Analysis 2022 List, Game Plan and Best 22?

Feb 5, 2012
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How I think we should line up. I suspect we'll toss up Reid/Fox and Stephens/Wicks in a 3 tall attack/defence structure. In a 2 tall attack and defence it changes names around a little with Wicks in the side for Reid/Mcdonald. This is if there's 100% fitness and full list availability which never ever happens.


FB Reid - Rampe - Cunningham
HB Blakey - McCartin - Lloyd
C McInerney - Mills - Heeney
HF Hayward - Franklin - Gulden
F Ladhams - McDonald - Papley
R Hickey - Parker - Warner
INT Stephens - Rowbottom - Campbell - Kennedy
 

Kapers

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Not sure how Stephens gets a game in the best best 22 first up next season in front of wicks or Florent

despite not rating Florent myself I can’t see him not playing as he was top 10 bnf so coaches must rate him unfortunately
Yah, he needs a massive preseason to be in with a look.
 
How I think we should line up. I suspect we'll toss up Reid/Fox and Stephens/Wicks in a 3 tall attack/defence structure. In a 2 tall attack and defence it changes names around a little with Wicks in the side for Reid/Mcdonald. This is if there's 100% fitness and full list availability which never ever happens.


FB Reid - Rampe - Cunningham
HB Blakey - McCartin - Lloyd
C McInerney - Mills - Heeney
HF Hayward - Franklin - Gulden
F Ladhams - McDonald - Papley
R Hickey - Parker - Warner
INT Stephens - Rowbottom - Campbell - Kennedy

Fox instead of JPK coz we need a 7th defender

JPK will be the 23rd...
 
Fascininating if we drop the captain dont see it happening but dont disagree with your reasoning. I am just guessing what theyll do though with a couple of contingencies.

He is standing down
 
Re-watching our games this year (wins and losses; I treated the losses the same as I did from last year - as fun opportunities to watch the kids in action), one thing that struck me is how the side actually did change and evolve a whole lot over the course of the season in terms of personnel, and how every player who came into the side - good, bad or in between - was able to compliment our game style. Players not rated as highly, like McLean, Amartey, Bell, Stephens etc. - didn't always kill it, but they didn't feel like obstacles to our success either. The game plan just kept on rolling smoothly, no matter who was or wasn't in the side.

Guys like Campbell, Warner and McDonald felt like important parts of our early stretch of games when we went 3-0 and had great victories over Brisbane and Richmond; yet we didn't feel their absence at all when we won five in a row later in the season, including great victories over West Coast, the Bulldogs, GWS and Essendon.

By the same token, guys like Hayward & Blakey, who struggled early in the season (both were dropped - Hayward before round 1, Blakey after two months) became important parts of the five in a row stretch.

Logan had a turn with a decent stretch of games in the forward line, then McLean had a turn, then Amartey had a turn. We never missed the other two when one of them was having his turn.

Hewett wasn't even in the midfield until past the midway mark of the year, and when he went in he slotted in seamlessly. Similarly, Blakey and McInerney made such a smooth transition to half back that we were able to shift Dawson up the ground and again, we pulled it off seamlessly.

Players like Reid & Fox who seemed like they'd earned their way to near-undroppable status suddenly found themselves dropped (admittedly Reid was pretty ordinary post-injury) and their replacements (McLean & O'Riordan) slotted in seamlessly.

Hell, some of those great victories were won without noticing the absence of ******* Buddy Franklin at all - Brisbane, Richmond, Geelong.

Nearly every single player improved on their performances from previous years (even the much-maligned Bell), with only three exceptions that I can think of:

Rampe - He's forgiven. The bloke is 31 and has had the incredibly challenging task of taking opposition forwards way bigger than him week in, week out for years. It seems his days doing that are over, and he's owed that. If we can find someone else besides just McCartin to take the talls off his hands, then we can use him as something of a ball-winning rebounder where he'd be pretty damaging, so I wouldn't be sticking the fork in him just yet.

