2005 Line-up

[SYDNEY_EAGLE]

B: Wirrpunda Glass Waters

HB: Stenglein Staker Hunter

C: Braun Cousins Kerr

HF: Sampi Gardiner Embley

F: Matera McDougall Seaby

Foll: Cox Judd Fletcher

Inter: Lynch Butler Banfield Chick

Emer: Wooden Adkins R.Jones B.Jones Hansen



What do you reckon? We've got some handy players that will be struggling to crack it for a regular game......

 

[Altum Volantes]

Staker at CHB?

Not in 2005, the lad's not KPP at this stage - and unless he bulks up and gets a whole lot better, he probably never will be...

 

[TRIGGAMAN]

Chick on the bench??

Give him a half back ir half foward flank over Sampi or Hunter.

And i reckon trade Braun and Embly.

 

[SYDNEY_EAGLE]

Chick has done nothing for us - he plays about two decent games a year.

He got an absolute bath from Michael O'Loughlin against the Swans in the losing final.

I have no problem with him starting on the bench, especially as he gets older.

I appreciate that Staker is a long-shot at CHB - but who else do we have to play there? Lynch is too slow, and Hunter isn't tall enough.

The fact that we haven't traded more aggressively for a key defender suggests that Woosha thinks we have someone on the list already who could fill that spot.

At 20 y.o. and 196 cm, Staker is mobile enough to fit the bill. Obviously, he needs to build up, but that's what everyone said about Glass, who is now one of our most important players.

Don't bag Staker at CHB unless you can suggest a better option.

 

[crazzzy_grrl]

Chick on the bench??

Give him a half back ir half foward flank over Sampi or Hunter.

And i reckon trade Braun and Embly.

Trade Braun and Embley???????

They have been two of our best players, now way would i want to see either of them go

 

[F-U]

Heres a better crack at it

FB Wirrupunda Glass Chick
CHB Hunter Lynch Waters
C Stenglein Cousins Braun
CHF Staker McDougall Embley
FF Seaby Gardiner Matera
RR Cox Fletcher Judd
I/C Butler Kerr Selwood Sampi

I really think we should keep Lynch down at CHB. The only reason why i think Lynch struggled is because we put him on the wrong players. Players like Tredrea and Hall should be left to Glass whereas the strong body to body players should be left to Lynch. If you take Lynch out of there we lack strength majorly and I think with another pre season under his belt he could improve his game. Remember that he only has had one season there. Lynch is too slow but really we shud someone dropping in on his opponent to stop them from leading.

I think having Gardiner and Seaby down in our forward line will be very handy. We can let them confuse the other ruckmen into which one will go for the ruck contest in our forward 50. We can kinda do what Port Adelaide do with Lade and Brogan except in our forward line where we have Seaby be the 3rd man up. We can also have Cox play behind the play and just roam around in the defence, kinda like Jeff White does and have Cox drop infront of Lynchs opponent. I think our best strategy next year would be just to run the other teams off their feet. We have 4 quality midfielders on the bench there and one in our forward line. Have Cox and Seaby run there ruckman off there feet as we would have 3 on the ground. Tell Gardiner to bulk up majorly and just have him sit in the square and have McDougall do all the leading at CHF. Tell Staker to bulk up and teach him out to play both forward and a defensive role. He shouldnt start at defence but we shud atleast have a backup out there.

Basically our plan next year should be to run play short possession game like we did for the last half of the year and just bomb it to the square for Gardiner and Seaby. Our defence should be fine, espeically if we have Cox dropping in there. Basically if our forward line can function properly i cant see why we wouldnt be able to be top 4 next year

 

[SYDNEY_EAGLE]

That's a very tall forward line - we will get crucified upon the rebound without forwards capable of chasing smaller defenders.

Also, Lynch as CHB will never be a long-term strategy. Too slow, no agility, very little football smarts.

 

[SYDNEY_EAGLE]

That's a very tall forward line - we will get crucified upon the rebound without forwards capable of chasing smaller defenders.

Also, Lynch as CHB will never be a long-term strategy. Too slow, no agility, very little football smarts.

 

[F-U]

The way i see it is St Kilda and Port Adelaode both play with very tall forward lines and look how successful it is for them

Plus we were no 16 in keeping the ball inside our 50 this year. If you look at it from the point of view of where is a team gonna get all those tall defenders to play on these guys you will see why its a good idea.

Plus i think we have all jumped off the Lynch ship a bit too soon. He has only had one year in defence and when he did play he had the teams no 1 forward each time. If he had a teams no 2 defender, and he just played body to body on them with someone dropping in on them to prevent them from leading then there really shudnt be any problem. Our defence was no 1 in the league over the past 9 rounds. Its our forward line thats the problem really not our dfence.

 

[TRIGGAMAN]

Trade Braun and Embley???????

They have been two of our best players, now way would i want to see either of them go

You misunderstood what i was trying to say. I meant on SYdeney Eagles' team, that Embly should play on a wing and Braun should play on half foward flank. We should trade their positions. I probably didn't make that clear enough. My bad.

