kizzel
31 Oct 2007, 23:31
I'm sure this has been done before, but with not much else better to speculate on, what does everybody think? Who are the players we can't afford to lose, or who we've missed the most. Who needs to fire, and play 22 games next year for us to be in the finals mix?
Here's my go for a top 10...
1. J Brown - Obvious reasons
2. J Charman - I still believe if this guy had of played the 04 finals we could have gone that little bit further. Don't want to take anything away from the Leuneberger, IMO without Charman in the middle we lack a little bit of the intimidation and don't seem to win out of the middle quite as regularly.
3. S Black - Ironically the one game this guy didn't play this year we won by 117 points :rolleyes: yet without Blacky, the ball just doesn't come out from under the pack in our favour, and clearly he's an integral part of our midfield.
4. D Merrett - Now this guy has done his job this year! Who would have played on Gerhig if he was down? Patfull? Roe was injured, that leaves.. Mills? Merrett is, as far as I'm concerned, the most vital to our back half because realistically he is our only BIG defender. He's only going to get better.
5. D Bradshaw - As good as Browny is, in todays game it's far too easy to double team a powerhouse forward, especially if he's all the teams got. With Brennan showing more consistency this year has taken some of the pressure off Brown, however we know Bradshaw is a consistent performer and in the long run can mean a huge difference in a good forward structure - that works.
I realise that I've pretty much gone down the spine here a little, but thats it, they're IMO the most important players in the Lions best 22.
6. J Adcock - Pace, Unbelievable tackler, Precission, and a GOAL KICKING midfielder. Missing Jed for virtually all of season 2006 was a huge blow.
7. L Power - A leader that generally always gets the job done. Not much has to be said for Lukey.
8. J Drummond - I thought when Drummond went down against the pies this year, our skill level dropped immensely. The Hawthorn game in particular we made several kicking errors, and it seems the rebounding is just not the same without him. I rate this guy a lot! Most effective player in our team, and the guys know to give it to him!
9. R Hooper - Last three rounds we looked slow. No one tackles and works as hard as Hooper does. I was astounded when Rhan wasn't nominated for an Army award following the Kangas game at the gabba in 07. There was a segment where Rhan probably had four or five huge and (typical Rhan) efforts which resulted in a Brennan goal, yet he wasn't even nominated. His introduction to the team turned our season around (I'm not saying it was ALL because of him, but he definitely played a huge part).
10. J Patfull - any defender that can shadow a gun forward helps a young and inexperienced defence. He blanketed M.LeCras in the second half, held R.Robertson to one goal (which only came after a freakish mark) and held T. Cloke to a freakish goal on the boundary (Cloke being C'wood's 07 best and fairest winner says something). Just for the sake of having a cry over spilt milk, I still believe we lost the NAB cup to Carlton because Patfull missed the game. He will be our match-up for Steve Johnson - and he will win.
Having said all that, I've left out Nige! I think I'm trying to be optimistic because we know he's not going to be playing for too much longer, but hopefully over these next 5 years he can give us a few more of those gutbusting performances...
Here's my go for a top 10...
1. J Brown - Obvious reasons
2. J Charman - I still believe if this guy had of played the 04 finals we could have gone that little bit further. Don't want to take anything away from the Leuneberger, IMO without Charman in the middle we lack a little bit of the intimidation and don't seem to win out of the middle quite as regularly.
3. S Black - Ironically the one game this guy didn't play this year we won by 117 points :rolleyes: yet without Blacky, the ball just doesn't come out from under the pack in our favour, and clearly he's an integral part of our midfield.
4. D Merrett - Now this guy has done his job this year! Who would have played on Gerhig if he was down? Patfull? Roe was injured, that leaves.. Mills? Merrett is, as far as I'm concerned, the most vital to our back half because realistically he is our only BIG defender. He's only going to get better.
5. D Bradshaw - As good as Browny is, in todays game it's far too easy to double team a powerhouse forward, especially if he's all the teams got. With Brennan showing more consistency this year has taken some of the pressure off Brown, however we know Bradshaw is a consistent performer and in the long run can mean a huge difference in a good forward structure - that works.
I realise that I've pretty much gone down the spine here a little, but thats it, they're IMO the most important players in the Lions best 22.
6. J Adcock - Pace, Unbelievable tackler, Precission, and a GOAL KICKING midfielder. Missing Jed for virtually all of season 2006 was a huge blow.
7. L Power - A leader that generally always gets the job done. Not much has to be said for Lukey.
8. J Drummond - I thought when Drummond went down against the pies this year, our skill level dropped immensely. The Hawthorn game in particular we made several kicking errors, and it seems the rebounding is just not the same without him. I rate this guy a lot! Most effective player in our team, and the guys know to give it to him!
9. R Hooper - Last three rounds we looked slow. No one tackles and works as hard as Hooper does. I was astounded when Rhan wasn't nominated for an Army award following the Kangas game at the gabba in 07. There was a segment where Rhan probably had four or five huge and (typical Rhan) efforts which resulted in a Brennan goal, yet he wasn't even nominated. His introduction to the team turned our season around (I'm not saying it was ALL because of him, but he definitely played a huge part).
10. J Patfull - any defender that can shadow a gun forward helps a young and inexperienced defence. He blanketed M.LeCras in the second half, held R.Robertson to one goal (which only came after a freakish mark) and held T. Cloke to a freakish goal on the boundary (Cloke being C'wood's 07 best and fairest winner says something). Just for the sake of having a cry over spilt milk, I still believe we lost the NAB cup to Carlton because Patfull missed the game. He will be our match-up for Steve Johnson - and he will win.
Having said all that, I've left out Nige! I think I'm trying to be optimistic because we know he's not going to be playing for too much longer, but hopefully over these next 5 years he can give us a few more of those gutbusting performances...