Rowbottom - Unless I imagined it, pretty sure Horse said that he'd done FA training throughout the season. So a 20 year old struggled while playing underdone. I'm shocked! No shame in that. Had a knee injury that still boggles the mind that it didn't end in an ACL. Somehow, we got 16 games out of him after that and his best ones - against Brisbane, against Geelong, against Melbourne, and against GWS in the final - seemed to come against the best sides and in big games, which is promising.

Stephens - Another that unless I imagined it, had a few injuries in the pre-season, which basically put him behind the pack at an important time of the year when the preferred 22 for the season is formed. It's possible that he may not have the natural confidence to thrive when looking over his shoulder. Playing a bit more free of expectations and pressure as a debutant in his first season seemed to suit him better. Hopefully fully fit and ready to go in the pre-season this year will help the young Padawan reload and go again.

I still think Hickey, Heeney & McCartin are the only three Swans who are irreplaceable, in the sense that I think we genuinely would struggle to be as effective a side without them there. Ladhams is a great pick-up because he may render Hickey 'replaceable' if he can work on his ruck craft enough.

Aside from that, we have a very flexible team that runs on a tight system and game-plan. Everyone who comes in seems to know how to work to that system and game-plan. We have a coaching team which pairs one of the most successful defensive coaches of the last decade with one of the most successful attacking coaches of the last decade. And the final variable is that we are the Bloods, and we make our name by actually giving a damn when we play and trying to do the name proud.

I see no reason we can't make finals again next year. As Kapers said in the draft thread, we finished five games clear of 9th place this year. If this year seemed too good to be true, then you better catch up to reality, because we've always had the winning culture, but now we are officially a winning team again, and this team is going places. It is simply a matter of when.

Sorry for the long, arduous and uncharacteristically optimistic rant, and again, thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
 
Oct 18, 2018
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Re-watching our games this year (wins and losses; I treated the losses the same as I did from last year - as fun opportunities to watch the kids in action), one thing that struck me is how the side actually did change and evolve a whole lot over the course of the season in terms of personnel, and how every player who came into the side - good, bad or in between - was able to compliment our game style. Players not rated as highly, like McLean, Amartey, Bell, Stephens etc. - didn't always kill it, but they didn't feel like obstacles to our success either. The game plan just kept on rolling smoothly, no matter who was or wasn't in the side.

Guys like Campbell, Warner and McDonald felt like important parts of our early stretch of games when we went 3-0 and had great victories over Brisbane and Richmond; yet we didn't feel their absence at all when we won five in a row later in the season, including great victories over West Coast, the Bulldogs, GWS and Essendon.

By the same token, guys like Hayward & Blakey, who struggled early in the season (both were dropped - Hayward before round 1, Blakey after two months) became important parts of the five in a row stretch.

Logan had a turn with a decent stretch of games in the forward line, then McLean had a turn, then Amartey had a turn. We never missed the other two when one of them was having his turn.

Hewett wasn't even in the midfield until past the midway mark of the year, and when he went in he slotted in seamlessly. Similarly, Blakey and McInerney made such a smooth transition to half back that we were able to shift Dawson up the ground and again, we pulled it off seamlessly.

Players like Reid & Fox who seemed like they'd earned their way to near-undroppable status suddenly found themselves dropped (admittedly Reid was pretty ordinary post-injury) and their replacements (McLean & O'Riordan) slotted in seamlessly.

Hell, some of those great victories were won without noticing the absence of ******* Buddy Franklin at all - Brisbane, Richmond, Geelong.

Nearly every single player improved on their performances from previous years (even the much-maligned Bell), with only three exceptions that I can think of:

Rampe - He's forgiven. The bloke is 31 and has had the incredibly challenging task of taking opposition forwards way bigger than him week in, week out for years. It seems his days doing that are over, and he's owed that. If we can find someone else besides just McCartin to take the talls off his hands, then we can use him as something of a ball-winning rebounder where he'd be pretty damaging, so I wouldn't be sticking the fork in him just yet.

