Opinion Best 22 in 2023

[Larry Donohue]

Kolo SDK Bews
Stewart Henry Zuthrie
Smith Blicavs Holmes
Miers Cameron Rohan
Stengle Hawkins Close
Stanley Dangerfield Guthrie
Tuohy O'Connor Duncan Atkins
Em Bruhn O. Henry Bowes Sav (sub)

 

[Cattery]

Menegola?
He’s cooked IMO and will be gone at season’s end.

Menegola?
Can't be serious.
No preseason, no fitness, no form, very little chance, sadly

Which is why I said "depending on availability" IF he returns shortly after the bye (no idea if he will) gets games under his belt and shows some form he's in.

Need to remember that Parfitt was the sub in last years premiership team, while O'Connor was in the starting 22

You've kinda promoted Parfitt while demoting O'Connor, and until the last couple of weeks when he's been moved more into the guts more so as a means of being an experienced body in there, he was putting together a pretty solid season

Don't think going from sub to out of the side altogether is a promotion.
As for OÇonnor, not saying he's been poor by any means, but with a back six of Bews, De Koning, Kolodjashnij, Stewart, Henry and Guthrie, plus Duncan and Tuohy, I don't see a place for him there, which means he fighting for a spot with the other four I named.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Kolo SDK Bews
Stewart Henry Zuthrie
Smith Blicavs Holmes
Miers Cameron Rohan
Stengle Hawkins Close
Stanley Dangerfield Guthrie
Tuohy O'Connor Duncan Atkins
Em Bruhn O. Henry Bowes Sav (sub)

This is the GF 22... just with Holmes coming in for Selwood.

I'd say it's just about the best starting point and the side most would have had prior to R1.

Maybe if Bowes was running around fully fit and getting the best out of himself he could take MOC's spot.

Otherwise, Sav and Ollie Henry could be argued by some that they could come in but either coming in changes the structure of the forward or backline.

Bowes (if in form) is maybe a better player than MOC and it's just a utility-type player upgrade that doesn't affect team structure.

Funny how nothing much has changed from the start of the year except a bazillion injuries and Parf dropping out of the sub spot (which he really only got due to the Holmes hammy anyway).

 

[longtimecat]

if your picking a team on form rather than reputation Sav must be included.

 

[terry_bright]

My 2 cents if all available

B Bews SDK Kolo
HB Stewart Sav Bowes
C Smith Danger Holmes
F Miers Cameron Close
FF Rohan Hawkins Stengle
F Stanley Blicavs C.Guthrie
Int MOC Duncan Atkins J.Henry
Sub Tuohy

Em O.Henry Bruhn Z.Guthrie

Tuohy i like as a sub with his versatlity.
Zuthrie, Bews have been down this year are far from locks. I think Bowes can play Zuthrie's role and can go through the midfield.
O'Connor was in good form until the mids all got injured and was ask to take on a role he wasn't suited to and his game suffered. Mids come back and he goes back to the role he had at the start of the year and hopefully his form picks up.
Can't see how Sav doesn't play. Along with Stewart, held our defence together early doors without Henry, Kolo & SDK.
Ollie Henry desperately unlucky but who do you drop from forward line?
Bruhn is improving and could easily be in the team. For who is the question. Atkins, Bews, Bowes, Tuohy, MOC, C.Guthrie if he doesn't return by the finals?

In all honesty 2 or 3 players might be missing from your best team so the emergencies could well play.

Knevitt, Ceglar, Mullin, Parfitt would round the squad out to 30.

The biggest issue with my best 22, and all others I see here, is a lack of pace. Particularly from defence.
That's why I can see Mullin being given plenty of game time and could be in the best 23 by season's end.

 

[D BRIDGE]

The biggest issue with my best 22, and all others I see here, is a lack of pace. Particularly from defence.
That's why I can see Mullin being given plenty of game time and could be in the best 23 by season's end.

