Your clubs 26 and under side

[Ambrosia]

Tippa, Heppell, Stringer, D. Smith, Shiel?

Stringer is a huge contributor for us definitely.

Tippa should also be important and is a freak at his best.

Shiel had pretty much no impact in 2021 due to injury but hopefully will be back to one of our best next year.

Heppell provided valuable leadership to an extremely inexperienced backlines last year but going forward I don’t see him as an important player.

D.Smith - handy role player

Stewart - You didn’t mention him but I have him as more important to our side then Heppell and Smith.

 

[Ambrosia]

Currently:

Aaron Francis - Zach Reid - Jayden Laverde
Jordan Ridley - Brandon Zerk-Thatcher - Mason Redman
Kyle Langford - Darcy Parish - Sam Durham
Will Snelling - Harrison Jones - Brayden Ham
Alec Waterman - Peter Wright - Archie Perkins
Sam Draper - Andrew McGrath - Zachary Merrett
Jye Caldwell - Jake Kelly - Nik Cox - Kaine Baldwin/CianMcBride/Nick Bryan

Assuming you excluded Cutler because he’ll be 27 before the season starts and no Guelfi is an oversight?

 

[eth-dog]

Assuming you excluded Cutler because he’ll be 27 before the season starts and no Guelfi is an oversight?

Pretty much

 

[Andy_Mac]

B: Bowey - Petty - Rivers
HB: Salem - Lever - Hunt
C: Brayshaw - Harmes - Langdon
R: Jackson - Oliver - Petracca
HF: Sparrow - Weideman - Neal-Bullen
F: Pickett - Fritsch - Spargo
Int: Jordon - J.Smith - Laurie - Hore

Thats a bloody good side. 17 of those 22 already premiership players.

 

[Call Me Cake]

Thats a bloody good side. 17 of those 22 already premiership players.

All the more reason for a premiership hangover.

 

[Andy_Mac]

All the more reason for a premiership hangover.

Club is fully aware of this, which is why they bought Dunstan in and we're so keen to retain Kade Chandler (and the others the were GF emergencies) to drive the group forward.

 

[Trav 20]

All the more reason for a premiership hangover.

It's your only hope.

Even then, it won't help your mob.

 

[Golumless]

Adelaide (once the Dawson trade goes through), and brackets are positions that are likely being fought over with my preference underlined:

B: McPherson - Butts - Doedee
HB: Jones - Murray - Parnell/Hamill
C: Dawson - Pedlar - Sholl
HF: McHenry - Thilthorpe - Cook
F: Gollant - Fogarty - Rowe/Newchurch
R: O'Brien - Schoenberg - Berry
INT: Keays - Milera - Worrel - Hately.

It looks like a rebuilding best 22, seeing how little has really established itself in the league at this point. I am a big fan of our KPs going forward, seeing Butts/Murray both looked like excellent defensive prospects, and any key forward prospect list with Thilthorpe listed in it is in a very good place. It does help that I really love Gollant as a prospect for the 2nd/3rd key forward, and Fog should be a solid role player moving forward. The outside group looks pretty healthy as well as Dawson/Sholl should be a pretty excellent 1-2 punch, even though the half back line looks a bit weak at this point, but that's not particularly difficult to fix. Inside midfield needs a bit of work, and really, it probably needs a big prospect to round out the Schoenberg/Pedlar/Berry trio. Another small forward would also be very handy at this point and another ruck prospect.

 

[Golden_6]

Club is fully aware of this, which is why they bought Dunstan in and we're so keen to retain Kade Chandler (and the others the were GF emergencies) to drive the group forward.

Look I don’t think you’ll have a premiership hangover but I don’t think the recruitment of Luke Dunstan is going to have any say in it

 

[The Nostradamus]

Adelaide (once the Dawson trade goes through), and brackets are positions that are likely being fought over with my preference underlined:

B: McPherson - Butts - Doedee
HB: Jones - Murray - Parnell/Hamill
C: Dawson - Pedlar - Sholl
HF: McHenry - Thilthorpe - Cook
F: Gollant - Fogarty - Rowe/Newchurch
R: O'Brien - Schoenberg - Berry
INT: Keays - Milera - Worrel - Hately.

