Your Team's bottom 6 - Geelong

[IllBeTheJudge]

Thought I might write a few notes on who I consider to be the bottom 6 regulars of each team in the league, and figured what better way to start than with the best there is: Geelong.
Not everybody is going to agree of course, but what I have attempted to do is take a look at what could be considered the bottom 6 players. Some say these are the most important players on any team's list.

I can't admit to fanatically watching any team (other than mine) nor any 6 particular players, so is my logic flawed? Possibly. Do you think I care? Nowhere near as much as you might expect. What I won't be doing is slagging anybody in particular, and certainly not a first year player. The players I have chosen are what I consider regulars, and not many first year players would therefore qualify.

What's the point of all this? Well, reasoning aside (and let's not focus on that, it's about the personnel), who would you have in the bottom 6 instead? Tell me; tell me now.

When it comes to the Cats, there are no easy players to pick, however ...

David Wojcinski
Missed out on a Grand Final berth last year, and really, probably not undeservedly. This guy has pace to burn. End of resume. How he is still on this particular list is nothing short of astonishing, but someone down at the Cattery must see something in him, as somehow he survives. Occasionally does something good, more often than not turns it over. Looking forward to someone, anyone, defending his spot and implying that he shouldn't be named in the bottom 6.

Corey Enright
What is it exactly that others, namely Geelong supporters, see in this guy? Is a reasonable, decent player at best, but I guess not everyone can be stars. Has played many more games than me I suppose, so must be worth something. Still, if it comes down to "should we pay Gablett that extra 50k" or "lose Enright", I'm comfortable with how those cards will fall.

Andrew Mackie
This is almost certain to get some noses out of joint, but probably not as badly as Joel Selwood's. Must say it's getting difficult to name players from a clearly dominant side, but you have to remember that this isn't simply about "who's crap", it's about "who's in the bottom 6". Luckily for me, Mackie is a bit crap and therefore his inclusion becomes something of a given. Probably takes on bigger blokes than normally expected, especially with Egan now gone for good, and he's certainly one of those triers. When weighed up against many of the other players in the team though, looks like one that could be replaced quite easily with many players running around in the comp.

Mark Blake
Another controversial pick, as he is winning some taps this year, but I think Blake might not be winning the hearts of the Geelong faithful as much as he did a few years ago, where the crowd cheered wildly if he managed to run 30 metres without falling over. Just not doing enough around the ground yet, but time is on his side. Assuming Mumford doesn't overtake him when Ottens gets back. Look, I think this bloke can play, but at the moment he can be exploited.

Harry Taylor
Didn't want to pick on Harry too much but his skills enable him to be selected in this formidable group. A lot of upside to his play, but he must go in hard at the contest, and hopefully can bring his skill level up by foot, and by hand under pressure.

Josh Hunt
Had to think hard about this one. Hunt certainly goes in hard, but is imminently replaceable. Looking through the list who played against the Bulldogs and thinking about who is missing, here was one player who looked like it didn't really matter whether he ever came back. The defense might be a little light without him, but Rooke and Milburn play the sniper roles enough, they don't really need a third.

Until the next team's bottom 6

 

[SriLankanCat]

Thought I might write a few notes on who I consider to be the bottom 6 regulars of each team in the league, and figured what better way to start than with the best there is: Geelong.
Not everybody is going to agree of course, but what I have attempted to do is take a look at what could be considered the bottom 6 players. Some say these are the most important players on any team's list.

I can't admit to fanatically watching any team (other than mine) nor any 6 particular players, so is my logic flawed? Possibly. Do you think I care? Nowhere near as much as you might expect. What I won't be doing is slagging anybody in particular, and certainly not a first year player. The players I have chosen are what I consider regulars, and not many first year players would therefore qualify.

What's the point of all this? Well, reasoning aside (and let's not focus on that, it's about the personnel), who would you have in the bottom 6 instead? Tell me; tell me now.

When it comes to the Cats, there are no easy players to pick, however ...

