Prediction 2024 Round 1 Team

[CHAWKTS]

Maybe Neale for Dempsey but it’s splitting hairs.
Just think they may have a look at Hawkins, Neale & Cameron together early doors. Hawkins and Neale deep and Cameron as a high CHF working back towards goal. Saw a lot of that in the match sim.

I know for a lot of the old campaigners the match sim is about blowing off the cobwebs, but Tuohy looked so reactionary and a yard off the pace. Of all the old heads, he looked the most vulnerable to losing his spot in the team. He deserves to stay in team, but there are number of kittens breathing down his neck.

I honestly think it will come down to match ups between Neale and Dempsey. If we are worried about height then they go with Neale. Otherwise they will love the run that Dempsey adds.

be intesting whether they can play both next week in a 24 man squad. To test against essendon

 

[BORIS332]

Mannagh looked ready to go in that practice game. COS 100% ready to go. Clark won some of the better possessions in the midfield - although disposal is a WIP.

All should play first round. Give them a taste. With the vets to support, they will develop quickly.

Based on yesterday’s practice match, COS is nowhere near ready to go at AFL level.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Based on yesterday’s practice match, COS is nowhere near ready to go at AFL level.

Worth adding the caveat that he was regularly matched on a Coleman medalist but yeah, he needs time. I probably wouldn't debut him this year at all unless you find a nice easy third tall role that he could debut on.

 

[year of the cat]

I think you have put together a really strong assessment. I am not going to argue with it but maybe in a couple of areas I reckon you have underestimated the “pecking order”. carrying forward your point about Close.

i reckon Dempsey ahead of mannagh so will get first crack. And the practise game did him no harm despite Mannagh looking really good. The only way Dempsey doesn’t play round 1 IMO is if they go Tall with Neale for match up reasons.

‘I am in your camp Conway vs Stanley but don’t reckon the match comiitee are -yet. So stanly will play round 1

I also think they have gone past Bews. Holmes definitely starting back and Blitz on the bench


having said allof that we are guessing. Next week against Dons will be very interesting. If they don’t rest anybody (maybe they will one or two) we will see who the best 24 are for round 1

Would love to play both Dempsey and Mannagh but couldn’t fit both in my round 1 side. Erred with Mannagh as more of a running mid/forward than with Dempsey who admittedly can play wing as well as HF but I tend to see him more as a O.Henry type primarily. As I said playing him and Henry up forward would be exciting.

Not sure about the Holmes playing back move. Can see they want to have more speed coming out of D50 but I personally think Holmes is better played on a wing or on ball.

I’d hoped that Mullin may be ready to play a small defensive role but whilst he does some decent things defensively he’s still a worry with ball in hand at this stage.

Be interesting who the defer to re Conway or Stanley. My feel from that game was that there wasn’t much between the 2 so preference the younger player to expedite his development.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Would love to play both Dempsey and Mannagh but couldn’t fit both in my round 1 side. Erred with Mannagh as more of a running mid/forward than with Dempsey who admittedly can play wing as well as HF but I tend to see him more as a O.Henry type primarily. As I said playing him and Henry up forward would be exciting.

Not sure about the Holmes playing back move. Can see they want to have more speed coming out of D50 but I personally think Holmes is better played on a wing or on ball.

I’d hoped that Mullin may be ready to play a small defensive role but whilst he does some decent things defensively he’s still a worry with ball in hand at this stage.

Be interesting who the defer to re Conway or Stanley. My feel from that game was that there wasn’t much between the 2 so preference the younger player to expedite his development.

I thought Stanley was demonstrably better than Conway but Conway wasn't bad. Conway is on a good trajectory but ruck trajectory is nearly orbital it's that long

 

[PeasFC]

R1. Early call after blues hit out

FB: MOC, SDK, Zuthrie.
HB: Stewart, Henry, Holmes.
C: Miers, Bowes, Duncan.
HF: Close, Cameron, Dempsey
FF: Henry, Hawkins, Stengle
R: Stanley, Dangerfield, Bruhn
I: Kolo, Blicavs, Atkins, Mannagh
Sub: Clark

Emg: Conway, Mullin, Knevitt, Touhy, Neale, Bews, Parfitt, Hardie
Ing: Rohan, Guthrie

For me this gives Conway & Neale the chance to build fitness and confidence before getting an extended run. Mullin too should sort of knock the door down from the back pocket in the two's - probably needs to show he can run to the right spots and find the footy enough to show us his pace with ball in hand.

Subbing Clark makes sense to me given his slightly interrupted preseason - protects him a little too but I expect he is ready to contribute at the level.

