Our Best 22 + the Dirty Dozen = Flag!

[Mossi]

[Tannin]

You know, I have a quiet feeling in the back of my mind that the dark horse in the senior selection race hasn't been mentioned. No real evidence, just a gut feeling, but I reckon by the time we are talking about the 2014 side, possibly even the side for late this year, we will be be looking at a quiet achiever named Tim Broomhead.

Bookmark this post if you like, it will be interesting to see how the lad goes. I just reckon he has a look of steely whatever-it-takes determination in his eye and that, like Goldsack and Blair and Toovey, he'll just keep putting his hand up 'till he's in the side for keeps.

[stui magpie]

^

If you're talking about depth, lets not forget the Rookies.

Dwyer and Frost are both mature age who I expect the Club considers ready to step straight in if required. You don't draft a 26 year old if you think it will take 2 years to develop him.

Add Oxley to that although he's only 21, but the first 2 I would think are right there in contention.

[perthmagpie]

I'm not greatly concerned by the fact that seventeen players from our 2010 team are still in our best 22. We were the youngest premiers for 32 years so those players' best football was always well ahead of them.

My greatest concern is that we need to unearth two new players with explosive speed and evasiveness to break the game open in offensive transition. I have no doubt other teams will believe pace is our Achilles heal in 2013. Young may well be one of them, but the group of Mooney, Kennedy, Elliott and Seedsman need to improve greatly so we can overcome this deficiency.

Also I'd like to see a small generational change emerge in our back line. Something that increases our rebound and something that improves our ability to shut down players like Rioli, Betts, Garlett, Jetta, Breust etc. We can't rely on Toovey to do all the shutting down. Perhaps Russell or Williams can perform this role to the required level.

[Tannin]

[Funkadelic]

We have a very strong squad. Even last year with key injuries we won 80% of our games. My concern last year was our defence as a team. Too many times we were scored on quickly and heavily, there were games when we were really locked in but teams that could spread the ball fast really hurt us.Our defensive core was exposed badly by poor structures further up the field.I think tactically we were still playing 2010 football, which is understandable with the success it brought. Having said all that I strongly believe bucks and his coaching staff will have a better handle on our structures this season

[brett71]

If Keefe can get back to his form before injuries last year has he surpassed Brown? I found him to be more mobile, a better kick and a great one grab mark in the mould of Reid. Thoughts?

[Tannin]

First thought, Brett, is that I agree. Keefe is a gem.

Second thought is that the Brown of 2012 was only slowly recovering his zip after the trauma of a full knee reconstruction. Yes, the op was a long time ago, but knees can take ages before genuine top form returns. Brown should be substantially better in 2013.

Third thought is that Keefe did his knee in 2012. We can hope, but we can't really expect him to be back to his previous best form till 2014 or so.

Fourth thought is that Brown, as a naturally not-so-quick player, really needs that fine edge of 100% fitness before he can play his role to good effect. For a full back, pace over 10 metres, even over 5 metres, is just critical: Brown is a big, strong man, not a naturally quick one. Her could be 10% down on his bench-press and no-one would notice much difference, but 10% down on his fast-lead acceleration and he's just conceded a bagful. So, for Brown, a knee is a particularly bad injury, worse than it might be for (say) Cloke or even Reid.

Fifth thought is that Keefe seems to have so much go in him that being 5% off his best pace might still see him going OK. Unlike Brown, he's got a little bit to spare.

Sixth and final thought is that Brown has made a habit of proving his doubters wrong and performing superbly in big games when it matters.

Seventh and really final thought is that we will be very damn lucky to get the answers to this question this year. the sad reality is that Keefe will almost certainly either get injured himself or else spend large slabs of the year filling the hole in the side left by an injured Brown, Reid, Cloke, or Lynch. Sides at this time of year always look fantastic, with top-class players not making it into the 22. By July, we are always moaning about our lack of depth to cover key roles. Life is like that.

[loki04]

[Tannin]

On the contrary, Maxwell's disposal by foot is good (not brilliant, but good) and his disposal by hand is outstanding.

[loki04]

[brett71]

Thanks Tanin for that very considered response. I guess the next question then is if both Keefe and Brown are hypothetically both at their best based on their past form who would give the greatest value to the team? From my own personal perspective I would lean towards Keefe just because I like his attacking flair versus stodgy defence. Maybe a horses for coursese policy?

[stui magpie]

[woftam]

[Tannin]

^ agree Woftam

I think a part of this problem last year was that our forward line was pretty dysfunctional, and with no-one kicking many goals, and no-one providing compelling value on the lead, players streaming downfield were losing confidence in their forwards and unsure what the hell to do with the pill. After a bit of that, you just panic and boom it long on Cloke's head, hoping that the big boy can pull off a miracle mark. Maxwell did it, but then so did every other player except Leon, and Leon was playing WAFL!