Rowbottom - Unless I imagined it, pretty sure Horse said that he'd done FA training throughout the season. So a 20 year old struggled while playing underdone. I'm shocked! No shame in that. Had a knee injury that still boggles the mind that it didn't end in an ACL. Somehow, we got 16 games out of him after that and his best ones - against Brisbane, against Geelong, against Melbourne, and against GWS in the final - seemed to come against the best sides and in big games, which is promising.

Stephens - Another that unless I imagined it, had a few injuries in the pre-season, which basically put him behind the pack at an important time of the year when the preferred 22 for the season is formed. It's possible that he may not have the natural confidence to thrive when looking over his shoulder. Playing a bit more free of expectations and pressure as a debutant in his first season seemed to suit him better. Hopefully fully fit and ready to go in the pre-season this year will help the young Padawan reload and go again.

I still think Hickey, Heeney & McCartin are the only three Swans who are irreplaceable, in the sense that I think we genuinely would struggle to be as effective a side without them there. Ladhams is a great pick-up because he may render Hickey 'replaceable' if he can work on his ruck craft enough.

Aside from that, we have a very flexible team that runs on a tight system and game-plan. Everyone who comes in seems to know how to work to that system and game-plan. We have a coaching team which pairs one of the most successful defensive coaches of the last decade with one of the most successful attacking coaches of the last decade. And the final variable is that we are the Bloods, and we make our name by actually giving a damn when we play and trying to do the name proud.

I see no reason we can't make finals again next year. As Kapers said in the draft thread, we finished five games clear of 9th place this year. If this year seemed too good to be true, then you better catch up to reality, because we've always had the winning culture, but now we are officially a winning team again, and this team is going places. It is simply a matter of when.

Sorry for the long, arduous and uncharacteristically optimistic rant, and again, thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
Great Post 88!!

Rampe - He's forgiven. The bloke is 31 and has had the incredibly challenging task of taking opposition forwards way bigger than him week in, week out for years. It seems his days doing that are over, and he's owed that. If we can find someone else besides just McCartin to take the talls off his hands, then we can use him as something of a ball-winning rebounder where he'd be pretty damaging, so I wouldn't be sticking the fork in him just yet.

He even climbed a goalpost to demonstrate how tall some of the players were that he had to play on.

Legend!!:cool:
 

Bloods86

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Stephens - Another that unless I imagined it, had a few injuries in the pre-season, which basically put him behind the pack at an important time of the year when the preferred 22 for the season is formed. It's possible that he may not have the natural confidence to thrive when looking over his shoulder. Playing a bit more free of expectations and pressure as a debutant in his first season seemed to suit him better. Hopefully fully fit and ready to go in the pre-season this year will help the young Padawan reload and go again.
He got concussed in pre-season, don't think he played any of our pre-season games or trained properly for a while. It's what led me to think that he's either worried about it, or he was told to look after himself, and that might also explain some of his uncertainty. Maybe we focussed more on his outside development this year in response to it, who knows. I'm hoping we see more of 2020 Stephens, a bit more bulk behind him, with his attack at the contest and some dynamism.

Still, in response to some other posts, he's definitely outside the 22 for me in Round 1 based on form (and I'd be one of his staunchest defenders). All of Florent, Campbell, Wicks are ahead of him.
 
Still, in response to some other posts, he's definitely outside the 22 for me in Round 1 based on form (and I'd be one of his staunchest defenders). All of Florent, Campbell, Wicks are ahead of him.

I don't disagree. He would've probably had a guaranteed round 1 spot in the dumpster fire team that is Collingwood had he agreed to go to them. So at the very least it shows he's made of the right stuff that he is willing to stay with us, in an environment that will be more competitive than at Collingwood. There's clearly a mental fortitude there that he just needs to harness when he's on the field.
 

