2025 Starting Line-Up

[GVGjr]

Last year Sam Darcy carried out the rucking duties when Tim English took a spell. Given there is a chance that Jamarra won't be available for Round 1 this year, is it timely now to give consideration as to how we handle our rucks? For if we continue to use Darcy in that forward/ruck role in the absence of Jamarra, it will leave Naughton as our sole key forward when Tim English is off the ground? Is that a viable structure? What is our best option?

Should we swap Darcy and English at full forward? Or does that also demand too much physically from them?

Should we bring in another ruck? We have only two to choose from, Gardner or Lachie Smith. From what I've seen on the training track we have only one choice - Gardner. But is he up to the job?

Should we bring in another tall forward to work with Naughton when Darcy is giving English a chop-out? Poulter or Davidson? Is Croft up to being worthy of taking a chance? (His training form suggests he's a bit away from it.)

Should we return Lobb to a forward/ruck role and re-think our backline? We have Liam Jones, JOD, Busslinger, Buku and Freijah as tall options down back.

Should we bring Bonti to FF when English is being rested and Darcy is rucking?

Something else.

Whatever choice we make will require training changes so it's best we develop plan B now. Ideas?

We need to get creative but here are some of the options as I see it

1) We still just keep using Darcy to provide Tim the chop out.
Pro - He's perfectly suited for the role
Con - We need up forward as much as we can if Ugle Hagan is to miss much of the season

2) We play Lobb as the 3rd tall forward and he provides the chop out for Tim keeping Sam forward as much as possible
Pro - He's the 2nd best ruck man on our list and one of the best 2nd ruck man in the competition plus he is a proven goal kicker
Con - He really stabilized our back line and moving him would be a mistake.

3) We play Gardner forward and he provides the chip out for Tim
Pro - He is a versatile player and would make a contribution where he could
Con - Hasn't really been a ruck man during his career and has always had some limitations when played forward.

4) We play O'Donnell as a forward and Darcy helps English as in previous seasons
Pro - He's added some size and potentially could be a decent option
Con - He should be better suited to defensive roles.

5) We play Khamis as a 3rd tall forward and he can even help out in the ruck
Pro - He's done it before and is energetic
Con - He not a good forward and at best just provides a break for Tim

6) We play Davidson as the 3rd tall and keep Darcy supporting Tim

[Aidan7557]

Ugle Hagan being out for a while might be a blessing in disguise. The last few premiers have been small up forward, Darcy and Naughton is still great 1-2 punch, it also helps Kennedy fit into the side as he can play as a genuine 'tall forward' as well as on baller and we do have the Bont who kicked 30 plus goals last year. However our smalls are the issue. Weightman is great but Vandameer, Mcneil, Jones (who has been training as a winger) and Scott is at best an ok group and at worst a bottom half small forward unit. This might cause us to play a Gardner or Buku forward but I still wouldn't mind going smaller in the forward half even for the first few weeks to see how it looks. I might get killed for saying this but I would love JJ back up forward. He will likely do his hamstring at some point in the year but his speed and skill was important in 2021 when he last played forward. Weightman, JJ, Mcneil as the pure small forwards and Arty jones if he plays as the 50/50 forward winger looks solid to me. The second wing position and the small forward make up have been issues for a while and this Ugle-Hagan situation makes it even more important.

[Critter]

I have revisited my line-up for Round 1, taking into account my perspective of training form, the likelihood that Jamarra won't be available and the need to provide cover in the ruck when English is resting.
B: Bramble Jones Khamis¹
HB: Dale Lobb Freijah²
C: Williams Liberatore Jacques⁷
HF: West Naughton McNeil
F: Davidson³ Darcy⁶ Weightman

R: English Bontempelli Treloar
I/C: Richards MKennedy Sanders Johannisen⁴
Sub Harmes⁵

