2 hours ago, old55 said:

No L.Pickett = no idea.

I assume the person that put the team together didn't see the game or is hiding under a rock.

L Pickett's in the side for round 1. Not only is he going to make our side better than last year but he's been highly marketed by the club.

2 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

I would never wish playing a stinker or getting an injury on any player of ours and nor should you (you’ve put a pox on SpargyPants’ house more than once over the years, don’t deny it!)

Now Ghosty as u know Jeffo one of my favourite Dees, certainly not wanting him to play a stinker OR 😵😵‍💫🤯 Get injured, I was just conjecturing what it would take to get Luther into the side. JEFFO STILL no 1 poll position IMV and its his position to lose( reckon he will go orright Friday🤣😄😎

2 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

I assume the person that put the team together didn't see the game or is hiding under a rock.

L Pickett's in the side for round 1. Not only is he going to make our side better than last year but he's been highly marketed by the club.

Who would you leave out for him? I agree he should play but can’t bring myself to drop someone, haha

FB: Howes Turner Petty

HB: Jiath Lever Salem

C: Langdon Langford X. Lindsey

HF: Fritsch JVR Chandler

FF: Melksham Jeffo Mihocek

Foll: Gawn Steele K. Pickett

Bench: Sparrow, Windsor, Tholstrup, X. Taylor, T. Rivers

3 hours ago, BoBo said:

Who would you leave out for him? I agree he should play but can’t bring myself to drop someone, haha

FB: Howes Turner Petty

HB: Jiath Lever Salem

C: Langdon Langford X. Lindsey

HF: Fritsch JVR Chandler

FF: Melksham Jeffo Mihocek

Foll: Gawn Steele K. Pickett

Bench: Sparrow, Windsor, Tholstrup, X. Taylor, T. Rivers

He offers MUCH more than Chandler! GET HIM IN

Latrelle plays ... we need X-Factor, especially up forward

I or 2 bigs will have to miss out

If JVR & Mihocek are absolute starters, can we play the Moose, Kentfield or Jefferson?(or 2 of the 3?)

We cannot be too top-heavy up forward, not matter how tempting. What happens when the ball hits the deck?

So Jefferson not part of the 23 and for mine, it's Moose or Kentfield

Moose gets the nod because he's a genuine 2nd ruck and with the new ruck rules, he could excel

Kentfield desperately unlucky but we need a more mobile forward line

Other forwards ... Latrelle, Melk (if fit), Fritsch, Kozzie (apart from when used as a mid) Culley (if available) Chandler

Langford & the other X-Factor (Windsor) can drift forward as well. Even Steele

We need our mids kicking goals

12 hours ago, BoBo said:

Who would you leave out for him? I agree he should play but can’t bring myself to drop someone, haha

FB: Howes Turner Petty

HB: Jiath Lever Salem

C: Langdon Langford X. Lindsey

HF: Fritsch JVR Chandler

FF: Melksham Jeffo Mihocek

Foll: Gawn Steele K. Pickett

Bench: Sparrow, Windsor, Tholstrup, X. Taylor, T. Rivers

Sparow

23 hours ago, Roost it far said:

B: Howes Petty Lever

HB: Lindsay Turner Jiath

C: Windsor Steele Langford

HF: Chandler JVR LPickett

F: Mihocek Kentfield Fritsch

R: Gawn Rivers Pickett

I: Culley, Salem, Sparrow, Heath, Langdon

Tholstrup and Sharp in, Salem and Sparrow out. All the rest are good by me.

10 hours ago, picket fence said:

He offers MUCH more than Chandler! GET HIM IN

It’s probably a good call but I don’t think Chandler has been bad so it would be harsh IMO. I’ll be interested to see how Chandler and Sparrow go under Kingy. They might take a little step up! We’ll see.

10 hours ago, picket fence said:

He offers MUCH more than Chandler! GET HIM IN

I was hoping we'd have removed the target off Chandler by now, he'll have a good season this year

3 minutes ago, BoBo said:

It’s probably a good call but I don’t think Chandler has been bad so it would be harsh IMO. I’ll be interested to see how Chandler and Sparrow go under Kingy. They might take a little step up! We’ll see.

21 minutes ago, roy11 said:

I was hoping we'd have removed the target off Chandler by now, he'll have a good season this year

Progressing well is Chandler, gets better every season

12 hours ago, BoBo said:

Who would you leave out for him? I agree he should play but can’t bring myself to drop someone, haha

FB: Howes Turner Petty

HB: Jiath Lever Salem

C: Langdon Langford X. Lindsey

HF: Fritsch JVR Chandler

FF: Melksham Jeffo Mihocek

Foll: Gawn Steele K. Pickett

Bench: Sparrow, Windsor, Tholstrup, X. Taylor, T. Rivers

that's a very tall line-up; i would expect el jefe and taylor might not make the 23, and tholstrup is borderline too

mine:
B: Jiath - Petty - Lever
HB: Linsday - Turner - Salem
C: Langford - Steele - Howes
HF: Fritsch - Mihocek - Langdon
F: van Rooyen - Melksham - Chandler
Foll: Gawn - Rivers - Koz Pickett
I/c: Windsor - Tholstrup - Heath - Sparrow - Kuz Pickett
Emerg: Taylor - McDonald - Kentfield

but still a fair bit to play out before the seasons starts in earnest obviously

19 minutes ago, roy11 said:

I was hoping we'd have removed the target off Chandler by now, he'll have a good season this year

yep, he's one of our more consistent players and a clear leader around the group

12 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

mine:
B: Jiath - Petty - Lever
HB: Lindsay - Turner - Salem
C: Langford - Steele - Howes
HF: Fritsch - Mihocek - Langdon
F: van Rooyen - Melksham - Chandler
Foll: Gawn - Rivers - Koz Pickett
I/c: Windsor - Tholstrup - Heath - Sparrow - Kuz Pickett
Emerg: Taylor - McDonald - Kentfield

I'd replace Melksham with Kentfield if he plays OK on Friday. Will Petty be fit? If not, debut Taylor or add McDonald.

