Discussion Round 1, Best 22

[Manimal_Dunstan]

I know there is already a thread for "Best 22", But thought i'd create one for Round 1 vs Gold Coast 2013, With Leigh Montagna Suspended and Daniel Markworth already doing an ACL injury meaning both can't be selected Round 1. (I'll try mine, it's tough though).
FB: Gwilt, Simpkin, Gilbert
HB: Dempster, Fisher, Geary
C: Milera, Armitage, Steven
HF: Saad, Riewoldt, Schneider
FF: Stanley, ----, Milne
R: McEvoy, Hayes, Dal Santo
INT: Ray, Ledger, Siposs, SUB: Newnes or Ross

with the "----" at FF it depends on the form of Kosi, Lee or Wilkes in the NAB Cup also depends on if we throw Stanley or someone in the backline.

 

[Radius]

FB: Geary, Fisher, Gwilt
HB: Dempster, Simpkin, Siposs
C: Ray, Armitage, Dal Santo
HF: Lee, Riewoldt, Schneider
FF: Saad, Kosi/Wilkes, Milne
R: McEvoy, Hayes, Steven
INT: Stanley, Gilbert, Milera SUB: Ross/TDL

 

[adambrown]

FB: Curren, Simpkin, Gwilt
HB: Dempester, Fisher, Geary
C: Siposs, Armitage, Dunnell
HF: Lee, Stanley, Schneider
FF: Milne, Riewoldt, Saad
R: McEvoy, Steven, Dal Santo
INT: Gilbert, Newnes, Hickey SUB: Hayes (no need to rush the old boy back)

 

[aussierulesrules]

FB: Gwilt, Simpkin, Gilbert
HB: Dempster, Fisher, Geary
C: Milera, Armitage, Steven
HF: Saad, Riewoldt, Schneider
FF: Stanley, ----, Milne
R: McEvoy, Hayes, Dal Santo
INT: Ray, Ledger, Siposs, SUB: Newnes or Ross

with the "----" at FF it depends on the form of Kosi, Lee or Wilkes in the NAB Cup also depends on if we throw Stanley or someone in the backline.

Yep, that is pretty much exactly how I see it unfolding at this point.

Ledger in for Joey, although I would think Dunell may be ahead of either Newnes or Ross and it also wouldn't surprise me if Lee starts with the green jacket, even if we play one of Kosi or Wilkes, just to ease Tom into it and see how he goes (form and fitness permitting, of course).

Really hope Ledger has a big preseason and comes out of the blocks hard in the NAB Cup (again!). We really need some extra options in the guts, especially if CJ isn't going to be played and with BJ not being available to go in there for bursts like he did this year and Ledger is the most likely at this stage, followed by Ross and Curren, IMO.

 

[L_W_P]

Geary - Simpkin - Gwilt
Siposs - Stanley/Lee - Ray
Gilbert - Dal Santo - Dunell
TDL - Stanley/Lee - Steven
Saad - Wilkes - Riewoldt
McEvoy - Ledger - Armo
Hickey - Newnes - Ross
Milera

Give most of the older guys an extra week to get fit. We will still smash the Coast and we can tell the younger guys that this is their chance to earn a spot early. I would play Lee at CHB but the club seem to favour Stanley. See how it goes I guess.

 

[Manimal_Dunstan]

Yep, that is pretty much exactly how I see it unfolding at this point.

Ledger in for Joey, although I would think Dunell may be ahead of either Newnes or Ross and it also wouldn't surprise me if Lee starts with the green jacket, even if we play one of Kosi or Wilkes, just to ease Tom into it and see how he goes (form and fitness permitting, of course).

Really hope Ledger has a big preseason and comes out of the blocks hard in the NAB Cup (again!). We really need some extra options in the guts, especially if CJ isn't going to be played and with BJ not being available to go in there for bursts like he did this year and Ledger is the most likely at this stage, followed by Ross and Curren, IMO.

I'd rather a running player be the sub then a KPP player to be honest. I expect to see Gold Coast improve a lot next season. Some of there players will reach 50+ games.

