Preview 2016 Best 22

[Wizardy]

B Jetta, Dunn, Garland
HB Melksham, T McDonald, Salem
C Brayshaw, Tyson, Vince
HF Petracca, Frost, Vandenberg
F Garlett, Hogan, Harmes
FO Gawn, N. Jones, Viney
IN Bugg, Kent, Pedersen, Stretch

 

[PizzaChief]

http://m.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-11-23/keep-an-eye-on-petracca-in-2016.mobileapp
Aside from the obvious hype building around Petracca, the one thing i take away from this article is that Lumumbles is aiming for 'satisfactory' this year..

 

[Cannon82]

Lumumbles is aiming for 'satisfactory' this year..

Ambitious.

 

[stabler]

BRAYSHAW OLIVER VINEY JONES VINCE


Midfield or Expendables 4 poster?

 

[Wizardy]

BRAYSHAW OLIVER VINEY JONES VINCE


Midfield or Expendables 4 poster?

#TheHitSquad

 

[harry000]

I'm probably going to get slaughtered for saying this but... I think Lumumbasnake deserves a second chance in the best 22! I think we underestimate the challenge of joining a new system and I think he can still be of value to the side with his line-breaking speed. I think after another preseason with the club we should at least give him the first few rounds to prove himself.

 

[Topkent]

He doesn't have line breaking speed

He used to be hard to tackle and he ran straight lines but he doesnt have that anymore

 

[Wizardy]

Melksham coming in doesn't help his chances. Still, he'll have every opportunity over preseason to prove his worth just like every other player on the list. Just don't know what his niche is tbh.

 

[Theseventhhamster]

He doesn't have line breaking speed

He used to be hard to tackle and he ran straight lines but he doesnt have that anymore

He's still got the initial acceleration and he's a better overhead mark than Dawes. This the sum total of nice things I have to say.

 

[Canary]

I was about to come in an post my best 22 thinking we'd done all out drafting that would ostensibly matter, and then I remembered vandenBerg. It's still pretty incredible how quickly he came out of nowhere to become an established part of our side. We definitely noticed his absence when he was injured.

 

[Demon4123]

This could be our finals side in 2017:

FB: ANB Frost O McDonald
HB: Melksham T McDonald Salem
Centre: Prestia Vince Stretch
HF: Oliver Weideman Petracca
FF: Garlett Hogan Harmes
Rucks:Gawn Jones Viney
Interchange:Tyson Vanders Brayshaw Trengove

 

[SuburbanMe]

here's my Best 22.

FP: Garlett
FF: Hogan
FP: Kent

HFF: Brayshaw
CHF: VanDenBeast
HFF: Petracca

W: Lumumba
C: N.Jones
W: Melksham

HBF: Garland
CHB: T.McDonald
HBF: Pedersen

BP: Jetta
FB: Dunn
BP: Salem

Ruck: Gawn
Rover: Viney
Ruck Rover: Vince

INT: Harmes, Tyson, Neal-Bullen, Bugg.

Thoughts?

I reckon that's a bloody good team, and it was really hard, as I kinda wanted to put Watts or Newton on the wing, but went with Labumbles because of his strength when being tackled.

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Thoughts?

Worst layout ever.

 

[schmuttt]

here's my Best 22.

FP: Garlett
FF: Hogan
FP: Kent

HFF: Brayshaw
CHF: VanDenBeast
HFF: Petracca

W: Lumumba
C: N.Jones
W: Melksham

HBF: Garland
CHB: T.McDonald
HBF: Pedersen

BP: Jetta
FB: Dunn
BP: Salem

Ruck: Gawn
Rover: Viney
Ruck Rover: Vince

INT: Harmes, Tyson, Neal-Bullen, Bugg.

Thoughts?

I reckon that's a bloody good team, and it was really hard, as I kinda wanted to put Watts or Newton on the wing, but went with Labumbles because of his strength when being tackled.

Why is Vandenberg at CHF? Since when has he displayed he can play tall?
Why is Salem in the back pocket and Pedersen on the HBF? Salem should be on the HBF or even further up the ground, and Pedersen in the backline of all places is strange.
As much as I think Watts will get pushed out of the side next year I doubt it'll be ANB that does so. ANB showed a decent amount this year but he isn't ahead of Watts st all.

