Not necessarily the team I want, but how I think Round 1 will line up.

FB: Garland Dunn Jetta
HB: Salem T McDonald Bugg
C: Tyson Vince vandenBerg
HF: Watts Pedersen Brayshaw
FF: Garlett Hogan Kent
R: Gawn N Jones Viney

I/C: Frost, Lumumba, Kennedy, Petracca

Those in bold obviously have some injury clouds with them and so have been placed on the bench. If they aren't right to go for Round 1, then I think Harmes to come in for Lumumba and Stretch to come in for Petracca.

  On 16/02/2016 at 18:10, Clint Bizkit said:

Frost is better as a defender than a forward and we need him more as a defender than a forward.

 

  On 16/02/2016 at 20:56, ProDee said:

I agree, but he'll be playing forward.  Every training session and MS I've seen has him presenting as a forward.

 

  On 16/02/2016 at 22:19, Clint Bizkit said:

It will be interesting to see if this lasts.

 

  On 16/02/2016 at 23:54, Good Times Grimes said:

I think he play there as a filler until Weideman/Hulett is ready to take over at CHF/FF

 

And if he (Frost) succeeds, then good luck to him and to us all.  It would e great to have such a mobile option.

  On 17/02/2016 at 01:11, monoccular said:

 

 

 

 

And if he (Frost) succeeds, then good luck to him and to us all.  It would e great to have such a mobile option.

As I stated in the training thread, I was really disappointed at the prospect of Frost as a forward, however, I was surprisingly impressed with his performance in the MS, which was enough to have me at least contemplate the idea.

That said, MS is dancing with your Sister.  We'll have a better idea after NAB. 

Jetta I Dunn I Garland

Salem I T. McDonald I Lumumba

Vince I Viney I Brayshaw

vandenBerg I Frost I Kent

Garlett I Hogan I Watts

R: Gawn I Tyson I N. Jones

I: Stretch I Harmes I Petracca I Kennedy

 

No necessarily my team, but my best guess (assuming fitness)

We need speen injected into the team, so Hunt could be a smokey and it may get Kennedy over the line

I don't see Frost and Pedersen in the same 22 EDIT: although no subs will mean it's more likely to occur - I may well be wrong on this

I'm not a fan of Bugg, due to disposal, but he may well get a gig

With just over 1 week until our pre-season opener I reckon at this stage round 1 our team is:

Jetta T McDonald Dunn

Salem Garland White

Vince N Jones Vandenburg

Watts Pederson Kent

Garlett Hogan Brayshaw

Gawn Viney Tyson

Kennedy, Stretch, Bugg, Frost

Guys that aren't full training by now will struggle to make Round 1.

Round 1 team:

 

B               Jetta             Dunn             Garland

HB            Salem        McDonald        Wagner

C               Kent            Tyson              Vince

HF            Petracca       Frost             Kennedy

F               Watts           Hogan            Garlett 

Foll:           Gawn           Jones             Viney

Int:          Brayshaw      Vandenberg     Bugg       Hulett     

 

Pointless exercise to do before NAB challenge but I'm hoping the team will look something like this.

Some reasons being:

* Kicking skills from half-back. Whilst I haven't seen Wagner in the flesh, his key attributes are kicking skills and hardness from what I've read/watched. Whether it's him or White on a flank, I'm thinking we'll see one post NAB challenge. I am still waiting for the day in which I can feel super confident about more than one players kicking skills in our back six. At present it's Salem. And that's not enough if we're going to improve quickly.

* Players who can play dual positions. The importance of this can't be underestimated for obvious reasons and for a team like us who lack speed and kicking skills, we will need as many players as possible on the field who can run play forward, midfield and back.

* Whilst I haven't seen Hulett either, I have a sneaking suspicion we might see him early on in the piece. Especially if we're going to try and look after Gawn. Gawn will need more than forward-line breaks if we want him to play an entire season. And we need him to if we want to see improvement.

* Lastly, many of those names on paper are extremely competitive players. A far different side to a couple of years back. We will need to bring the heat early against a GWS side full of more talented and skillful players at the G. I think our only chance against them is if we jump/intimidate them early on, bring the crowd to life and run away with it on confidence. Players like Viney, Vandenberg, Brayshaw, Jones, Frost, Kent and Hogan will need to be breathing fire from the start. 

 

 

 

 

  On 17/02/2016 at 05:08, stevethemanjordan said:

* Whilst I haven't seen Hulett either, I have a sneaking suspicion we might see him early on in the piece. Especially if we're going to try and look after Gawn. Gawn will need more than forward-line breaks if we want him to play an entire season. And we need him to if we want to see improvement.

