Best 23 in 2025

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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
 
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.
 
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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.
 

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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.
 
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.
 
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
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.
 
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.




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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.




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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.
 
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.
 

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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 

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