 

[SYDNEY_EAGLE]

The way i see it is St Kilda and Port Adelaode both play with very tall forward lines and look how successful it is for them

Plus we were no 16 in keeping the ball inside our 50 this year. If you look at it from the point of view of where is a team gonna get all those tall defenders to play on these guys you will see why its a good idea.

Plus i think we have all jumped off the Lynch ship a bit too soon. He has only had one year in defence and when he did play he had the teams no 1 forward each time. If he had a teams no 2 defender, and he just played body to body on them with someone dropping in on them to prevent them from leading then there really shudnt be any problem. Our defence was no 1 in the league over the past 9 rounds. Its our forward line thats the problem really not our dfence.

Neither St. Kilda nor Port have the kind of height in their forward line that you're suggesting we should go with.

The Saints have Gehrig and Riewoldt in the key spots and then maybe Koschitzke (plays mostly in defense) or Hamill, who is not really a tall - more a mid-size forward.

Then they have guys like Milne and Guerra, and someone like Luke Ball when not in the middle.

Port obviously play Tredrea as their number 1 forward. Then I would suggest that Thurstans and Lade occupy two more spots, and Lade spends a bit of time in the ruck. The fact that Damon White has struggled for game time underlines the fact that Port's forward line is nowhere nearly as tall as the WCE forward-line you are advocating.

 

[SYDNEY_EAGLE]

To suggest we should go with a forward 6 with only one player under 190cm is absolutely ridiculous!!!

 

[sinepari]

i went to every west coast game this year and at times they did that. Seaby, mcdougall, hansed/lynch, staker, embley moved up forward, matera

 

[SYDNEY_EAGLE]

And look how effective it was....

Matera was still our highest goal-scorer, and McDougall was the picks of the talls.

Seaby showed promise but Staker and Lynch looked out of place up forward.

I'd be happy to have McDougall, Seaby and Gardiner up forward, with Matera and Sampi roving.

Then you could swap Embley and Kerr between a flank and the midfield.

 

[sinepari]

na ya wrong. Hanses was good when he wasnt injured and staker was a rising star..hmm. They dont just develop over nite

 

[crazzzy_grrl]

You misunderstood what i was trying to say. I meant on SYdeney Eagles' team, that Embly should play on a wing and Braun should play on half foward flank. We should trade their positions. I probably didn't make that clear enough. My bad.

Thank god.... I was thinking 'why would any eagles supporter want them traded'. If it hadn't been trade week i would have probably understood what you were saying

 

[SYDNEY_EAGLE]

na ya wrong. Hanses was good when he wasnt injured and staker was a rising star..hmm. They dont just develop over nite

So you think we should play all those guys in the forward line?

Yes or no?

That was the context of this discussion. I was not saying that Staker and Hansen were useless, rather that there is not room for so many talls in our forward 6.

Some joker wants gardiner, Seaby, McDougall, Staker and Embley all in our forward 6.

This is ludicrous; Staker should be groomed for CHB, so Sampi can play at the feet of the talls. Then rotate Embley and Kerr between a flank and the midfield.

 

[sinepari]

sampi will eventally play in the midfield. Hansen should play CHF, dnt think gardy is the rite option. Our weakness for so long was the lack of hight up forward so why not play staker hff until he get big enought to play a KP. We can really stretch teams if we are tall up forward and just use matera, maybe adkins and the midfielders pushing forward to crumb. Just think that if we are tall up forwards, most teams will struggle to match up

 

[F-U]

Look at it this way Sydney_Eagles. This year with Sampi and Matera in our forward line, the ball was rebounded out of our forward line the most times out of any team in the competition by quite a fair margin. Just because you place names there doesnt mean the players will automatically keep the ball in our forward line.

Basically Embley would be there to keep the ball in our forward line and take a mark. Embley is very versatile and can tackle hard and to me seems the suitable player to drift forward. McDougall and Gardiner are pretty much self explanatory for their positions. Staker will never be a CHB. Let it go man he is just to skinny. Staker is extremely fast for his size and we should use that for our advantage in our forward line. Plus we all remember Stakers journeys down to defence this year (well i do) and he got absolutely murdered. The problem with Quinten Lynch this year was that he had never played the position b4. Whats the point in doing the same thing again?, Keep Lynch there and let him learn. The reason Seaby is in the forward line is because he would get a teams 5th tallest defender every time. Having a player as tall as Seaby playing on the likes of Biglands, Deluca, Doyle, Bandy sounds like a good idea to me. All you need is Matera there too do the crumbing, with Embley roaming around to keep the ball in laying the tackles. St Kilda and Port Adelaide regularly play with 5 tall forwards (I wouldnt call Embley tall btw, hes a midfielder) i dont see why it wouldnt work for us.

 

[SYDNEY_EAGLE]

Look at it this way Sydney_Eagles. This year with Sampi and Matera in our forward line, the ball was rebounded out of our forward line the most times out of any team in the competition by quite a fair margin. Just because you place names there doesnt mean the players will automatically keep the ball in our forward line.