 

[aussierulesrules]

Yeah I'm only suggesting that (Lee) for the one game, although he is mobile enough to play on a flank, so I'm not too worried about having him start as sub. I also don't think we should underestimate Gold Coast. I expect them to be a whole lot harder to beat than they were this year.

 

[Superduperouzel]

B Geary Simpkin Dempster
HB Fisher Stanley/Lee Gwilt
C Milera Armitage Steven
HF Siposs Riewoldt Stanley/ Lee
F Milne Wilkes Saad
R McEvoy Dal Santo Hayes
Int Dunell Gilbert Schneider Ross

Nah no resting players for round one. I don´t believe in that shit. Players will be itching to go R1 so no reason to hold them back. I want to see as much Lenny, Milney and Schneids as possible this year. Quite possibly will be Lenny´s last year so I want to see the Beast that is Lenny Hayes unleashed against GC.
Would like to see both Stanley and Lee spending time in defense and attack.
I would love to see both boys become proper swingman and at times even both in the back half or forward half. The only thing better than one swingman is two. It would be such a wonderful thing to be that versatile with the lineup, that we could match any sides tall or short forward line. We could go from one of the shortest back lines to the tallest in 2 moves. I also like the thought of Stanley getting the ball at HB and running like the wind through the centre hitting up Lee,Wilkes , Roo on a lead or going all the way. Rhys is a bit of a burst player so start him FWD then drop him back later in the quarter.
We can´t afford a slip up like last year against Port as Gold Coast won´t be easybeats at home. Need to make a statement with a good hard fought win first up.

 

[Winners Only]

B: Simpkin Stanley Geary
HB: Dempster Fisher Ray
C: Gilbert Armitage Montagna
HF: Schneider Reiwoldt Lee
F: Saad Wilkes Milne

R: McEvoy, Hayes & Dal Santo
Inter: Hickey, Sipposs, Ledger Sub Milera

Comments:
Gwilt, Dunell & Ray emergencies.
Some might think it was harsh leaving Gwilt out but IMO he had a pretty ordinary year last year and needs to find some urgency in his game.
Dunell was just edged out by Schneider due to experience.
I believe Ledger will become a top class midfielder he just needs game time hence he gets a start on the bench.
Hickey/McEvoy to interchange through the forward pocket to stretch the opposition defence and screen for Wilkes.

 

[Manimal_Dunstan]

B: Simpkin Stanley Geary
HB: Dempster Fisher Ray
C: Gilbert Armitage Montagna
HF: Schneider Reiwoldt Lee
F: Saad Wilkes Milne

R: McEvoy, Hayes & Dal Santo
Inter: Hickey, Sipposs, Ledger Sub Milera

Comments:
Gwilt, Dunell & Ray emergencies.
Some might think it was harsh leaving Gwilt out but IMO he had a pretty ordinary year last year and needs to find some urgency in his game.
Dunell was just edged out by Schneider due to experience.
I believe Ledger will become a top class midfielder he just needs game time hence he gets a start on the bench.
Hickey/McEvoy to interchange through the forward pocket to stretch the opposition defence and screen for Wilkes.

He was coming back from a ACL injury, gets a full pre-season in him now, won't be out of the best 22.

 

[Sunny_]

Had no idea that Montagna was out. Stoked for that from our point of view!

 

[Manimal_Dunstan]

Had no idea that Montagna was out. Stoked for that from our point of view!

I did aswell actually haha, But haven't forgot about it for a while now.

 

[aussierulesrules]

Had no idea that Montagna was out. Stoked for that from our point of view!

Who is looking like missing for you lot? I was having a browse through one of your preseason threads the other day and saw three names mentioned as being unlikely to play. Pretty sure one was Bock and another Campbell Brown (I figure he's suspended?) and one other. What is their deal?

 

[Manimal_Dunstan]

Who is looking like missing for you lot? I was having a browse through one of your preseason threads the other day and saw three names mentioned as being unlikely to play. Pretty sure one was Bock and another Campbell Brown (I figure he's suspended?) and one other. What is their deal?

