Prediction 2022 Best 22 Teams and discussion

ignoramus

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Every offseason I find myself cranking out these lists out like Tibetan prayers, hoping that one day we'll actually see our Best 22 in the same side. My attempt includes player rankings at each position to try and and justify my selections. But mostly I've tried to go with how I see the club rating our players at their preferred positions.

PLAYER RANKING BY POSITION

TALL BACKS
  1. Alex Pearce*
  2. Brennan Cox*
  3. Griffin Logue*
  4. Heath Chapman*
  5. Joel Hamling
Notes: While Hamling was once our #1 FB, a couple of years out of the game have seen others go past him. There would be very little between Logue and Chapman but both players are pretty versatile, so I was happy putting both in my best 22 ahead of more medium defenders.

SMALL / MEDIUM DEFENDERS
  1. Luke Ryan*
  2. Hayden Young*
  3. Jordan Clark*
  4. Brandon Walker
  5. Ethan Hughes
  6. Nathan Wilson
Notes: I felt compelled to slot Jordan Clark on a HBF given everything said by himself and the club about this being his “best position”. Also, I don’t mean to be so harsh on Wilson but I suspect the club was less than impressed with some of his defensive lapses in 2021. The club probably rates Hughes over Walker but I’m suspect to a little wishful thinking, opting for x-factor over reliability.


MIDS (CENTRES / FOLLOWERS)
  1. Nathan Fyfe*
  2. David Mundy*
  3. Caleb Serong*
  4. Andrew Brayshaw*
  5. Darcy Tucker
  6. Matthew Johnson
  7. Mitch Crowden
  8. Will Brodie
  9. Connor Blakely
  10. Joel Western
  11. Luke Valente
Notes: Top 5 are pretty clear-cut though I could be convinced to switch spots for Brayshaw and Serong. After that it’s pure speculation as to how I see the club ranking our players, starting with a bit of optimism that Johnson goes past Crowden and co by the time we need to access that level of our depth chart.

WINGS
  1. Michael Frederick*
  2. James Aish*
  3. Liam Henry*
  4. Nathan O’Driscoll
  5. Blake Acres
  6. Karl Worner
Notes: Yeah, yeah, wings are mids too, but I thought it was worth noting the position separately as we’d want at least 2 genuine wings playing in any given game with support provided from the other mids and flankers. In terms of the wing rankings, I think Freddy went past Aish last year, but of course Aish had the more consistent season. I’ve also taken the club at it’s word to put Henry in this group.

SMALL / MEDIUM FORWARD
  1. Michael Walters*
  2. Lachie Shultz*
  3. Travis Colyer*
  4. Neil Erasmus*
  5. Sam Switkowski
  6. Sam Sturt
Notes: I surprised myself with Colyer ranked at #3 but I think the club really rates the speed he brings to the game. Sturt’s behind Erasmus and Switta as I feel the injuries have set him back.

TALL FORWARDS
  1. Matthew Taberner*
  2. Josh Treacy*
  3. Rory Lobb*
  4. Jye Amiss
Notes: While I have Lobb as our #3 forward, realistically he’d probably be selected ahead of Treacy as he’s also our #2 ruck.

RUCKS
  1. Sean Darcy*
  2. Lloyd Meek
  3. Eric Benning
Notes: Not a lot to say here other than Benning’s versatility forward could see him preferred over Lloyd down the track.



*BEST 22:

Logue Pearce Ryan

Clark Cox Young

Freddy Mundy Aish

Darcy Fyfe Serong

Colyer Taberner Walters

Shultz Treacy Lobb

Int: Chapman, Brayshaw, Henry, Erasmus
Nice. I like the effort at ranking by position, though it would be interesting to see what, if anything changes, if you rank players across more than one position.

One immediate change I'd suggest is Brayshaw starting centre and Mundy on the bench. That seemed to be the favoured approach last season, IIRC, and as evergreen as he is, Mundy's a year older nonetheless.

I also find it hard to imagine the club leaving Switta out of a Rd1 22 if he's fit and coming off a full pre-season. Often injured, to be sure, but he had a sensational start last year, and then did some nice work as an impact mid towards the end. I have no idea who makes way for him, though. I would say Erasmus, except he offers a real point of difference from the others. Coin flip between Colyer and Henry, maybe?
 

Scham

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Every offseason I find myself cranking out these lists out like Tibetan prayers, hoping that one day we'll actually see our Best 22 in the same side. My attempt includes player rankings at each position to try and and justify my selections. But mostly I've tried to go with how I see the club rating our players at their preferred positions.

