Rankin_1925
Club Legend
I'll take 120 mins, 30+ possessions and 2 goals from Stokes over 40 minutes, 15 possessions and a goal any day. I think there's a misplaced perception that the sub is a panacea, whereas in reality he's in the last four (and usually the last) picked. If we are relying on one to do the job in the last 40 minutes that twenty-one should have done in the first 80 minutes, then there's a problem. Pick the best twenty-one to play the maximum game time possible - the sub is overrated as a 'tactical weapon'.So who's left? I'd say with the likely inclusions of Christensen and Blicavs and the omissions of Hartman and one of the rucks, it would be Caddy, Horlin-Smith, Varcoe, Kelly, Duncan, Christensen and maybe Stokes and Bartel from our best 22. I remember the game against North at the start of last year, where Stokes started as the sub and pretty much played the perfect sub's game. I don't think he's ever played as the sub again. He might be considered to be too good a player now and fair enough, but I think there's something to be said for looking at that Stokes game as the blueprint of what you want from the sub, rather than looking at it as 'WTF was he doing in the green vest in the first place?'
A lot of the players mentioned above can rack up big disposal and tackle numbers in a hurry. Many can also go forward and kick goals. Personally, I'd like to see whether a player that tends to drift in and out of games like Varcoe might still be able to get his usual dozen or so disposals, several tackles and kick a goal, if he's only given 30% or so of the game to make his mark. I'd like to see what Kelly would do in that role. And we have seen GHS and Christensen have outstanding games as the sub in the past.