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Prediction Best 23 - 2026 edition

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Keys said:
The realistic expectation for someone like Grego should be to become a best 30 player or thereabouts in a side that builds itself into a contender

Think someone like Jackson Nelson. Was never best 23 but carved out a 102 game career across 8 seasons because when injuries inevitably hit he was capable of coming in and playing a role for the team. Tom Cole is another example

Squads are made up of 42-44 players so it’s not possible for everyone to be best 23 so you can have a career being a perpetual fringe player. What you don’t want is to be a bottom 5-10 player, especially in a contract year

History is littered with relatively average players who walked away with a premiership medal because they prepared themselves professionally and were in the right spot when the planets aligned

If Lucca can apply himself like I think he will, he has the capacity to play somewhere between 50-120 games as a reliable depth player
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I think this is a realistic but slightly higher end result for Grego
 

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Obeanie1 said:
Geelong manage their list very differently to the Eagles.

For some reason they burn 1st round picks used at the draft. But do extremely well with later picks.

They also use their 1st round picks quite often trading in quality.

Cheap land and living costs just outside Melbourne makes the Cats attractive. We can't compete with those two natural advantages.
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Of course it also helps when you have half the AFL hierachy as ex Geelong people and you rort the salary cap with out of contract payments jobs, holidays and farms make administrative errors.
 
What I expect to see (everyone fit):
FB: Ginbey - Edwards - Starcevich
HB: Hough - Young - Baker
C: Davis - Reid - W.Duursma
HF: Hewett - Shanahan - Yeo
FF: CDT - Waterman - Cripps
R: Flynn - McCarthy - Robertson
Int: Graham - A.Reid - Kelly - Newton - Duggan

Next up: Allan - Maric - Schoenberg - Lindsay - Dewar - Brock

I’d personally like Baker moved forward and one of Maric/Lindsay/Dewar brought in as a distributor but can’t see it happening anytime soon.

Some players are pretty stiff to miss out; Maric who for the most part was good last year and Allan/Lindsay being recent first rounders who have looked good in preseason being obvious examples.
 
Shueygod said:
What I expect to see (everyone fit):
FB: Ginbey - Edwards - Starcevich
HB: Hough - Young - Baker
C: Davis - Reid - W.Duursma
HF: Hewett - Shanahan - Yeo
FF: CDT - Waterman - Cripps
R: Flynn - McCarthy - Robertson
Int: Graham - A.Reid - Kelly - Newton - Duggan

Next up: Allan - Maric - Schoenberg - Lindsay - Dewar - Brock

I’d personally like Baker moved forward and one of Maric/Lindsay/Dewar brought in as a distributor but can’t see it happening anytime soon.

Some players are pretty stiff to miss out; Maric who for the most part was good last year and Allan/Lindsay being recent first rounders who have looked good in preseason being obvious examples.
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Would honestly be quite a shame if that was the starting 23
 
Shueygod said:
What I expect to see (everyone fit):
FB: Ginbey - Edwards - Starcevich
HB: Hough - Young - Baker
C: Davis - Reid - W.Duursma
HF: Hewett - Shanahan - Yeo
FF: CDT - Waterman - Cripps
R: Flynn - McCarthy - Robertson
Int: Graham - A.Reid - Kelly - Newton - Duggan

Next up: Allan - Maric - Schoenberg - Lindsay - Dewar - Brock

I’d personally like Baker moved forward and one of Maric/Lindsay/Dewar brought in as a distributor but can’t see it happening anytime soon.

Some players are pretty stiff to miss out; Maric who for the most part was good last year and Allan/Lindsay being recent first rounders who have looked good in preseason being obvious examples.
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Yep, more or less what should be expected for now.

Not really any spots in contention there unless like you say Baker goes forward making a spot for Maric/Lindsay
 
Shueygod said:
In what respect?

Guys like Lindsay/Allan getting opportunity?

