Prediction Best 22 R1 2019

Remove this Banner Ad

_Maximus_12

Premiership Player
Jul 20, 2007
3,175
13,357
Victoria
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
LA Lakers
Pretty standard response by the club and given last years statements they’d be better off saying nothing.
Form will dictate who gets in otherwise our selection is a massive fail already.
And the only form to go off for Round 1 for both Bruce and McCartin, is preseason form..
 
And the only form to go off for Round 1 for both Bruce and McCartin, is preseason form..

Yeah sure , if we had Chris Judd on the list we'd pick Geary first cos of preseason form. :drunk:

If Bruce is fit he plays.

Will be Bruce , Membrey and THEN a player picked on pre-season form.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Roadto2018

Club Legend
Oct 9, 2014
1,869
3,422
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Tottenham Hotspur FC
Gee didn't expect such a response, but anyway yeah that's what the coaches prefer at the moment, can always change of course just saying what I know to be the preferred setup.
 

saintkildaman

Brownlow Medallist
Jun 1, 2010
10,142
8,096
AFL Club
St Kilda
I’ll have an pre season crack;

B: Roberton, Brown, Geary
HB: Webster, Carlisle, McKenzie
C: Billings, Steele, Sinclair
HF: Membrey, Bruce, Kent
F: Long, McCartin, Gresham
R: Longer, Steven, Ross
Int: Lonie, Acres, Hannebery, Savage

I know this will be well off the mark but it’s my preference at this stage. Couple of tough ones.

Austin vs Brown. I prefer Austin as he’s shown plenty rebounding 50 and is a good size, would be ideal full back if he can fix a few defensive deficiencies. Wouldn’t be surprised at all if Brown got the nod as he looks fit and has experience.

McCartin/Bruce vs Marshall. 50/50 in my eyes, Roma gives us a decent second ruck and is versatile. Should play plent of game next year, however I have to back in Paddy and hope he will be our Tom Hawkins. Bruce will bounce back, confident he will star next year.

Savage gets my last spot on the bench as I think his kicking could be very important in our ball movment next year. Battle, Coffield, Clark, Young, Parker could all replace him.
 
We need it least 3-4 fresh faces in round one IMO.

No point playing the same old players that git us the same old results.

Hannebery and Kent will possibly be in the team at least.
But what you said isn't true.
Players like Sinclair, Steele, Long..etc are of an age where they can still improve dramatically.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

VDS66

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 4, 2011
21,166
55,141
AFL Club
St Kilda
True, but so 17 other clubs would say the same. We need to have an instant improvement on last year.
We have been killed on the spread and lack of front half pressure.

So you need players who will address these problems.

Apart from Gresh we have no real star power up forward, so we need Long to step up with the addition of Kent plus one of the few guys.

Lonie isn't the answer IMO.

Hind on the wing gives us a new dimension, if he is good enough.

Anyway my original point was we can't assume players will automatically improve... We said that last year and it didn't happen.
 
True, but so 17 other clubs would say the same. We need to have an instant improvement on last season.

17 other clubs did not have as young a playing group as StKilda.
This is the way i see our list.
Bolded players have the most potential to improve our performance in 2019.

Older players and probably my first choice for their roles.
Carlisle - is good but probably won't improve much.
Steven -Is good but at an age where he won't improve much.
Ross - Good but probably hitting his peak now.
Geary - Solid player, no improvement.
Roberton - Missing last year, if he plays we are stronger.
Brown - Should remain a solid choice down back.
Bruce - 2 goal a game player , underrated by a lot on BF injured for much of 2018.
Membrey - our best forward.
Webster - now a solid part of our back line, probably past his big improvement phase. ( but i hope he still gets better incrementally ).
Longer - Very hard to say if he'll help the team as much as Hickey did, ( Hickey was one of our highest contested ball winners ).

Players who aren't that good and probably won't get much better. Except for Longer/Pierce most of them have talented kids who will push them out eventually.
Savage- OK , I don't expect improvement.
Dunstan- OK , I don't expect remarkable improvement.
Newnes - His 2018 was terrible, he might go back to his 2017 form, which would help the team for sure ( if he's in the 22).
Armitage- Seems a shadow of his former self.
Longer - Very hard to say if he'll help the team as much as Hickey did, ( Hickey was one of our highest contested ball winners ).

Young players who have massive chances for improvement
Gresham - People forget how young he is , and he can still give a lot more.
Acres - so far has not fulfilled his potential, this year he needs to show us if he's worth keeping.
Steele - At 22 , there's a chance he will go to the next level.
Clarke - has played some nice games, its possible he will cement a spot in 2019 pushing out a lesser performing player.
Lonie - He's building himself up and was showing a lot more , if he doesn't get a gig it means one of the others is flying.
Battle/Marshall/McCartin are all of an age where they can improve, and we get to choose the best of the three
.
Billings - We haven't seen the best of him yet.
Sinclair didn't build on his 2017 season, 23 yo now, i'm confident he can show us some more.
McKenzie was starting to show us why he was selected, he has big potential.
Long has been improving his game and i'd like to think he'll be good for more than a goal a game.



