Prediction St.Kilda Best 22

[saintmike65]

Would love to see us just prioritise running at all costs. Happy to go small. I like the idea of something like this:

B	STOCKER	HOWARD	BATTLE
HB	NAS	WILKIE	WINDHAGER
C	HILL	STEELE	WOOD
HF	OWENS	SHARMAN	HENRY
F	HIGGINS	KING	BUTLER
FOLL	MARSHALL	SINCLAIR	CROUCH
INT	POU	DOW	JONES	BONNER

Nice mix of pace, run and foot skills given what we have at our disposal. I rate Bonner, hope he plays. Blokes pushing for selection is this order I would have:

Webster, Ross, Membrey, Cordy, Byrnes, Hayes, Hammer, Wilson, Paton, Clark.

Clark is a long way back for me. Not versatile enough, Dow coming in hurts him immensely. Particularly when more midfield minutes will get absorbed by Pou, Owens & Sincs, maybe even a fit Jones.

Expecting Windhager to step up and become a solid player across half back this year. Bonner, Jones, Sincs can all come off half back when needed also.

Team is light on for relief rucks but reckon Owens and Sharman can cover 20% of game time between them. This suggestion will not be popular but I am also not against King playing 15 minutes a game in the ruck. Needs a better work rate. Would be good for him to touch the footy more and get his confidence up.

If King goes in the ruck whilst Marshall is resting the forward line is smallish but hella dangerous. Sharman, Owens, Pou with Butler, Higgo & Henry floating around is a super mobile unpredictable line up.

I’m keeping my powder dry re: picking a team…will wait until the match sim and practice matches are done and dusted, too many ifs and variables at the moment.
One things for sure, there’s going to be a priority given to hard runners & pace!

 

[saintmike65]

FB: Webster Howard Wilkie
HB: NWM Battle Sinclair
C: Wood Steele Hill
HF: Phillipou Membrey Owens
FF: Higgins King Butler

Fol: Marshall Crouch Dow

Int: Henry Windhager Wilson Sharman

Interesting how everyone has Crouch as an automatic starting centre bounce player.
Yes he had a decent season this year but he doesn’t hurt the opposition.
I’d prefer him on the bench giving Steele a chop out, with Windhager & Dow partnering Steeley!

 

[ZedNotZee]

Locks in bold:

FB: Wilkie Howard Webster
HB: NWM Battle Sinclair
C: Hill Steele Wood
HF: Owens Membrey Phillipou
FF: Butler King Higgins
Fol: Marshall Crouch Dow
Int: Henry Sharman Windhager Clark
Sub: Jones

Debatably Best 22:

Ross (challenging for spot currently occupied by Dow/Clark/Jones)
Stocker/Bonner (Webster/Windhager)
Caminiti/Hayes (Membrey/Sharman)
Wilson (Phillipou/Higgins/Butler)
Byrnes (Wood/Henry)
Cordy (Howard)

I debated a lot of questions (second ruck, Stocker or Webster, Ross or Clark, who's the sub, is Wilson immediately in the side) but this is what I've currently settled on. Glad I'm not a selector, I was stressed just for a thought exercise.

 

[Veer Right]

Locks in bold:

FB: Wilkie Howard Webster
HB: NWM Battle Sinclair
C: Hill Steele Wood
HF: Owens Membrey Phillipou
FF: Butler King Higgins
Fol: Marshall Crouch Dow
Int: Henry Sharman Windhager Clark
Sub: Jones

Debatably Best 22:

Ross (challenging for spot currently occupied by Dow/Clark/Jones)
Stocker/Bonner (Webster/Windhager)
Caminiti/Hayes (Membrey/Sharman)
Wilson (Phillipou/Higgins/Butler)
Byrnes (Wood/Henry)
Cordy (Howard)

I debated a lot of questions (second ruck, Stocker or Webster, Ross or Clark, who's the sub, is Wilson immediately in the side) but this is what I've currently settled on. Glad I'm not a selector, I was stressed just for a thought exercise.

Wood, Dow and Henry are locks.

Ross is light years ahead of Clark and Jones for various reasons in my eyes. That doesn't say a lot for Clark and Jones. They will be both delisted or traded within two years. It will happen, like it or not.

Stocker > Webster - Time to move on i hope. 24 v 31. Hastie i was hopping was somewhat AFL ready. Apparently not.

Bonner more attacking then 1v1? Backup for our wings and half backs.

Hayes has had one good game and spent forever injured. Caminiti is the future and his star will shine brighter then the other three combined.

Wilson from reports should be as good as Hollands who played a few for the blues this year. He's playing.

If Keeler is as good as what's reported on here, (debateable going on previous years pre seasons threads) then he should be taking that full back position from Howard.

Whatever team is selected round one, i am confident our depth is superior to anything i can remember the club having. The underperformers are easily replaced.

One standout for mine is the selection integrity compared to previous head coaches. Under Lyon it's improved out of sight and next year he will have more chess pieces to work with.

 

[Mav2Membrey]

FB Stocker Wilkie Battle

HB Nas Dougal Sinclair

C Wood Steele Hill

HF Owens Membrey Phillipou

FF Higgins King Butler

R Marshall Crouch Dow

I/C Henry Ross Webster Caminiti

Sub Windhager

Bonner, Clark, Wilson, Byrnes, Sharman (good depth, first in in case of injuries)

Paton, Jones, Cordy, Hayes, Hotton (decent depth, under pressure to perform)

Keeler, Collard, Hastie, Schoenmaker, Garcia (developing)

Campbell, Heath, Van Es, Allison, McLennan, O'Connell (on the chopping block for 2025)

 

[Circus]

FB Stocker Wilkie Battle

HB Nas Dougal Sinclair

C Wood Steele Hill

HF Owens Membrey Phillipou

FF Higgins King Butler

R Marshall Crouch Dow

I/C Henry Ross Webster Caminiti

Sub Windhager

Bonner, Clark, Wilson, Byrnes, Sharman (good depth, first in in case of injuries)

Paton, Jones, Cordy, Hayes, Hotton (decent depth, under pressure to perform)

Keeler, Collard, Hastie, Schoenmaker, Garcia (developing)

Campbell, Heath, Van Es, Allison, McLennan, O'Connell (on the chopping block for 2025)

The starting half forwards of Owens Membrey Phillipou is the best we've had for a decade!

 

[ScrappyDo]

Wood, Dow and Henry are locks.

Ross is light years ahead of Clark and Jones for various reasons in my eyes. That doesn't say a lot for Clark and Jones. They will be both delisted or traded within two years. It will happen, like it or not.

Stocker > Webster - Time to move on i hope. 24 v 31. Hastie i was hopping was somewhat AFL ready. Apparently not.

Bonner more attacking then 1v1? Backup for our wings and half backs.

Hayes has had one good game and spent forever injured. Caminiti is the future and his star will shine brighter then the other three combined.

Wilson from reports should be as good as Hollands who played a few for the blues this year. He's playing.

If Keeler is as good as what's reported on here, (debateable going on previous years pre seasons threads) then he should be taking that full back position from Howard.

Whatever team is selected round one, i am confident our depth is superior to anything i can remember the club having. The underperformers are easily replaced.

One standout for mine is the selection integrity compared to previous head coaches. Under Lyon it's improved out of sight and next year he will have more chess pieces to work with.

Maybe I'm a buzzkill but l want to see Hammer, Moose, Keeler, Van Ess and now Shoey start performing consistently in VFL for a time before being pushed in. The line of succession is fairly clear so they all only need be better than the next guy.

I want them to get a few tastes of the real deal to fule them on but 2025 would be a better target for integration into the 22.

 

[beside the seaside]

B: Wilkie Howard Battle
HB: Nas Webster Sincs
C: Wood Crouch Hill
HF: Butler Higgins Owens
F: Caminiti King Membrey
R: Marshall Steele Jones
IC: Dow Pou Windy Henry Wilson

E: Clark Byrnes Sharman

Tough work putting the team together if we're all fit. Should be some good competition for spots, there's some healthy competition in the midfield which is good. I wonder if Arie or someone else puts some pressure on Jimmy.

 

[BrutThough]

Interesting how everyone has Crouch as an automatic starting centre bounce player.
Yes he had a decent season this year but he doesn’t hurt the opposition.
I’d prefer him on the bench giving Steele a chop out, with Windhager & Dow partnering Steeley!

It doesn't matter where someone is named. It will change 3 minute into the game anyway.

 

[saintmike65]

It doesn't matter where someone is named. It will change 3 minute into the game anyway.

Good point!

 

[Otiman]

The traditional "3 on each line" hasn't been relevant for a long time now.

Need to look at roles and I like to break it down to:
Big Defenders
Small Defenders
Attacking Defenders
Inside Mids
Outside Mids
Big Forwards
Small Forwards
Defensive Forwards

That usually covers it.

 

[gringo2011]

The traditional "3 on each line" hasn't been relevant for a long time now.

Need to look at roles and I like to break it down to:
Big Defenders
Small Defenders
Attacking Defenders
Inside Mids
Outside Mids
Big Forwards
Small Forwards
Defensive Forwards

That usually covers it.

There are a back 6 who often get an extra in there and two will be attacking players rather than defensive. An interceptor spare is often the mopper up.

High HF players run the wings and often you have at least one forward who is nearly purely a stopper for taking out a back.

CHF has become another runner too.

 

[austinnn]

The traditional "3 on each line" hasn't been relevant for a long time now.

Need to look at roles and I like to break it down to:
Big Defenders HOWARD WILKIE
Small Defenders WEBSTER (STOCKER)
Attacking Defenders SINCLAIR NWM (WINDHAGER)
Inside Mids MARSHALL STEELE DOW OWENS (CROUCH)
Outside Mids PHILLIPOU WOOD HILL BYRNES HENRY
Big Forwards KING CAMINITI (SHARMAN)
Small Forwards HIGGINS
Defensive Forwards BUTLER
Medisub CLARK

That usually covers it.

My effort to make a fit for this system in caps. Subs in brackets. I don't envy our match selectors!

 

[Otiman]

My effort is this, with the purpose of "how do you select a best 22 and still have a relief ruckman?". For arguments sake I've used Caminiti, but could be Keeler or Hayes by the time preseason is over.

3 Big Defensive Backs: Howard, Wilkie, Battle
1 Small Defensive Backs: Webster
2 Attacking Backs: NWM, Sinclair
4 Inside (Contested ball) Mid: Dow, Steele, Crouch, Owens
3 Outside (Uncontested ball) Mid: Hill, Wood, Philippou
1 Ruck + Relief : Marshall, (+Caminiti)
2 Big Forwards: King, Caminiti
1 Small Attacking Forwards: Higgins
1 Defensive Forward: Butler

Bench:
Windhager (Inside mid/def)
Clark (inside mid/def)
Membrey (Big Forward)
Henry (Outside mid/fwd)

 

[L_W_P]

FB: Wilkie - Howard - Webster
HB: NWM - Battle - Windhager
C: Hill - Steele - Wood
HF: Butler - King - Henry
FF: Higgins - Sharman - Cordy
R: Marshall - Crouch - Sinclair
I: Owens - Dow - Phillipou - Ross
S: Rotational

I think we want to get Sincs on ball in 2024.

WIth Windy playing HB late in 2023, Paton & Stocker being on the edge of the team, on top of Bonner and Shoenmaker being drafted... We are absolutely flush with options at half back.

I'd like to see King up the ground a little more. Get him moving for his marks instead of fighting 1v2 and then getting into his own head with the "easy" shots.

I think our front half worked best when Cordy was taking the deep ball and chopping out in the ruck. Membrey could do this if he's ready but we will see what happens.

Sharman has to play. He's so dynamic with his marking ability. Reminds me of Jeremy Howe

38

Jeremy Howe

Age

34

Ht

190cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.0

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.7

4star

M

6.4

5star

T

2.1

4star

MG

318.1

4star

D

21.5

5star

K

16.5

5star

HB

5.0

3star

M

6.5

5star

T

2.0

3star

MG

433.3

5star

D

15.2

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

6.2

4star

M

6.8

5star

T

1.6

4star

. THAT is the sort of player I'd be happy to have flying 1v3 on a deep ball.

