First 22 in 2023

[Cold Sober]

Not much mention of Big Joe D., how's he going pre-season wise.

 

[M Malice]

Not much mention of Big Joe D., how's he going pre-season wise.

 

[Strato]

okay ill have a crack...

Rayner. Andrews Rich
Starc. Payne. Kiddy
McCluggae. Neale Berry
Linc. Hippy. Bailey
Cameron. Gunston Joey D

Big O. Ashcroft Dunkley

INT: Zorks, Willmot, D Robbo, Jimmy Tunstill,
SUB Ah Chee

emg: Mckenna, Matho, Fort.

I have gone Ah Chee as sub purely for his versatility,
Zorks, pretty sure he hasn't played a pre season game, but from all reports will be right for rd 1.
Rayner over Dizz is simply the fact, that dizz hasn't played at all, and no guarantees he gets up for rd 1.

If McCarthy plays this Thursday Night and plays the same as the Sydney match he would have to lose his position in the side. Goes missing too much. At present we have better performing options and we don't want any passengers when the season commences.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Not much mention of Big Joe D., how's he going pre-season wise.

Try afl.com.au

Very recent article on him

 

[Section 5]

If McCarthy plays this Thursday Night and plays the same as the Sydney match he would have to lose his position in the side. Goes missing too much. At present we have better performing options and we don't want any passengers when the season commences.

I did not see the Swans match but i don't see anyone in the VFL that can take his position at present.
McCarthy is a senior player that keeps fit. Knows the difference between a sim, trial game, official AFL trial match and the season proper.
He is a small forward and going missing in games is not all that unusual for that position.

 

[Nathan Barley]

If McCarthy plays this Thursday Night and plays the same as the Sydney match he would have to lose his position in the side. Goes missing too much. At present we have better performing options and we don't want any passengers when the season commences.

He was 8th in the BnF last year ahead of Oscar and Bailey. He isn't a passenger and plays his role well most weeks

 

[martinson]

I don't know why Tunstill or Sharp would be ahead of Ah Chee on anything I've seen

Tunstill might make a good player and he works hard but I'm not over excited that he'll be up to much in the Seniors in proper games just yet.

We need to be a bit careful on our mix. If we were going to go with say both Wilmot and Tunstill on the wings it's not something I'd be doing against good teams. Wilmot has played predominantly in the backline since whenever, let's see whether he can play wing in a full on AFL game at this stage.

 

[twhowler]

I don't know why Tunstill or Sharp would be ahead of Ah Chee on anything I've seen

Tunstill might make a good player and he works hard but I'm not over excited that he'll be up to much in the Seniors in proper games just yet.

We need to be a bit careful on our mix. If we were going to go with say both Wilmot and Tunstill on the wings it's not something I'd be doing against good teams. Wilmot has played predominantly in the backline since whenever, let's see whether he can play wing in a full on AFL game at this stage.

Yeah it’s a good point re wings. We are experienced overall. Weird position for us as out of recent years we have had 4 go through there a lot more than others;

Berry - arguably better as inside mid
Clugga - plays on ball now
Robinson - gone
Ah chee - seemingly out of favour?

I agree we would only want one of Tunstill or Wilmot playing wing. If they both play then Wilmot to hbf.

Robertson has looked pretty good there tbh and crucially runs well and runs defensively. I’d have him as my first wing picked, the rest would come out of Berry / Wilmot / Bailey / Ah Chee - depends what the rest of the side looks like…

 

[twhowler]

 

[Nunez]

Yeah it’s a good point re wings. We are experienced overall. Weird position for us as out of recent years we have had 4 go through there a lot more than others;

Berry - arguably better as inside mid
Clugga - plays on ball now
Robinson - gone
Ah chee - seemingly out of favour?

I agree we would only want one of Tunstill or Wilmot playing wing. If they both play then Wilmot to hbf.

Robertson has looked pretty good there tbh and crucially runs well and runs defensively. I’d have him as my first wing picked, the rest would come out of Berry / Wilmot / Bailey / Ah Chee - depends what the rest of the side looks like…

Wouldn't be writing Cal off. He didn't play
VFL either this week.

 

[martinson]

Yeah it’s a good point re wings. We are experienced overall. Weird position for us as out of recent years we have had 4 go through there a lot more than others;

Berry - arguably better as inside mid
Clugga - plays on ball now
Robinson - gone
Ah chee - seemingly out of favour?