Bowes should be given an opportunity to play the guthrie role - he looks fit and should be rewarded with first crack.

Knevitt stiff but I'd like to see him start in the middle in the two's, goes missing a little on the wing and was recruited as an inside mid so lets see it at the lower level.

Cannot wait for next week - super flat about guthrie though, he's a ripping bloke and an important player. Hopefully it isn't as serious as it looked.

 

[FredLeDeux]

I thought Stanley was demonstrably better than Conway but Conway wasn't bad. Conway is on a good trajectory but ruck trajectory is nearly orbital it's that long

No doubt about that

 

[CatToTheFuture]

No doubt about that

If so then they're shouldn't be any doubt that Stanley is the rd 1 ruckman

 

[CHAWKTS]

R1. Early call after blues hit out

FB: MOC, SDK, Zuthrie.
HB: Stewart, Henry, Holmes.
C: Miers, Bowes, Duncan.
HF: Close, Cameron, Dempsey
FF: Henry, Hawkins, Stengle
R: Stanley, Dangerfield, Bruhn
I: Kolo, Blicavs, Atkins, Mannagh
Sub: Clark

Emg: Conway, Mullin, Knevitt, Touhy, Neale, Bews, Parfitt, Hardie
Ing: Rohan, Guthrie

For me this gives Conway & Neale the chance to build fitness and confidence before getting an extended run. Mullin too should sort of knock the door down from the back pocket in the two's - probably needs to show he can run to the right spots and find the footy enough to show us his pace with ball in hand.

Subbing Clark makes sense to me given his slightly interrupted preseason - protects him a little too but I expect he is ready to contribute at the level.

Bowes should be given an opportunity to play the guthrie role - he looks fit and should be rewarded with first crack.

Knevitt stiff but I'd like to see him start in the middle in the two's, goes missing a little on the wing and was recruited as an inside mid so lets see it at the lower level.

Cannot wait for next week - super flat about guthrie though, he's a ripping bloke and an important player. Hopefully it isn't as serious as it looked.

I can’t really argue with any of it. I would probably have your team

if you look at those emergencies is it a pretty capable bunch that misses out!

I do think however that they will play 2E round 1. And I am not sure they will play Dempsey and mannagh round 1 together. Unless they think Mannagh as a MF option with guthrie out.

next week as you say is a complete tell all (unless they rest some senior players -which I don’t think they will as there is 2 weeks break to round 1). with 6 on the bench we basically get a look at the round 1 team with someone missing out and someone sub).

so I think your 23 plus 2E could be the team next week. Although if Mannagh not in mix for round 1 they might put in one other of those emergenices into the extended bench.

it might be they rest SDK is his cork isn’t quite right (again I don’t think that is the case).

going to be fascinating

 

[CHAWKTS]

If so then they're shouldn't be any doubt that Stanley is the rd 1 ruckman

Stanley certain to be number 1 ruck round 1.
‘’I actually thought it was more even than you did? Certainly in centre bounces I reckon Toby has the edge on Stanley (not just tap but follow up). But I did observe that Toby got monstered a few times by Mckay in the ruck whilst Stanley held his ground better in around the ground ruck contests

for now I think Stanley retains the number 1 position while Toby strings together games in vfl. But I can see it changing quicker than we think if Toby gets a lot of games under his belt

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Stanley certain to be number 1 ruck round 1.
‘’I actually thought it was more even than you did? Certainly in centre bounces I reckon Toby has the edge on Stanley (not just tap but follow up). But I did observe that Toby got monstered a few times by Mckay in the ruck whilst Stanley held his ground better in around the ground ruck contests

for now I think Stanley retains the number 1 position while Toby strings together games in vfl. But I can see it changing quicker than we think if Toby gets a lot of games under his belt

Yeah maybe, also now I think about it I definitely have a bias to rating the overall outcome of the stoppage against the ruckman. Stanley was rucking to a more senior rotation than Conway who I think was mostly feeding Bruhn/Clark/Bowes.

 

[catswhiskers]

I haven't seen anything resembling Wojo pace from him to date or niggle another great Wojo attribute.

on Mullin I assume.


Mullins strength is his run and strength.

So far he has done well enough to get involved but his movement of the ball has been by hand or short passing.

When I see him gather and accelerate through opposition lines using his two big attributes it will announce his readiness for AFL.

For me he NEEDS more VFL time to get the feel for when to go and when to pass off. Playing safe too often at the top level may hamper his flair over the long haul.

And as things stand we have two or three fringe (young like OS or vet like Toughy) players who could provide more over 120 mins than Mullin.



