Best 22 for rnd 1

[daddy_4_eyes]

Now that we have seen the eagles new recruits and rookies, what kind of line-up does everyone think the eagles should play in rnd1?

Here's my best 22:
FB: Williams McIntosh Glass
HB: Wirrapunda Jakovich Morrison
C: Braun Cousins Fletcher
HF: Merenda Wilson Embley
FF: Phil Matera Cummings Roo
Foll: Gardiner Banfield Kemp
Int: Prior Donnelly Jones Sierakowski

Fighting for selection: Chambers, Kerr, Turnball Carroll, Collica, Taylor, Wooden, Harding, Cox

More depth then we first foresaw. Add to that list Gaspar, Green and McDougall who all look to be future stars and we have a half decent team.

Forward line is our biggest weakness, but capable of winning scores. Cummings can kick 90, Matera bro's should kick 70 between them, Wilson should get 30, Merenda, Sierakowski and maybe even wirra all capable of kicking a bag here and there.

Backline is strong, but too many gaps. Too much reliance on Jako and Macca to take out the forwards and for wirra and morrison to rebound. Luckily Glass is emerging as a good defender.

Midfield is 2nd to none.With Cousins, Kemp, Braun and Banfield at least 1 of them will have a superb match each week and at worst will be good. Jones, Fletcher, Roo and Morrison all capable of slotting in if problems with the first 4 arise.

Ruck is alright, but improving every week. Gardiner among top4 ruckmen in the game, and has decent backup in Cox, Turnball and one day McDougall.

The team is not capable of challenging for the flag, and will probably struggle to finish higher then 8th. The inexperience in the team means that they will be inconsistent and if oppositions exploit the teams weaknesses then we will struggle. But all is looking great for the future, as the youngsters will only get better. And those which don't will know that they will be delisted and will try harder, as the eagles have less then half of their '98 list still remaining.

Go Eagles!!!

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"I'm not going to waste my life trying to prolong it"

 

[ah_19]

im more optimistic than you
we have a very good midfield and in these days that is the most important factor to winning games, we have perhaps the best in the afl wtih cousins/braun being simply amazing, and fletcher has surprised me lately, add kemp jones williams taylor morrison chambers all who can play and play pretty well there were not too bad,

the defense looks very good, and although we do rely on jacko/macntosh a lot, so do other teams on thier key players, eg roos wtih archer/martin, but glass seems to be improving very fast, if ge gets the 3rd best tall every game he will be a player that will rebound a lot, and if we loose jacko/macca we can replace them with antonovitz/turnbull/caroll, not as good but will fill the gaps,

and we also have a great ff line, cummings/phil/and now marenda who i thikn will be our best pickup, hes amazing when fit,
we have the ability to cover for cummings wtih buszan now, hes 20 yrs old, big and built and performed very well last year in the wafl before he was injured, 30 goals in 5 games is very good, and kerr has been fantasic early, he would do ok if one of the forward pockets were injured,

but as usual our hf line is useless still, it lacks the presence and talent to go anywhere, it will be the usual story of us dying at hf and loosing most of our games because of it, if we can fix hf line we can make the 8 very easily

Gaspar needs to be given a chance asap at chf since he will play there in the future. no real marking options there, sirra seems slow and cumbersome and cant think of anyone else for the role

my best 22

read mctosh wirra
morrison jacko glass
braun kemp jones
embely sirra wilson
marenda cummings phil

ruck gardiner cousins fletcher

bench cox caroll harding collica kerr roo haynes


also i was impressed wtih collicas atheleticism vs the pies, he didnt play too well but he seemed very atheletic when picking the ball up at full pace and for a guy who is 6ft thats pretty good, he also seemed fast.
prior was a waste,

 

[jod23]

Hmmm i thought this would be easier but we have more depth than i thought.

Read McIntosh Wirrpunda
Glass Jakovich Morrison
Jones Kemp Banfield
Williams Wilson Donnelly
Matera Cummings Roo
Gardiner Cousins Braun

Fletcher Turnball Seirakowski Harding

D4E - did you just forget Read or dont you rate him?

