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Re: All Australian squad of 40
Yeah thats not the point of the side though is it? The side is meant to be a snapshot of the best players of the year collated into a team which could theoretically take the field.
Yes Dangerfield, Bont, Petracca, Martin, Fyfe etc. would all be good forward and no one would say no to playing them there, but this is a representative side of the best players this season and naming three of those guys forward is not representative of where they predominately played this year nor where they had the most impact (and thus the reason they were selected in the lineup for starters).
I mean as an example Bont was great this year, and is deserving of selection, but would he even be the best performed forward at our club? No. Would he be the best performed mid? Yes. So why is he named as a forward? I don't disagree that naming a mid/forward or two in the side is somewhat representative of how modern sides line up, but they shouldn't just be shoehorned in there because they rest there occasionally and there certainly shouldn't be three of them named in the starting lineup. In Bonts case most of our worst quarters coincided with him resting forward, and can anyone remember a single game he played this year where he was the best forward on the ground? English has arguably had more impact forward than Bont and would anyone consider him to be in AA forward form?
The side has long had a reputation for featuring a goalkicking midfielder or two on the half forward flank, which is borderline ok, I mean maybe one or two of those types is representative of how teams setup now, but to only have 3 forwards named in the entire lineup while 12 mids/rucks are named is ridiculous. If they want the side to favour mids that's fine, but cram them onto the bench. For someone like Dan Butler to have the amazing season he did, but miss out because they insisted on naming 3 mids ahead of him in his position, then two inside mids ahead of him on the bench, then a second solo ruck in the lineup is dumb. If they want to just shove the top 22 players regardless of positions into a side thats fine, but make it a top 22, not a side where you just name players in positions they rested in for maybe a quarter a game.
Yeah thats not the point of the side though is it? The side is meant to be a snapshot of the best players of the year collated into a team which could theoretically take the field.
Yes Dangerfield, Bont, Petracca, Martin, Fyfe etc. would all be good forward and no one would say no to playing them there, but this is a representative side of the best players this season and naming three of those guys forward is not representative of where they predominately played this year nor where they had the most impact (and thus the reason they were selected in the lineup for starters).
I mean as an example Bont was great this year, and is deserving of selection, but would he even be the best performed forward at our club? No. Would he be the best performed mid? Yes. So why is he named as a forward? I don't disagree that naming a mid/forward or two in the side is somewhat representative of how modern sides line up, but they shouldn't just be shoehorned in there because they rest there occasionally and there certainly shouldn't be three of them named in the starting lineup. In Bonts case most of our worst quarters coincided with him resting forward, and can anyone remember a single game he played this year where he was the best forward on the ground? English has arguably had more impact forward than Bont and would anyone consider him to be in AA forward form?
The side has long had a reputation for featuring a goalkicking midfielder or two on the half forward flank, which is borderline ok, I mean maybe one or two of those types is representative of how teams setup now, but to only have 3 forwards named in the entire lineup while 12 mids/rucks are named is ridiculous. If they want the side to favour mids that's fine, but cram them onto the bench. For someone like Dan Butler to have the amazing season he did, but miss out because they insisted on naming 3 mids ahead of him in his position, then two inside mids ahead of him on the bench, then a second solo ruck in the lineup is dumb. If they want to just shove the top 22 players regardless of positions into a side thats fine, but make it a top 22, not a side where you just name players in positions they rested in for maybe a quarter a game.
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