch this space .. Parker will get games
Crunch time for reef and Finn

 

[Jen2310]

Allan has to play

Watch this space .. Parker will get games
Crunch time for reef and Finn

Good form and injuries, we'll see them all get games. Pre-season will show a lot.
Which young kids take the next step and pop, as Leppa said.

 

[Aussie pie]

Not going to have a crack at it yet but with our new acquisitions and with so many coming back from injury riddled seasons we have some really interesting calls to make.

Who plays on the HBFs: obviously Houston is a given at high half back but last year towards the end we sent IQ on a wing and Jaicos back and we’ve lost Noble and it’s unlikely Markov is best 23 anymore so who brings the leg speed? Plus we’ve got Perryman who seemingly may start behind the ball going by Leppa’s comments. Fly also rotates players a lot across HB and mid. What I’d like to see is actually sending Crisp back for that combo of run from half back and excellent intercept mark skills which plays into our game style and is something we sorely missed from someone like IQ this year compared to 23. Also allows Perryman to focus on defensive midfield position which I can see him improving (sorry Titch and Pendles).

Our tall defence dilemma: we’re building a great strength in rebounding defenders with now probably league best talent there (Houston, Maynard, IQ, Crisp, Perryman, Jaicos all very strong options) but it leaves us with a challenge with our tall backs. Do we go with Moore and Howe like a few are suggesting knowing it forces Howe to play too tall or are we playing Frampton (or Tomlinson) out of necessity? I think there are teams we can’t do without a second 195cm+ defender like the Dogs or Carlton or teams with two ruck setups so I’d go with the two tall + Howe formula meaning a great HB misses or spends more time in the middle, but maybe it’s a case by case during the season and we try without it against smaller forward lines to really aim to dominate teams through intercept and rebound like we did in 23.

Inside mid rotations: Nick is a given but after that it’s an open question. Who lines up in the equivalent centre bounce from the 23 GF before the Jordy goal? Does Pendles still have it in him to be part of core inside mid work and play sweeper or does he actually play further back? Does Sidey continue with a tagging role and if so against which teams? Can Titch recover his 2023 form? Does Jordy split his time with the forward line? Do we actually need another big body rotation there we haven’t seen much of before like Bruz or Beau? What’s I’d love to see here is Allan coming on and imposing himself to get us frothing about him and Nick as a duo for ten years. Long odds but not impossible as I think the natural talent and physical attributes are there. Would reshuffle the deck considerably if so.

The ruck dilemma: Cameron has come on incredibly well but we still looked structurally more sound when Cox came back in. Does Cameron have it in him to play 80% game time in the ruck? My hope is that with McStay now fully recovered from his ACL I’d love to at least give it a go with Cameron first and Mcstay ruck forward, allowing us to bring an extra runner in or even something like Membrey especially if the sub goes.

Tell you what though, Fly wanted a team with versatility and he got one. Many multi-position players I haven’t even touched on like WHE or Bobby and Jaime on a wing. Exciting times and some cool stuff to look for in the pre season training.

McStay is a break glass option in the ruck. Only to be used in emergency. We always play better with 2 rucks and until Cox retires or we actually get another tall in the forward line who can play 2nd ruck then Cox stays. This will be his last season, no doubt about that. The hope is Smit develops well this year and can start learning the role to take over in 2026. While we are in the window this year I can’t see much change in terms of style but maybe personal. We are in the window still so minor tweaks to improve us, Allen, Houston and Perryman is a good start.

 

[cfc19902010]

Good form and injuries, we'll see them all get games. Pre-season will show a lot.
Which young kids take the next step and pop, as Leppa said.

Allan should be in starting 23 somewhere IMO
Parker obviously will have to fight to get in

 

[3rdMan]

Good form and injuries, we'll see them all get games. Pre-season will show a lot.
Which young kids take the next step and pop, as Leppa said.

I'm sure this will be the case. In a good team trying to contend it is hard for young players to develop though. They'll get games through injury or poor form, but then they have to perform better than senior players to keep their spot which is not easy. They then get dropped for "not being good enough" and never get the block of games needed to get good.

Clubs will often be proactive and start to push younger players even if they aren't quite at the standard. This can help them get there and provide a benefit to the team later in the season. We do some of this, though I think less under Macrae. Expecting it to happen more in 2025 but I had the same view before 2024 and we have stronger senior depth now, so even tougher.

 

[Jen2310]

I'm sure this will be the case. In a good team trying to contend it is hard for young players to develop though. They'll get games through injury or poor form, but then they have to perform better than senior players to keep their spot which is not easy. They then get dropped for "not being good enough" and never get the block of games needed to get good.

Clubs will often be proactive and start to push younger players even if they aren't quite at the standard. This can help them get there and provide a benefit to the team later in the season. We do some of this, though I think less under Macrae. Expecting it to happen more in 2025 but I had the same view before 2024 and we have stronger senior depth now, so even tougher.

Yeah, won't be easy. But we'll need to do it, given there is a good chance quite a few vets will retire in 2025. So it will be an interesting challenge.

 

[Kappa]

Technically yes, in the sense that everyone is aging always.

I don’t think many of our veterans were worse in 2024 than 2023. They held up their end of the bargain. I think we can reasonably expect the likes of Pendlebury, Howe, Cox, Elliott, Crisp, WHE etc to deliver similar levels of footy to what they did in the past two years

They were worse in 2024, some of them were a fair bit worse.

Every year the players over 30 slow down, that's undeniable.

 

[Finnishpie]

One thing that’s interesting is how much the coaches manage our older players. We had the debate over the last few years, and I’m of the belief that in 2025 it’ll be essential.

