Opinion Best team 2022
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Pure_Ownage
TheBrownDog
B: Bews Blicavs Henry
HB Stewart De Koning Oconnor
C: Smith Guthrie Duncan
HF: Miers Cameron Menegola
F: Stengle Hawkins Close
R: Stanley Dangerfield Selwood
Int: Parfitt Tuohy Holmes Esava
Sub: Atkins
Bolded are the new players. For me its obvious that de koning takes hendos spot although we could fill that spot with a runner (eg atkins etc) and go in undersized but i dont like that option.
We will only play 2 of stanley cegs and sav which two will be determined by form so i reckon it will chop and change. Ive given stengle the extra fwd spot but evans in particular will be pushing for it as well as simpson.
Atkins is a useful sub given he could play all three lines but you could rotate the sub each week (and i expect we will).
Would leave us with depth of:
Key backs: kolo (maybe tsapa too but hes far off)
Medium backs: stewart zuthrie mullin
Midfielders: simpson (fwd) narkle higgins (fwd) c stephens willis knevitt kroeger
Fwds: evans dahlhaus rohan whyte dempsey
Rucks: Ceglar (fwd) Conway Neale Tsapolitis
Big year for simpson and narkle for their sake they need to push for best 22. It wont surprise me if stephens and willis become best 22 by years end but they will need some time in the vfl to learn the structures first.
Our list has good coverage everywhere except key defence which is very light on.
HB Stewart De Koning Oconnor
C: Smith Guthrie Duncan
HF: Miers Cameron Menegola
F: Stengle Hawkins Close
R: Stanley Dangerfield Selwood
Int: Parfitt Tuohy Holmes Esava
Sub: Atkins
Bolded are the new players. For me its obvious that de koning takes hendos spot although we could fill that spot with a runner (eg atkins etc) and go in undersized but i dont like that option.
We will only play 2 of stanley cegs and sav which two will be determined by form so i reckon it will chop and change. Ive given stengle the extra fwd spot but evans in particular will be pushing for it as well as simpson.
Atkins is a useful sub given he could play all three lines but you could rotate the sub each week (and i expect we will).
Would leave us with depth of:
Key backs: kolo (maybe tsapa too but hes far off)
Medium backs: stewart zuthrie mullin
Midfielders: simpson (fwd) narkle higgins (fwd) c stephens willis knevitt kroeger
Fwds: evans dahlhaus rohan whyte dempsey
Rucks: Ceglar (fwd) Conway Neale Tsapolitis
Big year for simpson and narkle for their sake they need to push for best 22. It wont surprise me if stephens and willis become best 22 by years end but they will need some time in the vfl to learn the structures first.
Our list has good coverage everywhere except key defence which is very light on.
B T.Stewart M.Blivcas J.Henry
HB M.Duncan S.De Koning Z.Guthrie
C I.Smith M.O’Connor S.Menegola
HF P.Dangerfield J.Cameron B.Close
F G.Miers T.Hawkins T.Stengle
FOLL: J.Ceglar B.Parfitt C.Guthrie
INTER: J.Selwood, Z.Tuohy, E.Ratogolea, S.Simpson
Emergencies
M.Holmes, J.Koldojashniji, F.Evans, C.Stephens, T.Atkins, J.Bews, Q.Narkle,
M.Knevitt, C.Whyte, J.Willis, R.Stanley, S.Neale, N.Stevens
HB M.Duncan S.De Koning Z.Guthrie
C I.Smith M.O’Connor S.Menegola
HF P.Dangerfield J.Cameron B.Close
F G.Miers T.Hawkins T.Stengle
FOLL: J.Ceglar B.Parfitt C.Guthrie
INTER: J.Selwood, Z.Tuohy, E.Ratogolea, S.Simpson
Emergencies
M.Holmes, J.Koldojashniji, F.Evans, C.Stephens, T.Atkins, J.Bews, Q.Narkle,
M.Knevitt, C.Whyte, J.Willis, R.Stanley, S.Neale, N.Stevens
Nice psyche out. Dropping Stanley and substituting some guy called Blivcas for a carji winner at FB. Bombers should account for that team easily!
