1 hour ago, P-man said:

Not gonna lie. Bennell would make these lineups look a lot sexier.

Sure would, but given he's probably only 50% chance of joining us, then has to get through preseason to get on the park he'd be about 1% chance of being out there in round 1. 

If we have 1 of 3 of Vanders, KK and Bennell out there and playing well it would be a good result.

In recent years we have matched up and performed well at Optus.

Its has been out efficiency that has let us down (Here and the whole season).

Should be cracker first game of the year.

Presumably all fit excluding Vandenburg , KK and Joel Smith. 

Jetta May Lever

Hibberd Petty Salem

Langdon Viney Brayshaw 

Petracca Tmcd Melksham 

Fritsch Weideman Hannan

Gawn Harmes Oliver

Tomlinson NJones ANB Hore 

emerg. Preuss, Hunt JWagner 

depth. Omcd Baker Spargo Sparrow Nietschke Bedford Jordan 

rookies Chandler Dunkley Cwagner Lockhart bradtke 

thats 40 - depth looks thin given the recent delistings and retirements 

still 6 more to add which I think should be 3 DFA/state league recruits and 3 youngsters through the national draft 

If we end up with Young and Murray as a DFA, we'll have stocked up on left footers.

Of the likely left footers for Round 1, we'd have:

May, Hibberd, Salem, Young, Murray, Fritsch, Viney, Hannan and maybe even Hore as well.

9 in your 22 is unusually high. The Bulldogs could argue they could have 10 in their best 22, otherwise really only North, St Kilda and Collingwood are anywhere near that number - they could probably field 6-8 players in their best 22 who are left footers. 

Does this mean anything? Probably not, but a tidbit nevertheless.

is there any shot bennell will be fit for rd 1? 

15 hours ago, A F said:

If we end up with Young and Murray as a DFA, we'll have stocked up on left footers.

Of the likely left footers for Round 1, we'd have:

May, Hibberd, Salem, Young, Murray, Fritsch, Viney, Hannan and maybe even Hore as well.

9 in your 22 is unusually high. The Bulldogs could argue they could have 10 in their best 22, otherwise really only North, St Kilda and Collingwood are anywhere near that number - they could probably field 6-8 players in their best 22 who are left footers. 

Does this mean anything? Probably not, but a tidbit nevertheless.

Having left footers is the biggest myth towards being a balanced side i have ever seen.

1) most players can kick with either foot

2) if they can't kick with the left, which all of them can, they would just handball, if they can't, they would just turn back in and get a kick on the right foot anyway.

3) the idea that left footers are better kicks is like believing left hand golfers are better.

This isn't cricket where they can bowl to your non preferred side.

7 hours ago, Wrecker45 said:

Having left footers is the biggest myth towards being a balanced side i have ever seen.

1) most players can kick with either foot

2) if they can't kick with the left, which all of them can, they would just handball, if they can't, they would just turn back in and get a kick on the right foot anyway.

3) the idea that left footers are better kicks is like believing left hand golfers are better.

This isn't cricket where they can bowl to your non preferred side.

I didn't talk about balance at all. I called it a tidbit.

B) Jetta   May  Lever

HB) Hibberd Petty  Harmes

C) Langdon   Brayshaw  Tomlinson

HF) Petracca Weideman Melksham

F) Fritsch   T Mac     Hunt

Foll) Gawn  Oliver  Viney

Int) N Jones, Hannan, Lockhart, Salem

I would have Smith and VDB in the side but who knows with their injuries??

 

On 11/5/2019 at 11:54 AM, A F said:

I didn't talk about balance at all. I called it a tidbit.

Far too many assumptions by wrecker45 in his non preferred foot analysis. In an ideal world (theory) yes most options could be done but I estimate about 40/50% cannot kick on their non preferred foot reasonably and as for turning back into trouble as an outlet it is happening less and less especially in heavy traffic.

Think of Melbourne as an example and we are not blessed with genuine players who are adequate.

What I will say is I believe that Left footers are more likely to succeed without a reasonable right foot than their opposite numbers are with a left.

Perhaps this Left foot surplus at the Dees does give some small advantage. Hawks always appeared to have it in those 2007/2016 years with their kicking game.

 

4 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

B) Jetta   May  Lever

HB) Hibberd Petty  Harmes

C) Langdon   Brayshaw  Tomlinson

HF) Petracca Weideman Melksham

F) Fritsch   T Mac     Hunt

Foll) Gawn  Oliver  Viney

Int) N Jones, Hannan, Lockhart, Salem

I would have Smith and VDB in the side but who knows with their injuries??

