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Preview 2025 Best 22 Discussion

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My final best 22 and sub

Picked on round 1 so non injured players

Backs. Ryan. Pearce. Wagner
HB. Clark. Cox. Chapman
Mids. Sharp. NOD. O'Meara
Rucks. Reidy. Brayshaw Serong
HF. Fredrick. Tracey. Bolton
Forward. Switch. Amiss. Jackson

Int. Walker. Johnson Walters Reid
Sub. Erasmus

emg. Simpson Aish Banfield

What a team when Draper is ready. This may be by round 1. Then add in Darcy and Young.
Compared to the injury ridden GWS team in the weekend..not same ballpark
 
Compared to the injury ridden GWS team in the weekend..not same ballpark
Again though. There's three players in that team that have played 20 games or less and only one of the emergencies has played AFL. Two of those three have been on GWS's list for years and haven't shown much.

Depth isn't the problem guys. The strength of the best 22 improving is what will take us places. That includes both good players becoming very good players and fringe players becoming good players but this board only focuses on the latter and depth.
 
A few things that worry me,

I’m waiting for Walker to break out, I’m starting to worry it’s not coming. Yes he’s a sub 11s 100m runner, but he often runs into trouble. His ability to shut down opponents is relatively average. I genuinely think Wagner is the more reliable rebounder and probably about even on lockdown. If we add Starcevich as a free agent this off season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see his position in the side come under question. Once Draper is fit, if Draper can play small, his position comes under threat again. I hope I’m wrong, but I see him get beat one on one way too often to say he’s made it yet.

Amiss is a future gun, but hasn’t quite got there yet. At the moment, I think Voss would offer more, particularly defensively. Amiss is quite poor in his defensive positioning and isn’t winning too many one on ones ahead of the ball.

O’Driscoll has stepped up, I think Matt Johnson too, though question marks are still there, but I’m more confident of them making the grade. Similarly Chapman who’s playing some pretty elite footy at the moment.

Erasmus needs to entrench himself in the 22 this year otherwise it’s a wasted top 10 pick.

Are we going to see improvement out of Walker, Amiss, Johnson, O’Driscoll and Chapman to push us up the ladder?

As an aside, Bolton was awesome near goals against Melbourne but completely out of his depth on ball. His cameo’s in the middle were pretty bad in the practice match. I’d be leaving him forward for most of the match in the regular season.
I agree re Walker,as Pav says he needs to take his game to another level.I don't know if the last line of defence is his best position.Would much rather see him use that pace on the wing maybe.
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A few things that worry me,

I’m waiting for Walker to break out, I’m starting to worry it’s not coming. Yes he’s a sub 11s 100m runner, but he often runs into trouble. His ability to shut down opponents is relatively average. I genuinely think Wagner is the more reliable rebounder and probably about even on lockdown. If we add Starcevich as a free agent this off season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see his position in the side come under question. Once Draper is fit, if Draper can play small, his position comes under threat again. I hope I’m wrong, but I see him get beat one on one way too often to say he’s made it yet.

Amiss is a future gun, but hasn’t quite got there yet. At the moment, I think Voss would offer more, particularly defensively. Amiss is quite poor in his defensive positioning and isn’t winning too many one on ones ahead of the ball.

Erasmus needs to entrench himself in the 22 this year otherwise it’s a wasted top 10 pick.



Amiss is 21, Walker is 22. They'll both be very good at AFL level but might need another 20-30 games to get there.

Erasmus has really struggled against the Allstars and Melbourne, Will Brodie is the superior footballer IMO. Both will play most of the year at Peel.
 
Round 1 team.

Ryan Pearce Walker
Clark Cox Chapman
Omeara Brayshaw Sharp
Freddy Treacy Bolton
Jackson Amiss Walters

Reidy Serong Noddy

Johnson Wagner Switta Reid.

Sub Erasmus.

Questions: - Will JLO have the kahunas to play Reid over someone like Aish or Bailey Banfield? History would suggest not but let's wait and see.
- Will Fyfe get up? Will be a pretty handy sub infront of Erasmus I reckon.
- Will Pearce be ready to go? He reckons he is.
- Will Reidy be able to (at the very least) make the ruck a 50/50 contest?
- Have thrown Noddy in the middle as I reckon the final middle spot will be a 3 way rotation between Noddy, Omeara and Bolton.
 
