Your Best 22 for Finals

[bulldogtragic]

Mine, on today’s expectation of availability:

B: Duryea Gardner Schache
HB: Dale Keath Williams
C: Hunter Dunkley Macrae
HF: Weightman Bruce Garcia
F: Jamarra Naughton B. Smith
R: English Bontempelli Liberatore
Int: Richards Wood Daniel Treloar
Sub: JJ or VDM (on form)
Emerg: Hannan R. Smith Scott JJ/VDM
Depth: McNeil Lipinski Cordy West


Mids: Tons of guns. Will need to rotate them through. I’d like to see B. Smith play a Clay Smith hard, pressuring forward that can kick goals. He has the tools to be offensive and defensive, speed and tackling. We are blessed with too many good one. The speed of Smith, Jamarra, Weightman & Naughton gives us elite speed and elite pressure. While having three KPFs too. English could float down there too.

Ruck: I have no faith in Martin’s body and risking another mid game injury. I rule him out and Sweet isn’t ready for a big final. Against Melbourne Schache took 18 ruck contests in support of English. This could be a good model, with the occasional Bruce run in there. Schache playing could nearly eliminate Bruce needing to ruck which means Jamarra always has the third string KPD. Overall, this is a more nimble, flexible approach to the ruck which has benefits overall. If Wood can cover Schache’s defensive opponent for those minutes we have good coverage. Schache’s ability to play 95-100% game time gives our mids a few extra rotations.

Defence: three talls, Keath, Gardner & Schache. Different sorts of talls, with Schache’s extra height he can stand against a second ruck. Wood as the medium, Duryea as the smaller general and elite ball users like Dale, Williams, Richards & Daniel. There’s also rotations of mids back to assist if needed. With Richards & Wood on the bench adding to the defensive rotations, Caleb Daniel has the freedom to be played further up the ground and hopefully be a key distributor with Inside 50’s. Another benefit.

Forwards: Naughton, Bruce & Jamarra. Plus Weightman, Garcia, B. Smith. I’m not convinced about JJ as a forward for a final just yet. But he and VDM should be in a battle to jump from Sub into 22. I’d love to have another genuine forward, quick like VDM but it needs to go on form.

Summary:

Defence has three different talls will having support in Wood and several good small/medium defenders who use it well. With team defence, I’m comfortable the mix is right

Midfielder has elite depth. If English & Schache can cover the ruck as they did against Gawn & Jackson that’s looking ok.

Forwards are packed full off tall goal kickers with Weightman who can play tall or small. Garcia has shown he’s a great source for I50’s and goal assists. We have to rotate mids through and I’d like to see B. Smith for a Clay Smith type role. I’d like a natural quick small forward, but I can’t find a spot right now.

I think we have cattle to get it done. We just need to perform 100% of every minute, of every finals game we play.

[comrade]

Pretty close to my preferred side, BT.

The only change is I would only have 2 of Wood/Schache/Richards in the 22 with the one who misses to be replaced by one of Scott/JJ/Vandermeer.

[1eyedog]

Pretty close to my preferred side, BT.

The only change is I would only have 2 of Wood/Schache/Richards in the 22 with the one who misses to be replaced by one of Scott/JJ/Vandermeer.

Interesting if any other those miss but that depends on Schache's next 3 games I suppose. I think Richards' is a lock. You just know Bevo loves him.

If all goes to plan Gardner and Cordy may be on the outer. I can just see Bevo playing two talls (Schache and Keath) and Wood.

The unsolved part of the puzzle is whether we play three tall backs or two and Wood.

[boydogs]

You've got 3 KPD's and 3 defenders on the bench, I would have JJ & VDM in for Schache & Wood

[jeemak]

No matter who's available and if fit, Wood and Cordy play. Keath also does so that means at least one or both of Gardner and Schache miss out.

[The Doctor]

There are going to be a few unlucky players if we get all our injured players back.

