Collingwoods Finals team

[PieLebo87]

Thought I would put my the best22 Collingwood finals team together, welcome opinions and comparative teams,

Lockyer Prestigiacomo H Shaw
Clement Maxwell Lonie
Didak O'Bree Johnson
Buckley T Cloke Tarrant
Thomas Rocca Holland

Fraser
Swan
Licuria Burns, R Shaw, Egan, Wakelin

em: Davis, Pendlebury, J Cloke

Backline very solid with the premier defender in the AFL Clement leading the way, 2006 Rising star and future 3rd captain from the Shaw Klan, Heath has been in All Australian form (wont get a gong though) and is as good a rebounding defender as any this year. Maxwell is getting back to his early season form and Lonie is playing the brand of footy we always knew he was capable of. Presti brilliant and Lockyer with his excellent field kicking round off a handy defence. Only negatives, not as tight as earlier in the year, too many goals been kicked against us lately, Lockyer also needs to get harder at the footy.
I'd play Didak up the field rotating with Tarrant who will lift come finals. Didak would have to be the most important player at Collingwood at the moment with Rocca and Swan, O'Bree and Johnno need to continue doing what they have been doing all year. Bucks will need to pinch hit in the middle but will be more valuable up forward as long as we are not being killed in the centre. Trav and Ant as our big powerhouse forwards with hopefully Rocca and the Collingwood forwardline back in form and the pies showing why they have one of the most deadly forward lines in the AFL. Thomas and Holland will need to kick goals aswell as running through the middle. Thomas is a big game performer and expect more of the same in the finals, lets just hope he doesnt get hurt. Neon Leon will be back sooner rather than later and adds the spark we have been lacking the last month.
One of our favourite sons in Burns will do as he does each week and will be even more important in the hardness of finals footy. Chris Egan has come good after a calls from a large chunk of the Collingwood faithful for him to be traded, he also has the spark that is needed in September like Davis.
Rhyce Shaw's speed anothe required ingredient along with Wakelins experience. I'd try to squeeze Pendles in just to get him the experience as he will be an awesome player in a fwe years. Jas Cloke is a player that is loved by all coz of his hardness and willing to do anything and everything to help the cause, might get his chance. Illes, Rowe (even though I has him in the my best 22 at the start of the year) and Davies are not good enough at the moment for a game in Collingwoods best 22.

All in all a very good squad that can go all the way if everything clicks. I'm hoping the loss to Essendon was'nt too costly as a top4 spot would be invaluable especially taking itno consideration the form of the top 2. Just hoping Freo slip up against Port. Still a very good show from 5th or 6th place at it seems everything falling into place at the right time. Thomas could play this week and Leon might get a gig 1st week of finals, Trav OK and get Captain back this week who I think will be the X factor come finals even though the world knows how good he is. Go pies, 32 years diff between 58 and 90 flags, half that and get 16, which brings us to 2006, the year of the Magpie.

 

[Nardz]

why would u have holland in a pocket and not closer to the ball?

and you've only got 3 in the square..

 

[Coin_Toss]

Clement Prestigiacomo Lockyer
H Shaw Wakelin Lonie
Holland Buckley Johnson
Didak T Cloke Tarrant
Davis/Egan Rocca Thomas

Fraser
Burns
O'Bree

Maxwell,Swan,Licuria,R Shaw

 

[Dale Chapman]

You would have to go Davis over Egan correct?

 

[Magpies2005]

why wouldnt you have rusling in any of the sides?

 

[Dale Chapman]

Take Maxwell out and put Wakelin at CHB and replace the vancant bench position with Rusling

 

[Dale Chapman]

Such a strong side, never really considered that quality players found it so hard to find a spot in the 22

 

[PieLebo87]

why would u have holland in a pocket and not closer to the ball?

and you've only got 3 in the square..

players do not really play to position these days and if you read my comments I did state he would run through the midfield

 

[PieLebo87]

why wouldnt you have rusling in any of the sides?

The rustler was a hard one, really should have named him atleast as an emergency, I think Ruslings time is next year.
Its Rusling or Egan once u have got Davis and Thomas fit.

 

[PieLebo87]

You would have to go Davis over Egan correct?

I think u can play both, didnt name Leon as he most probably wont play 1st week of finals

 

[PieLebo87]

Take Maxwell out and put Wakelin at CHB and replace the vancant bench position with Rusling

Disagree Maxwell will play finals and is an important cog in the magpie backline as most magpie supporters will agree.
Very Underestimated player.

 

[doppleganger]

depends who we are playing 1st week, if the saints then j.cloke comes in to play on hamill and u may consider playing both presti & wakes to cover kosi & gehrig!

if the doggies wouldn't even consider wakelin or j.cloke.

need to have Buckley, Burns & OBree contest as many centre bounces as possible as they are our best clearance players!

I wouldn't take a chance with either daisy or leon, trav only if he is definately ok, as no point going in with underdone players come finals time.

Ego & Rus have shown a bit of late so with taz, didak, rocca around too we have enough fire power up forward.

but must win the hard ball and feed it to the runners in swan, johnson, shawX2, lonie etc. That is why Burns, Buckley & Obree will be very important as thye will be up against Ball, Harvey, Powell from the Aints
Brock, JMac, Bruce, from the dees
West, Cross etc from the dogs

have to at least break even in the clearances to stand a chance!

 

[Jabso]

As good as J.Cloke has been at times this year I think Maxwell has to get the nod ahead of him in most situations. The whole Maxwell/J.Cloke/Wakelin thing is a horses for courses thing though. If you need a 2nd full back you'd pick Wakelin, a CHB against a leading key forward you'd pick J.Cloke, for a bit of flexibility you'd pick Maxwell. They all have their weaknesses, Maxwell is suspectable to hard and long leading forwards, J.Cloke cannot play on the last line and is sometimes exposed by agile players, Wakelin has looked a bit shaky lately.

My team is;

B: Clement, Presti, Lonie

Clement and Presti are self explanatory and Lockyer is just holding on. Lockyer cannot be played on the quick goalsneaks that park their ass in the F50 (Davey at times, Farmer, Milne). or else he gets burned.

HB: H.Shaw, Maxwell/J.Cloke/Wakelin, Lonie

Lonie's defensive work has gone unnoticed for a while. Lonie also offers some flexibility in terms of the type of forwards he can play on and can move as an attacking or defensive wing/mid. Will shutdown the likes of Goodes, Bruce. H.Shaw will probably be a semi-suprise move into the midfield.

C: Didak, Swan, Johnson

Didak can do what he wants, Johnson will play behind the ball reminiscent of a running back in the NFL. Swan is our best midfielder atm and we need to protect him of tags.

HF: Buckley, T.Cloke, Tarrant

Buckley to play both forward and midfield depending on the situation. Maybe even in the backline. Tarrant given a licence to roam up the wings and T.Cloke the hard leading and hard running CHF.

F: Rocca, Rusling, Thomas

With T.Cloke, Rusling, Rocca and Tarrant it may be slow forward line but if we get our matchups and structures right we should be able to create space for each of them. If we need to mix and match we can with Didak, Thomas, Holland, Davis, Johnson, Swan, H.Shaw, Egan all options if we wanna go small.

R: Fraser, O'Bree, Licuria

Licuria to be his hard running tagging self again and O'Bree to be the clearance guy. We have to make sure we free up O'Bree in the clearance situations, it doesn't matter if his oponent/tagger gets the better of him around the ground as a receiver, but he is VERY important to us in this area. Fraser is going to have to be a lone hand in the ruck. But with Rocca and T.Cloke being rotated heavily, they should give him a quick spell. I also wouldn't mind seeing Taz in the ruck.

Int: Holland, Burns, R.Shaw, Davis

We need Davis's spark, Hollands mongrel and tagging (as well as his flexibility) and we need Boooourns. R.Shaw is there for speed, but depending on Egan's and his own form they can be interchangable. Also it will depend on who we're playing and whether we need an extra small defender or need to go small in the forward line.

EMG: Egan (VERY UNLUCKY, but R.Shaw's pace is needed), J.Cloke, Pendlebury

J.Cloke for backline cover (T.Cloke can play back in an EMG if somoen goes down mid game), Pendlebury as a midfielder and Egan could be another spark.

NOTE: If Davis is still unfit (I think Thomas will be right though from reports) then Egan should slot in instead.