Round 1 team.

Ryan Pearce Walker
Clark Cox Chapman
Omeara Brayshaw Sharp
Freddy Treacy Bolton
Jackson Amiss Walters

Reidy Serong Noddy

Johnson Wagner Switta Reid.

Sub Erasmus.

Questions: - Will JLO have the kahunas to play Reid over someone like Aish or Bailey Banfield? History would suggest not but let's wait and see.
- Will Fyfe get up? Will be a pretty handy sub infront of Erasmus I reckon.
- Will Pearce be ready to go? He reckons he is.
- Will Reidy be able to (at the very least) make the ruck a 50/50 contest?
- Have thrown Noddy in the middle as I reckon the final middle spot will be a 3 way rotation between Noddy, Omeara and Bolton.
Aish and Banfield haven’t even been near our b22 in both pre season games. If Reid doesn’t play it won’t be for one of them.
 
Out of curiousity what would make you pick Simpson over Wagner or Aish?
I think that the best chance Simpson has to succeed at AFL level is off the half back flank. I'd be looking to utilise his athleticism, skills and defensive pressure as a rebounding defender that is also capable of actually defending (based on his tackling and work as a forward). I believe he is more suited to the role than Wagner due to his superior skills and possibly superior defensive work (TBD).I believe he is superior to Aish in the role for similar reasons, I think he has slightly better skills and defensive attributes, and much better athleticism.

I think we should be looking to introduce another rebounding defender with minimal deficiencies in their game. Outside of Clark, they are all lacking something and it makes it too easy to clamp down on the one player capable of hurting you.

Ryan - athleticism
Chapman - could be the guy imo but we seem to prefer Wagner.
Wagner - poor kicking.
Walker - lockdown + poor decision making. Could be the guy in time.
 
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Cooper averaged 19.9 disposals in his two u18 seasons. He's not an accumulator, but he can find some ball at least at that level.
So, less than 20.

With Simpson the question is about if he needs AFL or WAFL for his development.

If the answer is AFL I'm not going there for round 1 away, against Geelong.
 

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Round 1 team.

Ryan Pearce Walker
Clark Cox Chapman
Omeara Brayshaw Sharp
Freddy Treacy Bolton
Jackson Amiss Walters

Reidy Serong Noddy

Johnson Wagner Switta Reid.

Sub Erasmus.

Questions: - Will JLO have the kahunas to play Reid over someone like Aish or Bailey Banfield? History would suggest not but let's wait and see.
- Will Fyfe get up? Will be a pretty handy sub infront of Erasmus I reckon.
- Will Pearce be ready to go? He reckons he is.
- Will Reidy be able to (at the very least) make the ruck a 50/50 contest?
- Have thrown Noddy in the middle as I reckon the final middle spot will be a 3 way rotation between Noddy, Omeara and Bolton.

It would pain me to leave Sam Sturt out. He’s probably our most reliable shot on goal.
 
I think that the best chance Simpson has to succeed at AFL level is off the half back flank. I'd be looking to utilise his athleticism, skills and defensive pressure as a rebounding defender that is also capable of actually defending (based on his tackling and work as a forward). I believe he is more suited to the role than Wagner due to his superior skills and possibly superior defensive work (TBD).I believe he is superior to Aish in the role for similar reasons, I think he has slightly better skills and defensive attributes, and much better athleticism.

I think we should be looking to introduce another rebounding defender with minimal deficiencies in their game. Outside of Clark, they are all lacking something and it makes it too easy to clamp down on the one player capable of hurting you.

Ryan - athleticism
Chapman - could be the guy imo but we seem to prefer Wagner.
Wagner - poor kicking.
Walker - lockdown + poor decision making. Could be the guy in time.
It's good reasoning on what Simpson could be, I agree his traits look like they could translate but I would give him almost no chance of matching the other two I named on performance if shifted there in the AFL team in the short term.