Dubai Quacker

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Re-watching our games this year (wins and losses; I treated the losses the same as I did from last year - as fun opportunities to watch the kids in action), one thing that struck me is how the side actually did change and evolve a whole lot over the course of the season in terms of personnel, and how every player who came into the side - good, bad or in between - was able to compliment our game style. Players not rated as highly, like McLean, Amartey, Bell, Stephens etc. - didn't always kill it, but they didn't feel like obstacles to our success either. The game plan just kept on rolling smoothly, no matter who was or wasn't in the side.

Guys like Campbell, Warner and McDonald felt like important parts of our early stretch of games when we went 3-0 and had great victories over Brisbane and Richmond; yet we didn't feel their absence at all when we won five in a row later in the season, including great victories over West Coast, the Bulldogs, GWS and Essendon.

By the same token, guys like Hayward & Blakey, who struggled early in the season (both were dropped - Hayward before round 1, Blakey after two months) became important parts of the five in a row stretch.

Logan had a turn with a decent stretch of games in the forward line, then McLean had a turn, then Amartey had a turn. We never missed the other two when one of them was having his turn.

Hewett wasn't even in the midfield until past the midway mark of the year, and when he went in he slotted in seamlessly. Similarly, Blakey and McInerney made such a smooth transition to half back that we were able to shift Dawson up the ground and again, we pulled it off seamlessly.

Players like Reid & Fox who seemed like they'd earned their way to near-undroppable status suddenly found themselves dropped (admittedly Reid was pretty ordinary post-injury) and their replacements (McLean & O'Riordan) slotted in seamlessly.

Hell, some of those great victories were won without noticing the absence of ******* Buddy Franklin at all - Brisbane, Richmond, Geelong.

Nearly every single player improved on their performances from previous years (even the much-maligned Bell), with only three exceptions that I can think of:

Rampe - He's forgiven. The bloke is 31 and has had the incredibly challenging task of taking opposition forwards way bigger than him week in, week out for years. It seems his days doing that are over, and he's owed that. If we can find someone else besides just McCartin to take the talls off his hands, then we can use him as something of a ball-winning rebounder where he'd be pretty damaging, so I wouldn't be sticking the fork in him just yet.

Rowbottom - Unless I imagined it, pretty sure Horse said that he'd done FA training throughout the season. So a 20 year old struggled while playing underdone. I'm shocked! No shame in that. Had a knee injury that still boggles the mind that it didn't end in an ACL. Somehow, we got 16 games out of him after that and his best ones - against Brisbane, against Geelong, against Melbourne, and against GWS in the final - seemed to come against the best sides and in big games, which is promising.

Stephens - Another that unless I imagined it, had a few injuries in the pre-season, which basically put him behind the pack at an important time of the year when the preferred 22 for the season is formed. It's possible that he may not have the natural confidence to thrive when looking over his shoulder. Playing a bit more free of expectations and pressure as a debutant in his first season seemed to suit him better. Hopefully fully fit and ready to go in the pre-season this year will help the young Padawan reload and go again.

I still think Hickey, Heeney & McCartin are the only three Swans who are irreplaceable, in the sense that I think we genuinely would struggle to be as effective a side without them there. Ladhams is a great pick-up because he may render Hickey 'replaceable' if he can work on his ruck craft enough.

Aside from that, we have a very flexible team that runs on a tight system and game-plan. Everyone who comes in seems to know how to work to that system and game-plan. We have a coaching team which pairs one of the most successful defensive coaches of the last decade with one of the most successful attacking coaches of the last decade. And the final variable is that we are the Bloods, and we make our name by actually giving a damn when we play and trying to do the name proud.

I see no reason we can't make finals again next year. As Kapers said in the draft thread, we finished five games clear of 9th place this year. If this year seemed too good to be true, then you better catch up to reality, because we've always had the winning culture, but now we are officially a winning team again, and this team is going places. It is simply a matter of when.

Sorry for the long, arduous and uncharacteristically optimistic rant, and again, thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
Really nice summation. Just a couple of observations:

1. In a couple of games, the McLean / Buddy forward combo just didn't work. The Freo game was a case in point - when Buddy was negated, McLean was impotent. I'm yet to see either McDonald or Armatey "fail to impact" - I sense they both have higher ceilings that McLean.

