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

[MelbourneGWS]

Expectation is very low for us externally.

If we start winning, the narrative will change very quickly to 'well they have a great list, they were underachieving'.

Honestly I think our new talent has been pretty good and if the game plan is implemented well in the first 5 weeks we could explode out of the box.

Also none of that could happen and we could end up in a world of pain.

Low expectations are probably a good thing.

And our draw is good in the first 5 rounds as well. I would expect us to beat Adelaide at home to start the season, and we are meeting the other clubs tipped for the bottom 4 (West Coast and Hawthorn) in the first 5 rounds. We could well be 4-1 heading to Manuka if things work out well for us. On the other hand, the team could struggle with Kingsley’s new system and we could have injuries…!

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Gee, it's not often that I'm the optimist on one of my team's chances, but I would expect us to be in the 4th-8th range at the end of the year and will be disappointed if we're not. The one player we really miss is Jezza, otherwise I'd be heading to the TAB.

Yes, tempted to take the odds on making the finals! But when it comes to betting only the bookies win.

 

[Giant Pete]

And our draw is good in the first 5 rounds as well. I would expect us to beat Adelaide at home to start the season, and we are meeting the other clubs tipped for the bottom 4 (West Coast and Hawthorn) in the first 5 rounds. We could well be 4-1 heading to Manuka if things work out well for us. On the other hand, the team could struggle with Kingsley’s new system and we could have injuries…!

Lol… brave person backing us in to play high level in the first few rounds… we have been shocking.

 

[PaythePerryman]

Lol… brave person backing us in to play high level in the first few rounds… we have been shocking.

You haven't seen us play the new system.
I think we will get a much better idea of how we will stack up on Saturday morning.
I certainly don't predict us playing finals but we should definitely be competitive against Crows/Eagles/Hawks and anyone else who didn't make finals last year.

 

[Colonial]

On the members call Finn will be wing or on the inside.
He seems to always want 2 talls up front.

 

[dlanod]

Yes, tempted to take the odds on making the finals! But when it comes to betting only the bookies win.

I can't bring myself to do it for exactly that reason.

 

[Danny88]

I still worry about the forward line. I just don't see where the goals are coming from. We would need strong years from the senior guys like TFG and breakouts from others to really be competitive.

Im really happy with the other lines and think we are solid there.

Hopefully the fast ball movement creates opportunities up front. I can't predict where a 50 goal season is coming and to whom

 

[PaythePerryman]

I still worry about the forward line. I just don't see where the goals are coming from. We would need strong years from the senior guys like TFG and breakouts from others to really be competitive.

Im really happy with the other lines and think we are solid there.

Hopefully the fast ball movement creates opportunities up front. I can't predict where a 50 goal season is coming and to whom

Yeah it's definitely the big question mark from last year for sure.
Toby playing most games will help.

If Hogan can find some more freedom due to the new style that'd be handy.

I was very keen to see Bedford but that'll have to wait.

I suppose we are hoping for improvement from Riccardi and hoping Adam Kennedy and Ward can use their experience to get some goals by commitee...which as I'm writing...now I'm more worried

 

[Hendo_21]

I still worry about the forward line. I just don't see where the goals are coming from. We would need strong years from the senior guys like TFG and breakouts from others to really be competitive.

Im really happy with the other lines and think we are solid there.

Hopefully the fast ball movement creates opportunities up front. I can't predict where a 50 goal season is coming and to whom

Yep forward line is defintely a question mark but it's not like the teams we're going to be competing with all have 3 perfect position groups either everyone outside of the true contenders has a line where it's a bit suspect and you're sort of crossing your fingers a bit and hoping it works, I think we all feel quite comfortable with this backline and the midfield and hopefully with a quicker style those units can help elevate this forward group. Hogan is really good when he's playing, Toby is one of the best players in the comp, we like Daniels, HH is always a good contributor in multiple ways then outside of that we're sort of waiting and seeing on Kennedy, Ward, Jones, what Bedford looks like when he comes back.