I agree we would only want one of Tunstill or Wilmot playing wing. If they both play then Wilmot to hbf.

Robertson has looked pretty good there tbh and crucially runs well and runs defensively. I’d have him as my first wing picked, the rest would come out of Berry / Wilmot / Bailey / Ah Chee - depends what the rest of the side looks like…

I'd always have Ah Chee in the 22 because he can plug a gap wherever you're not going well and give you a good honest effort. I think he's got more to give besides if he was allowed to play more offensively. Robertson gives a similar effort , I don't think he can be a marking target like Ah Chee could be on a wing , but no problem playing him because he's always liable to bob up and get a goal , or at least provide some tackling and defensive pressure.

Not sold on Tunstill just yet . Wilmot has a bit of X Factor but I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves on what impact he might have this year.

 

[Section 5]

Wings have been an issue for 2 years now.
McCluggage increasingly more pure midfield minutes in that time. Only spends a small amount of time on a wing last year.
Berry played well last year and think he will be mostly wing again this year. Hope his shoulder is okay.

Last year Berry was the constant wing with a few stints in the middle.
Then we had a form declining Robbo (15 games) on the other wing. We had young guys Prior (12), Sharp (5) Tunstill (3) as wing relief.
Throw in Ah Chee for stints on the wing and that was our wing mix.
Other midfield/forward players also spent time on the wing to make up the minutes.

Ah Chee would be a safe choice but i think we need to gamble with someone. We know what Ah Chee brings to the table.
I see the wing relief this year being midfielders & forward mids rather than in previous years young guys as relief.
They are trialing Wilmot and that tells me they are not confident on Prior/Tunstill/Sharp to slot in just yet.
The club could also just run midfielders though 1 wing spot including relief.

It will be interesting to see which way they go in round 1.
It may be Wilmot over Ah Chee to see what he can offer.
With wing relief from Ashcroft, Dev, Bailey, Zorko with those also pitching in as pure midfield. McCluggage & Dunkley also minutes on the wing.

 

[On the quiet]

Yeah it’s a good point re wings. We are experienced overall. Weird position for us as out of recent years we have had 4 go through there a lot more than others;

Berry - arguably better as inside mid
Clugga - plays on ball now
Robinson - gone
Ah chee - seemingly out of favour?

I agree we would only want one of Tunstill or Wilmot playing wing. If they both play then Wilmot to hbf.

Robertson has looked pretty good there tbh and crucially runs well and runs defensively. I’d have him as my first wing picked, the rest would come out of Berry / Wilmot / Bailey / Ah Chee - depends what the rest of the side looks like…

I hope Dev gets a good crack this year I like his defensive running and scored a good goal against swans on the run from about 40 to 45 meters, something Lyons cannot do (perhaps because of the groin).
McClugg might have time on the wing, it depends if Zorks plays in the forwards and if Gardiner comes back then Cam will have to rotate between forward line and mid. I cannot see us not playing a #1 draft pick

 

[Strato]

He was 8th in the BnF last year ahead of Oscar and Bailey. He isn't a passenger and plays his role well most weeks

Sorry, I must be going blind or watching different games and players to what you are??? What I see is What I See!

 

[Dalions]

Sorry, I must be going blind or watching different games and players to what you are??? What I see is What I See!

He obviously has a role to play and does it to an acceptable standard for the Coaching staff.
More than likely does things that we all don’t see.

 

[M Malice]

Yes agree that wing is our most up for discussion position for this season.

Options are Ah Chee, Berry, McCluggage, Prior, Robertson, Sharp, Tunstill and Wilmot. IMO Berry will be on one wing as we now have the inside mid position well and truly covered, he would still be a good emergency tagging option if someone gets off the chain ah la Clayton Oliver

13

Clayton Oliver

Age

28

Ht

189cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.8

5star

K

9.5

4star

HB

18.4

5star

M

3.2

3star

T

6.3

5star

CL

6.3

5star

D

25.1

5star

K

11.1

4star

HB

14.0

5star

M

3.6

4star

T

5.6

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

19.2

5star

K

4.6

2star

HB

14.6

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

4.4

5star

CL

3.8

5star

.