PLAYER RANKING BY POSITION

TALL BACKS
  1. Alex Pearce*
  2. Brennan Cox*
  3. Griffin Logue*
  4. Heath Chapman*
  5. Joel Hamling
Notes: While Hamling was once our #1 FB, a couple of years out of the game have seen others go past him. There would be very little between Logue and Chapman but both players are pretty versatile, so I was happy putting both in my best 22 ahead of more medium defenders.

SMALL / MEDIUM DEFENDERS
  1. Luke Ryan*
  2. Hayden Young*
  3. Jordan Clark*
  4. Brandon Walker
  5. Ethan Hughes
  6. Nathan Wilson
Notes: I felt compelled to slot Jordan Clark on a HBF given everything said by himself and the club about this being his “best position”. Also, I don’t mean to be so harsh on Wilson but I suspect the club was less than impressed with some of his defensive lapses in 2021. The club probably rates Hughes over Walker but I’m suspect to a little wishful thinking, opting for x-factor over reliability.


MIDS (CENTRES / FOLLOWERS)
  1. Nathan Fyfe*
  2. David Mundy*
  3. Caleb Serong*
  4. Andrew Brayshaw*
  5. Darcy Tucker
  6. Matthew Johnson
  7. Mitch Crowden
  8. Will Brodie
  9. Connor Blakely
  10. Joel Western
  11. Luke Valente
Notes: Top 5 are pretty clear-cut though I could be convinced to switch spots for Brayshaw and Serong. After that it’s pure speculation as to how I see the club ranking our players, starting with a bit of optimism that Johnson goes past Crowden and co by the time we need to access that level of our depth chart.

WINGS
  1. Michael Frederick*
  2. James Aish*
  3. Liam Henry*
  4. Nathan O’Driscoll
  5. Blake Acres
  6. Karl Worner
Notes: Yeah, yeah, wings are mids too, but I thought it was worth noting the position separately as we’d want at least 2 genuine wings playing in any given game with support provided from the other mids and flankers. In terms of the wing rankings, I think Freddy went past Aish last year, but of course Aish had the more consistent season. I’ve also taken the club at it’s word to put Henry in this group.

SMALL / MEDIUM FORWARD
  1. Michael Walters*
  2. Lachie Shultz*
  3. Travis Colyer*
  4. Neil Erasmus*
  5. Sam Switkowski
  6. Sam Sturt
Notes: I surprised myself with Colyer ranked at #3 but I think the club really rates the speed he brings to the game. Sturt’s behind Erasmus and Switta as I feel the injuries have set him back.

TALL FORWARDS
  1. Matthew Taberner*
  2. Josh Treacy*
  3. Rory Lobb*
  4. Jye Amiss
Notes: While I have Lobb as our #3 forward, realistically he’d probably be selected ahead of Treacy as he’s also our #2 ruck.

RUCKS
  1. Sean Darcy*
  2. Lloyd Meek
  3. Eric Benning
Notes: Not a lot to say here other than Benning’s versatility forward could see him preferred over Lloyd down the track.



*BEST 22:

Logue Pearce Ryan

Clark Cox Young

Freddy Mundy Aish

Darcy Fyfe Serong

Colyer Taberner Walters

Shultz Treacy Lobb

Int: Chapman, Brayshaw, Henry, Erasmus


A big call having Fredrick as our best wingman but it certainly highlights our weakness in that area. I suspect that some of the players you've named as mids would be in front of him as a wing option, especially early in the season.
 

Bad Brain

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Nice. I like the effort at ranking by position, though it would be interesting to see what, if anything changes, if you rank players across more than one position.

One immediate change I'd suggest is Brayshaw starting centre and Mundy on the bench. That seemed to be the favoured approach last season, IIRC, and as evergreen as he is, Mundy's a year older nonetheless.

I also find it hard to imagine the club leaving Switta out of a Rd1 22 if he's fit and coming off a full pre-season. Often injured, to be sure, but he had a sensational start last year, and then did some nice work as an impact mid towards the end. I have no idea who makes way for him, though. I would say Erasmus, except he offers a real point of difference from the others. Coin flip between Colyer and Henry, maybe?

Cheers! The only real rule that I set myself was naming players in order of how I had them ranked in their position. Hence why Mundy and Serong were in the 18 ahead of Brayshaw. That said, I agree Brayshaw starting centre would be a better reflection of how the team set up last year. You could also argue that Mundy will slip as he's older, but it seemed like too much of an injustice to assume that given his 2021 form.

