It's a status reserved for any player better than the 23rd best player on any other list.
Every team has at least half a dozen of their best 23 that belongs in this thread
How many from your team can walk in to any best 23
- Thread starter RonnieRaven
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Every team has at least half a dozen of their best 23 that belongs in this thread
ReturningHawk
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Well not really. As has been noted, Carlton's two key forwards are rated in the top 10 in the league, therefore even elite KPF's may not necessarily walk straight in to their 23. I don't think you could name 6 Eagles players who would get a game at the Giants or Brisbane. Gov, Ryan, Allen and Baker might be around the fringes.
Gov, Baker, Allen, Waterman, yeo and Kelly for sure, ginbey is a very good chance at any club and Reid would get a game at any club without a second thought from any match committee.
Clubs would make genuine good players and young players with high ceilings fit.
Theyre not fighting their direct positional counterparts for a spot lol.
If Carlton had Allen for example, then McKay would more than likely be pushed back to the 3rd tall/backup ruck role just to fit everybody in. That 3rd tall in Kemp or whoever would be the one to miss out.
The only club that might be able to hold back a half decent kpf is the dogs when JUH is fit, but even then naughton could just be moved to defence and it all fits.
ReturningHawk
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Ok I could see the arguments for Baker and Yeo.. but Kelly? Nowhere near it. Ginbey and Reid the same. Of course Harley would get a game, but certainly not because of his last 10 games at AFL level.
Which club does Kelly not get a gig? He's better than the 23rd picked player at half forward or as the last mid rotation at the very least(hes better than that).
Ginbey is actually pretty good at half back, similar player to weddle but less utility more ability at a specific role.
You are having a laugh if you think Reid isn't good enough to comfortably be in ANY best 23. All clubs would love to be able to name him in their 23 this week
Chip Scab1
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Wouldn't get in North's midfield. Too slow, not ferocious, I'd pass. Gets a game last year obviously but not this.
Probably play him interstate for experience.
I apologise on behalf of all non-deluded Geelong supporters
A better more educated post would be to say who from that list wouldn’t be in any other sides b22, which isn’t that difficult a task when you consider most sides have 4-6 C graders or role/fringe players. Most top four teams have decent depth and a core of 8-12 ish who would push someone out towards the bottom of the list.
You are completely correct and I need to put my money where my mouth is.
Stewart, Cameron, Stengle, Miers, Baz and Holmes walk into any best 23 without any problems whatsoever.
Dangerfield, Humphries and Zac Guthrie probably get into any best 23, but I would not say they "walk" into it. Humphries has only played half a year and is in the easiest position to play on the ground; Dangerfield is still exceptional at what he does, but he is a luxury player now as he can't carry the same midfield minutes as a 27yo.
Blicavs and Jack Henry; Blicavs is 34 (today). I don't think he gets into a team which already has a good second ruck option like the Dogs (Lobb) or Carlton (McKay), or a team that plays two ruckmen (Fremantle). Henry is courageous, but undersized for a key back, and not a good enough distributor to be an elite small. I don't think he gets into GWS.
Ollie Henry doesn't get a gig at GWS as a medium forward ahead of Greene and Stringer. Close and Dempsey are role players and wouldn't fit in half a dozen or so teams in the league.
To be fair to gc_26, I do enjoy his/her postings, but he/she is famously optimistic about Geelong's quality and prospects every year.
So you believe jack Henry, blicavs, Ollie Henry, Dempsey, and potentially Zach guthrie , dangerfield and close are in a bunch of teams reserves instead of their bottom 2-4 players in the b23?
Yeah, looks about right to me. Couple are closer to coin tosses though.
Most people in this thread have used "walk straight in" to ANY team quite liberally. But it is true a lot of players would be strong candidates for bumping out sides 20th-23rd players.
Teams with strong depth can probably have 10 or 11 players. Weaker teams might only have 5 or 6.
Mannagh's form line second half of 2024 was as strong as Miers, so if he maintains that level he'd replace Close on our "walk ins" because no side has 4 or 5 quality small forwards above his level IMO. He also pushes up around midfield. I'm confident every single team would squeeze him in.
ReturningHawk
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Wouldn't get a gig at Freo, nor at Port, nor at Brisbane.
Ginbey might be decent at half back, and have plenty of potential like Josh Weddle, but neither of them would be walk up starts at Geelong or GWS, say.
If I had to pick a side that I was coaching for the next decade, then Harley Reid would be close to first picked. But if I wanted to win a match tomorrow and I had the whole AFL to choose from then there's no way I'm picking him. Every chance if he was at the Giants now he'd play a bit of twos footy.
Yeah, I'm using the phrase "walk into" in the sense of it's a bit of a no-brainer. If it's a coin-toss, it's not a walk-in per se.
Maybe not, but imo Tim Kelly is underrated due to the shitness of the team he's playing in. It's a lot harder to do well in a bad team.
I believe they don't "walk into" every team in the AFL, especially not Blitz, Close, Jack Henry and Dempsey.
Bottom 2 to 4 players in the 23 is not "walk into", they are extremely debatable selections.
Flag team? I must've missed something
Ahhh yes, the "flag team" that missed the finals last year.
ReturningHawk
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Really, this is just a case of naming the AA calibre players on your team. Stewart, Cameron, Miers, Stengle, Holmes all correct, and yes you'd assume if rnd 1 trends continue that Bailey Smith fits into that category too.
From the Hawks it's Sicily, Moore and Newcombe. By the end of this season I could see Will Day and Nick Watson joining that number. I know he gets pumped up by the media even when he doesn't do anything, but Day is perhaps the best of the lot.
Will Day walks into Geelong's side tomorrow, and we (along with GWS) have the best forward line in the comp. (Terrible midfield, though).
That’s your view, my view is they all walk in. My view is probably most of the top 4 sides have a core group of 8-12 ish players who would squeeze at least 1 player out of anyones b23 in the league. I don’t actually consider that a difficult task given most have a handful of fringe role players who are borderline material.
And you really believe some afl clubs would have dangerfield possibly in the reserves?? I don’t think so. At his best he is still one of the most elite inside contested mids in the league
This just isnt true.
Freo would swap Kelly in for any of their dud half forwards, freo have many of them
Port, Kelly would replace mead in a heartbeat
Brisbane Kelly would just slot in the last hff/mid spot. He is still better than some of Brisbanes names here.
Not true, Ginbey would play ahead of Mullin instantly, he can also play on a wing but more likely one of their talls like Osullivan is moved out to make space. Ginbey is more than capable of playing as a 3rd tall and theyre not sacrificing any quality of youth by making that swap.
There is 0 chance hes in the twos at the giants at any point.
Its like people forget who he is after 1 bad game and 1 game where he played fine but didnt star.
You seem to be confusing playing in a bad team with being a bad player.
absolutely Scott would love ginbey in the team and he would also walk into any other side as well.
20yo of his talent and athleticism don’t grow on trees.
The idea that most clubs don’t have at least 6-8 ( bottom 4)and 8-12 (top 4-6ish) players who would replace other clubs bench/fringe players is a bit silly and bias from that fan base
Even Geelong - with the weakest engine room in the AFL bar perhaps West Coast - isn't playing him in the inside mid role this year. His hamstrings just won't take 65% game time on the inside.
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