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My Round 1 side:
B: J Worrell - J Butts - M Michalanney
HB: W Milera - N Murray - L Nankervis
C: I Cumming - J Rachele - A Neal-Bullen
HF: C Ah Chee* - D Fogarty - EDIT - C Edwards
F: B Keays - R Thilthorpe - L Pedlar
R: L McAndrew - J Dawson - J Soligo
Int: B Cook - Z Taylor - J Peatling - R Laird - F Maley
Emg (from): B Dowling* - T Walker - R O’Brien - S Berry - M Hinge - H Bond - T Murray - M Marsh
Unavailable:
D Curtin - M Keane - S Draper - I Rankine
Absolutely no business being in Round 1 calculations unless a plague hits:
C Jones - L Sholl - A Ludowyke - T Welsh - J Borlase - O Ryan - I Cotton
* Pending Ah Chee’s hamstring diagnosis - if he’s properly torn it, he’ll be out and Dowling would be my replacement. If it’s just tightness or a strain, he should be fine for Rd 1.
Realistically it seems as though Berry will play Rd 1 despite proving beyond any doubt that he’s not an AFL midfielder’s arse hole for the past few years. Cant wait to marvel at his 13 possessions, poor footskills and the fact that he’s not even a good tackler anymore. He no doubt gets made to look pretty good at training by the complete lack of midfield depth in the squad but expecting this guy to do anything consistently worthwhile at AFL level at this point is madness. D-Mac levels of whipping boy status incoming.
Seems like one (but only one) of Maley, Walker and T Murray will play most or all of the time when Thilthorpe and Fogarty are both fit. I’ll give Maley the nod initially for a month to prove his worth and reassess. From a team balance standpoint, we probably need his effort, grunt and contested marking more than Tex’s finesse if we’re being serious (bearing in mind what we saw from Tex late in 2025 which suggested to me he’s probably got about half a dozen decent AFL games left in him). T Murray seems like more of a second half of the season proposition if he strings together some consistent sanfl form.
Z Taylor plays as a midfielder in my side (instead of Berry). Not a half forward. He’s wasted there, especially with Ah Chee on board. The reality is likely that Nicks either plays Taylor at half forward or not at all.
Cook’s kicking skills are vital IMO. He is literally the best field kick in the entire squad. Getting the ball in his hands as a distributor from half back is well overdue. I would play both him and Nankervis over Hinge. Cook will make a huge difference from kick-ins, in addition to hitting up targets in the forward half with 55m lasers. Let’s hope he’s able to sort out his issues with staying focused on-field and actually stick in the side. Give him a month. The payoff will be well worth it if it comes off.
I think ANB is a nice fit on a wing. Can take care of the opposition’s most dangerous outside mid, and work through the midfield at times. I thought he should’ve played more midfield and wing minutes last season than he did, and the Curtin injury and Ah Chee acquisition really opens this up for him in 2026.
B: J Worrell - J Butts - M Michalanney
HB: W Milera - N Murray - L Nankervis
C: I Cumming - J Rachele - A Neal-Bullen
HF: C Ah Chee* - D Fogarty - EDIT - C Edwards
F: B Keays - R Thilthorpe - L Pedlar
R: L McAndrew - J Dawson - J Soligo
Int: B Cook - Z Taylor - J Peatling - R Laird - F Maley
Emg (from): B Dowling* - T Walker - R O’Brien - S Berry - M Hinge - H Bond - T Murray - M Marsh
Unavailable:
D Curtin - M Keane - S Draper - I Rankine
Absolutely no business being in Round 1 calculations unless a plague hits:
C Jones - L Sholl - A Ludowyke - T Welsh - J Borlase - O Ryan - I Cotton
* Pending Ah Chee’s hamstring diagnosis - if he’s properly torn it, he’ll be out and Dowling would be my replacement. If it’s just tightness or a strain, he should be fine for Rd 1.
Realistically it seems as though Berry will play Rd 1 despite proving beyond any doubt that he’s not an AFL midfielder’s arse hole for the past few years. Cant wait to marvel at his 13 possessions, poor footskills and the fact that he’s not even a good tackler anymore. He no doubt gets made to look pretty good at training by the complete lack of midfield depth in the squad but expecting this guy to do anything consistently worthwhile at AFL level at this point is madness. D-Mac levels of whipping boy status incoming.
Seems like one (but only one) of Maley, Walker and T Murray will play most or all of the time when Thilthorpe and Fogarty are both fit. I’ll give Maley the nod initially for a month to prove his worth and reassess. From a team balance standpoint, we probably need his effort, grunt and contested marking more than Tex’s finesse if we’re being serious (bearing in mind what we saw from Tex late in 2025 which suggested to me he’s probably got about half a dozen decent AFL games left in him). T Murray seems like more of a second half of the season proposition if he strings together some consistent sanfl form.
Z Taylor plays as a midfielder in my side (instead of Berry). Not a half forward. He’s wasted there, especially with Ah Chee on board. The reality is likely that Nicks either plays Taylor at half forward or not at all.
Cook’s kicking skills are vital IMO. He is literally the best field kick in the entire squad. Getting the ball in his hands as a distributor from half back is well overdue. I would play both him and Nankervis over Hinge. Cook will make a huge difference from kick-ins, in addition to hitting up targets in the forward half with 55m lasers. Let’s hope he’s able to sort out his issues with staying focused on-field and actually stick in the side. Give him a month. The payoff will be well worth it if it comes off.
I think ANB is a nice fit on a wing. Can take care of the opposition’s most dangerous outside mid, and work through the midfield at times. I thought he should’ve played more midfield and wing minutes last season than he did, and the Curtin injury and Ah Chee acquisition really opens this up for him in 2026.
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