Prediction Best 23 - 2026 edition

[WCE777]

Plus a rotation on the bench.

Duursma and Davis will need a bench buddy to help them run out games.

So say Bo Allan to the wing and Davis the bench rotation.

That's three hard running wingers we didn't have two years ago.

But posters who don't follow the Eagles can't see where the improvement will come from.

100%, here here.

While our squad is very young and developing, U23's we have 28 players and while there will be plenty of fails and lower quality(role players) come through them there is a lot of high quality players amongst them.

Massive improvement will come from this group, only 4 players with more than 50 games in this group.

Keep pumping games into the best and developing the others and we have drafted/traded 80% of the group that will play the next finals for us.

Keep adding talent and list needs over the next couple of draft/trade periods and we will be set up for sustained success!

 

[Mighty Eagles]

Very poor list?

Or a young unproven list?

Two pick 1s, a pick 4 and several other young 1st rounders picked at 9, 14, 16 and 19.

Seven 1st rounders developing, oldest of them Ginbey / Hewett..

I understand your rationale but the first rounders have to 'come on' to make it worthwhile.

When we played Geelong last year, I did a breakdown of the two sides. From memory, Geelong only have one first rounder playing for them in that match, yet they had something like seven or eight rookie draftees playing. I'll try and find the list I have when I get home, but their on-field standards and development are evidently miles above ours at this stage.

 

[Obeanie1]

I understand your rationale but the first rounders have to 'come on' to make it worthwhile.

When we played Geelong last year, I did a breakdown of the two sides. From memory, Geelong only have one first rounder playing for them in that match, yet they had something like seven or eight rookie draftees playing. I'll try and find the list I have when I get home, but their on-field standards and development are evidently miles above ours at this stage.

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.

 

[FatPizza]

I understand your rationale but the first rounders have to 'come on' to make it worthwhile.

When we played Geelong last year, I did a breakdown of the two sides. From memory, Geelong only have one first rounder playing for them in that match, yet they had something like seven or eight rookie draftees playing. I'll try and find the list I have when I get home, but their on-field standards and development are evidently miles above ours at this stage.

It's also much easier to manage your list when you attract high profile free agents for the draft cost of zero, and if that doesn't work can pay unders for top end talent in trades.

 

[Mighty Eagles]

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.

I think the fact so many of their later draftees come on is the bigger driver why they are more successful than seemingly lower living costs in Geelong compared to Perth.

Take Lawson Humphries, he was drafted with pick #63 in the 2023 National Draft. His development is head and shoulders better than the likes of Harvey Johnston, who we drafted 14 picks earlier in the same draft. There are plenty other examples of this. I think Geelong's stronger, more robust leadership group which drives their on-field standards is another reason. Our leaders were too apathetic with our standards when we started falling apart from mid-2021.

 

[Mighty Eagles]

It's also much easier to manage your list when you attract high profile free agents for the draft cost of zero, and if that doesn't work can pay unders for top end talent in trades.

Bloody oath it is. But the point was to early draft picks doesn't correlate with success. Case in point Melbourne between 2007 and 2011 and North's draft hand of the past five years still hasn't propelled them up the later yet, although I think their rise is imminent. Freo are another club who have had year after year of top-end picks that haven't come on, particularly in their 20 years or so.

 

[Rowan18]

I understand your rationale but the first rounders have to 'come on' to make it worthwhile.

When we played Geelong last year, I did a breakdown of the two sides. From memory, Geelong only have one first rounder playing for them in that match, yet they had something like seven or eight rookie draftees playing. I'll try and find the list I have when I get home, but their on-field standards and development are evidently miles above ours at this stage.

Geelong is much better at managing the allocation of free acreage, getting Simmons homes to build free houses and managing their distribution of brown paper bags.

 

[bzparkes]

Nigel Lappin's also been attributed as being the major reason behind Geelong's amazing development environment.

 

[fullbull]

I’d settle on:

FB: Starcevich Edwards Hough
HB: Ginbey Young Duggan
C: Duursma H Reid Davis
HF: Graham Shanahan Hewett
FF: Cripps Waterman CDT
R: Flynn Yeo McCarthy

INT: A Reid Lindsay Newton Kelly Schoenberg

Baker to come back in after a 1 game suspension.

Look about right?

 

[BSD]

B: B.Starcevich, H.Edwards, B.Hough

HB: R.Ginbey, T.Young, L.Duggan

C: W.Duursma, H.Reid, H.Davis

HF: E.Hewett, J.Shanahan, L.Baker

F: C.Duff-Tytler, J.Waterman, J.Newton

FOLL: M.Flynn, E.Yeo, T.McCarthy

I/C: T.Kelly, J.Graham, J.Lindsay, A.Reid, H.Schoenberg

EMG:, D.Robertson, C.Hall, J.Cripps

And the first time Duggan dump kicks he should be dragged and replaced by Lindsay.

