Preview 2021 Best 22 Discussion

sherrif

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That is of course unless it’s against you lot. After all Brad Shepard is the only player in the league who can beat Nat Fyfe. fu** sake.
I think Fyfe should start in the centre square every time there is. centre bounce when he is on the ground, but then also drift forward pretty much every time after the bounce. You could also have Tucker or Brayhaw start at half forward but then play onball after the bounce. Fyfe could also be at clearances in the forward third during the game in general play.
 

ignoramus

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The way I see it, Fyfe at centre bounces will account for 10% of his tog, and for 80-90% he'll be forward, because that's where I'm expecting the ball the ball to be.
 

wakojako

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The way I see it, Fyfe at centre bounces will account for 10% of his tog, and for 80-90% he'll be forward, because that's where I'm expecting the ball the ball to be.
Play Fyfey mid in the premiership quarter and foward for the rest of the game.
 

vidwhal

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I’m looking forward to seeing how Crowden plays this season. He may not be too fashionable having been a pick 65 or so, but I reckon his ceiling is higher than people think. Excellent disposer of the ball by foot.
Yup, I recall watching his draft highlights and saying "now there's a guys that's got both the hustle and the skill to succeed"

Have been watching him keenly since we picked him up.

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Square Peg

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I’m looking forward to seeing how Crowden plays this season. He may not be too fashionable having been a pick 65 or so, but I reckon his ceiling is higher than people think. Excellent disposer of the ball by foot.
The thing I really liked about Crowden last year when he got the chance was he would pull the trigger, looks like he's decided he's not just there to be a hard nut but to be an attacking player that will try and influence the scoreboard. Impressive stuff.
 

Scham

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The thing I really liked about Crowden last year when he got the chance was he would pull the trigger, looks like he's decided he's not just there to be a hard nut but to be an attacking player that will try and influence the scoreboard. Impressive stuff.

I’d say that’s a reflection on our new game plan/style. I doubt that he’s just decided to play that way, he’d be instructed to.
 

arsesmart

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The thing I really liked about Crowden last year when he got the chance was he would pull the trigger, looks like he's decided he's not just there to be a hard nut but to be an attacking player that will try and influence the scoreboard. Impressive stuff.
He's always been a bull at the gate style player, pre-draft and after, which seems to now be including more at the goals. Although there's probably a fair slice of that due to growing confidence of a player coming into his fourth season. Still impressive that he's only got 24 games under his belt and he's developing that level of confidence in his place in the AFL.
 

freo for life

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My rd 1 team based of the pre season so far.

Conca Hamling Ryan
Wilson Cox Young
Aish Fyfe Acers
Walters Tabs Mundy
Henry Lobb Schultz

Darcy Brayshaw Cerra

Serong Tucker Hughes Chapman

If Darcy doesn’t get any game time in during the pre season hit outs then I think they will give Meek a go , last spot was out of Chapman and Crowden they both have had excellent pre seasons but I went Chapman to fast track his development.
So looking forward to the upcoming season , our list is looking awesome! 🙂👏
 
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Righto - getting the thread back off the Fyfe topic and onto best 22, I think this year is one of the hardest we’ve had to predict the team. The depth is far greater than it has been with heaps of guys fighting for a spot, I’d be curious who we all think are deadset locks though (assuming fully fit).
Guys like Hamling being debated is really promising!

For me the locks are:
FB - Young Hamling Ryan
HB - Logue Pearce ___
C - Aish Brayshaw ___
HF - Walters Lobb Sturt
FF - _____ Tabs ____
Fol- Darcy Fyfe Cerra

Int - Serong Mundy ____ ____


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- Wilson into the HB line
- Acres on the wing (but needs to perform week in week out)
- Tucker into HF and push Sturt into one of the FF positions (I reckon he would take a lot of marks with the third tall on him)
- Switta to take the other FF position
- Cox and Hughes start on the bench

Schultz, Crowden and Conca all very unlucky

Would love to see Chapman, Valente and Treacy debut early

O'Driscoll, Western, Walker, Watson, Frederick and Henry get a good season of WAFL under their belt.

I was always a hugely Blakely fan, but I've jumped off him for now. Nothing would please me more than to see him get back to where he was 2-3 seasons ago.

Wow!! That's 12 other players I would be very happy to see in the 22.

Only players I don't want to see near the 22 are Bewley, Banfield and Colyer.
 

2006_Eagles

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No Treacy?

giphy.gif
 
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Best way to use Fyfe is drifting forward to get a mismatch but spending most time in the middle.

