Unofficial Preview SEASON 2025 - Best 22, Game Plan, Personnel

[JackHiscoxWasFast]

If sheldrick, Mills and maybe Taylor move to the midfield and can perform clearance wise - both winning them and stopping them, Heeney and Warner move forward where they can cause serious damage. Yes Heeney was brilliant as a midfielder but his body can’t handle it long term.

Then sort out forwards and backs and who plays where.

Try a few things out in 2025, change our DNA to more contested and who knows, maybe we could challenge in 2026.

 

[Bloods86]

If sheldrick, Mills and maybe Taylor move to the midfield and can perform clearance wise - both winning them and stopping them, Heeney and Warner move forward where they can cause serious damage. Yes Heeney was brilliant as a midfielder but his body can’t handle it long term.

Then sort out forwards and backs and who plays where.

Try a few things out in 2025, change our DNA to more contested and who knows, maybe we could challenge in 2026.

If both Sheldrick and Mills went into mids, you could thoroughly reduce Warner's and Gulden's centre bounces, as well as shave off some of Heeney's to manage his season better. Wouldn't even need Adams unless injuries strike or you have a slower mid that needs company.

Hopefully also have Cleary up forward or as sub to relieve too.

 

[caesar88]

I feel if Warner is pushed out of the midfield into more of a forward role, he will be heading to WA for 2026.
It sounds like Bailey Smith all over again.
Warner would demand midfield time or "see ya later".

"See ya later" it is then.

If he wants to "demand" midfield time, maybe he should try being better than 59th in the competition for hard ball gets, 60th for ground ball gets, 63rd for loose ball gets, 69th for centre clearances, 72nd for clearances, 75th for contested possessions, 78th for stoppage clearances, 105th for pressure acts, and 151st for tackles.

 

[Nool Carpenna]

caesar88 goes whack!

Hard to argue with that.

 

[JackHiscoxWasFast]

If both Sheldrick and Mills went into mids, you could thoroughly reduce Warner's and Gulden's centre bounces, as well as shave off some of Heeney's to manage his season better. Wouldn't even need Adams unless injuries strike or you have a slower mid that needs company.

Hopefully also have Cleary up forward or as sub to relieve too.

Gulden and Warner are terrible in the centre bounces. Outside players only. Guldens 100% TOG quest needs urgent attention, dumbest coaching move ever.

 

[Kbroome]

Gulden and Warner are terrible in the centre bounces. Outside players only. Guldens 100% TOG quest needs urgent attention, dumbest coaching move ever.

Has anyone actually seen Gulden get a clean kick out of a CBA. Always seems like he is just playing in the wet and snapping over his shoulder just for territory

 

[bedford]

Getting like the draft thread

 

[Bloods86]

Getting like the draft thread

Boo hoo

 

[Nool Carpenna]

Getting like the draft thread

That sounds a bit snarky but then I read that you made 481 posts in the draft thread.

Surely, not all of them, were just moaning about what others post?

 

[caesar88]

That sounds a bit snarky but then I read that you made 481 posts in the draft thread.

Surely, not all of them, were just moaning about what others post?

I made about 270 posts in the draft thread, and I'd wager that at least 200 of them were about the name LEONARDO LOMBARD

 

[Bloods86]

I made about 270 posts in the draft thread, and I'd wager that at least 200 of them were about the name LEONARDO LOMBARD

2nd best name in the draft nominees

 

[caesar88]

2nd best name in the draft nominees

Those are fighting words. May I ask who your number one best name in the draft is?

 

[Bloods86]

Those are fighting words. May I ask who your number one best name in the draft is?

Loch Mactaggart

HB/med defender

Real missed opportunity for a club like us to draft someone with such rich potential e.g. Lochdown, Taggy Mactaggart, another "Mac" etc.

 

[caesar88]

Loch Mactaggart

HB/med defender

Real missed opportunity for a club like us to draft someone with such rich potential e.g. Lochdown, Taggy Mactaggart, another "Mac" etc.

Not bad, but songs will not be written about Loch MacTaggart for centuries to come.

 

[bedford]

That sounds a bit snarky but then I read that you made 481 posts in the draft thread.

Surely, not all of them, were just moaning about what others post?

382

 

[bedford]

That sounds a bit snarky but then I read that you made 481 posts in the draft thread.

