Our Best 22 + the Dirty Dozen = Flag!

[Jezza]

I think our team looks very good this year. I think we've been able to cover some positions a lot better. The main issues that needed to be addressed was the:

Rucks - We only had Jolly and no one else to be honest. I know Wood was our second ruckman, but he didn't do anything to try and stamp his authority into the team. Hudson will be a terrific back-up to Jolly, so we have no issues there now. We've even drafted the best young ruckman now in Brodie Grundy, so this position looks like it's been addressed for 2013.

Tall Forwards - Chris Dawes had a poor year last year, and we only had one formidable forward up front and that was Travis Cloke. With Cloke's contract situation behind him now and with the recruitment of Lynch, our forward line looks very good. Lynch is a short-term option, but it's clear that the club is striving to win a flag during the time when Lynch is here.

We also have our smaller forwards back in Macaffer and Krakouer now, so we have more options up front which is vital. The inclusion of Luke Ball is great for on-field leadership and the fact that he's an in-and-under player. I wonder where Beams will play now since Ball is returning. Beams thrived in Ball's absence last year.

Clinton Young is another inclusion because he's a booming left foot and he would slot into the left wing or left half-back flank very nicely. He will be handy as our kick-in taker. Kick-ins were one of our major weaknesses last year, so hopefully the club has addressed this issue as well.

As others have already mentioned, we'll need about 30-32 ready-made players in case injuries arise. The key to success will not only be on talent itself, but it will also be on who has the depth to cover any injuries. We did so well in 2010, because we had plenty of depth, whereas I think we fell down in 2011 and 2012 because of a lack of depth somewhat.

Looking forward to this season!

[El Sphincter]

36 bare minimum and that's leaving out Broomhead, on paper it's our greatest list for depth in decades


Rucks Jolly Hudson Witts Grundy

Tall Forwards Cloke Lynch Paine

Tall Backs Reid Brown Keeffe

Midfielders Pendlebury Swan Thomas Beams Ball Sidebottom Young J Thomas

Small/Med Forwards Blair Krakouer Didak Fasolo Goldsack Macaffer Elliott Sinclair Kennedy

Small/Med Backs Shaw Maxwell O'Brien Toovey Russell Johnson Clarke Williams Seedsman

[Neil Appleby]

Ah, I jumped too soon re Keeffe didn't I?

Our depth looks good on paper until one considers the following:

Rucks
Jolly is our No.1 ruckman and an ageing Hudson and an untried Witts are the insurance. Forget Grundy because he's a long-term proposition.

Tall Forwards
Cloke and Lynch is an improvement on last year's pathetically out-of-form Cloke and the unlucky Dawes. Heh, watch Bucks pull a ruckman out of a hat! That was Dawes's fate last year. Paine? Could be the biggest mover on our list, but that's just a gut-feeling and not based on anything concrete. So it's Cloke and Lynch.

Tall Backs
Brown Reid Keeffe. There's two knee recos there plus a slow backman with the turning circle of a combine harvester.
Brown will probably be better in 2013, but Reid is injury prone and barely a game goes by without a scare going through the camp. It's a big ask for Lachie Keeffe, but he may just have to play above his station again if Reid goes down. I'd list this area as a problem for us and one likely to be exploited.

Midfielders
Pendlebury Swan Thomas Beams Ball Sidebottom Young J Thomas
Looks great and is great. Need to factor in the reco for Ball and Thomas having no pre-season and J Thomas being injury prone and a 'hopeful' inclusion only.

Small/Med Forwards
Blair Krakouer Didak Fasolo Goldsack Macaffer Elliott Sinclair Kennedy
Plenty of talent their on first looks, but we must consider:
Didak will be a cameo player. Hard to see him getting many full games.
Goldsack has had an interrupted pre season. Likely to be below his 2012 form at least in the first half.
Macaffer - see Ball and Keeffe
Elliott Sinclair Kennedy - will cover injuries

Small/Med Backs Shaw Maxwell O'Brien Toovey Russell Johnson Clarke Williams Seedsman
This is a worry for me. Maxy was exploited last year and his inability to play 1 on 1 hurt us against the good teams. Brave and strong, he'll still play most games, but his teammates need to lift. O'Brien too was often exploited. Admittedly these blokes were playing as KPP due to our awful injuries, but it led to many scoring blow-outs. Johnno will struggle to get many games. Clarke will be better and he'd want to be. Russell is a big plus. He will add steel and penetration. Williams and Seedsman are injury back-ups but can play.

We should probably maintain a top four finish. Our team was hit horribly with injury last year. With a bit of luck on that front we should be able to hold. To play off we'd need all of our reco players to have good seasons with Russell, Lynch and Young to add the class. We'd also need some of
Elliott, Seedsman, J. Thomas, Sinclair, Paine and Williams to demand a spot. Big ask, but it all fell into place just like that in 2010.

[RudeBoy]

I know he had to struggle to overcome injuries and hopefully he'll be much better this year, but in all honesty, I'm still not convinced on Brown as our full back. Don't get me wrong, he's strong and committed, but his kicking in particular is not overly flash. I actually see Keefe as our best FB prospect, though he may need a while to fully overcome his knee injury. The great thing is that we have options, which will put pressure on many of our players, to hold their spots.

[Sir Alan of Didak]

Very good, measured analysis Neil Appleby...no "rose coloured glasses", just as it should be. The way I see it though, West Coast, Hawthorn and Sydney's list of "negatives" would be as long as ours. IMO it's an open battle between the four of us, yet we're paying a juicy $10...same as Carlton who didn't even make the 8 in 2012. The bet I mentioned in my opening post has been placed...fingers crossed that the "Injury Gods" look kindly upon us, particularly with LTI's and injuries towards the pointy end of the season...

[Skids]

Sir Alan.... at 10's we're 'overs' not unders ... otherwise your assesment is spot on

Now $8.50 for flag with sportsbet..... put $500 on for an extra juicy $4250 collect

[Sir Alan of Didak]

[Pants]

When was the last time you saw Maxwell hit up a leading target? bet you find it hard even to find a highlight of him doing it.
_________________

You won`t

[laird]

[collingwoodjoe]

I reckon Goldsack is the one in that 18 who needs to perform to hold his spot, blokes like Paine and Macaffer will be coming for him, and if Lynch performs we may even go small and that opens the door for Elliot, Sinclair, Kennedy, Mooney etc...

my nominal 18, by which I mean the 18 bloke who I think when fully fit and in form are walk up starts is:

FB: Toovey Brown Maxwell
HB: O'Brien Reid Shaw

C: Thomas Swan Sidebottom

HF: Didak Lynch Ball
FF: Krakouer Cloke Fasolo

R: Jolly Beams Pendles

I just think that fully fit and in form, Didak is a bigger threat both as a midfield rotation and as a genuine offensive forward than Goldsack, that he was unfit all last year is no guarantee that he wont get back to his best, he is only 29 after all.

In his last full year Ball was top 5 in the league for goal assists, I think people forget just how good he was when he was "resting" at HF, and on last years efforts Beams has gone past him in terms of centre square performance.

Toovey and Maxwell are two who are often maligned, but they are both proven cogs in that backline and when it is performing well they can both be relied upon to do their part, if a Russell or someone else is going to push then out they will have to do it with sustained VFL performance then genuine brilliance at AFL level.

I expect Sidebottom and Fasolo to both improve substantially on thier form last year, when they where both already "best 22" players. At 21 and 22 they are both still young enough that they could either or both have "breakout" years this year, and I expect them to at least improve. People forget that Rusty is near enough to a full year younger than Beams, and Fas is a year younger than that.

Beyond those 18 players you have a host of AFL experienced, mature bodies like:

Johnson, Russell, Young, Goldsack, Blair, Hudson, Clarke and Macaffer

And beyond those you have a bunch of young men who have had a taste or at least a few pre-seasons like:

Keeffe, Sinclair, Seedsman, Elliot, Thomas, Paine and Williams...

and FINALLY you have all these young first round draft picks who appear like they might be ready for senior footy in year one like;

Grundy, Kennedy and Broomhead.

And thats not even mentioning the projects like Witts and Mooney,OR the mature body VFL recruits like Frost, Martin and Dwyer.

I have never seen the list so chock a block full of blokes who could realistically see themselves playing AFL footy this year.

[collingwoodjoe]

In fact it is easier to list the players who WONT have much of a chance to play AFL this year;

Oxley, Richmond, Ramsay, Yagmoor and Hartley

are the ONLY guys on the list who I would be SURPRISED to see play at ALF level in 2013, and even then only because we have so many KPD typed in front of Hartley, who COULD play, if his from warranted promotion mid year or whatever.

not too many skinny kids at the Pies in 2013.

[Tannin]

^ You mean you want to get rid of the only good news the entire forward line had for the wole of last year? Nope. Madness!

Goldsack was tasked with taking the most dangerous opposition half-back and cutting him out of the game. He did that, week in and week out. In doing that, Goldsack went part of the way to restoring the fearsome defensive toughness of our Premiership forward group, and it's not his fault that the rest of our forwards failed in their bid to do the same. He added badly needed pace, toughness, manic tackling, and mobility, never mind the shut-down role he started with. And on top of that he surprised everyone by booting regular goals at better than a goal a match, and being a remarkably cool and steady shot for goal. And Goldsack's goals were often the hard ones, kicked against the trend of play or when other, better-rated players were spraying points and OOFs.

Nope. In our forward line, Cloke, for all his troubles last year, is the first man picked. Goldsack is the second.

PS: inturupted pre-season for Goldy this year. I really hope he can get fit enough to carry on where he left off last year, 'cause his strength and pace and steadiness are major assets to our always fragile forward setup!

[Tannin]

[Tannin]

[3.14159]

Marley Williams was playing well last year till he was injured.
I don't know how the court case is going to effect things but Bucks would like him in the starting 18.