Puts all sorts of pressure on the defence to adjust, especially since Tabs and Lobb are such sting marks.

I actually think Fyfe’s field kicking and decision making really was a strength of his last year too so apart from his ability to win the ball he has become more damaging with it.

Sturt May struggle to break in off no preseason and a glut of players in his position.
Fyfe can predominantly forward IF he’s one on one with his defender.
Tabs loves a contested mark, Lobb even more so. Three of them, on paper looks great. But on the field- let’s hope they can work out/communicate who’s going up and who’s going around the goal square. No point bringing Tabs’ man for example to the contest only to spoil Fyfe’s mark or vice versa
 

sherrif

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Looks like Meek will be playing Rd 1
No Darcy, which I don't mind.
Our mids should be ready to shark the ball from Gawn's taps
It could be a case of Treacy coming in and Lobb going into the ruck. Maybe Cox then goes as the second ruclk.
 

arsesmart

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Fyfe can predominantly forward IF he’s one on one with his defender.
Tabs loves a contested mark, Lobb even more so. Three of them, on paper looks great. But on the field- let’s hope they can work out/communicate who’s going up and who’s going around the goal square. No point bringing Tabs’ man for example to the contest only to spoil Fyfe’s mark or vice versa
I was thinking today, with the new rule adjustments around the man on the mark, if the ball's going in there quicker and more often, it could be tailor-made for Fyfe to operate more in the forward line (lots of reward for multi-pronged forward line too)...and just maybe there'll be less contested situations around the ground for him to dominate as well.

Ooh quick afterthought...started to imagine Young with all those angles to exploit with his boot 🤤
 
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I was thinking today, with the new rule adjustments around the man on the mark, if the ball's going in there quicker and more often, it could be tailor-made for Fyfe to operate more in the forward line (lots of reward for multi-pronged forward line too)...and just maybe there'll be less contested situations around the ground for him to dominate as well.

Ooh quick afterthought...started to imagine Young with all those angles to exploit with his boot 🤤

I think the kicking to man teams will have an advantage vs the chaos ball, or running teams.
 

wayToGo_

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Defenders

You can definitely make a case for two full defensive units out of our list and both are AFL proven (well you'd at least be confident in both):

The over 25s (at start of year)

Hughes ~ Hamling ~ Conca
Wilson ~ Pearce ~ Hill

The under 25s

Young ~ Logue ~ Ryan
Duman ~ Cox ~ Chapman

And Watson, Walker and Thomas available for the last defender spot on the bench.

That seems some insane depth and I still don't know how they are going to pick just 7 if most are fit and available.

Midfielders

And the midfield depth is looking pretty decent as well, also with a full younger and an older team option (excluding ruck) but perhaps not quite as proven at AFL level:

The over 24s (at start of year)

Acres ~ Fyfe ~ Mundy ~ Blakely ~ Aish

The under 24s

Frederick ~ Brayshaw ~ Cerra ~ Serong ~ Tucker

And Valente, Bewley, Giro, O'Driscoll available for the bench.

Forwards

Like most I've been a massive critic of our forward line (and forward line coordination/strategy) but I'm bullish on some big improvement this year due to an injection of speedsters/skills and JLo investing his time in it. Clearly not as deep as the other two lines but something to work with at least (especially with the mids like Fyfe rotating in).

The over 22s (at start of year)

Switta ~ Taberner ~ Colyer
Schultz ~ Lobb ~ Walters

The under 22s

Sturt ~ Banfield ~ Henry
Crowden ~ Treacy ~ Western

I think there is enough there to aim for finals and embarrass those Vic commentators. If the forward line comes together this season (and injury list isn't ridiculous like it has been in recent times) then the aspiration should be more than just making the 8.
 

Dockeroo

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Defenders

You can definitely make a case for two full defensive units out of our list and both are AFL proven (well you'd at least be confident in both):

The over 25s (at start of year)

Hughes ~ Hamling ~ Conca
Wilson ~ Pearce ~ Hill

The under 25s

Young ~ Logue ~ Ryan
Duman ~ Cox ~ Chapman

And Watson, Walker and Thomas available for the last defender spot on the bench.

That seems some insane depth and I still don't know how they are going to pick just 7 if most are fit and available.