Surely, not all of them, were just moaning about what others post?

It was a joke and i didn't make the podium . LTFU

 

[Bloods86]

Not bad, but songs will not be written about Loch MacTaggart for centuries to come.

If there was, it'd be by The Proclaimers

 

[hairy biker]

"See ya later" it is then.

If he wants to "demand" midfield time, maybe he should try being better than 59th in the competition for hard ball gets, 60th for ground ball gets, 63rd for loose ball gets, 69th for centre clearances, 72nd for clearances, 75th for contested possessions, 78th for stoppage clearances, 105th for pressure acts, and 151st for tackles.

Well you wanted to trade Rowbottom for a 2nd rounder, because Horse didn't know how to use him, then I guess we'll be lucky to get a 3rd rounder for Chad the midfielder.

It's almost as if coaches think that different players bring different features to the midfield mix.

Warner 1st in the competition for bounces, 6th in I50s, 7th in score involvements, 11th for total metres gained.

And let's compare him to your golden boy (Rowbottom,not Hewett);
Chad a goal more per game, plus 2 I50s, 1 less clearance per game, equal number of R50s (but wait Warner doesn't chase back?), plus 200 more metres gained per match. Bounces 3.2 per game to well zero for Rowbottom.

Hey but Rowbottom tackles a lot so that must make him a better midfielder.

Warner gives us something others don't in our midfield mix; run, burst, attack.
He needs to be in there not camped on the HFF for the majority of the game.

WBDogs essentially replaced Macrae with Ed Richards because he gave them the sort of attributes that Warner possesses.
It's what clubs want, a midfield mix.
Richards ranked 4th in clearances for the Dogs and I'm sure Mcrae would have had more if he played inside, but it was important for them to have a balance.

If some had their way, this obsession with contested inside ball means we'd end up with the competition's most one dimensional midfield.
Move Warner out, bring Sheldrick, Adams et al in.
Nah.

 

[Bloods86]

Well you wanted to trade Rowbottom for a 2nd rounder, because Horse didn't know how to use him, then I guess we'll be lucky to get a 3rd rounder for Chad the midfielder.

It's almost as if coaches think that different players bring different features to the midfield mix.

Warner 1st in the competition for bounces, 6th in I50s, 7th in score involvements, 11th for total metres gained.

And let's compare him to your golden boy (Rowbottom,not Hewett);
Chad a goal more per game, plus 2 I50s, 1 less clearance per game, equal number of R50s (but wait Warner doesn't chase back?), plus 200 more metres gained per match. Bounces 3.2 per game to well zero for Rowbottom.

Hey but Rowbottom tackles a lot so that must make him a better midfielder.

Warner gives us something others don't in our midfield mix; run, burst, attack.
He needs to be in there not camped on the HFF for the majority of the game.

WBDogs essentially replaced Macrae with Ed Richards because he gave them the sort of attributes that Warner possesses.
It's what clubs want, a midfield mix.
Richards ranked 4th in clearances for the Dogs and I'm sure Mcrae would have had more if he played inside, but it was important for them to have a balance.

If some had their way, this obsession with contested inside ball means we'd end up with the competition's most one dimensional midfield.
Move Warner out, bring Sheldrick, Adams et al in.
Nah.

I'm not sure using bounces is a good stat, given Warner does it immediately after taking 2 steps, which gets him into trouble.

Using R50s in comparison to Rowy is fairly odd, given you'd expect both of them there at D50 stoppages (not necessarily to do with chasing back), and Warner to rebound more from the outside.

Richards attended 260 centre bounces to Warner's 452, with his peak attendance in the middle part of the season.

So there's plenty of opportunity to play Warner more off HF or coming off a wing, still use him in the middle some of the time, while improving our contested work with others.

The grand final, along with many other games, showed that Warner doesn't necessarily turn up until 2nd halves. So maybe he needs to learn a lesson.

 

[caesar88]

Well you wanted to trade Rowbottom for a 2nd rounder, because Horse didn't know how to use him, then I guess we'll be lucky to get a 3rd rounder for Chad the midfielder.

It's almost as if coaches think that different players bring different features to the midfield mix.

Warner 1st in the competition for bounces, 6th in I50s, 7th in score involvements, 11th for total metres gained.