Basically Embley would be there to keep the ball in our forward line and take a mark. Embley is very versatile and can tackle hard and to me seems the suitable player to drift forward. McDougall and Gardiner are pretty much self explanatory for their positions. Staker will never be a CHB. Let it go man he is just to skinny. Staker is extremely fast for his size and we should use that for our advantage in our forward line. Plus we all remember Stakers journeys down to defence this year (well i do) and he got absolutely murdered. The problem with Quinten Lynch this year was that he had never played the position b4. Whats the point in doing the same thing again?, Keep Lynch there and let him learn. The reason Seaby is in the forward line is because he would get a teams 5th tallest defender every time. Having a player as tall as Seaby playing on the likes of Biglands, Deluca, Doyle, Bandy sounds like a good idea to me. All you need is Matera there too do the crumbing, with Embley roaming around to keep the ball in laying the tackles. St Kilda and Port Adelaide regularly play with 5 tall forwards (I wouldnt call Embley tall btw, hes a midfielder) i dont see why it wouldnt work for us.

That's absolute garbage!!

Tell me which 5 tall forwards ever line up for Port or St.Kilda.

You don't think Gardiner is the right option? Well where do you want to play him then? In a FP, alongside McDougall and Matera maybe? Then you have a HF line of Staker, Hansen and Embley. Where does Seaby play?

You're giving a lot of credit Hansen, given that he's only played a handful of games.

I'd be happy for Gardiner to play CHF, flanked by Embley and Sampi, with Seaby and Matera playing in pockets alongside McDougall.

Everybody seems to be in love with Hansen and Staker as permanent forwards. I don't get it - I think both are a long way off making regular contributions as key forwards.

 

[SYDNEY_EAGLE]

Andrew Embley is 190cm - the same height as Peter Sumich.

Is that tall enough for you?

 

[coasting]

FB Wirra Glass Chick
HB Wooden Hunter Waters
C Kerr Stenglein Cousins
HF Embley Lynch Sampi
FF Gardiner McDougall Matera
R Cox Judd Fletcher
IC Nicoski Staker Butler Braun

E Selwood Morton Seaby

 

[Mead]

IMO, the ideal forward line structure is

Sampi/Gardiner/Embley
Seaby/McDougall/Matera.

With Judd, Cousins, Staker and possibly Lynch rotating into the forward depending on matchups.

I don't think it is feasible to go with a 4-5 talls structure for entire games, when we did it successfully it was generally for 5 or 10 minute periods to create hellacious matchup issues- as a general rule, it works very well when you are absolutely dominating out of the centre, and leads to you getting cut up at all other times, because there is no way someone like Seaby or Lynch can stay with a smaller more agile flanker when they start to push up the ground and set up play.

On Embley- Exceptionally good mark, basically a midfielder in a tall's body. He's certainly dangerous across HFF, but I think he almost gives better value when started on the wing, because in that situation he usually attracts smaller opponents-if he does push forward during general play and take his opponent with him, he gives us a significant advantage overhead.

 

[F-U]

What you fail to see Sydney_Eagle is that if we have 5 tall forwards then the opposition has to muster 5 tall defenders. Now considering the fact we barely have 2 tall defenders you can imagine that getting 2 ruckmen when most teams barely have one, and 3 other tall defenders is gonna be a hard task for the best of teams. The opposition infact will probably have to get 6 tall defenders as most of the year Matera has been picked up by a tall defender. Although we will struggle to keep the ball from being rebounded, you imagine that the other teams will struggle to rebound the ball aswell with that many tall defenders down there. It aint like Western Bulldogs are gonna play Lindsay Gilbee on Mark Seaby so they can rebound the ball out of our forward line. If you could come up with any team that could field suitable opponents for those 5 then i would like to see it, because i believe they would be very hard to stop.

And if you dont think Staker is a suitable forward player, how the heck did u come to imagine he would be any better in defence, a position he has never played before in his life??

 

[SYDNEY_EAGLE]

FB Wirra Glass Chick
HB Stenglein Hunter Waters
C Kerr Cousins Braun
HF Embley Lynch Sampi
FF Gardiner McDougall Matera
R Cox Fletcher Judd
IC Wooden Nicoski Staker Butler

E Selwood Morton Seaby

First, Seaby will be in our best 22 next - no doubt about it. He is now our number 2 ruckman with Gardiner unable to ruck.

Second, I think you're retiring Banfield a little early. If he plays next year, I think he'll be in our best 22.

Thirdly, what have Selwood, Nicoski or Morton shown to put them ahead of Adkins, Brett Jones, Rowan Jones or Hansen?

Fourthly, that would be the smallest backline in the competition. We would get r*ped by Port or St. Kilda.

Someone needs to make a decision about who plays at CHB next year - it will either be Staker or Lynch, with Hunter and Stenglein as 3rd and 4th talls.