Which team list would you least want?

Which team list would you least want?

  • Adelaide

    Votes: 211 15.8%
  • Brisbane

    Votes: 6 0.5%
  • Carlton

    Votes: 40 3.0%
  • Collingwood

    Votes: 21 1.6%
  • Essendon

    Votes: 188 14.1%
  • Fremantle

    Votes: 33 2.5%
  • Geelong

    Votes: 72 5.4%
  • Gold Coast

    Votes: 60 4.5%
  • GWS

    Votes: 6 0.5%
  • Hawthorn

    Votes: 150 11.3%
  • Melbourne

    Votes: 33 2.5%
  • North Melbourne

    Votes: 274 20.6%
  • Port Adelaide

    Votes: 24 1.8%
  • Richmond

    Votes: 26 2.0%
  • St Kilda

    Votes: 76 5.7%
  • Sydney

    Votes: 44 3.3%
  • West Coast

    Votes: 64 4.8%
  • Western Bulldogs

    Votes: 5 0.4%

  • Total voters
    1,333

dylan93

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Mar 16, 2011
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In terms of long term issues it's gotta be Geelong given the age profile of their list and not enough youth prospects showing potential.

Otherwise currently any of North, St. Kilda, Sydney, Essendon, Adelaide, etc.
 
Jul 25, 2019
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Leeds United
Let's see how the Crows kids go in 2020 under Nicks, who were never really given a go under Don Pyke.

If they are as nearly as good as Fogarty and Chayce Jones, I think the Crows will be okay/surprise many.

Not prepared to write off Adelaide just yet.
 
Feb 15, 2015
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Using Google Maps, I've concluded that I could coach either Melbourne or Collingwood, since they are about 40 minutes walking distance from my home. Melbourne preferred as slightly closer. I guess Richmond also would fit my admittedly narrow criteria. Now that I've decided, its probably time for me to wait by the phone.
 

Hawk Time

Debutant
Oct 26, 2019
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Essendon at present are the furtherest away from a premiership than any other club.
This can change quickly, however their list and coaches are miles away they will be bottom 4 this year.....
 

Yojimbo

Cancelled
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The "Elephant" in the room.
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Have to be Essendon for me. Their list is terrible.
Nathan Broad = Patrick Ambrose
Nick Vlastuin = Aaron Francis
David Astbury = Michael Hurley
Dylan Grimes = Cale Hooker
Bachar Houli = Adam Saad
Jayden Short = Conor McKenna
Liam Baker = Matt Guelfi
Jason Castagna = Devon Smith
Daniel Rioli = Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti
Shane Edwards = Andrew McGrath
Kane Lambert = Darcy Parish
Tom Lynch = Joe Daniher
Dion Prestia = Dylan Shiel
Josh Caddy = Jake Stringer
Toby Nankervis = Tom Bellchambers
Jack Higgins = Orazio Fantasia
Jack Riewoldt = Shaun McKernan
Trent Cotchin = Dyson Heppel
Dustin Martin = Zach Merrett
Sydney Stack = David Zaharakis
Jack Ross = Kyle Langford
Kamdyn McIntosh = Mason Redman
Jack Graham = Dylan Clarke
Shai Bolton = Jayden Laverde

That's only 24 players, but Essendon have Begley, Cutler, Gleeson, Ham, Ridley, Zerk-Thatcher, Stewart,
and the great Jacob Townsend as well as Caracella maybe the best get of them all. There method and
midfield lack something, but Essendon VFL versus Richmond VFL at Punt RD was one of my favourite
games of the year in tough windy conditions, that Marlion Pickett mark and goal was awesome.
 

bh90210fan

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 4, 2017
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Again, Freo in 2019 got 9 wins and 13 defeats. On the surface, slightly better than the 2018 season if you only judge us on the win loss ratio.

but here is the bloody big difference.

Freo in 2018 lost 9 games by 50 points or more. And had a % of 74%. 4 of those 50 point defeats came before our bye which was round 14. So that was 2 3rds of the season. From rounds 15-23 we got hammered by 50 points 5 times. Mainly due to 2 reasons.