 

[Danny88]

Yep forward line is defintely a question mark but it's not like the teams we're going to be competing with all have 3 perfect position groups either everyone outside of the true contenders has a line where it's a bit suspect and you're sort of crossing your fingers a bit and hoping it works, I think we all feel quite comfortable with this backline and the midfield and hopefully with a quicker style those units can help elevate this forward group. Hogan is really good when he's playing, Toby is one of the best players in the comp, we like Daniels, HH is always a good contributor in multiple ways then outside of that we're sort of waiting and seeing on Kennedy, Ward, Jones, what Bedford looks like when he comes back.

Look Melb won a flag off of a pretty average forward line so its possible. But looking at the forwards that Adelaide are putting together for example is making me jealous.

 

[Hendo_21]

Look Melb won a flag off of a pretty average forward line so its possible. But looking at the forwards that Adelaide are putting together for example is making me jealous.

Yep and Freo's forward line last year wasn't too special and they won a final, Adelaide would be the envy of almost everyone in the entire competition

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Yeah it's definitely the big question mark from last year for sure.
Toby playing most games will help.

If Hogan can find some more freedom due to the new style that'd be handy.

I was very keen to see Bedford but that'll have to wait.

I suppose we are hoping for improvement from Riccardi and hoping Adam Kennedy and Ward can use their experience to get some goals by commitee...which as I'm writing...now I'm more worried

We also have HH and whilst Daniel Lloyd and Brent Daniels won’t score 50 goals, they will also contribute

 

[sydney_gws]

Expectation is very low for us externally.

If we start winning, the narrative will change very quickly to 'well they have a great list, they were underachieving'.

Honestly I think our new talent has been pretty good and if the game plan is implemented well in the first 5 weeks we could explode out of the box.

Also none of that could happen and we could end up in a world of pain.

Low expectations are probably a good thing.

I think we could improve alot, would feel better about this if Taranto was still here. Hopefully we where being poorly coached previously and Kingsley is a great coach. We need Toby Greene , Kelly ,Taylor to stay healthy.

 

[PaythePerryman]

We also have HH and whilst Daniel Lloyd and Brent Daniels won’t score 50 goals, they will also contribute

I can see Himmel scoring well this year with two other talls taking the bugger defenders...
Daniels has never been a prolific goal scorer. Lloyd I expect to be pushed out of the team relatively early in the year (I've enjoyed his kicking but he's just not as potent as we need him to be)

 

[Hendo_21]

I can see Himmel scoring well this year with two other talls taking the bugger defenders...
Daniels has never been a prolific goal scorer. Lloyd I expect to be pushed out of the team relatively early in the year (I've enjoyed his kicking but he's just not as potent as we need him to be)

Hopefully Stone is a contributor for us, 20+ goals from him would be a really good result, if HH spends a full season in the forward line he's been good for 35 goals a year and a quicker style might help him improve that output. Think realistically if everyone stays healthy for most of the year we could get:
HH 35+ goals
Hogan 35 + goals
Greene 40+ goals
That's a good enough 3 to put up some good scores

 

[Battlepants]

I'm hopeful that our forward line will be a bit more functional this season.

Last year we had Hogan and Greene who were both good, but those were really our only potent forwards. And because those were our only forward threats it was easy for opposition teams to defend them. Our other forwards included: Bobby Hill, who didn't score, didn't tackle and didn't apply pressure. Brander and Riccardi, neither of which were great (hopefully Riccardi improves a little this year). Depth players such as Sproule, Lloyd, Peatling and Brown. And players being played out of position like Haynes, Bruhn and Callaghan.

To put it kindly, it was an absolute bloody mess.

This year we'll have HH back forward helping out as a tall option. Daniels and Stone as smaller options. Bedford will come back for at least the second half of the season and Peatling has apparently shown a lot this pre-season so we could get some growth from him.

It's still not amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but it's leaps and bounds ahead of what we had last year.

 

[Hendo_21]

I'm hopeful that our forward line will be a bit more functional this season.