I’m with you, but there’s no one that can realistically come out for them.
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Yeah, it’s obviously not realistic for the likes of Lindsay, Bo, Schonners to be playing week in week out, but putting a guy like Baker in the backline… I just can’t get behind it. Our deficit of a real captain has meant we are stuck with playing Duggan, while Baker they are dead set on shoving him in at HBF. We have much better run and ball use with other options yet here we are.
 
txbyhull said:
Yeah, it’s obviously not realistic for the likes of Lindsay, Bo, Schonners to be playing week in week out, but putting a guy like Baker in the backline… I just can’t get behind it. Our deficit of a real captain has meant we are stuck with playing Duggan, while Baker they are dead set on shoving him in at HBF. We have much better run and ball use with other options yet here we are.
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I’m pretty confident the change happens at some point in the season.

Fixes the two biggest flaws with that above side; forward pressure and defensive ball movement.

There will also be injuries (hopefully not), so these guys will no doubt get their opportunities.
 
After today my locks for Rd 1, assuming no injury (which is wishful thinking and unlikely):

Ginbey, Edwards, Starcevich
Hough, Young, Lindsay (Baker after Rd 1)
Davis, Reid, Duursma
Hewett, Shanahan, Yeo
CDT, Waterman, Cripps
Flynn, McCarthy, Graham

Int: Robertson, A.Reid, Kelly, Newton, Duggan

Next ins: Maric, Schoenberg, Allan
 

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wafooty2 said:
After today my locks for Rd 1, assuming no injury (which is wishful thinking and unlikely):

Ginbey, Edwards, Starcevich
Hough, Young, Lindsay (Baker after Rd 1)
Davis, Reid, Duursma
Hewett, Shanahan, Yeo
CDT, Waterman, Cripps
Flynn, McCarthy, Graham

Int: Robertson, A.Reid, Kelly, Newton, Duggan

Next ins: Maric, Schoenberg, Allan
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I like this 23 a lot.

Schoenberg and Allan stiff to miss. I think Allan in particular had 2 good hit outs under his belt, and took the chocolates in his match ups against Davis who other then that highlight with Newton I don’t think did a whole lot today.

I could see a world where I’d swap Davis for Allan.
 
Dom sheed pocket said:
I like this 23 a lot.

Schoenberg and Allan stiff to miss. I think Allan in particular had 2 good hit outs under his belt, and took the chocolates in his match ups against Davis who other then that highlight with Newton I don’t think did a whole lot today.

I could see a world where I’d swap Davis for Allan.
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Don't think Allan plays rd 1. Looks a little lost on the wing. I still prefer him back. Think that is where he plays his best footy.

Will be very surprised if it's not Davis and Durrsma on those wings rd 1.
 
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Dom sheed pocket said:
I like this 23 a lot.

Schoenberg and Allan stiff to miss. I think Allan in particular had 2 good hit outs under his belt, and took the chocolates in his match ups against Davis who other then that highlight with Newton I don’t think did a whole lot today.

I could see a world where I’d swap Davis for Allan.
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Round 1 line-ups are always littered with examples like this, players who are overlooked and underutilised find their way in pretty quickly

Coaches have to work purely off training form and the 'ideal' look of the side, once we get into the swing of things in the AFL and WAFL the reality can look quite different
 
HoneyBadger35 said:
FB: Ginbey Edwards Hough
HB: Baker Brock McCarthy
C: Maric Graham Hall
HF: Ryan Waterman Chesser
FF: Brockman Shanahan AReid
R: Flynn Reid Hewett
I: P1 P2 Kelly Duggan Yeo
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Ignoring his R1 suspension and having been both impressed by his versatility in Origin and frightened of our staggering lack of ground level pressure, I am formally on board the ‘Baker starts forward’ train.