Then the newer guys , who i wouldn't pick round one unless they are massive in the pre-season, and some of them have potential to be.
Austin, able to come in if needed to replace Carlisle , Brown, or a rebounding defender. Very good depth to have for now. May push Brown out.
Phillips, I don't see him as a match winner if he has to come in, but he can play a role without weakening the team too much. Still possible to make the 22.
White, a nice kick, but doesn't seem to be progressing at AFL level, prove me wrong Brandon.
Coffield, has played some nice footy, I don't expect him to do too much in 2019, but he's a possibility to come in and be better than Savage, Sinclair or Newnes.
Rice, good depth in the back line, not sure if he will get to a level we need for our 22.
Clavarino, Has bulked up and kept his pace, don't know if he'll play much of a role in 2019, but its good we have someone better than Joyce for backup.
Paton, Didn't look out of place when he got a game, but still needs to improve a fair bit at VFL level. New recruits may make it harder to get a game.
Pierce, I don't think he's pushed Longer out just yet, but certainly a chance.
King. Probably needs to build up his tank a fair bit. If he gets a run in 2019 its probably just to keep you lot appeased.
Bytel. Needs to recover from his injury and get some games and fitness.
Parker/Young. Hopefully will be in a position to seriously compete for a spot with Kent, Lonie, Long
Hind: May be able to push the likes of Newnes, Savage, or Sinclair out of the squad if they don't keep on their toes.
Wilkie : Another mature ager may be able to beat Brandon White to the selection table.
 
I think we’re kidding ourselves if we think all these new forwards are going to make it, so the way I see it it will be Long, Lonie, Kent, Parker, Hind and Young fighting over 3-4 spots. Obviously Billings and Gresham just play if fit.

My way too early prediction is we’ll see something like this:

FB: Geary Brown McKenzie
HB: Webster Carlisle Roberton
C: Hannebery Steele Billings
HF: Kent Bruce Gresham
F: Membrey Paddy Long

R: Longer Steven Ross

Int: Parker, Hind, Savage, Sinclair

Paddy seems to get first crack at that last tall forward spot every year so can’t see that changing.

Longer will probably play ruck because Richo.

Hind’s blistering pace almost makes him a lock for such a super slow team. Wing and half back are full so wouldn’t surprise me to see him forward a lot of the time.
 

luca77

Club Legend
Sep 5, 2010
2,310
7,595
Japan
AFL Club
St Kilda
I think we’re kidding ourselves if we think all these new forwards are going to make it, so the way I see it it will be Long, Lonie, Kent, Parker, Hind and Young fighting over 3-4 spots. Obviously Billings and Gresham just play if fit.

My way too early prediction is we’ll see something like this:

FB: Geary Brown McKenzie
HB: Webster Carlisle Roberton
C: Hannebery Steele Billings
HF: Kent Bruce Gresham
F: Membrey Paddy Long

R: Longer Steven Ross

Int: Parker, Hind, Savage, Sinclair

Paddy seems to get first crack at that last tall forward spot every year so can’t see that changing.

Longer will probably play ruck because Richo.

Hind’s blistering pace almost makes him a lock for such a super slow team. Wing and half back are full so wouldn’t surprise me to see him forward a lot of the time.
Acres?
 
Apr 5, 2016
3,429
9,119
Everywhere
AFL Club
St Kilda
It will be interesting to see how Hannebrey & Kent fit into the side. Plus seeing what the new mature aged recruits offer.

Billings and Gresham have been ear marked to play more midfield. The team was screaming for more mid rotations during the past season. I can see Parker and Hind competing for wing positions which at the very least gives us some outside speed.

Kent and Young have said they wanted to play a midfield/forward role, which will give the coaches plenty of options in the midfield. Finding the right mix will hopefully keep the coaches busy.

My concern is the same players being trusted by the head coach to get the role done. Hopefully Richo has learnt he cant keep going back to slow midfielders regardless of their seniorority. Allow the new coaching group some room to try different players thru the middle and build a strong midfield group.
 
Oct 2, 2010
19,485
69,933
AFL Club
St Kilda
I think there is going to be some massive selection dilemmas this year - especially in the forward line and for me the fact that my first 2 picked next year is Battle and Long that only makes the job harder !!


*yep - first 2 Battle and Long
presuming Gresham and Billings are being picking in your midfield, how are those two ranked before Membrey?
 

VDS66

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 4, 2011
21,166
55,141
AFL Club
St Kilda
Mids who either stagnated or were inconsistent this year will struggle for a spot IMO.

Guys like Dunstan and Dave for example even Savage and Sincs.

We have deliberately recruited leg speed so let's see if they get the nod ahead of a few regular guys.

We might even see players moved around and push out others with less speed and foot skills.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back