Been doing a bit of analysis of our list. No doubt Neeld and BP have gone for solid hard at it players. We will not get pushed off the ball this year and will introduce a new range of competitive players. Going to be fun to watch. Got a lot of height now too. The midfield still looks too slow to me. No-one there that can explode and take 5 paces before delivering to a fwd other than a Sylvia.

Height (196-208) Big Body (BB) Speed S

Gawn

Spencer BB

Fitzpatrick S

Clark BB

Martin BB S

Jamar BB

Watts S

Sellar BB

Cook S

Tall to Mid size (190-194)

T MacDonald

Frawley BB S

Rivers

Morton

Dunn BB

Davis S

Bate BB

Garland

Howe S

Gysberts

Avg to MId (184 - 188)

Taggert

J MacDonald

Jurrah S

Grimes

Tynan

Sylvia BB S

McKenzie BB

Trengove BB

Strauss

Petterd

Green BB

Blease S

Small (177 - 183)

Bail S

Moloney

Bartram S

Tapscott BB

Jones BB

Jetta S

Bennell S

Davey BB S (shortest player on list!)

BACKS.................MIDS........................FWDs

Frawley.................Jamar.......................Jurrah

Garland.................Martin.......................Watts

Sellar....................Beamer.....................Green

Rivers...................Gysberts...................Clark

Bartram................McKenzie................Howe

Tapscott...............Sylvia.......................Jetta

Grimes.................Bail...........................Davey

Davis....................Jones.......................Cook

Taggert.................Bennell.....................Fitzpatrick

Strauss................Trengove..................Petterd

J MacDonald........Spencer..................Dunn

T McDonald..........Gawn......................Bate

Tynan....................Morton

Blease..................Nicholson

My likely certainties to hold down a spot

B Tapscott Frawley Bartram

HB Garland xxxxxxx Rivers

C Bail Beamer Jones

HF Watts xxxxxxx Howe

F Green Clark xxxxxx

Foll Jamar McKenzie Trengove

IC Martin Davey Grimes Sylvia

Need more consistency or to step up Gysberts, Jurrah, Petterd, Dunn, Bate, Morton, Bennell, Blease, Jetta, Nicholson

I reckon our best 22 (barring injury) has three spots up for grabs CHB, CHF and fwd pocket

Any thoughts???

Edited November 26, 201113 yr by jnrmac

CHF yes, CHB no, forward pocket dunno, Petterd gives his all week in week out so I don't understand your reasoning for possibly dropped, consistency may be a problem but it seems as though Neeld wants a group of goers before consistency. CHB is Rivers at the moment, not HBF where Blease/Nicholson should be soooo, the only one is CHF as I can see Watts on a wing this year. We shall see....

Also I still believe that Watts won't hold a position in the forward line this year on a permanent basis, in fact I think he will only start the game there then get moved up the ground as the game progresses. Thus he will never be a KPP CHF we hoped he would be, far too versatile, a big advantage to us if he keeps developing as versatile players are gold in todays game

B Tapscott Frawley Bartram

HB Garland xxxxxxx Rivers

HF Watts xxxxxxx Howe

F Green Clark xxxxxx

I reckon our best 22 (barring injury) has three spots up for grabs CHB, CHF and fwd pocket

Fwd pocket - Obviously we need a good crumber. Step up rookie draft or Lawrence

But CHB - I disagree. I don't think you can play Frawley, Garland, Rivers and another tall. You just won't get enough rebound unless that other tall is a great rebounder like Sam Fisher. Garland and Rivers don't give you enough rebound to both play as 3rd and 4th talls. If you want Sellar or McDonald in as the CHB you better hope the other guys improve their run and carry and footskills.