Brown, Bock, Tape (I Believe still over coming a ACL injury).

 

[Sunny_]

Who is looking like missing for you lot? I was having a browse through one of your preseason threads the other day and saw three names mentioned as being unlikely to play. Pretty sure one was Bock and another Campbell Brown (I figure he's suspended?) and one other. What is their deal?

Bock is still hopeful for round 1, but it's unlikely. If he does get up I imagine we'd plant him in the square. Certainly not in defence on Riewoldt. Won't have the fitness to lock him down.

Brown suspended. Would of played forward, is a bit of a loss. Despite popular opinion, he led at the footy very hard and applied forward defensive pressure for us in 2012.

Rischitelli could also struggle to get up. Will be interesting to see how he recovers from HS tendinitis. He's running again, but definitely has a limp going on. Should be running full tilt mid January.

Tom Lynch, our young CHF, has had an interrupted pre-season and is in a moon boot. If we want to win, he'll need to be firing. Hopefully he hasn't lost too much fitness. Should be good to start running again when we come back from the Christmas break.

Sebby Tape is coming back from an ACL. He's running at the moment, though not sure he will get up in time. They may be cautious with him.

--

Murphy will lock down on Milne, as small forwards have always given us trouble. Hopefully these days are over. This also lets Harbrow play his offensive role much better.

Not sure where Broughton will be used, though likely somewhere in defence or in the middle. What he adds will be crucial, and I think his acquisition will really help us out.

If we want to win, the midfield brigade will have to ensure that Riewoldt doesn't get easy possession. Last year we played the Saints, he tore us up. I'm not sure we have a CHB who can really run with him (though we may swap Lynch down to cover him), so that will be a team effort.

--

Not sure who the Saints will tag, and the midfield match-ups will be interesting. I doubt that many clubs will let Bennell run around as freely anymore, but you can't shift the tag onto him and let Ablett go nuts. Also in for us in the midfield will be Prestia and Swallow, both were sorely missed in 2012 through injury. Should add to our clearance strength.

Also on debut for the Suns will be O'Meara. Looks in unbelievable shape. Will rotate through the middle and HF. And the little unit Jesse Lonergan, who will definitely get some run through the middle.

--

Anyway, Suns will have to really flex and work well to beat the Saints I think. One of our forwards like Day or Dixon will have to kick a few. Expect Ablett to spend some time forward as well.

 

[Sunny_]

How is Riewoldt travelling, anyways? No post-season ops? Does he do special training now for his knee?

 

[aussierulesrules]

Cheers for that Sunny, Richa was the other one of the 3 I had seen mentioned. As far as I'm aware Roo has been in full training since the start of preseason, at least as full as he does (which may be all of it). We have a pretty full contingent training as far as I'm aware, which is a very nice change I think, with Sam Gilbert the only one who didn't go to Utah for the altitude camp, as he was recovering from a shoulder op. Spencer White has also not been training, due to an op on his wrist, but he would be a ways off anyway. Daniel Markworth also did his ACL in Utah, so he is the only other one that is not training fully at this stage that I'm aware of. He would have possibly been in the mix to play, if he'd had a big preseason and good NAB Cup, but now he's likely to miss the year.

As you may have heard, Nick reportedly had the same treatment on his chronic knee injury in the middle of last season that Adam Cooney had a few weeks ago and like Cooney, it apparently relieved Nick's knee soreness considerably in the 2nd half of this year and allowed him to get back out on the track again in between games. http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/saints ... 6440236272

As a result, he played some of the best footy he's played in a long time in the 2nd half of the year and he was awarded the 3 Brownlow votes in 3 of the last 8 games he played this year. He was then clearly BOG in his last game as well, before going off early with an unrelated PCL injury in his knee, which required 12 weeks off, but probably didn't stop him resuming from day one of preseason. I think the German knee treatments are meant to last about 12 months (before you need to get it done again), so hopefully his knee is still feeling good and if he gets a full preseason in as a result, he could very easily have his best season since probably 2009, if he plays a full year.

