Best ongoing team structure

[hurlygurdy]

I often think about what the best ongoing team structure might be and wonder what people are thinking, but have to trawl through other threads to see posts. As such i thought a separate thread might be in order to gather ongoing ideas? Or maybe there is too much cross over with the preview thread? Not sure...

Personally i'm getting more and more frustrated because lately, it just never quite seems to be our best team that gets played.
I'm starting to wonder if they just need to wipe the slate clean and put everyone out there in their best position in order of comparative ranking within the team (ie Hurley rates higher than Hooker so his position gets precedence). That means Hurley and Carlisle go back, then you build the back line around them. If that means if two of Hooker/Pears or Fletcher get unfairly burned then so be it. JD and Gumby come into the forward line, but against strong ruck opposition TBC gets the nod over Gumby/JD... Or a rotational arrangement for Gumby/JD/TBC would also be quite good so that the suspect bodies of Gumby and JD get managed. Too tall maybe? As many have said before, Crameri can push further up the ground which seems to really suit him. Same goes for Winders. Then the mids can push forward with the flight of the ball into space which strikes me as a more dynamic arrangement (and pretty much what we have done when we have looked at our best).

The other (more likely) alternative that i can live with, is to have the Hurley/Carlisle swing men back into play. This could be done with more flexibility than it has been done so far. I wouldn't have a problem with Carlisle spending more than half the game forward if the situation required it... This would presumably give one of the back men a reprieve at the expense of Gumby or JD

Anyways, i don't rate my own opinion as highly as some of the other posters out there because my football knowledge is pretty weak. Keen to see the issue hashed out in general and also in relation to form and injury.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Small forwards are over rated
FF Gumby Hurley Daniher
HF Carlisle Bellchambers Crameri
C Goddard Watson Heppell
HB Dempsey Hooker Hibberd
FB Baguley Fletcher Pears
R Hocking Ryder Stanton
I Melksham Howlett Myers Gleeson

 

[laxation]

We have played best IMO with Hurley back, Carlisle forward.

No f-ing idea why that structure can only be used when we are 10 goals down

 

[eth-dog]

Hooker - Carlisle - Baguley
Dempsey - Hurley - Hibberd
Stanton - Watson - Heppell
Crameri - Gumby - Zaharakis
Davey - Bellchambers - Winderlich
Ryder - Hocking - Goddard
Melksham - Howlett - Myers - Merrett/Kavanagh

 

[Rancid Trogs]

FF: Bellchambers - Daniher - Davey
HF: Zaharakis - Gumbleton - Winderlich
C: Stanton - Watson - Goddard
R: Hocking - Ryder - Heppell
HB: Hibberd - Hurley - Dempsey
FB: Fletcher - Carlisle - Pears
INTER: Melksham - Howlett - Myers
SUB: Kavanagh

EMER: Hille - Jetta - Hooker

 

[BrunoV]

Hooker - Carlisle - Baguley
Dempsey - Hurley - Hibberd
Stanton - Watson - Heppell
Crameri - Gumby - Zaharakis
Davey - Bellchambers - Winderlich
Ryder - Hocking - Goddard
Melksham - Howlett - Myers - Merrett/Kavanagh

I agree that this is the most powerful team we can muster in 2013. Things could change a little as soon as next year.

 

[UrLordUnbeliever]

Hooker - Carlisle - Baguley
Dempsey - Hurley - Hibberd
Stanton - Watson - Heppell
Crameri - Gumby - Zaharakis
Davey - Bellchambers - Winderlich
Ryder - Hocking - Goddard
Melksham - Howlett - Myers - Merrett/Kavanagh

This - for mine - is the best team structure, though I would suggest including Kommer at the expense of Merrett/Kavanagh

 

[daffo]

Isses we have
- Too many talls in defense
- Slow midfield
- Inability to convert our inside 50 entries

My solutions
- Drop Fletcher (so sorry champ) or Pears
- Bring in outside run. Someone like Jetta
- Pick a forward six line up and persist with them (and pray for no injuries). Carlisle goes back, Hurley stays forward, Crameri/Davey back into the side. Merritt needs to go back, we pick Gumby or Daniher and play one of them for the rest of the year. If it's going to be Daniher (which is what I feel it may be), bring him in when you think he can get through the rest of the year. This may be in 3 weeks time.

 

[eth-dog]

This - for mine - is the best team structure, though I would suggest including Kommer at the expense of Merrett/Kavanagh

Kommer does nothing with ball in hand. The other 2 provide as good pressure as him but are actually competent with the ball

 

[hurlygurdy]

I really hope they don't persist with this Carlisle experiment. Seriously, the whole exciting benefit of him going forward was to allow Hurley to go back where he belongs! They entirely missed the point.
I think TRB have an embarrassment of riches at their disposal and are throwing players around like kids in a candy store... They are wasting the opportunity to fine tune a team structure that is realistic. Seriously, why play two defenders forward while leaving two star KPF's in the VFL?! Sure you can muck around if you like, but looking to the future is there any chance that this structure would be persisted with? Flat out no!

