The order players are picked in the team each week (Best 22, Hypothetically)

[94_Eagles]

1. B Cousins
2. D. Glass
3. C. Judd
4. D. Kerr
5. D. Cox
6. D. Wirrpunda
7. A. Hunter
8. M. Braun
9. T. Stenglein
10. D. Chick
11. A. Embley
12 Q. Lynch
13. M. Nicoski
14. C. Fletcher
15. A. Selwood
16. A. Sampi
17. B. Waters
18. M. Seaby
19. J. Graham
20. R. Jones
21. D. Banfield
22. B. Staker.

Now, this kind of thread is open to massive debate, as we will probably have a different lst make up for every person, but it should prove to be a fun task. :)

[Frizzo]

Impossible!! I'm not even going to try. It's comparing apples to oranges (not saying it's not an interesting thread, it is for arguments sake). For me there's a few tiers of player

The Elite

B. Cousins
C. Judd
D. Kerr

The Automatic Selections (when fit)

D. Cox
A. Hunter
D. Glass
T. Stenglein
D. Chick
A. Embley
C. Fletcher
M. Braun
D. Wirrpunda
Q. Lynch
M. Nicoski
M. Seaby (congratulations on your promotion Mark)
B. Waters

The Fringe Players (those who could easily be dropped after 2 or 3 horrid games)

A. Sampi
J. Graham
R & B. Jones
A. Selwood
B. Staker
M. Priddis
S. Armstrong
S. Hurn
All the rest, etc. etc.

[West Coast 06]

I would think Adam Selwood would be an automatic selection these days, he has been fantastic this year.

[Frizzo]

I would think Adam Selwood would be an automatic selection these days, he has been fantastic this year.

Yeah not for off at all. I still think if he had a few shockers he'd be on the chopping block.

[sydney eagle]

And then there is the group like McDougall, Adkins, Le Cras, Morton,and Wooden who seem to be injury prone and struggle to play more than a few games for the Eagles during the season.

[Frizzo]

And then there is the group like McDougall, Adkins, Le Cras, Morton,and Wooden who seem to be injury prone and struggle to play more than a few games for the Eagles during the season.

LeCras and Morton are a different story. Even when fully fit they don't fit into the team just yet. Next year perhaps. McDougall is in a tier of his own, he will never be good enough to consistently be in the Eagles best 22.

Adkins and Wooden are the ultra-fringe players, who if fit, stand some chance of playing a few games a year.

[94_Eagles]

God dammit, why didn't anyone else do a list?

[T_Bones]

Impossible!! I'm not even going to try. It's comparing apples to oranges (not saying it's not an interesting thread, it is for arguments sake). For me there's a few tiers of player

The Elite

B. Cousins
C. Judd
D. Kerr

The Automatic Selections (when fit)

D. Cox
A. Hunter
D. Glass
T. Stenglein
D. Chick
A. Embley
C. Fletcher
M. Braun
D. Wirrpunda
Q. Lynch
M. Nicoski
M. Seaby (congratulations on your promotion Mark)
B. Waters

The Fringe Players (those who could easily be dropped after 2 or 3 horrid games)

A. Sampi
J. Graham
R & B. Jones
A. Selwood
B. Staker
M. Priddis
S. Armstrong
S. Hurn
All the rest, etc. etc.

Surely Cox being the reigning All-Australian Ruckman, he should be considered elite?

I know I would.

[bassmanx]

Surely Cox being the reigning All-Australian Ruckman, he should be considered elite?

I know I would.

Agreed.
Wirra and Glass would also be pushing for elite status.
Staker and Selwood would be automatic.

[BarcaRulz]

I think Cousins/Judd/Kerr/Cox/Glass/Wirra/Stinger/Chick are all in the elite. They are all very important in their respective jobs and i would never leave any of them out for no good reason.

[Scotland]

I'd say the team would be picked more around structure than in order of best to 22nd best, and also around who the opponent is/what they ground conditions will be (Seaby vs Geelong, Banfield vs St Kilda).

Starting with a base of say:

Backs: Glass, Hunter, Wirrpanda - 3 spots.
Centres: Braun, Kerr, Stenglein
Forwards: Lynch, Staker, Hansen - 3 spots
Rucks: Cox, Judd, Cousins

There's 12 players, leaving room for 6 more to start plus a bench of 4.

Hansen and Staker are starters for mine based on a lack of competition for tall spots rather than pure talent. Hansen has been dropped this year, but the next tall option is Mcdougall, who hasn't shown he demands Hansen's place.

Filling the gaps:

Backs:

Nicoski - Offers run, long kicking.
Chick - Physical presence, can go forward.
Graham - Can go forward/assist in the ruck
Brett Jones - Mid size tall, solid but a bit one dimensional
Hurn - Young, more a 2007-8 prospect
Waters - Hard at it, still young and has played forward.
Banfield - Reliable but lacks the pace of Nicoski, forward versatility of Chick

Centres/Followers:

Fletcher - Former AA, ball magnet but skills not perfect
Embley - Ultra versatile, matchwinner but insoncistent
Seaby - Ruck #2
Selwood - Can play a number of midfield roles or in defence
Rowan Jones - Great in and under, can play as a flanker, poor kicking
Butler - Good young player
Armstrong - Can play forward
Rosa - Good young player
Priddis - Good young player
Wooden - Great team player, struggles to get opportunities

Forwards:

Sampi - Super talent, inconsistent
LeCras - Great in the WAFL, yet to deliver at AFL level from limited chances
Morton - Will play a bigger part in 2007-8
Mcdougall - Hansen/Staker backup
Gaspar - Mr injury
Adkins - Flashy when fit but doesn't offer enough

We tend to pick players who can play a number of roles ahead of those who are less versatile. Good policy I reckon.

