Round 1, 2019 Team

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

My "squad" of contenders atm looks like this. Anyone not listed isn't in contention for round one atm.

Backs: Cordy, Naughton, Morris, JJ, Crozier, Suckling, Wood, Duryea
Backs/everywhere: Daniel, Richards
Mids: Hunter, Macrae, Liberatore, Williams,
Rucks: Trengrove, English, Boyd
Mid/Forwards: Bontempelli, Dunkley, Mclean, Gowers, Picken, Lloyd
Forwards: Wallis, Schache, Dickson

For the backs I think the locks are JJ, Suckling, Naughton and Crozier, and I guess Wood although his last two years don't fill me with confidence. I'd probably only pick one of Cordy or Morris, and at this stage Daniel gets the nod as the bonus rebounder.

Next is rucks/key forwards. We are picking three of English, Trengrove, Schache and Boyd, in that order imo.

Now you just pick the rest from the mids and forward group (Richards also as he fits anywhere). Just be conscious to include at least 2 players who are natural forwards. All the pure mids listed above get straight in, as do Bont, Dunkley, Mclean and Gowers (who will run through the middle but be primarily a forward). That leaves three of Lloyd, Dickson, Picken and Wallis to make it, all aside from Dickson capable of rotating through the middle but all best as primary forwards. I personally would cut Wallis of that lot, although Dickson is the next in line for the chop. This is assuming we get a decent Picken back, whichi doubt. I also suspect the injury history of Picken and Dickson means Wallis won't miss a game.

E. Wood..........Z. Cordy.........H. Crozier
J. Johannisen...A. Naughton...M. Suckling
L. Hunter.........J. Macrae.......B. Williams
T. Mclean.........J. Schache.....S. Lloyd
B. Gowers.......J. Trengrove...T. Dickson
T. English........J. Dunkley.......M. Bontempelli

E. Richards....T. Liberatore....C. Daniel....L. Picken

Best of the rest:
D. Morris, T. Duryea, T. Boyd, M. Wallis

Reserves:
Backs: Young, Roberts, Smith, Duryea, Morris,
Mids: Porter,
Mid/Forwards: Webb, Lipinski, Jong
Forwards: Wallis, Honeychurch, Greene, Dale, Lynch
Rucks: Campbell, Boyd

Good cover for defence in pretty much all roles. If we lose rebounders we can swing Richards or Williams back there.
Still very light on for pure mids in reserve, but have a lot of forward/mid types in seniors and reserves to cover this somewhat.
Have a few small forwards in reserves but no pacy x factor types and only Wallis who has shown sustained form at AFL level and i am sceptical of that.
Have some ruck depth and with Boyd a key forward in reserve.

I would be looking at getting another key forward on the list, a pacy x factor type forward and some mids.

Morris is a lot better player than Suckling who is hardly a lock in IMO. Crozier is better suited at half back where he was excellent last year. JJ Wood Crozier appears to be our best half back line with Naughton playing alongside Cordy in the last line of defence. We are also thin on in the ruck division without Roughead leaving a lot of pressure on Tim English as our sole number one ruck man where Boyd has struggled to impress in the past two seasons.

[soupman]

Morris is a lot better player than Suckling who is hardly a lock in IMO. Crozier is better suited at half back where he was excellent last year. JJ Wood Crozier appears to be our best half back line with Naughton playing alongside Cordy in the last line of defence. We are also thin on in the ruck division without Roughead leaving a lot of pressure on Tim English as our sole number one ruck man where Boyd has struggled to impress in the past two seasons.

Completely different types though. Morris is competing with our talls and more lockdown types, ie. Naughton, Cordy, Wood and to some degree Crozier and Duryea who are more likely to be asked to lockdown. Suckling is the rebounder and is our best at this aside from JJ seeing as Williams is now a mid.

Don't read too much into the pspecific positions I have named them, it's more a defensive grouping and a forward grouping.

Trengrove and English is plenty of rucks in a squad and means we aren't carrying too many slow talls. Just looking at our list strategy post draft we have picked a list with minimal talls which gels well with Beveridges selection policy. He has shown that he'd much rather run too short than too tall, and last years list being so tall was a baffling decision with this in mind.