Three weeks out from the real thing:

FB: Hough Edwards Ginbey
HB: Starcevich Young Duggan
C: Duursma McCarthy Graham
HF: Hewett Waterman Baker
FF: Cripps Shanahan Newton
R: Flynn Reid Kelly
I: Lindsay Yeo Robertson Davis AReid

Compared to my end of season OP:

Out: Brock, Maric, Hall, Ryan, Chesser, Brockman, ‘Pick 1’, ‘Pick 2’

In: Starcevich, Young, Duursma, Newton, Cripps, Robertson, Davis, Lindsay


Still some questions to be answered. The other wing is a concern, gone with a square peg/round hole with Graham who is clear B23 and part of an awkward midfield mix without many outside gut runners. Hope Davis makes it; has all the non-kicking traits and would help the list balance immeasurably.

Ruck no good, hoping the new rules miraculously make BWilliams viable but let’s be serious.

Need more small forwards, where from I’m not sure.

In a Grand Final/winner takes all situation then Cole plays before Lindsay, but we’d be silly to not give Lindsay a proper role for the majority of the season, even if we do make him earn that first start via a few weeks of WAFL.
 
HoneyBadger35 said:
Ignoring his R1 suspension and having been both impressed by his versatility in Origin and frightened of our staggering lack of ground level pressure, I am formally on board the ‘Baker starts forward’ train.

Three weeks out from the real thing:

FB: Hough Edwards Ginbey
HB: Starcevich Young Duggan
C: Duursma McCarthy Graham
HF: Hewett Waterman Baker
FF: Cripps Shanahan Newton
R: Flynn Reid Kelly
I: Lindsay Yeo Robertson Davis AReid

Compared to my end of season OP:

Out: Brock, Maric, Hall, Ryan, Chesser, Brockman, ‘Pick 1’, ‘Pick 2’

In: Starcevich, Young, Duursma, Newton, Cripps, Robertson, Davis, Lindsay


Still some questions to be answered. The other wing is a concern, gone with a square peg/round hole with Graham who is clear B23 and part of an awkward midfield mix without many outside gut runners. Hope Davis makes it; has all the non-kicking traits and would help the list balance immeasurably.

Ruck no good, hoping the new rules miraculously make BWilliams viable but let’s be serious.

Need more small forwards, where from I’m not sure.

In a Grand Final/winner takes all situation then Cole plays before Lindsay, but we’d be silly to not give Lindsay a proper role for the majority of the season, even if we do make him earn that first start via a few weeks of WAFL.
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I really want Duff-Tytler to be in the R1 side, however, to make room for him requires one of the following to miss:

• Newton - CDT is a forward to the last forward picked in your 23, which is Newton, comes out
• Lindsay - put Baker back in defence where he’s spent the preseason to create the forward opening for CDT which means Lindsay becomes one defender too many
• Davis - leave out the fat side winger that Davis has been training all summer for and rotate the likes of Graham, Robertson and Kelly off the wing

The problem with adding Duff-Tytler is we end up with one tall too many but that’s rarely been a concern for successive WCE match committees going back to Worsfold’s land of the giants. I just like what he offers bit the players I mentioned all deserve their spots

Baker’s suspension for R1 will mean there’s a spot in the 23 for CDT to at least see how he goes whilst giving Newton, Lindsay and Davis their opportunity to prove their worth

Schoenberg and Allan (who is lineball with Davis for selection) are both genuinely unlucky to miss.

Long was also making a strong case for selection prior to his unfortunate injury - what the **** is it with derbies and our players copping significant injuries btw

Ultimately, it’s nice to see real competition for spots that means players will need to perform to hold their place albeit five of your best 23 didn’t play yesterday and will need to prove their fitness ahead of R1. Six if you count Baker.
 

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Keys said:
I really want Duff-Tytler to be in the R1 side, however, to make room for him requires one of the following to miss:

• Newton - CDT is a forward to the last forward picked in your 23, which is Newton, comes out
• Lindsay - put Baker back in defence where he’s spent the preseason to create the forward opening for CDT which means Lindsay becomes one defender too many
• Davis - leave out the fat side winger that Davis has been training all summer for and rotate the likes of Graham, Robertson and Kelly off the wing

The problem with adding Duff-Tytler is we end up with one tall too many but that’s rarely been a concern for successive WCE match committees going back to Worsfold’s land of the giants. I just like what he offers bit the players I mentioned all deserve their spots

Baker’s suspension for R1 will mean there’s a spot in the 23 for CDT to at least see how he goes whilst giving Newton, Lindsay and Davis their opportunity to prove their worth

Schoenberg and Allan (who is lineball with Davis for selection) are both genuinely unlucky to miss.

