Opinion The Evolution of Your Best 23 for 2025

[cosmicwinduptoy]

Well I disagree with that, if all you needed was to train hard and maximize your talent sporting lists of all codes would be littered with 40 year olds. No you see you should be able to impact positively on the field of play. What you're describing is a coaches job. Go and watch the finals and tell me if you want Ken to be able to play him in another finals series, because that's what will happen Ken is risk averse hence why we've given 40 games to McEntee and Boak his last 60 games.

You're completely ignoring the fact that his form was quite good last year

 

[Jonts]

Esava BZT Evans
Farrell Allirr Sinn
Bergman Drew Burgoyne
Rozee Lukosuis Marshall
Rioli Georgiades JHF
Soldo Wines Butters
Richards DBJ Jones Boak

Berry Sub

SPP to take Richards spot when fit

Unlucky
Mead, Sweet

 

[cosmicwinduptoy]

Esava BZT Evans
Farrell Allirr Sinn
Bergman Drew Burgoyne
Rozee Lukosuis Marshall
Rioli Georgiades JHF
Soldo Wines Butters
Richards DBJ Jones Boak

Berry Sub

SPP to take Richards spot when fit

Unlucky
Mead, Sweet

Nice to see you've completely ignored some of the lessons learnt last year.

• Bergman to the backline. (team looks significantly better with agile backline)
• Remove Esava from side
• Sweet instead of Soldo starting ruck
• Rozee into Bergmans spot in the centre
• SPP starts on field
• Forward line balance looks horrible. Not sure we can get away with playing two uncontested forwards in Marshall and Luko in the same forward line. (happy to be proved wrong on this)

 

[VineValerian]

POWER 23 (assuming no injuries)
FF	Byrne-Jones	Georgiadis	Rioli
HF	Powell-Pepper	Lukoscious	Richards
C	Rozee (c)	Wines	Burgoyne, J
HB	Farrell	Alliir	Evans
FB	Jones	Zerk-Thatcher	Bergmann
1R	Sweet	Horne-Francis	Butters (vc)
Int	Drew	Finlayson	Boak	Sinn
Sub	Lorenz
MAGPIES 22 (assuming no injuries)
FF	Lord	Marshall, T	Anastasopoulos
HF	Berry	Visentini	Barrett
C	Atkins	Moore (c) *	Moraes
HB	Williams	Walsh	McLennan
FB	Moss	Ratugolea	Burton
1R	Soldo	Jackson	Mead
Int	Charleson	McEntee	Whitlock	Cochrane
Top Ups	Watkins	Szust	Francou, O	Harris
	Burgoyne, R	Marshall, K	Weidemann??	Baldwin??
	Pascoe??	Ferrari, W??	C-Collins??	Montgomery, L??
Magpies top ups - likely
* Marquee player / captain

Excuse the formatting!!! It's an Excel spreadsheet.

 

[Jonts]

Nice to see you've completely ignored some of the lessons learnt last year.

• Bergman to the backline. (team looks significantly better with agile backline)
• Remove Esava from side
• Sweet instead of Soldo starting ruck
• Rozee into Bergmans spot in the centre
• SPP starts on field
• Forward line balance looks horrible. Not sure we can get away with playing two uncontested forwards in Marshall and Luko in the same forward line. (happy to be proved wrong on this)

Bergman will leave if he doesn't get midfield minutes

Soldo is the better ruck when both fit
SPP isn't ready by round 1

We've done it before with Finlayson and Marshall

 

[Addy23]

I might stating the obvious, but these are the make or break things for me

- Our biggest conundrum is the 2nd ruck/Tall forward role. I don't trust Finlayson (obs don't blame him) or Esava with that role. I'm a big fan of Marshall and think alongside Luko and Georgiades they could create a really mobile trio that causes issues (I'm well aware they aren't strong contested markers but I don't think they are necessary in modern footy). But Marshall can't really ruck so that's an issue. Hence why I'd throw Whitlock in, he sounds like he's eager to prove people wrong and clearly it's the role that we drafted him for. Or we need to go left field and put Wines in as 2nd ruck which we have in the past.

- Ball movement has to change with the personnel we have now. It's either that or we finish bottom 6 if we continue bombing it long and high. We have recruited many smalls and it needs to be tailored to that. Imo Berry has to and will start.

- Said it for a while now that I think Richards hasn't been recruited for a pure small forward role. Think he'll replace Mead's role. This will be an interesting watch

- Esava can't start down back. Don't need to say more here.

- What we do with Rozee and SPP. I'd like to see a FWD/MID rotation between the two. Very different players so their direct opponents may have issues dealing with the transition in style of play but I also understand that SPP is coming off an ACL so needs time to get up to speed.

 

[Coobk001]

Bergman will leave if he doesn't get midfield minutes

Soldo is the better ruck when both fit
SPP isn't ready by round 1

We've done it before with Finlayson and Marshall

Bergman is an intercepting half back, any talk of playing him elsewhere is silly. He's failed time and time again around the ball. He thrives behind it.

 

[Imhotep]

You're completely ignoring the fact that his form was quite good last year

Have you got reading comprehension issues?? No I took into account his form last year it singlehandedly cost PAFC a chance to play in a grand final!! He's done! Smoked!! Cooked!! Comprende

 

[Jimmy Unchained]

Bergman is an intercepting half back, any talk of playing him elsewhere is silly. He's failed time and time again around the ball. He thrives behind it.

What's the ceiling for an intercepting half-back whose disposal is more suited to metres gained than picking out targets?

I would love to be a fly in the room for his end of season meeting because I can see him being tempted by whoever tells him they see the high impact dynamic half-forward of his draft year.

 

[Brian McGee]

Have you got reading comprehension issues?? No I took into account his form last year it singlehandedly cost PAFC a chance to play in a grand final!! He's done! Smoked!! Cooked!! Comprende

Single handedly is a bit of an exaggeration don’t you think?

 

[Imhotep]

Single handedly is a bit of an exaggeration don’t you think?

No not particularly. He directly score assisted Sydney on four occasions during the first half of the game. The worst part was three of his turnovers were completely unpressured, just horrible kicks that any other 350 plus game player in the history of the sport would make sure hit a teammate and not an opponent.

He deflated the entire team with these mistakes and took all momentum away from us and handed it to Sydney. We lost by six goals so four turnovers that lead to goals in the first half are pretty bloody significant.

I'll just add this so everything is clear Boak knows where to go to get the ball he was our third highest possession winner in this final after all. His possession stats for the season on the wing are not bad, infact they're quite good. I just don't want Boak getting this number of possessions on the wing where disposal efficiency is rather important.

 

[Handyandy]

Boak kicked something like 0 goals 13 points at one stage last season. His horrid kicking didn’t get highlighted on the goal kickers list because he didn’t actually kick one straight till very late in the season. Poor old trav. He is like a hyena on the afl plains. Handicapped by a lame boot, he could have been a lion with a good kick.
Swans deliberately dragged him into deep defence to exploit his terrible kick & it worked a treat. He definitely killed off that final very early for us. No doubt & not his first big choke in a big prelim
Then you say he sets a good example for the juniors? But he is taking a juniors list spot & game time & opportunities. Lorenz debuted in a finals ffs.
His playing on highlights everything wrong at this club

 

[VineValerian]

No not particularly. He directly score assisted Sydney on four occasions during the first half of the game. The worst part was three of his turnovers were completely unpressured, just horrible kicks that any other 350 plus game player in the history of the sport would make sure hit a teammate and not an opponent.

He deflated the entire team with these mistakes and took all momentum away from us and handed it to Sydney. We lost by six goals so four turnovers that lead to goals in the first half are pretty bloody significant.

I'll just add this so everything is clear Boak knows where to go to get the ball he was our third highest possession winner in this final after all. His possession stats for the season on the wing are not bad, infact they're quite good. I just don't want Boak getting this number of possessions on the wing where disposal efficiency is rather important.

Swans were about ten goals up midway through the third quarter, then put the cue in the rack and benched their best players for long periods from then on, with an eye to the following week.

We were en route to a similar scoreline to the Cat's game before they eased up.
Boak had a mare of a game, but we had another 15 or so mates who didn't turn up when it counted!

 

[Imhotep]

Swans were about ten goals up midway through the third quarter, then put the cue in the rack and benched their best players for long periods from then on, with an eye to the following week.

We were en route to a similar scoreline to the Cat's game before they eased up.
Boak had a mare of a game, but we had another 15 or so mates who didn't turn up when it counted!

Momentum, momentum, momentum, confidence, mindset, belief, trust, connection and momentum. These words are cliches, true. But they're more than that they hold an underlying truth if you can't trust your teammates, if you don't have belief in what they're going to do, it destroys your mindset, confidence and any momentum that might be able to be seized upon.

What you said is wrong they got 6 and a half goals up during the third but that doesn't matter how did they get there? It happened by bad choices,skill errors and the destruction of belief in teammates by turnovers. You say Boak had a mare in this game I think he had the same game he had all year, I also think his teammates thought the same. This why I believe he singlehandedly destroyed their belief and mindset.

Zero goals 14 points before his first goal, how many simple turnovers throughout the year do we overlook because there isn't a GF on the line. He had a serviceable year lots of possessions on the wing he ran hard and got to the right spots, apart from the North game did he have a single game that would rate above a 6/10? Is this a good enough reason to continue to play and put games into a 37 year old? At the expense of players who are better suited to the role we're asking a has been inside mid?

 

[PJ Power]

We should be getting games into Lorenz on the Boak wing, and then possibly Moraes in time. Both look like natural wingers who can also spend a bit of time in the centresquare to give our regular stoppage players a chop-out.

 

[FishingRick04]

You’d have to think our depth is building.

2 equal first rucks and promising up and comer.

3 quality tall forwards with one a health risk but another experienced tall, plus another junior and new draftee so 6

Rioli, SPP, DBJ Richards, small forwards either Berry, Anta and Charleston and Barrett.

Midfield Rozee, Butters, JHF, Drew, Wines, Burger with Lorenz coming on and Boak pinch hitting Moares joining group

Small defenders deep Farrell, Jones, Bergman, Evans, Sinn coming on. Burton is we want to go there! Urgh

Key Backs BZT, Alir, Rat utility, Walsh coming.

Depth is building.

Midfield needs to step up this year and stop disappearing especially in big games.

Shame we have a shite coach

 

[Chizza12]

I would love to be a fly in the room for his end of season meeting because I can see him being tempted by whoever tells him they see the high impact dynamic half-forward of his draft year.

He’s actually repeatedly said he’d like to eventually be a centre square mid. If another team offers him that as happened with Collingwood and Perryman then he could be swayed.

 

[jac147]

Boak kicked something like 0 goals 13 points at one stage last season. His horrid kicking didn’t get highlighted on the goal kickers list because he didn’t actually kick one straight till very late in the season. Poor old trav. He is like a hyena on the afl plains. Handicapped by a lame boot, he could have been a lion with a good kick.
Swans deliberately dragged him into deep defence to exploit his terrible kick & it worked a treat. He definitely killed off that final very early for us. No doubt & not his first big choke in a big prelim
Then you say he sets a good example for the juniors? But he is taking a juniors list spot & game time & opportunities. Lorenz debuted in a finals ffs.
His playing on highlights everything wrong at this club

The Port player administration should have said to Trav that it’s time to call it quits at 2024 seasons end. Those errors costs us goals but as other posters have commented the rest of the team just lost all of their momentum, confidence and most importantly, their desire.
We now have him on the 2025 player list and there will be pressure to keep him in the 23. Message to the selectors - no way!! Those errors were unforgivable!
Boak to play off his career with the 2’s.
SPP to be kept back until he is fully recovered and that means coming back via the Magpies.

 

[Chewy316]

B: Bergman BZT Jones
HB: Evans Aliir Farrell
C: Boak Wines Burgoyne
HF: SPP Lukosius Rozee
F: Georgiades Lord Rioli
FOLL: Sweet Drew JHF
INT: Butters DBJ Sinn Richards
SUB: Berry

I don't think Lord is the best third tall in the squad, but they need someone who can play as the 2nd ruck, and Lord is imo a better option than anyone else in that role. I can understand people picking Finlayson for that position but I think he's incredibly soft on the field and last year was clearly not in the right mental headspace to play - so until he proves otherwise he's on the outer for me.

Boak shouldn't be getting a regular game if this team is genuine about contending, but I have little doubt Ken will prefer playing Boak over the likes of a young player such as Lorenz or Moraes. I would like to see Rozee spend a bit more time in the forward line this year, but I'm not expecting that to happen.

Not really expecting much of a change to the structure of the side outside of the forward line setup, which theoretically should be more mobile without Dixon. However, if they don't significantly change the patterns of their forward 50 entries, with this personnel it is bound for disaster.

He’s actually repeatedly said he’d like to eventually be a centre square mid. If another team offers him that as happened with Collingwood and Perryman then he could be swayed.

Perryman chose Collingwood because they offered the most coin and he was a Collingwood diehard fanatic as a kid.

As for Bergman, he absolutely loves it at Port, and although there is an obvious risk of a go-home factor, Port have every reason to be confident of keeping him at Alberton for the foreseeable future.

 

[cosmicwinduptoy]

Bergman will leave if he doesn't get midfield minutes

Soldo is the better ruck when both fit
SPP isn't ready by round 1

We've done it before with Finlayson and Marshall

Literally every point here is wrong.

 

[Jonts]

Literally every point here is wrong.

You're really good at debating

 

[philthy05]

Bergman is an intercepting half back, any talk of playing him elsewhere is silly. He's failed time and time again around the ball. He thrives behind it.

He absolutely has not failed around the ball and it’s a weird claim to say he has.