B: Bews, Blicavs, Henry
HB: Stewart, DeKoning, O'Connor
C: Holmes, Duncan, I.Smith
HF: Evans, Cameron, Tuohy
F: Stengle, Hawkins, Dangerfield
Foll: Stanley, Parfitt, C.Guthrie
Int: Ceglar, J.Selwood, Menegola, C.Stephens
That would be my round one team.
HB: Stewart, DeKoning, O'Connor
C: Holmes, Duncan, I.Smith
HF: Evans, Cameron, Tuohy
F: Stengle, Hawkins, Dangerfield
Foll: Stanley, Parfitt, C.Guthrie
Int: Ceglar, J.Selwood, Menegola, C.Stephens
That would be my round one team.
Holmes and Zuthrie will be in the round 1 team guaranteed.
Would not be leaving them out but creating the full side is difficult. Even though some don’t rate Zuthrie, we are going to be playing young players especially the ones the coaches like.
Would not be leaving them out but creating the full side is difficult. Even though some don’t rate Zuthrie, we are going to be playing young players especially the ones the coaches like.
Pure_Ownage
TheBrownDog
I reckon stephens needs some vfl time after 2 years of no footy but i reckon within a few weeks he will be close to the 22. Are you a fan of playing 2 rucks? Will be interesting to see if we do.
The rest is close i think..de koning prob gets hendos spot. I dont think evans will start over miers but its a close run thing..all of miers simpson close kolo atkins will be around the mark as will zuthrie if we get injuries..i do hope to see higgins rohan and dahl phased out of the seniors but im happy to have them in the vfl as injury depth.
Unless they are brave, we will mostly have the 22 we have had for a while . Stengle will come in. Probably Sdek. Ceglar will ruck and I hope someone like Stephens can press for a spot. Someone to add inside grunt, which they must feel they need based on the draft.
Finding players of name to come in is easy. Naming who really goes out is more difficult. Stengle for Close, SDek for Henderson, Ceglar for Stanley and .. a tough call but Stephens for Holmes. I hope we transition old for young as the year progresses but till I see it I think the new names will probably not replace the ones who have been in the side for sometime
Finding players of name to come in is easy. Naming who really goes out is more difficult. Stengle for Close, SDek for Henderson, Ceglar for Stanley and .. a tough call but Stephens for Holmes. I hope we transition old for young as the year progresses but till I see it I think the new names will probably not replace the ones who have been in the side for sometime
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How I think we will line up:
B T.Stewart M.Blivcas J.Henry
HB J.Kolojashnij S.De Koning Z.Guthrie
C I.Smith P.Dangerfield S.Menegola
HF R. Stanley J.Cameron B.Close
F G.Miers T.Hawkins Dahlhause
FOLL: J.Ceglar B.Parfitt C.Guthrie
INTER: J.Selwood, Z.Tuohy, T Atkins, S Higgins
B T.Stewart M.Blivcas J.Henry
HB J.Kolojashnij S.De Koning Z.Guthrie
C I.Smith P.Dangerfield S.Menegola
HF R. Stanley J.Cameron B.Close
F G.Miers T.Hawkins Dahlhause
FOLL: J.Ceglar B.Parfitt C.Guthrie
INTER: J.Selwood, Z.Tuohy, T Atkins, S Higgins
Pure_Ownage
TheBrownDog
I think given a lot of the kids had no vfl footy last year and they need vfl games to get up to speed we will probably start with a fairly experienced side but my hope would be that by mid season some of those kids plus emerging players (ie guys like holmes de koning simpson evans etc) have really locked down a spot and pushed some older or fringe players out. If that happens from the 23 we had in the prelim stanley (although he will only be replaced by ceglar not a kid) sav higgins rohan kolo atkins zuthrie and maybe miers or close (if stengle gets in the best 22) would be the most likely to drop out. Hawkins and smith are old but still on form in our best 6 so they should stay
Tuohy is the other one who might be vulnerable but he played well last year and id back him to keep his spot.