I thought Tom Lynch did a pretty good job on him in our first game against you this year, so he may be the best option for him, although it is looking likely that Nick will have more/better support next year, as Wilkes, Kosi, Stanley and Tom Lee will probably be fighting for 2 other spots up forward, hopefully resulting in them all lifting their games in order to win a spot. So it is quite likely that our forward line will be stronger and more potent than the one we had this year, when we were the 4th highest scoring team in the league.

Our backline will also hopefully be stronger and a lot more settled than it was this year as well, thanks to a bit more depth there this time around and ditto our ruck stocks, now that we have Hickey providing depth, although our midfield may not be as strong, now that Goddard has gone (he spent most of this year lining up on either the wing, in the middle, or thereabouts, as I've confirmed when watching the replays of our games on Foxtel in the past 3 months- most seemed to think he was mostly lining up down back, but that was very much not the case) and also with Montagna not there for R1.

It will be interesting to see who we play on Bennell and Ablett. Clint Jones has had a great record against Gary Ablett over the years (at least he did when Gaz was playing for Geelong), but he was out of the side for the last 4 rounds of this year and playing in the VFL, so he may be on the outer and Montagna was the one doing tagging jobs late this year, so if they are both not playing maybe we won't do much tagging, or maybe Farren Ray will run with Bennell and we might let someone like Steven go head to head with Gazza, as he did the 2nd time we played you this year, when Gaz only had about 25 possies (the week after he had the 53 v Collingwood).

The two teams respective form in the NAB Cup ought to give a good idea of what to expect in this game. Our form in the NAB Cup the last two years has been decidedly average and we took that form into the start of our seasons, but most of the reasons for the poor preseasons in the past two years don't look like they will apply for next year, so hopefully we'll go in with much better momentum and form this time around and it will be interesting to see how much you guys have improved with another preseason under the collective belts.

 

[Sunny_]

Tom Lynch would have been my guess for the Riewoldt job as well. But that depends on how his foot pulls up. It also depends who else is available, as Lynch is so valuable for us as the roaming CHF. Seriously came on in the last few games of the year.

As you said, we'll know who's in shape for the job closer to NAB Cup. I'm assuming we have some sort of plan to hopefully stop Riewoldt though! Even if that starts with good defensive pressure in the middle.

On a side-note, I'm looking forward to the ruck battle if Gorringe and Hickey play. They were very good friends and spent plenty of time together. Will be good to see who gets bragging rights out of the two!

 

[Manimal_Dunstan]

Tom Lynch would have been my guess for the Riewoldt job as well. But that depends on how his foot pulls up. It also depends who else is available, as Lynch is so valuable for us as the roaming CHF. Seriously came on in the last few games of the year.

As you said, we'll know who's in shape for the job closer to NAB Cup. I'm assuming we have some sort of plan to hopefully stop Riewoldt though! Even if that starts with good defensive pressure in the middle.

On a side-note, I'm looking forward to the ruck battle if Gorringe and Hickey play. They were very good friends and spent plenty of time together. Will be good to see who gets bragging rights out of the two!

This early, I'd be surprised if Hickey plays round 1 to be honest. With a Fit McEvoy as #1, Stanley if fit will be in (Probably play forward), Riewoldt and one of Wilkes, Kosi, Lee.. Not sure how we fit Hickey in aswell.

Although we might have him in the side for the Tom Hickey grudge match.

 

[Sunny_]

For further reference and for people to play match-ups, this is the 22 I'd see playing at this point in time. Assuming people come up as expected.

FB: Broughton, Warnock, Murphy
HB: Shaw, Lynch, Harbrow
C: Bennell, Horsley, Brennan
HF: Stanley, Dixon, Matera
FF: Gorringe, Day, O'Meara

Fol: Smith, Swallow, Ablett

Int: McKenzie, Prestia, Hunt
Sub: Rischitelli

 

[Sir Skid]

B Geary Simpkin Dempster
HB Fisher Stanley/Lee Gwilt
C Milera Armitage Steven
HF Siposs Riewoldt Stanley/ Lee
F Milne Wilkes Saad
R McEvoy Dal Santo Hayes
Int Dunell Gilbert Schneider Ross

