Okay, this is gonna be one of those long opinion based posts so if your not in the mood then click the BACK button. Its friday afternoon and I have sweet FA to do at work so here it goes
My team for next year is
B Slattery Michael Ryder
HB NLM Fletcher Dempsey
C Jetta Watson Lovett
HF McPhee Gumbleton McVeigh
F Lloyd Lucas Davey
R Hille Stanton Winderlich
INT: Nash, Bradley, Hislop, Monfries
EMERG: Dyson Reimers, Houli, Welsh
BACKLINE
FB – Mal Michael
- Thought he was good this year. Killed a lot of contests where the opposition would usually mark inside 50. Freed up Fletch heaps too. If we can minimise the amount of opposition inside 50's I think he can have a good year.
CHB – Dustin Fletcher
- Gotta love Fletch. If he can another year like this with more midfield support, could have a huge year
BP (3rd Tall Defender) – Paddy Ryder
- Keep him as Tall defender, his poise is exactly what we need down there. He also has the ability to kill a contest before anyone can get first hands to the ball with his amazing leap. He could probably do ruckwork in the backline.
HBF (Rebounding Flanker) – Nathan Lovett-Murray
- Is developing nicely. Think he should take McPhee’s role off half back. Has great athleticism and will be a good match up on most. Plays his best footy rebounding from half back. Wouldn’t mind him working on his engine and going into the midfield in spurts.
BP (Small Forward Tagger) – Henry Slattery
- Took his game up a notch this year. I think he will keep progressing. Reckon that he needs to work on finding the footy when we have the ball, creating run from behind. My first choice as small defender.
HBF (Rebounding Flanker) – Courtenay Dempsey
- Now Im sure this will be disputed. I think we all can agree Demps has unlimited potential and obviously he needs to get his body right. He may not have the body to play 22 games, but if he gets his body right, I’d like to see him coming off half back, creating run from defence, similar to how Port used Peter Burgoyne this year.
ROTATIONS/OTHER OPTIONS
Jay Nash
- Unlucky not to be a starter, but definitely in the best 22. Could go into the midfield too, dunno what his engine is like.
Kyle Reimers
- Has looked very good. Eventually should break into the side.
Adam Ramanauskas
- Not sure where Rama is at, but I think he could be at very least a good depth player.
Andrew Lee
- Needs to show something next year or is gone IMO
Ruck – David Hille
- Hot and Cold. His best is amazing, the rest is average at best, if not pathetic. Hopefully a new coach can motivate him to reach a level of consistency, similar to that of Hamish McIntosh this year. Needs to lift his workrate.
Ruck Rover – Jason Winderlich
- Dunno if he can start in the middle, but makes great decisions with the ball, has blitzering pace and is one of the leaders on the team now. Needs to step up even more.
Rover – Brent Stanton
- Expect him to take it up another notch and hopefully become an elite midfielder. Needs to lift his workrate running the other way and be less of a front runner.
Centre (Inside Midfielder) Jobe Watson
- Jobe has awareness that you can't teach. Needs to train himself to run without the football especially the other way. Needs to drop back more and help out the defence and also push forward and create an option. Obviously his kicking needs to become more natural too.
Wing – Andrew Lovett
- Is maturing as a player. Needs to play the majority through the midfield in a role similar to Danyle Pearce. We need that breaking the line ability and I think his set for his best season yet.
Wing – Leroy Jetta
- Same deal as Lovett. Obviously needs to get his body right and probably wont play a full season, but his the type of player that will make an impact when on the field. Has a bit of work to do but if the new coach can get him motivated and he can get his body right anything is possible.
ROTATIONS/OTHER OPTIONS
Jason Laycock
- Impressed me a lot this season. Still a lot of faults, but on the improve. He should split the ruck 50/50 with Hille, going forward sometimes. Hopefully he can take it up a notch.
Ricky Dyson
- Definitely think we should keep him and give him plenty of opportunity. Needs to do more I agree, but I think he can become a very good player. His getting to the right age and will know his playing for his career. Needs to just keep backing himself and should be a major part of our midfield. I think he will make it.
Angus Monfries
- His courage is unparallel but needs to become more of a team player when he has the ball. Should move into the midfield next season and hopefully he can continue to shine. More often than not he will be first to the ball and will put his body on the line.
Tom Hislop
- Should see a bit of game time next year. Will also be a big proponent of our midfield. Type of player the new coach will love.
Bachar Houli
- Has been impressive, has a bit to work on, but will be the outside midfielder/winger that we need. Has great workrate, which is something we have lacked. Hopefully he can step it up a gear and earn a spot in the side.