On SM-G930U using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[patmatcat]

Based on yesterday’s practice match, COS is nowhere near ready to go at AFL leve

Worth adding the caveat that he was regularly matched on a Coleman medalist but yeah, he needs time. I probably debut him this year at all unless you find a nice easy third tall role that he could debut in.

Exactly, looked fine on Charlie with clean disposal out of defence. Put him on the big dogs and let our other defenders have an easier time.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Exactly, looked fine on Charlie with clean disposal out of defence. Put him on the big dogs and let our other defenders have an easier time.

Just realised I wrote that out funny. I wouldn't debut him unless he was a 3rd tall with an easy assignment

 

[jimmytigs]

like the sydney guy sorry for another fantasy footy intrusion

but o'connor is he just fringe/tagger type or does he have another level?(keeper league where 28yo and over players are important)

also clark and conway important,seems to be a bit of mixed love among you guys,thinking stanley is near cooked and conway has little opposition for that spot pretty soon & clark close to being a set best 22 also,am i on right track?

thanks for doing these teams
cheers

 

[CatToTheFuture]

like the sydney guy sorry for another fantasy footy intrusion

but o'connor is he just fringe/tagger type or does he have another level?(keeper league where 28yo and over players are important)

also clark and conway important,seems to be a bit of mixed love among you guys,thinking stanley is near cooked and conway has little opposition for that spot pretty soon & clark close to being a set best 22 also,am i on right track?

thanks for doing these teams
cheers

MOC will keep playing because he's versatile but I wouldn't expect big numbers from him ever.

Stanley won't play a full year again ever, but Conway won't play a full year yet either.

Clark needs a few games in the vfl to settle in my opinion but once he starts playing seniors he could be a nice little earner

 

[terry_bright]

Exactly, looked fine on Charlie with clean disposal out of defence. Put him on the big dogs and let our other defenders have an easier time.

He definitely played his best football when on Curnow and got better the longer it went.
Often with the rookies it’s best to give them simple task till they adjust to the pace, nuances etc of the game. I can see why the club is excited by him, but maybe COS needs a lockdown role to start out.
He’s skinnier than I thought.

 

[Phill Hendo]

The injury to Cam Guthrie really highlights Geelong's vulnerability in the midfield. I haven't seen any updates on Cam but it looked very serious based on how he reacted. I'm guessed 6 to 8 weeks, maybe more, maybe a lot more. Brandon Parfitt didn't even get a run in the main game. Unless he was being managed, it seems like he is well off it. This is a disaster as I have always had high hopes for Parf. Unfortunately the same probably applies to Hardie.

The good news from the Carlon game was Jack Bowes

12

Jack Bowes

Age

27

Ht

189cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.3

4star

K

9.7

4star

HB

6.6

4star

M

3.9

4star

T

2.5

4star

MG

318.1

4star

D

18.0

4star

K

11.8

5star

HB

6.3

4star

M

5.4

5star

T

1.1

2star

MG

318.1

4star

D

11.6

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

5.2

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.4

4star

. I thought he was our best and really added to our midfield. There were good signs from others, Dempsey obviously, also Clark and Mannagh. Mullin did not put himself in the team on that performance and neither did Kenivitt. But I would pick them both anyway. The need for speed and endurance strategy is something I really like.

At the other end of the age spectrum, Mitch Duncan was terrific, and Tohey was okay. But I'm leaving both out although Duncan would be a great sub. I'm not picking the best 23 for round one but investing in youth to hope for good returns towards the end of the season. Having said this I believe Stanley plays based on Conway not having enough endurance to run the game out. But he will get plenty of games this year.

Another thing I'd like to see include Shannon Neale getting games at least until Rowan is ready. With Neale in the team I want to see Cameron up the ground including in the square for centre bounces and Blitz running the opposition off their feet. Jez is a fantastic footballer and could help with the run and gun style we appear to be adapting.

Overall selection will be really tough. My vote is speed and endurance first, especially if they are young and even if there are guys left out despite being better that their replacement.

 

[Vdubs]

If so then they're shouldn't be any doubt that Stanley is the rd 1 ruckman

No brainer, for sure.

 

[Generalissimo]

but o'connor is he just fringe/tagger type or does he have another level?(keeper league where 28yo and over players are important)

Very important to us structurally, but if you're looking for big Supercoach totals you're likely to be disappointed.

Geelong have typically used him as a lockdown small defender, and as a receiving option if someone like Stewart wins a hard ball get and needs someone to squirm the ball out to. A lot of important but unrewarded hard running in that role. He doesn't get bags kicked on him, seldom wastes a disposal, tackles for keeps, doesn't really concede free kicks, and I'm not sure I've ever seen him get fired up about anything.

