Prediction 2024 Round 1 Team

[catempire]

Could play Duncan on a HBF and include an extra mid (Clark) in the 22. Touhy as the sub - would be ideal as he’s versatile and can come on with tiring bodies and have an impact.

Edit - only change I’d make. Very tempted to play Mannagh but his lack of mins in the 2 practice matches is of some concern.

Holmes and Duncan at half back and no Bews leaves us pretty exposed defensively. We also know Scott is prone to playing more rather than fewer defenders. I wouldn’t mind being surprised at a shift though.

 

[catempire]

I agree Tuohy will be a lock to start the season, but I think it'll depend on fitness & form as to what happens comes seasons end

He only played the 20 games last season - missed both clashes with Essendon & the last round against the Bulldogs. If our injury situation was different I wouldn't have been surprised if he missed more, especially early in the season when he was down on form & it was likely as a result of the back issue that kept him out of the first Essendon clash - from rounds 4 to 8, the 4 matches he played he averaged 13 disposals with a high of only 15, and just didn't look himself. Another patch like that may be hard for him to keep his spot if we've got guys in the VFL pushing for selection

Yeah, as I’ve said elsewhere I don’t see it. My mail is he was pretty badly hampered by injury last year and they are not expecting that again in 2024. Also don’t see the type of player who will push him out.

 

[Footy Smarts]

It’ll be interesting. Scott refused to play and then delisted Mark Blake on 99 games, and we’ve had two of the most mobile rucks in the game in Stanley and Blicavs (including Blitz rucking solo a fair bit circa 2013-2015, from memory).

History suggests Scott doesn’t rate tap ruckmen/winning ruck contests anywhere near as much as their contribution around the ground. I haven’t seen much VFL but Conway seemed strong in the ruck but not too impactful otherwise in the match sim (decent tackler though). I think he’ll need to get a bit of the ball or be effective forward or back to get many games this season, except forced changes from injury/management of Stanley tbh.

Nah Conway's follow up work at ground level around stoppages looks elite for his size and he can take a mark too. He needs a few years to really build his running ability to be a weapon around the ground but he's definitely not Blake who at times was a liability after the tap.

 

[catempire]

I agree 100% with the logic. I think you could also make the argument that Kolo is just as much a lock as anyone else, given he's basically never played VFL when fit, so he'll take the last spot on the bench.

I still have a feeling they might play Clark and make Bowes sub, too. But I hope they don't. I really want to see what Bowes has to offer as a midfielder.

Yep, can’t argue with it. My Kolo thinking is always more Wishful thinking than anything else.

 

[catempire]

It’ll be interesting. Scott refused to play and then delisted Mark Blake on 99 games, and we’ve had two of the most mobile rucks in the game in Stanley and Blicavs (including Blitz rucking solo a fair bit circa 2013-2015, from memory).

History suggests Scott doesn’t rate tap ruckmen/winning ruck contests anywhere near as much as their contribution around the ground. I haven’t seen much VFL but Conway seemed strong in the ruck but not too impactful otherwise in the match sim (decent tackler though). I think he’ll need to get a bit of the ball or be effective forward or back to get many games this season, except forced changes from injury/management of Stanley tbh.

Conway’s most appealing aspect to me is he is incredible below his knees. I don’t think he’s as athletic as Stanley but I don’t think we will lose anything around the ground (eventually) when he grows into the role.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Conway’s most appealing aspect to me is he is incredible below his knees. I don’t think he’s as athletic as Stanley but I don’t think we will lose anything around the ground (eventually) when he grows into the role.

Stanley is so average these days that even if Conway is no good around the ground… it still won’t be far off what Stanley is producing.

I’m still for Stanley starting the year and hopefully playing well… but if he is not offering much around the ground then I’d be happy to get Conway in, even though Conway is still miles away from the end product.

I was wanting us to get Goldy last year because even though he is a million years old I just know he would give our mids a decent go at it with his tap work.

Stanley is so “meh” I just wish Conway was a couple of years more developed and could make a difference.

 

[Oisin_the_Goat]

Hi All,

Last chance to join our draft starting this arvo. There's one slot available.

AFL Dream Team Draft League - Catters

The games have begun! If anyone has ended up with gaps in their squad they can bring in free agents or offer trades to other players. Cheers!

www.bigfooty.com

Cheers

 

[year of the cat]

Holmes and Duncan at half back and no Bews leaves us pretty exposed defensively. We also know Scott is prone to playing more rather than fewer defenders. I wouldn’t mind being surprised at a shift though.

Personally wouldn’t be playing Holmes back. Leave him on a wing and part of our midfield rotations.

Unfortunately that means playing either Bews or Kolo but I can live with that if it means we get Clark into the 22. Also have O’Connor who can play a role down there too.