My team

B: Duryea, Keath, Wood

HB: Williams, Schache, Dale

C: Hunter, Libba, Daniel

HF: JJ, Naughton, B.Smith

F: Weightman, Bruce, English

R: Martin, Bont, Macrae,

Int: Dunkley, Treloar, Richards, Garcia

EMG: Cordy/Gardner, VDM, JUH


I've gone with the 2 talls in defence. Schache is in ahead of Cordy & Gardner. It his his spot to lose I suppose. Wood as 3rd tall.

Martin as 1st ruck. In the pressure cooker of finals I want our strongest and most experienced big man in the boiler room.

English forward/2nd ruck means JUH misses out. If not JUH it's Bruce but that would be a tough call as he's had a good season. I can't go with both + Naughton + English.

JJ & Garcia hold their spots ahead of VDM but I'd love to get VDM in there. Missing so much footy counts against him here although he still has several weeks to stake a claim.

I'd like to get 2020 version of Crozier back! A more polished & confident version of Hannan would be nice. I think the team lacks a good mid sized forward.

[bulldogtragic]

You've got 3 KPD's and 3 defenders on the bench, I would have JJ & VDM in for Schache & Wood

I have Daniel high half forward, who can go up to contest use his kicking skills to I50 and a goal himself was he’s done vs GCS, Melbourne & Adelaide. Having a kid like Marra almost easily getting separation, someone who can hit him lace out would be my ideal scenario.

No matter who's available and if fit, Wood and Cordy play. Keath also does so that means at least one or both of Gardner and Schache miss out.

I prefer Schache to Bruce rucking. No for me it’s not a straight choice on KPDs. Plus Josh can play 100% game time which is another factor. Our forward line holding its shape with Bruce staying at home should in theory make it harder to double team Naughton or move the second best KPD onto Marra. The question I found myself asking is with no Martin & Sweet, who is the best support for Tim and least intrusive on the other 17 on the ground? I concluded that it’s Josh, if he maintains his form.


I would like one of JJ or VDM if either had strong form. But right now I’m backing in Garcia and Bailey Smith could play their role better. What I learned from 2016 was we need hard bastards around the 50, for tackling, pressure, going harder (& lower Ryan) at the contest. So I like Smith & Garcia to bring the heat with Weightman. Complimented by Naughton, Jamarra and Bruce.

But everyone has 3 weeks or 4 in the VFL to force their way in.

[Mantis]

BT,

With all respect the balance of that team is out.

- B.Smith isn't playing as a pressure forward
- Daniel isn't playing as a high HF
- Macrae isn't playing on a wing
- 3 tall defenders + Wood - I can't see happening either.

Understand it's a difficult task, but having a balanced team & clearly defined roles is going to be just as important as picking our best 22 players.

[Mofra]

Let's shoot Bambi's mother - is Wood a walk up start? He plays the 'floating interceptor' role or small stopper role but a lot of our MC selections this year have been based on three genuine talls (hence Crozier isn't getting piked right now).
This means three of Schache/Keath/Gardner/Cordy are selected.

Dale, Williams and Duryea pick themselves. That means it's likely we have one bench spot for a FT defender - Wood/Richards probably fight it out for that last spot. Someone is going to be desperately unlucky.

[Bulldog Joe]

The one thing we know is that someone who deserves a spot won't make the team.

The selection may even come down to the opponent and what is required for them.

I certainly prefer to retain JUH over bringing in Martin. I would expect Marra provides at least as much as Stringer did in 2016.

In the back half we have Williams, Dale, Duryea plus Keath and 2 of Gardner/Schache/Cordy as a possible starting 6 with Richards/Wood as the bench spare. We still have Caleb possibly floating through or filling in where necessary.

Just can't fit everyone in.