CHF I disagree as well, depending on the options for back up ruck. I suppose if you play Clark as back up ruck then yes you can justify another tall forward. However I'd go with Martin as back up ruck also playing forward and then use Clark and Watts as key forwards. Then Howe and Jurrah come into it as 3rd and 4th talls. We shouldn't throw the baby out with bathwater with our mobile marking 3rd tall types, we have exceptional talents and yes bigger guys are important for structure but if you get the right game plan and get the fitness up you can play taller types, especially as it seems all of Howe, Dunn and Bate are working hard on their fitness, and LJ clearly has the speed to play like a smaller man.

Being a list thread, I thought I may as well add the age brackets and [games] of the list if anyone's interested. Nothing scientific here, simply the ages of the players at the end of this calendar year. The 20-24 age bracket is made up of a healthy 27 players.

30+ (1)

18 Green 30 – V [241]

25 - 29 (7)

36 Davey 28 [150]

40 Jamar 28 [110]

28 Macdonald 27 [107]

22 Moloney 27 [130]

27 Rivers 27 [128]

12 Sylvia 26 [121]

34 Martin 25 [50]

20 - 24 (27)

6 Bate 24 [90]

Clark 24 [82]

14 Dunn 24 [81]

44 Bail 23 [18]

3 Bartram 23 [95]

8 Frawley 23 [82]

20 Garland 23 [58]

2 Jones 23 [114]

24 Jurrah 23 [35]

15 Petterd 23 [50]

Sellar 22 [21]

16 Grimes 22 [32]

42 Spencer 22 [8]

7 Bennell 21 [51]

38 Howe 21 [13]

39 Jetta 21 [30]

13 McKenzie 21 [37]

10 Morton 21 [64]

49 Nicholson 21 – R [9]

47 Strauss 21 [11]

17 Blease 20 [5]

48 Fitzpatrick 20 [1]

37 Gawn 20 [4]

5 Gysberts 20 [18]

9 Trengove 20 [37]

35 Tapscott 20 [15]

4 Watts 20 [40]

Teenagers (7)

21 Cook 19 [0]

41 Davis 19 [0]

50 Evans 19 – R [4]

45 Lawrence 19 – R [0]

43 McDonald 19 [2]

Taggert 18 [0]

Tynan 18 [0]

Edited November 26, 201113 yr by 1858

Our greatest weakness is our lack of quality smalls at either end of the ground. We are a very top-heavy side at the moment. We desperately need at least one really good crumbing forward and a back pocket. Our midfield needs a little more class as well, but next year's draft will help with that.

Been doing a bit of analysis of our list. No doubt Neeld and BP have gone for solid hard at it players. We will not get pushed off the ball this year and will introduce a new range of competitive players. Going to be fun to watch. Got a lot of height now too. The midfield still looks too slow to me. No-one there that can explode and take 5 paces before delivering to a fwd other than a Sylvia.

B Tapscott Frawley Bartram

HB Garland xxxxxxx Rivers

C Bail Beamer Jones

HF Watts xxxxxxx Howe

F Green Clark xxxxxx

Foll Jamar McKenzie Trengove

IC Martin Davey Grimes Sylvia

Any thoughts???

I'm thinking Clark to go to CHF

Rivers on the bench.

Garland to CHB

Grimes to HBF until he is totally fit

Petterd to FP

Watts to FF

Jurrah to HFF.

All a bit of a raffle at this stage.

February might give us a better clue.

My likely certainties to hold down a spot

B Tapscott Frawley Bartram

HB Garland xxxxxxx Rivers

C Bail Beamer Jones

HF Watts xxxxxxx Howe

F Green Clark xxxxxx

Foll Jamar McKenzie Trengove

IC Martin Davey Grimes Sylvia

Any thoughts???

If Bartram, Tapscott, Moloney, Jones, Howe, Bail, Green, Rivers and Davey are all certainties to hold down a spot you clearly expect a massive improvement from them over last year. Can you explain why you think they will improve so much and how you expect the team to improve if they are certainties. For mine they are no certainties after Frawley, Trengove, Grimes (who you mysteriously have on the bench), Jamar, Garland, Watts and perhaps Martin.