 

[year of the cat]

Yeah, as I’ve said elsewhere I don’t see it. My mail is he was pretty badly hampered by injury last year and they are not expecting that again in 2024. Also don’t see the type of player who will push him out.

Where do you see him playing positionally? I think he’s a pretty average one on one defender. Reckon he plays wing/HF - for me Dempsey now takes his spot in the 22.

 

[D BRIDGE]

I think I’ll go to open training on Monday and see if I can notice anything that might help me identify what could happen with some of these “fringe selections” before banging in my final team.

 

[calder_daddy]

Thought Stanley looked quite good. Certainly won’t play AFL all year, but I can see him sharing it with Conway in almost a 50/50 split of games.

They always talk about age and losing your feet
I’ve never seen Stanley go to ground more than he did last weekend
It was a concern for me

 

[year of the cat]

They always talk about age and losing your feet
I’ve never seen Stanley go to ground more than he did last weekend
It was a concern for me

The way I looked at it, we were murdered in the ruck when Neale was in there. When Stanley moved into the middle we started to win our fair share of clearances where he was often part of the chain in possession. Around the ground I thought he was reasonable albeit that he may have lost his footing a few times.

 

[calder_daddy]

The way I looked at it, we were murdered in the ruck when Neale was in there. When Stanley moved into the middle we started to win our fair share of clearances where he was often part of the chain in possession. Around the ground I thought he was reasonable albeit that he may have lost his footing a few times.

See I specifically remember Stanley getting murdered at the start and it only changed with Goldstein went out of the ruck

Funny how people can see and remember games differently

 

[you pick one]

My hopeful side that has at least some semblance of a chance

FB: Z.Guthrie SDK J.Henry
HB: Duncan Kolo Stewart

C: Blicavs Dangerfield Holmes
FOL: Stanley Bruhn Bowes

HF: Miers Cameron Close
FF: O.Henry Hawkins Stengle

IC: Atkins Clark Dempsey Tuohy Mannagh(sub)

Dempsey and Miers can alternate between half forward and wing. This naturally fits with when Holmes is switched to half back.

Atkins and Clark as the midfield bull rotations. Dangerfield across half forward when one of the forwards is rotated off makes sense, he actually was dangerous (pardon the pun) in that vicinity in 2023 at times. That would be one way to manage his midfield bursts, as well as maintaining the conservative time on ground minutes.

Blicavs can also float inside for secondary ruck or as a contested midfielder. But I suspect we'll need his hard running and defensive accountability on the wing, where he can also float back to cover our defenders and create outnumbers.

Bowes given a license to own a full time midfield gig (some wing minutes are compatible with this too, but no time in defence). This one is the iffy topic as that sub role sadly could be waiting for him.

As much as I'd like Mannagh to start, role-wise one of Tuohy and MOC have to play. And I accept both could but this wouldn't be my preference. There are pros and cons for playing either. This would leave Mannagh as a high impact sub who can create havoc around half forward and with the odd burst at stoppage.

I promise not to melt when there's a difference or two in the actual selected team.

Conway’s most appealing aspect to me is he is incredible below his knees. I don’t think he’s as athletic as Stanley but I don’t think we will lose anything around the ground (eventually) when he grows into the role.

It’ll be interesting. Scott refused to play and then delisted Mark Blake on 99 games, and we’ve had two of the most mobile rucks in the game in Stanley and Blicavs (including Blitz rucking solo a fair bit circa 2013-2015, from memory).

History suggests Scott doesn’t rate tap ruckmen/winning ruck contests anywhere near as much as their contribution around the ground. I haven’t seen much VFL but Conway seemed strong in the ruck but not too impactful otherwise in the match sim (decent tackler though). I think he’ll need to get a bit of the ball or be effective forward or back to get many games this season, except forced changes from injury/management of Stanley tbh.

It’ll be interesting. Scott refused to play and then delisted Mark Blake on 99 games, and we’ve had two of the most mobile rucks in the game in Stanley and Blicavs (including Blitz rucking solo a fair bit circa 2013-2015, from memory).

History suggests Scott doesn’t rate tap ruckmen/winning ruck contests anywhere near as much as their contribution around the ground. I haven’t seen much VFL but Conway seemed strong in the ruck but not too impactful otherwise in the match sim (decent tackler though). I think he’ll need to get a bit of the ball or be effective forward or back to get many games this season, except forced changes from injury/management of Stanley tbh.

Thought Stanley looked quite good. Certainly won’t play AFL all year, but I can see him sharing it with Conway in almost a 50/50 split of games.