Full Forward (leading down the middle) – Scott Lucas
- Let him play Full Forward with Lloydy next to him. Too often this year we kicked the ball to no target. Lets leave Lloyd and Lucas there and see what they can do. No need to have either leading up the ground.
Forward Pocket (leads to the left) – Matthew Lloyd
- Not the player he was but can still make an impact. Keep him inside 50 and make opposition defences sweat, forcing them to drop numbers back giving our other forwards the opportunity.
Forward Pocket (small forward) – Alwyn Davey
- Keep this guy at their feet. We know what he can do. If he improves, even better!
Centre Half Forward – Scott Gumbleton
- Probably not ready for a full season in the toughest positon on the ground, but can already tell his workrate and athleticsm gives us that lead up CHF we’ve been needing. Keeps his feet in a contest and offers great 2nd and 3rd efforts. Rotate him with Keps at CHF.
Half Forward Flank – Adam McPhee
- Keep him away from the backline unless there is a good matchup. Has been good as a leadup half forward where he doesn’t have to worry about anyone, let them worry about him. Think he could have an amazing season at half forward.
Half Forward Flank (Tagging rebounding defender) – Mark McVeigh
- Awesome season. Incredibly consistent. Let him play half forward, he does everything right. Leads well, uses the ball well, can take a mark, great defensive pressure. That’s his spot I think with runs through the midfield.
ROTATIONS/OTHER OPTIONS
Andrew Welsh
-I know his in most peoples best 22, but I prefer all the others before him. He does a lot of great stuff, but will never be a player the opposition worries about. Still should get quite a few games and will, just prefer all the others ahead of him.
Kepler Bradley (should rotate with Gumby)
- Hopefully the new coach keeps him and gets him motivated. Should rotate off the bench with Gumby at CHF, HFF. I think he will make a huge impact playing there. Take the shackles off and let him be the player that he can be.
Jay Neagle
- Dunno how many games he will see, but surely if Lloyd, Lucas, Gumby or Keps miss games, he’d be ahead of Johns to come in. His getting to the age where he could start making an impact. Wouldn’t mind seeing how he went playing down back as the 3rd defender if Paddy goes into the ruck.
Courtney Johns
- Dunno about him anymore. I wonder if a new coach can get any more out of him. My main criticism was when Sheeds played him as a forward he was leading up the ground rather than in the goalsquare. Think if his gonna play, needs to be left one out leading out of the square. If we can get something out of trading him, perhaps a quality Adam Selwood type, it would be worth it, but I doubt we will
RETIRE
James Hird
- Thank you very much
Scott Camporeale
- It was worth a shot
DELIST
Chris Heffernan
- You’ll always have that premiership medallion and probably should have got a Norm Smith
Mark Bolton
- You’ve been a great servant, but the time has come
Richard Cole
- Still think he has potential, but we can’t justify keeping him. Needs to go prove himself elsewhere
Damian Peverill
- True battler, gave his all, but not up to it.
Jason Johnson (hopefully retires)
- Dunno if he will, though I think the game has passed him by. If we keep him it should be as a depth/impact player at best. No way should he start in our midfield.
TRADE
Mark Johnson (2nd or 3rd round draft pick)
- Time for him to go. Love Johnno to death but if he stays it needs to be as a small forward. Not phased either way with him.
- If we can get Chris Judd by some miracle, Id be willing to trade anyone bar Fletch, Gumby, Ryder, Jetta, NLM, Davey, Lovett and Dempsey
PROMOTE
Heath Hocking/Sam Lonergan
- Think both deserve a spot and will add something to our midfield.
DRAFT
Leaves us with 6 picks in the draft and 2 rookie spots.
- We need to draft a midfielder with our first pick and cover other deficiencies with the rest.
COACH/GAMEPLAN
This is what’s most important. We need a coach who is young and has an understanding of the modern game. Choco would be my first pick but that’s unlikely therefore I wouldn’t mind Guy McKenna. We could use some of the philosophies that West Coast have employed.
- Need to leave Lucas and Lloyd inside 50 with Davey at their feet.
- Need better systems in place, at stoppages and in defence. Too many times this season opposition players spotted up a target inside 50 when we had all our numbers back.
- We need to be a run and carry team, we have the players that can do it, we must play on at every opportunity, break the lines, get the ball in quick to our key forwards.
- Need to shore up all areas of our football club, get everyone focused on the one goal and moving forward together, similar to how Collingwood and Hawthorn have in recent times.
- I believe the new coach is exactly what we need but we need to make sure we get it right and the players behind him. A fresh approach to everything is what we have needed for a while.
