2025 Starting Line-Up

[Danny Delre]

So are you putting Buss or Buku at full back? The former has shown no evidence whatsoever that he's ready and the latter doesn't have the skill set nor the height to play that role out of the square.

Lobb and jod will be fine. I like more runners in our backline wednesday night

[JackCJohnston2000]

Lobb and jod will be fine. I like more runners in our backline wednesday night

I don't mind this actually, I much prefer it to Buku at FB. Especially since Williams can always float back to be a third tall if needed, or even Cleary or Fridge!

[GVGjr]

The two players I'd consider for R1 selections are Gardner and Cleary and Jones and Croft could be the unlucky players.

Backs:
Duryea - O'Donnell - Freijah
Bramble - Lobb - Dale
Mids:
English - Richards - Liberatore
Williams - Sanders - Davidson
Forwards:
Kennedy - Naughton - Harmes McNeil - Darcy - West
Int/Sub/Emergencies:
Garcia - VDM - Gallagher - Croft - A.Jones
Cleary - Gardner - Baker

[weltschmerz]

FB: Duryea, O’Donnell, Bramble
HB: Freijah, Lobb, Dale
C: Williams, Libba, Davidson
HF: M Kennedy, Naughton, Vandermeer
FF: McNeil, Darcy, West
R: English, Richards, Sanders
IC: Cleary, Garcia, Harmes, Croft
Sub: A Jones

I gave Cleary the nod over Gallagher because his disposal is just a lot better.

[Bornadog]

FB: Duryea, O’Donnell, Bramble
HB: Freijah, Lobb, Dale
C: Williams, Libba, Davidson
HF: M Kennedy, Naughton, Vandermeer
FF: McNeil, Darcy, West
R: English, Richards, Sanders
IC: Cleary, Garcia, Harmes, Croft
Sub: A Jones

I gave Cleary the nod over Gallagher because his disposal is just a lot better.

Pretty good team. My only concern is whether Croft is ready.

[weltschmerz]

Pretty good team. My only concern is whether Croft is ready.

If he's not, that spot would probably be Khamis.

[Go_Dogs]

Cleary playing round one was not on my bingo card after the pre-season reports, but he’s now played himself into the side. A reliable defender and safe user who will be a handy player against Pies forward line in round 2 also.

I’m not sure it’s a Cleary vs Gags conversation now either. Given Bont is injured, we’ve got a midfielder who can spend minutes forward spot to fill. Gags isn’t going to plug the Bont gap clearly, but he trained most of the summer in midfield roles (correct me if I’m wrong) and can hit the scoreboard. To me he has to play, just not as a defender. He’s a forward/midfield rotation now - in fact, with his versatility maybe he’s our ideal sub?

Davidson seemed a lock a while out and he absolutely is now. Lock it in.

Garcia gets a block of games to prove himself. Yes, he makes silly mistakes biting off more than he can chew offensively and being sloppy defensively with his technique. We need his run though. And he’s good at short entry kicks which is not our strength. Let’s reassess once Bont/Treloar are back where he sits in the overall pecking order.

Dolan impressed but he’s not ready for the rigors of round one. His time will come soon enough though. If LV doesn’t get up, maybe he’s in the mix.

JOD is the deep defender. Love it or hate it, he’s our best bet and I think he’ll go ok.

Croft is right in the mix. If you go back to the start of this thread when he burned the house down in about the second week of pre-season, I threw him in. He’s a good chance because he can run and plug gaps all over the field. I’d like us to take an opportunity to accelerate his development while we’ve got no Marra/Jones.

Ok…. So where does that all get me to:

B: Bramble, JOD, Duryea
HB: Dale, Lobb, Fridge
C: Williams, Libba, Davidson
HF: LV, Naughton, M Kennedy
F: McNeil, Darcy, West
R: English, Richards, Sanders
IC: Cleary, Croft, Garcia, Harmes
S: Gags


If Laith doesn’t get up, swap in Gags with Arty as sub.

if we have anymore injuries….. don’t know what we’ll do!

[Mofra]

Cleary playing round one was not on my bingo card after the pre-season reports, but he’s now played himself into the side. A reliable defender and safe user who will be a handy player against Pies forward line in round 2 also.