 

[Alesana]

How does everyone see Grego fitting into the side if he's knocking on the door this year?

 

[stallon]

How does everyone see Grego fitting into the side if he's knocking on the door this year?

Id put him as unlikely to be best 23 at any stage, ever. If I had to place a bet now id be a delist in the next 2-3 years

Best chance was as a small defender, but we have a heap of small/medium defender options now.
Second best chance was as a mid, but we are well stocked for players ahead of him now

 

[Citizen Erazed]

It was nice to know you Lucca.

 

[lloydbraun]

It was nice to know you Lucca.

But it's time to Gre-go

 

[Dom sheed pocket]

Id put him as unlikely to be best 23 at any stage, ever. If I had to place a bet now id be a delist in the next 2-3 years

Best chance was as a small defender, but we have a heap of small/medium defender options now.
Second best chance was as a mid, but we are well stocked for players ahead of him now

Grego only been on the list one year, and has looked decent when he finally did get the call up in R24 v the swans.

He’s not in the B23 at the moment, but one or two injuries and he comes in to consideration for a spot down back.

if we were picking a team today to play on the weekend, he’d be in consideration for a spot down back given Starc,Hough, Baker, Duggan would all be unavailable for selection.

Bit over the top to say a guy won’t ever be B23 when he would probably get selected for a game on the weekend of there was one.

 

[txbyhull]

I would love Grego to just have a full season as a WAFL mid, but even then there is enough competition there to stop him in his tracks. Probably looking at Macrae, Hall, Gross all ahead of him there at least.

 

[Shueygod]

Grego was very impressive in his debut, has a lot of good traits. Think he’s best down back as he showed a nice ability to read the play.

 

[bzparkes]

Id put him as unlikely to be best 23 at any stage, ever. If I had to place a bet now id be a delist in the next 2-3 years

Best chance was as a small defender, but we have a heap of small/medium defender options now.
Second best chance was as a mid, but we are well stocked for players ahead of him now

Except we don't, as I imagine Cole leaves soon, which means we have next to no depth in that area. Also shows he's a more than capable midfield rotation.

 

[stallon]

Grego only been on the list one year, and has looked decent when he finally did get the call up in R24 v the swans.

He’s not in the B23 at the moment, but one or two injuries and he comes in to consideration for a spot down back.

if we were picking a team today to play on the weekend, he’d be in consideration for a spot down back given Starc,Hough, Baker, Duggan would all be unavailable for selection.

Bit over the top to say a guy won’t ever be B23 when he would probably get selected for a game on the weekend of there was one.

Except we don't, as I imagine Cole leaves soon, which means we have next to no depth in that area. Also shows he's a more than capable midfield rotation.

If I had to bet right now, id bet that hes not one to last.
He might last, I have no idea like everybody else.

We are talking best 23 too, not just whether he ever gets a game.
If his best was fringe player, then thats not best 23

None of Starc, Baker, Hough or Duggan are that close to retirement, Duggan is 30 this year and a few years older than the next.
We also have Lindsay, Allan, Dewar and Kehn hopefully next year vying for a small/medium defender spot where we can probably only name 4 players, assuming 2 talls plus Ginbey are locked.
If the midfield is going well then McCarthy could even spend time in d50 taking a spot.

We have a heap of mids now, unless Dev proves to be a spud, Kelly cant get anything going this year, Gross doesnt come along, Schoenberg/Macrae dont show anything at all as a mid, we have a couple injuries etc all happen he just too far back in the pecking order to be a mid for us in the main side

Even then if we find out so many of our mids who are more talented dont work out, we probably have another mid to add next year from the draft too, plus the chance to trade in other players similar to Dev/Schoenberg, and then Warner hopefully the year after.
Theres just not an abundance of spots.

If Grego just tracks as expected hes probably not a future best 23 player

 

[bzparkes]

If I had to bet right now, id bet that hes not one to last.
He might last, I have no idea like everybody else.

We are talking best 23 too, not just whether he ever gets a game

None of Starc, Baker, Hough or Duggan are that close to retirement, Duggan is 30 this year and a few years older than the next.
We also have Lindsay, Allan, Dewar and Kehn hopefully next year vying for a small/medium defender spot where we can probably only name 4 players, assuming 2 talls plus Ginbey are locked.
If the midfield is going well then McCarthy could even spend time in d50 taking a spot.

We have a heap of mids now, unless Dev proves to be a spud, Kelly cant get anything going this year, Gross doesnt come along, Schoenberg/Macrae dont show anything at all as a mid, we have a couple injuries etc all happen he just too far back in the pecking order to be a mid for us in the main side

Even then if we find out so many of our mids who are more talented dont work out, we probably have another mid to add next year from the draft too, plus the chance to trade in other players similar to Dev/Schoenberg, and then Warner hopefully the year after.
Theres just not an abundance of spots.

If Grego just tracks as expected hes probably not a future best 23 player

All different roles, IMO.