And let's compare him to your golden boy (Rowbottom,not Hewett);
Chad a goal more per game, plus 2 I50s, 1 less clearance per game, equal number of R50s (but wait Warner doesn't chase back?), plus 200 more metres gained per match. Bounces 3.2 per game to well zero for Rowbottom.

Hey but Rowbottom tackles a lot so that must make him a better midfielder.

Warner gives us something others don't in our midfield mix; run, burst, attack.
He needs to be in there not camped on the HFF for the majority of the game.

WBDogs essentially replaced Macrae with Ed Richards because he gave them the sort of attributes that Warner possesses.
It's what clubs want, a midfield mix.
Richards ranked 4th in clearances for the Dogs and I'm sure Mcrae would have had more if he played inside, but it was important for them to have a balance.

If some had their way, this obsession with contested inside ball means we'd end up with the competition's most one dimensional midfield.
Move Warner out, bring Sheldrick, Adams et al in.
Nah.

Warner brings nothing to the midfield mix. He has no impact in a midfield sense. Great general play footballer. Everything you describe that he can do - bounces, metres gained, score involvements - he can still do just the same, maybe even more so, playing off a flank, just without being dead weight on the inside.

Which he is, unfortunately. Our midfield struggles in contested ball and clearances. It is not hard to see why when one-third of our most-used midfield combination offers comparatively little in that regard. So the "obsession" we have on inside contested ball is because we have now lost two grand finals because of it. I would say the need to reverse that trend supersedes the need to let Warner rack up highlights.

You make the Ed Richards comparison. It's easy to throw him into a midfield that already has arguably the strongest contested core in the competition. Bontempelli, Liberatore & Treloar say hello? (Not to mention Tim English.) We do not have that, which makes it harder to carry a player offering little in that area in Warner.

Finally, when did Heeney & Rowbottom become these one-dimensional slouches? They are both quick. Not sprint 50m in a hot second like Warner quick. But they have an explosive first step that can make both of them difficult to catch if they're attacking the ball, and are as strong through the core as Warner is to shimmy out of tackles. Mills is one of the fittest at the club and can run all day, another who is quicker than he may seem. Sheldrick faired okay in the grand final sprint. These are not slow players who are going to revert us back to the 2005 model if left to their devices without Chad Warner in their midst.

 

[The King!]

Anyone else concerned about our Rucks , Grundy looks tired by the end of the year and isn't getting younger

 

[bedford]

Anyone else concerned about our Rucks , Grundy looks tired by the end of the year and isn't getting younger

Good form today Mr King

 

[Bloods86]

Warner brings nothing to the midfield mix. He has no impact in a midfield sense. Great general play footballer. Everything you describe that he can do - bounces, metres gained, score involvements - he can still do just the same, maybe even more so, playing off a flank, just without being dead weight on the inside.

Which he is, unfortunately. Our midfield struggles in contested ball and clearances. It is not hard to see why when one-third of our most-used midfield combination offers comparatively little in that regard. So the "obsession" we have on inside contested ball is because we have now lost two grand finals because of it. I would say the need to reverse that trend supersedes the need to let Warner rack up highlights.

You make the Ed Richards comparison. It's easy to throw him into a midfield that already has arguably the strongest contested core in the competition. Bontempelli, Liberatore & Treloar say hello? (Not to mention Tim English.) We do not have that, which makes it harder to carry a player offering little in that area in Warner.

Finally, when did Heeney & Rowbottom become these one-dimensional slouches? They are both quick. Not sprint 50m in a hot second like Warner quick. But they have an explosive first step that can make both of them difficult to catch if they're attacking the ball, and are as strong through the core as Warner is to shimmy out of tackles. Mills is one of the fittest at the club and can run all day, another who is quicker than he may seem. Sheldrick faired okay in the grand final sprint. These are not slow players who are going to revert us back to the 2005 model if left to their devices without Chad Warner in their midst.

Sheldrick to me looks to have a quicker burst than all of Heeney, Mills, Rowy.

 

[Adnico26Parker]

Anyone else concerned about our Rucks , Grundy looks tired by the end of the year and isn't getting younger

Only if they don't give him more breaks next year

 

[Wheresbuddy]

Anyone else concerned about our Rucks , Grundy looks tired by the end of the year and isn't getting younger

Surely Ladhams must be maturing. Has all the assets just lacks the brain to bring it all together.