Last year we had Hogan and Greene who were both good, but those were really our only potent forwards. And because those were our only forward threats it was easy for opposition teams to defend them. Our other forwards included: Bobby Hill, who didn't score, didn't tackle and didn't apply pressure. Brander and Riccardi, neither of which were great (hopefully Riccardi improves a little this year). Depth players such as Sproule, Lloyd, Peatling and Brown. And players being played out of position like Haynes, Bruhn and Callaghan.

To put it kindly, it was an absolute bloody mess.

This year we'll have HH back forward helping out as a tall option. Daniels and Stone as smaller options. Bedford will come back for at least the second half of the season and Peatling has apparently shown a lot this pre-season so we could get some growth from him.

It's still not amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but it's leaps and bounds ahead of what we had last year.

I think there's enough there to match with most teams if things click quick enough but it's also relient on some guys that don't have the greatest health track record to stay healthy and play effectively.

 

[Battlepants]

I think there's enough there to match with most teams if things click quick enough but it's also relient on some guys that don't have the greatest health track record to stay healthy and play effectively.

True, as always the disclaimer "if we don't have injuries" applies to this.

Maybe one day that'll actually happen.

 

[GWS Goose]

The ball was going in slow last year.
In 2021 we were pretty efficient going forward.

 

[Giant Pete]

Yes I think we can’t really think of where our goals will come from using our previous gamestyle.
Better off seeing what Collingwood did last year and Richmond previously.
Many more goals come from midfielders and small forwards… we were getting very few goals from our smalls and our mids.
So, hypothetically, I’d be looking to see if guys like Daniels, Coniglio, Green, Kelly, Callaghan, Peatling etc to all kick significantly more goals.

 

[Hendo_21]

Yes I think we can’t really think of where our goals will come from using our previous gamestyle.
Better off seeing what Collingwood did last year and Richmond previously.
Many more goals come from midfielders and small forwards… we were getting very few goals from our smalls and our mids.
So, hypothetically, I’d be looking to see if guys like Daniels, Coniglio, Green, Kelly, Callaghan, Peatling etc to all kick significantly more goals.

If Cogs and Kelly can both be 15+ or thereabout, maybe Green kicks double digits that'd be a great way to help out the forwards, then hopefully some of the unproven small forwards pop and we can get some good contributions from them. In each of Cogs last few normal seasons he's kicked at least 15, Kelly has kicked more then 15 a few times and Green did 10 last year increasing his total every year so far.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Hopefully Stone is a contributor for us, 20+ goals from him would be a really good result, if HH spends a full season in the forward line he's been good for 35 goals a year and a quicker style might help him improve that output. Think realistically if everyone stays healthy for most of the year we could get:
HH 35+ goals
Hogan 35 + goals
Greene 40+ goals
That's a good enough 3 to put up some good scores

Although Jeremy has been the only person in our history to ever score more than 50 goals in a year (4 times), if Toby and Jesse play most of the games, and if they are in good form, they will come close to getting 50 goals?. I know there are a couple of big IFs, but Toby got a career best 45 in 2021.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

seems we are a wooden spoon contender now! The good thing is since external expectations for us is so low, the only way we can go is up!

The FIVE leading contenders for the 2023 AFL wooden spoon

Who's in line to claim footy's most unwanted 'prize' this year?

www.zerohanger.com

 

[Hendo_21]

Although Jeremy has been the only person in our history to ever score more than 50 goals in a year (4 times), if Toby and Jesse play most of the games, and if they are in good form, they will come close to getting 50 goals?. I know there are a couple of big IFs, but Toby got a career best 45 in 2021.

Would rate Toby's chances a bit better then Hogans, it's been a while since Hogan's been close to 50 but think Toby could do it this year if we get a full year out of him. Hogans gotten pretty close before but that was quite a few years and injuries ago, not sure he still has that in him, hopefully with a bit more speed and space coming in he can get 40-45

 

[BarryAglett]

seems we are a wooden spoon contender now! The good thing is since external expectations for us is so low, the only way we can go is up!

The FIVE leading contenders for the 2023 AFL wooden spoon

Who's in line to claim footy's most unwanted 'prize' this year?

www.zerohanger.com

Agreed!
We are the low hanging fruit, with new coaches, new players and untested game plan - so I understand the low expectations.