Our best 22

[sharpie]

Here's the scenario. Round 1 next year. No injuries. We've picked up a decent FB or CHB in the trading period. How is our best 22 looking? Here's my suggestion:

FF: Schneider Doyle O'Loughlin
HF: Davis Hall Goodes
C: Williams Maxfield Kennelly
HB: Barry [new CHB] Saddington
FB: Fixter Schauble C.Bolton
Fol:Ball Kirk J.Bolton
Int: Mathews Crouch Fosdike O'Keefe
Emerg: James Roberts-Thompson McVeigh

That has got to be a pretty exciting combination.

[Craig]

Not too bad at all.

I think that James or LRT would come into the team and could help fill a defensive position. The only other change is that McVeigh still has a while to go before he will be in our best 22. I would have Sunny or Nog in ahead of him.

Isn't it good to see a Swans team that doesn't lack talls,
Ball, Doyal, Goodes, LRT ...bring it on!

[sharpie]

Originally posted by Craig
Not too bad at all.

I think that James or LRT would come into the team and could help fill a defensive position. The only other change is that McVeigh still has a while to go before he will be in our best 22. I would have Sunny or Nog in ahead of him.

Isn't it good to see a Swans team that doesn't lack talls,
Ball, Doyal, Goodes, LRT ...bring it on!

I thought the same about LRT or James, but in that side, Saddo and C.Bolton are already the 3rd & 4th tall defenders. This is a hug improvement on this years side, where these guys were taking the 2nd tall forward. No teams, not even Hawthorn or Richmond, have that many tall forwards to contain.

[motorace_182]

I would have Sunny or Nog in ahead of him.

Sorry but i cant see Sunny in the Red and White next year, he just doesnt cut it. NOG will stay, has shown a fair bit, why not have LRT cos Macca will take about half a year of reserves again before being considered

[Swansinger]

Re: Our best 22

Originally posted by sharpie
Here's the scenario. Round 1 next year. No injuries. We've picked up a decent FB or CHB in the trading period. How is our best 22 looking? Here's my suggestion:

Int: Mathews Crouch Fosdike O'Keefe
Emerg: James Roberts-Thompson McVeigh

That has got to be a pretty exciting combination.

Crouch on the bench ?? Look , I didn't used to be a fan of his , but lately I've come to appreciate his contribution more.
He had a good game last night by limiting Slackermanis , and not for the first time.
He is in our best 18.

[undy]

Thewlis instead of McVeigh.

Mal Michael instead of [CHB] (has MM re-signed yet ?)

[sharp9]

Re: Our best 22

FF: Schneider O'Loughlin O'Keefe

HF: Davis Hall Williams

C: Goodes Kirk Kennelly

HB: Barry Roberts-Thompson Saddington

FB: Fixter Schauble C.Bolton

Fol: Ball J.Bolton Maxfield

Int: Doyle, Mathews, Crouch, James
Emerg: Fosdike, Ablett, Stevens

I am assuming we do not have the luxury of a new recruit to go straight into the 22.

So my changes would see O'Keefe and LRT in the 18. Why mess with our forward line? Micky and Baz plus genuine crumbing power in Schneider and the either/or of O'Keefe. Then you've got goal-kicking half forward/midfielders in Willo and Davis.

My piece of resistance, though, is Goodes in the centreline, not rucking but clearing or receiving. he is then in perfect position to do his usual thing of drfting forward or dropping back, depending on who wins the ball. Considering hwe won't be stuffed from rucking he should be able to out Kouta Kouta!
Then put Maxi right in the thick of it. For every bit of pace he has lost he has gained a kg of muscle. I would like to see it used more on the bottom of the pack. Jude also on the ball - first hands etc.
The Captain should be elevated to the attacking general's role. Let him assume his rightful place as tagee not tagger. recently he has been the number one player I would like to see with the ball in his hands in traffic in the middle of the park.
Kennelly also freed from a defending role...let the opposition midfielders worry about him a bit more. Saddington third tall plus rebounding HBF.
Two genuinely skillful and hard pack pockets in Bolton and Fixter. Barry where he will cement All-Australian. Schauble to gain even more confidence by having Bolton and Fixter at his side...and I have Picked LRT at CHB ahead of Stevens, James and Hunt (at least we have some options). He is bigger, for a start.