David Wojcinski
Missed out on a Grand Final berth last year, and really, probably not undeservedly. This guy has pace to burn. End of resume. How he is still on this particular list is nothing short of astonishing, but someone down at the Cattery must see something in him, as somehow he survives. Occasionally does something good, more often than not turns it over. Looking forward to someone, anyone, defending his spot and implying that he shouldn't be named in the bottom 6.

Corey Enright
What is it exactly that others, namely Geelong supporters, see in this guy? Is a reasonable, decent player at best, but I guess not everyone can be stars. Has played many more games than me I suppose, so must be worth something. Still, if it comes down to "should we pay Gablett that extra 50k" or "lose Enright", I'm comfortable with how those cards will fall.

Andrew Mackie
This is almost certain to get some noses out of joint, but probably not as badly as Joel Selwood's. Must say it's getting difficult to name players from a clearly dominant side, but you have to remember that this isn't simply about "who's crap", it's about "who's in the bottom 6". Luckily for me, Mackie is a bit crap and therefore his inclusion becomes something of a given. Probably takes on bigger blokes than normally expected, especially with Egan now gone for good, and he's certainly one of those triers. When weighed up against many of the other players in the team though, looks like one that could be replaced quite easily with many players running around in the comp.

Mark Blake
Another controversial pick, as he is winning some taps this year, but I think Blake might not be winning the hearts of the Geelong faithful as much as he did a few years ago, where the crowd cheered wildly if he managed to run 30 metres without falling over. Just not doing enough around the ground yet, but time is on his side. Assuming Mumford doesn't overtake him when Ottens gets back. Look, I think this bloke can play, but at the moment he can be exploited.

Harry Taylor
Didn't want to pick on Harry too much but his skills enable him to be selected in this formidable group. A lot of upside to his play, but he must go in hard at the contest, and hopefully can bring his skill level up by foot, and by hand under pressure.

Josh Hunt
Had to think hard about this one. Hunt certainly goes in hard, but is imminently replaceable. Looking through the list who played against the Bulldogs and thinking about who is missing, here was one player who looked like it didn't really matter whether he ever came back. The defense might be a little light without him, but Rooke and Milburn play the sniper roles enough, they don't really need a third.

Until the next team's bottom 6

Corey Enright is one of the most underrated players in the AFL. Does his job week in and week out. Very tough player who is an important cog in our machine.

Takes some good marks and sets up play well. Number 1 in the league for being involved in scoring plays from defence. That sums it up!

As for Wojcinski...one of the most important players in our team, can break the lines and can get us out of trouble quikcly. Makes mistakes but the good far outweighs the bad.

Hunt is a beautiful kick and we would love to have him back

 

[Magnum]

enright and mackie are solid contributers week in week out

 

[JUBJUB]

Good god,Robert Walls has found Bigfooty and is posting as a StKilda supporter

Enright and Mackie in our bottom 6
Both would be ahead of players like Hawkins,Varcoe,Stokes [regulars who played last night]

 

[Jetau]

Why no Hawkins on this list?

It's a bit difficult to do a 'bottom six' given that most teams don't have a defined best 22. So I'll have a stab at the bottom six running out for Freo this week:

Dean Solomon

This bloke was a revelation in his first year at Freo, but has tapered off since then. Injuries and suspension (remember the elbow?) have prevented him from getting on the park, and when he has he's seemed off the pace. Adds a dollop of grunt and aggression into a team full of young players, but I'd say his days are numbered.

Clayton Hinkley

Freo has a number of promising youngsters in Palmer, Hill, Ibbotson, Suban, and to a lesser extent De Boer, Mayne (injured all year) and Broughton. Hinkley is supposed to be among this group, but I'm not convinced yet. A light frame and often dodgy disposal puts him close to the edge of our best 22 at the moment.

Ryan Murphy

The perennial underachiever, Murphy has cemented a spot in the 22 this year simply through lack of alternative forward options. With Farmer having retired and Pav mainly in the middle, Spud is expected to take a few grabs and kick a couple of goals a week. Sometimes he does, more often he doesn't. If young Ballantyne comes into the side and has an impact, expect Murphy to find himself back at South Freo.