Nah no resting players for round one. I don´t believe in that shit. Players will be itching to go R1 so no reason to hold them back. I want to see as much Lenny, Milney and Schneids as possible this year. Quite possibly will be Lenny´s last year so I want to see the Beast that is Lenny Hayes unleashed against GC.
Would like to see both Stanley and Lee spending time in defense and attack.
I would love to see both boys become proper swingman and at times even both in the back half or forward half. The only thing better than one swingman is two. It would be such a wonderful thing to be that versatile with the lineup, that we could match any sides tall or short forward line. We could go from one of the shortest back lines to the tallest in 2 moves. I also like the thought of Stanley getting the ball at HB and running like the wind through the centre hitting up Lee,Wilkes , Roo on a lead or going all the way. Rhys is a bit of a burst player so start him FWD then drop him back later in the quarter.
We can´t afford a slip up like last year against Port as Gold Coast won´t be easybeats at home. Need to make a statement with a good hard fought win first up.

FWIW, I really like this setup! Hope they go with this and rotating Stanley and Lee through CHB / FF / CHF

 

[adambrown]

Wasn't sure were i should post this but really looking forward to the competition for spots next year, if all are fit theres probably 10 players on each line that have to squeeze into 6.

Backs:- Fisher/ Simpkin/ Gwilt/ Dempster/ Geary/ Blake (back ruck) / Ferguson/ Gilbert/ Newnes (back/mid)/ Roberton/ Lever/ Wright (back/mid)/ Webster (not sure where he plays but listed as defender)

Mids:- Hayes/ Dal Santo/ Montagna/ Armitage/ Steven/ Ross/ Jones/ Ledger/ Saunders/ Curren

Rucks:- McEvoy/ Hickey/ Pierce

Forwards:- Riewoldt/ Schneider/ Saad/ Koschitzke/ Stanley (fwd/ruck)/ Milera/ Milne/ Wilkes/ TDL/ Lee/ White/ Markworth (out for the season)

Utility:- Siposs/ Dunell/ Murdoch (i've put these 3 in under utility because they are all around the 190cm and can play fwd/back and mid)

IMO 15 of them name themselves and its gonna be a shit fight for the other 7 spots

Don't know if I've covered everyone but after going through the list i think we lack some quality mids.

 

[aussierulesrules]

Don't know if I've covered everyone but after going through the list i think we lack some quality mids.

Yeah we'll really need one or two to step up there next year IMO, particularly with BJ gone and even more so if CJ remains on the outer. Hopefully Ledger, Ross and maybe Curren will step up and I expect that that will be an area of real focus in free agency/trade period for us next year. Our forward options look to be stacked for the next few years hopefully and we have a few who originally played forward who could easily play back, IMO (especially Siposs, and probably Dunell and Murdoch) so I think full back and midfield will be a big focus in 10 months time.

 

[Armo #20]

B: Gwilt Simpkin Geary
HB: Dempster Fisher Gilbert
C: Dal Santo Hayes Ray
HF: Schneider Riewoldt Saad
F: Stanley Wilkes Milne
FOLL: McEvoy Armitage Steven
INT: Hickey Ledger Siposs Dennis-Lane

Unfortunately I can't see our backline changing too much, still need a FB. I think Ray has to be a regular next year. Wilkes or Lee will play FF, will depend on NAB Cup form which of the two plays Round 1, Hickey WILL play, our Ruck was a huge disapointment last year, McEvoy CAN NOT be our only ruckman and Stanley is a forward and too valuable (or fragile) to be crashing in at centre bounces. Looking at our list it's quite obvious that we will target Mitch Brown and quality mids at seasons end, midfield depth is very questionable,

 

[God Save Max King]

B: Geary, Simpkin, Gwilt
HB: Fisher, Lee, Dempster
C: Gilbert, Hayes, Steven
HF: Siposs, Riewoldt, Schneider
FF: Milne, Stanley, Saad
R: McEvoy, Armitage, Dal Santo
Interchange: Dunell, Hickey, Milera
Sub: Ross