I haven't watched Peel much at all, but I'd be interested in what makes you think his defensive work is better too, that would be likely the biggest gap in my view, combined with understanding the defence game plan unless I've missed him training there.
I'd love to see Simpson trial the position at Peel and develop into it, but it'd be pretty optimistic thinking he could step into straight away.
 
It's good reasoning on what Simpson could be, I agree his traits look like they could translate but I would give him almost no chance of matching the other two I named on performance if shifted there in the AFL team in the short term.

I haven't watched Peel much at all, but I'd be interested in what makes you think his defensive work is better too, that would be likely the biggest gap in my view, combined with understanding the defence game plan unless I've missed him training there.
I'd love to see Simpson trial the position at Peel and develop into it, but it'd be pretty optimistic thinking he could step into straight away.
Yes I basically agree, except I'd be willing to give him a go in the seniors to see what he has to offer there.
 
Yes I basically agree, except I'd be willing to give him a go in the seniors to see what he has to offer there.
I don't think we're at that stage as a club though, and if we're serious we should be insisting anyone coming into the team has earnt it and is the best option for their position when considering team dynamics.
Injury backfill then provides opportunities for developing players.
 
Walker Pearce Ryan
Clark Cox Chappy
Noddy Young Sharp
Bolton Treacy Freddy
Dudley Amiss Reid

Darcy Serong Brayshaw.

Wagner Fyfe, JOM, Jackson,

Sub Johnson.

Notes: Very different best 22 forward line than 3 weeks ago.
The selection squeeze will be on in the next few weeks.
Cox, Sharp, Freddy and Ryan need to start banking some good games to stay in this team.

People say we have no depth but there are some pretty handy outs.

Depth. Draper, Switta, Walters, Voss, Sturt, Erasmus, Banfield, Simpson, Aish.
 

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Walker Pearce Ryan
Clark Cox Chappy
Noddy Young Sharp
Bolton Treacy Freddy
Dudley Amiss Reid

Darcy Serong Brayshaw.

Wagner Fyfe, JOM, Jackson,

Sub Johnson.

Notes: Very different best 22 forward line than 3 weeks ago.
The selection squeeze will be on in the next few weeks.
Cox, Sharp, Freddy and Ryan need to start banking some good games to stay in this team.

People say we have no depth but there are some pretty handy outs.

Depth. Draper, Switta, Walters, Voss, Sturt, Erasmus, Banfield, Simpson, Aish.
Let's see what happen when Peel's season really starts and a few player overcome their injury concern. It often feels like the wrong guys are available/unavailabe and too few player on field have good games at the same time.
 
2026 side.

Pickett can take the last small forward spot.

JOM, Erasmus, Freddy, Wagner, Warner, plus the draftees and NGA players can fight for the last two spots.


B: Walker Pearce Chapman
HB: Simpson Cox Clark
C: Sharp Johnson O'Driscoll
HF: Jackson Tracey Bolton
F: <Small Forward> Amiss Dudley
R: Darcy Brayshaw Serong
B: Reid Switta Draper Young <mid>
 
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2026 side.

Pickett can take the last small forward spot.

JOM, Erasmus, Freddy, Wagner, Warner, plus the draftees and NGA players can fight for the last two spots.


B: Walker Pearce Chapman
HB: Simpson Cox Clark
C: Sharp Johnson O'Driscoll
HF: Jackson Tracey Bolton
F: <Small Forward> Amiss Dudley
R: Darcy Brayshaw Serong
B: Reid Switta Draper <mid> <mid>
Where did you trade Young to and what did we get for him?
 
Best 22 after round 5.

Ryan Pearce Walker
Chappy Cox Clark
Noddy Young Sharp
Freddy Treacy Bolton
Reid Amiss Jackson

Darcy Serong Brayshaw

Draper Johnson Dudley JOM

Sub Banfield.

  • Talent on every line.
  • Hoping Amiss can find some form.
  • Fyfe will need to get ahead of Johnson or JOM to crack this team. (Might not be a given) and Walters will need to get ahead of Switta, Dudley and Reid. (also not a given)


Depth: Switta, Voss, Wagner, Worner, Fyfe, Walters.
 

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