Scott Thornton

The fact that this guy is even IN our best 22 would come as a surprise to most Fremantle supporters, but this has been his best year. Flaky decision making, weak spoils and generally ineffective defending have made him a whipping boy in the past, but this year Rash has been playing further up the ground, and providing a handy contribution.

Matt de Boer

Actually I've loved this guy so far, but it is very early days in his career and as such his spot in the side is going to be in the 17-22 bracket of players. Has shown some fire and aggression, and also a pleasing ability to snag a goal or two.

Des Headland

At his peak, Headland would have been in the top 10 picked, but those days are currently long gone. Perhaps he'll play a blinder today, but he has generally been very inconsistent over his time at Freo. Very damaging kick, one of the few on our list who can goal on the run from 55, but fitness is a big question mark.

 

[Swans120]

SriLankan Cat...Sri Lankan Geelong Supporter from NSW...You're not Ranga are you?

 

[St DAC]

Enright and Mackie in our bottom 6
Both would be ahead of players like Hawkins,Varcoe,Stokes [regulars who played last night]

Yep. Important and underrated player both. If you no longer want them send them to us to play with Kingy!

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

At the Hawks:

Our best 22 are: Guerra, Gilham, Hodge, Birchall, Croad, Whitecross, Lewis, Mitchell, Young, Osborne, Buddy, Brown, Rioli, Roughie, Williams, Campbell, Sewell, Changa, Taylor, Dew, Ellis and Ladson.

The bottom six for mine would be:

Simon Taylor - whether one picks Renouf or Taylor in the team, they are both a bit off AFL pace for mine. Taylor is a handy tap ruckman but gives little across the ground and his decision-making is often indept.

Rick Ladson - a bit under rated and I like the way he plays. Exquisite left foot and runs all day. Has the frame of a wingman or half forward, but doesn't find enough of it to play there, so ends up in the back half where his lack of physical strength can be exposed.

Brendan Whitecross - young guy with a super future, but only played a handful of games, so unfortunately makes this list. Will be AA before his career is finished. Plays like Andy McKay from the Blue baggers, but a better athlete with better disposal.

Clinton Young - plays well when the Hawks play well. Long, long, raking left foot but needs to get better in the contest. Had a great GF first half, but injuries and form this year have hindered progress.

Steve Gilham - great third tall for mine, but a bit of a poor man's Sean Wellman. Uses the ball well, but just doesn't have the strength to play on the key forwards, so rates as only an average full back.

Xavier Ellis - the last position was hard and I tossed up between Ellis, Dew and Guerra. Have picked X because he's still got a fair way to before he really arrives. Had a great GF with 28 touches, but butchered it a bit. Injuries haven't helped, but if he can get and stay injury free, should be in the top ten in the next year or so.

 

[Power King]

I reckon Mackie is by far geelong's msot overrated player (despite his AA selection, people realise that mooney is a serviceable key forward and not a superstar so I can't really say he's overrated).

 

[IllBeTheJudge]

Corey Enright is one of the most underrated players in the AFL. Does his job week in and week out. Very tough player who is an important cog in our machine.

Takes some good marks and sets up play well. Number 1 in the league for being involved in scoring plays from defence. That sums it up!

As for Wojcinski...one of the most important players in our team, can break the lines and can get us out of trouble quikcly. Makes mistakes but the good far outweighs the bad.

Hunt is a beautiful kick and we would love to have him back

I took Hunt's kicking into account, but still have him in the bottom 6

enright and mackie are solid contributers week in week out

That doesn't mean they're not in the bottom 6

Good god,Robert Walls has found Bigfooty and is posting as a StKilda supporter

Enright and Mackie in our bottom 6
Both would be ahead of players like Hawkins,Varcoe,Stokes [regulars who played last night]

Stokes I think has been good
Varcoe came very close to this list, as did Hawkins
Could see how they can get in to replace Enright, but not Mackie
At least you nominated some replacement bottom 6 players
This isn't a slagging thread, but thought it might be interesting to see who we think the bottom 6 at Geelong are

Jetau and CLA, I'll get to your teams
And I'll get to mine as well

 

[TheTimeCometh]

boo-ernes?