2. I think Melican needs to be added to the list of players who didn't improve. Yes, injury played a part, but I'm still awaiting his "breakout season".

3. I'd put Lloyd in the "irreplaceable" basket at present. Fortunately, he's never needed replacing.
 
Really nice summation. Just a couple of observations:

1. In a couple of games, the McLean / Buddy forward combo just didn't work. The Freo game was a case in point - when Buddy was negated, McLean was impotent. I'm yet to see either McDonald or Armatey "fail to impact" - I sense they both have higher ceilings that McLean.

2. I think Melican needs to be added to the list of players who didn't improve. Yes, injury played a part, but I'm still awaiting his "breakout season".

3. I'd put Lloyd in the "irreplaceable" basket at present. Fortunately, he's never needed replacing.

I didn't love Logan's last few games before being dropped initially. He had 7 possessions, scoreless and 0 marks followed by 6 possessions, 1 behind and 0 marks. He might as well've not been out there. I wouldn't be hanging him for it, but I wouldn't be hanging McLean for his ineffective games either.

It's fair to say Melican didn't improve. It's also fair to say he didn't exactly regress, either. How can one judge a player on a season in which he only had two stretches of three consecutive games, four months apart, and the rest of the time he was injured? I think he's just a massive 'TBD' at this point.

And Lloyd is a gun but I would not say what he brings to the team on it's own is pivotal to the team's success. Same as Buddy, same as Parker, same as Kennedy, same as Mills, same as Papley. They are all guns but we can find others who do what they do, or at the least do a good enough job to keep the team ticking along. There is no one on our list who can compete in the ruck like Hickey (like I said, that could change with Ladhams), no one who can offer what Heeney does equally in the air and at ground level, and no one who can take a monster forward and give him a bath like McCartin. They are the ones who, without them, I think the team would be very different, and not in a good way.
 
Oct 18, 2018
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I didn't love Logan's last few games before being dropped initially. He had 7 possessions, scoreless and 0 marks followed by 6 possessions, 1 behind and 0 marks. He might as well've not been out there. I wouldn't be hanging him for it, but I wouldn't be hanging McLean for his ineffective games either.

It's fair to say Melican didn't improve. It's also fair to say he didn't exactly regress, either. How can one judge a player on a season in which he only had two stretches of three consecutive games, four months apart, and the rest of the time he was injured? I think he's just a massive 'TBD' at this point.

And Lloyd is a gun but I would not say what he brings to the team on it's own is pivotal to the team's success. Same as Buddy, same as Parker, same as Kennedy, same as Mills, same as Papley. They are all guns but we can find others who do what they do, or at the least do a good enough job to keep the team ticking along. There is no one on our list who can compete in the ruck like Hickey (like I said, that could change with Ladhams), no one who can offer what Heeney does equally in the air and at ground level, and no one who can take a monster forward and give him a bath like McCartin. They are the ones who, without them, I think the team would be very different, and not in a good way.
I would add Papley to that list. He turns games on his own consistently throughout the season.
He is not just another small forward.
He reinvigorates the team and really turns games through sheer persistence and skill.
 
Not sure if this has been posted, it's from about a month ago but I only just noticed it. AFL.com's predicted best 22 for us next year.

sydney.jpg

The Swans introduced some elite talent and discovered fresh roles for other young guns this year so are unlikely to shake up the side too much heading into next season. The departures of Jordan Dawson and George Hewett will hurt but they have the electrifying Nick Blakey and Justin McInerney to step in at half-back, and the robust James Rowbottom and Chad Warner ready for more time on the ball. Isaac Heeney will also play more midfield minutes and is set to be used off a wing while still pushing forward to be a goal threat. Expect more prominent roles for Braeden Campbell and Errol Gulden too. The Swans are well-stocked for forward/rucks especially after adding Peter Ladhams to a group that includes Hayden McLeanand Joel Amartey. Young tall Logan McDonald should have more opportunities in his second season. - Martin Pegan

