I'm just brainstorming balance-wise. Gia isn't usually seen as a midfielder - but played 3 games in the guts last year when Boyd had a broken hand. In those three games he averaged 32 possessions, we know he has a pretty big tank, and him getting the ball 30 times will invariably yield better results than Crossy's 30.
I know the game is about far more than just ball use - and Crossy has some great qualities. But with the game being played as it is now - I'm not 100% convinced we can have as many one-paced type smalls in the side. And at absolute full strength I don't think - Boyd, Libba, Cross, Higgins, Gia and Cross can all fit.
I agree with this summation, although do not expect too much support from Woof subscribers who have a fascination with Giansircusa irrespective of how many poor games he puts in. The jury is still out on Sherman who has been handy but eventually you will see the likes of Wallis taking his place. It is good to see Minson emerge in 2011, when one considers that he was offered as trade bait at the end of 2010. Our lack of depth beyond the 22 you have named is still a concern. We should have 30 players capable of playing consistently well at a senior level, which we still do not have at our disposal.
How about you tell me what 22 we are playing against and I will tell you what our best 22 is? If it is just a list for the sake of a list, then does it really matter?
What should I tell her? She's going to ask.
What are we basing our best 22 on. This years form, previous years form, reputation or future potential?
Because some of the seleftions have come from each of these criteria.
Maybe I'm underrating the speed of Geelong, and to a lesser extent Collingwood(who I think are a bit quicker than Geelong), but I wouldn't say their midfields are overly quick either. Yes, they both have some quick players, but both have quite a few guys who I'd call one-paced. Maybe some of our guys are slower than their slowest mids(?), but I don't think it's significant or that every one of our guys is slower than theirs.
Winning the ball and moving it quickly and effectively still trumps leg speed, and we have just about enough guys who I'd call quick who can run and carry anyway (admittedly, losing Harbrow has hurt in this area).
well i would have thought that if we were a premiership threat then we wouldn't have to worry about what team our opposition fields but rather have our best 22 out there and have our opposition worry about matchups. if we keep needing to make adjustments to our lineup to matchup against our opposition then that indicates our opposition is superior. We need to be the threat not the other way around otherwise we will continue this mediocre trend.
i understand what you are saying and yes defense is a different area. But our best 22 would include a backline that can cover any forward setup. i dont see the likes of St.Kilda (from previous years) or geelong or collingwood tinkering with their backline week after week to suit their opposition. At most it should only require 1 change due to an exceptionally tall forward line. But even in that case, a good defensive strategy should overcome this such as playing a zone and having speedy running backs take the ball out quicker than it came in. similar to what stkilda and collingwood implement