 

[JLC]

As good as J.Cloke has been at times this year I think Maxwell has to get the nod ahead of him in most situations. The whole Maxwell/J.Cloke/Wakelin thing is a horses for courses thing though. If you need a 2nd full back you'd pick Wakelin, a CHB against a leading key forward you'd pick J.Cloke, for a bit of flexibility you'd pick Maxwell. They all have their weaknesses, Maxwell is suspectable to hard and long leading forwards, J.Cloke cannot play on the last line and is sometimes exposed by agile players, Wakelin has looked a bit shaky lately.

My team is;

B: Clement, Presti, Lonie

Clement and Presti are self explanatory and Lockyer is just holding on. Lockyer cannot be played on the quick goalsneaks that park their ass in the F50 (Davey at times, Farmer, Milne). or else he gets burned.

HB: H.Shaw, Maxwell/J.Cloke/Wakelin, Lonie

Lonie's defensive work has gone unnoticed for a while. Lonie also offers some flexibility in terms of the type of forwards he can play on and can move as an attacking or defensive wing/mid. Will shutdown the likes of Goodes, Bruce. H.Shaw will probably be a semi-suprise move into the midfield.

C: Didak, Swan, Johnson

Didak can do what he wants, Johnson will play behind the ball reminiscent of a running back in the NFL. Swan is our best midfielder atm and we need to protect him of tags.

HF: Buckley, T.Cloke, Tarrant

Buckley to play both forward and midfield depending on the situation. Maybe even in the backline. Tarrant given a licence to roam up the wings and T.Cloke the hard leading and hard running CHF.

F: Rocca, Rusling, Thomas

With T.Cloke, Rusling, Rocca and Tarrant it may be slow forward line but if we get our matchups and structures right we should be able to create space for each of them. If we need to mix and match we can with Didak, Thomas, Holland, Davis, Johnson, Swan, H.Shaw, Egan all options if we wanna go small.

R: Fraser, O'Bree, Licuria

Licuria to be his hard running tagging self again and O'Bree to be the clearance guy. We have to make sure we free up O'Bree in the clearance situations, it doesn't matter if his oponent/tagger gets the better of him around the ground as a receiver, but he is VERY important to us in this area. Fraser is going to have to be a lone hand in the ruck. But with Rocca and T.Cloke being rotated heavily, they should give him a quick spell. I also wouldn't mind seeing Taz in the ruck.

Int: Holland, Burns, R.Shaw, Davis

We need Davis's spark, Hollands mongrel and tagging (as well as his flexibility) and we need Boooourns. R.Shaw is there for speed, but depending on Egan's and his own form they can be interchangable. Also it will depend on who we're playing and whether we need an extra small defender or need to go small in the forward line.

EMG: Egan (VERY UNLUCKY, but R.Shaw's pace is needed), J.Cloke, Pendlebury

J.Cloke for backline cover (T.Cloke can play back in an EMG if somoen goes down mid game), Pendlebury as a midfielder and Egan could be another spark.

NOTE: If Davis is still unfit (I think Thomas will be right though from reports) then Egan should slot in instead.

Thats a very good team. However you know the club will pick Lockyer as he is a favourite.

The only change would possibly to go with Richards as the second ruckman therefore allowing Fraser to drift up forward more.

jlc

 

[Jabso]

I actually meant to pick Locyer.

 

[jerry springer]

The rustler was a hard one, really should have named him atleast as an emergency, I think Ruslings time is next year.
Its Rusling or Egan once u have got Davis and Thomas fit.

thats easy,sack egan.he goes missing for long periods in games

Rusling is the wild card in this finals series

 

[JLC]

I actually meant to pick Locyer.

I actually think our strongest team would not include Lockyer. However i have only watched dvds and read the newspapers this season.

Our team against the Kangaroos looks very strong and spots in the team will be hotle contested (lets hope so anyway)

jlc

 

[PieLebo87]

jlc I agree I have watched several Collingwood games this year and would not include Lockyer in my best 22. He is a beautiful kick of the footy but he is soft, does not go the contested ball doesnt have enough pace to play pocket on the Farmers, Daveys and Milnes of the world.
I actually think he is better as a goalkicking forward but we have Egan, Davis, Thomas, Rusling and Holland to play there.

As someone said earlier he is rated highly in house and really theres no one else to play on the small forwards.
Lets hope he makes me look a fool come finals.