In regards to duel role players, I named everyone in a single "favoured" position but was happy to let a little bias slip in to favour those offering extra versatility. An example of this was making room for Henry in the team as a third winger, knowing he could play forward too. (2 relatively weak positions). Though the other option there was Tucker who I named as a Mid but would likely also play on the wing in a similar role to Cerra. And yeah, Switta could easily be considered our #3 small / medium forward. I just couldn't overlook how much playing time Colyer got last year and am a sucker for pre-season hype when it comes to Erasmus.
 
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Bad Brain

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A big call having Fredrick as our best wingman but it certainly highlights our weakness in that area. I suspect that some of the players you've named as mids would be in front of him as a wing option, especially early in the season.

Ha, yeah really wing shouldn't be a separate position while I lump all non-tall backs together, but it was one I wanted to highlight. In my mind I think we should have 2 genuine wings who would be supported in the rotations by the other mids and flankers. Based on that logic I should probably replace Henry (#3 wing) with Tucker (#5 mid), but I liked Henry's versatility as a forward.

I know my Freddy love is not shared by most too. I just thought he was a massive improver last year, cleaning up the skittishness from his rookie season to be our most impactful winger until he got injured. In my mind he's a star in the making but it's fair to say I tend to have a bias for high impact players over more reliable accumulators like Aish. (e.g. see Serong ranked over Brayshaw). Hamling and Sturt could also accuse me of being a hypocrite after marking them down for their injuries but not letting that affect how I rank Freddy. But what can I say, they should be flashier if they want the same privilege.
 

theGav56

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I like your work Bad Brain.

I think most here are as excited about Frederick as you are. To me he shares the same ceiling as Henry and like him hasn't found the poise to put it together yet. Early days for both.

Erasmus spent a lot of the year injured so I wouldn't have him ahead of Sturt for that reason. I want them both in if they show the form early.
 

Bad Brain

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I like your work Bad Brain.

I think most here are as excited about Frederick as you are. To me he shares the same ceiling as Henry and like him hasn't found the poise to put it together yet. Early days for both.

Erasmus spent a lot of the year injured so I wouldn't have him ahead of Sturt for that reason. I want them both in if they show the form early.

Ohhh good point on Erasmus! But is it possible to do a preseason Best 22 without including at least 1 unproven draftee? :p
 

SHill Shall

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I was gaining the impression that Erasmus was very prominent in, if not dominating, some of our early training sessions. If that is correct and it continues, he’ll end up going straight in.
 

wakojako

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I was gaining the impression that Erasmus was very prominent in, if not dominating, some of our early training sessions. If that is correct and it continues, he’ll end up going straight in.
For who? I would replace Henry with Erasmus in the forwardline and make Henry earn his spot on the wing.
 

Square Peg

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Probably not far off. Id personally have Frederick, Treacy and Tucker in for Erasmus, Amiss and Brodie. But I reckon it's close to the mark
Yeah Amiss over Treacy was surprising to me. I also think Sturt is regarded highly enough internally to be a strong chance if fit.
 

wakojako

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Interesting you'd plot him in the centre though. It would fast track his development but may cost us games? Similarly to playing Cez in the backline, maybe playing Erasmus at half forward could work?
 
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Nice. I like the effort at ranking by position, though it would be interesting to see what, if anything changes, if you rank players across more than one position.

One immediate change I'd suggest is Brayshaw starting centre and Mundy on the bench. That seemed to be the favoured approach last season, IIRC, and as evergreen as he is, Mundy's a year older nonetheless.

I also find it hard to imagine the club leaving Switta out of a Rd1 22 if he's fit and coming off a full pre-season. Often injured, to be sure, but he had a sensational start last year, and then did some nice work as an impact mid towards the end. I have no idea who makes way for him, though. I would say Erasmus, except he offers a real point of difference from the others. Coin flip between Colyer and Henry, maybe?
Agree on the Switta point. I love Shooter, but I’m pretty certain Switta offers more purely as a small forward, let alone the indication that he could roll through midfield as well…let alone Colyer.
 

CapitalA

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Interesting you'd plot him in the centre though. It would fast track his development but may cost us games? Similarly to playing Cez in the backline, maybe playing Erasmus at half forward could work?
Cerra was on the wing quite often and Erasmus is a great runner so could work well.
 
Jan 23, 2011
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Every offseason I find myself cranking out these lists out like Tibetan prayers, hoping that one day we'll actually see our Best 22 in the same side. My attempt includes player rankings at each position to try and and justify my selections. But mostly I've tried to go with how I see the club rating our players at their preferred positions.

