Team Mgmt. 2025 Best 23

[ant555]

Hobbs was the one who missed out for me as I thought Tsatas would go past him. I almost had him in instead of Prior but needed the extra defender.

Personally not going Tsatas until I see how his kicking is going.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Feels like a make or break year for the 5 top picks we had 2020-22.

 

[Chief Hopper]

No 2MP..??!! We just lost Stringer who kicked 129 goals over the last 4 seasons with us - 2MP is not far behind with 120 goals- or an average of 30 per season. Do you think Draper/Caddy/Bryan are capable of kicking 30 goals or 30+ goals this year? I'd say thats highly unlikely so for now 2MP must play...

I'd persist with Draper over 2MP at this time.
Draper will contested mark the ball, crash packs or bring the ball to ground as a POD in our fwd line.
2MP can't do any of that at the moment, in particular he can't mark anything even with his height. Seems he needs a spell in the 2s to get his body right.

 

[ant555]

Feels like a make or break year for the 5 top picks we had 2020-22.

For them and the list as a whole. More pain coming if they can not find another level.

 

[Bombers36]

No doubt Draper is a lock because of the energy he brings and his ability to compete be it in the ruck or up forward. I guess it’s a case of what do you prefer - the Draper/Bryan combo or Draper/2MP - and for me Id prefer 2MP over Bryan at this stage.
Also taking Draper out of the ruck and playing him as mainly a forward your kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul - or robbing Peter to pay Bryan - well - you get what I mean..!!
The bottom line is we can’t have all of Draper, 2MP and Bryan in the same team

 

[jdstorm]

No doubt Draper is a lock because of the energy he brings and his ability to compete be it in the ruck or up forward. I guess it’s a case of what do you prefer - the Draper/Bryan combo or Draper/2MP - and for me Id prefer 2MP over Bryan at this stage.
Also taking Draper out of the ruck and playing him as mainly a forward your kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul - or robbing Peter to pay Bryan - well - you get what I mean..!!
The bottom line is we can’t have all of Draper, 2MP and Bryan in the same team

Not sure that’s true. In 2021 our last good season we had Draper Wright and Hooker (plus Jones as a forward) and that worked. Think it’s about how the other guys fit around them.

 

[ant555]

Not sure that’s true. In 2021 our last good season we had Draper Wright and Hooker (plus Jones as a forward) and that worked. Think it’s about how the other guys fit around them.

Having Walla in the forward line helped. Speed pressure and 34 goals that season and he was on the down slope. Would also say it worked because Hooker was a superior mark at FF and 2MP played FP/Ruck. To play Bryan / Draper / 2MP does not work for me as none are great marks. Draper is the closest and more chance of taking a contested mark at FF. 2MP has to have space on the lead and Bryan is just average. Jones is also an ordinary marking option unless he can float in from the side.

 

[Bjchan13]

No doubt Draper is a lock because of the energy he brings and his ability to compete be it in the ruck or up forward. I guess it’s a case of what do you prefer - the Draper/Bryan combo or Draper/2MP - and for me Id prefer 2MP over Bryan at this stage.
Also taking Draper out of the ruck and playing him as mainly a forward your kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul - or robbing Peter to pay Bryan - well - you get what I mean..!!
The bottom line is we can’t have all of Draper, 2MP and Bryan in the same team

They will trial Draper, Wright and Bryan in the same side at some stage. Could work too in my opinion. Mostly it will come down to Wrights pre season and early form as a full forward because im sure they already see Bryan as number 1 ruck and Draper as number 1 impact Ruck/Fwd. Draper has never had solo full game ruck ability, he's always needed a partner.

The split they might try could be something like

Bryan ruck 60 / Fwd 10 / Bench 30
Draper ruck 40 / Fwd 40 / Bench 20
Wright ruck 0 / Fwd 75 / Bench 25

Only 25% of the game with all 3 on the ground at once

Wright could end up becoming back up but i think the coaches still see the potential of an AFL standard full forward

 

[TheUnicorn]

Roof closed at Marvel, they could go tall.

 

[jdstorm]

Having Walla in the forward line helped. Speed pressure and 34 goals that season and he was on the down slope. Would also say it worked because Hooker was a superior mark at FF and 2MP played FP/Ruck. To play Bryan / Draper / 2MP does not work for me as none are great marks. Draper is the closest and more chance of taking a contested mark at FF. 2MP has to have space on the lead and Bryan is just average. Jones is also an ordinary marking option unless he can float in from the side.

For sure.

Walla + Smith did a lot to make
That function and Jake was in shape and played mostly mid that year. So in practice it was only really 2 slow forwards in there most of the time

Hooker was also dropped after round 19 as he was starting to get really slow.

Not saying playing all 3 will work especially since that would hypothetically ask a lot of caddy as a pressure player and/or resting mid.

Just think it’s not something to rule out this early on

 

[Vindicater]

Personally not going Tsatas until I see how his kicking is going.