 

Not sure why, but our best 22 looks so weak to me. How similar is this to 2018 finals, because we've only added players (and I rate may, Langdon, tomlinson) but it just looks like a poor squad. Petty chb? Harmes is a mid, hunt up forward? Maybe the negativity of 2019 has scarred me

24 minutes ago, tappysquads said:

Not sure why, but our best 22 looks so weak to me. How similar is this to 2018 finals, because we've only added players (and I rate may, Langdon, tomlinson) but it just looks like a poor squad. Petty chb? Harmes is a mid, hunt up forward? Maybe the negativity of 2019 has scarred me

My side is specific for round 1, not necessarily our official best 22.

1) Petty might not necessarily be in our best 22 but he may be needed to counter West Coast’s tall forward line, seeing as though we’ve lost Frost.

2) Agreed, Harmes is more of a mid, but on paper Viney, Brayshaw and Oliver get first dibs as inside mids. Plus Harmes looked quite good in defence in rd 23.

3) Hunt, Hannan and Lockhart in my side highlight our dire need for a small forward. We may end up sacrificing best available by drafting a small fwd at pick 8. This also leads to me think  Garlett’s departure was more of a retirement than a delisting, as I feel we still need his services.

Furthermore, I think we miss the goal kicking nous of Watts, Kent and Garlett but they ain’t coming back.

4) I strongly believe VDB and J Smith would greatly improve this 22, by adding a bit of X-factor to our fwd line. Hope they’re available round 1.

5) I agree, it’s not a great 22. Some years it’s hard to do a 22 because if feels as though we’ve had good depth. Next year’s 22 feels the opposite - hard to do a 22 as there’s players with question marks - Petty, Lockhart, Hannan, Weed, Hunt, Tomlinson and even Salem (who I don’t rate as much as others. Great at the 25 mtr stab passes, but what else?

Edited November 10, 20195 yr by Bring-Back-Powell

4 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

My side is specific for round 1, not necessarily our official best 22.

1) Petty might not necessarily be in our best 22 but he may be needed to counter West Coast’s tall forward line, seeing as though we’ve lost Frost.

2) Agreed, Harmes is more of a mid, but on paper Viney, Brayshaw and Oliver get first dibs as inside mids. Plus Harmes looked quite good in defence in rd 23.

3) Hunt, Hannan and Lockhart in my side highlight our dire need for a small forward. We may end up sacrificing best available by drafting a small fwd at pick 8. This also leads to me think  Garlett’s departure was more of a retirement than a delisting, as I feel we still need his services.

Furthermore, I think we miss the goal kicking nous of Watts, Kent and Garlett but they ain’t coming back.

4) I strongly believe VDB and J Smith would greatly improve this 22, by adding a bit of X-factor to our fwd line. Hope they’re available round 1.

5) I agree, it’s not a great 22. Some years it’s hard to do a 22 because if feels as though we’ve had good depth. Next year’s 22 feels the opposite - hard to do a 22 as there’s players with question marks - Petty, Lockhart, Hannan, Weed, Hunt, Tomlinson and even Salem (who I don’t rate as much as others. Great at the 25 mtr stab passes, but what else?

After a poor season, either our players are not as good as we thought, or shot on confidence and at best not up to scratch on fitness - we probably had close to worst record for 4th quarters in the AFL highlighting lack of fitness! These probably combine to us rating many players a level below their actual capability.

It felt difficult last year fitting in players for round one, so let’s hope last years form was an aberration and we see a lift across the whole team in 2020. Hopefully we can find a small forward in the draft who can make the grade in 2020, that would help as this seems to be the one area we haven’t addressed at all, but a lot of improvement has to come from within, a much better run with injuries will help. Improved fitness and more run via Langdon and Tomlinson should certainly help the Demons in 2020!

 

8 hours ago, tappysquads said:

Not sure why, but our best 22 looks so weak to me. How similar is this to 2018 finals, because we've only added players (and I rate may, Langdon, tomlinson) but it just looks like a poor squad. Petty chb? Harmes is a mid, hunt up forward? Maybe the negativity of 2019 has scarred me

 

Our list as it stands is very average.

Hitting a home run with picks 3 and 8, and getting Bennell up and running,  would change that instantly.

9 hours ago, JakovichScissorKick said:

 

Our list as it stands is very average.

Hitting a home run with picks 3 and 8, and getting Bennell up and running,  would change that instantly.

Yep, seems like we spent years building, then all of a sudden the list stinks again. Can't be the case. 

I guess from last year's horror you can pretty much add these players as recruits- Hannan (contributed 2018),  TMac (played injured all 2019), Jetta (hardly played), Lever (8 games,never got going), Langdon, Tomlinson, pick 3, pick 8, Bennel, Smith, AVB and we only got a broken up half a year out of Weed, Melksham and May.

That's the positive view

Surprised no one has pick 97 in there best 22. 