PLAYER RANKING BY POSITION

TALL BACKS
  1. Alex Pearce*
  2. Brennan Cox*
  3. Griffin Logue*
  4. Heath Chapman*
  5. Joel Hamling
Notes: While Hamling was once our #1 FB, a couple of years out of the game have seen others go past him. There would be very little between Logue and Chapman but both players are pretty versatile, so I was happy putting both in my best 22 ahead of more medium defenders.

SMALL / MEDIUM DEFENDERS
  1. Luke Ryan*
  2. Hayden Young*
  3. Jordan Clark*
  4. Brandon Walker
  5. Ethan Hughes
  6. Nathan Wilson
Notes: I felt compelled to slot Jordan Clark on a HBF given everything said by himself and the club about this being his “best position”. Also, I don’t mean to be so harsh on Wilson but I suspect the club was less than impressed with some of his defensive lapses in 2021. The club probably rates Hughes over Walker but I’m suspect to a little wishful thinking, opting for x-factor over reliability.


MIDS (CENTRES / FOLLOWERS)
  1. Nathan Fyfe*
  2. David Mundy*
  3. Caleb Serong*
  4. Andrew Brayshaw*
  5. Darcy Tucker
  6. Matthew Johnson
  7. Mitch Crowden
  8. Will Brodie
  9. Connor Blakely
  10. Joel Western
  11. Luke Valente
Notes: Top 5 are pretty clear-cut though I could be convinced to switch spots for Brayshaw and Serong. After that it’s pure speculation as to how I see the club ranking our players, starting with a bit of optimism that Johnson goes past Crowden and co by the time we need to access that level of our depth chart.

WINGS
  1. Michael Frederick*
  2. James Aish*
  3. Liam Henry*
  4. Nathan O’Driscoll
  5. Blake Acres
  6. Karl Worner
Notes: Yeah, yeah, wings are mids too, but I thought it was worth noting the position separately as we’d want at least 2 genuine wings playing in any given game with support provided from the other mids and flankers. In terms of the wing rankings, I think Freddy went past Aish last year, but of course Aish had the more consistent season. I’ve also taken the club at it’s word to put Henry in this group.

SMALL / MEDIUM FORWARD
  1. Michael Walters*
  2. Lachie Shultz*
  3. Travis Colyer*
  4. Neil Erasmus*
  5. Sam Switkowski
  6. Sam Sturt
Notes: I surprised myself with Colyer ranked at #3 but I think the club really rates the speed he brings to the game. Sturt’s behind Erasmus and Switta as I feel the injuries have set him back.

TALL FORWARDS
  1. Matthew Taberner*
  2. Josh Treacy*
  3. Rory Lobb*
  4. Jye Amiss
Notes: While I have Lobb as our #3 forward, realistically he’d probably be selected ahead of Treacy as he’s also our #2 ruck.

RUCKS
  1. Sean Darcy*
  2. Lloyd Meek
  3. Eric Benning
Notes: Not a lot to say here other than Benning’s versatility forward could see him preferred over Lloyd down the track.



*BEST 22:

Logue Pearce Ryan

Clark Cox Young

Freddy Mundy Aish

Darcy Fyfe Serong

Colyer Taberner Walters

Shultz Treacy Lobb

Int: Chapman, Brayshaw, Henry, Erasmus
Great post.

Unfortunately while I agree with your forward line, still doesn’t inspire me with confidence especially if Colyer is still in the mix, best hope maybe a Sturt /Treacy has a break out year.
 

SHill Shall

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For who? I would replace Henry with Erasmus in the forwardline and make Henry earn his spot on the wing.
I imagine it would be someone who’s in the half forward or wing roles. A Colyer, Henry or Tucker type if he’s good enough. If we’ve got a generational type talent on our hands, who he replaces becomes less the issue. And I’m hoping for that!
 

Dayts

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No way Tucker isn't best 22. JL has said on numerous occasions that he is, and that he rates him. Aish is JLs pet so he’s always gonna get a game. most likely as Defensive winger.

And Reckon Henry starts in the WAFL playing the wing before he gets a crack at in the big time.

Strut or Erasmus for mid forward role tough one. Maybe both if Tracey doesn’t get up.
Never know with groins
 

theGav56

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No way Tucker isn't best 22. JL has said on numerous occasions that he is, and that he rates him. Aish is JLs pet so he’s always gonna get a game. most likely as Defensive winger.

And Reckon Henry starts in the WAFL playing the wing before he gets a crack at in the big time.

Strut or Erasmus for mid forward role tough one. Maybe both if Tracey doesn’t get up.
Never know with groins
Agree with your thinking, and would add that while I really want Frederick and Walker to make compelling cases for inclusion, they are not there yet.
 
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