Prediction 2023 GWS Giants - Predicted best 22, breakout player(s), general player/team discussion & questions

[The Kings Ransom]

He's a dogged defender, I think thats why most people have put him in the team. He also has great switchability (as does Cumming) so he can handle smalls but gives players the option to switch on a tall out of blocks/screens.

I know he’s only played 20 something games but probably one of the least recognised names in the league.

With Taylor, Buckley, Haynes, idun, aleer etc.. it seems to me a bit lacking for a true tall defender outside of taylor.

For instance, we will go in with king and chol plus potentially casboult. Could be outmatching some of your tall-mid defenders.

 

[Giant Pete]

I know he’s only played 20 something games but probably one of the least recognised names in the league.

With Taylor, Buckley, Haynes, idun, aleer etc.. it seems to me a bit lacking for a true tall defender outside of taylor.

For instance, we will go in with king and chol plus potentially casboult. Could be outmatching some of your tall-mid defenders.

Keeffe would play in that scenario.

 

[fridgeman]

Keeffe would play in that scenario.

Casboult v Keefe on a sprint down the wing would rival Jetta v Rioli

 

[GWS Goose]

Surprised to see Jack Buckley named at CHB in a number of teams.
Always thought he was like 189cm and played tall due to injuries.
Very surprised to see he is 194cm. Seems to move pretty well for his size.

He was really good for us pre injury

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Keeffe would play in that scenario.

Forgot about him as didn’t see him listed in any teams.

 

[Giant Strides]

Forgot about him as didn’t see him listed in any teams.

He shouldn't be a first 22 player, but the point was that he could come in against some of the really tall timber forwards.

TBH, while I'd love to draft a quality taller KPD for the long term, I expect for this year that they'll rely on the skills of the normal KPDs to deal with the tall timber - so Sam Taylor, Phil Davis (if he's fit), maybe HH, using their run, positioning and spoiling skills to defeat the taller talls rather than bringing in Keeffe for that specific job. Just my take on it.

 

[Hendo_21]

He shouldn't be a first 22 player, but the point was that he could come in against some of the really tall timber forwards.

TBH, while I'd love to draft a quality taller KPD for the long term, I expect for this year that they'll rely on the skills of the normal KPDs to deal with the tall timber - so Sam Taylor, Phil Davis (if he's fit), maybe HH, using their run, positioning and spoiling skills to defeat the taller talls rather than bringing in Keeffe for that specific job. Just my take on it.

You don't think Buckley and/or Leek can be the long term guy next to Taylor? Buckley was great before getting injured and Leek we're dealing with a much smaller sample size but at the very least I'd say it was encouraging. I don't think there's a need to use a high pick on a KPD any time soon unless both Buckley and Leek don't pan out which I think is pretty unlikely. Maybe a developmental tall later in the draft but think there's other areas for us to address before using a good pick on another KPD, taking another one so soon with a high pick could really hinder the development of the other guys if they're not given proper opportunity.

 

[Giant Strides]

You don't think Buckley and/or Leek can be the long term guy next to Taylor? Buckley was great before getting injured and Leek we're dealing with a much smaller sample size but at the very least I'd say it was encouraging. I don't think there's a need to use a high pick on a KPD any time soon unless both Buckley and Leek don't pan out which I think is pretty unlikely. Maybe a developmental tall later in the draft but think there's other areas for us to address before using a good pick on another KPD, taking another one so soon with a high pick could really hinder the development of the other guys if they're not given proper opportunity.

The focus of my comments was on answering the question of "who tackles the ultra tall KPF this year?" rather than "who are our two or three talls for the future?". So, do I think Buckley will be taking the ultra tall KPDs? No, honestly, I think he's better on a normal KPF right now. Leek I think has the tools for the job - in terms of his height, reach, ability to jump & general athleticism - but to me that would be a hard task to give him in 2023 at this stage of his development. I'm still unsure what role he ends up in - is it Haynes' third tall & interceptor role (which I suspect might be his best role), or second tall role (similar in skills to Sam Taylor).