The centreline you advocate is Bail (unproven and injury prone), Moloney (Classic frontrunner and one trick pony, name one game against quality opposition in the last 2 years where he was any better than average, just quietly he's usually very poor in such games) Jones (spare me, a certainty! He gets limited possessions playing on the ball, butchers plenty of his disposals, is caught holding the ball more than most and along with Moloney is one of the reasons we have a third world midfield.

I think that reasoning on Moloney is unfair. He is the only midfielder who stood tall last season around an otherwise average midfield group. When playing against top teams, he didn't have other big bodies around the stoppages to help block and share the load, of course he goes missing against top teams. We need "elite" midfielders, something we seem to still be lacking. Sylvia has potential, hopefully under Neeld he will gain some maturity and consistency, Trengove is classy and can use the ball well so hopefully he will improve and hopefully Jones can find the ball more and continue his improvement on disposal by foot, perhaps by adding grimes into the midfield this will add a touch of class if he can improve his disposal by foot.

If Bartram, Tapscott, Moloney, Jones, Howe, Bail, Green, Rivers and Davey are all certainties to hold down a spot you clearly expect a massive improvement from them over last year. Can you explain why you think they will improve so much and how you expect the team to improve if they are certainties. For mine they are no certainties after Frawley, Trengove, Grimes (who you mysteriously have on the bench), Jamar, Garland, Watts and perhaps Martin.

The centreline you advocate is Bail (unproven and injury prone), Moloney (Classic frontrunner and one trick pony, name one game against quality opposition in the last 2 years where he was any better than average, just quietly he's usually very poor in such games) Jones (spare me, a certainty! He gets limited possessions playing on the ball, butchers plenty of his disposals, is caught holding the ball more than most and along with Moloney is one of the reasons we have a third world midfield.

Nice flaming post RI.

Beamer and Rivers were 1 and 2 in the B&F. Jones 4th. That's how the club rates them. If you don't think they deserve to hold their spot I'd suggest no-one cares what you think.

If Bartram, Tapscott, Moloney, Jones, Howe, Bail, Green, Rivers and Davey are all certainties to hold down a spot you clearly expect a massive improvement from them over last year. Can you explain why you think they will improve so much and how you expect the team to improve if they are certainties. For mine they are no certainties after Frawley, Trengove, Grimes (who you mysteriously have on the bench), Jamar, Garland, Watts and perhaps Martin.

The centreline you advocate is Bail (unproven and injury prone), Moloney (Classic frontrunner and one trick pony, name one game against quality opposition in the last 2 years where he was any better than average, just quietly he's usually very poor in such games) Jones (spare me, a certainty! He gets limited possessions playing on the ball, butchers plenty of his disposals, is caught holding the ball more than most and along with Moloney is one of the reasons we have a third world midfield.

WE may as well give up now. According to your post we have no midfielders worth a game and the season is shot already

If Bartram, Tapscott, Moloney, Jones, Howe, Bail, Green, Rivers and Davey are all certainties to hold down a spot you clearly expect a massive improvement from them over last year. Can you explain why you think they will improve so much and how you expect the team to improve if they are certainties. For mine they are no certainties after Frawley, Trengove, Grimes (who you mysteriously have on the bench), Jamar, Garland, Watts and perhaps Martin.

The centreline you advocate is Bail (unproven and injury prone), Moloney (Classic frontrunner and one trick pony, name one game against quality opposition in the last 2 years where he was any better than average, just quietly he's usually very poor in such games) Jones (spare me, a certainty! He gets limited possessions playing on the ball, butchers plenty of his disposals, is caught holding the ball more than most and along with Moloney is one of the reasons we have a third world midfield.

I agree too many certainties. Spare me the thought of Bartram a certainty. The whole team has to lift considerably if we are to eventually get to the top 4. While I'm not advocating Jones will be a key figure in a few years, I think you might be best to check his disposal count. I recall he was regularly in the 20's this year, a big improvement on previous years and also fewer times getting caught. He has improved but still needs to improve more if he is to be part of a top four mid field.