This side is getting harder to pick though, which is a good sign. M Jones and Terlich are the only two guys that should never be selected again (Dawes gets a pass because we need KPF depth), compared to about half a dozen guys in that category at the start of 2014.

 

[Fat Tony!]

B: Jetta, Dunn, Garland
HB: Lumumba, Frost, Salem
C: Watts, Vandenberg, Melksham
HF: Kent, T McDonald, Viney
F: Garlett, Hogan, Petracca
Fol: Gawn, Vince, N Jones
Int: Brayshaw, Tyson, Pedersen, Kennedy


B: Bugg, O McDonald, White
HB: Grimes, Hulett, Terlich
C: M Jones, Oliver, Stretch
HF: Harmes, Dawes, Kennedy Harris
F: Max King, Weideman, Newton
Fol: Spencer, Michie*, Neal-Bullen
Int: Mitchell King, Rookie 6, Hunt, Trengove

 

[Cannon82]

Why is Vandenberg at CHF?
Why is Salem in the back pocket and Pedersen on the HBF?

Edit: * it, don't know how to skip to the video time.

 

[steve0908]

B: Jetta, Dunn, Garland
HB: Lumumba, Frost, Salem
C: Watts, Vandenberg, Melksham
HF: Kent, T McDonald, Viney
F: Garlett, Hogan, Petracca
Fol: Gawn, Vince, N Jones
Int: Brayshaw, Tyson, Oliver, Trengrove


B: O McDonald, Pedersen, White
HB: Bugg, Hulett, Stretch
C: M Jones, Grimes, Kennedy
HF: Harmes, Dawes, Kennedy Harris
F: Max King, Weideman, Newton
Fol: Spencer, Michie*, Neal-Bullen
Int: Mitchell King, Rookie 6, Hunt, Terlicb (QUOTE]

 

[MUYB]

Pretty happy to not just automatically be chucking our top two draft picks into the best 22 personally.

 

[Sellout Scully]

I'm happy for Weideman to play all of 2016 in the VFL. Any AFL games he plays will be a bonus. The guy has come off some serious injuries. No need to rush him.

King I expect won't play for a few years unless we have a freak injury crisis.

Hulett I think could do an Oscar McDonald and play a few games late. I reckon he'll come back to fitness quicker than Weideman. I see him potentially playing a Cam Pedersen type role.

Oliver will be pressing his case early. I think he'll spend most of this pre-season getting fitter, though hopefully he does not break down trying to overdo it or get screwed over by Misson. Question is how many big bodied players can we play at once. Someone might get squeezed out. Vanders, Harmes, who knows.

 

[Jeremy Allen]

I'll have a go

B: Garland, Dunn, Jetta
HB: Trengove (if he's fully fit), T Mac, Melksham
C: Brayshaw, Vince, Salem
HF: Petracca, Dawes (can't wait for Weideman to replace him), Oliver
F: Garlett, Hogan, Watts
R: Gawn, Viney, Jones
Bench: Tyson, Vanders, Kent, Grimes

Unlucky to miss out: Frost, Bugg, Kennedy, Newton, Stretch, ANB, Lumumba
Will be in the side in time: Weideman, O Mac
Who shouldn't play again: M Jones, Terlich, Spencer
Others I don't rate: Harmes, Pederson

 

[TheDarkDwarf]

I'm happy for Weideman to play all of 2016 in the VFL. Any AFL games he plays will be a bonus. The guy has come off some serious injuries. No need to rush him.

King I expect won't play for a few years unless we have a freak injury crisis.

Hulett I think could do an Oscar McDonald and play a few games late. I reckon he'll come back to fitness quicker than Weideman. I see him potentially playing a Cam Pedersen type role.

Oliver will be pressing his case early. I think he'll spend most of this pre-season getting fitter, though hopefully he does not break down trying to overdo it or get screwed over by Misson. Question is how many big bodied players can we play at once. Someone might get squeezed out. Vanders, Harmes, who knows.

Yes, but what a great situation to be in (finally).