[Ghost Dog]

Tom Boyd has not been as bad as people say and expect him to play a fair bit of footy this year. Needs a lot of encouragement and a bit of luck.

[Go_Dogs]

All I can say for sure is it's going to be very competitive to get a game if we have a healthy list and continue to balance the need for development of our many younger players. If I'm forced to pick a side with this in mind, at the moment it looks something like:-

Cordy, Naughton, Wood
JJ, Young, Crozier
Richards, Liberatore, Hunter
Bontempelli, Schache, McLean
Gowers, Boyd, Cavarra
English, Dunkley, Macrae
Williams, Lipinski, Daniel, B Smith

I've left out a lot of senior players who will have claims on a spot in fully fit, and expect we will see Morris, Dicko, Suckers and Trengove play a lot of footy throughout the year. If Picken gets back, he may too in the latter stages.

I couldn't find room for Wally, Jong, Dale, Lloyd, Duryea, Greene or West who I think will all have strong claims on a spot in the side, too. We need to keep an eye on development but we are also entering our next win-now window given the experience profile of our best players. Looking forward to seeing how we balance this.

[boydogs]

All I can say for sure is it's going to be very competitive to get a game if we have a healthy list and continue to balance the need for development of our many younger players. If I'm forced to pick a side with this in mind, at the moment it looks something like:-

Cordy, Naughton, Wood
JJ, Young, Crozier
Richards, Liberatore, Hunter
Bontempelli, Schache, McLean
Gowers, Boyd, Cavarra
English, Dunkley, Macrae
Williams, Lipinski, Daniel, B Smith

I've left out a lot of senior players who will have claims on a spot in fully fit, and expect we will see Morris, Dicko, Suckers and Trengove play a lot of footy throughout the year. If Picken gets back, he may too in the latter stages.

I couldn't find room for Wally, Jong, Dale, Lloyd, Duryea, Greene or West who I think will all have strong claims on a spot in the side, too. We need to keep an eye on development but we are also entering our next win-now window given the experience profile of our best players. Looking forward to seeing how we balance this.

Don't think we will see Young, Lipinski or B Smith round 1 whilst we've got Trengove, Dickson, Suckling, Morris & Wallis available

[Go_Dogs]

Don't think we will see Young, Lipinski or B Smith round 1 whilst we've got Trengove, Dickson, Suckling, Morris & Wallis available

You're probably right.

Lipinski is an interesting one. He played 17 games in 2018 and looks like a player worth progressing in the senior side.

I didn't expect Richards and particularly Naughton to feature so early, but I expect Smith will if he's over his injury worries. He's ready to go.

[GVGjr]

You're probably right.

Lipinski is an interesting one. He played 17 games in 2018 and looks like a player worth progressing in the senior side.

I didn't expect Richards and particularly Naughton to feature so early, but I expect Smith will if he's over his injury worries. He's ready to go.

In a more general position I think our selection process for each week needs to have a strong focus on the continued development of our younger players.
We can't be in a position where players like Lipinski, Lewis Young or Lynch don't get enough games to continue their progress.
While I'm a strong supporter of picking the best teams we have slipped back too far and our future is very much about development in 2019.
If that means the likes of Morris, Dickson and Picken have to make room on occasions then we need to consider that.

[Twodogs]

In a more general position I think our selection process for each week needs to have a strong focus on the continued development of our younger players.
We can't be in a position where players like Lipinski, Lewis Young or Lynch don't get enough games to continue their progress.
While I'm a strong supporter of picking the best teams we have slipped back too far and our future is very much about development in 2019.
If that means the likes of Morris, Dickson and Picken have to make room on occasions then we need to consider that.

Would you look at settling some players into certain positions next year? I would look at cementing Naughton at centre half back and push Richards and Williams up into the wing and maybe Cordy to fullback. Line us up for the next decade.

[GVGjr]

Would you look at settling some players into certain positions next year? I would look at cementing Naughton at centre half back and push Richards and Williams up into the wing and maybe Cordy to fullback. Line us up for the next decade.

I think the better players like Naughton, Williams, Gowers and Richards will play most weeks and the good part is they're adaptable in the positions they can play. It's more about making sure we keep the games played ticking over with the younger guys.
By that I mean perhaps we should make an effort to have no fewer than 6 players who have played less than 50 games selected most weeks. Now if we are on a winning streak it's just best available but we just need to continue and develop players when we have the chance to.