1. Injuries to experienced players
2. Playing more kids due to injuries to key players.

Dockers in 2019 only lost by more than 50 points. That was in the derby by 91 points. Even then that was until round 16, which was 2/3rds of the season gone.
The other heavy defeats was a 47 point loss to the dogs in round 19 and a 43 point loss to Port in round 23 when freos season was done.

Well at least you admit the Backline is decent.

The midfield stinks, to a degree. But I see there is some kids coming through. Darcy is a gun ruckman. Name 10 ruckman aged 23 or under better than him?

Mundy is 34, that worries me he carrys the load. Stephen Hill is 29, Conca is 27 years old. Fyfe is a star at 28 years. You say Fyfe carrying the midfield on his own is a bad thing. Well it seems that Fyfe is sadly going to follow the same path as Pav: Contending in finals again past his prime aged 31-34 years old.

I stand by the fact that freo doesnt have the worst midfield in the comp. You want me to name 3 clubs with poorer midfields? Easily. Gold coast, Carlton and North melbourne. No disrespect to those 3 though. Gold coast is hopeless, Yeah they beat us in round 2, but you are Judged by 22 games not 1 They finished below freo on the ladder. Carlton, yeah they Beat us last season without cripps. But freo had a very sloppy game. Again, they finished below us on the ladder.

I am a bit harsh on North. I dont see any A-grade mids. I see a few solid mids. they were extreme on both ends. One week they kick 1 goal vs Geelong, the next week they kick 23 goals vs Port. They finished above freo in 2019 but thats due to their shinboner spirit of guts and determinaton.



Brayshaw is solid. Banfield is a mature ager and was posting solid numbers in 2018 getting 17-20 disposals a game but went backwards in 2019. He needs to lift and improve along with Connor Blakely. Cerra will post decent numbers this year once Justin Longmuir gives him more time in the middle rather than on a flank. Crowden looks like another Role player. Giro plays on a half forward flank or on a wing. He too was getting 15-20 disposal games. Missed all of 2019 because of injury. Another year of development in Brayshaw, Banfield, cerra, corwden and Giro will help freo.

Freo made finals from 2012-15 because they had 3 excellent mids in Fyfe, Mundy and Barlow. They also had role playing mids in Suban, Clancee Pearce, Danyle pearce, tendai Mzungu tom sheridan, Cam sutclffe and Matt Deboer

You said Freos Foward is average and is Heavily Reliant on Jesse Hogan back to Full fitness.

I totally disagree. As I said, Freos KPF stocks are Hogan, Lobb, Tarberner, McCarthy, Cox and Dixon. As good as it is to have a 60 goal a season forward in hogan, having Lobb kick 30 and McCarthy kick 30 is also good too. Its rare to get a gun KPF that can kick 60 goals a season, but if you can win games from 2 solid 30 goal a season KPFs then thats fine. Walters, Matera and Switkowski are the smalls.

1st off..... Go look at round 1. Freo Kicked 21.15.141 to Norths 9.5.59. Hogan didnt play, he was suspended for getting drunk. Lobb was the FF, 2nd ruck and kicked a goal. Tarberner caused havoc on a forward flank. Cam McCarthy kicked 5 goals due to playing as a 2nd or 3rd tall as Lobb or Tarberner was double teamed, in which McCarthy was free.

The another stand out game was when freo beat GWS and kicked 16.10.106 to 11.16.82. Matera kicked 4, Walters, Hogan and Tabs kicked 3.

The next week, freo kicked 13.10.88 to the dogs 9.15.69. Hogan kicked 1 goal and 3 behinds. Matera kicked 5 straight.

Problem was Hogan, Taberner and Lobb were all injured in the 2nd half of the season. Imagine If Hogan, Tabs, Lobb and McCarthy are all fully fit for 22 games.

I dont think Freo is as weak as you make it to be. Champion data said freo had the worst list in 2017 and 2018 and finished 14th on both seasons.