 

[BrunoV]

Very much in agreement with hurlygurdy. The versatility of Carlisle and Hurley only really becomes a good thing once everyone has been settled into long term positions. Switching key position players is the sort of thing we'd want to do maybe once a month (we wouldn't want to be in trouble in games too much more than that) or if there are injury issues. Key position players at both ends of the ground need to develop chemistry with each other to be at their most effective.

I'm also really surprised that we've basically chosen Pears over Gumby/Daniher. Gumby/Daniher have looked much more convincing as key positions forwards then Pears has looked as a key defender (and Pears is not in Hurley/Carlisle's league as a KPD whereas Gumby/Daniher are much closer to as forwards).

 

[hurlygurdy]

Anyway, what would they have done if their experiment had worked? What if both players had kicked 4 goals each week? I don't believe they could have persisted with it against the Hawks because guess what? We need at least one of our elite defenders playing defense! The more i think about it the more it annoys me. I swear that TRB had some kind of brain fart... (gif that someone please?)

 

[hurlygurdy]

So where do Colyer and Del fit, and at the expense of who? Got to say, there is something a little tantalizing about the prospect of those two coming into our full strength team...

 

[Call Me Cake]

I don't think it's a bad thing to switch Carlisle and Hurley around, sure it's not so settling, but if we're looking to the future then it makes sense to get them developing at both ends.

 

[eth-dog]

So where do Colyer and Del fit, and at the expense of who? Got to say, there is something a little tantalizing about the prospect of those two coming into our full strength team...

Take Davey and Merrett/Kav from my team, so:

Hooker - Carlisle - Baguley
Dempsey - Hurley - Hibberd
Stanton - Watson - Heppell
Crameri - Gumby - Zaharakis
Dell'Olio - Bellchambers - Winderlich
Ryder - Hocking - Goddard
Melksham - Howlett - Myers - Colyer

 

[Towno78]

Hooker - Carlisle - Baguley
Dempsey - Hurley - Hibberd
Stanton - Watson - Heppell
Crameri - Gumby - Zaharakis
Davey - Bellchambers - Winderlich
Ryder - Hocking - Goddard
Melksham - Howlett - Myers - Merrett/Kavanagh

Fletch for bags and I'd take it

 

[daffo]

Baguley's spot in the senior 22 needs to be questioned. His form is starting to dip. I think we need to play another tall forward (Gumby or Daniher) but I don't know who at the expense of.

 

[eth-dog]

Fletch for bags and I'd take it

Baguley's spot in the senior 22 needs to be questioned. His form is starting to dip. I think we need to play another tall forward (Gumby or Daniher) but I don't know who at the expense of.

Baguley is our best small defender. He's beaten all his opponents bar LeCras (Who Hibb should have been on) and Gia (again, Hibb should have manned him). Fletcher has been down on his form recently and in all honesty he's not as good as he was last year

 

[hurlygurdy]

Baguley is our best small defender. He's beaten all his opponents bar LeCras (Who Hibb should have been on) and Gia (again, Hibb should have manned him). Fletcher has been down on his form recently and in all honesty he's not as good as he was last year

That's rough on Fletch i reckon. Maybe age-ist? If he was still 26 and playing like he is now i don't think there would be any calls to drop him based on comparisons to previous seasons. Averaging 20 touches since back from injury in the last 3 weeks is not bad going even if he is a little rusty... To be more specific, i think he is pretty damn close to the player he was last year.
That said, i can't pick between him and Bags either, and Bags makes more sense for variation and flexibility in the backline... Your team is my team with the provision of bringing in JD 50% of the time at the expense of TBC or even Ryder depending on ruck form...

 

[eth-dog]

That's rough on Fletch i reckon. Maybe age-ist? If he was still 26 and playing like he is now i don't think there would be any calls to drop him based on comparisons to previous seasons. Averaging 20 touches since back from injury in the last 3 weeks is not bad going even if he is a little rusty... To be more specific, i think he is pretty damn close to the player he was last year.
That said, i can't pick between him and Bags either, and Bags makes more sense for variation and flexibility in the backline... Your team is my team with the provision of bringing in JD 50% of the time at the expense of TBC or even Ryder depending on ruck form...

He's making a lot more hurried and poor decisions. Whenever he gets the ball under pressure he just slams an up-and-under to about 55 metres from our opponents goal at best, when they have the numbers. He's been getting worse and worse defensively too, not getting the spoils he usually does and when he does, some of them are into the corridor which is exactly what the team doesn't need. He's showing signs that this could possibly be his last season

 

[yaco55]

Baguley is our best small defender. He's beaten all his opponents bar LeCras (Who Hibb should have been on) and Gia (again, Hibb should have manned him). Fletcher has been down on his form recently and in all honesty he's not as good as he was last year

Baguley was cut up by Motlop.

 

[eth-dog]

Baguley was cut up by Motlop.

He was playing on Christenson

 

[yaco55]

He was playing on Christenson

Think he got moved off Christenson and onto Motlop.

 

[eth-dog]

Think he got moved off Christenson and onto Motlop.

He toweled up Christenson for the whole game

 

[fairlight_cmi]

I just can't understand why we are persisting with Hurley forward? He is such a natural defender - paired with Carlisle down back and we are rock solid.