1. Khamis' pre season has been excellent. His contested work has come along markedly as has his reading of the flight of the ball. At the moment I have him ahead of JOD as I think he creates faster ball movement out of defence than JOD.
2. I would prefer Freijah on the wing, as I see him as our best option for a two-way running wingman, a la Lachie Hunter. But he has lined up in defence at all sessions, so I guess that's where he is going to play.
3. Davidson has stood out at training, both on a wing and up forward. He's a nice kick and is very effective around goal so, at 191cm, I think that he's ideal support for Darcy.
4. JJ has been in the best at nearly every training session. His pace kicking and play-reading has stood out. He is most effective when playing in defence and that is where we should play him. Let's not get worried about theoretical injuries he might get at some future time. At the moment he is very fit and we should play him. .
5. Harmes is another who has trained well. He provides great flexibility as to where we line him up and accordingly, makes a great sub.
6. Darcy supports English in the ruck. Forward support to Naughton is provided by Davidson and Kennedy.
7. Jacques has been impressive. His intercept-marking skills were what attracted us to him but I believe his kicking and running skills are better suited to the wing.

[Uninformed]

Thanks Critter. Great to see a team picked on training form.

[Brody23]

I can see a world where Kennedy being used ala Dunks as that 5 min a 1/4 option in the ruck at times late in games but I think they might go with Gards.
You can see Match Commit might have had plans for this given Gards is spending time training as a ruck this pre season. If it doesn’t work, they can activate a Harmes type (sub) and use Kennedy in that role for short bursts like Dunks historically and Cripps at Carlton.

[Jasper]

I have revisited my line-up for Round 1, taking into account my perspective of training form, the likelihood that Jamarra won't be available and the need to provide cover in the ruck when English is resting.
B: Bramble Jones Khamis¹
HB: Dale Lobb Freijah²
C: Williams Liberatore Jacques⁷
HF: West Naughton McNeil
F: Davidson³ Darcy⁶ Weightman

R: English Bontempelli Treloar
I/C: Richards MKennedy Sanders Johannisen⁴
Sub Harmes⁵

1. Khamis' pre season has been excellent. His contested work has come along markedly as has his reading of the flight of the ball. At the moment I have him ahead of JOD as I think he creates faster ball movement out of defence than JOD.
2. I would prefer Freijah on the wing, as I see him as our best option for a two-way running wingman, a la Lachie Hunter. But he has lined up in defence at all sessions, so I guess that's where he is going to play.
3. Davidson has stood out at training, both on a wing and up forward. He's a nice kick and is very effective around goal so, at 191cm, I think that he's ideal support for Darcy.
4. JJ has been in the best at nearly every training session. His pace kicking and play-reading has stood out. He is most effective when playing in defence and that is where we should play him. Let's not get worried about theoretical injuries he might get at some future time. At the moment he is very fit and we should play him. .
5. Harmes is another who has trained well. He provides great flexibility as to where we line him up and accordingly, makes a great sub.
6. Darcy supports English in the ruck. Forward support to Naughton is provided by Davidson and Kennedy.
7. Jacques has been impressive. His intercept-marking skills were what attracted us to him but I believe his kicking and running skills are better suited to the wing.

Love your work Critter but I have a couple of questions
No Duryea, Vandermeer or O'Donnell not even one of them seems out of whack with the training reports. Whats the logic with this?
Were you tempted to play Busslinger and move Lobb forward?

[Willow18]

I despise the idea of Gardner coming in for JUH. We’re forced to play 3 talls and Weightman due to their promise and quality. Great opportunity to go smaller like the rest of the comp!

[Go_Dogs]

Using the track reports, player ratings (adjusted for role), best 23 from late last year and potential upside, current 23 for round 1.

There has been a lot of debate about the 3rd tall defender, and no one seems to have grabbed it yet. Is there a chance, depending on the match-up (Nth/Pies seems the right ones), that we just go with 2? With Freijah looking locked in at HB, are there enough minutes for Bramble, Freijah, Dale and Duyrea? Dale, Freijah and Duyrea can all play taller.

Although I have always liked Williams as another HB taller option, given the uncertainty of the outside group, and he is the one staple that keeps coming up, we should avoid that at all costs.