It looks like a rebuilding best 22, seeing how little has really established itself in the league at this point. I am a big fan of our KPs going forward, seeing Butts/Murray both looked like excellent defensive prospects, and any key forward prospect list with Thilthorpe listed in it is in a very good place. It does help that I really love Gollant as a prospect for the 2nd/3rd key forward, and Fog should be a solid role player moving forward. The outside group looks pretty healthy as well as Dawson/Sholl should be a pretty excellent 1-2 punch, even though the half back line looks a bit weak at this point, but that's not particularly difficult to fix. Inside midfield needs a bit of work, and really, it probably needs a big prospect to round out the Schoenberg/Pedlar/Berry trio. Another small forward would also be very handy at this point and another ruck prospect.

The mid group looks very average can see why you’d sell the farm for JHF

 

[Golumless]

The mid group looks very average can see why you’d sell the farm for JHF

It's really a part of the reason I don't mind us paying a monstrous price for him, especially as he's South Australian, which should make him much easier to retain long term. It's a group with a lot of question marks once you get past Schoenberg (who is likely to be our best midfielder next year if we're willing to pull the trigger on that switch) and it's one that really needs a star mid to tie it all together. Or multiple firsts with the intention of building a deeper group.

That said, it'll looks a whole lot healthier if Pedlar gets a good run at 2022 (I haven't seen anything that dissuades me from thinking there is an AA calibre game in him) regardless what we do with selling the farm, and whenever Berry also makes the switch inside. The really lucky scenario is if Cook gains 6-8 kg and his contested game cleans up to the point he's a viable option on the inside (seeing he's talked about as the most skilled player on our list at the moment).

 

[Andy_Mac]

Look I don’t think you’ll have a premiership hangover but I don’t think the recruitment of Luke Dunstan is going to have any say in it

Absolutely he will. He'll bring the hunger and determination to day 1 of pre-season that drives the minimum standard. He has to not only prove himself to a new team mates, but he has the real chance to become a premiership player if things fall his way.

 

[My Tilly]

Geelong's 26 and under's are probably the worst in the competition.
Henry, Miers, Parfitt the stand out's.

Not much else after that. Maybe Holmes, O'Conner and Close.

 

[Golumless]

Geelong's 26 and under's are probably the worst in the competition.
Henry, Miers, Parfitt the stand out's.

Not much else after that. Maybe Holmes, O'Conner and Close.

Certainly is, though to be fair, a 15 year window where you've been at the top part of the table is likely worth that trade off.

 

[Ambrosia]

It's your only hope.

Even then, it won't help your mob.

I have Melbourne as clear premiership favourites but it will be interesting to see how they go with even a league average injury run compared to their incredible run this year.

 

[eth-dog]

I have Melbourne as clear premiership favourites but it will be interesting to see how they go with even a league average injury run compared to their incredible run this year.

Viney missed 10 games
Harmes missed 7
Tomlinson 18
Brown 12

Now yes, Brown played VFL but he missed most of pre season. They had a good injury run but it hardly counts as "incredible".

 

[Trav 20]

I have Melbourne as clear premiership favourites but it will be interesting to see how they go with even a league average injury run compared to their incredible run this year.

Don't take too much notice of the post you quoted. The Dons are on the right track.

Yes, injuries will be key. What gives me confidence is our pillars across the field. We arguably have the best defensive duo in the competition, the best midfield duo, and the best ruck duo. The forward-line is less exciting, but gets the job done. And the game-plan is hard to penetrate.

But if the hunger drops off even slightly then we'll be making up the numbers.

Also, Essendon 2001 (although Brisbane beat them in their one H&A), Geelong 2008 and Richmond 2018 are timely reminders of the year's best teams not getting it done after saluting.

