Prediction 2018 All Australian Predictions Thread

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Nov 12, 2002
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But Martin in the midfield ahead of Oliver is a joke though - why not Oliver in the midfield (where he deserves) and then if they really wanted Martin & Danger in the team one in the forward line & the other starting on the bench because if Oliver is pushed to the bench or not even selected it's very questionable.

The instructions the selectors receive is "However, the final team of 22 is selected as if it was playing a match." - lets see if that pans out because right now theres more than 4 players deserving of the remaining spots on the bench

Totally agree. I'd have Oliver in the midfield. And IF you have Martin and Dangerfield in the team I'd have both on the bench. Geelong fans will agree with Dangerfield being named on the forward flank but the reality is he kicked 24 goals and Martin kicked 30. And both spent plenty of time up forward, not just Martin.

Stewart has done well, but I'm stunned they haven't picked Grimes on the field (if he gets in at all). He'd be almost the first defender I'd pick. Find it hard to believe Laird is more deserving to be honest. Great reward for Stewart though.
 

Baudolino

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Apr 20, 2011
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Totally agree. I'd have Oliver in the midfield. And IF you have Martin and Dangerfield in the team I'd have both on the bench. Geelong fans will agree with Dangerfield being named on the forward flank but the reality is he kicked 24 goals and Martin kicked 30. And both spent plenty of time up forward, not just Martin.

Yes, true, but Martin spent considerably more time there than Danger. I watched a lot of Richmond games this year and Martin was often camped inside 50 for almost the entire game. Danger was used forward more than last year of course but he definitely didn't stay down there as often as Dusty.
 

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Hopefully, Hawkins can dominate this final series and be the leading goalkicker by the end of it all to make his non-selection look even worse. I can dream i guess haha.
 

Baudolino

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I'm in agreement with you though Patridge about the fact that Danger should only have been named on the bench. Deserved to make the side but not the starting 22, especially not on a HFF.
 

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Landgraft

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Dec 18, 2016
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I still remember when people tried to shout me down for saying Caddy wouldn't and shouldn't be AA this year.

It's a pretty reasonable team. Probably would have only shuffled out interchange spots (don't need a second ruck or Edwards), or maybe slid Rance into a pocket to bring in a different FB.
 
I actually think the whole team is conservative and reputation-based. Ironic really given the fact that the 40-man squad was mostly excellent, but the choices for the official team seem based off "name" more than anything else.

Case in point:

Martin - shouldn't be selected as a starting midfielder. Should be either on the bench or out of the team.
Dangerfield - shouldn't be a HFF. Deserved to be in the team IMO, but should have been named as a midfielder (has played there more than Martin) or on the bench.
McGovern - even West Coast fans admit he hasn't had an AA standard year
Gray - Caddy was better imo. Marginal call though.
Rance - I'm not all that unhappy with this decision as he did have a good year, but the difference between Rance, Blicavs and Jonas was non-existent so methinks Rance's reputation got him over the edge.

It's kinda like with some players that they have also looked at how the team has gone this year & used that to influence their decisions also - Richmond & WCE finished top 2 so therefore guys like Martin, Rance & McGovern must have had good years; but if instead of the top 2 teams they were playing for one of the bottom 4 teams & had the same output would their seasons be lauded as they have been or more along the lines of "not as good as they have been in previous years so not quite AA standard this year" or at least "not in the starting AA team"

Danger had a very solid year(probably was better than some have acknowledged & flown a bit under the radar because of his consistency) but totally agree, he spent less time forward this year than previously so not sure a spot in the forward line is actually the right thing to do - it's actually unfair on players for whom that's their predominant position and they miss out on acknowledgement for their year.
 
I still remember when people tried to shout me down for saying Caddy wouldn't and shouldn't be AA this year.

It's a pretty reasonable team. Probably would have only shuffled out interchange spots (don't need a second ruck or Edwards), or maybe slid Rance into a pocket to bring in a different FB.

This is from a Wayne Carey article a month ago (lead up to the Tigers vs Cats & discussion if we would see Rance vs Hawkins on the night) - he makes a very good point that I think some don't want to necessarily acknowledge that Rance doesn't necessarily play as FB for the Tigers.

If he is again penciled in for a secondary role, it does pose some interesting questions, particularly when it comes to All-Australian selection.
Captain in 2017, Rance is deservedly set to be named in the competition’s best 22 players for the fifth straight year.
But unless he takes the game’s biggest forwards, he should not be selected at full-back or centre half-back. It might be a minor detail, but right now his place should be in the back pocket or a half-back flank.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-best-versus-the-best-or-is-it-20180802-p4zv2f.html
 

Landgraft

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They just seem to over-complicate things. Almost as though they select to draw publicity controversy.
Moreso that fans have false expectations, often because they expect one category of stats or another to be the deciding factor in selection.

It's just got to be the best team you could select from players who made significant contributions this season. Hence Dangerfield is a preferable forward flanker to Caddy because if you were selecting a team from scratch Paddy would offer you 10x more than Josh would, regardless of goals over the course of this season.
 
Nov 12, 2002
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This is from a Wayne Carey article a month ago (lead up to the Tigers vs Cats & discussion if we would see Rance vs Hawkins on the night) - he makes a very good point that I think some don't want to necessarily acknowledge that Rance doesn't necessarily play as FB for the Tigers.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-best-versus-the-best-or-is-it-20180802-p4zv2f.html

He doesn’t, he and Astbury swap depending on the opposition. Although he did play there on Hawkins the second time.
 
Nov 12, 2002
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Moreso that fans have false expectations, often because they expect one category of stats or another to be the deciding factor in selection.

It's just got to be the best team you could select from players who made significant contributions this season. Hence Dangerfield is a preferable forward flanker to Caddy because if you were selecting a team from scratch Paddy would offer you 10x more than Josh would, regardless of goals over the course of this season.

Disagree. Then pick him on the bench or in the midfield.

Dangerfield kicked 24 goals this year. That is nowhere near enough to get picked on the half forward flank. Caddy kicked 44.
 
but I'm stunned they haven't picked Grimes on the field (if he gets in at all). He'd be almost the first defender I'd pick. Find it hard to believe Laird is more deserving to be honest.
Agree with that. He and Lloyd were the seagull stat padder selections.
 

Landgraft

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Dec 18, 2016
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Disagree. Then pick him on the bench or in the midfield.

Dangerfield kicked 24 goals this year. That is nowhere near enough to get picked on the half forward flank. Caddy kicked 44.
Caddy kicked 44 goals but he didn't really do anything else. Dangerfield kicked 24 in limited stints up forward while also being an elite midfielder - and if given the luxury Caddy was he'd be able to be better at it too.

The AA is the best team going forward if we were going to be playing representative international footy this summer... or at least its supposed to be. It's not a gold star for ticking off positional KPIs.
 

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