Yeah. From reports it sounds improved but we won't really know until the heat of a real match starts.

 

[ant555]

For sure.

Walla + Smith did a lot to make
That function and Jake was in shape and played mostly mid that year. So in practice it was only really 2 slow forwards in there most of the time

Hooker was also dropped after round 19 as he was starting to get really slow.

Not saying playing all 3 will work especially since that would hypothetically ask a lot of caddy as a pressure player and/or resting mid.

Just think it’s not something to rule out this early on

Have to also remember the game has changed a lot since 2021. The all out attack mode makes it hard to have slower players in the forward half.

 

[jdstorm]

Have to also remember the game has changed a lot since 2021. The all out attack mode makes it hard to have slower players in the forward half.

yeah there’s more risk reward with it. That’s for sure.

 

[Bombers36]

This team has all of Draper/Bryan & 2MP in the same team+ Caddy & Jones(SUB) also.
Its tall but could work if Draper, Bryan & 2MP rotate through ruck/forward/bench & Jones plays primarily wing;-


Reid McKay McGrath
Redman Ridley SEH
Martin Parish Duursma
Perkins Langford Gresham
2MP Draper Kako

Bryan Durham Merrett

Bench: Caldwell Hobbs Roberts Caddy
SUB: Jones

 

[eth-dog]

I think we'll see bits of Bryan/Draper, bits of Bryan/Wright and bits of Draper/Wright throughout the season. I can't see them going with all three in all honesty unless Caddy or Langford are injured.

 

[bennyg12]

Vigo should play before Bryan

 

[eth-dog]

Vigo should play before Bryan

 

[Vander18]

I’ll go early and say Kako will be best 23.

 

[jdstorm]

Preseason and and playing against Essendon and all that…

But it’s good to start to see a list where you feel confident about 30 deep via drafting/development

Say hypothetically best 22 is

Mackay Reid Ridley Redman Roberts mcgrath Sheil

Martin Durama Durham Merrett Caldwell Tsatas Parish Jones bryan

Draper caddy Langford Perkins greaham Kako.

Here are some VFL guys who have been capable afl players in the past or are looking ready for some opportunities.

Hayes Lav Prior Cox Setterfield Hobbs Goldy Wright Geulfi Menzie SEH Davey Unwin

 

[eth-dog]

This is how I hope we finish the year:

Andrew McGrath - Ben McKay - Kaine Baldwin
Jordan Ridley - Zach Reid - Archie Roberts
Nic Martin - Sam Durham - Harrison Jones
Alwyn Davey jr - Nate Caddy - Archie Perkins
Isaac Kako - Peter Wright - Kyle Langford
Nick Bryan - Jye Caldwell - Zach Merrett
Mason Redman - Elijah Tsatas - Xavier Duursma - Nik Cox - Matt Guelfi/Jade Gresham/Darcy Parish

I know, bold to have Parish in the same conversation as Gresham and Guelfi and people will come for me but I see his place as more vulnerable to someone like Tsatas compared to Caldwell and Durham who are more defensively oriented in comparison. I hope Davey can overtake Guelfi/Gresham/Menzie, but I'm not holding my breath and I think we'll end 2025 with two of them in the side rather than one.

 

[jdstorm]

This is how I hope we finish the year:

Andrew McGrath - Ben McKay - Kaine Baldwin
Jordan Ridley - Zach Reid - Archie Roberts
Nic Martin - Sam Durham - Harrison Jones
Alwyn Davey jr - Nate Caddy - Archie Perkins
Isaac Kako - Peter Wright - Kyle Langford
Nick Bryan - Jye Caldwell - Zach Merrett
Mason Redman - Elijah Tsatas - Xavier Duursma - Nik Cox - Matt Guelfi/Jade Gresham/Darcy Parish

I know, bold to have Parish in the same conversation as Gresham and Guelfi and people will come for me but I see his place as more vulnerable to someone like Tsatas compared to Caldwell and Durham who are more defensively oriented in comparison. I hope Davey can overtake Guelfi/Gresham/Menzie, but I'm not holding my breath and I think we'll end 2025 with two of them in the side rather than one.

I think the Parish conversation is a fair one to have. The team will most likely be picking 5 mids. Durham and Tsatas likely get picked due to their size. Merrett and Caldwell their kicking. Then it’s Parish vs Hobbs vs Setterfield for the 5th spot.

Draper the odd tall out would be surprising. About as surprising as Baldwin making it.

