Preview R1: Changes for 2025

[Scorpus]

And Neale-Bullen? Possibly Dowling, Edwards and even Milera if he can get going.

Neal-Bullen and Murphy will play in the same side

And I say this because I believe Nicks will play both to allow more midfield time for players like Rankine

 

[hugecannon]

Neal-Bullen and Murphy will play in the same side

Dear god no!!!!

No more Murphy!!!!

 

[Scorpus]

Dear god no!!!!

No more Murphy!!!!

The way I see it is this.

Rankine had significant CBA time in five games: vs Melbourne, Carlton, Collingwood, Sydney and GWS

Against Collingwood, Sydney and GWS we played all of Rachele, Keays, Murphy and Cook
Against Carlton and Melbourne we played Rachele, Cook, Keays and McHenry

In all five games we added (or retained or shuffled) a half forward to accommodate Rankine's move into stoppages

I believe when playing Rankine in the midfield (which will be most weeks) we will play Rachele, Keays, Neal-Bullen and Murphy in the forward/half-forward roles

Pedlar, or several other players, has a clear opportunity in this structure and very little competition for his spot

 

[Cromulant]

The way I see it is this.

Rankine had significant CBA time in five games: vs Melbourne, Carlton, Collingwood, Sydney and GWS

Against Collingwood and GWS we played all of Rachele, Keays, Murphy and Cook
Against Carlton and Melbourne we played Rachele, Cook, Keays and McHenry

In four of the five games we added a half forward to accommodate Rankine's move into stoppages

I believe when playing Rankine in the midfield (which will be most weeks) we will play Rachele, Keays, Neal-Bullen and Murphy in the forward/half-forward roles

Just can't see Murphy being in that side even in that scenario.

Peatling is more likely to play half forward than Murphy IMO

 

[Scorpus]

Just can't see Murphy being in that side even in that scenario.

Peatling is more likely to play half forward than Murphy IMO

I see Peatling as more of a replacement for Dowling, Taylor, or Berry

(from Matthew Nicks perspective)

 

[Cromulant]

I see Peatling as more of a replacement for Dowling, Taylor, or Berry

(from Matthew Nicks perspective)

That's a fair assumption, I'd be inclined to play Taylor instead of Murphy, even Berry

 

[Eddie Murphy]

It's a big if though

He went backwards big time

That's a big if (getting to 2023 level). He has more competition now and talent only gets you so far.

Talent alone got Pedlar far enough in 2023. It’s a fair expectation that he can, as a 22 year old, recapture the form he was displaying a year ago. Easy to forget that outside of that dull defence-oriented opening few weeks he only played 5 minutes of AFL footy this season before that shoulder became an obvious issue.

No doubt a dynamic half forward like him is one of the most impacted by slow, gradual ball movement and weak forward entry like we showed in that opening month. Didn’t help that we only wanted to play him deep and didn’t explore other ways of involving him.

 

[1990crow]

Talent alone got Pedlar far enough in 2023. It’s a fair expectation that he can, as a 22 year old, recapture the form he was displaying a year ago. Easy to forget that outside of that dull defence-oriented opening few weeks he only played 5 minutes of AFL footy this season before that shoulder became an obvious issue.

No doubt a dynamic half forward like him is one of the most impacted by slow, gradual ball movement and weak forward entry like we showed in that opening month. Didn’t help that we only wanted to play him deep and didn’t explore other ways of involving him.

I don't think you put Pedlars season down to the club. It was his fault - looked disinterested and/or unfit.

 

[Eddie Murphy]

I don't think you put Pedlars season down to the club. It was his fault - looked disinterested and/or unfit.

I don’t think fitness, endurance and involvement over the whole game were core parts of Pedlar’s game in 2023. You’re right - they’re areas he needs to work on. But my argument is his flaws as a dynamic, talent-over-endurance player were compounded by our play style in the opening month and we never really got the opportunity to see him outside that play style for the year.

Working on those weaknesses would make him a very dangerous player and closer to that ceiling on his. However, to merely reach that 2023 form (which, with depth we currently have in the half forward role, is good enough to make our team) is not a big ask. At least, from a performance perspective. Injuries may be another issue.

 

[1970crow]

Curtin absolutely must play in the foward half IMO, with bursts on ball. Assuming he won't have a big enough tank to be a full time mid.

He had a few stints up forward at AFL level this year, and always hit the scoreboard when he did. He's shown to do the same at SANFL level when given the chance.

He's a fantastic shot on goal whether on the run, around the body or set shot. Beautiful set shot technique. And tall enough to cause headaches overhead playing off a flank/pocket.

Agree, but issue is loose ball pressure with him, Tex, Fog and TT all ahead of the ball. The belief that having a pressure forward can make up for the limitations of that group is insanity. But I think we’ll just have to wear it because half forward moving up to the middle seems the best role to get him going.

 

[1970crow]

Recency bias with Pedlar is crazy. With Izak going into midfield, if Pedlar can stay injury free and find his 2023 form ALONE that’s enough to warrant selection. If he can build on that and develop closer to his extremely high ceiling, that’s an excellent bonus.

There’s a fair bit of competition though, they can’t all play. If we play Curtin forward of the ball, there’s 4 spots taken up by talls. Add Rachele, Keays and ANB and there’s 7 forwards, so looking at bench and stoppage rotations. Crouch, Soligo, Dawson, Rankine, Peatling and pick 4 is 3 on the field and one too many on the bench. And that’s before considering players like Berry or Taylor.

I rate Pedlar very highly but he’s at risk of finding himself a depth player.