Training Hawthorn intra-club, Latrobe Uni, 5pm Wednesday 15th

[HomerJayS]

Worpel is competing with Nash, Day, Ward, Maginess, Newcombe, Stephens and MacDonald for a role through the middle.

And MacKenzie, Long and Hustwaite

 

[Mercy Seat]

I reckon the only real locks are, Sicily, Hardwick, Newk, Amon, Moore and Breust. The rest of the spots are up for grabs.

Well he shouldn’t be in the leadership group then. We have the thinnest on-field leadership stocks for nearly 20 years, we shouldn’t be giving such critical roles to blokes because they’re good at training.

 

[chopflop]

As an aside, if the backline was secure, just let me say, we are spending an inordinate amount of time looking to secure a FA KPD.

A move that is frankly good list management and makes a lot of sense. I do believe we will look at one of our back man and try and make them a fwd. All of Frost, Dimma, Scrim, DGB, Imps, had stellar fwd careers as juniors and beyond. Frankly, it to makes sense.

Plenty of rooms for two big Macs i reckon

 

[KermitJagger]

If Scrimshaw is our worry, we're in a pretty good spot.

It's not a worry, I made a pretty innocuous comment that he might not be a lock in our best 22 and then it spiralled to this point 10 pages later. It was just interesting to me that everyone had him on field, best 22, set and forget.

Our defensive unit is in a great spot, if every line in our team had the talent we do back there we'd be top 4 with a bullet. That's why I felt Scrimshaw needs to continue to improve for him to remain in the team, as he's coasted at relatively the same level for a few years with the same obvious weaknesses. He needs to stay ahead of pretty strong competition to remain in the team.

He needs to be looking at someone like Tom Stewart and doing everything possible to reach that level. I think everyone knows he's capable of becoming an even better player, in which case he'd definitely be a best 22 if not best 18 lock. It's just a question of whether he will or not.

Officially, dead horse = beaten.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Scrim is - at a minimum - on a par with all of those guys, bar Sicily. It is very, very even. In my opinion he is an important piece of the puzzle moving forward.

If we were to look at all our entire backline group (Impey, Sicily, CJ, Hardwick, Frost, Day, Blank, DGB and Scrimshaw) over say a 4 year period and rank them by consistency its obviously Sicily number 1 and then I would have Hardwick/Scrimshaw equal second. In fact I would almost have Scrimmers as marginally ahead of Hardwick in this regard.

As such those three players (Sic, Hardwick and Scrimmers) are my first three picked every week in the backline.

CJ would probably be my next picked based on his run and carry and how important it is to our gamestyle.

Then I would have Impey in as he is a weapon when he is in form (only if he is fit though).

Last picked would be between Blank/DGB/Frost.

Day on the bench/wing rotating off half back..

Apropos of nothing.....

 

[TheFourPillars]

The order in which I would pick our backline given Frost is part of the leadership group and the current pre-season.

Sicily, Dimma, Frost, CJ, Impey and Blanck. CJ and Impey have really formed a great partnership and understanding over this pre-season. Impey is fit and firing, and he also is capable of defending well. Blanck is our KP he will be defending the big fellas along with Frost who is versatile and cover smalls as well depending on match ups and that's how the intras have gone. CJ speaks for himself the impetus for attack from our backline if he is playing well, we are attacking with speed. Dimma is our most reliable small defender. Sic the captain and our best player

 

[KermitJagger]

If we were to look at all our entire backline group (Impey, Sicily, CJ, Hardwick, Frost, Day, Blank, DGB and Scrimshaw) over say a 4 year period and rank them by consistency its obviously Sicily number 1 and then I would have Hardwick/Scrimshaw equal second. In fact I would almost have Scrimmers as marginally ahead of Hardwick in this regard.

As such those three players (Sic, Hardwick and Scrimmers) are my first three picked every week in the backline.

CJ would probably be my next picked based on his run and carry and how important it is to our gamestyle.

Then I would have Impey in as he is a weapon when he is in form (only if he is fit though).

Last picked would be between Blank/DGB/Frost.

Day on the bench/wing rotating off half back..

Apropos of nothing.....

Ahead of Hardwick? You're not serious?

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Ahead of Hardwick? You're not serious?

Hardwick has been great the last two years but he had a bit of a down year in 2020.

Like I said I am taking a 4 year sample size and Scrimshaw has been super consistent for us in that time.

I'm an unabashed fan of Jack's, he has been absolutely top value for us from the moment he moved to us from the Suns.

 

[SSSSSS]

I'd love to see Scrimmers playing the Stewie Dew role. Just plonk him on a half forward flank and have him deliver the ball inside 50 5 or 6 times a game. Get him on the pizzas and we'll have an unlikely bulky hero mk2.