Midfielders

And the midfield depth is looking pretty decent as well, also with a full younger and an older team option (excluding ruck) but perhaps not quite as proven at AFL level:

The over 24s (at start of year)

Acres ~ Fyfe ~ Mundy ~ Blakely ~ Aish

The under 24s

Frederick ~ Brayshaw ~ Cerra ~ Serong ~ Tucker

And Valente, Bewley, Giro, O'Driscoll available for the bench.

Forwards

Like most I've been a massive critic of our forward line (and forward line coordination/strategy) but I'm bullish on some big improvement this year due to an injection of speedsters/skills and JLo investing his time in it. Clearly not as deep as the other two lines but something to work with at least (especially with the mids like Fyfe rotating in).

The over 22s (at start of year)

Switta ~ Taberner ~ Colyer
Schultz ~ Lobb ~ Walters

The under 22s

Sturt ~ Banfield ~ Henry
Crowden ~ Treacy ~ Western

I think there is enough there to aim for finals and embarrass those Vic commentators. If the forward line comes together this season (and injury list isn't ridiculous like it has been in recent times) then the aspiration should be more than just making the 8.
Good post and when you lay it out like that it’s the forward line where we are light on.
Apart from Walters and Tabs, none of the others forwards named would be likely to get a game first up at the top sides. Lots of unproven potential though. Our back 6 could well be the strongest in the AFL.
EDIT: Lobb probably also makes most sides to be fair, though he was pretty average at times last year and could do with a rocket up his ass this season from the likes of Treacy to keep him honest.
 

beetz

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My rd 1 team based of the pre season so far.

Conca Hamling Ryan
Wilson Cox Young
Aish Fyfe Acers
Walters Tabs Mundy
Henry Lobb Schultz

Darcy Brayshaw Cerra

Serong Tucker Hughes Chapman

If Darcy doesn’t get any game time in during the pre season hit outs then I think they will give Meek a go , last spot was out of Chapman and Crowden they both have had excellent pre seasons but I went Chapman to fast track his development.
So looking forward to the upcoming season , our list is looking awesome! 🙂👏

hard to argue with this best 22 - nailed it.
 

kp junior

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I was thinking today, with the new rule adjustments around the man on the mark, if the ball's going in there quicker and more often, it could be tailor-made for Fyfe to operate more in the forward line (lots of reward for multi-pronged forward line too)...and just maybe there'll be less contested situations around the ground for him to dominate as well.

Ooh quick afterthought...started to imagine Young with all those angles to exploit with his boot 🤤
This new standing on the mark rule will be a s**t show if they actually stick to it. Teams with afl level skills playing auskick. They'll score 300
 
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Defenders

You can definitely make a case for two full defensive units out of our list and both are AFL proven (well you'd at least be confident in both):

The over 25s (at start of year)

Hughes ~ Hamling ~ Conca
Wilson ~ Pearce ~ Hill

The under 25s

Young ~ Logue ~ Ryan
Duman ~ Cox ~ Chapman

And Watson, Walker and Thomas available for the last defender spot on the bench.

That seems some insane depth and I still don't know how they are going to pick just 7 if most are fit and available.

Midfielders

And the midfield depth is looking pretty decent as well, also with a full younger and an older team option (excluding ruck) but perhaps not quite as proven at AFL level:

The over 24s (at start of year)

Acres ~ Fyfe ~ Mundy ~ Blakely ~ Aish

The under 24s

Frederick ~ Brayshaw ~ Cerra ~ Serong ~ Tucker

And Valente, Bewley, Giro, O'Driscoll available for the bench.

Forwards

Like most I've been a massive critic of our forward line (and forward line coordination/strategy) but I'm bullish on some big improvement this year due to an injection of speedsters/skills and JLo investing his time in it. Clearly not as deep as the other two lines but something to work with at least (especially with the mids like Fyfe rotating in).

The over 22s (at start of year)

Switta ~ Taberner ~ Colyer
Schultz ~ Lobb ~ Walters

The under 22s

Sturt ~ Banfield ~ Henry
Crowden ~ Treacy ~ Western

I think there is enough there to aim for finals and embarrass those Vic commentators. If the forward line comes together this season (and injury list isn't ridiculous like it has been in recent times) then the aspiration should be more than just making the 8.
Great post.

Interesting comparing each line.

Defense has insane depth, midfield has some depth and the forward line has little depth.

Our defense and forward line are poles apart.

10 players from defense could play in most teams.

5 midfielders would play in a top 4 team.

Only 4 forwards could make another top 4 team.

As you say you can only play 7 defenders.

That gives us 16 players who are top 4 quality.
 
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