 

 

Pedersen is the better option if we need another tall forward to take care of Gawn isn't he? He can either go in to the ruck himself or play as a key forward whilst Frost rucks. Hulett's an interesting prospect but no way would I be rucking him, he's not tall enough and despite impressive muscle definition is still a kid. 

I think part of Frost being in the team is his potential as a good back up ruck giving us some extra pace around the ground but I don't think we will play someone like Hulett to be the extra tall forward. I think Watts and Petracca will have to provide the extra marking power in the forward line.

Round one V GWS:

 Best 22 according to SEN

intra club match had Griffen, Pickett      And Patton all busting serious moves. I doubt we'll see McCartney, so maybe Picket fits in as a small forward. They are looking pretty strong! 

Backs: Matt Buntine | Phil Davis | Nick Haynes
Half Backs: Ryan Griffen | Joel Patfull | Heath Shaw
Centres: Josh Kelly | Callan Ward | Lachie Whitfield
Half Forwards: Rhys Palmer | Jeremy Cameron | Steve Johnson
Forwards: Devon Smith | Jon Patton | Cam McCarthy
Rucks: Shane Mumford | Dylan Shiel | Toby Greene
Interchange: Jacob Hopper | Jack Steele | Stephen Coniglio | Tom Scully

Melbourne:

Backs: Jetta | Dunn| Garland
Half Backs: Salem| McDonald | Grimes
Centres: Vince | Viney| Vandenberg
Half Forwards: Kent | Watts| Brayshaw
Forwards: Garlett| Hogan| Frost
Rucks: Gawn| Jones| Tyson
Interchange: Petracca| Stretch | Kennedy | Lamumba

i really like the idea of Vince off half back and stretch wing. I'm also not sold on Watts at CHF, but, he has the height and the run. 

Love the toughness of the centre line, especially backed up by Kent and Brayshaw. 

Grimes has earned his place and might play a good shut down role on Shaw. 

Anyway food for thought.  I think we march up pretty well. 
 

Christ their team looks good on paper now.

  On 17/02/2016 at 08:37, P-man said:

Christ their team looks good on paper now.

Not a bad thing we've got then in Round 1 at the G.

Roosy was on the AFL Facebook page answering questions this arvo (https://www.facebook.com/AFL/), He was asked about VDB's intended role, he replies "Aaron did have a good first year, and certainly we missed him when he was injured. Hopefully he will play another key role as a forward and at times gets injected into our midfield group". Points to those who had him on the HFF.

  On 17/02/2016 at 09:43, small but forward said:

Not a bad thing we've got then in Round 1 at the G.

If we do win R1 will that count as two in a row? it would of course be GWS two in a row,

I think that both teams will have significantly stronger teams out on the G with up to 8 changes from the Dees team and most likely more from GWS.

  On 17/02/2016 at 05:08, stevethemanjordan said:

Round 1 team:

 

B               Jetta             Dunn             Garland

HB            Salem        McDonald        Wagner

C               Kent            Tyson              Vince

HF            Petracca       Frost             Kennedy

F               Watts           Hogan            Garlett 

Foll:           Gawn           Jones             Viney

Int:          Brayshaw      Vandenberg     Bugg       Hulett     

 

Pointless exercise to do before NAB challenge but I'm hoping the team will look something like this.

Some reasons being:

* Kicking skills from half-back. Whilst I haven't seen Wagner in the flesh, his key attributes are kicking skills and hardness from what I've read/watched. Whether it's him or White on a flank, I'm thinking we'll see one post NAB challenge. I am still waiting for the day in which I can feel super confident about more than one players kicking skills in our back six. At present it's Salem. And that's not enough if we're going to improve quickly.

* Players who can play dual positions. The importance of this can't be underestimated for obvious reasons and for a team like us who lack speed and kicking skills, we will need as many players as possible on the field who can run play forward, midfield and back.

* Whilst I haven't seen Hulett either, I have a sneaking suspicion we might see him early on in the piece. Especially if we're going to try and look after Gawn. Gawn will need more than forward-line breaks if we want him to play an entire season. And we need him to if we want to see improvement.

* Lastly, many of those names on paper are extremely competitive players. A far different side to a couple of years back. We will need to bring the heat early against a GWS side full of more talented and skillful players at the G. I think our only chance against them is if we jump/intimidate them early on, bring the crowd to life and run away with it on confidence. Players like Viney, Vandenberg, Brayshaw, Jones, Frost, Kent and Hogan will need to be breathing fire from the start. 

 

 

 

 

I agree with DeeSpencer with regards to Pedo/Hulett, other than that I think your pretty close to the money with who will be playing. 

Halfback, kicking skills and dual position are vital as you've highlighted. 