 

[TheFourPillars]

Hardwick has been great the last two years but he had a bit of a down year in 2020.

Like I said I am taking a 4 year sample size and Scrimshaw has been super consistent for us in that time.

I'm an unabashed fan of Jack's, he has been absolutely top value for us from the moment he moved to us from the Suns.

I think you are being a tad biased mate. Hardwick would be in the top 5 maybe even top 3 picked on game day. Scrimshaw would not come close to that

 

[Mercy Seat]

Hardwick has been great the last two years but he had a bit of a down year in 2020.

Like I said I am taking a 4 year sample size and Scrimshaw has been super consistent for us in that time.

I'm an unabashed fan of Jack's, he has been absolutely top value for us from the moment he moved to us from the Suns.

Not that it means everything, but compare the BnF results:

2019 Dimma 5th / Jack 26th
2020 Dimma 15th / Jack 18th
2021 Dimma 2nd / Jack 12th
2022 Dimma 4th / Jack 10th

I just don't see how you have Jack in front.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Not that it means everything, but compare the BnF results:

2019 Dimma 5th / Jack 26th
2020 Dimma 15th / Jack 18th
2021 Dimma 2nd / Jack 12th
2022 Dimma 4th / Jack 10th

I just don't see how you have Jack in front.

I'm honestly surprised at those results.

Not so much Dimma finishing so high but the fact that Scrimmers has finished so low.

I've always thought though that our coaches love to give votes to hard nosed back pockets over flashy high marking half backs

 

[CHUBBSS]

T

Not that it means everything, but compare the BnF results:

2019 Dimma 5th / Jack 26th
2020 Dimma 15th / Jack 18th
2021 Dimma 2nd / Jack 12th
2022 Dimma 4th / Jack 10th

I just don't see how you have Jack in front.

The most important part about that are both are still improving, dimma maybe not so much but I reckon he has another level still

 

[Leather Poisoning]

I'm surprised at how readily people are putting Impey in our starting backline.

 

[SunshineHawkCal]

I'm surprised at how readily people are putting Impey in our starting backline.

Cause he will be, been consistent & is now apart of leadership group

 

[TheFourPillars]

I'm surprised at how readily people are putting Impey in our starting backline.

2023 Pre season. Last year he struggled through injury. He is fit and firing this year

 

[Mercy Seat]

I'm surprised at how readily people are putting Impey in our starting backline.

Played with loose screws in his foot last year. Has since had surgery and been one of our most impressive on the track all summer. Further to that, he's now part of the leadership group. Seems an absolute certainty.

 

[peetoo]

Arguably the most optimistic comparison to the 2006 list puts the list somewhere around then

The captain in 2006 was van den burg

 

[theiaofseed]

Played with loose screws in his foot last year. Has since had surgery and been one of our most impressive on the track all summer. Further to that, he's now part of the leadership group. Seems an absolute certainty.

Even before his foot injury and ACL his form hasn't been good enough to pencil him in.

 

[Sixpence]

Even before his foot injury and ACL his form hasn't been good enough to pencil him in.

Before his ACL, it absolutely was. From all reports, he sounds like he's back to that level.

 

[dommat]

Before his ACL, it absolutely was. From all reports, he sounds like he's back to that level.

Before his ACL injury he was on track for an All-Australian blazer.


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[eldorado]

Perhaps Impey may play more of a utility role, rather than straight HBF this year.

I can see him on a wing and a half forward line as well.

The reports sound as if he is back to what he was...remember how he was performing before he went down with a knee against Geelong?

 

[hawkman]

Before his ACL injury he was on track for an All-Australian blazer.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

Unlikely with these selectors

 

[GOHORCS]

.

He needs to be able to play in different parts of the ground, in different roles.

We're obviousky stacked with half-back flankers. Impey returning to defence and potentially back to his best places even more pressure on Scrimma.

With Frost and Blanck likely to play key position, Sicily slides to the role Scrimshaw likes to play. And does it much better.

People are not joining the dots on Bramble either. He's been getting some really strong praise from Mitchell and Simpson over pre-season.

I bet Sicily is relieved to be picked as captain, so he is more likely to be picked each week.
Only one backline spot is a lock. Hardwick is as certain as Collins, Langford, Ayers was in the 80's.

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[GOHORCS]

Agreed - and that’s a major problem we need to address.

Too many defenders who aren’t able to prevent an opponent getting the ball….because they want to attack all the time.

Need to get the balance right

The beauty is that we have a lot of options and can vary our back six with high quality choices according to the opposition team. A lot of teams only have a descending order of skilful players.

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