- Jul 22, 2012
- 4,058
- 8,650
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- Philadelphia 76ers
Had some spare time, so I thought i'd put together a hypothetical Under 23 AA team heading into 2015.
For the purposes of the exercise, all players must be aged UNDER 23 (ie. 22 years and 364 days or younger) as of 01/01/15 (birth dates after 01/01/1992).
Please note, I have based this on AFL performance thus far, COMBINED WITH projected future potential, meaning I've avoided guys like Tom Boyd, Jesse Hogan etc who have not yet really proven themselves at the top level despite being rated very highly. However, I've gone with guys like Bontempelli, McStay, Luke McDonald and Brad Crouch who have had less game time than many of their competitors, but to me have shown enough to suggest that they will be truly elite and thus get the nod in my 22.
Here we go:
B: L.McDonald (NM), S.May (GC), T.McDonald (Mel)
HB: B.Smith (Adel), D.McStay (Bris), D.Swallow (GC)
C: B.Hill (Haw), D.Heppell (Ess) (vc), J.Macrae (WB)
HF: L.Parker (Syd) (c), T.Lynch (GC), J.O'Meara (GC)
F: J.Darling (WCE), J.Cameron (GWS), C.Wingard (Port)
R: B.Grundy (Coll), A.Treloar (GWS), O.Wines (Port)
Int: M.Bontempelli (WB), J.Daniher (Ess), B.Crouch (Adel)
Sub: H.Bennell (GC)
Emg / unlucky not to make it: S.Mayes (Bris), T.Menzel (Carl), B.Ellis (Rich), D.Shiel (GWS), L.Dahlhaus (WB), D.Prestia (GC), J.Elliott (Coll), A.Miles (Rich), J.Stringer (WB), J.McGovern (WCE), L.Neale (Fre), C.Guthrie (Geel), T.Mitchell (Syd), J.Patton (GWS), A.Gaff (WCE), L.Dunstan (StK), J.Polec (Port), T.McKenzie (GC), T.Greene (GWS), W.Langford (Haw), S.Atley (NM), D.Smith (GWS), K.Kolodjashnij (GC), J.Viney (Mel), D.Tyson (Mel), A.Johnson (Syd), Josh Kelly (GWS), J.Hombsch (Port), W.Hoskin-Elliott (GWS), J.Witts (Coll), S.Lycett (WCE), B.Brown (NM), L.Taylor (Bris), S.Day (GC), T.Liberatore (WB), T.Nicholls (GC), J.Clarke (Bris), J.Green (Bris)
Notes:
The rucks and KPPs were extremely difficult to separate. I feel Grundy has shown the most potential of any of the under 23 ruckmen in the league to have played more than a handful of games, despite having a disappointing 2014. I went with Daniher in a forward pocket to provide ruck support rather than selecting another true ruckman on the bench.
Darling isn't really a true CHF, but I found this pretty much the weakest / most shallow position on the ground, and feel he has the most runs on the board as a true forward. My only other consideration here was Daniel McStay, who I ended up putting at CHB as I see him as more of a Harry Taylor type long-term.
Pretty much everyone named as emergencies / unlucky not to make it is extremely stiff. The midfield / wing / half forward crop are ridiculously strong, and it's a shitty job trying to fit enough of them in.
The team overall probably lacks height, but there's just so many promising young mids / smalls that it's difficult to avoid this issue.
Post your teams here. I'm sure mine is different to most.
For the purposes of the exercise, all players must be aged UNDER 23 (ie. 22 years and 364 days or younger) as of 01/01/15 (birth dates after 01/01/1992).
Please note, I have based this on AFL performance thus far, COMBINED WITH projected future potential, meaning I've avoided guys like Tom Boyd, Jesse Hogan etc who have not yet really proven themselves at the top level despite being rated very highly. However, I've gone with guys like Bontempelli, McStay, Luke McDonald and Brad Crouch who have had less game time than many of their competitors, but to me have shown enough to suggest that they will be truly elite and thus get the nod in my 22.
Here we go:
B: L.McDonald (NM), S.May (GC), T.McDonald (Mel)
HB: B.Smith (Adel), D.McStay (Bris), D.Swallow (GC)
C: B.Hill (Haw), D.Heppell (Ess) (vc), J.Macrae (WB)
HF: L.Parker (Syd) (c), T.Lynch (GC), J.O'Meara (GC)
F: J.Darling (WCE), J.Cameron (GWS), C.Wingard (Port)
R: B.Grundy (Coll), A.Treloar (GWS), O.Wines (Port)
Int: M.Bontempelli (WB), J.Daniher (Ess), B.Crouch (Adel)
Sub: H.Bennell (GC)
Emg / unlucky not to make it: S.Mayes (Bris), T.Menzel (Carl), B.Ellis (Rich), D.Shiel (GWS), L.Dahlhaus (WB), D.Prestia (GC), J.Elliott (Coll), A.Miles (Rich), J.Stringer (WB), J.McGovern (WCE), L.Neale (Fre), C.Guthrie (Geel), T.Mitchell (Syd), J.Patton (GWS), A.Gaff (WCE), L.Dunstan (StK), J.Polec (Port), T.McKenzie (GC), T.Greene (GWS), W.Langford (Haw), S.Atley (NM), D.Smith (GWS), K.Kolodjashnij (GC), J.Viney (Mel), D.Tyson (Mel), A.Johnson (Syd), Josh Kelly (GWS), J.Hombsch (Port), W.Hoskin-Elliott (GWS), J.Witts (Coll), S.Lycett (WCE), B.Brown (NM), L.Taylor (Bris), S.Day (GC), T.Liberatore (WB), T.Nicholls (GC), J.Clarke (Bris), J.Green (Bris)
Notes:
The rucks and KPPs were extremely difficult to separate. I feel Grundy has shown the most potential of any of the under 23 ruckmen in the league to have played more than a handful of games, despite having a disappointing 2014. I went with Daniher in a forward pocket to provide ruck support rather than selecting another true ruckman on the bench.
Darling isn't really a true CHF, but I found this pretty much the weakest / most shallow position on the ground, and feel he has the most runs on the board as a true forward. My only other consideration here was Daniel McStay, who I ended up putting at CHB as I see him as more of a Harry Taylor type long-term.
Pretty much everyone named as emergencies / unlucky not to make it is extremely stiff. The midfield / wing / half forward crop are ridiculously strong, and it's a shitty job trying to fit enough of them in.
The team overall probably lacks height, but there's just so many promising young mids / smalls that it's difficult to avoid this issue.
Post your teams here. I'm sure mine is different to most.
Last edited:
