Best 44 for North Melbourne

[WERRIDEE 5,445]

Today North Melbourne tomorrow Port Adelaide

B: Tucker, Corr, Young

HB: Scott, McKay, McDonald

C: Simpkin, Wardlaw, Powell

HF: Sheezel, Logue, Taylor

F: Ziebell, Larkey, Zuhaar

FOLL: Goldstein, Davies-Uniacke, Cunnington

IC: Stephenson, Greenwood, Thomas, Phillips

Reserves

B: Archer, Bonar, Hall

HB: Turner, Dawson, Goater

C: Howe, Sheils, Lazzaro

HF: Mahony, Comben, Curtis

F: George, Edweards, Spicer

FOLL: Coleman-Jones, Harvey, Drury

IC: Xerri, Perez, Ford, Burgman

[DubDee 25,674]

Another spoon coming up. Some good kids but not much else

[whatwhat say what 22,702]

1 hour ago, DubDee said:

Some good kids but not much else

mckay, larkey, zuhaar, goldstein, ldu is a decent experienced five, and i really rate simpkin

they have little quality depth

[John Demonic 5,749]

"Best 44 for North Melbourne" is the moment you realise it's a very long off-season

Edited December 11, 2022 by John Demonic

[In Harmes Way 7,741]

Would Blighty still get a kick?

[The end is nigh 368]

Logue was lured with the promise of playing as a key defender. Wouldn’t expect him to be seen forward (unless you expect this to be like howe to Collingwood)
 

also clearly you don’t rate xerri as high as they do, opting for a 34 yo Goldstein to play one out, and xerri to not even make the field in the second team. 

Edited December 11, 2022 by The end is nigh
Additional

[DeeSpencer 25,487]

FB: Corr Logue McDonald
HB: Hall McKay Tucker
C; Howe Cunnington Taylor
HF: Sheezel CCJ Thomas
FF: Zurhaar Larkey Ziebell
Foll: Goldstein LDU Simpkin
Int: Scott, Shiels, Greenwood, Stephenson 

I think they’ll go with far more experience to start next year. Shiels and Howe should be used to buy some time and provide mature bodies.

Thats a team without Wardlaw, Phillips, Powell, Goater, Comben, Curtis and of course George. Which means they can be allowed to develop at a far more appropriate rate.

Certainly very nice of the afl to give them 2 extra rookie spots to carry veterans and the extra second rounders to bring in Logue and Tucker. We had to trade for Vince and Tyson and use a list spot on Cross and others.

[Nascent 9,111]

2 hours ago, DubDee said:

Another spoon coming up. Some good kids but not much else

Hawks and Eagles are in for real pain next year and could challenge.

[DubDee 25,674]

2 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

mckay, larkey, zuhaar, goldstein, ldu is a decent experienced five, and i really rate simpkin

they have little quality depth

Agree they have some decent players. But still won’t win more than 5 games

[DeeZone 9,699]

They are starting to get some real quality into the team but agree some hard yards yet to come.!!!

[layzie 33,753]

Yep, I see Logue getting a shot down back to start with. 

[WERRIDEE 5,445]

15 hours ago, layzie said:

Yep, I see Logue getting a shot down back to start with. 

Are you saying McKay forward?

[David-Demon 563]

On 12/11/2022 at 3:42 AM, DubDee said:

Another spoon coming up. Some good kids but not much else

That's a harsh comment with respect. Look they have Todd Viney there @ Nth as well as Clarko and their due dilegence is evident this year looking forward...and frankly I wish them well. The cycle of AFL footy Teams changes over time and as players grow old and not replaced with the young they tend to drop off and right now The Saints and Nth are my choices to fill those ageing gaps

[layzie 33,753]

9 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Are you saying McKay forward?

Maybe at Corr's expense, he's played 2 games in 2 years. EDIT: Wiki let me down, played 20 last year. 

Logue has stated how much he wants to play in defence, it would surprise me if he left to join the league's cellar dwellers to play out of position, would like to see him with Mckay down there and the occasional swing up forward. 

Edited December 13, 2022 by layzie

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,778]

A watch for the future but can't see them getting out of the bottom 4 next season.

Sydney Swans were the last side to win 3 spoons in a row (1992-1994) so North supporters would be keen on avoiding that record.

[grazman 7,409]

The market has North pegged as a bottom 2 side, and admittedly I did too until i took a closer look at their list and their draw and I now think that they could actually win somewhere between 6-8 matches this year.  That might even be enough to drag them out of the bottom four... bat [censored] crazy you say... allow me to explain.

Someone at AFL house has a perverse sense of humour.  It's always difficult with the vagaries of the draw based on where they finished the year before rather than what they are capable of the next year,  but last season North had to play the eventual Grand Finalists twice each (bummer) and also GCS who improved markedly while the Hawks and Crows remained stable and didn't slide.  

This year they play the following teams twice: the Hawks  (Hello Alistair meet Sam the man that wanted your job) Dons (Brad meet Alistair the man who didn't want your job), Saints (Alistair  do you know Ross?) Eagles (like North coming off a 2 win season), Suns and Us (bummer).  On paper at least you'd think just from those encounters alone and when they play them that there's a good chance that they could win 4-5 of those 12 matches. Then there's matches in Hobart against the Giants and Suns. 

There's also the David Noble factor last year - and this isn't kicking a bloke when he's down, but it was impossible to know last year exactly whether North had failed to meet the low bar from 2021 because of the list or the coach, but I think there's some very good reasons to think they'll bounce back this year.

 The first is that whilst many are looking at the kids and saying they're too green they'll add 752 games of experience this season in Cunnington, Shiels, Howe, Logue, & Tucker that will play the majority of games to stiffen up the side.   Simpkin, LDU, Powell, Phillips, Sheezel, and Wardlaw are all talents as you'd expect from first round draft picks.  While players like Greenwood, Hall, Corr, and Bonar might not play in a contending side they can all play a role if needed.   Tarryn Thomas hurts, but not too much considering they're coming off a low base. 

The obvious weakness for me  now they have Logue to stiffen their defence is in attack.  They need another tall like Comben to come on to support Larkey and Zurhaar, and while Mahony and Lazzaro are busy smalls they lack the genuine class that they need to be truly effective.  When I compare North on paper I think they are better on paper than both Hawthorn and Essendon and could easily get over both West Coast and St Kilda at the right time of year depending on injuries.  They have the ability to surprise sides - and I'm tipping them to finish 15th. 

Edited February 22, 2023 by grazman

[WERRIDEE 5,445]

I'm tipping North to finish 17th but I agree with you grazman they could surprise and climb up the ladder. They have some good youngsters. Expecting a big year from Davies-Uniacke and a full season from Cunnington can only help them.

[WERRIDEE 5,445]

On 12/11/2022 at 6:00 AM, WERRIDEE said:

Today North Melbourne tomorrow Port Adelaide

B: Bonar, Corr, Young

HB: Scott, McKay, McDonald

C: Simpkin, Sheils, Powell

HF: Sheezel, Logue, Taylor

F: Ziebell, Larkey, Zuhaar

FOLL: Xerri, Davies-Uniacke, Cunnington

IC: Stephenson, Greenwood, Turner, Goater

Reserves

B: Tucker, Archer, Hall

HB: Phillips, Dawson, Thomas

C: Howe, Wardlaw, Lazzaro

HF: Mahony, Comben, Curtis

F: George, Edweards, Spicer

FOLL: Goldstein, Harvey, Drury

IC: Coleman-Jones, Perez, Ford, Burgman, Free

Revised best 44 for North.