On the other wing I think they go with Wilmot early and then reassess their options if he's not up to it just yet, I would not be against Ah Chee being given a decent crack on the wing as well.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Sorry, I must be going blind or watching different games and players to what you are??? What I see is What I See!

Or maybe his role is a bit more complex than we can pick up from sitting on the couch

 

[mattsmob]

Yes agree that wing is our most up for discussion position for this season.

Options are Ah Chee, Berry, McCluggage, Prior, Robertson, Sharp, Tunstill and Wilmot. IMO Berry will be on one wing as we now have the inside mid position well and truly covered, he would still be a good emergency tagging option if someone gets off the chain ah la Clayton Oliver.

On the other wing I think they go with Wilmot early and then reassess their options if he's not up to it just yet, I would not be against Ah Chee being given a decent crack on the wing as well.

Yep Berry locked on one side for me, Wilmot the other then a mix of all the other mid/fwds for that 3rd rotation (Robertson, Bailey, McCluggage, Ashcroft).
I do like Ah Chee but he really is the perfect sub option unfortunately, if Wilmot doesn’t work out which imo is unlikely I think I’d still rather see what Tunstill can do. Think he provides something similar to Ah Chee with added upside and hurt factor. If it doesn’t work Ah Chee is a great guy to bring back in as I don’t think there’s too many variation from his good and bad performances.

 

[Section 5]

Yes agree that wing is our most up for discussion position for this season.

Options are Ah Chee, Berry, McCluggage, Prior, Robertson, Sharp, Tunstill and Wilmot. IMO Berry will be on one wing as we now have the inside mid position well and truly covered, he would still be a good emergency tagging option if someone gets off the chain ah la Clayton Oliver.

On the other wing I think they go with Wilmot early and then reassess their options if he's not up to it just yet, I would not be against Ah Chee being given a decent crack on the wing as well.

With Rayner likely to play 3rd tall until Gardiner is ready that frees up a spot up the ground
They could go Wilmot & Ah Chee. One wing and the other wing relief until Rayner returns to his usual spot.
However, if they go that way i believe Dev's (or Lyons if fit) spot is then in jeopardy.

I suppose the best thing is we have no injuries in the Cats game and leading up to round 1
That way the selection process will be hard but puts us in a good position for round 1

 

[Section 5]

Sorry, I must be going blind or watching different games and players to what you are??? What I see is What I See!

It is hard to find a small forward that can average 35.5 goals 14 behinds in his last two years.
Linc & Charlie are our 2 stay at home small forwards.
They both go missing at times but bring different elements to our forward mix.
McCarthy plays more up the ground hence more inside 50's, meters gained.
Charlie kicks more goals averaging 54.5 goals 27 behinds over the last 2 years. Lucky for us they are both fairly accurate.

Below last years stats comparison on our 2 small stay at home forwards

Player Statistics Comparison​

Lincoln McCarthy​ Name​ Charlie Cameron​ Brisbane Lions​ Team​ Brisbane Lions​ Forward​ Position​ Forward​ 119​ Career Games​ 176​ Glenelg​ Origin​ Swan Districts​ October 22, 1993​ Date of Birth​ July 5, 1994​ 29yr 4mth​ Age​ 28yr 7mth​ 178cm​ Height​ 180cm​ 81kg​ Weight​ 75kg​ 2011 National Draft​ Last Drafted In​ 2013 Rookie Draft​ Round 3, Pick #66​ Last Draft Position​ Round 1, Pick #7​ Geelong Cats​ Last Drafted By​ Adelaide Crows​ 2022​ Stats for Season​ 2022​ 25​ Games​ 25​ 199​ Kicks​ 201​ 110​ Handballs​ 84​ 309​ Disposals​ 285​ 89​ Marks​ 96​ 35​ Goals​ 54​ 13​ Behinds​ 21​ 83​ Tackles​ 77​ 0​ Hitouts​ 0​ 79​ Inside 50s​ 35​ 9​ Goal Assists​ 20​ 20​ Frees For​ 22​ 24​ Frees Against​ 16​ 132​ Contested Possessions​ 134​ 181​ Uncontested Possessions​ 152​ 206​ Effective Disposals​ 169​ 66.7%​ Disposal Efficiency %​ 59.3%​ 74​ Clangers​ 57​ 14​ Contested Marks​ 15​ 32​ Marks Inside 50​ 56​ 19​ Clearances​ 8​ 7​ Rebound 50s​ 8​ 31​ One Percenters​ 31​ 7​ Bounces​ 1​ 1975​ Time On Ground %​ 2150​ 4​ Centre Clearances​ 1​ 15​ Stoppage Clearances​ 7​ 119​ Score Involvements​ 134​ 5574​ Metres Gained​ 4965​ 79​ Turnovers​ 66​ 28​ Intercepts​ 44​ 27​ Tackles Inside 50​ 50​