FB:   Jetta.  May.   Hibberd.  

HB:   Young.  Lever.   Salem

Mid.  Langdon.  Viney.  Tomlison

HF.  Petracca.   Weid.   Melksham 

FF.  Fritsch.  T Mac.  Bennell

R:  Gawn.  Oliver.  Brayshaw 

Int:   Harmes, Hunt, Jones, P8

It’s actually a fairly strong 22 if in form but there are some fair dinkum “what if’s” in this squad that it’s still worrying.

Will Viney, Jetta and Hibberd get back in form? And we’re our forwards in TMac and Weid one hit wonders?

Will Young (assuming) become a Nick Haynes or a James Strauss?

We’ve seen what nearly every player in this squad can/has done so if we’re fit and not a top 6 team this year I’ll be asking serious questions

 

18 hours ago, tappysquads said:

Yep, seems like we spent years building, then all of a sudden the list stinks again. Can't be the case. 

I guess from last year's horror you can pretty much add these players as recruits- Hannan (contributed 2018),  TMac (played injured all 2019), Jetta (hardly played), Lever (8 games,never got going), Langdon, Tomlinson, pick 3, pick 8, Bennel, Smith, AVB and we only got a broken up half a year out of Weed, Melksham and May.

That's the positive view

Not sure I would be counting Hannan or AVB in the team. I somehow think their injuries could be career ending. Joel Smith could easily join that pair. Wiederman also may not recover his 4 game form. So I would agree  we are still thin on talent to make a really competitive 22.

16 hours ago, Deeko2 said:

And we’re our forwards in TMac and Weid one hit wonders?

If that's the case, we're not winning more than 5 games next year.

We don't have any other established key forwards which is concerning. 

Those JLT games or whatever they call the comp will have some real meaning next year.

As I have mentioned on other posts I see the first two rounds as one game selection wise with it being essential that we deliver one win.

I'd be guided by the weather forecast. If it's 35 degrees or the like predicted for Perth make the selections accordingly.

The list is really flakey on so many counts particularly up forward.

FB: Jetta - May - Lever

HB: Salem - McDonald - Hibberd 

MID: Langdon - Viney - Tomlinson 

HF: Petracca - McDonald - Bennell

FF: Melksham - Weideman - Fritsch 

R: Gawn - Oliver - Harmes 

INT: Brayshaw - Petty - Young - Hunt

 

Depth: Sparrow - Lockhart - Pruess - Baker - Smith - Vandenberg - Hannah - Pick 8 - preseason draft pick 2  

 

With all the doom and gloom that came with the 2019 season, I genuinely think that this club can take a huge step forward this year if we have a solid pre season with a healthy list. 

Ive been a bit optimistic with my 22 (including Bennell and young before they’ve been picked up and weideman still unproven). This was just to show how good our side can look with a bit of luck and good health. It’s easy to forget how well a lot of these players played in 2018. I am very excited for this season. 

 

 

On 11/11/2019 at 9:34 PM, Deeko2 said:

...........

Will Viney, Jetta and Hibberd get back in form? And we’re our forwards in TMac and Weid one hit wonders?

Will Young (assuming) become a Nick Haynes or a James Strauss?

We’ve seen what nearly every player in this squad can/has done so if we’re fit and not a top 6 team this year I’ll be asking serious questions

 

One out of two. 

Most years round one throws up a surprise selection or 2.

My 2 surprise inclusions; Dunkley and OMac.

Obviously it is just a dream team at the moment and VDB, Smith and Bennell would have a lot of work to do.

But if fit, they are all very worthy first-22 members.

KK is almost in same boat.

Happy with trial of Harmes as defender because we need a right-footer with pace coming out, but suspect he will be needed in midfield after a few weeks. 

FB: Lever - May - Salem

HB: Harmes - Smith - Hibberd 

MID: Langdon - Vandenberg - Bennell 

HF: Petracca - Petty - Hunt

FF: Melksham - T.Mac - Fritsch 

R: Gawn - Oliver - Viney 

INT: Brayshaw - Tomlinson - Jetta - ANB

Depth: Jones - Sparrow - Lockhart - Pruess - Baker - Hannan - Dunkley - KK - Weideman - two high picks  

Looking at the teams suggested above reinforces my view that we will miss Frost. 

I don't see Lever as a CHB. Just not big enough for the Darling/Kennedy types and that type of role diminishes his intercept/run ability.

Petty? He has size and potential but is still unproven - a big ask.

Oscar? Well … Oscar is Oscar. Played some good footy in 2018 but not worth a cracker this year. Which one  will turn up in 2020?

Who else might fill that slot?

I look at Lever and am reminded of Warren Dean, a very good wing or half back but he was played in the spine and although tall enough his body wasnt cut out for it and injuries claimed him.