Opinion Best 22 in 2023
- Thread starter calder_daddy
- Start date
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Anyone got access to the articles from today?
"Cats rubbish reports of monster Sean Darcy offer". The Telegraph
&
thewest.com.au
"Cats rubbish reports of monster Sean Darcy offer". The Telegraph
&
Million-dollar Darcy! Why Freo need to splash cash on star
Fremantle could be on the verge of signing Sean Darcy to a massive long-term deal on the back of Nat Fyfe’s huge pay cut, despite Geelong putting a huge offer on the table for the star ruckman.
thewest.com.au
Fb. Stewart. Sdk. Henry
Hb. Kolo. Esava. O’Connor
C. Duncan. Danger. Holmes
Hf. Close. Cameron. Miers
Ff. Henry. Hawkins. Stengle
Fol. Stanley. Guthrie. Blicavs
Int. Smith. Touhy. Rohan. Atkins
Sub. Bruhn
Emg. Bowes. Mullin. Bews
Hb. Kolo. Esava. O’Connor
C. Duncan. Danger. Holmes
Hf. Close. Cameron. Miers
Ff. Henry. Hawkins. Stengle
Fol. Stanley. Guthrie. Blicavs
Int. Smith. Touhy. Rohan. Atkins
Sub. Bruhn
Emg. Bowes. Mullin. Bews
Pure_Ownage
TheBrownDog
To me you need a sub that can play multiple roles (to cover injury) bruhn needs to be in the 22 or not at all because hes a one position player. I rate him though and id have him in.
Henry (ollie), tuohy or moc would be better subs if it comes to it.
I dont think guthrie gets back at all this year so thats bruhns spot i think.
The other question id have is whether we will play all 4 kpds or only 3-i dont mind it but i think one of bews or kolo probably has to drop out (assuming moc isnt left out) for sav.
The other ? Would be whether we need both of rohan and ollie in the side but ollies form has been so good they are probably going to find a way to squeeze him in.
standupand
Club Legend
To clarify - C.Guthrie takes Bruhn spot when he's ready to return?
Pure_Ownage
TheBrownDog
Yes if fit he plays but i doubt he will be fit.
Despite having a talented player list, our chances of making it to the finals has been affected by various factors, including injuries and the demanding schedule.
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If the expected ins are all selected for Port, we’ll be back to more-or-less this - the first choice midfield minus Guthrie.
I like Bruhn but don’t think he’s clearly ahead of Knevitt - would hope the MC alternates them in the second half of the year.
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No Zach Guthrie
I realise that we won the Grand Final last year....
But I am going to say this anyway. Our midfield is not good enough. We have no 25 possession players let alone 30 possession players. We need someone who can just start at every single center square and give us a bloody chance. It can't just be one legged Paddy and no back up plan.
We need a Butters, a Neale, a Cripps, a Merrett, an Oliver or a Taranto. Bloody anyone who can rack up 35 touches and 3 Brownlow votes.
In 2007 we had Ling, Bartel, Ablett, Corey, Kelly and Chapman. On Thursday we were trying to get it done with Bruhn, Atkins and O'Connor in the center square. Our best disposal player is still Danger (and he is ranked 65th in the league albeit with reduced TOG) none of the younger mids have stood up.
We just need mature inside mids who get the ball. It's not complicated. It is clear that Scott is obstinate in the belief that midfields are overrated, while it worked last year with well curated rotations, it clearly isn't working this year.
But I am going to say this anyway. Our midfield is not good enough. We have no 25 possession players let alone 30 possession players. We need someone who can just start at every single center square and give us a bloody chance. It can't just be one legged Paddy and no back up plan.
We need a Butters, a Neale, a Cripps, a Merrett, an Oliver or a Taranto. Bloody anyone who can rack up 35 touches and 3 Brownlow votes.
In 2007 we had Ling, Bartel, Ablett, Corey, Kelly and Chapman. On Thursday we were trying to get it done with Bruhn, Atkins and O'Connor in the center square. Our best disposal player is still Danger (and he is ranked 65th in the league albeit with reduced TOG) none of the younger mids have stood up.
We just need mature inside mids who get the ball. It's not complicated. It is clear that Scott is obstinate in the belief that midfields are overrated, while it worked last year with well curated rotations, it clearly isn't working this year.
Last edited:
catempire
Premium Platinum
I’m kinda torn because I don’t really disagree but guess how many times we had a 30 possession mid in the entire 2022 season?
Eleven times:
- Danger and Parfitt Rd 1
- Guthrie Rd 7
- Duncan Rd 8
- Guthrie Rd 10
- Guthrie and Parfitt Rd 11
- Duncan Rd 16
- Duncan Rd 17
- Guthrie Rd 22
- Smith Grand Final
How about a 35 possession mid?
That would be zero in 2022.
So I don’t disagree that we need more accumulators, we clearly do. But we have very recently found a way to win without much of it and we need to replicate that in 2023 if we are to have a chance.
Last year we had Dangerfield, Selwood and Guthrie. Then Blicavs/Atkins/Holmes/Smith/Duncan were the rest of our accumulators at stoppage or releasing to from stoppage.
The loss of Selwood would only fail to be terminal if the rest were playing and playing well. We've had large chunks without 4 of them on top of Selwood and then other times missing a couple.
We do need another front line midfielder before Holmes, Clark, Bruhn, Knevitt and Hardie or whoever take over - or else we will probably slip down the ladder. Parish is about the only one that looks possible albeit unlikely.
Our players weren't hitting 30 touches as we were heavily rotating our inside mids. Compare Guthrie averaging 24.5 disposals in 69% game time vs Touk Miller 28.5 disposals in 87% game time. Selwood on 72%, Dangerfield on 75%, Atkins on 76%. Their efficiency was at that level.
The problem is quite clear when we compare last nights inside mid group once Danger and Bruhn went down, compared to our grand final team
Dangerfield, Guthrie, Selwood, Blicavs, Atkins
vs
Holmes, Atkins, O'Connor and Bowes
Honestly that 2nd group might not even be strong at VFL level
catempire
Premium Platinum
Yes the “way we found” was to spread the load. When that load is being spread across an inferior group of players trouble results.
Good post. Actually think Scott is doing fantastic to keep us competitive.
I think it can't be understated how effective the midfield management was last year. The entire footy media (surprise, surprise) seemed to completely forget that Dangerfield and Selwood last year were used off the bench a lot. Very, very smart move. Less game time, more impact. What also helped was absolutely brilliant years from Atkins and Close in particular. Then you've got Guthrie, Duncan and whoever else chiming in.
This year I think the fact that Atkins and Close have been "ok" (and sometimes not even that) has been just as detrimental as who we've been missing. The younger guys do all the gut running. With them up and down - and veterans in Duncan, Dangerfield, Guthrie, Smith, Blicavs all injured / down in form / and another year older - no wonder we've been cut up so often.
Yeah this is it to a tee.
Our midfield last year will not be replicated. Somehow we had a perfected system that was at odds with convention, and while the gimmick worked brilliantly last year it has either been figured out by the opposition coaching staff (to be expected as premiers) or the current midfield group is simply unable to execute.
The third option is that last year's poor midfield was plastered over by the fact we had the competitions best forward six (and a pretty damn good unit in the backline).
Anyway, I am not criticizing Scott, I just think we desperately need to recruit a mature age accumulator or commit to the rebuild next year and let Bruhn, Holmes and Clark to develop.