So that means there will be space for Allen, Macrae, McInnis, Parker, Sullivan, Dean, whoever is on the next rung to get a game. Even Johnson if he can develop some consistency and another string to his mono dimensional bow.

 

[Gaspard]

Great post except where you are suggesting Crisp has excellent (or any) intercept (or otherwise) marking skills...

One of the poorer overhead in our team.

I'm very surprised that you think that Crisp is weak overhead. I would say strong.

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

Assuming we take Membrey and also assuming 5 on the bench

Quaynor	Moore	Maynard
Howe	Frampton	Houston
Daicos	Daicos	Lipinski
Elliott	McStay	Schultz
Hill	Mihocek	Membrey
Cameron	Mitchell	De Goey
Pendlebury Cox	McCreery Perryman	Crisp

I guess a pretty good sign that I couldn't find a spot for Hosk, Sidebottom, Allan, Parker, Dean and a couple of others

4 on the bench and a sub changes things a bit. I suspect Membrey becomes depth and we go with the normal 2 ruck setup

 

[adammania9]

They were worse in 2024, some of them were a fair bit worse.

Every year the players over 30 slow down, that's undeniable.

Thought Howe was clearly better this year, and Hoskin-Elliott at least the same albeit in different positions, if not better. Crisp as good if not better. Mihocek much the same but restricted to 11 games. Mitchell similar but restricted to 6 games. Elliott similar and also injury affected.

Despite his strange 5th place in the Copeland this year, I thought Sidebottom was one of only two significant drop offs in 2024. Cox's goal kicking went missing too which meant his impact was generally down. I suppose Pendlebury was down on 2023 too but still contributed rather well I thought, and I'd expect him to be able to go again at a similar rate. Sidebottom too may have found his niche in the last month by being an effective tagger.

They can go again, and we have a deeper squad this year to be able to manage some veterans.

 

[david_96]

Posting for the first time in a while but gonna have a stab at compiling my bests 23 for 2025

FB: Howe, Frampton, Maynard

HB: Quaynor, Moore, Houston

C: Sidebottom, Pendlebury, J.Daicos

HF: De Goey, Mihocek, Schultz

FF: Hill, Mcstay, Elliot

R: Cameron, N.Daicos, Crisp

INT: Perryman, Mcreery, WHE, E.Allan, Membrey

Emerg: Lipinski, Cox, Mitchell

I dont have Lipinski in the team because I really value the flexibility of WHE of him being able to play wing, half back and as a lead up forward and we have also seen him play as a defensive forward on the likes of Harris Andrews

31

Harris Andrews

Age

28

Ht

202cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.8

3star

K

7.4

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.6

5star

T

1.6

4star

MG

151.7

2star

D

17.0

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

8.0

4star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.0

3star

D

9.8

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

4.8

4star

M

3.4

4star

T

1.6

4star

MG

94.0

2star

. E.Allan simply has to play and adds a dynamic edge to our midfield and I would start him ahead of Mitchell and with Perryman coming in to play some midfield minutes I don't see Mitchell in our best team. The one spot I am torn on is Membrey or Cox as Fly has been in favour of playing the two ruckmen, but I have gone for the Membrey as I feel like his a more potent forward option and is capable of kicking 35-40 goals a season and maybe Mcstay and Frampton can pinch hit in the ruck when needed.

In terms of the full back spot tbh I not convinced with either Frampton, Dean or Tomlinson but have just gone for Frampton for now but it wouldn't surprise me if he is not in our best team next season.

 

[timokane]

Methinks the likes of Frampton Mitchell will be pushed out this season.

Time to blend in the kids now.

If i was Fly i like this line up in 2025.

fb: howe dean tomlinson
cb: josh daicos

7

Josh Daicos

Age

26

Ht

178cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.6

4star

K

8.3

3star

HB

7.3

5star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.6

5star

CL

1.3

3star

D

16.2

4star

K

9.2

4star

HB

7.0

4star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.5

4star

CL

1.5

4star

D

13.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

6.2

4star

M

3.2

4star

T

4.2

5star

CL

1.2

4star

moore maynard
c: quaynor pendles houston
cf: de goey mcstay nick daicos
ff: hill checkers memory
r: cameron crisp perryman
int: de mattina cox elliott allan
sub: Side or WHE or Lipinski or Shultz

To be honest not a fan of Shultz at all.
Juat dont think heis a smart player and doesnt use the ball well.
Shoutz is too predictable and easy beaten on 1 on 1s.
But kind of a depth player in 2025 thats all.

Love to see De Goey and Nick D play as half forwards like mid forward type just forward of the ball.
pendles as centre,
Dash on the wings quaynor and Houston.

 

[Run n Spread]

Methinks the likes of Frampton Mitchell will be pushed out this season.

Time to blend in the kids now.

If i was Fly i like this line up in 2025.

fb: howe dean tomlinson
cb: josh daicos moore maynard
c: quaynor pendles houston
cf: de goey mcstay nick daicos
ff: hill checkers memory
r: cameron crisp perryman
int: de mattina cox elliott allan
sub: Side or WHE or Lipinski or Shultz

To be honest not a fan of Shultz at all.
Juat dont think heis a smart player and doesnt use the ball well.
Shoutz is too predictable and easy beaten on 1 on 1s.
But kind of a depth player in 2025 thats all.

Love to see De Goey and Nick D play as half forwards like mid forward type just forward of the ball.
pendles as centre,
Dash on the wings quaynor and Houston.

Sidebottom could also be phased out.
Howe another was I thought cooked last season but came back well. Hopefully TJ has a massive preseason and comes into that role.
If Condon isn't off to the NBA could he fill the Cox role?