There is now such a queue of talent waiting in the wings:

Hunt

J.Smith

Tomlinson

Weideman

Daw

Dunstan

Baker

Bedford

Chandler

Melksham

Laurie

Rosman

S. Smith

plus the 4 new recruits.

If we are blessed by the Injury Gods again, the fight for positions should be intense.

 

 

 

I thought this was going to be about the wingers club.

There is alot of talent waiting to come in and I'm sure there is another Bowser up our sleeves with JT recruiting but given we put on show the biggest demolition in just over a 1/4 in GF history I don't think any of the current players would be concerned about their spot.

2 hours ago, dieter said:

If we are blessed by the Injury Gods again, the fight for positions should be intense.

 

I don't think we'll ever be blessed to the extent we were in 2021.

Hopefully blokes like Weid, J Smith, Hunt, Dunstan, Melksham and Tomlinson can slot in seamlessly the way Petty and Bowey did in 2021.

3 hours ago, Wrecker46 said:

I thought this was going to be about the wingers club.

There is alot of talent waiting to come in and I'm sure there is another Bowser up our sleeves with JT recruiting but given we put on show the biggest demolition in just over a 1/4 in GF history I don't think any of the current players would be concerned about their spot.

Au contraire - I would hope that each and every one was.

Realistically, the wing options we have are:

Langdon

Brayshaw

Baker

Rosman

Howes

None of the others on that list have ever proven themselves to play on the wing, or would have the running capacity to do the role.

Of that list, I don't think Baker's disposal is good enough and for him to become a realistic option he needs to get a lot better in that area.

Howes is very light on at the moment, so I would be surprised to see him play much this season, especially early in the year.

Rosman looks like the most likely to get a crack on the wing next should we need to shuffle things around.

Edit - I think we could also add ANB to that list, as he absolutely has the running ability to play the role.

Edited December 14, 20213 yr by Action Jackson

2 hours ago, Action Jackson said:

Realistically, the wing options we have are:

Langdon

Brayshaw

Baker

Rosman

Howes

None of the others on that list have ever proven themselves to play on the wing, or would have the running capacity to do the role.

Of that list, I don't think Baker's disposal is good enough and for him to become a realistic option he needs to get a lot better in that area.

Howes is very light on at the moment, so I would be surprised to see him play much this season, especially early in the year.

Rosman looks like the most likely to get a crack on the wing next should we need to shuffle things around.

Edit - I think we could also add ANB to that list, as he absolutely has the running ability to play the role.

Jordon played a fair bit on the wing also. Our new recruits Woey jnr, McVee and AMW can also play there... so we have plenty of options. 

.

Edited December 14, 20213 yr by Mach5

Sweethearts, this is about 'Waiting in the Wings'. For once, I erred on the side of brevity. There are many well-credentialed vultures waiting to take the places of - Hibberd, Harmes, McDonald etc...

Does youse get my drift?

2 hours ago, dieter said:

Sweethearts, this is about 'Waiting in the Wings'. For once, I erred on the side of brevity. There are many well-credentialed vultures waiting to take the places of - Hibberd, Harmes, McDonald etc...

Does youse get my drift?

To be fair, I would not put us up there as having good reliable wings.

For starters we demons are not known for flying. In the league there a number of bird teams like the eagles, hawks, crows, magpies, and, perhaps the biggest wings of those birds, the swans. These would already beat us. I would say the second best wings would be the saints as they can sustain what should be human weight to fly. But the best wings in the comp would have to be the bombers. Have you ever seen one? Massive.

That's not even to mention the suns who are the known enemies of the wings club after taking out one of history most well known flyers in icarus. 

Edited December 14, 20213 yr by Deefiant

12 hours ago, dieter said:

There is now such a queue of talent waiting in the wings:

Hunt

J.Smith

Tomlinson

Weideman

Daw

Dunstan

Baker

Bedford

Chandler

Melksham

Laurie

Rosman

S. Smith

plus the 4 new recruits.

If we are blessed by the Injury Gods again, the fight for positions should be intense.

 

 

 

~5 of those are AFL quality. A couple could be in the future given some game time. 

Injuries will test us. No doubt

Depth can often appear good until it is truly tested.

If we cast our mind back to 2020, many here were lamenting the performances of Baker, Smith, Bedford, Chandler, Melksham, the Weed, etc.

Of the guys listed Hunt, Tomlinson and perhaps Dunstan have shown they are up to it. M. Brown, Smith, Melk, the Weed and Daw may be able to fill a short-term need. 

But I'd rather our depth wasn't tested next year! Few injuries and supreme fitness was perhaps the biggest factor in us winning the flag.

9 hours ago, dieter said:

Sweethearts, this is about 'Waiting in the Wings'. For once, I erred on the side of brevity. There are many well-credentialed vultures waiting to take the places of - Hibberd, Harmes, McDonald etc...

Does youse get my drift?

Ahhhh I see.... I misread that.

Well then I agree with what you sad, we have strong depth all over the ground.

On a recent AFL site list review they mentioned potentially being light on for key talls, but thinking about it the options we have are pretty decent.