I think the rest pick themselves at the moment. Ross on the borderline. If his hammy goes again then Stocker, Wilson, Paton, Clark etc are right there.

Pretty exciting list TBH.

We just need to pray that RoMa stays fit. If he goes down then so do our finals hopes.

 

[L_W_P]

Interesting how everyone has Crouch as an automatic starting centre bounce player.
Yes he had a decent season this year but he doesn’t hurt the opposition.
I’d prefer him on the bench giving Steele a chop out, with Windhager & Dow partnering Steeley!

Crouch ave 6 tackles a game. That puts him in the top 18 in the comp.

Of those 18:
10 players had more goal assists
2 players kicked more goals - Brayshaw & Bont

Crouch kicked more goals than Steele, Laird, Dawson, Dunkley, Mitchell & Libba who were all in the AA discussion.

I can appreciate wanting to get more out of our midfield but Crouch is the least of our worries IMO.

 

[saintmike65]

The starting half forwards of Owens Membrey Phillipou is the best we've had for a decade!

Crouch ave 6 tackles a game. That puts him in the top 18 in the comp.

Of those 18:
10 players had more goal assists
2 players kicked more goals - Brayshaw & Bont

Crouch kicked more goals than Steele, Laird, Dawson, Dunkley, Mitchell & Libba who were all in the AA discussion.

I can appreciate wanting to get more out of our midfield but Crouch is the least of our worries IMO.

Not saying he’s not in the calculations, merely suggesting he doesn’t have to be starting mid…turning 30 next month and we need to have one eye on the future!

 

[Saintos The ITK]

Sounds like Ari might get a game some time during the year.
What position does he play?
High hb with his booming clearance kick or high hf to feed in deep to Maxy and co.
I’d play him high hb personally. Could be a massive pod weapon for us especially with his booming accuracy.
Actually he might be a natural winger.

 

[Otiman]

Crouch, 18 brownlow votes in 2023. Our best midfielder by far when we were on a winning run.

Walk up start, probably ahead of Steele if he wasn't the captain.

 

[hayes]

Crouch is still our best ball winner and until that changes he’s always going to be a starting mid. He was exposed in the final though but he wasn’t alone there.

 

[Ricmel]

Pretty exciting list TBH.

We just need to pray that RoMa stays fit. If he goes down then so do our finals hopes.

Yep, as well as the list is developing (love the focus on pace) our ruck stocks are a concern and without being overly dramatic, to have our season probably swing on the ability of one guy to stay on the park is a bit concerning.

 

[saintmike65]

Crouch is still our best ball winner and until that changes he’s always going to be a starting mid. He was exposed in the final though but he wasn’t alone there.

Best ball winner maybe but doesn’t hurt with his processions…indisputable!!

 

[gringo2011]

Yep, as well as the list is developing (love the focus on pace) our ruck stocks are a concern and without being overly dramatic, to have our season probably swing on the ability of one guy to stay on the park is a bit concerning.

Plenty of clubs have played deep finals without a recognised ruckman. Sometimes it shakes things up. Tom Campbell probably makes our tap work more effective but means that we lose an extra mid if Marshall goes down. We'd need more from the mids but Dow should help cover that.

 

[Minga]

Haven’t been posting much lately, but feel obliged to add that Crouch has literally been one of the most consistent players at our club since he came, just does the job, exactly what we pay him for. He also brings plenty of experience, and sures us up in the contest. He’s not out future, and he’s not exciting, but he does the job and I’d be picking him very early in selection.

His ceiling is 30+ disposals, 8+ tackles and 2+ goal games, and people underrate his impact in the forward 50, particularly in the context. Has a knack for kicking a goal out of nothing, willing it through.

Sure, he’ll get phased out eventually, but the kids will have to significantly improve to dislodge him, we are lucky to have him for fair wages, and you could have a worse benchmark for an inside mid.

 

[L_W_P]

Nuts that we are talking about wanting to "move past" our clear #1 mid and one of the best 2 way mids in the comp.

Top 18 for tackles per game and of those players he's topp 10 for goal assists

LEgit, elite, inside ball player.