There will be questions on balance, which I don't disagree with. However, I can't see how at least 2 of Sanders, M Kennedy and Garcia don't play.

Backs:
Bramble - Jones - Duyrea
Dale - Lobb - Freijah

Outside: Williams - Davidson

Inside: English - Bont - Trelor - Libba

Forward:
McNeil - Naughton - Richards (4th Key inside Mid)
Weightman - Darcy - West

Int: VDM - JOD - Sanders - M Kennedy

Sub: JJ


In the Mix: Karmis - Gallagher - Garica - VDM - Buss - Harmes - Jaques - Arty - L Kennedy - Gardener -

Relevant Injury: Marra -

This is very aligned to my current thinking. Two talls only in the back half. JOD as contingency on the bench makes sense - he can pinch hit forward if we need too with Marra not being named.

Whole I’ve been a big advocate of 3 key forwards as a point of difference, it seems to balance our side better without.

The couple of names not in the 23 who may come in hot are Garcia, Harmes and Gags. At a guess they’re largely battling for the spots of Sanders and Kennedy, and Gags maybe as the second wing too.

[Critter]

Love your work Critter but I have a couple of questions
No Duryea, Vandermeer or O'Donnell not even one of them seems out of whack with the training reports. Whats the logic with this?
Were you tempted to play Busslinger and move Lobb forward?

Fair questions Jasper.

Vandermeer
I see Vandermeer as a player with limitations. His main attribute seems to me straight-line running and his training performance is consistent with this. However, I have question marks on his contest work and his marking/kicking skills when under pressure. I've seen examples at training. I'm aware that others have higher opinions of him but that's what makes us a broad church - differing opinions.

JOD
I spent some time tossing up between JOD and Khamis as the third third tall. (Of course, some may not believe in the necessity for a third tall.) Training form has influenced me significantly, as I believe Buku has performed well. His contest work has improved greatly, he is kicking well off either foot and he is always ready to move the ball quickly. It is this last point the led me to prefer him over JOD. In Monday's match sim he was the launch point for two forays from D50 which resulted in scores. One drew admiring comment from Brendan Lade on the sidelines. I think his mobility is a tad better than JOD's at the moment.

Duryea
Our training drills appear to me to be aimed at developing a game style that launches attack from deeper in defence - a good number of them involve long kicks to long leads, executed at pace and using the entire length of the ground. I'm not sure Doc is our best option in such a game plan. He has excellent defensive skills but to me isn't as effective as the the others I have selected in carrying the ball through the lines. Four of the better performers at training have been JJ, Freijah, Dale and Bramble.

Lobb/Busslinger
Every once in a while you get lucky and find a natural fit, a round peg for a round hole. That's Rory Lobb at CHB. Buss has a way to go on most level to match him. I see Busslinger's future as a lockdown KPD, negating the opposition key forward. For me, he's not sufficiently mobile for CHB

[NAUGHTY100]

With the doubt surrounding Jamarra, what do people want to do with the forward line 3rd tall?

Play Croft as 3rd tall if he shows he is ready for AFL footy by week 1?
Play a mobile tall mid as the 3rd tall (ie play with a small ball fwd line), this would be a Kennedy, Poulter, Davidson etc, which would also allow Cody to play more of a marking target role and then have smalls at ground level.
Play Buku as a fwd where he has looked good in the past at VFL level.
Switch Lobb back forward, would then allow a Buss, JOD or Buku to play back next to Jones and the other tall back.
Start a 2nd ruck and play English more fwd (unfortunately we don't have a lot of options here so would mean Gardner or Lachie Smith plays)

Do you think the club knew a long way out that Jammra wouldn't play , so is this the reason they have been trialing Poulter forward ?.

[Axe Man]

Do you think the club knew a long way out that Jammra wouldn't play , so is this the reason they have been trialing Poulter forward ?.

Not that I have been to training but I think Poulter forward is probably just a structure thing for the match sims. With no Naughton or Marra someone needs to play the tall forward role and we seem to have no shortage of aspiring wing options.