He’s shown excellent signs, we just can’t develop him there when we’ve got butters jhf rozee Drew and wines all there (so Bergman can’t get any consistent on ball time at the best of times much less regularly) and he’s an elite defender which we lack.

We should be getting games into Lorenz on the Boak wing, and then possibly Moraes in time. Both look like natural wingers who can also spend a bit of time in the centresquare to give our regular stoppage players a chop-out.

It would be such a dumb thing to be giving boak more games at this stage of his career and have Lorenz / sinn / moraes etc watching from the stands.

You’d have to think our depth is building.

2 equal first rucks and promising up and comer.

3 quality tall forwards with one a health risk but another experienced tall, plus another junior and new draftee so 6

Rioli, SPP, DBJ Richards, small forwards either Berry, Anta and Charleston and Barrett.

Midfield Rozee, Butters, JHF, Drew, Wines, Burger with Lorenz coming on and Boak pinch hitting Moares joining group

Small defenders deep Farrell, Jones, Bergman, Evans, Sinn coming on. Burton is we want to go there! Urgh

Key Backs BZT, Alir, Rat utility, Walsh coming.

Depth is building.

Midfield needs to step up this year and stop disappearing especially in big games.

Shame we have a shite coach

It does feel like we have a bit more depth, the worry is this is the kind of depth other teams have built easily, and with later picks / dfa / rookies / cheap trades rather than the bounty we’ve forked over for incoming players recently

Not too mention the contracts we’ve forked out to build this depth ie esava.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

You’d have to think our depth is building.

2 equal first rucks and promising up and comer.

3 quality tall forwards with one a health risk but another experienced tall, plus another junior and new draftee so 6

Rioli, SPP, DBJ Richards, small forwards either Berry, Anta and Charleston and Barrett.

Midfield Rozee, Butters, JHF, Drew, Wines, Burger with Lorenz coming on and Boak pinch hitting Moares joining group

Small defenders deep Farrell, Jones, Bergman, Evans, Sinn coming on. Burton is we want to go there! Urgh

Key Backs BZT, Alir, Rat utility, Walsh coming.

Depth is building.

Midfield needs to step up this year and stop disappearing especially in big games.

Shame we have a shite coach

It hasn't been talked about that much but I think the thing that has changed in the team is that the lower players from 19-23 are much better. We don't have Narkle, Evans, Dixon, McEntee types gunking up the works.

We don't have the absolute spuds playing but with Hinkley, you never know how bad his coaching and decision making can be.

The guys I'm worried about getting games in 2025 are McEntee, Boak and Burton. Williams too I guess.

There is also a concern with KPF, 2nd ruck with Marshall, Finlayson, Ratugolea and Lord. I hope someone stands up.

 

[Scodges]

I might stating the obvious, but these are the make or break things for me

- Our biggest conundrum is the 2nd ruck/Tall forward role. I don't trust Finlayson (obs don't blame him) or Esava with that role. I'm a big fan of Marshall and think alongside Luko and Georgiades they could create a really mobile trio that causes issues (I'm well aware they aren't strong contested markers but I don't think they are necessary in modern footy). But Marshall can't really ruck so that's an issue. Hence why I'd throw Whitlock in, he sounds like he's eager to prove people wrong and clearly it's the role that we drafted him for. Or we need to go left field and put Wines in as 2nd ruck which we have in the past.

- Ball movement has to change with the personnel we have now. It's either that or we finish bottom 6 if we continue bombing it long and high. We have recruited many smalls and it needs to be tailored to that. Imo Berry has to and will start.

- Said it for a while now that I think Richards hasn't been recruited for a pure small forward role. Think he'll replace Mead's role. This will be an interesting watch

- Esava can't start down back. Don't need to say more here.

- What we do with Rozee and SPP. I'd like to see a FWD/MID rotation between the two. Very different players so their direct opponents may have issues dealing with the transition in style of play but I also understand that SPP is coming off an ACL so needs time to get up to speed.

It’s safe to say that we’ll never see Wines in ruck again. It’s probably one of the most stupid things I’ve ever seen on the footy field.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Imhotep]

There is also a concern with KPF, 2nd ruck with Marshall, Finlayson, Ratugolea and Lord. I hope someone stands up.

I've been thinking about this and I think we have to start with Lord in that position, and give him 6-7 games to find his feet. If that doesn't work I think Visentini is genuinely the next best option. I've written Marshall, Finlayson and Esava off as genuine options if we want to go deep into finals. That would mean if Lord and Vis don't pan out we rework the forward line with smalls and go back to Wines second ruck is important for twenty minutes a games we can't carry somebody like Esava through a finals series again for twenty minutes of game time