I read on FB that Clark wanted a kicking coach at the Hawks in his first year, when told the club couldn't afford one he had it taken out of his wage. (Not sure how true but says a lot if it is.)

 

  On 17/02/2016 at 07:24, Demi Dee said:

Round one V GWS:

 Best 22 according to SEN

intra club match had Griffen, Pickett      And Patton all busting serious moves. I doubt we'll see McCartney, so maybe Picket fits in as a small forward. They are looking pretty strong! 

Backs: Matt Buntine | Phil Davis | Nick Haynes
Half Backs: Ryan Griffen | Joel Patfull | Heath Shaw
Centres: Josh Kelly | Callan Ward | Lachie Whitfield
Half Forwards: Rhys Palmer | Jeremy Cameron | Steve Johnson
Forwards: Devon Smith | Jon Patton | Cam McCarthy
Rucks: Shane Mumford | Dylan Shiel | Toby Greene
Interchange: Jacob Hopper | Jack Steele | Stephen Coniglio | Tom Scully

Melbourne:

Backs: Jetta | Dunn| Garland
Half Backs: Salem| McDonald | Grimes
Centres: Vince | Viney| Vandenberg
Half Forwards: Kent | Watts| Brayshaw
Forwards: Garlett| Hogan| Frost
Rucks: Gawn| Jones| Tyson
Interchange: Petracca| Stretch | Kennedy | Lamumba

i really like the idea of Vince off half back and stretch wing. I'm also not sold on Watts at CHF, but, he has the height and the run. 

Love the toughness of the centre line, especially backed up by Kent and Brayshaw. 

Grimes has earned his place and might play a good shut down role on Shaw. 

Anyway food for thought.  I think we march up pretty well. 
 

So Grimes on a half forward flank?

I don't think Grimes preseason warrants him automatic selection regardless of how good it's been. Let's see if he can back it up during the NAB games, then as we know home and away matches are different again. 

 

  On 17/02/2016 at 07:24, Demi Dee said:

Melbourne:

Backs: Jetta | Dunn| Garland
Half Backs: Salem| McDonald | Grimes
Centres: Vince | Viney| Vandenberg
Half Forwards: Kent | Watts| Brayshaw
Forwards: Garlett| Hogan| Frost
Rucks: Gawn| Jones| Tyson
Interchange: Petracca| Stretch | Kennedy | Lamumba

i really like the idea of Vince off half back and stretch wing. I'm also not sold on Watts at CHF, but, he has the height and the run. 

Love the toughness of the centre line, especially backed up by Kent and Brayshaw. 

Grimes has earned his place and might play a good shut down role on Shaw. 

Anyway food for thought.  I think we march up pretty well. 
 

I'd like to see Harmes play on Shaw again. He did reasonably well against him in round 23 and was able to exploit him in the air when opportunities arose.  

  On 17/02/2016 at 05:35, DeeSpencer said:

Pedersen is the better option if we need another tall forward to take care of Gawn isn't he? He can either go in to the ruck himself or play as a key forward whilst Frost rucks. Hulett's an interesting prospect but no way would I be rucking him, he's not tall enough and despite impressive muscle definition is still a kid. 

I think part of Frost being in the team is his potential as a good back up ruck giving us some extra pace around the ground but I don't think we will play someone like Hulett to be the extra tall forward. I think Watts and Petracca will have to provide the extra marking power in the forward line.

Perhaps, perhaps not. I'm opting to go with Hulett as I've seen enough of Pedo to know he doesn't do it for me. He seems to always come back to pre-season with a winter coat which says to me he doesn't work hard enough. He provides little to no defensive pressure partly because he isn't fit or fast enough. His marking and goal kicking ability on game-day can be anywhere from non-existent to really good. Inconsistency is a big issue for him but we'll see what happens over the NAB challenge.

I think having Frost and Gawn rotating makes sense. But it also makes sense for Gawn to get rest on the pine if we want to look after the big fella. This is his first un-interrupted pre-season and if we want to see a consistent year from him, he'll need more than forward-line breaks.

Which is why I think it's important we have another KPP playing forward and who can also go back if need be. Someone who can take a contested mark. I understand Watts will be down there, but he doesn't play tall and doesn't take pack marks. 

  On 17/02/2016 at 08:37, P-man said:

Christ their team looks good on paper now.

It does. 

It looks stronger, quicker and more skilled than ours.

Which is why we'll need to jump them if we're any chance.