 

[Ambrosia]

Don't take too much notice of the post you quoted. The Dons are on the right track.

Yes, injuries will be key. What gives me confidence is our pillars across the field. We arguably have the best defensive duo in the competition, the best midfield duo, and the best ruck duo. The forward-line is less exciting, but gets the job done. And the game-plan is hard to penetrate.

But if the hunger drops off even slightly then we'll be making up the numbers.

Also, Essendon 2001 (although Brisbane beat them in their one H&A), Geelong 2008 and Richmond 2018 are timely reminders of the year's best teams not getting it done after saluting.

Haha I didn’t and to be honest I agree with it. We’ll need to take a big leap forward next year if we are to compete for the premiership which most would say is unlikely.

Do see us on the right path though but it’s hard to say if we’re on the right path to topping out at prelim level or will ever be a genuine contender.

Being the best team in the league doesn’t guarantee anything because there is so much variation in footy. Umpiring decisions, the bounce of the ball and injuries can have a huge effect on outcomes over the season. That’s why winning a premiership is so hard.

 

[Ambrosia]

Viney missed 10 games
Harmes missed 7
Tomlinson 18
Brown 12

Now yes, Brown played VFL but he missed most of pre season. They had a good injury run but it hardly counts as "incredible".

Disagree especially when you consider none of those injuries were in the back half of the year

 

[eth-dog]

Disagree especially when you consider none of those injuries were in the back half of the year

Tomlinson didn't play 3/4 of the games? Plus missing a lot of pre season is oftentimes worse.

 

[Ambrosia]

Tomlinson didn't play 3/4 of the games? Plus missing a lot of pre season is oftentimes worse.

Tomlinson was replaced by Petty seamlessly and before the start of the year where he played quite well you could have argued him as not even being in the best 22.

Heck you could argue that their best 22 was the 22 that ran out in the Grand Final at worst (21 out of 22). If that’s not an incredible run I don’t know what is.

I’m not trying to downplay Melbourne’s premiership in the slightest just think there is clear regression to the mean that is likely to happen next year in terms of injuries. Quibbling over whether or not it was incredible is a waste of time.

 

[AnEmptyChair]

The mid group looks very average can see why you’d sell the farm for JHF

That Adelaide mid group tore our much vaunted young mid group to shreds in the last round of the season, and they're about the same age. Schoenberg and Lachy Sholl are very good young mids, and if Ben Keays continues his improvement next year, he's a problem for any team on the inside. They're got a really good mix of inside toughness and some real speed away from the contest.

 

[Ambrosia]

That Adelaide mid group tore our much vaunted young mid group to shreds in the last round of the season, and they're about the same age. Schoenberg and Lachy Sholl are very good young mids, and if Ben Keays continues his improvement next year, he's a problem for any team on the inside. They're got a really good mix of inside toughness and some real speed away from the contest.

Schoenberg would be be rated much more highly if he didn’t cop an absolute walloping from the ugly stick. He looks a clear gun to me with his ability to breakaway from congestion.

 

[Crusty Demon]

I have Melbourne as clear premiership favourites but it will be interesting to see how they go with even a league average injury run compared to their incredible run this year.

Part of the formula to winning a premiership is to manage injuries and recovery. Also depth plays an important key also. Dees did all three of those things perfectly this season. We kept Brown and Weid from the first 6 rounds really then made them compete in the VFL instead of bringing either straight in. Harmes and Viney injuries were again wonderfully managed. Hunt was also a part of our best 22 and missed the finals. Previously we would have rushed back Vines but we held him back until 100%. Petty came in seamlessly and replaced Tomlinson who was having a stellar season. Bowey came in and replaced Hunt seamlessly also. Luck played no part in any of that. We still had our fair share on injuries, but our recovery, our injury management, and our depth should be applauded.

 

[year of the cat]

Geelong's 26 and under's are probably the worst in the competition.
Henry, Miers, Parfitt the stand out's.

Not much else after that. Maybe Holmes, O'Conner and Close.

But we’ve got the best over 32 side in the comp.