So yeah, to sum it up, 10 and 12, with wins over West Coast, Sydney and Adelaide I’m pretty happy with. We’re moving in the right direction. I expect further improvement next year with our relatively young team becoming a year older and a year wiser. I think we have the cattle, just need to continue to develop them get the right sheep dogs moving them in the right direction
My team for next year is
B Slattery Michael Ryder
HB NLM Fletcher Dempsey
C Jetta Watson Lovett
HF McPhee Gumbleton McVeigh
F Lloyd Lucas Davey
R Hille Stanton Winderlich
INT: Nash, Bradley, Hislop, Monfries
EMERG: Dyson Reimers, Houli, Welsh
BACKLINE
FB – Mal Michael
- Thought he was good this year. Killed a lot of contests where the opposition would usually mark inside 50. Freed up Fletch heaps too. If we can minimise the amount of opposition inside 50's I think he can have a good year.
CHB – Dustin Fletcher
- Gotta love Fletch. If he can another year like this with more midfield support, could have a huge year
BP (3rd Tall Defender) – Paddy Ryder
- Keep him as Tall defender, his poise is exactly what we need down there. He also has the ability to kill a contest before anyone can get first hands to the ball with his amazing leap. He could probably do ruckwork in the backline.
HBF (Rebounding Flanker) – Nathan Lovett-Murray
- Is developing nicely. Think he should take McPhee’s role off half back. Has great athleticism and will be a good match up on most. Plays his best footy rebounding from half back. Wouldn’t mind him working on his engine and going into the midfield in spurts.
BP (Small Forward Tagger) – Henry Slattery
- Took his game up a notch this year. I think he will keep progressing. Reckon that he needs to work on finding the footy when we have the ball, creating run from behind. My first choice as small defender.
HBF (Rebounding Flanker) – Courtenay Dempsey
- Now Im sure this will be disputed. I think we all can agree Demps has unlimited potential and obviously he needs to get his body right. He may not have the body to play 22 games, but if he gets his body right, I’d like to see him coming off half back, creating run from defence, similar to how Port used Peter Burgoyne this year.
ROTATIONS/OTHER OPTIONS
Jay Nash
- Unlucky not to be a starter, but definitely in the best 22. Could go into the midfield too, dunno what his engine is like.
Kyle Reimers
- Has looked very good. Eventually should break into the side.
Adam Ramanauskas
- Not sure where Rama is at, but I think he could be at very least a good depth player.
Andrew Lee
- Needs to show something next year or is gone IMO
Ruck – David Hille
- Hot and Cold. His best is amazing, the rest is average at best, if not pathetic. Hopefully a new coach can motivate him to reach a level of consistency, similar to that of Hamish McIntosh this year. Needs to lift his workrate.
Ruck Rover – Jason Winderlich
- Dunno if he can start in the middle, but makes great decisions with the ball, has blitzering pace and is one of the leaders on the team now. Needs to step up even more.
Rover – Brent Stanton
- Expect him to take it up another notch and hopefully become an elite midfielder. Needs to lift his workrate running the other way and be less of a front runner.
Centre (Inside Midfielder) Jobe Watson
- Jobe has awareness that you can't teach. Needs to train himself to run without the football especially the other way. Needs to drop back more and help out the defence and also push forward and create an option. Obviously his kicking needs to become more natural too.
Wing – Andrew Lovett
- Is maturing as a player. Needs to play the majority through the midfield in a role similar to Danyle Pearce. We need that breaking the line ability and I think his set for his best season yet.
Wing – Leroy Jetta
- Same deal as Lovett. Obviously needs to get his body right and probably wont play a full season, but his the type of player that will make an impact when on the field. Has a bit of work to do but if the new coach can get him motivated and he can get his body right anything is possible.
ROTATIONS/OTHER OPTIONS
Jason Laycock
- Impressed me a lot this season. Still a lot of faults, but on the improve. He should split the ruck 50/50 with Hille, going forward sometimes. Hopefully he can take it up a notch.
Ricky Dyson
- Definitely think we should keep him and give him plenty of opportunity. Needs to do more I agree, but I think he can become a very good player. His getting to the right age and will know his playing for his career. Needs to just keep backing himself and should be a major part of our midfield. I think he will make it.
Angus Monfries
- His courage is unparallel but needs to become more of a team player when he has the ball. Should move into the midfield next season and hopefully he can continue to shine. More often than not he will be first to the ball and will put his body on the line.
Tom Hislop
- Should see a bit of game time next year. Will also be a big proponent of our midfield. Type of player the new coach will love.
Bachar Houli
- Has been impressive, has a bit to work on, but will be the outside midfielder/winger that we need. Has great workrate, which is something we have lacked. Hopefully he can step it up a gear and earn a spot in the side.
Full Forward (leading down the middle) – Scott Lucas
- Let him play Full Forward with Lloydy next to him. Too often this year we kicked the ball to no target. Lets leave Lloyd and Lucas there and see what they can do. No need to have either leading up the ground.
