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Strategy Trade and List Management Thread Part 8 (opposition supporters - READ posting rules before posting)

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Of the below players who have played significant minutes in defence over the past couple of years, which players play in defence at AFL level vs defence at VFL level vs elsewhere at either level? There are 20 on the list and only about 14 positions down back to go around.

Busslinger
Lobb
Jaques
Gallagher
Baker
Coffield
O'Donnell
Khamis
Freijah
Bramble
Dale
Williams
Cleary
Sellwood
Walker
Gardner
Budarick
Carmichael
Emmett
W Darcy
 
Of the below players who have played significant minutes in defence over the past couple of years, which players play in defence at AFL level vs defence at VFL level vs elsewhere at either level? There are 20 on the list and only about 14 positions down back to go around.

Busslinger
Lobb
Jaques
Gallagher
Baker
Coffield
O'Donnell
Khamis
Freijah
Bramble
Dale
Williams
Cleary
Sellwood
Walker
Gardner
Budarick
Carmichael
Emmett
W Darcy

AFL:
FB: Bramble, Busslinger, Lobb
HB: Dale, O’Donnell, Budarick
7th: Cleary
Wing: Williams
Mid/Fwd: Freijah

VFL:
FB: Sellwood, Gardner, Coffield
HB: Carmichael, Emmett, Jaques
7th: W. Darcy
Wing: Baker (could be in the 1’s)
Wing: Gallagher
Fwd: Khamis
Fwd: Walker
 

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AFL:
FB: Bramble, Busslinger, Lobb
HB: Dale, O’Donnell, Budarick
7th: Cleary
Wing: Williams
Mid/Fwd: Freijah

VFL:
FB: Sellwood, Gardner, Coffield
HB: Carmichael, Emmett, Jaques
7th: W. Darcy
Wing: Baker (could be in the 1’s)
Wing: Gallagher
Fwd: Khamis
Fwd: Walker
Do you see Walker as a fwd long term? Disappointing if so. If we see him as a legitimate third defender for the future I'd love him back there developing as much as possible. Otherwise think your arrangement looks good. Hoping to see some of Carmichael, Jaques, and Sellwood pushing for spots in the back 7 at AFL level at some point this season.
 
All this talk of Butters to the Dogs still feels like some elaborate long running prank setup by a bunch of sadists to give this board a collective moment like the below when he eventually nominates Geelong:

the simpsons GIF
 
AFL:
FB: Bramble, Busslinger, Lobb
HB: Dale, O’Donnell, Budarick
7th: Cleary
Wing: Williams
Mid/Fwd: Freijah

VFL:
FB: Sellwood, Gardner, Coffield
HB: Carmichael, Emmett, Jaques
7th: W. Darcy
Wing: Baker (could be in the 1’s)
Wing: Gallagher
Fwd: Khamis
Fwd: Walker
I don't think this is necessarily the correct way of framing this.

There are always going to be injuries and unexpected position shifts/tactical developments.

In a 23 player AFL team selection most teams run a 7-man rotation with a bit of a buffer (so lets say 7.33/23), which is about 32% of your list being "defenders".

Of a 42 player list, 32% is about 13-13.5 players.

Of the list, some I wouldn't classify as defenders.

Busslinger - 100%
Lobb - 95%, might be needed for ruck/forward coverage
Jaques 100%
Gallagher 40% - AFL games were in midfield, might need to reinvent himself as a running halfback
Baker 80% - played there in career-best form to end season but has played on wing
Coffield 100%
O'Donnell 100%
Khamis 40% - foward most recently AFL level.
Freijah 15% - will play there in a pinch like his year 1 style but is well and truly a midfielder as he gets older to be most impactful on games like some of his running goals this year
Bramble 90% - some wing minutes
Dale 95% - played forward in patches to break a tag
Williams 35% - was swung back as in-game injury cover at times
Cleary 100%
Sellwood 100%
Walker 100%
Gardner 90% - who knows these days
Budarick 100%
Carmichael 100%
Emmett 75% - has been earmarked for this as his running capacity at his height is more useful as a Mark Blicavs-esque key defender than an out-and-out ruck forward
W Darcy - 75% project tall.

That adds up to 16.3 players though,

Of the below players who have played significant minutes in defence over the past couple of years, which players play in defence at AFL level vs defence at VFL level vs elsewhere at either level? There are 20 on the list and only about 14 positions down back to go around.

Busslinger
Lobb
Jaques
Gallagher
Baker
Coffield
O'Donnell
Khamis
Freijah
Bramble
Dale
Williams
Cleary
Sellwood
Walker
Gardner
Budarick
Carmichael
Emmett
W Darcy


about 2 players over the 14-14.5 range, so assuming there's a roughly balanced number of injuries across all positional groups, something is going to have to give IMO.

I think W. Darcy and Gardner are two reasonable chances to go forward a lot more. Will Darcy is entirely speculative re draft position and we need to prioritise the development of players we believe to be more likely to make it to AFL level (like Emmett, Walker) if we believe that defence is their position. And this is likely to be Gardner's last year on an AFL list and is a professional who is proven capability and being team-oriented to play a tall utility role in different positions at VFL level last couple of years.

Just as an aside, some of the discussion over the last few months on if Lachie Smith would play defence ... is now pretty funny in retrospect when we're clearly oversubscribed for defenders.
 

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Strategy Trade and List Management Thread Part 8 (opposition supporters - READ posting rules before posting)

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