I’m not sure it’s a Cleary vs Gags conversation now either. Given Bont is injured, we’ve got a midfielder who can spend minutes forward spot to fill. Gags isn’t going to plug the Bont gap clearly, but he trained most of the summer in midfield roles (correct me if I’m wrong) and can hit the scoreboard. To me he has to play, just not as a defender. He’s a forward/midfield rotation now - in fact, with his versatility maybe he’s our ideal sub?

Davidson seemed a lock a while out and he absolutely is now. Lock it in.

Garcia gets a block of games to prove himself. Yes, he makes silly mistakes biting off more than he can chew offensively and being sloppy defensively with his technique. We need his run though. And he’s good at short entry kicks which is not our strength. Let’s reassess once Bont/Treloar are back where he sits in the overall pecking order.

Dolan impressed but he’s not ready for the rigors of round one. His time will come soon enough though. If LV doesn’t get up, maybe he’s in the mix.

JOD is the deep defender. Love it or hate it, he’s our best bet and I think he’ll go ok.

Croft is right in the mix. If you go back to the start of this thread when he burned the house down in about the second week of pre-season, I threw him in. He’s a good chance because he can run and plug gaps all over the field. I’d like us to take an opportunity to accelerate his development while we’ve got no Marra/Jones.

Ok…. So where does that all get me to:

B: Bramble, JOD, Duryea
HB: Dale, Lobb, Fridge
C: Williams, Libba, Davidson
HF: LV, Naughton, M Kennedy
F: McNeil, Darcy, West
R: English, Richards, Sanders
IC: Cleary, Croft, Garcia, Harmes
S: Gags


If Laith doesn’t get up, swap in Gags with Arty as sub.

if we have anymore injuries….. don’t know what we’ll do!

Very close to what I'd do given our injuries - and I'm not convinced Dale plays round 1 yet.
I'd have Arty in for Gags though, he seemed to pick up the pace of the game well against Hawthorn which is very important for a sub. He has pace and can play forward or through the middle (outside).

Once Gags learns to kick, he's straight in. TBH I think it's more composure than technique.

[Go_Dogs]

Very close to what I'd do given our injuries - and I'm not convinced Dale plays round 1 yet.
I'd have Arty in for Gags though, he seemed to pick up the pace of the game well against Hawthorn which is very important for a sub. He has pace and can play forward or through the middle (outside).

Once Gags learns to kick, he's straight in. TBH I think it's more composure than technique.

Yep, it was a line ball call on Arty. If Dale misses, then Gags in and Arty sub. Agree re the energy Arty brings, and we all want him to succeed, just not sure it’s enough yet and would like to see more production.

[kruder]

I'd still love to see Bailey Williams get a crack in the midfield. I'm guessing we will have one more intraclub its time to pull the trigger Bevo, he is no stranger to a last minute change on the dawn of a season.

[Bornadog]

Very close to what I'd do given our injuries - and I'm not convinced Dale plays round 1 yet.
I'd have Arty in for Gags though, he seemed to pick up the pace of the game well against Hawthorn which is very important for a sub. He has pace and can play forward or through the middle (outside).

Once Gags learns to kick, he's straight in. TBH I think it's more composure than technique.

Dale played VFL so maybe close to ready

[Danny Delre]

From what i hear, Dale played well friday night

[Mantis]

I'd still love to see Bailey Williams get a crack in the midfield. I'm guessing we will have one more intraclub its time to pull the trigger Bevo, he is no stranger to a last minute change on the dawn of a season.

I’m totally against this move.

The wing role is not an easy one to replace and I feel we have adequate depth in the middle, and by players who have trained all pre-season in that region to cover the void we have at present.

[Rusty12]

I see that Cleary as Dale's back-up. If Dale plays, Cleary does not. If Dale ever misses, Cleary comes into the calculations.

[GVGjr]

I see that Cleary as Dale's back-up. If Dale plays, Cleary does not. If Dale ever misses, Cleary comes into the calculations.

That appears to be the right logic but he has now given us a taste that he belongs on the list