Pace is an issue for sure and Touhy is faster and a betterer kick than MOC (Touhy also is a designated kicker and has a habit of kicking goals) so I can't see MOC ever playing ahead of Touhy, especially if Duncan and Bowes are already in the side.

But 100% rebounding speed is an issue and when I see Rioli bouncing out of the D50 for the Tigers I always think "I wish we had that kind of speed".

 

[Jeff76]

Depends on the opposition, come time to play pies again no way we field Sav Stewie SDK Henry etc all together, Pies have to many good small forwards.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[DanA]

My 2 cents if all available

B Bews SDK Kolo
HB Stewart Sav Bowes
C Smith Danger Holmes
F Miers Cameron Close
FF Rohan Hawkins Stengle
F Stanley Blicavs C.Guthrie
Int MOC Duncan Atkins J.Henry
Sub Tuohy

Em O.Henry Bruhn Z.Guthrie

Tuohy i like as a sub with his versatlity.
Zuthrie, Bews have been down this year are far from locks. I think Bowes can play Zuthrie's role and can go through the midfield.
O'Connor was in good form until the mids all got injured and was ask to take on a role he wasn't suited to and his game suffered. Mids come back and he goes back to the role he had at the start of the year and hopefully his form picks up.
Can't see how Sav doesn't play. Along with Stewart, held our defence together early doors without Henry, Kolo & SDK.
Ollie Henry desperately unlucky but who do you drop from forward line?
Bruhn is improving and could easily be in the team. For who is the question. Atkins, Bews, Bowes, Tuohy, MOC, C.Guthrie if he doesn't return by the finals?

In all honesty 2 or 3 players might be missing from your best team so the emergencies could well play.

Knevitt, Ceglar, Mullin, Parfitt would round the squad out to 30.

The biggest issue with my best 22, and all others I see here, is a lack of pace. Particularly from defence.
That's why I can see Mullin being given plenty of game time and could be in the best 23 by season's end.

I have Zuthrie as a lock with Bowes pushing MOC out of the best 22.

To me the big decisions is Touhy or Bews (arguably depends on matchup) but Bews wouldn’t be the sub if he wasn’t starting. To me it comes down to O.Henry, MOC and Knevitt and how the two young guys progress over the course of the season but I like Henry for explosive impact.

In the perfect world I think we sub Stanley and move DeKoning to ruck for the last quarter adding fresh legs.

 

[you pick one]

Kolo SDK Bews

Tuohy Henry Stewart

Smith Atkins Duncan

Miers Cameron Rohan

Stengle Hawkins Close

Stanley Danger Blits

Int:Holmes O/Henry Bruhn MOC

sub Bowes

EM Sav Zuthrie Knevitt

Can't see Guthrie being back and up to scratch any time soon.

 

[moond0g]

This is the GF 22... just with Holmes coming in for Selwood.

I'd say it's just about the best starting point and the side most would have had prior to R1.

Maybe if Bowes was running around fully fit and getting the best out of himself he could take MOC's spot.

Otherwise, Sav and Ollie Henry could be argued by some that they could come in but either coming in changes the structure of the forward or backline.

Bowes (if in form) is maybe a better player than MOC and it's just a utility-type player upgrade that doesn't affect team structure.

Funny how nothing much has changed from the start of the year except a bazillion injuries and Parf dropping out of the sub spot (which he really only got due to the Holmes hammy anyway).

That's a good place to start. But you'd also hope that after 12 months some of the other players have improved to the point that they'd be able to dislodge some of the incumbents.

 

[Mr Meow]

Bonus! I'd go for Zuthrie then with MOC rotating through the midfield. Tempted to bring O.Henry in the main team but I think it makes sense to have the sub as an attacking weapon.

I don't think we need more than 3 tall defenders in the team. I know Kolo has had the ability to play tall or small, but these days I wouldn't play him on quick medium sized forwards. It's a close call for me between him and Sav and may depend on the opposition, but I'm just too much of a fan of Esava when you look at what he's achieved in the first half of the season.