Long was also making a strong case for selection prior to his unfortunate injury - what the **** is it with derbies and our players copping significant injuries btw

Ultimately, it’s nice to see real competition for spots that means players will need to perform to hold their place albeit five of your best 23 didn’t play yesterday and will need to prove their fitness ahead of R1. Six if you count Baker.
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All those guys CDT, Lindsay, etc will get games, we will have a few injuries all year no doubt, as all clubs do.
 
Keys said:
I really want Duff-Tytler to be in the R1 side, however, to make room for him requires one of the following to miss:

• Newton - CDT is a forward to the last forward picked in your 23, which is Newton, comes out
• Lindsay - put Baker back in defence where he’s spent the preseason to create the forward opening for CDT which means Lindsay becomes one defender too many
• Davis - leave out the fat side winger that Davis has been training all summer for and rotate the likes of Graham, Robertson and Kelly off the wing

The problem with adding Duff-Tytler is we end up with one tall too many but that’s rarely been a concern for successive WCE match committees going back to Worsfold’s land of the giants. I just like what he offers bit the players I mentioned all deserve their spots

Baker’s suspension for R1 will mean there’s a spot in the 23 for CDT to at least see how he goes whilst giving Newton, Lindsay and Davis their opportunity to prove their worth

Schoenberg and Allan (who is lineball with Davis for selection) are both genuinely unlucky to miss.

Long was also making a strong case for selection prior to his unfortunate injury - what the **** is it with derbies and our players copping significant injuries btw

Ultimately, it’s nice to see real competition for spots that means players will need to perform to hold their place albeit five of your best 23 didn’t play yesterday and will need to prove their fitness ahead of R1. Six if you count Baker.
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Some tough decisions but one has to be made, CDT must play IMO.
 
Doashuey said:
Some tough decisions but one has to be made, CDT must play IMO.
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I agree, CDT needs to play. Feel like it's going to be Lindsay who may miss out if all back 6 are fit and after Rd 1 when Baker is back. I thought he looked a little shaky at times yesterday albeit still a decent hitout for an 18 year old. It's a tough backline to break into. Developing. a liitle more in the WAFL wont do him any harm.
 
Locks for me;

Fb - Starcevich, Edwards, Hough
Hb - Ginbey, Young, Duggan
C - Duursma, Yeo, ?
Hf - Graham, Shanahan, Hewett
Ff - Cripps, Waterman, CDT
R - Flynn, McCarthy, Reid
I - Kelly, A Reid, ???

Leaves Lindsay, Maric, Allan, Dewar fighting for 1 spot in defence
Allan, Davis fighting for a wing position
Robertson, Schoenberg, Newton scrambling for 2 available mid/fwd roles

Then there’ll be an extra squeeze when Baker returns in round 2

Not a bad spot to be in
 


CODE sports take on our R1 side

B: B. Hough, H. Edwards, B. Starcevich
HB: R. Ginbey, T. Young, L. Duggan
C: W. Duursma, D. Robertson, H. Davis
HF: J. Graham, J. Shanahan, J.Cripps
F: J. Newton, J. Waterman, C. Duff-Tytler
FOLL: M. Flynn, H. Reid, T. McCarthy
INT: E. Yeo, H. Schoenberg, A. Reid, T. Kelly, E. Hewett
INJURED: L. Baker (suspended), S. Allen (knee), J. Hutchison (ankle), F. Rodriguez (ankle), T. Gross (hamstring), T. Brockman (thigh), N. Long (knee)
DEPTH: J. Lindsay, M. Owies, A. Reid, F. Macrae, T. Cole, B. Allan
The Eagles are confident that the likes of Reuben Ginbey (foot soreness), Liam Duggan (concussion), Brandon Starcevich (calf), Brady Hough (ankle) and Jack Graham (hamstring) should all be available come round one, instantly improving the side that lined up against Fremantle. First round draft picks Willem Duursma and Cooper Duff-Tytler are locks to debut after strong hitouts while Josh Lindsay is on the cusp of selection given West Coast’s defence is its strongest line. Elijah Hewett might need some more time to build fitness after a minor calf setback while Archer Reid appears to be the favourite to back-up Matt Flynn in the ruck.