 

[Dalions]

It is hard to find a small forward that can average 35.5 goals 14 behinds in his last two years.
Linc & Charlie are our 2 stay at home small forwards.
They both go missing at times but bring different elements to our forward mix.
McCarthy plays more up the ground hence more inside 50's, meters gained.
Charlie kicks more goals averaging 54.5 goals 27 behinds over the last 2 years. Lucky for us they are both fairly accurate.

Below last years stats comparison on our 2 small stay at home forwards

Player Statistics Comparison​

Lincoln McCarthy​ Name​ Charlie Cameron​ Brisbane Lions​ Team​ Brisbane Lions​ Forward​ Position​ Forward​ 119​ Career Games​ 176​ Glenelg​ Origin​ Swan Districts​ October 22, 1993​ Date of Birth​ July 5, 1994​ 29yr 4mth​ Age​ 28yr 7mth​ 178cm​ Height​ 180cm​ 81kg​ Weight​ 75kg​ 2011 National Draft​ Last Drafted In​ 2013 Rookie Draft​ Round 3, Pick #66​ Last Draft Position​ Round 1, Pick #7​ Geelong Cats​ Last Drafted By​ Adelaide Crows​ 2022​ Stats for Season​ 2022​ 25​ Games​ 25​ 199​ Kicks​ 201​ 110​ Handballs​ 84​ 309​ Disposals​ 285​ 89​ Marks​ 96​ 35​ Goals​ 54​ 13​ Behinds​ 21​ 83​ Tackles​ 77​ 0​ Hitouts​ 0​ 79​ Inside 50s​ 35​ 9​ Goal Assists​ 20​ 20​ Frees For​ 22​ 24​ Frees Against​ 16​ 132​ Contested Possessions​ 134​ 181​ Uncontested Possessions​ 152​ 206​ Effective Disposals​ 169​ 66.7%​ Disposal Efficiency %​ 59.3%​ 74​ Clangers​ 57​ 14​ Contested Marks​ 15​ 32​ Marks Inside 50​ 56​ 19​ Clearances​ 8​ 7​ Rebound 50s​ 8​ 31​ One Percenters​ 31​ 7​ Bounces​ 1​ 1975​ Time On Ground %​ 2150​ 4​ Centre Clearances​ 1​ 15​ Stoppage Clearances​ 7​ 119​ Score Involvements​ 134​ 5574​ Metres Gained​ 4965​ 79​ Turnovers​ 66​ 28​ Intercepts​ 44​ 27​ Tackles Inside 50​ 50​

Pretty amazing that we have almost got Linc to 100 games in Lions colours after his first 6 years at Geelong.
He must only need about 7 games to get to 100?
As far as a replacement for Linc goes, it would be pretty hard to expect someone to come in and offer a similar output straight away.
As far as the team goes we may get an extra 20 goals out of Gunston in comparison to Dan McStay which would take care of any short fall for a replacement for McCarthy.
Rayner could possibly kick an extra 10 goals for the year if Linc wasn’t in the team and then we still have Bailey and Zorko kicking goals and maybe Lohmann comes in and kicks a few as the replacement.
So we may not necessarily be any worse off ultimately but I think he holds his spot for now.

 

[BrainOfMorbius]

Linc is on 90 games for Brisbane.

 

[Dalions]

Linc is on 90 games for Brisbane.

Couldn’t remember whether he had played 26 or 29 games for Geelong.
They were the 2 numbers rattling around in my head.

 

[Section 5]

Linc is on 90 games for Brisbane.

Father sons are important if young Lenny ends up playing AFL

 

[p4p1]

Does Gunston bring some stability and consistency to our forward line? Between, Hippy, Joe, Bailey, McCarthy, Charlie and Rayner it always felt like one of those guys could pop up and turn a game off their own boot (which they all have) but conversely they could also go missing or have a bad run of form (which they all have).