[Twodogs]

I think the better players like Naughton, Williams, Gowers and Richards will play most weeks and the good part is they're adaptable in the positions they can play. It's more about making sure we keep the games played ticking over with the younger guys.
By that I mean perhaps we should make an effort to have no fewer than 6 players who have played less than 50 games selected most weeks. Now if we are on a winning streak it's just best available but we just need to continue and develop players when we have the chance to.

I'd like to see a few blokes make a spot on the field their own. I know the coach likes players to be adaptable and versatile but I think it's a better policy to give players confidence playing in spots they are suited to before we start experimenting with their positions. In all the years I have watched footy this was the way we bought players into a team-put them in a position and leave them there until they have played some good footy then start to move them to other parts if the ground.

[GVGjr]

I'd like to see a few blokes make a spot on the field their own. I know the coach likes players to be adaptable and versatile but I think it's a better policy to give players confidence playing in spots they are suited to before we start experimenting with their positions. In all the years I have watched footy this was the way we bought players into a team-put them in a position and leave them there until they have played some good footy then start to move them to other parts if the ground.

You can see that 'adaptability' is a big thing for the coach. Even Powers comments about nearly all the players we've introduced to the club during the first trade period and then the draft/trade process is all about their ability to play in a variety of positions.

It started off with Lloyd who's generally regarded as a forward but we think he can also play in the midfield, Duryea has played a lot forward but we see him also as a defender. Then it was Smith who's a midfielder forward and defender, West will start off as a forward but also mid. Vandermeer was a chance for both half back and on a wing etc etc.

Much like the Dodo I think one position players at our club could very well be an extinct species but I do tend to think there is a place for players who are just good at certain positions and roles being allowed to settle there.
It's probably a reason why we don't rate the ruck position that highly and tend to look for and favor hybrid types.

[Twodogs]

You can see that 'adaptability' is a big thing for the coach. Even Powers comments about nearly all the players we've introduced to the club during the first trade period and then the draft/trade process is all about their ability to play in a variety of positions.

It started off with Lloyd who's generally regarded as a forward but we think he can also play in the midfield, Duryea has played a lot forward but we see him also as a defender. Then it was Smith who's a midfielder forward and defender, West will start off as a forward but also mid. Vandermeer was a chance for both half back and on a wing etc etc.

Much like the Dodo I think one position players at our club could very well be an extinct species but I do tend to think there is a place for players who are just good at certain positions and roles being allowed to settle there.

Nice one centurion! I like it...

(The dodo/Dodoro reference that is.)

It's probably a reason why we don't rate the ruck position that highly and tend to look for and favor hybrid types.

Do the coaching panel not rate ruckman per se or do they not rate the ruckman we have ready to go at the moment?

[Mofra]

Do the coaching panel not rate ruckman per se or do they not rate the ruckman we have ready to go at the moment?

We don't like immobile rucks is how I see it. I'd imagine Bevo sees hit-out stats as largely irrelevant (which they probably are if you're doing well in clearances and clearances to advantage).

[Twodogs]

We don't like immobile rucks is how I see it. I'd imagine Bevo sees hit-out stats as largely irrelevant (which they probably are if you're doing well in clearances and clearances to advantage).

Yep, that's how I see it too.

Bevo would love a Peter Moore/Luke Darcy (good at picking the ball up, gets to lots of contests, superfit) type ruckman I reckon

[The Doctor]

My team looks like this, assuming everyone is fit!

B: Wood, Cordy, Crozier
HB: JJ, Naughton, Hunter
C: McLean, Macrae, Richards
HF: Picken, Bontempelli, Dickson
F: Gowers, Schache, Cavarra
R: English, Dunkley, Libba

Int: Boyd, Williams, Wallis, Daniel

EMG: Trengove, Smith, Lloyd

* Morris comes in on a needs basis


Footscray team

B: Duryea, Roberts, Suckling
HB: Webb, Morris, R.Smith
C: Dale, B.Smith, Vandermeer
HF: Lipinski, Lewis Young, Hayes
F: Lloyd, Trengove, Greene
R: Sweet, Jong, West,

Int: Porter, Khamis, Lachlan Young