The closest he's actually to is probably Duggan, so if there's a spot for Duggan, there's a spot for Grego. He also shares some parallels with Hough. Would be next in line to replace either of those 2 IMO, unless the coaches value Lindsay/Dewar's disposal more than Grego's ability to defend.

Grego's also shown more composure and midfield nous in his first year in the WAFL than Duggo ever has.

Reckon Cole's gone this year, so that likely leaves Lindsay and Grego fighting to be next in line, unless the coaches love Lindsay's disposal so much they get him in the side one way or another.

As for Allan and Dewar, I'd rather see them forward of the ball than behind it. Dewar looked seriously good in that position vs Brisbane last year and they clearly seem to like Allan on the wing, although vying with Duursma, Hall and Davis for a role there.

Also, how are we expecting him to develop? Seems to get plenty of the ball int he 2nds, has composure and solid disposal. Is also a bit of a hard nut. Plenty of growth to come.

I don't think he'll ever be a superstar but he can very much become a quality best 23 player.

 

[Shueygod]

Grego's also shown more composure and midfield nous in his first year in the WAFL than Duggo ever has.

Agree with pretty much your entire post bar this, Duggan looked good early. **** knows what’s happened since.

 

[bzparkes]

Agree with pretty much your entire post bar this, Duggan looked good early. **** knows what’s happened since.

Dunno. Seems panicked when he's in there. I thought he looked alright playing across HF at times early on.

 

[jdisc]

Grego slander will not be tolerated

 

[Keys]

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

30

Jackson Nelson

Age

30

Ht

187cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.8

3star

K

7.8

3star

HB

4.0

3star

M

3.2

3star

T

2.0

4star

MG

184.8

3star

D

14.8

4star

K

10.0

4star

HB

4.8

3star

M

4.3

4star

T

2.3

3star

MG

171.8

3star

D

8.6

3star

K

5.4

2star

HB

3.2

3star

M

2.4

3star

T

1.8

4star

MG

127.0

3star

. 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

28

Tom Cole

Age

28

Ht

188cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.9

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

5.0

4star

M

3.7

4star

T

2.7

4star

MG

110.3

2star

D

10.5

3star

K

6.3

3star

HB

4.3

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.5

3star

MG

110.3

2star

D

9.8

3star

K

5.6

3star

HB

4.2

4star

M

2.4

3star

T

1.8

4star

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

 

[stallon]

All different roles, IMO.

The closest he's actually to is probably Duggan, so if there's a spot for Duggan, there's a spot for Grego. He also shares some parallels with Hough. Would be next in line to replace either of those 2 IMO, unless the coaches value Lindsay/Dewar's disposal more than Grego's ability to defend.

We have Hough and Starc to play defensive, Baker can too even if he isnt on the level of the other two I mentioned.
Thats what Grego is competing for tbh, Duggan is just a bit of an all rounder who we could cover with anybody imo.
1-2 attacking defenders on top of those 3 and we are well covered for options.

Depends on matchups too I guess

Grego's also shown more composure and midfield nous in his first year in the WAFL than Duggo ever has.

Reckon Cole's gone this year, so that likely leaves Lindsay and Grego fighting to be next in line, unless the coaches love Lindsay's disposal so much they get him in the side one way or another.

As for Allan and Dewar, I'd rather see them forward of the ball than behind it. Dewar looked seriously good in that position vs Brisbane last year and they clearly seem to like Allan on the wing, although vying with Duursma, Hall and Davis for a role there.

I agree Dewar looks better attacking than in d50, but thats not what we are seeing from the club.
Allan id rather be a midfielder full time, pushing out Dev/Graham at some point in the near future.

Also, how are we expecting him to develop? Seems to get plenty of the ball int he 2nds, has composure and solid disposal. Is also a bit of a hard nut. Plenty of growth to come.

I don't think he'll ever be a superstar but he can very much become a quality best 23 player.

I think he is a bit of an all rounder like Duggan, but my query is do we need one of those?

Starc, Hough doing more defensive jobs, while also being able to rebound.
Lindsay attacking
Duggan doing a bit of everything and being a leader in a relatively young backline

I assume Baker goes forward at some point freeing up that spot for Lindsay, so we have at least 1 great ball user back there.

Grego could be next in line, but we could also swing Baker back while bringing in a forward, or move McCarthy/Duursma/Allan to half back bringing in a winger (Allen?)
Kehn to add to our d50 small/medium stocks next year, im going to use him to replace Duggan in a couple of years as I assume Kehn will be more talented than Grego.

Im talking medium to long term here obviously

Do we see Grego being in the top 4 of Starcevich, Hough, Lindsay, Baker, Duggan/Kehn, and the next in line hff/mid/winger?

I personally see it as a long shot

Im playing probabilities here, like Harvey Johnston some liked early, hes just probably one of those guys who doesnt do a lot for us.
Id almost have Long in this category too, hes lucky our hff depth is so shit.

To be clear I am not writing him off, not even remotely