Discussing the longer term, my point is that Davis and Keeffe have limited career left, and Cam Fleeton hasn't shown a lot to date as well as being smaller in size (I'd tend to bracket him with Idun in terms of role in our team). So I think that we should be looking to select at least one KPD this draft (before we re-signed both Davis & Keeffe, I thought we might have done that last draft) - and I'd be happy if that was a 198 - 202 cm taller KPD. They don't need to be top 10 - look at Sam Taylor's draft position, there's quality in later rounds of the draft. The recruiters just need to identify talent. But of course that's easier said than done.

So, as per my likely team this year, I think I had Taylor-Buckley-Haynes ... but put a caveat on Buckley because he's coming back from injury, and a caveat on how Haynes performs in 2023 (with Aleer breathing down his neck). In that case, Taylor to me primarily takes the ultra tall KPD. I also commented that if Buckley didn't come straight back, then Davis or Aleer would be my next choices, with an opinion that Aleer will end up best 22 by the end of the year. But across all those options, I don't see GWS bringing Keeffe in specifically to deal with ultra tall KPDs, but rather Taylor (or in the case that Davis is in the team, he's an option too) primarily taking that role. In reality, we always shuffle responsibility in games, so it might be 70% Taylor, 20% Buckley, 10% Haynes (or often trying to work a double-team) - my point being I don't think that Buckley is the "70%" guy.

Bottom line, my longer-term thinking (next 2-3 years) has the team featuring Taylor-Buckley-Aleer, but the usual queries of whether development continues as expected/desired, and whether injuries derail progress (definitely a question/risk for Buckley) ... with a desire that an ultra-tall KPD gets developed, in which case I could see him pushing Buckley out in the longer term. (Being realistic, except for a few injury-free star players, there's a lot of turnover in team lists and more so in the case of GWS.)

 

[GWS Goose]

I know he’s only played 20 something games but probably one of the least recognised names in the league.

With Taylor, Buckley, Haynes, idun, aleer etc.. it seems to me a bit lacking for a true tall defender outside of taylor.

For instance, we will go in with king and chol plus potentially casboult. Could be outmatching some of your tall-mid defenders.

If fit Buckley could comfortably play on Chol or Cassboult.
He claimed some big scalps in 2021 pre injury. He gave Jack Darling a bath we beat them at Giants stadium among others.

 

[The Kings Ransom]

If fit Buckley could comfortably play on Chol or Cassboult.
He claimed some big scalps in 2021 pre injury. He gave Jack Darling a bath we beat them at Giants stadium among others.

Not questioning Buckley’s capacity to play on the mid-tall forward. Darling is clearly a better player than either chol or casboult. But he’s 191cm and a completely different player.

I was just wondering whether Buckley could play on a 200+cm forward.

Good to hear you think he’d be fine.

Although Collins for us is only 194cm and has done a decent job over last few years on most kpf, tends to struggle a bit more with the really tall guys.

 

[Giant Pete]

If fit Buckley could comfortably play on Chol or Cassboult.
He claimed some big scalps in 2021 pre injury. He gave Jack Darling a bath we beat them at Giants stadium among others.

He got well beaten by McKay though. Anyone 200cms or more is not a good matchup for him.

 

[PaythePerryman]

He got well beaten by McKay though. Anyone 200cms or more is not a good matchup for him.

Charlie won the Coleman....but sure.
I agree that if we were starting to nudge for a flag or pushing finals that recruiting another tall defender might be the go...
But I think our defence is well balanced.
Defenders tend to be cheaper on the trade table so I'd continue using high picks on forwards and mids and the hit rate can be tough.

 

[domologue]

Charlie won the Coleman....but sure.
I agree that if we were starting to nudge for a flag or pushing finals that recruiting another tall defender might be the go...
But I think our defence is well balanced.
Defenders tend to be cheaper on the trade table so I'd continue using high picks on forwards and mids and the hit rate can be tough.

Right - it's a bit rough to say he got smashed by someone who was rinsing defenders every week he played.

The upside of the competition for these spots could be good and I'm hoping there's a new appetite there this year. There's just so many questions about the defense this year:

Will Haynes return to form? How well will Buckley come back after his injury? How quickly can Aleer develop? Is HH ever playing back (even though we've heard he's returning forward).

Keefe and Davis can't be much more than occasional role players now. I'd rather watch Buckley get an extra 10 games against top tier talent that Davis play okay for 45 mins and do another hamstring, or Keefe bumble into people and gather a handful of spoils that might keep a game close.