I also look at it by position:stewart and moc come back in from injuries so kolo atkins and zuthrie are vulnerable to drop out.
Hendo retired should be de konings spot unless we pick one less kpd (which i dont like).
Evans is the natural replacement for rohan (unless we rotate a mid-fwd such as simpson through that spot).
Stengle will put pressure on close miers and higgins (the latter is pretty much going to fall out of our best 22 anyway i reckon although he was ok in prelim).
Stanley and sav will be under threat from ceglar (depends on form and if we play one or two rucks).
Holmes will challenge for a midfield spot and i expect stephens and simpson to do likewise after a few vfl games (knevitt i think will be a ripper long term but hes more not ready until 2023 i reckon). One of those guys is the long term selwood replacement whether that transition happens this year or next.
Conway Neale Tsapa Stevens Kroeger Dempsey (willis and whyte might be different as they both actually played a fair bit of footy this year) and mullin are development players we'd have to have a lot of injuries to see then in the afl before 2023.
That said we have good depth everywhere except key defence so in terms of 1-30 on the list i think we are very strong its thinner from 30-43 on the list as youd expect.
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Here's my Xmas list for the 2022 lineup. 1. Offensively-minded players who are also good one-on-one in the back six. No stagnant ball-users there. 2. No re-inventing midfielders as forwards. Every forward must contribute pressure + be unselfish. 3. Midfield needs a refresh. Aim to play each game with at least 1 sub50 game player given a role in the guts - and give those kids a fair crack too (at least 3 or 4 game stint). Reputation counts for zero.
FB O'Connor Henry Bews
Hb Tuohy SDK Stewart
C Smith Duncan Holmes
Hf Rohan Cameron Close
FF Miers Hawkins Dangerfield
R Stanley Parfitt C.Guthrie
Interchange from:
1. Blicavs, Menegola, Knevitt (running def mf with marking power and Blitz as chop out in ruck)
2. Narkle, Selwood, Simpson, Atkins, Stephens (mf depth)
3. Kolo, Zuthrie, Stevens, Mullin (contingencies for the back six)
4. Stengle, Ratugolea, Evans, Higgins, Willis, Neale, Ceglar (forward options and Sav, Neale and Ceglar also as ruck depth)
FB O'Connor Henry Bews
Hb Tuohy SDK Stewart
C Smith Duncan Holmes
Hf Rohan Cameron Close
FF Miers Hawkins Dangerfield
R Stanley Parfitt C.Guthrie
Interchange from:
1. Blicavs, Menegola, Knevitt (running def mf with marking power and Blitz as chop out in ruck)
2. Narkle, Selwood, Simpson, Atkins, Stephens (mf depth)
3. Kolo, Zuthrie, Stevens, Mullin (contingencies for the back six)
4. Stengle, Ratugolea, Evans, Higgins, Willis, Neale, Ceglar (forward options and Sav, Neale and Ceglar also as ruck depth)
Pure_Ownage
TheBrownDog
Blicavs and Menegola are in the best 18 every day of the week. Broadly i agree that we need to get better ball users and less stagnant ones across the side though but those 2 are too important to the structure of our side they arent going anywhere.
I'm not trying to sell either of them short. I agree that they are excellent players whose impact on games is driven by their elite endurance. But if the two of them are essential to our structure, then I honestly think that structure is too defensively-minded and needs a better balance. You could stretch me to have them both in the same team by putting Blicavs at FB, but I'd rather give SDK a go there as he strikes me as potentially a better ball-user out of the back half.
I get a sense this isn't your first preference of how we should line up?