Unless Guthrie's injury and Holmes's move to the HBF opens a midfield spot up for him, I don't think you'll see big possession numbers from O'Connor.

 

[CHAWKTS]

So turning my mind to official practise game against Essendon where I think we are going to be taking it seriously. This year I do NOT think we will rest senior players like we have - given that there are 2 full weeks to recover - unless someone genuinely sore from Thursday (which would be a worry after 8 day break).

On that basis we are going to get an insight into our best 23 (24 are picked for Friday). Of course if they rest 2-3 players (who are certain best 23) then we will be back guessing who misses our from round 1.

Before I pick it below the hard ones for me are forward (I would like to see both Neale and Dempsey again as a last comparison but not sure they can fit both in a sqaud of 24) and Clark (maybe it gets easier now Guthrie out)…and Toby (as I don’t think we can play a pure second ruck in a normal squad and don’t think Stanley will want to sit it out)…lets see if I can squeeze them all in below. Given midfield a little more unsettled I have picked 7 backs and 7 forwards alongside 10 MF/utilities (some of whom could slot at either end)

Backs: Henry, SDK, Stewart, Kolo, Zuthrie, Duncan, Holmes
Forwards: Jezza, Hawk, Stengle, Close, Mires, Henry, Dempsey
MF/Utilities: Stanley, Danger, Bruhn, Blitz, MOC, Atkins, 2E, Bowes, Clark and one of Toby/Neale

So I did fit most in but I have a horrible feeling I missed someone out in the middle of the ground?

If we do go with this lineup then Clark is pretty good spot for round 1. So I wonder whether we bring in Parf to put some pressure on MF’s needing to perform to get a spot? Of course the other pressure point would be playing Mannagh - which I would do if they saw it as MF role. But they really might want one more look at Neale I reckon?

I haven’t found a spot for Bews nor Mullin (unlucky) or Knevitt and probably Mannagh (more unlucky)

 

[4quarter_cat]

I think we can all agree. Unless we're rebated by injuries again there are going to a fair number of unlucky guys every week.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Just realised I wrote that out funny. I wouldn't debut him unless he was a 3rd tall with an easy assignment

Personally I think we should always look to debut our players in their first year

 

[Footy Smarts]

So turning my mind to official practise game against Essendon where I think we are going to be taking it seriously. This year I do NOT think we will rest senior players like we have - given that there are 2 full weeks to recover - unless someone genuinely sore from Thursday (which would be a worry after 8 day break).

On that basis we are going to get an insight into our best 23 (24 are picked for Friday). Of course if they rest 2-3 players (who are certain best 23) then we will be back guessing who misses our from round 1.

Before I pick it below the hard ones for me are forward (I would like to see both Neale and Dempsey again as a last comparison but not sure they can fit both in a sqaud of 24) and Clark (maybe it gets easier now Guthrie out)…and Toby (as I don’t think we can play a pure second ruck in a normal squad and don’t think Stanley will want to sit it out)…lets see if I can squeeze them all in below. Given midfield a little more unsettled I have picked 7 backs and 7 forwards alongside 10 MF/utilities (some of whom could slot at either end)

Backs: Henry, SDK, Stewart, Kolo, Zuthrie, Duncan, Holmes
Forwards: Jezza, Hawk, Stengle, Close, Mires, Henry, Dempsey
MF/Utilities: Stanley, Danger, Bruhn, Blitz, MOC, Atkins, 2E, Bowes, Clark and one of Toby/Neale

So I did fit most in but I have a horrible feeling I missed someone out in the middle of the ground?

If we do go with this lineup then Clark is pretty good spot for round 1. So I wonder whether we bring in Parf to put some pressure on MF’s needing to perform to get a spot? Of course the other pressure point would be playing Mannagh - which I would do if they saw it as MF role. But they really might want one more look at Neale I reckon?

I haven’t found a spot for Bews nor Mullin (unlucky) or Knevitt and probably Mannagh (more unlucky)

I'd probably be resting a couple of mature guys that don't need a second run in order to get a look at a few more less experienced types.

Guthrie's out and assuming Bews is outside the squad that leaves 29 who played last week. I'd like all of Clark, Dempsey, Knevitt, Mannagh, Neale and Mullin to get another shot. Maybe O'Sullivan too.

Not sure guys like Hawkins, Duncan, Close, Tuohy, etc need a second run before round 1. It's only the midfield I really want to see at its best given the challenge of missing Guthrie.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Personally I think we should always look to debut our players in their first year

That's a tough rule to hold to