I see freo falling short of a finals spot in 2020

then Freo get a 3-4 year finals run from 2021 until 2023 or 2024 then Hamling, Wilson, Fyfe, Hill, Lobb, Tarberner, Conca, Walters and Matera all retire after our 3-4 yers of finals.
Name 10 ruckmen under 23 better than Sean Darcy?? Lol, why don’t you try naming 30 small forwards better than Petruccelle? It doesn’t prove anything. You said he’s a gun. There’s plenty of better rucks running around out there at the moment. He has potential but no way is he a gun yet.

As far as not having anywhere near the worst midfield in the comp as a comparison - going by who you think you’re better than

Darcy, Fyfe, Conca, Mundy, Brayshaw, S Hill, Blakely

vs

Goldstein, Cunnington, Higgins, Ziebell, Polec, Dumont, Anderson

vs

Kruezer, Cripps, Ed Curnow, Walsh, Gibbons, Newnes, Fisher

vs

Witts, Brodie, Bowes, Ellis, Swallow, Powell, Greenwood

I’d rate Freos midfield the worst of that bunch short term and second worst infront of north mid to long term
 

BuffDog

Club Legend
Nov 10, 2009
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In this age of free agency, increased trading and opportunities for mature age players this thread is effectively futile.

Richmond and West Coast were widely tipped to fall off a cliff before winning their flags and no one saw the Dogs rising so quickly.

In saying that I am highly jealous of the youth Sydney and the Western Bulldogs have.
 

HavUEvaSeenTheRain

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 20, 2006
9,110
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In this age of free agency, increased trading and opportunities for mature age players this thread is effectively futile.

Richmond and West Coast were widely tipped to fall off a cliff before winning their flags and no one saw the Dogs rising so quickly.

In saying that I am highly jealous of the youth Sydney and the Western Bulldogs have.
This is one of the only times in my memory that I can’t see any list without hope. A lot of them need abit of luck/great decisions but none really look like they are in a real bad spot. I could try and name my worst but they are probably only a Lynch type pick up or a great draft choice away from the middle of the pack and getting ready to push right up.
Obviously no one has played yet so we are all living in abit of hope and optimism though.
 

old55

Club Legend
Feb 12, 2011
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Would prefer Soldo. He destroyed pretty much every opponent he faced after the bye, including Grundy.

Again, Hardwick doesn’t like those type of midfielders.

Here we go again. 2019 R16 Witts 36 hitouts Soldo 25.

I know "Hardwick doesn't like hitouts"
 
Last edited:
Jul 13, 2015
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Nathan Broad = Patrick Ambrose
Nick Vlastuin = Aaron Francis
David Astbury = Michael Hurley
Dylan Grimes = Cale Hooker
Bachar Houli = Adam Saad
Jayden Short = Conor McKenna
Liam Baker = Matt Guelfi
Jason Castagna = Devon Smith
Daniel Rioli = Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti
Shane Edwards = Andrew McGrath
Kane Lambert = Darcy Parish
Tom Lynch = Joe Daniher
Dion Prestia = Dylan Shiel
Josh Caddy = Jake Stringer
Toby Nankervis = Tom Bellchambers
Jack Higgins = Orazio Fantasia
Jack Riewoldt = Shaun McKernan
Trent Cotchin = Dyson Heppel
Dustin Martin = Zach Merrett
Sydney Stack = David Zaharakis
Jack Ross = Kyle Langford
Kamdyn McIntosh = Mason Redman
Jack Graham = Dylan Clarke
Shai Bolton = Jayden Laverde

That's only 24 players, but Essendon have Begley, Cutler, Gleeson, Ham, Ridley, Zerk-Thatcher, Stewart,
and the great Jacob Townsend as well as Caracella maybe the best get of them all. There method and
midfield lack something, but Essendon VFL versus Richmond VFL at Punt RD was one of my favourite
games of the year in tough windy conditions, that Marlion Pickett mark and goal was awesome.

Trying to think if Essendon win any of those matchups. Maybe a couple.
 
