Prediction Who is 2nd best in 2022

[Optimistic Dog]

The dees are clearly the best team in it. I just do not think there is even a good number 2 team at present. maybe the lions everyone knows the cats cannot go the distance with their aging list. If the dogs can put some form together and get Keath and Bruce back in form it could be us but we are hard to predict. We should beat the crows but we are hard to trust at the moment. Who knows we could get ourselves to a GF and the dees have an off day or we could be crap and even miss the 8 unlikely but possible.

I have got us wrong plenty times either way thought we were crap and ended up good and thought we were good at ended up crap. Going into the season I thought we were pretty good but I am totally confused. Whilst we will take an easy win against the roos we still have a lot to do.

 

[ScragCity]

Brisbane or Geelong. I reckon we're gonna be pretty crap this year. Keath and Bruce are both really important to us and I don't see us getting too many wins with both out. Our midfield is too good for us to drop to the bottom six but we'll be somewhere in that middle six.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

It won’t be us, we need to do a reset at the end of the year, too many holes to challenge the good sides. Lucky we are young, and our good players can afford to miss a year.

 

[weltschmerz]

Cats keep surprising people. They and the Lions are the next best teams in it.

 

[_Mike_]

at this point I see Lions and Demons facing off in the GF. We’re too far off with consistency at this point in time to warrant having us in the equation IMO

 

[Cudi]

Still think Sydney will be there come end of year.

 

[VogonProsthetnic]

Melbourne haven’t played anyone in the 8 yet. I’m not convinced they are that much better than Lions, Swans or Saints.

They are also extremely reliant upon Gawn, Petracca, Oliver and May., The rest of the team are good players or still developing.

I can also see Brisbane, Sydney, Saints and us all improving a lot as the year goes on. Sydney is one team to really watch with their youngsters so good.

 

[TommyD13]

Max King

12

Max King

Age

23

Ht

202cm

Wt

100kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.3

2star

K

4.7

2star

HB

2.6

2star

M

2.7

3star

T

0.7

3star

G

1.4

5star

D

7.3

2star

K

4.7

2star

HB

2.6

2star

M

2.7

3star

T

0.7

1star

G

1.4

5star

D

8.0

2star

K

5.2

2star

HB

2.8

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

0.6

3star

G

1.4

5star

has the potential to rip the season to shreds for St Kilda and almost single-handedly drag them to the top 4.

 

[cecil]

Way too early to tell, and even too early for Melbourne to be a clear #1. They are a Gawn, Oliver or Petracca serious injury away from dropping back into the pack.

 

[ScragCity]

Way too early to tell, and even too early for Melbourne to be a clear #1. They are a Gawn, Oliver or Petracca serious injury away from dropping back into the pack.

Sounds like wishful thinking to me. When I watch Melbourne I see a team with 22 contributors, not star players carrying the rest of the team. The stars are able to shine because the role players are holding up their end of the bargain. Gawn, Petracca and Oliver are the big names. But then you've got May, Lever, Fritsch, Langdon, Salem, Jackson, Pickett, and Viney who are all guns. Then you've got guys like Harmes and Neale-Bullen who are only role players but have taken their games to new heights and are probably the best supporting cast in the comp. Now they've even got these up-and-comers like Rivers and Bowie who are already playing very good footy and look to be future guns. So to think Melbourne are being carried by three good players is a bit naive. They've enjoyed a good injury run but there's no reason to think they couldn't sustain a few injuries and still be the best team by a long way.

 

[maddog37]

Credit where it’s due. Melbourne are killing it.

Bunch of punchable heads though.

 

[Doggy]

It's round 5 ffs

 

[ScragCity]

Doggy what are u disagreeing with champ? You reckon we're a top four side? Get a grip.

 

[Doggy]

Doggy what are u disagreeing with champ? You reckon we're a top four side? Get a grip.

Piss off and go troll someone else.

At no point did I say that. It's not even a quarter of the way through a marathon so "get a grip"

 

[cecil]

Sounds like wishful thinking to me. When I watch Melbourne I see a team with 22 contributors, not star players carrying the rest of the team. The stars are able to shine because the role players are holding up their end of the bargain. Gawn, Petracca and Oliver are the big names. But then you've got May, Lever, Fritsch, Langdon, Salem, Jackson, Pickett, and Viney who are all guns. Then you've got guys like Harmes and Neale-Bullen who are only role players but have taken their games to new heights and are probably the best supporting cast in the comp. Now they've even got these up-and-comers like Rivers and Bowie who are already playing very good footy and look to be future guns. So to think Melbourne are being carried by three good players is a bit naive. They've enjoyed a good injury run but there's no reason to think they couldn't sustain a few injuries and still be the best team by a long way.

What you're saying is true, and at the moment they are clear favourites, but its just too far out. And while they could cover some injuries, those identified players (and probably Fritsch) are hard to cover. We lost Bruce and Brisbane lost Hipwood last year, it happens.

For example, if Gawn goes down, Jackson will struggle to hold down the #1 ruck spot.

If Oliver or Petracca go down, then Dunston comes in who is clearly a step below.

If May goes down it means Lever probably can't play as loose. That'll affect their rebound game with Salem already out.

 

[doggiesin08]

Way too early to tell, and even too early for Melbourne to be a clear #1. They are a Gawn, Oliver or Petracca serious injury away from dropping back into the pack.

What you're saying is true, and at the moment they are clear favourites, but its just too far out. And while they could cover some injuries, those identified players (and probably Fritsch) are hard to cover. We lost Bruce and Brisbane lost Hipwood last year, it happens.

For example, if Gawn goes down, Jackson will struggle to hold down the #1 ruck spot.

If Oliver or Petracca go down, then Dunston comes in who is clearly a step below.

If May goes down it means Lever probably can't play as loose. That'll affect their rebound game with Salem already out.

What's the difference between being a clear #1 versus clear favourites?

I mostly agree with what you've said above in that they do have a number of players who are hard to cover with the exception that their defence will hold up ok even with a few out. Against us they missed Lever, Petty, Salem (injured early), Hibberd and Rivers and still held their structure.

The big question for me is when they do have some injuries can the "role players" like Harmes and Neale-Bullen step up and who steps into their roles. Role players always look better in good teams - I remember everyone frothing over Chad Fletcher, Michael Braun and Tyson Stenglein when they were midfielders #4-#6 behind Cousins, Judd and Kerr but didn't look nearly as good when the first 2 headed elsewhere and Kerr was injured.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

If Melbourne are an injury or two away from being back in the pack, we must be one or two from absolute disaster. Losing Keath is already huge. If we lost English or Naughton we are goosed. Even Ryan Gardner

43

Ryan Gardner

Age

26

Ht

197cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.3

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

3.3

3star

M

2.0

2star

T

0.8

3star

MG

45.0

1star

D

8.5

2star

K

6.0

2star

HB

2.5

2star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.0

2star

MG

45.0

1star

D

7.3

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

3.3

3star

M

2.0

3star

T

0.8

3star

MG

45.0

1star

is now critical for the sake of structure as much as anything else.

We could cover most scenarios in the midfield but losing key position players would totally kill us.

 

[X_box_X]

If it is us, I don't think we will know prior to round 16. We have a seriously tough run from rounds 16-20, playing Brisbane, Sydney and Geelong away, as well as matches against Melbourne and St Kilda. You could easily argue they're currently the five best teams in it.

That period will be our ultimate H&A test.