Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

[Mofra]

Am I the only one who's extremely wary of the Darcy hype train?

Maybe I'm still suffering Ayceitis.

I'm more concerned with his body holding up than any talent issues.
He hasn't gotten through a season of football in 3 years.
I'm also not sure Coffield plays round 1 given he can't get his body right either. He'd have to tick every box imaginable.

West in for Clarke

Anthony Scott is the ideal sub too, he can play anywhere so he's the easiest sub option on our list.

[mjp]

I'm also not sure Coffield plays round 1 given he can't get his body right either. He'd have to tick every box imaginable.

Pretty sure every Saints pre-season thread on Saints Woof over the past couple of years would have had:

Nick 'If Fit' Coffield as part of their projected 22's in October...

[bulldogtragic]

My second version:

B: Dale L. Jones JOD
HB: Richards Darcy JJ
C: Williams Treloar Poulter
HF: Sanders Marra Weightman
F: Lobb Naughton Clarke
R: English Bont Libba
I: Smith Macrae Harmes Daniel
S: West
E: Coffield Buss Scott Arty

Rest: Cleary, Garcia, Gardner, Baker, Duryea, Gags, VDM, Khamis, Croft, Bedendo, McNeil, other recruits/rookie.


- Sanders needs to feed our forwards I50, with Weightman to occasionally pinch hit further up the ground
- Clarke as my bolter
- Darcy back to CHB
- Harmes maybe tags from time to time?
- Ruck duties split into regions on the ground. Darcy D50, Lobb I50 and English as a ruck/river
- Bonts & Adz to spend more time forward with higher rotations through CBA
- Still unsure where to play Daniel most effectively. Maybe HHF
- Would love to see Arty force himself into a starting winger. His speed on the wing would be an asset
- Would love a small lockdown defender, but don?t have faith Duryea is the man in 5 months time


It still looks a handy enough side, if their shit is together.

[Grantysghost]

What have you seen in Clarke to make him a bolter BT?
Love it if he was, just haven't seen anything so far.

[bulldogtragic]

What have you seen in Clarke to make him a bolter BT?
Love it if he was, just haven't seen anything so far.

Posted this last page:

Yeah, he’s my bolter for next year. I think his interrupted preseason had him on the back foot. So I’m hoping a full preseason and a year in our system has him understanding what we need. I recall Cody had a fair bit of doubt in him in his season too from some. I thought he warmed into the end of the season well, (it’s a shit metric) but his points ranking went up significantly and he kicked 4 goals in his two finals. What I especially like his he seems a team first player, almost to a fault. If he can find a better option he seems to want to take it and not blaze away every time, even though more goals would’ve helped promotion rather than score involvements or goal assists.

So whether it’s evidence based or wishful thinking, he’s my bolter. If we can get him humming with Cody and potentially Watson there’s going to be some exciting energy under the excitement of the feet of the big boys. The kind of energy and excitement that can hopefully change the feel around the place with young confidence. So I guess we see!


Also, I’d trial Garcia in the small defender role. He should be quick enough and is a good tackler. I’m not sure he’s getting into our midfield especially with Smith to get more time and Sanders here now. So I’d give him a go Matty Boyd style.

[Grantysghost]

Weightman did take a while to win us over, so good comparison.
Thanks

[GVGjr]

At a first glance

B: Johannisen L. Jones Coffield
HB: Richards O'Donnell Dale
C: Williams Treloar Harmes
HF: Sanders Lobb Smith
F: Ugle-Hagan Naughton Weightman
R: English Bontempelli Liberatore
I: Macrae Daniel Darcy Vandermeer Scott
E: West, Poulter, Duryea, Keath

[CarnTheScray]

If the list is fully fit, Gardner, Keath, TOB, Vandermeer, McNeil should not be starting best 22 just having those guys out of the side makes our team already look significantly better than last year as harsh as it sounds.

[Axe Man]

If the list is fully fit, Gardner, Keath, TOB, Vandermeer, McNeil should not be starting best 22 just having those guys out of the side makes our team already look significantly better than last year as harsh as it sounds.

I reckon it's pretty safe to say O'Brien won't be getting a game next year.

[hujsh]

I'm going to so my best 23 round 23 for something a bit different. How I hope we might realistically end the year after some players develop.

B: Johannisen L. Jones Coffield
HB: Richards O'Donnell Dale
C: Williams Sanders Gags
HF:O'Driscoll Naughton Weightman
F: Lobb Ugle-Hagan Clarke
R: English Bontempelli Liberatore
I: Harmes Smith Treloar Daniel
S: Scott
E: Macrae Darcy AJ Poulter Duryea

Daniel to be part of the back 7 since I don't have room anywhere else and he will play.

Sanders to be too good to keep out and Macrae on current form being the one forced out. Not ideal but it's up to him to reverse the trend and I wanted to include forwards in the forward line

Gallagher if he stays fit might be a lock for the wing, he looks good and I think could realistically push Poulter out if Poulter doesn't show enough improvement (and I'm not sure he has improved much since his first year TBH). Could also be Jones here depending on how his year goes. Maybe they push out Williams too.