It’s nice to have a lot of competition for spots where there’s a decent prospect/player pushing through on most lines

 

[Keystone agony]

For track watchers, is Zac Merrett trialling enough half back time to warrant him starting there

It seems he has been all over the place which makes me think mainly mid with something small elsewhere

Probably lends itself to a Roberts/El Hawli/(Shiel - hope not) over Tsatas or Hobbs with a pretty healthy squad for best 22

Maybe both Tsatas and Hobbs miss the inital best side aswell

 

[ant555]

For track watchers, is Zac Merrett trialling enough half back time to warrant him starting there

It seems he has been all over the place which makes me think mainly mid with something small elsewhere

Probably lends itself to a Roberts/El Hawli/(Shiel - hope not) over Tsatas or Hobbs with a pretty healthy squad for best 22

Maybe both Tsatas and Hobbs miss the inital best side aswell

He has actually been playing more high half forward as the starting point and working into the back half and pushing forward from what I have seen. Has also has some midfield time but it has been about 30%.
Last week he just got up and back from his half forward spot all game. If you did not see his starting point you would have thought he was playing wing.

Right now Tsatas is the best performing midfielder but Parish and Caldwell have not started contact work and Merrett has had limited midfield time. Durham has also been doing a fair bit of half forward work so he has been around 50/50 midfield / forward. Steerfield has been good in the midfield and Hobbs was in the best few last week in the first quarter before he got injured.
With Perkins looking more like being 80% half forward and Merrett spending more time out of the midfield there are a couple of spots. Tsatas has looked good. Kicking okay so far. I would say that we will need one of Hobbs / Setterfield to reduce the wear and tear on Durham and Caldwell.

I am still on the fence with Shiel.
Both match sims I have seen he has been very good apart from a couple of errors. Certainly looks more composed than Martin did and his defensive "positioning" is better. He was just making stuff happen. Quick handballs to Merrett and the midfielders. Hitting blokes in the open on the short pass. Generally making quick decisions and moving the ball on. Would say they are not asking him for long pin point kicking. More gt the ball moving by hand or shorter kicks to players in space. His vision down field is good enough not to run into congestion like McGrath does and his speed looks good enough to stay out of trouble. His ability to find running targets by hand looked good.
I guess if we are not looking at him to pin point 40 meter plus passes or asking him to defend hard one on one they could make it work . He did get injured last week so his injury issues could still be a problem.

Roberts has looked okay and with Heppell and kelly gone there is a spot for him. El-Hawli has been a bit patchy so far.

 

[Keystone agony]

He has actually been playing more high half forward as the starting point and working into the back half and pushing forward from what I have seen. Has also has some midfield time but it has been about 30%.
Last week he just got up and back from his half forward spot all game. If you did not see his starting point you would have thought he was playing wing.

Right now Tsatas is the best performing midfielder but Parish and Caldwell have not started contact work and Merrett has had limited midfield time. Durham has also been doing a fair bit of half forward work so he has been around 50/50 midfield / forward. Steerfield has been good in the midfield and Hobbs was in the best few last week in the first quarter before he got injured.
With Perkins looking more like being 80% half forward and Merrett spending more time out of the midfield there are a couple of spots. Tsatas has looked good. Kicking okay so far. I would say that we will need one of Hobbs / Setterfield to reduce the wear and tear on Durham and Caldwell.

I am still on the fence with Shiel.
Both match sims I have seen he has been very good apart from a couple of errors. Certainly looks more composed than Martin did and his defensive "positioning" is better. He was just making stuff happen. Quick handballs to Merrett and the midfielders. Hitting blokes in the open on the short pass. Generally making quick decisions and moving the ball on. Would say they are not asking him for long pin point kicking. More gt the ball moving by hand or shorter kicks to players in space. His vision down field is good enough not to run into congestion like McGrath does and his speed looks good enough to stay out of trouble. His ability to find running targets by hand looked good.
I guess if we are not looking at him to pin point 40 meter plus passes or asking him to defend hard one on one they could make it work . He did get injured last week so his injury issues could still be a problem.

Roberts has looked okay and with Heppell and kelly gone there is a spot for him. El-Hawli has been a bit patchy so far.

Thanks for update, seems Zerrett has been all over the place

Maybe its
Ridley - Mckay - Reid
Redman - Mcgrath - Shiel (Roberts)

Bryan- Caldwell - Parish (Tsatas)
Duursma - Durham - Martin(El Hawli)

HJ/Perkins - Kako - Zac Merrett (Hobbs/Gresham)
Langford - Caddy - Draper

Dont think i forgot anyone. Ill be a bit annoyed to see both Shiel and Gresham for the first 6 weeks though.

Harder to be tagged starting as genuine forward, maybe an avenue to break it, i feel Zerrett will face his toughest year of tags/attention but maybe clubs dont go that way again, although in vogue last year

Id love to see the trio of speed in Kako, Saad and Davey

 

[Bombers36]

Hopefully Ridley & McKay right to go for round 1 but must be question marks on both now…
Cant play all of Bryan/Draper/2MP so my team;-

Ridley McKay McGrath
Redman Reid Shiel
Martin Setters Duursma
Perkins Langford Merrett
Draper Caddy Kako

Bryan Durham Parish

Bench: Caldwell Tstatas Roberts Jones
SUB: Gresham

Emergency: Lav Hobbs SEH 2MP