Nathan Broad = Patrick Ambrose
Nick Vlastuin = Aaron Francis
David Astbury = Michael Hurley
Dylan Grimes = Cale Hooker
Bachar Houli = Adam Saad
Jayden Short = Conor McKenna
Liam Baker = Matt Guelfi
Jason Castagna = Devon Smith
Daniel Rioli = Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti
Shane Edwards = Andrew McGrath
Kane Lambert = Darcy Parish
Tom Lynch = Joe Daniher
Dion Prestia = Dylan Shiel
Josh Caddy = Jake Stringer
Toby Nankervis = Tom Bellchambers
Jack Higgins = Orazio Fantasia
Jack Riewoldt = Shaun McKernan
Trent Cotchin = Dyson Heppel
Dustin Martin = Zach Merrett
Sydney Stack = David Zaharakis
Jack Ross = Kyle Langford
Kamdyn McIntosh = Mason Redman
Jack Graham = Dylan Clarke
Shai Bolton = Jayden Laverde

That's only 24 players, but Essendon have Begley, Cutler, Gleeson, Ham, Ridley, Zerk-Thatcher, Stewart,
and the great Jacob Townsend as well as Caracella maybe the best get of them all. There method and
midfield lack something, but Essendon VFL versus Richmond VFL at Punt RD was one of my favourite
games of the year in tough windy conditions, that Marlion Pickett mark and goal was awesome.
Mate are you saying the players above are equal to or comparable to?

Maaaaate, stop that rubbish.

Agree the VFL game was awesome but that doesnt really mean that much.
 

Virgin Dog

Cancelled
Oct 29, 2017
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In terms of long term issues it's gotta be Geelong given the age profile of their list and not enough youth prospects showing potential.

Otherwise currently any of North, St. Kilda, Sydney, Essendon, Adelaide, etc.
At the start of the 2019 season, Geelong were actually 5th in terms of list age, behind Hawks (1st), Collingwood, Adelaide and West Coast.

Notable list changes since then:
  • Adelaide
    OUT: Otten, Douglas, Keath, Betts, Jacobs, Greenwood, Jenkins, Ellis-Yolmen
    IN: Frampton

  • Collingwood
    OUT: Aish, Goldsack, Wells, Murray, Dunn, Crocker
    IN: Cameron

  • Hawks
    OUT: Roughead, Brand, Schoenmakers, Pittonet, Birchall
    IN: Patton, Frost

  • West Coast
    OUT: Masten, McInnes
    IN: Kelly

  • Geelong
    OUT: Selwood, Buzza, Abbott, Smith, Kelly
    IN: Jenkins, Steven
So basically Adelaide, Hawks and Pies got substantially younger in one go, while West Coast stayed at a similar level. Meanwhile, Geelong made their list even older than before. They are going balls deep chasing a premiership in the short term.

It'll be interesting to compare these 5 sides next year. If Geelong finishes behind the others, then there is cause for concern. Otherwise, I wouldn't be overly worried if I were a Geelong fan. The list demographic looks pretty bad, but they just took in a pretty big draft hand and have a couple of young guys looking alright (I like Clark and Miers)
 
Fit and Injury free Hanners and Carlisle are genuine A Grades though. Hill who we overpaid for imo but he is arguably the best wingman, or top 2 with Gaff.
Dougal Howard is a brilliant pick up for the saints, and Rowan Marshall is gold. Hill is one of the best two way runners in the comp.

Having said that, very few people would have faith in Hanners or Carlisle getting back to their best, due to injury. Jack Steven is a big loss even if he did miss a fair chunk of 2019.
 

Virgin Dog

Cancelled
Oct 29, 2017
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They actually have two that you would be worried about. Bontempelli and Macrae. If you hold them you'll go a long way to beating them.
I've actually noticed teams have a far better success rate while tagging Hunter and JJ instead of Macrae. He's both difficult to tag, and can be covered by Dunkley if needed (whereas we have no suitable replacements if Hunter and JJ go missing)
 

Tenny

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Jan 7, 2020
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Here we go again. 2019 R16 Witts 36 hitouts Soldo 25.

I know "Hardwick doesn't like hitouts"
Soldo shared the load with Chol that day. Witts does most of it himself. Have the number of ruck contests attended out of curiosity?
 
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