Unlike others, I wouldn't drop Sparrow. I think he might come into his own this year as a strong midfielder now that Petracca and Oliver have gone.

1 hour ago, mauriesy said:

I'd replace Melksham with Kentfield if he plays OK on Friday. Will Petty be fit? If not, debut Taylor or add McDonald.

at this stage, i want milkshake's "smarts" in the team more than i want to see kentfield debut

it's either him or moose for a bench spot imo

B: Jiath - Petty - Lever

HB: Lindsay - Turner - Salem

C: Langford - Steele - Langdon

HF: Fritsch - Mihocek - L. Pickett

F: Melksham - Kentfield- Chandler

Foll: Gawn - Rivers - K. Pickett

I/c: Windsor - Howes - Heath - Sparrow - X. Taylor

It was raining goals and forward entries in the match sim but yet again JVR had limited scoreboard impact or much influence (after a bright start).

If King is going to announce every position is up for grabs then JVR must be borderline. We were 5-2 without him in 2025, including our 3 best wins. His one wood is crashing packs, not his leading (his words not mine) but that's exactly what Mihocek brings now. Kentfield brings an x factor, sticky hands and a well timed vertical leap. Impressed JVR has slimmed down and maybe he finds a few marks this weekend but based on last years output, a meh first match sim and this new style of play I'm not positive he is best 23 in this team. He got a lot of games last year as the 2nd ruckman but with Heath showing promise, I really think his spot is in jeopardy. I hope he does well this weekend and shows me the middle finger.

Edited February 25Feb 25 by Jjrogan

4 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

at this stage, i want milkshake's "smarts" in the team more than i want to see kentfield debut

it's either him or moose for a bench spot imo

I'm just not sure about Melksham's match-ready fitness.

21 minutes ago, mauriesy said:

I'm just not sure about Melksham's match-ready fitness.

yeah i get that

i am presuming at this stage he'll be good to go, as per petty getting the key defender spot over mcdonald pending fitness

8 hours ago, hank said:

Tholstrup and Sharp in, Salem and Sparrow out. All the rest are good by me.

The only way Sharp and Tholstrup play in front of Sparrow or Salem is if their form improves very dramatically. Sharp’s VFL standard in all aspects bar pace and currently Tholstrup is VFL standard in all aspects.

Edited February 25Feb 25 by Roost it far

If we can achieve a consistent fast-paced offense, then our X-Factor forward line can excel

I've only got the 2 bigs up forward (Mihocek & JVR) but it's the mediums and smalls that have the X-Factor

(Rotating) Fritsch, Latrelle, Melk, Culley, Kozzie & Chandler can wreak havoc

Langford, Windsor & Steele can drift forward and score as well

On 25/01/2026 at 13:19, picket fence said:

Ok so thought I would start a posters rolling best 23 based on training form, injuries and tend to have gut feel about the makeup of the team, feel free to contribute given current knowledge and opinions. Currently this is my round 1 team

B Lever, Petty, Jiath

H.B Taylor Disco, Salem

C Langdon, Langford, Windsor

H.F Fritta, JVR, Sparrow

F Jeffo, Mihocek, L.Picket

R Max, Culley, Kossy,

Inter, Rivers, Heath, Steele, Mentha,Lindsay

Thats it

Where’s Chin?!?! Otherwise.. Like it a lot! Hoping Taylor winds up in as the small def myself but feels like Kolt is current pick alongside Salo..also seems Mentha not quite there yet based on Sim but hope he scrapes in!

B: Lever Petty Salem

HB: Jiath Disco Kolt

C: Langford Windsor Culley

HF: Fritta JVR Trelly

F: Heath Checkers Chandler

R: Gawn Steele Kos

I: Howes, Rivers, Spazz, Langdon, Lindsay

On Verge: Melky, Mentha, Taylor, Jeffo, Sharp, Laurie, Sharp, Adams

Edited February 25Feb 25 by Tolstoys Nudge

R1:

FB: CJ Lever Petty
HB: Lindsay Disco Salem
C: Langdon Steele Langford
HF: L. Pickett JVR K. Pickett
FF: Fritsch Miohcek Chandler
R: Gawn Windsor Rivers
INT: Howes Sparrow Melksham Culley ?

Inj: Viney, Culley (?), Jefferson, Kentfield

Melky to play with no Kentfield or Jeffo available - does Heath come back into the equation?

Is Culley any chance to be available?

Has Kolt or Laurie done enough?

Struggling to name a fifth

26 minutes ago, adonski said:

R1:

FB: CJ Lever Petty
HB: Lindsay Disco Salem
C: Langdon Steele Langford
HF: L. Pickett JVR K. Pickett
FF: Fritsch Miohcek Chandler
R: Gawn Windsor Rivers
INT: Howes Sparrow Melksham Culley ?

Inj: Viney, Culley (?), Jefferson, Kentfield

Melky to play with no Kentfield or Jeffo available - does Heath come back into the equation?

Is Culley any chance to be available?

Has Kolt or Laurie done enough?

Struggling to name a fifth

Agree Adonski,, THE MOOSE is now a MUST others to be considered are X Taylor and lets see what Tommygun offers tommorrow