 

[Schulzenfest]

To do a thread like this you have to make a best 22. My view on Port's is

B: N. Krakouer A. Carlile J. Surjan
HB: S. Salopek T. Chaplin H. Hartlett
C: T. Boak K. Cornes C. Cornes
HF: B. Ebert W. Tredrea R. Gray
F: D. Motlop B. Lade J. Westhoff
R: D. Brogan S. Burgoyne D. Cassisi
Int: P. Burgoyne D. Pearce M. Thomas D. Rodan
Emg: J. Carr T. Logan M. Pettigrew

But Pettigrew gets picked every week and Rodan doesn't so for the purposes of this thread I'll sub Petters in for Rodan

Our bottom 6:

Pettigrew: Somewhat similar to Jason Cloke, except he actually plays on a man. Can be exposed in one on one situations and is prone to brain farts, but he's an excellent 'third man up' defender.

Thomas: Has replaced Josh Carr as our inside tough nut midfielder at the moment. Decision making is sometimes iffy, but overall he's a very promising youngster with good skills for such a hard nut, as well as being one of the hardest tacklers in the competition.

Hartlett: Not a knock on him, because he's only played a few games, but at this stage he'd probably be in the bottom 6. Despite this, he's extremely composed off of half back, has an absolutely superb kick and can defend when he has to. A midfield move isn't far away. Barring injuries, he will be a star.

Ebert: Was superb in '07, but has gone downhill since then. Early in the year he wasn't getting on the scoresheet or applying enough defensive pressure, but last week showed some good signs that he can defend well, even if he kicked 1.4. If he can get back to his best form he won't be on this list.

Lade: Has had a superb career, but has gone rapidly downhill since '08. Still a great tap ruckman but struggles to have an impact around the ground these days. Probably his last year if any of the ruckmen we have running around in the SANFL show anything.

Last one is very tough to pick, it's probably out of Surjan or Westhoff. Both of them are good players though, and although you wouldn't want to be relying on them to win you games every week I doubt too many clubs would be unhappy with having one of them in their bottom 6 players. Surjan is better than the likes of Hunt and Taylor (yes, I realize one is a KPD and one isn't) and Westhoff has been better than Hawkins thus far even if Hawkins probably has more potential. So if they would make the best 22 of the best team in the competition they can't be too bad.

 

[tw34k]

Enright? Are you serious? Did you notice Eade had his best tagger on him at the start of the match?

Yikes. I'm not sure you're qualified to make a thread like this.

 

[IllBeTheJudge]

Enright? Are you serious? Did you notice Eade had his best tagger on him at the start of the match?

Yikes. I'm not sure you're qualified to make a thread like this.

Nobody said it was easy, but it's easy to pick on the OP

How about putting what you think is the Cats bottom 6 on the table?

 

[Johnson#26]

Corey Enright is close to an underrated star.

 

[StringyDog]

Enright and Mackie are definately not in Geelongs bottom six, Geelongs bottom six more like;

Hawkins,Stokes,Varcoe,Wojcinski,Blake,Taylor

Stokes and Wojak play important roles in the team becase of what they bring and Varcoe and Taylor are both improving all the time. Blake is a shit kicker and Hawkins still very raw.

 

[catempire]

The Enright call is horrible. You do realise he was All-Australian in 2008 and is playing as well this season. He is an under-the-radar gun.

If Geelong's best team is:

B: Harley Scarlett Hunt
HB: Enright Mackie Milburn
C: Bartel Corey Kelly
HF: S Johnson Hawkins Chapman
F: Stokes Mooney Rooke
R: Ottens Ablett Selwood
Int: Varcoe Taylor Blake Wojcinski/Byrnes

Geelong's bottom 6 would be the bench, Hunt and Hawkins.