[Frizzo]

Agreed.
Wirra and Glass would also be pushing for elite status.
Staker and Selwood would be automatic.

Well whatever, whether a player is 'elite' or not depends on your interpretation of the word. For me the level is inbetween Kerr and Cox. Wirra and Glass are stars and as I said are automatic picks. Staker and Selwood are automatic selections right now, but if they play 3 horrid games, they'd find themselves on the chopping block.

[jod23]

1. B Cousins
2. D. Glass
3. C. Judd
4. D. Kerr
5. D. Cox
6. D. Wirrpunda
7. A. Hunter
8. M. Braun
9. T. Stenglein
10. D. Chick
11. A. Embley
12 Q. Lynch
13. M. Nicoski
14. C. Fletcher
15. A. Selwood
16. A. Sampi
17. B. Waters
18. M. Seaby
19. J. Graham
20. R. Jones
21. D. Banfield
22. B. Staker.

Now, this kind of thread is open to massive debate, as we will probably have a different lst make up for every person, but it should prove to be a fun task. :)

Using the same players I will do a list just because you were sad that nobody did one :D

1. B.Cousins
2. C.Judd
3. D.Glass
4. D.Cox
5. D.Kerr
6. D.Wirrpanda
7. A.Hunter
8. Q.Lynch
9. A.Embley
10. T.Stenglein
11. M.Braun
12. J.Graham
13. A.Selwood
14. M.Nicoski
15. D.Chick
16. C.Fletcher
17. M.Seaby
18. B.Waters
19. D.Banfield
20. B.Staker
21. A.Sampi
22. R.Jones

There ya have it.

[94_Eagles]

Thanks Joddy, just realised I left Hansen out of my list. Didn't mean to do that.

[Locky]

Using the original list because im too lazy to do my own
1. B Cousins
2. C Judd
3. D Glass
4. D. Cox
5. D. Kerr
6. D. Wirrpunda
7. D. Chick
8. M. Braun
9. T. Stenglein
10. A. Hunter
11. A. Embley
12 Q. Lynch
13. M. Nicoski
14. J. Graham
15. A. Selwood
16. B. Waters
17. M. Seaby
18. C. Fletcher
19. B. Staker
20. R. Jones
21. D. Banfield
22. A. Sampi

Banfield only so low because of age, a few years ago he would've been up there with the Cousins Judds etc.

[larrikin]

God dammit, why didn't anyone else do a list?

So you don't have a sad I thought I'd have a go

I've picked this order based on what I think thr match committe would do - not my own opinion

The absolute certs (could be in any order)

1 - Cousins
2 - Judd
3 - Kerr
4 - Glass
5 - Cox

The core players
6 - Wirrpanda
7 - Stenglein
8 - Embley
9 - Hunter
10 - Braun
11 - Nicoski
12 - Lynch
13 - Fletcher
14 - Selwood
15 - Chick
16 - Graham
17 - Waters
18 - Hansen
19 - Staker
20 - Seaby
21 - Butler
22 - Sampi

[jorel6669]

That "worst 6" theory of Malcolm Blight's looks pretty good for us.

[halfbackflanker]

While I don't want to go through the torture of ranking 22 players in order of importance, here's a guide to help people who will be making the attempt:

http://www.pro-stats.com.au/psw/web/team_home?tid=116

This is from Pro-Stats, which lists top contributors in terms of stats like clearances, rebound 50s etc. As far as the 'top' of each field, here are a couple of interesting ones:

top contested marks per game - Staker, Embley, Lynch, Hunter, Cox/Judd/Glass (equal)
total long kicks - Lynch
total long kicks per game - Nicoski, Judd, Braun, Cousins, Lynch
total handballs per game - R.Jones, Judd, Kerr, Cousins, Braun, Fletcher
1%ers - Steinglein, Glass, Chick, Judd, Braun
Tackles per game - Judd, Steinglein, Butler, Kerr, Waters, Chick, Braun, R.Jones
Errors - Fletcher, Kerr, Waters, Cousins, Embley, Staker, Lynch, R.Jones, Hunter, Chick
Frees against - Waters, Hunter, Kerr, Judd, Staker

There's some interesting perspectives from much of this. Most of the big ones, like clearances, are all dominated by the usual suspects (i.e Judd), but it is interesting to look at the ones who come behind. While Fletcher for instance is known for making the most errors, and is constantly lambasted about that, Kerr, Cousins and Embley aren't far behind on that.

what's interesting sometimes is the other side of these stats - the least errors are made by regulars like: Glass, Braun, Banfield, Steinglein, Graham and Wirrapanda, with impressive results from non-regular members, especially Brett Jones and Sam Butler. Butler is also 5th for inside 50s. B.Jones is 3rd for rebounds from 50.

For those wondering about Ash Hansen - he is almost last for tackles per game, as well as contested possessions, and dead last for 1%ers. He is 2nd for marks though this season, which as we know he gets from his hard leading and running and why we think he's very valueable to the side. Despite this though, I was suprised to learn he is ranked as low as 14th for inside 50s. And yet many, including his teammates, rate him as an integral piece of the Eagles attacking structure. Strangely enough, despite knowing what the stats are, I would consider him important to.

These are just put forward as something to base the top 22 around. Stats aren't the be all and end all of footy, but they do sometimes have the effect of challenging your perceptions. Are certain players REALLY matchwinners, do certain players REALLY deserve to be ranked higher than others, and what are we basing this on? Should we, as supporters and fans of Footy (as opposed to professional coaching staff), be fine-tuned to the statistical side of the game when assessing individual and team performance, or should we just do what we've always done - rely on our own perceptions and gut feelings, however flawed and admittedly partial they may be?