[jeemak]

FB. Duryea, Cordy, Wood
HB. Dale, Keath, Williams
C. Smith, Macrae, Hunter
HF. Dunkley, Bruce, Daniel
FF. Weightman, Naughton, English
Foll. Martin, Bontempelli, Liberatore
Int. Treloar, Richards, Gardner/ Schache, JJ
Sub. VDM

Man that's hard. The whole inclusion/ exclusion of Wood, Cordy, Gardner and Schache piece isn't as clear cut as I made it out to be yesterday evening. I like Wood and think the MC does as well, and I think Cordy has been solid (with clear flaws) with fluctuating support and that might count for a bit with the MC as well (albeit they clearly like Gardner and Schache is progressing well).

Now I'm just awaiting the obvious exclusion that I've made unwittingly to be pointed out by someone.....

[Happy Days]

FB: Duryea Keath Wood
CHB: Dale Schache Williams
C: B. Smith Macrae Hunter
HF: Dunkley Naughton JJ
FF: Weightman Bruce JUH
R: English Bont Liberatore
I/C: Daniel Treloar Richards Garcia
Sub: VDM/Scott/Lipinksi/West/R. Smith

This exercise is complicated by what the MC thinks the team should be in contrast with what I think it should be. You just know that one/all of Roarke/Hannan/Gardner/Scott are going to find their way in.

I'm not super anti-Cordy, but think that Schache in a key post offers a lot more offensively, particularly in a league where there's so few threatening key forward tandems (that don't play for us of course), and even then I'm not convinced that Cordy is required.

So it probably comes down to Cordy vs Wood; Easton isn't, and hasn't been the eye-catching intercept defender the wider footy world thinks of him as for nearly half a decade, but he's still a better athlete and more versatile defender than Cordy, and has been pretty good this year. If we play someone as a pure stopper then Easton is ahead.

We have admittedly looked best with Martin in the side, but that hasn't happened for ages, he's not finished multiple games, and we likely won't get a look at it again until the first final, if at all. It's a really drastic change to a team that, if we perform as expected, will have won a slew of games in a row and will generally be humming.

[comrade]

FB: Duryea Keath Wood
CHB: Dale Schache Williams
C: B. Smith Macrae Hunter
HF: Dunkley Naughton JJ
FF: Weightman Bruce JUH
R: English Bont Liberatore
I/C: Daniel Treloar Richards Garcia
Sub: VDM/Scott/Lipinksi/West/R. Smith

I like it. The kicking in that back line is incredible, only really Wood and Keath you don't want it with and even then, both are fine when playing within their limits.

Who takes back up ruck duties?

[Mofra]

FB. Duryea, Cordy, Wood
HB. Dale, Keath, Williams
C. Smith, Macrae, Hunter
HF. Dunkley, Bruce, Daniel
FF. Weightman, Naughton, English
Foll. Martin, Bontempelli, Liberatore
Int. Treloar, Richards, Gardner/ Schache, JJ
Sub. VDM

Man that's hard. The whole inclusion/ exclusion of Wood, Cordy, Gardner and Schache piece isn't as clear cut as I made it out to be yesterday evening. I like Wood and think the MC does as well, and I think Cordy has been solid (with clear flaws) with fluctuating support and that might count for a bit with the MC as well (albeit they clearly like Gardner and Schache is progressing well).

Now I'm just awaiting the obvious exclusion that I've made unwittingly to be pointed out by someone.....

Marra & Garcia?

[bornadog]

FB. Duryea, Cordy, Wood
HB. Dale, Keath, Williams
C. Smith, Macrae, Hunter
HF. Dunkley, Bruce, Daniel
FF. Weightman, Naughton, English
Foll. Martin, Bontempelli, Liberatore
Int. Treloar, Richards, Gardner/ Schache, JJ
Sub. VDM .

I like this team Jee and is probably the most likely we will go with, if Martin is fit.

As Mofra says, do we stick in JUH somewhere, but at this stage, Garcia will miss. The MC also seems to like Hannan, but who comes out?