Ah_19 - im going to assume you forgot Banners cos theres no way in hell he wont be in the starting 18 come round 1.

 

[ah_19]

yeah
i did forget banfield and williams, quite good depth, too easy to fill up a team
btw i dont know what it is about donnely but everyone seems to like him, hes lazy and useless, hes very talented yes, but hes had about 6 years at the club, and what has he acheived, he will be delisted at the end of the year, talent is one thing, but it means nothing with lazy inconsistency

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

Yeah, i guess i forgot read, but I wouldn't put him in the starting 22 at this stage. I liked his aggressiveness against the pies but I don't think there's room for him in the squad. But he would certainly be my first emergency. My starting 22 is exactly how i picture the perfect eagles lineup with our current list. Leaving Read out was just a matter of opinion.

ah_19, I do rate the midfield as the best in the league. But the backline would struggle against scoring teams like Essendon (Hird, Misiti, Lloyd, Lucas, etc) who have a large amount of forwards, too many for the eagles to counter.

Forward line is respectable, but too reliant on Cummings and phil Matera. If the eagles could get some quality defenders, than McIntosh, Wirra and Morrison could be freed up into the forward line. It all depends on injuries. Merenda is a great pick up and should cause opposition teams headaches.

A bad omen could be that so far we have named pretty much the same 22. This could be a sign of a lack of depth.

But, always look to the future. 2 bad years and a premiership in the third are better then 3 years of finishing 4th(Nth).

 

[jod23]

D4E - "A bad omen could be that so far we have named pretty much the same 22. This could be a sign of a lack of depth."

You'll notice that my 22 was full of proven names barring maybe Glass and Wilson. I know these guys can perform but i bet by round 5 my best 22 will look alot different. With so many kids yet to prove themselves its tough to know who to put in.

McDougall, Kerr, Cox, Humm, Chambers, Gaspar, Haynes and others which i cant think of right now will all get there chances and then im sure the team will look different. Very impressed with Kerr and Fletcher though.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

By the start of next year all those youngsters you mentioned should get their chance.

Roo, Kemp and Macca don't have too long left. Turnball will probably get traded as with Cox and McDougall around he will struggle to get first team selection. Wilson will probably only be around for 2-3years as he was a short term solution as well as him being 29yrs old already.

All those retirements will help the youngsters break into the team, until then they just have to hang in there.

Unfortunately Antonovitch, Haynes, Hunter and Chambers will probably get delisted so thats unlucky.

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"I'm not going to waste my life trying to prolong it"

 

[ONE EYE]

My R1 team:

Prior McIntosh Glass
Morrison Jakovich Collica
Fletcher Kemp Pe Matera
Embley Siera Wirrpunda
Ph Matera Cummings Wilson

Followers Gardiner Banfield Cousins

Interchange Braun Cox Jones Williams

Unlucky Read Humm Harding Haynes Carroll Turnbull Kerr

Havent seen anything of Taylor Merenda Donnelly to include at this point

Hopefully Tommy will be alright

 

[Grave Danger]

Just a question - how many of these blokes will be fit for round one, or is this just your 'ideal' 22? Seems to me the Eagles have the most burnt out list in the AFL, and even some of your recruits are injury prone. I hope for your sakes you can get your top line players on the park.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

Thats a question we've been asking for several years now. And the fact that we have 10 interstate games and one of the hardest grounds in australia doesn't help either.

But our players are being rested so that they are ready for round 1 and all of them should line up against geelong.