[azabob]

Ugle Hagan being out for a while might be a blessing in disguise. The last few premiers have been small up forward, Darcy and Naughton is still great 1-2 punch, it also helps Kennedy fit into the side as he can play as a genuine 'tall forward' as well as on baller and we do have the Bont who kicked 30 plus goals last year. However our smalls are the issue. Weightman is great but Vandameer, Mcneil, Jones (who has been training as a winger) and Scott is at best an ok group and at worst a bottom half small forward unit. This might cause us to play a Gardner or Buku forward but I still wouldn't mind going smaller in the forward half even for the first few weeks to see how it looks. I might get killed for saying this but I would love JJ back up forward. He will likely do his hamstring at some point in the year but his speed and skill was important in 2021 when he last played forward. Weightman, JJ, Mcneil as the pure small forwards and Arty jones if he plays as the 50/50 forward winger looks solid to me. The second wing position and the small forward make up have been issues for a while and this Ugle-Hagan situation makes it even more important.

I agree we only play two KF if one of the three is out. I don’t think Gardner or Khamis up forward works.

Lobb has to stay back and I’d have Khamis as our third defender ahead of JOD.

Not sure JJ fixes our small forward problem, if he’s fit for mine he plays at HB.

I wonder if the second wing position could be rotated in game between McNeil and Jones or McNeil and Davidson? Or does the wing have to be set and forget?

[Willow18]

I agree we only play two KF if one of the three is out. I don’t think Gardner or Khamis up forward works.

Lobb has to stay back and I’d have Khamis as our third defender ahead of JOD.

Not sure JJ fixes our small forward problem, if he’s fit for mine he plays at HB.

I wonder if the second wing position could be rotated in game between McNeil and Jones or McNeil and Davidson? Or does the wing have to be set and forget?

I suspect we see the second wing be a rotation of a couple players.

[azabob]

I suspect we see the second wing be a rotation of a couple players.

I agree, definitely match to match.

Who are your two preferred wingers currently?

[mjp]

1. Khamis' pre season has been excellent. His contested work has come along markedly as has his reading of the flight of the ball. At the moment I have him ahead of JOD as I think he creates faster ball movement out of defence than JOD.

Can't attend traIning but hard to argue with this - my only counter would be allowing the 'backup' tall to be Williams or Freijah if needed and playing an extra runner.

2. I would prefer Freijah on the wing, as I see him as our best option for a two-way running wingman, a la Lachie Hunter. But he has lined up in defence at all sessions, so I guess that's where he is going to play.

It's your team so you should do what you want!!

3. Davidson has stood out at training, both on a wing and up forward. He's a nice kick and is very effective around goal so, at 191cm, I think that he's ideal support for Darcy.

I do wonder if Davidson is the wing option whereas Poulter is the deep forward option based on reports...thoughts?

4. JJ has been in the best at nearly every training session. His pace kicking and play-reading has stood out. He is most effective when playing in defence and that is where we should play him. Let's not get worried about theoretical injuries he might get at some future time. At the moment he is very fit and we should play him. .

If JJ plays he should 100% play back.

5. Harmes is another who has trained well. He provides great flexibility as to where we line him up and accordingly, makes a great sub.

Yep - experienced player.

6. Darcy supports English in the ruck. Forward support to Naughton is provided by Davidson and Kennedy.

Nothing wrong with that plan so long as Naughton is fit!!

7. Jacques has been impressive. His intercept-marking skills were what attracted us to him but I believe his kicking and running skills are better suited to the wing.

Just wish he was coming in as a defend first vs intercept first player...does sound exciting though.

[mjp]

I can see a world where Kennedy being used ala Dunks as that 5 min a 1/4 option in the ruck at times late in games but I think they might go with Gards.
You can see Match Commit might have had plans for this given Gards is spending time training as a ruck this pre season. If it doesn’t work, they can activate a Harmes type (sub) and use Kennedy in that role for short bursts like Dunks historically and Cripps at Carlton.

I mean, of course. Probably part of the recruiting process....