B: Jake Lloyd, Dane Rampe, Harry Cunningham
HB: Nick Blakey, Tom McCartin, Justin McInerney
C: Oliver Florent, Callum Mills, Isaac Heeney
HF: Will Hayward, Logan McDonald, Errol Gulden
F: Tom Papley, Lance Franklin, Peter Ladhams
Foll: Tom Hickey, Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker
I/C: James Rowbottom, Chad Warner, Braeden Campbell, Sam Wicks

Emerg: Dylan Stephens, James Bell, Hayden McLean, Robbie Fox


FWIW I think they have got this almost spot on. I like that they have included Blakey & McInerney off half back. This shows the writer actually watches our games as blind Freddie could see how dangerous we were when those two were playing out of defence. I think we have plenty of speed and class around the midfield to not need them there. The one change I would make would be to have an extra defender in, either Melican/Fox/COR (or P. McCartin?) They can come in for a mid, as we probably have one too many in that team, so Campbell would probably be the one who misses (with Florent in the firing line if he doesn't pull his finger out.)
 
Not sure if this has been posted, it's from about a month ago but I only just noticed it. AFL.com's predicted best 22 for us next year.

sydney.jpg

The Swans introduced some elite talent and discovered fresh roles for other young guns this year so are unlikely to shake up the side too much heading into next season. The departures of Jordan Dawson and George Hewett will hurt but they have the electrifying Nick Blakey and Justin McInerney to step in at half-back, and the robust James Rowbottom and Chad Warner ready for more time on the ball. Isaac Heeney will also play more midfield minutes and is set to be used off a wing while still pushing forward to be a goal threat. Expect more prominent roles for Braeden Campbell and Errol Gulden too. The Swans are well-stocked for forward/rucks especially after adding Peter Ladhams to a group that includes Hayden McLeanand Joel Amartey. Young tall Logan McDonald should have more opportunities in his second season. - Martin Pegan

B: Jake Lloyd, Dane Rampe, Harry Cunningham
HB: Nick Blakey, Tom McCartin, Justin McInerney
C: Oliver Florent, Callum Mills, Isaac Heeney
HF: Will Hayward, Logan McDonald, Errol Gulden
F: Tom Papley, Lance Franklin, Peter Ladhams
Foll: Tom Hickey, Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker
I/C: James Rowbottom, Chad Warner, Braeden Campbell, Sam Wicks

Emerg: Dylan Stephens, James Bell, Hayden McLean, Robbie Fox


FWIW I think they have got this almost spot on. I like that they have included Blakey & McInerney off half back. This shows the writer actually watches our games as blind Freddie could see how dangerous we were when those two were playing out of defence. I think we have plenty of speed and class around the midfield to not need them there. The one change I would make would be to have an extra defender in, either Melican/Fox/COR (or P. McCartin?) They can come in for a mid, as we probably have one too many in that team, so Campbell would probably be the one who misses (with Florent in the firing line if he doesn't pull his finger out.)

Agree about the need for an additional defender. Interesting the author left Reid out.
 

Kiama Chris

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Not sure if this has been posted, it's from about a month ago but I only just noticed it. AFL.com's predicted best 22 for us next year.

sydney.jpg

The Swans introduced some elite talent and discovered fresh roles for other young guns this year so are unlikely to shake up the side too much heading into next season. The departures of Jordan Dawson and George Hewett will hurt but they have the electrifying Nick Blakey and Justin McInerney to step in at half-back, and the robust James Rowbottom and Chad Warner ready for more time on the ball. Isaac Heeney will also play more midfield minutes and is set to be used off a wing while still pushing forward to be a goal threat. Expect more prominent roles for Braeden Campbell and Errol Gulden too. The Swans are well-stocked for forward/rucks especially after adding Peter Ladhams to a group that includes Hayden McLeanand Joel Amartey. Young tall Logan McDonald should have more opportunities in his second season. - Martin Pegan