Only one thing is certain - Doctor Octopus (Sam Taylor) will continue to use his 8 arms and legs to assert his dominance.

 

[domologue]

 

[Danny88]

Right - it's a bit rough to say he got smashed by someone who was rinsing defenders every week he played.

The upside of the competition for these spots could be good and I'm hoping there's a new appetite there this year. There's just so many questions about the defense this year:

Will Haynes return to form? How well will Buckley come back after his injury? How quickly can Aleer develop? Is HH ever playing back (even though we've heard he's returning forward).

Keefe and Davis can't be much more than occasional role players now. I'd rather watch Buckley get an extra 10 games against top tier talent that Davis play okay for 45 mins and do another hamstring, or Keefe bumble into people and gather a handful of spoils that might keep a game close.

Only one thing is certain - Doctor Octopus (Sam Taylor) will continue to use his 8 arms and legs to assert his dominance.

Agree with all this but then unsaid thing here is the team defensive pressure coming out of the forwards and mids

It makes such a significant impact on defender stats

 

[Hendo_21]

Was lloyd at half back just something we sort of theorised as a potential move or was there actual word that he's moving there, can't really remember

 

[Giant Strides]

Was lloyd at half back just something we sort of theorised as a potential move or was there actual word that he's moving there, can't really remember

I don't recall any actual comment from Lloyd, the club or anyone at the club about moving to half back. Maybe others can point to something?

 

[GWS Goose]

I'd be shocked if Lloyd went to half back

 

[Hendo_21]

I feel like Leon (might've been McVeigh) tried it out at some point out of desperation during a game and someone might've mentioned it as a possible move for Kingsley to explore further not too long ago.

 

[McRobie]

What’s Callaghan looking like this year? Midfield?

 

[Hendo_21]

What’s Callaghan looking like this year? Midfield?

Tom Green was doing a Q&A on the GWS twitter account and mentioned that Finn was one of the guys that was flying and looking good (Cogs and Cadman also mentioned), defintely think midfield will be Finn's role think it'll be a balance of inside and outside.

 

[PaythePerryman]

Tom Green was doing a Q&A on the GWS twitter account and mentioned that Finn was one of the guys that was flying and looking good (Cogs and Cadman also mentioned), defintely think midfield will be Finn's role think it'll be a balance of inside and outside.

Josh Kelly 2.0
Taller and probably stronger in a few years.

 

[Mikevk123]

B Idun Taylor Haynes
HB Ash Buckley Cumming
C Callaghan Green Whitfield
HF Daniels Riccardi Himmleberg
F Bedford Hogan Greene
FOLL Flynn Coniglio Kelly
I/C- Briggs, Perryman, Peatling, Stone

 

[Giant Strides]

B Idun Taylor Haynes
HB Ash Buckley Cumming
C Callaghan Green Whitfield
HF Daniels Riccardi Himmleberg
F Bedford Hogan Greene
FOLL Flynn Coniglio Kelly
I/C- Briggs, Perryman, Peatling, Stone

So, from your previous team you've dropped Ward for Peatling & Cadman for Stone, plus a few positional switches (e.g. Flynn & Briggs swap staring positions, Perryman & Stone to the IC).

If it's a best 22, then (barring injuries) I would think it's close, but same for other teams posted here. 1 or 2 different most likely from most postulated teams. I'd think some of the questions will be whether Preuss has one of those ruck roles (with 2 in the team, I'd think it more likely he would have one spot), whether there is indeed two rucks or just one (which I think we'll end up with), whether Cadman will take a forward spot (I'm confident he'll get a decent chance at KPF this year, but whether he makes it to "best 22" status is a different question), whether Ward is best 22 by year's end (I think he starts there, but may not finish there, depending on performance and other injuries). I like Stone & Peatling in the team for flexibility reasons, but still think Kennedy is a big chance of being there somewhere.

 

[GWS Goose]

B Idun Taylor Haynes
HB Ash Buckley Cumming
C Callaghan Green Whitfield
HF Daniels Riccardi Himmleberg
F Bedford Hogan Greene
FOLL Flynn Coniglio Kelly
I/C- Briggs, Perryman, Peatling, Stone

that wont be too far away.
I suspect that Ward will be ahead of Peatling.

The one ruck or 2 is probably unknown at this stage, it is a raffle between the 3 rucks for what order they are ranked.