O'Driscoll with his athletic profile could be a big McNeil upgrade. Genuine pace, great endurance and knows where the goals are. Does he have the forward craft required? Maybe he rotates on the wing in the Scott role too. Maybe mjp can correct this if he's not really year 1 ready for AFL but all I really expect is pressure, the occasional run down tackle and a goal every other game.

Clarke with a pre-season gets to show us why we liked him. A genuine small forward without a selfish streak is exactly what the doctor ordered. Him, Aiden, Weightman and Naughton can potentially bring real defensive intent to the forward half with even Marra having the pace to contribute occasionally.

Harmes Smith Treloar. All part of the midfield rotations and the odd stint forward. Might give Weightman and/or Williams some inside mid minutes too to smooth out the rotations.

[josie]

Really like BT’s idea of Garcia as small defender. Worth a try.

[hujsh]

Really like BT’s idea of Garcia as small defender. Worth a try.

Another I'd consider, McNeil. Worth a shot he's not the answer as a small forward or mid.

[hujsh]

I'm going to so my best 23 round 23 for something a bit different. How I hope we might realistically end the year after some players develop.

B: Johannisen L. Jones Coffield
HB: Richards O'Donnell Dale
C: Williams Sanders Gags
HF:O'Driscoll Naughton Weightman
F: Lobb Ugle-Hagan Clarke
R: English Bontempelli Liberatore
I: Harmes Smith Treloar Daniel
S: Scott
E: Macrae Darcy AJ Poulter Duryea

Daniel to be part of the back 7 since I don't have room anywhere else and he will play.

Sanders to be too good to keep out and Macrae on current form being the one forced out. Not ideal but it's up to him to reverse the trend and I wanted to include forwards in the forward line

Gallagher if he stays fit might be a lock for the wing, he looks good and I think could realistically push Poulter out if Poulter doesn't show enough improvement (and I'm not sure he has improved much since his first year TBH). Could also be Jones here depending on how his year goes. Maybe they push out Williams too.

O'Driscoll with his athletic profile could be a big McNeil upgrade. Genuine pace, great endurance and knows where the goals are. Does he have the forward craft required? Maybe he rotates on the wing in the Scott role too. Maybe mjp can correct this if he's not really year 1 ready for AFL but all I really expect is pressure, the occasional run down tackle and a goal every other game.

Clarke with a pre-season gets to show us why we liked him. A genuine small forward without a selfish streak is exactly what the doctor ordered. Him, Aiden, Weightman and Naughton can potentially bring real defensive intent to the forward half with even Marra having the pace to contribute occasionally.

Harmes Smith Treloar. All part of the midfield rotations and the odd stint forward. Might give Weightman and/or Williams some inside mid minutes too to smooth out the rotations.

Caveat to this.

If Macrae gets his form back and demands selection how do we fit him in? Maybe it means a forward (Clarke or O'Driscoll) miss and we start him there. After the centre bounce he goes to the midfield and Bont then chooses where he wants to go depending on the situation. He can go forward and push into the middle a bit to be a danger forward of center and a deleverer into the F50. He can run back and be the loose in defence setting up our rebounding plays and probably being a great interceptor/contest killer as well.

Playing a loose defender? Do you still want to if Bontempelli is the guy loose at the other end of the ground?

[Hotdog60]

Another I'd consider, McNeil. Worth a shot he's not the answer as a small forward or mid.

Might be his only option if you can't hit the side of a barn from 10 metres out directly in front.

[Mantis]

I'm going to so my best 23 round 23 for something a bit different. How I hope we might realistically end the year after some players develop.

B: Johannisen L. Jones Coffield
HB: Richards O'Donnell Dale
C: Williams Sanders Gags
HF:O'Driscoll Naughton Weightman
F: Lobb Ugle-Hagan Clarke
R: English Bontempelli Liberatore
I: Harmes Smith Treloar Daniel
S: Scott
E: Macrae Darcy AJ Poulter Duryea

Daniel to be part of the back 7 since I don't have room anywhere else and he will play.

Sanders to be too good to keep out and Macrae on current form being the one forced out. Not ideal but it's up to him to reverse the trend and I wanted to include forwards in the forward line

Gallagher if he stays fit might be a lock for the wing, he looks good and I think could realistically push Poulter out if Poulter doesn't show enough improvement (and I'm not sure he has improved much since his first year TBH). Could also be Jones here depending on how his year goes. Maybe they push out Williams too.

O'Driscoll with his athletic profile could be a big McNeil upgrade. Genuine pace, great endurance and knows where the goals are. Does he have the forward craft required? Maybe he rotates on the wing in the Scott role too. Maybe mjp can correct this if he's not really year 1 ready for AFL but all I really expect is pressure, the occasional run down tackle and a goal every other game.

Clarke with a pre-season gets to show us why we liked him. A genuine small forward without a selfish streak is exactly what the doctor ordered. Him, Aiden, Weightman and Naughton can potentially bring real defensive intent to the forward half with even Marra having the pace to contribute occasionally.

Harmes Smith Treloar. All part of the midfield rotations and the odd stint forward. Might give Weightman and/or Williams some inside mid minutes too to smooth out the rotations.

If O'Driscoll plays more than 5 games in his 1st season I think that would be a huge result so to think he'll be entrenched in the team is a stretch given he's coming from a long way back.