B: Jake Lloyd, Dane Rampe, Harry Cunningham
HB: Nick Blakey, Tom McCartin, Justin McInerney
C: Oliver Florent, Callum Mills, Isaac Heeney
HF: Will Hayward, Logan McDonald, Errol Gulden
F: Tom Papley, Lance Franklin, Peter Ladhams
Foll: Tom Hickey, Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker
I/C: James Rowbottom, Chad Warner, Braeden Campbell, Sam Wicks

Emerg: Dylan Stephens, James Bell, Hayden McLean, Robbie Fox


FWIW I think they have got this almost spot on. I like that they have included Blakey & McInerney off half back. This shows the writer actually watches our games as blind Freddie could see how dangerous we were when those two were playing out of defence. I think we have plenty of speed and class around the midfield to not need them there. The one change I would make would be to have an extra defender in, either Melican/Fox/COR (or P. McCartin?) They can come in for a mid, as we probably have one too many in that team, so Campbell would probably be the one who misses (with Florent in the firing line if he doesn't pull his finger out.)
Spot on unless Campbell plays as the 7th defender. Pretty sure Horse wants him delivering inside 50.
Paddy Mac for mine if drafted and if he has a good preseason. Ramps is starting to struggle as a KPD. If not Paddy then probably rolling the dice on Melican again.
 
Spot on unless Campbell plays as the 7th defender. Pretty sure Horse wants him delivering inside 50.
Paddy Mac for mine if drafted and if he has a good preseason. Ramps is starting to struggle as a KPD. If not Paddy then probably rolling the dice on Melican again.

Don't want Rampe struggling on monsters. Happy for him to take the Oppos 3rd best tall forward.

I am firmly in the 'recruit Paddy' camp. Aside from his skills he is just a very smart player.
 
What? Why?

I mean I love Heeney and while his kicking is certainly good it is no where near "Dawson good". Heeney's role in the 2021 season was fine.
from John Longmire on 2 October

"Isaac at the back end of this year was able to play midfield and then push forward and still hit the scoreboard. That'll be an important part of his plan over the summer, to prepare to play that midfield-forward role even more," coach John Longmire told AFL.com.au.
"We were hoping that as this year progressed we could get Isaac's training loads right to allow him to do that. Now we'll work on that balance over the pre-season because he can be really damaging, which he showed in the last four or five games this year.
 

SGBeach

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Don't want Rampe struggling on monsters. Happy for him to take the Oppos 3rd best tall forward.

I am firmly in the 'recruit Paddy' camp. Aside from his skills he is just a very smart player.
yep Rampe can comfortably play on and beat the oppos 3rd tall. And.. if that takes pressure off Rampe and maybe even extend his career by a season or two, then great. Rampe has soooo much to offer our back 6 in terms of leadership and on-field organisation.. at this stage in his career its probably his most valuable strength.
Very happy to have Tommy Mac plus one ( Paddy, Reid, Draftee, fit Melican) play as the talls, with good intercepting support from Blakey.. And all lead by Rampe
 
What? Why?

I mean I love Heeney and while his kicking is certainly good it is no where near "Dawson good". Heeney's role in the 2021 season was fine.

It can absolutely be Dawson good. Obviously he just doesn't get to show it as much as he averaged 7 less touches than Dawson, as he spent most of the year deep forward.


Spot on unless Campbell plays as the 7th defender. Pretty sure Horse wants him delivering inside 50.
Paddy Mac for mine if drafted and if he has a good preseason. Ramps is starting to struggle as a KPD. If not Paddy then probably rolling the dice on Melican again.

It will be interesting to see what unfolds. There will be a few mini-battles for positions at each end of the ground between young(ish) prospects, in Melican vs Paddy, and Logan vs McLean (I am still not convinced Logan will be the lock that everyone thinks he will be in just his second year.) It will be exciting to see who shows the most and who Horse shows the faith in. Ultimately the whole team benefits as we have competition for spots and options when injuries arise.
 
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