Nah Conway's follow up work at ground level around stoppages looks elite for his size and he can take a mark too. He needs a few years to really build his running ability to be a weapon around the ground but he's definitely not Blake who at times was a liability after the tap.

We need to find games for Conway this season or risk have another big pie eater (Mumford)tragedy on our hands at the end of his contract.

 

[D BRIDGE]

We need to find games for Conway this season or risk have another big pie eater (Mumford)tragedy on our hands at the end of his contract.

There’s no risk of that.

Conway is still a baby and will be handed the reigns very soon.

Probably in just a few weeks, but 100% will be at the end of the year unless we go out and recruit a very good mature ager (which we won’t).

It’s clear Conway is our man going forward (he knows that) unless something changes out of the blue.

P.S we got Mitch Duncan with the pick we got for Mummy so it ended up pretty far from a tragedy for us.

 

[Oisin_the_Goat]

Conway’s most appealing aspect to me is he is incredible below his knees. I don’t think he’s as athletic as Stanley but I don’t think we will lose anything around the ground (eventually) when he grows into the role.

IMO he's already a better ruckman than Stanley in terms of skill and follow up but needs to put on a bit of mass as well as build up his engine to play out entire matches against the big boys.

 

[catempire]

Personally wouldn’t be playing Holmes back. Leave him on a wing and part of our midfield rotations.

Unfortunately that means playing either Bews or Kolo but I can live with that if it means we get Clark into the 22. Also have O’Connor who can play a role down there too.

I felt sceptical about Holmes at half back but seeing it against essendon I’m near certain they’ll start the year running with it. It’s undeniable it gives us drive from half back we can’t otherwise access.

 

[catempire]

Where do you see him playing positionally? I think he’s a pretty average one on one defender. Reckon he plays wing/HF - for me Dempsey now takes his spot in the 22.

Don’t see a change to his historical role.

 

[year of the cat]

I felt sceptical about Holmes at half back but seeing it against essendon I’m near certain they’ll start the year running with it. It’s undeniable it gives us drive from half back we can’t otherwise access.

A lot of robbing Peter to pay Paul about it. Anyway, see how it works I suppose.

 

[moond0g]

It’ll be interesting. Scott refused to play and then delisted Mark Blake on 99 games, and we’ve had two of the most mobile rucks in the game in Stanley and Blicavs (including Blitz rucking solo a fair bit circa 2013-2015, from memory).

History suggests Scott doesn’t rate tap ruckmen/winning ruck contests anywhere near as much as their contribution around the ground. I haven’t seen much VFL but Conway seemed strong in the ruck but not too impactful otherwise in the match sim (decent tackler though). I think he’ll need to get a bit of the ball or be effective forward or back to get many games this season, except forced changes from injury/management of Stanley tbh.

Perhaps. But I also think Scott would have been more than willing to to drop Stanley multiples times over the last few years if we'd had a competent AFL level replacement. But we just haven't had a player like that on our list, hence Stanley stays in the side.

But I do agree that for all the hype about Conway, he needs to start finding more of the football to be impacting games more. But he's still young, so there's plenty of time for that.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

A lot of robbing Peter to pay Paul about it. Anyway, see how it works I suppose.

I doubt he's playing the whole game there. I'd say it's pretty similar to what we saw against Essendon. 50/50, 60/40, 70/30 sorta split depending on the game, team, or how he's going himself.

Pretty much the Daicos model at Collingwood is what they're going for I assume.

 

[FootyLad0]

That gives me:

B: Stewart De Koning Z Guthrie
HB: Holmes J Henry Tuohy
C: Blicavs Atkins Duncan
HF: Close Cameron Miers
F: Stengle Hawkins O Henry
R: Stanley Dangerfield Bruhn
Int: O’Connor Kolo/Bews Bowes Dempsey
Sub: Clark

I'd go MOC sub as he can come on and play anywhere and Clark as a bench mid rotation but that is just my 2 cents.

 

[FootyLad0]

We need to find games for Conway this season or risk have another big pie eater (Mumford)tragedy on our hands at the end of his contract.

We'd be freaking crazy to let Conway go, like sackable offence to let a future AA RUCKMAN GO.
No doubt in my mind he'll get the starting ruck role this year. Think it's going to be a transition year and then handing it over full time as of 2025. I expect Rhys to either retire or just play VFL from that point on.

 

[Pussinbootz]

What’re you guys expecting from Bowes this season. Got him in my fantasy draft.

 

[Oisin_the_Goat]

What’re you guys expecting from Bowes this season. Got him in my fantasy draft.

He looks extremely fit and will likely play midfield. Played extremely well in both practice matches. He's good for fantasy classic as his price will go up a fair bit and there's not many defender options that play mid. In terms of draft i'd hold on to him and see what sort of scores he puts up first few rounds.