 

[Sir Hugh Percy]

I'll have a go

B: Garland, Dunn, Jetta
HB: Trengove (if he's fully fit), T Mac, Melksham
C: Brayshaw, Vince, Salem
HF: Petracca, Dawes (can't wait for Weideman to replace him), Oliver
F: Garlett, Hogan, Watts
R: Gawn, Viney, Jones
Bench: Tyson, Vanders, Kent, Grimes

Unlucky to miss out: Frost, Bugg, Kennedy, Newton, Stretch, ANB, Lumumba
Will be in the side in time: Weideman, O Mac
Who shouldn't play again: M Jones, Terlich, Spencer
Others I don't rate: Harmes, Pederson

Not trying to be argumentative and welcome different views, but I rate Harmes over ANB and Stretch, and Pederson over Dawes.

 

[Djcjdees]

This side is getting harder to pick though, which is a good sign. M Jones and Terlich are the only two guys that should never be selected again (Dawes gets a pass because we need KPF depth), compared to about half a dozen guys in that category at the start of 2014.

This is what i was trying to say when everyone was losing their shizen over trading in players like Melksham. The idea is that if we can't get ourselves a superstar, we upgrade the bottom part of the list so that amount of times per season that we have to dip into the MJones/RoBails/Terlichs barrel is greatly diminished.

You can see that this has happened now. It is indeed much more difficult to pick a side than it has been over the last 7 or 8 years. There's starting to be genuine competition for spots too which is really important I think.

My team:
B: Garland Dunn Jetta
HB: Salem TMac Lafumbles
C: Vince Brayshaw AVB
HF: Watts Pedersen Kent
F: Garlett Hogan Kennedy
R: Gawn Viney Jones

Int: Tyson Melksham Bugg Harmes

Gets tough towards the end, which is why the bench is a little odd. I think Stretch is the unluckiest in this side. He was really good I thought last year for an 18 year old. Just can't see Lufountaingate not getting picked in the side. There is surely no way Dawes misses out either, but I have Pedersen way above Dawes. He has to get fit though. But it is good that we have genuine competition for the CHF spot and HBF spots.

I picked Kennedy because I saw him play in the VFL a few times and think he will complement Garlett really well. That would be a dangerous forward line I think (which we had anyway - conversions per entry were pretty good). Hogan taking pack marks, Watts leading out (and someone actually spotting him up), and the two speedsters at their feet. Then Kent punching through the HF forward line with speed. Tough to match up on, surely.

Midfield is pretty solid with a good mix of experience and youth. I didn't pick Petracca because I haven't seen him play but expect him to at some point be in there. That is important too because I feel like we played Brayshaw too much last year. He looked cooked at times, even though he was brilliant. Being able to rotate your youngsters is crucial. That is how Melksham and Bugg will help out too.

We are still probably an A-grade midfielder short to my mind, and a gun CHF. I always thought the best opposition player was meant to be the CHF when i was growing up. Pedersen is good when on song, but he'd be far from our best player. And Dawes... I guess that's why we got Weideman though.

 

[LeverPuller]

Reckon Billy will start to really challenge for the 2nd HBF slot or a wing spot later in the year. Just needs more size on him, he's a bloody rake.

 

[LeverPuller]

Okay...let's have another crack.

Bold is a lock.

B: Jetta Dunn Garland
HB: Melksham McDonald Salem
C: Lumumba Jones Vince
HF: Petracca Pedersen Watts
F: Garlett Hogan Kent
R: Gawn Viney Tyson
Int: Brayshaw Bugg vdB Frost

The real competition is in the midfield spots. I see all of Brayshaw, Lumumba, Bugg, vdB, Watts and Petracca possible midfield replacements. Melksham too, due to the nature of what we're looking for off a HBF.

Kent could be replaced although he's first-choice in my mind, someone coming through and dominating would pressure him.

Pedersen obviously expendable. Becomes a structural thing. I think we run with 7 talls structurally - 3 def, 2 FWD, 1 ruck and 1 resting. The resting rotates with the ruck and the non-Hogan forward. Wouldn't want to go any taller. And no, Watts does not count as a tall.

By the end of 2016 it's going to be a massive grunt battle in the middle. Might mean Trengove comes back on the outside, which wouldn't be bad at all.