Under Neeld -there will be NO CERTAINTEES, every player will have to earn their stripes.

My likely certainties to hold down a spot

B Tapscott Frawley Bartram

HB Garland xxxxxxx Rivers

C Bail Beamer Jones

HF Watts xxxxxxx Howe

F Green Clark xxxxxx

Foll Jamar McKenzie Trengove

IC Martin Davey Grimes Sylvia

Need more consistency or to step up Gysberts, Jurrah, Petterd, Dunn, Bate, Morton, Bennell, Blease, Jetta, Nicholson

I reckon our best 22 (barring injury) has three spots up for grabs CHB, CHF and fwd pocket

Any thoughts???

The ol' likely certainties.

Tapscott ,Frawley ,Garland

Bennell, Watts,Grimes

Gysberts Moloney Blease

Petterd ,Clark ,Davey

Jetta Howe Sylvia

Jamar ,Trengove ,Jones

Bate ,Rivers ,Jurrah ,Jordie Mckenzie ,Joel MAc ,Bail ,Max Gawn ,Green ,Nicho ,Strauss

Nice flaming post RI.

Beamer and Rivers were 1 and 2 in the B&F. Jones 4th. That's how the club rates them. If you don't think they deserve to hold their spot I'd suggest no-one cares what you think.

And where did our midfield rank in the competition?

I don't really care what people think, the proof of their abilities lies in the ranking. Enough said.

Edited November 27, 201113 yr by Roost It

WE may as well give up now. According to your post we have no midfielders worth a game and the season is shot already

The season is far from shot but our midfield remains our biggest impediment to flag success

Under Neeld -there will be NO CERTAINTEES, every player will have to earn their stripes.

Neeld has told four players that they are required for each match, as good as it gets to 'a certainty'. And it's not who you would expect.

And where did our midfield rank in the competition? Don't look too closely the truth can really hurt.

And so based on the fact that we will have essentially the same midfield as last year, who do you expect is going to push Beamer or Jones out of their positions considering they were two of the best?

The season is far from shot but our midfield remains our biggest impediment to flag success

Totally agree-the big push for our recruitment staff for the 2012 draft ,apart from Viney, is to pick up quality, skilled, possibily experienced midfielders.I think we need Kerr like types.If anyone interstater wants to come home,we should sincerely look at them-a Dangerfield or a Gaff would fit into our list like a glove on a hand.If not we need to vigoursly gain the best -that is available.

Neeld has told four players that they are required for each match, as good as it gets to 'a certainty'. And it's not who you would expect.

Newton, Alistair Nicholson, Fitzy and Todd Viney?

And so based on the fact that we will have essentially the same midfield as last year, who do you expect is going to push Beamer or Jones out of their positions considering they were two of the best?

Grimes, Nicholson, Tapscott, Bate, Bennell, Jetta, Evans, Blease, Mckenzie, Morton, Gysberts, Petterd are all young, keen and if fit and in form will be knocking on the door of that centreline. If not we'll improve very little on last year.

Also I still believe that Watts won't hold a position in the forward line this year on a permanent basis, in fact I think he will only start the game there then get moved up the ground as the game progresses. Thus he will never be a KPP CHF we hoped he would be, far too versatile, a big advantage to us if he keeps developing as versatile players are gold in todays game

Gary Lyon started his career as a wingman before going forward as a CHF then FF.I think he will play mainly as a wingman this year floating all over the ground.

Neeld has told four players that they are required for each match, as good as it gets to 'a certainty'. And it's not who you would expect.

well......who are they then?

you can't post that line without giving further details

Still think Tapscott is a half forward flanker

Can see him kicking 1 -2 goals every game he plays

Think he just needs to be careful on his aggression

A Fit Tapscott could be a nightmare for the opposition