 

[Tomahawk Worshiper]

The REAL Geelong worst 6....

1. Shannon Byrnes
Air
2. Mark Blake
3. Tom Hawkins (as much as i hate to say it)
4. David Wojinski
5. Josh Hunt
6. Ryan Gamble


Geelong BEST 6...

1. G. Ablett
2. J. Bartel
3. J Selwood
4. M Scarlett
5. C Ling
6 COREY ENRIGHT - Thats how highly I rate him, definitely not bottom 6!!

 

[Glassjaw]

Poor old Boris has copped it. He was AA last year, playing shut down roles on small forwards and only had 14 goals kicked against him. Averaged almost 25 touches a game too. Enright is clearly Geelong's most underrated player now, seeing as people have actually decided to pay some attention to Joel Corey.

 

[Rosstickle]

The Enright call is horrible. You do realise he was All-Australian in 2008 and is playing as well this season. He is an under-the-radar gun.

If Geelong's best team is:

B: Harley Scarlett Hunt
HB: Enright Mackie Milburn
C: Bartel Corey Kelly
HF: S Johnson Hawkins Chapman
F: Stokes Mooney Rooke
R: Ottens Ablett Selwood
Int: Varcoe Taylor Blake Wojcinski/Byrnes

Geelong's bottom 6 would be the bench, Hunt and Hawkins.

Chuck in Cameron Ling and that's pretty much the same best 22 I was gonna post. Same bottom 6 too.

Not that Richmond have a steady best 22 but here's my crack at it.

B: Newman Thursfield McGuane
HB: Tambling Moore Rance
C: Jackson Deledio Coughlan
HF: Richo Riewoldt Cotchin
F: Collins Hughes/Schulz Brown
R: Graham Foley Tuck
Int: Pattison Bowden White Cousins

You could chuck in players like McMahon, K.Johnson, Simmonds, Polo, Conners, Raines and Pettifer, but they'd generally be in the bottom 6 anyway. In fact you could have half our team in the bottom 6.

Anyway, of the ones I listed:

Hughes or Schulz - The fact that neither can cement a spot at full forward says something. Which ever one gets a game is in our bottom 6.

Pattison - He works hard but is a very average player. Probably won't ever be great as a ruckman or forward.

Graham - Only due to his age/experience. In 5 years time he will probably be one of our better players.

Collins - Has very good skills for a young guy but will take a couple of years to develop.

White - Has good pace and takes the game on but makes too many mistakes and gets run down too often. Pretty average skills too.

Riewoldt - Still a developing KPF but he just doesn't do enough at the moment. Has managed roughly a goal a game over his career. Need more from him.

 

[alfy!]

The fact that you have put Enright and Macking in our bottom 6 players is hilarious, and I hope your coach makes the same mistake.

 

[Xx_Toomey_xX]

Geelongs worst 6 would be
Hawkins,Byrnes,Blake,Gamble,Mooney,Wojinski (Hope i spelt that right)

Just a rough guess not perfect!
I cant beleive people rate Mooney so highly he is no good put him at any other club where the ball isnt getting delivered straight into his hands 100 times a game because of their gun midfielders and he would be no good!

 

[catempire]

Last night was a good indication just how important Mooney is to Geelong.

How did Hawkins go with "the ball delivered 100 times into his hands"?

I see I forgot Ling in my previous post. Next in line would probably be Stokes.

 

[CAS79]

I was surprised to see Taylor's name here.

Already a good defender and developing into an A grade defender. If he is in the bottom 6 of regular starters than the rest of us can be very afraid of this team.

 

[Mervyn Beasley]

I was surprised to see Taylor's name here.

Already a good defender and developing into an A grade defender. If he is in the bottom 6 of regular starters than the rest of us can be very afraid of this team.

If Egan didnt stuff his foot Taylor prob wouldnt be getting a game.

Take leadership skills out of equation and Harley would be in bottom 6 imo.