B Brown - our number 1 KPF

McDonald - very hand 2nd KPF

Weideman - could overtake TMac if he gets some confidence and plays to his potential

Jackson - could play as a permanent key forward if we needed him to

Van Rooyen - looks to be very solid for an 18 year old and could play games next year

M Brown - handy back up to the back ups

I don't think there would be many sides out there with much better KPF depth to be honest.

19 minutes ago, Action Jackson said:

Ahhhh I see.... I misread that.

Well then I agree with what you sad, we have strong depth all over the ground.

On a recent AFL site list review they mentioned potentially being light on for key talls, but thinking about it the options we have are pretty decent.

B Brown - our number 1 KPF

McDonald - very hand 2nd KPF

Weideman - could overtake TMac if he gets some confidence and plays to his potential

Jackson - could play as a permanent key forward if we needed him to

Van Rooyen - looks to be very solid for an 18 year old and could play games next year

M Brown - handy back up to the back ups

I don't think there would be many sides out there with much better KPF depth to be honest.

Not sure whether this was just about forwards, but one of Tomlinson and Petty will probably miss most weeks, and I do like the look of Turner as well.

Daw is as good a back-up for ruck/2nd ruck-fwd as anyone else has playing in their two's as well.

9 hours ago, DubDee said:

~5 of those are AFL quality. A couple could be in the future given some game time. 

Injuries will test us. No doubt

Of course we would all prefer no injuries, but one man's injury is another's opportunity, and I think our next level development is better that it has ever been, despite the total dogs' dinner that was VFL 2020 & 2021.

 Bowey and Petty  are prime examples of this.

Proven at AFL standard:
- JJ, Hunt, Tomlinson

Can cover a role:
- Dunstan, Weid, M. Brown, Daw, Melksham, Bedford, Chandler, Baker, J. Smith

Kids:
Laurie, Rosman, Turner, D. Smith, JVR, Howes, Woey, McVee, AMW

 

The guys in bold are the ones I think have a real chance to push their case in 2022 as genuine depth. If they break in to the side they might be able to hold a spot for weeks on end rather than just getting a look in on a short term basis. That's the kind of players we need to get to a squad of 30+ to cover a reasonable number of injuries.

I'm harsh on Dunstan, he's probably not that far off but I'd like to see him in our system. Weid's 2020 was very close to establishing himself. Chandler has talent if he can find a niche. Just like the footy department I can't give up on Joel Smith.

Then from the young guys I expect Laurie to push his case strongly at Casey if he gets a consistent run at it. Deakyn Smith has strong lockdown defensive traits if he can make another big leap over summer improving his ball use and physical traits he might surprise.

10 hours ago, Deefiant said:

To be fair, I would not put us up there as having good reliable wings.

For starters we demons are not known for flying. In the league there a number of bird teams like the eagles, hawks, crows, magpies, and, perhaps the biggest wings of those birds, the swans. These would already beat us. I would say the second best wings would be the saints as they can sustain what should be human weight to fly. But the best wings in the comp would have to be the bombers. Have you ever seen one? Massive.

That's not even to mention the suns who are the known enemies of the wings club after taking out one of history most well known flyers in icarus. 

If you seen dem Demons flying after they was 19 points down, you'd swear dey didn't need no wings to fly anyhow. Man, dey were  Rockets!!!

45 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

- Dunstan,

I think he really belongs in the proven at the standard list.

Doesn't make him a walk up by any means but he can play AFL, just that Ratten wasn't a fan.

8 hours ago, dee-tox said:

Depth can often appear good until it is truly tested.

If we cast our mind back to 2020, many here were lamenting the performances of Baker, Smith, Bedford, Chandler, Melksham, the Weed, etc.

Of the guys listed Hunt, Tomlinson and perhaps Dunstan have shown they are up to it. M. Brown, Smith, Melk, the Weed and Daw may be able to fill a short-term need. 

But I'd rather our depth wasn't tested next year! Few injuries and supreme fitness was perhaps the biggest factor in us winning the flag.

They were also lamenting Petty, Bowey was a totally unknown quantity, Fritsch was written ill of, Hibberd was over the hill, May was a dud, Lever was a dud once  - I'm simply quoting the Thomas' on this site - Viney was useless, Mc Donald could no longer get a kick, Ben Brown was a dud, and on it went. 

The bottom line is that with athletes it can sometimes take a while, and there are/were the coaches who don't expect to see the best from a player until he's played 80 games etc.

Then there are the freaks like Ablett, Oliver, Flower, Hardeman and Alves...

That's what's great about human potential: most of us can achieve many things if we really put our heart and soul into the effort.

8 hours ago, dee-tox said:

Depth can often appear good until it is truly tested.

 

Depends who goes down.
No one can cover their big guns.

52 minutes ago, rjay said:

I think he really belongs in the proven at the standard list.

Doesn't make him a walk up by any means but he can play AFL, just that Ratten wasn't a fan.

I’ll admit I’m harsh on him, he’s a proven competitor at AFL level, it’s just a matter of efficiency and role. Even a positive outlook probably has him covering one of our big 3 mids more than taking a rotation spot. I don’t see any versatility to play forward or wing.

Then again If he gets the Choco treatment on his kicking and some increased fitness he could be a fairly different proposition. 

This thread makes me hungry.