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"I'm not going to waste my life trying to prolong it"

 

[Frodo]

Read macintosh Merenda
Prior Jako Glass
Jones Braun Peter Matera
Donnelly Wilson Wirrapunda
Morrison Cummings Phil Matera

Gardy Cousins Fletcher

Kemp,Banfield,Williams, Sierrakowski

I think the 22 names are more important than the positions as there will be a lot of rotation. I can see Roo being used as a rebound player off the half back line and at times being rested in a pocket. Kempy will come on the ball and rest too, as will Brauny as he eases his knees into action. Replacing Metro is the hardest choice. I think harding will get it but I'm not convinced he is hard enough yet. Prior looks very good and should fit in straight away.
Wirra on the half forward flank could be devestating.

 

[jod23]

Whats the deal with all you ppl and putting Wirrpunda on the half forward line? Its like taking Cummings and putting him at Full Back. Wirrpunda is already proven that he is the best running backmen in the country. His run out of defense is often an avenue for scoring. In todays footy you have to move the ball really quickly into the forward line to avoid flooding in the forward 50 and he does that better than anyone.

 

[ant]

Hey guys, Crow fan here, just wondering who, if any, you have coming back for this week's practice match against Adelaide at Footy Park. I really think we'd like another good, hard, competitive hitout and I was hoping the Eagles would be getting a few of their stars back. Cheers for the info.

Not a bad team either guys (from the looks of it).

 

[Frodo]

Originally posted by jod23:
Whats the deal with all you ppl and putting Wirrpunda on the half forward line? Its like taking Cummings and putting him at Full Back. Wirrpunda is already proven that he is the best running backmen in the country. His run out of defense is often an avenue for scoring. In todays footy you have to move the ball really quickly into the forward line to avoid flooding in the forward 50 and he does that better than anyone.

Jod, young players are often blooded in the back or forward pockets. Wirra will never reach potential from the back line. He eanys Blueys half back place and could be a good rebounding player from that position but he is likely to be most dominany as a half forward or wingman a la Roo.
Think of Mitch White. He was weaned as a backman but was at his best when he went to the half forward line.

 

[jod23]

Frodo, i disagree. Wirrpunda is awesome out of defense and i think he has definitly found his niche. His run out of defense is so important for our team. And does anyone know if he can actually kick goals??

 

[ONE EYE]

Regarding Wirrpunda. We have seen him electrifying on occassions in the forward line. Further, If we play lumbering talls like Seira, Cummo and Wilson in the forward line we need smalls such as the Ant and Wirra at the fall of the ball. My other half forward is Karl oops Andrew Embley who provides a mobile physical presence. Besides, Wirra gives away to many free kicks in the backline. We have plenty of defenders who surely must benefit from Blueys tuition.

Bring it on! Im pumped

Go Eagles

 

[jod23]

No i think moving him from defence is a mistake. With only two other proven quality defenders in Jako and McIntosh i think our backline will suffer without Wirrpunda back there. When the ball goes into the oppositions forward line and its a loose ball with Wirra near the contest im always confident he will come up with it and rebound out of defence. Especially now with Read out for the season whos gonna fill that small running defender?

[This message has been edited by jod23 (edited 08 March 2001).]

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

I agree with Jod23, wirra needs running room and on the half forward line there isn't enough of that room and he would suffer. Just because he would score a goal or two more if he played forward wouldn't necesarily make him a better player.

And remember 1997 when roo came runner-up in the brownlow off the half-backline? Roo has played in every position, he wasn't a midfield/half forward player only.

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"I'm not going to waste my life trying to prolong it"

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

I just thought i would resurrect this topic considering we play in a weeks time.

So post your starting line-ups for rnd1 and we'll see who comes the closest, and hence who thinks like KJ

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"I'm not going to waste my life trying to prolong it"

 

[jod23]

Hmmm ok ill give it another go seen as theres no Read or Embly now.

Wirrpunda McIntosh Glass
Morrison Jakovich Prior
Braun Kemp Banfield
Wilson Seira Williams
Matera Cummings Roo
Gardiner Cousins Fletcher

Jones Donelly Kerr Turnball

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

I would probably swap Turnball for Merenda, other than that your team is perfect.

Ohh, and swap wilson and sierakowski. It doesn't really matter though.

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"I'm not going to waste my life trying to prolong it"