Forward Pocket (leads to the left) – Matthew Lloyd
- Not the player he was but can still make an impact. Keep him inside 50 and make opposition defences sweat, forcing them to drop numbers back giving our other forwards the opportunity.
Forward Pocket (small forward) – Alwyn Davey
- Keep this guy at their feet. We know what he can do. If he improves, even better!
Centre Half Forward – Scott Gumbleton
- Probably not ready for a full season in the toughest positon on the ground, but can already tell his workrate and athleticsm gives us that lead up CHF we’ve been needing. Keeps his feet in a contest and offers great 2nd and 3rd efforts. Rotate him with Keps at CHF.
Half Forward Flank – Adam McPhee
- Keep him away from the backline unless there is a good matchup. Has been good as a leadup half forward where he doesn’t have to worry about anyone, let them worry about him. Think he could have an amazing season at half forward.
Half Forward Flank (Tagging rebounding defender) – Mark McVeigh
- Awesome season. Incredibly consistent. Let him play half forward, he does everything right. Leads well, uses the ball well, can take a mark, great defensive pressure. That’s his spot I think with runs through the midfield.
ROTATIONS/OTHER OPTIONS
Andrew Welsh
-I know his in most peoples best 22, but I prefer all the others before him. He does a lot of great stuff, but will never be a player the opposition worries about. Still should get quite a few games and will, just prefer all the others ahead of him.
Kepler Bradley (should rotate with Gumby)
- Hopefully the new coach keeps him and gets him motivated. Should rotate off the bench with Gumby at CHF, HFF. I think he will make a huge impact playing there. Take the shackles off and let him be the player that he can be.
Jay Neagle
- Dunno how many games he will see, but surely if Lloyd, Lucas, Gumby or Keps miss games, he’d be ahead of Johns to come in. His getting to the age where he could start making an impact. Wouldn’t mind seeing how he went playing down back as the 3rd defender if Paddy goes into the ruck.
Courtney Johns
- Dunno about him anymore. I wonder if a new coach can get any more out of him. My main criticism was when Sheeds played him as a forward he was leading up the ground rather than in the goalsquare. Think if his gonna play, needs to be left one out leading out of the square. If we can get something out of trading him, perhaps a quality Adam Selwood type, it would be worth it, but I doubt we will
RETIRE
James Hird
- Thank you very much
Scott Camporeale
- It was worth a shot
DELIST
Chris Heffernan
- You’ll always have that premiership medallion and probably should have got a Norm Smith
Mark Bolton
- You’ve been a great servant, but the time has come
Richard Cole
- Still think he has potential, but we can’t justify keeping him. Needs to go prove himself elsewhere
Damian Peverill
- True battler, gave his all, but not up to it.
Jason Johnson (hopefully retires)
- Dunno if he will, though I think the game has passed him by. If we keep him it should be as a depth/impact player at best. No way should he start in our midfield.
TRADE
Mark Johnson (2nd or 3rd round draft pick)
- Time for him to go. Love Johnno to death but if he stays it needs to be as a small forward. Not phased either way with him.
- If we can get Chris Judd by some miracle, Id be willing to trade anyone bar Fletch, Gumby, Ryder, Jetta, NLM, Davey, Lovett and Dempsey
PROMOTE
Heath Hocking/Sam Lonergan
- Think both deserve a spot and will add something to our midfield.
DRAFT
Leaves us with 6 picks in the draft and 2 rookie spots.
- We need to draft a midfielder with our first pick and cover other deficiencies with the rest.
COACH/GAMEPLAN
This is what’s most important. We need a coach who is young and has an understanding of the modern game. Choco would be my first pick but that’s unlikely therefore I wouldn’t mind Guy McKenna. We could use some of the philosophies that West Coast have employed.
- Need to leave Lucas and Lloyd inside 50 with Davey at their feet.
- Need better systems in place, at stoppages and in defence. Too many times this season opposition players spotted up a target inside 50 when we had all our numbers back.
- We need to be a run and carry team, we have the players that can do it, we must play on at every opportunity, break the lines, get the ball in quick to our key forwards.
- Need to shore up all areas of our football club, get everyone focused on the one goal and moving forward together, similar to how Collingwood and Hawthorn have in recent times.
- I believe the new coach is exactly what we need but we need to make sure we get it right and the players behind him. A fresh approach to everything is what we have needed for a while.
So yeah, to sum it up, 10 and 12, with wins over West Coast, Sydney and Adelaide I’m pretty happy with. We’re moving in the right direction. I expect further improvement next year with our relatively young team becoming a year older and a year wiser. I think we have the cattle, just need to continue to develop them get the right sheep dogs moving them in the right direction
