Pencilled in for Rd. 1?

[LondonCalling]

OK, so what I propose is this:

Which of your starting 22, regardless of form shown in the remaining two practice matches, are definite starters for you in round 1? Doesn't have to be a full 22 either (I'd be very surprised if anyone has a full 22 in concrete so early).

I've got:

B Jamison
HB Scotland Waite
C Gibbs Carrazzo Simpson
HF Houlihan Cloke Thornton
F Fevola
R Hampson Judd Stevens
INT Hadley Jackson Wiggins

So, by my undertaking, there's still 6 spots up for grabs in the team.

Pending Fitness/Match Time Under Their Belt:

Walker - I'd prefer to give him as much time as possible after this op.

Hartlett - Showed enough in SA to show he is an excellent replacement for Fisher. Edwards has shown absolutely nothing to make me think otherwise.

Others I'd Strongly Consider

Bannister - Hasn't put a foot wrong, but is continually pushed aside to give the younger blokes time. Presents a great option to play on Brown or Deledio. Bower having an out of sorts night helps him.

Bower - Had a shocker last night, but is still the leading candidate for his position. Bannister may take his place with some good form.

Murphy - Seems a strange choice, but he's sure as hell playing himself out of the team at the moment. I honestly believe he needs a game in the Ants, let him rack up 40 touches and kick 5. He's well down in confidence at the moment. Perhaps letting him miss the first round, allowing us to put a harder body in there in Bentick to protect Judd wouldn't be so bad.

S.o'hAilpin - Love having the bloke in the starting 22, but a lot depends on the other bigger blokes in the team and where they play. I want Carlos as a defender, so for him to play, it would mean Thornton starting forward and Hartlett playing in the two's. Question marks over fitness too. Presents a great option for Richo though.

Pfeiffer - Based on his game against Port, I would have had him as a certain starter, but was taken to the cleaners by a classier opponent in Hodge last night. One more game, and I'd slot him in there.

Russell - Showed a fair bit under Ratten towards the end of last year to make me want to persist with him, but he's looked rubbish the last two weeks.

Saddington - Hasn't done a hell of a lot wrong, and adds a lot of experience to the backline. However, I can't see a decent match up for him in the Tigers forward line.

Others In The Mix By Virtue Of A Lack Of Depth:

Armfield - Really impressed me over pre-season with his work ethic. However, hasn't caught up to the pace of senior footy yet.

Bentick - Can't see him getting much game time this year with the return of Stevens and the addition of Hadley, however, the greater good of protecting Judd may be something that gives him a foot in the door.

Betts - I don't rate him. Still hasn't got the hang of being a crumbing forward in what is now his 4th season. Hears footsteps and poor work ethic. Fev crumbs his own marking contests better than Eddie does.

Grigg - Good kick of the footy and all, but I've seen pre-school aged kids missing from their parents in Toys R Us that look less lost than he does on the footy field.

Kreuzer - Just because he's a number one draft pick doesn't automatically equal walk up selection. He's still too small, and seems a bit overawed by the company he's playing with and against. Let him compete with Jacobs and Aisake in the Ants for his spot first.

Might As Well Be Taking The Red Bullants Jumper To The Dry Cleaners As You Read This

Ackland
Anderson
Austin
Benjamin
Blackwell
Browne
Edwards (this bloke is complete and utter pants)
Ellard
Hill
Jacobs
Joseph
A.o'hAilpin
Shields

 

[Bronze]

Agree with most of it.

I think Bentick will be more important to us this season, as he will be used to get under the bottom of packs and dish out the ball to Judd, Stevo and Murphy. Hopefully he will cut back his kicks and leave that to the creative players.

Bit tough on Betts....he is super important. I don't believe he is lazy, however can be hot and cold. I think under Ratten he was impressive late last year and was good when given the chance to go in the midfield. Every team needs a speedy goal sneak who adds pressure to the oppositions defence. Eddie just needs to work very close to Fev and kick 2 goals a game and maybe set up a few more.

Good call on Edwards . I was really looking forward to seeing him play at AFL level but can tell he is either ordinary or needs a few more years development which most clubs can't afford to waste. It's make or break year for Jake.

 

[LondonCalling]

Agree with most of it.

I think Bentick will be more important to us this season, as he will be used to get under the bottom of packs and dish out the ball to Judd, Stevo and Murphy. Hopefully he will cut back his kicks and leave that to the creative players.

I hope he does too. One more player ahead of Blackwell, who I believe is a toss-up between him and Benjamin for the worst player on our list ability wise (i.e: Ackland disqualified from this little competition as it's just far easier to pretend he no longer exists)

Bit tough on Betts....he is super important. I don't believe he is lazy, however can be hot and cold. I think under Ratten he was impressive late last year and was good when given the chance to go in the midfield. Every team needs a speedy goal sneak who adds pressure to the oppositions defence. Eddie just needs to work very close to Fev and kick 2 goals a game and maybe set up a few more.

Agree that he did very well at the end of the year with brief bursts in the midfield. However, since then, we've gained Judd and Hadley, Stevens is back, and Gibbs will have a higher amount of gametime in the midfield. All of whom are better suited to the midfield than Betts. Betts' attempts at gathering the loose ball on the deck in the forward line last night were cringeworthy. Either ran into Fev or turned back into heavy traffic each time. At no stage did you get the sense that there was a chance for a goal with the ball in his hands.

Compare the awareness, and creative elements of Cyril Rioli who was playing just his second pre-season game to Betts now in his 4th season of AFL, with about 60 odd games under his belt. You just don't see where the upside is going to come from. Leon Davis, on the other hand, put in a few shocking seasons, but you always thought he had the upside, largely based on his ability to do some downright freakish things. Betts doesn't have that ability. Davis also has the ability to kick 6 in a game. Aside from a bag of 5 in a game we went out of our way to lose, he never looks like kicking a bag. Not enough return when on average you're going to get 4-5 quiet games from him for one decent return.

Good call on Edwards . I was really looking forward to seeing him play at AFL level but can tell he is either ordinary or needs a few more years development which most clubs can't afford to waste. It's make or break year for Jake.

Another one that's also been on the list for a while now. Poor form last year lead to him being dropped from the Bullants 1's, and just seems to have no awareness or ability to not panic in front of goals. His decision making and kicking were very ordinary in front of the big sticks. Leads alright, and lays a shepherd or two, but neither of which hold a candle to Wiggins at this time.