J.Henry hasn't played many games in 2023 but he is absolutely pivotal if injury-free. Kolo is solid as a rock. You know what you're gonna get. Sav may be a little more unpredictable, but he could be a match winner for us if it comes down to influencing some key contests.

0 and I mean 0% chance Kolo is dropped. People have been talking about it for years, it was always nonsense, and his spot is now more assured then ever. You simply have to try again.

 

[CatRiot]

if your picking a team on form rather than reputation Sav must be included.

0 and I mean 0% chance Kolo is dropped. People have been talking about it for years, it was always nonsense, and his spot is now more assured then ever. You simply have to try again.

Our defence appears more organised with Kolo and SDK as the main pillars of defence, and J Henry and T Stewart as playing the third/fourth talls. I thought Esava is pretty good when our chips were down but for some reason I don't think the defence is as well coordinated with him as the FB. I also fear the way he crashes into packs, that he might crash into our own players as collateral damage. Having said that, he is probably too good for VFL only and backup, and he might end up being excellent trade bait at end of year even without a contract. Right now he's worth a pick in the 20-25 range even without a contract. Is that worthy of trade, probably not. I'm not sure we can play with SDK, Kolo and Esava. Not unless we can work out a way of playing Esava down back and in the ruck, given Cegs can only give us 50-70% game time max. The other thing is we can play Esava as the Sub, though this isn't usually ideal. Sometimes its better to have a "running" type that can come on as the Sub.

 

[Warhorse]

Kolo SDK Bews
Stewart Henry Zuthrie
Smith Blicavs Holmes
Miers Cameron Rohan
Stengle Hawkins Close
Stanley Dangerfield Guthrie
Tuohy O'Connor Duncan Atkins
Em Bruhn O. Henry Bowes Sav (sub)

Probably our best side - main issue is the number of defenders

 

[Larry Donohue]

Probably our best side - main issue is the number of defenders

Fair point
I'd play Oconnor more as a defensive wing when Smith has a spell
Arguments for emergencies there too

 

[Mr Meow]

Fair point
I'd play Oconnor more as a defensive wing when Smith has a spell
Arguments for emergencies there too

Either way they will have 7 players in forward roles like every other year. Last year we got it with Smith mostly. It may be that Smith rotates half forward once again or Duncan ends up that creative half forward player. Maybe Tuohy at times. The other way they will go is simply backing in O.Henry. Either are plausible.

 

[longtimecat]

Our defence appears more organised with Kolo and SDK as the main pillars of defence, and J Henry and T Stewart as playing the third/fourth talls. I thought Esava is pretty good when our chips were down but for some reason I don't think the defence is as well coordinated with him as the FB. I also fear the way he crashes into packs, that he might crash into our own players as collateral damage. Having said that, he is probably too good for VFL only and backup, and he might end up being excellent trade bait at end of year even without a contract. Right now he's worth a pick in the 20-25 range even without a contract. Is that worthy of trade, probably not. I'm not sure we can play with SDK, Kolo and Esava. Not unless we can work out a way of playing Esava down back and in the ruck, given Cegs can only give us 50-70% game time max. The other thing is we can play Esava as the Sub, though this isn't usually ideal. Sometimes its better to have a "running" type that can come on as the Sub.

I believe we need to see several games with Sav and SDK as our key backs, they havent had much time playing together and we need to let them settle in to the roles, I see that combination being our future.

 

[Footy Smarts]

The starting point is clearly last year's GF 22 with Holmes for Selwood.

Ratugolea is the most likely outside of that team. He either plays ahead of a defender (could be any of Bews, SDK, MOC, Zuthrie, Henry, etc although all of them would be stiff). The other option is Blicavs rucks and one of SDK, Sav and Henry chops out as backup ruck. I think Stanley is our best option but if he struggles for form or fitness I'd expect us to go with this option on a bigger ground ahead of Ceglar if everyone else is available.

Bowes is a chance but is really just competing with those other defenders for a spot. I don't see us picking him as an inside mid. He needs to usurp Bews, MOC, Zuthrie, etc. On early season form I'd play him ahead of Bews but I expect Bews to improve from here.

Bruhn is probably behind our other inside mids. But he's likely first cab off the rank if one of them is injured (eg Guthrie doesn't get back). Holmes is more versatile on the outside so we could play Bruhn and shift out a winger instead. On current form I think Bruhn is the one who misses though.

Knevitt is the other option instead of Bruhn and might be preferred as the sub due to more flexibility. He's playing well but again I think he gets squeezed out on current form.

With O Henry I think it's him against Rohan and I doubt we pick both in our best 22. Rohan's defensive harassing puts him ahead for mine but sub is a possibility.

 

[Vdubs]

The starting point is clearly last year's GF 22 with Holmes for Selwood.

Ratugolea is the most likely outside of that team. He either plays ahead of a defender (could be any of Bews, SDK, MOC, Zuthrie, Henry, etc although all of them would be stiff). The other option is Blicavs rucks and one of SDK, Sav and Henry chops out as backup ruck. I think Stanley is our best option but if he struggles for form or fitness I'd expect us to go with this option on a bigger ground ahead of Ceglar if everyone else is available.

Bowes is a chance but is really just competing with those other defenders for a spot. I don't see us picking him as an inside mid. He needs to usurp Bews, MOC, Zuthrie, etc. On early season form I'd play him ahead of Bews but I expect Bews to improve from here.

Bruhn is probably behind our other inside mids. But he's likely first cab off the rank if one of them is injured (eg Guthrie doesn't get back). Holmes is more versatile on the outside so we could play Bruhn and shift out a winger instead. On current form I think Bruhn is the one who misses though.

Knevitt is the other option instead of Bruhn and might be preferred as the sub due to more flexibility. He's playing well but again I think he gets squeezed out on current form.

With O Henry I think it's him against Rohan and I doubt we pick both in our best 22. Rohan's defensive harassing puts him ahead for mine but sub is a possibility.

You did not mention Parfitt.

 

[Footy Smarts]

You did not mention Parfitt.

Parfitt is miles off it right now and Menegola can't get on the ground. They both need a huge turnaround from here to make the team. If they come good it's a bonus but they're not in my plans at the moment.

I also didn't mention Simpson who I like but see clearly behind our best 3 small forwards. I think he's a possible sub but it's hard to see how he makes our best 22 barring injury.

 

[Vdubs]

Parfitt is miles off it right now and Menegola can't get on the ground. They both need a huge turnaround from here to make the team. If they come good it's a bonus but they're not in my plans at the moment.

I also didn't mention Simpson who I like but see clearly behind our best 3 small forwards. I think he's a possible sub but it's hard to see how he makes our best 22 barring injury.

Thought you were basing the team on the 22 flag team minus Selwood

 

[Footy Smarts]

Thought you were basing the team on the 22 flag team minus Selwood

For the best 22. I want thinking of Parfitt but clearly he's a long way back in the queue right now

 

[Vdubs]

For the best 22. I want thinking of Parfitt but clearly he's a long way back in the queue right now

Yes, just your wording, 22 team minus Selwood, add Holmes.
I was just saying that team had Parfitt

 

[D BRIDGE]

Yes, just your wording, 22 team minus Selwood, add Holmes.
I was just saying that team had Parfitt

Parf was the 23rd player in that side. Wasn't best 22 and really only was 23rd due to the Holmes injury.

 

[Rosso]

The whole Sav debate is more about team balance than form. Last year was the first year that we actually got it right. We've been too tall and probably too slow for a number of years. And playing an extra defender where as our opponents went with an extra mid.

Yes Sav's form warrants a spot but one of DK, Kola or Jack probably need to make way for team balance.

Still plenty of time to get the right mix and actual form come the end of the season will be the definitive guide.

 

[Vdubs]

Parf was the 23rd player in that side. Wasn't best 22 and really only was 23rd due to the Holmes injury.

yes, but he was in the team he is referring to; Selwood out, Holmes in, still leaves Parf in that team.