  On 17/02/2016 at 01:32, ProDee said:

Jetta I Dunn I Garland

Salem I T. McDonald I Lumumba

Vince I Viney I Brayshaw

vandenBerg I Frost I Kent

Garlett I Hogan I Watts

R: Gawn I Tyson I N. Jones

I: Stretch I Harmes I Petracca I Kennedy

Even with Roos' obvious love for Lumumba, I'd be surprised if he plays round 1 because of his ankles.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Watts misses out, but the rest of the team looks likely at this stage.

I can easily see Wagner or White competing for one of the halfback positions.

 

  On 17/02/2016 at 07:24, Demi Dee said:

Round one V GWS:

 Best 22 according to SEN

intra club match had Griffen, Pickett      And Patton all busting serious moves. I doubt we'll see McCartney, so maybe Picket fits in as a small forward. They are looking pretty strong! 

Backs: Matt Buntine | Phil Davis | Nick Haynes
Half Backs: Ryan Griffen | Joel Patfull | Heath Shaw
Centres: Josh Kelly | Callan Ward | Lachie Whitfield
Half Forwards: Rhys Palmer | Jeremy Cameron | Steve Johnson
Forwards: Devon Smith | Jon Patton | Cam McCarthy
Rucks: Shane Mumford | Dylan Shiel | Toby Greene
Interchange: Jacob Hopper | Jack Steele | Stephen Coniglio | Tom Scully

....

Cam McCarthy won't be playing

  On 17/02/2016 at 23:32, Clint Bizkit said:

Even with Roos' obvious love for Lumumba, I'd be surprised if he plays round 1 because of his ankles.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Watts misses out, but the rest of the team looks likely at this stage.

I can easily see Wagner or White competing for one of the halfback positions.

 

I know it's a round 1 thread, but I'm not really hung up on "round 1".  I'm notionally talking of a preferred early season team.

I'd be delighted if any one of White, Wagner or Trengove lock down one of the half-back flank positions early in the season.  I have little interest in Lumumba.

 

 

  On 17/02/2016 at 23:40, M_9 said:

Cam McCarthy won't be playing

Did mention that above. 

I'll give it a go

FB - Jetta - Dunn - Garland

HB - Lumumba - T.McDonald - Salem

C - Tyson - Viney - Brayshaw

HF - Vandenberg - Frost - Kent 

FF - Garlett - Hogan - Petracca 

R - Gawn - Jones - Vince

INT - Watts - Bugg - Kennedy - Harmes 

EMG - Stretch - Hunt - Pederson

Watts will play as a 3rd tall

Pederson could earn a call up over Watts, Frost or Harmes

If Lumumba doesnt play, Grimes may come in or put Tyson at HB

Wont see any draftees for atleast the first 6-8 weeks

Dunn vs Patton, T.Mac vs Cameron

Davis vs Hogan - Hoges tares him a new one

Frost helps out in the ruck

Gawn def. Mummy

 

Got NAB challenge soon which could change alot of opinions

 

Eg. nobody had Vandenberg in best 22 until NAB

 

 

 

  On 17/02/2016 at 23:07, Bombay Airconditioning said:

So Grimes on a half forward flank?

I don't think Grimes preseason warrants him automatic selection regardless of how good it's been. Let's see if he can back it up during the NAB games, then as we know home and away matches are different again. 

Whoops! Point noted. Just throwing something up there, that is a little more round one focused. 

Just food for thought, not, hours of labouring over figures and strategy. I'm sure I'll see many holes, or players I forgot. Harmes is point in case, he played a pivotal role in that game last year.  

 

 

  On 17/02/2016 at 23:07, Bombay Airconditioning said:

So Grimes on a half forward flank?

I don't think Grimes preseason warrants him automatic selection regardless of how good it's been. Let's see if he can back it up during the NAB games, then as we know home and away matches are different again. 

 

So that makes eight changes from the team that beat them in the last round..........I didn't count GWS's changes

There  are a lot positions that you could probably lock in. I think positions up for grabs will be the second half back flanker, bench, second tall and maybe half forward flank

The second halk back role could go to: Grimes, White, Wagner, Bugg, Lumumba (injury cloud), Terlich

Bench will consist of a lot of players: Bugg, Kennedy, Petracca (injury cloud), Stretch, Neal-Bullen, Terlich, Harmes, Hunt, 

second half forward flank could be a resting midfielder position. Although Roos said that VanDenBerg will play forward/midfield where as most people have him on a wing...

So here's my go. Its the positions that i expect Roosy to choose - not what i would prefer

Jetta, Dunn, Garland

Salem, McDonald, Grimes

Watts, Tyson, Vince

VanDenBerg, Pedersen, Brayshaw

Garlett, Hogan, Kent

Gawn, Jones, Viney

Bugg, Stretch, Kennedy, Kennedy-Harris

Fairly inexperienced bench that one...Matt Jones might be thrown in there if they wanted more experience