I'm projecting that Stephens will be a stand out in the pre season and demand selection. Fingers crossed.
I think with Stanley being a bit brittle now we need to have support for him. With Blicavs needing to play KPD we'll need to bring someoner else in.
I see a lot of dead wood on our list still. Atkins, Kolo and Zuthrie just represent mediocity to my mind. Dalh and Higgins are all but done.
Play Holmes, Stephens, Stengle and Evans imo
- Jun 21, 2008
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I hope I'm wrong but it seems a few will be disappointed that Kolo will be there in R1.
If he can do a pure lockdown job on the best key or medium forwards week in week out, I'll be happy. But I prefer all our defenders to offer a bit offensively.
I was being kind.
Pure_Ownage
TheBrownDog
I think stephens will i just think it wont happen in round 1 its a big call for him to step straight in after 2 years of no footy..then again holmes was in by what round 4? But i do think by years end stephens will be best 22.
I agree with your last sentence however as i did point out in another thread we have a super crop of kids under 22 our only players between 24 and 28 are MOC (quality but injury prone) Bews kolo and atkins-and zuthrie simpson and narkle being almost 23 now are equally a bit of a bridge between our over 28yos and the untried kids. Unless we bring in several (and i mean 3 or 4) free agents in that age bracket next year then we have to hang on to some of the 'dead wood' for another couple of years until our kids get towards 50 games..you cant transition to an entire team of under 23s suddenly..they need some experience around them. But i do agree that kolo zuthrie etc are mediocrity in a way although i think they are decent depth players who can do a role til the kids get up to speed.
I agree blitz probably cant ruck this year as he is needed at FB. I suppose the question is do we run with sav as fwd/2nd ruck or do we play both stanley and ceglar together? It gives us more ruck strength but maybe clogs up the fwd line too much? Will be interesting to see which way we go.
Pure_Ownage
TheBrownDog
He will be there for now but hopefully in 12 months de koning is fully established at afl level and we have another kpd drafted and we can phase kolo out. He can play a role for now but long term if we are to improve hes the type of player that needs to end up in the vfl not be in the best 22.
Pure_Ownage
TheBrownDog
Dahl and higgins were good players but physically are almost finished. Selwood is a gun but isnt far off retirement and ditto tuohy.
The rest of our veterans (bar stanley who keeps staying because we cant seem to recruit a better ruck) are actually still playing very well and worth having.
Kolo and atkins are decent C graders who in an ideal world would be 25-30 depth players on a list-hopefully in 2 years our other players have gone past them.
Its really only zuthrie narkle and simpson (personally i rate simpson and i think he makes it if his body holds up) that you could call dead wood the rest of the list is either quality older players or under 22s that we havent seen enough of to make a call either way yet.
- Jun 21, 2008
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You just question why does he get signed up on decent years etc if he's going to be on the outer.. I can't see it happening - but, I guess we can adapt that mindset that this is going to be a new look Cats team/strategy for 22.
Pure_Ownage
TheBrownDog
Theres room for blitz and sdk. Sdk in his early days will need aerial help 3rd man up (which blitz is very good at) otherwise he will be slaughtered by power forwards (in his early days). If you dont play blitz there then stewart has to do that role helping him and you lose all our offensive drive from our best player. Blitz and sdk in the key posts works its kolo or atkins that should be more in the gun.
Menegola is asked to play a high running hard defensive winger role to support our back 6 as danger selwood and guthrie dont run super hard defensively in transition. If you replaced menegola with a more attacking player our defense would get exposed even more than it already does.
Because those 2 have the endurance and workrate that most of our side doesnt they can fill gaps in a way that is essential. I would dispense with a lot of our over 25s over time (higgins dahl stanley rohan etc) but not blitz and menegola. I agree we do need to bring more attack into our gameplan but high endurance players can help us do that as they cover more ground so i dont think the issues are mutually exclusive.