Pretty much aligns with what’s being posted here but a couple of comments:
1) Apparently we’ve cloned Archer Reid to the point where he’s in the 23 and also part of our depth
2) The named side is one defender short as there’s no rotation on the bench with Baker out suspended - surely Lindsay, or Cole if we want more experience, comes into the side for R1. Probably for either Schoenberg who is the extra mid/forward or maybe Hewett if he’s not 100%
3) Bailey Williams should be included in the list of unavailable players. Ideally, he can get up and running because I’d really like to see how he performs with the new ruck rules
4) We really need that quintet of Ginbey, Starcevich, Hough, Duggan and Graham to be right for R1 as their absence along with Baker was notable v Fremantle
 
Keys said:


CODE sports take on our R1 side

B: B. Hough, H. Edwards, B. Starcevich
HB: R. Ginbey, T. Young, L. Duggan
C: W. Duursma, D. Robertson, H. Davis
HF: J. Graham, J. Shanahan, J.Cripps
F: J. Newton, J. Waterman, C. Duff-Tytler
FOLL: M. Flynn, H. Reid, T. McCarthy
INT: E. Yeo, H. Schoenberg, A. Reid, T. Kelly, E. Hewett
INJURED: L. Baker (suspended), S. Allen (knee), J. Hutchison (ankle), F. Rodriguez (ankle), T. Gross (hamstring), T. Brockman (thigh), N. Long (knee)
DEPTH: J. Lindsay, M. Owies, A. Reid, F. Macrae, T. Cole, B. Allan
The Eagles are confident that the likes of Reuben Ginbey (foot soreness), Liam Duggan (concussion), Brandon Starcevich (calf), Brady Hough (ankle) and Jack Graham (hamstring) should all be available come round one, instantly improving the side that lined up against Fremantle. First round draft picks Willem Duursma and Cooper Duff-Tytler are locks to debut after strong hitouts while Josh Lindsay is on the cusp of selection given West Coast’s defence is its strongest line. Elijah Hewett might need some more time to build fitness after a minor calf setback while Archer Reid appears to be the favourite to back-up Matt Flynn in the ruck.

Pretty much aligns with what’s being posted here but a couple of comments:
1) Apparently we’ve cloned Archer Reid to the point where he’s in the 23 and also part of our depth
2) The named side is one defender short as there’s no rotation on the bench with Baker out suspended - surely Lindsay, or Cole if we want more experience, comes into the side for R1. Probably for either Schoenberg who is the extra mid/forward or maybe Hewett if he’s not 100%
3) Bailey Williams should be included in the list of unavailable players. Ideally, he can get up and running because I’d really like to see how he performs with the new ruck rules
4) We really need that quintet of Ginbey, Starcevich, Hough, Duggan and Graham to be right for R1 as their absence along with Baker was notable v Fremantle
Click to expand...


Agreed, this is pretty close but either Cole or Lindsay have to come in. I get the sense Mini has Lindsay a touch ahead given how he picked the teams for the intraclub and the scratch against Freo.

Schoenberg seems like a lock for R1 at this stage. Hewett still building, if he doesn't play against Port I could see him missing R1 and playing WAFL minutes until he's 100%.

Not sure A. Reid needs to be there, do we need 3 ruck rotations? Forward line is already plenty tall.
 

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