Ridiculous thread.
This time last year, everyone was bagging the shit out of Hartigan, now it's thread worthy that he isn't picked.
Of the players available, I'd consider only Lyons and maybe CEY to be unlucky to miss in place of VB or Mackay. And Lyons and CEY are just as vanilla as they are.
It seems abundantly clear that Cameron is Best 22, so will come in sooner, rather than later.
Milera, McGovern, Seedsman and Atkins are all in. Quality young players that we've taken a chance on. We picked Brad Crouch, sight unseen. Matt Crouch named on ball. All big ticks.
Knight needs game time, so will return through the SANFL, Hendo, Hampton, Otten etc aren't fit yet, and aren't necessarily upgrades on Mackay and VB anyway. Remembering that people were almost as negative about Hendo last year as they were VB and Mackay.
Menzel didn't show in the NAB games that he deserves a game in the main team yet. When he does, he will be picked. But not before.
Gore isn't ready, Kelly doesn't fit anywhere, Grigg has lost the confidence of the coaching staff (apparently), Lowden is terrible, Doedee has been injured and needs time, Wigg isn't ready yet, Shaw is worse than the 3 guys being whinged about, Jaensch retired and that's pretty much it (unless you want to argue Beech, Greenwood or Ramsey deserve a game over VB and Mackay, which would make you wrong).
Cheney over Hartigan was a head scratcher for mine, but it appears we're moving away from the defensive, lock down, contested style and moving towards a more attacking game plan. Something that has been requested by this board for years. Hartigan and Cheney offer roughly the same level of ability, but offer different strengths and weaknesses. It would appear, given NM's forward line, that Hartigan's strengths would be a better fit, but I'm sure there's a logical reason for why Cheney was selected.