Best 22/Round 1 team

[GVGjr]

PI, Harsh call on Ray I would have thought

[wimberga]

I agree

He is a suped up version of Eagle who will only get better, which unfortunately cannot be said for N.Eagleton.

[The Underdog]

I agree

He is a suped up version of Eagle who will only get better, which unfortunately cannot be said for N.Eagleton.

Eagle has a piercing left foot capable of dobbing goals from outside 50. His right foot stops him falling over. He can kick at top pace and hit a target. He also provides strong run going forward.

Ray has an ok right foot and a left foot which he has far too much belief in. It is capable of hitting targets or launching helicopters. Struggles to hit targets when running flat out.
Eags atm is still more valuable to the team in my opinion. Ray certainly has more scope for improvement at this stage of his career and hopefully he starts to really put it together consistently this year, but he's not there yet.

[Mantis]

Eagle has a piercing left foot capable of dobbing goals from outside 50. His right foot stops him falling over. He can kick at top pace and hit a target. He also provides strong run going forward.

Ray has an ok right foot and a left foot which he has far too much belief in. It is capable of hitting targets or launching helicopters. Struggles to hit targets when running flat out.
Eags atm is still more valuable to the team in my opinion. Ray certainly has more scope for improvement at this stage of his career and hopefully he starts to really put it together consistently this year, but he's not there yet.

On the other hand Ray is a much better defensive player than Eagleton. Eagleton seems to pick and choose when he wants to chase, Ray has improved this past of his game and chases hard everytime.

The way I look at it is that we are still in a re-building phase so who has scope for improvement? Ray does so if it comes down to a decision between the 2 you would have to pick Ray everytime.

Agree that at present Eagleton's best is proably better compared to Ray (except Coll final ), but frankly Eagleton isn't consistent enough for me.

[The Underdog]

On the other hand Ray is a much better defensive player than Eagleton. Eagleton seems to pick and choose when he wants to chase, Ray has improved this past of his game and chases hard everytime.

The way I look at it is that we are still in a re-building phase so who has scope for improvement? Ray does so if it comes down to a decision between the 2 you would have to pick Ray everytime.

Agree that at present Eagleton's best is proably better compared to Ray (except Coll final ), but frankly Eagleton isn't consistent enough for me.

While I agree with you over Eagleton's defensive work (he's obviously not listening cos I've been yelling at him about it for ages), I'm not sold on the fact that Ray is much better. As I said Ray has time on his side and nothing would make me happier than Ray and others really coming on this year and getting picked for their all around game and putting pressure on a guy like Eags to do the defensive work or risk being dropped.
I just think that Eags hurts the opposition more at the moment. On the other side, both are reasonably inconsistent. It's not like we're talking about a Scott West who performs pretty much every week. Both have tended to be good when we're going well but disappear when we aren't. That needs to change for every player this year. (I know I won't be accepting mediocrity, so neither should they )

[LostDoggy]

Staggering that people leave Giansiracusa out of the team. He is a class player, with match winning skills. And he goes a lot harder than most people give him credit for. We dont have that many highly skilled mids, Gia is one player we need

[GVGjr]

Staggering that people leave Giansiracusa out of the team. He is a class player, with match winning skills. And he goes a lot harder than most people give him credit for. We dont have that many highly skilled mids, Gia is one player we need

I tend to agree. I know why people are frustrated with him but I still rate him.

[Bulldog Revolution]

I tend to agree. I know why people are frustrated with him but I still rate him.

Hes a good player but he is frustrating

I think a lot of people have left him out because they are unsure about just how fit he will be due to injury

[Sockeye Salmon]

On the other hand Ray is a much better defensive player than Eagleton. Eagleton seems to pick and choose when he wants to chase, Ray has improved this past of his game and chases hard everytime.

There's really not much point in Eagleton chasing, he's typically too far away from his opponent to ever catch him.

[Mantis]

There's really not much point in Eagleton chasing, he's typically too far away from his opponent to ever catch him.

Is this a good or bad thing?

It's ok if we have the ball not so good when we are trying to win it back. Eagleton is relying on someone else creating a turnover, if it happens great he is all by himself, but if it doesn't we get burnt as we have one less player applying pressure.

[Scorlibo]

Is this a good or bad thing?

It's ok if we have the ball not so good when we are trying to win it back. Eagleton is relying on someone else creating a turnover, if it happens great he is all by himself, but if it doesn't we get burnt as we have one less player applying pressure.

True, and when we do have the ball it is crucial that we don't, and eagle doesn't, make a turnover. Last year Eagleton's disposal skills hit a low, he seemed to be carrying the ball too far and putting himself under pressure from the opposition and also being too tired to make a decent pass to a leading forward. And as Mantis said, when this happens the opposition have an extra player on the rebound to hurt us with.
For mine I think Eagleton should try and go long more often, because he has a great long kick, and if it doesn't pay off he has a bit more time to push back, and if he does run to the fifty, he should back himself in for goal, instead of trying some tired, fiddly pass to a leading forward.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Is this a good or bad thing?

It's ok if we have the ball not so good when we are trying to win it back. Eagleton is relying on someone else creating a turnover, if it happens great he is all by himself, but if it doesn't we get burnt as we have one less player applying pressure.

Funnily enough, v Adelaide over there last year was the most frustrated I've been with Eagle and ironically the piece of play most indicitive of it ended with Eagle kicking a goal.

At one centre bounce, Eagle was on the wing nearest the camera and he and his opponent took off towards each one's own goal. Boyd scrambled a kick out of the centre, Eagle gathered and goaled with his opponent 50 metres away.

We got smashed at the clearances that day. Eagle was very lucky in this instance, but how many times did it work against us?

[Go_Dogs]

I remember that piece of play too. At some stoppages that game, we would have about 4 players running in front of the ball, occasionally we got lucky. Eagleton certainly wasn't the only player doing it.