On the bench is back-up ruckman/tall forward, Doyle, two experienced midfielders in Mathews and Crouch who can fill whatever place needs shoring up during the course of a game, and James who can play tall at either end.

God, I'm brilliant.
I admit it's a very attacking team, but then so is Brisbane's.

That team can compete with anyone, anywhere. And best of all it does not include a single recruit or punt on any new players being better than we have actually seen them capable of being. At this stage Fosdike looks set to be surpassed by younger talent. It would be great if he proved that wrong.

I thought it interesting that commentators said that our list lacked depth. In the short term (winning on Saturday) I guess that this was true, but outside the 25 above we have 8 young players trying to get a game who are really rated as genuine prospects. (Sunny, MJ, Thewlis, McVeigh, Malceski, Hunt, McGlone and Dempster). Even Crawford and Bevan have had some wraps...so that goes all the way to the bottom of our rookie list. That is luxury other clubs do not have - check out the boards bemoaning the quality of other clubs unplayed players. Hawthorn have one or two, for example. The rest are hacks, apparently, and the resignation of their recruiting manager has resulted in huge celebrations amongst the Brown and Gold faithful.

True we lack a young midfielder with "Superstar" skills (Judd, Goddard, Wells, Hodge etc) but you can't have everything can you?

[liz]

Re: Re: Our best 22

Originally posted by sharp9
FF: Schneider O'Loughlin O'Keefe

HF: Davis Hall Williams

C: Goodes Kirk Kennelly

HB: Barry Roberts-Thompson Saddington

FB: Fixter Schauble C.Bolton

Fol: Ball J.Bolton Maxfield

Int: Doyle, Mathews, Crouch, James
Emerg: Fosdike, Ablett, Stevens

Based on what we currently have, it doesn't look to bad. Of course, in reality you never have your best 22 available at the same time, especially late in the season when it really starts to count. And as I (and others) have commented on other threads, you need to move forward and bring fresh faces in to improve.

In terms of best positions, I'd move (a fit) O'Loughlin to a HFF where we will get more out of his range of skills and athleticism. He's been playing at FF this year more out of necessity because he's only ever been 80-90% fit, I suspect. Doyle in the goal square, alternating with Ball in the ruck, would be my choice.

And I doubt that LRT will be up to the role of CHB next year. He's shown some promising signs this year but we won't see him become a regular, core player for a couple of years yet unless something dramatic happens. As with Kennelly, he is still a babe in terms of learning the game but as a big bloke it will probably take him longer to harness his skills than it has Tiger (who too has loads of scope for further development).

I know he's still got a way to go in terms of keeping his body in one piece, but from our current list James is probably the best bet to fill the second key defensive post. He is still very inexperienced at AFL level but at least he has the body strength to cope.

In terms of draft target, you'd have to think Potter will be a target for the Swans. They've had a chance to have a good look at him playing with the reserves in Canberra for a number of matches, and he sounds like the strong bodied centreman that we're lacking at the moment. Obviously if we get him he'll be one for the future, rather than the immediate. I notice he's not on the list of draft camp invitees, so that suggests he's not on the radar of many clubs. Maybe we can get him with a late pick, ala Schneider, or even a rookie pick.

[penga]

does anyone know if braybon has played with the reserves as well?

my 22, is the same as sharpie's but swap maxy and willo, james at FB and schauble at CHB...

i would like for us to target l. power/michael

[Reggi]

In melb reserves players are heavily scrutinised.

I think of all our young players not currently in the side Powell is the most likely to make it on natural talent.

We have another 8 or so that will play AFL if they work hard enough. Syndey seem to pick up more really skinny 'project' players than other clubs.

But having seen them - there isn't many that you would look at and say "he's a potential gun".

McVeigh could be good - but will take some time given his slender stature.

I definately think we need a strong bodied midfielder

[motorace_182]

Going by Sharp9's team, we havent made any real tough decisions to progress, eg: Stevens, Fosdike still there. We can snare a good Lions player cos seriously, 3 GF in a row, a couple of Brownlow medalists, how can they afford it all?? Someone will leave foe a change and some $$

[Newbie]

Originally posted by Reggi

But having seen them - there isn't many that you would look at and say "he's a potential gun".

That is something we need to be very careful here. The last thing we want is another 8 honest players yet no star to join the senior rank.

It might be good to look at trading couple of good honest players from our rank (which we have plenty) for a genuine star.

I think it will all come down to:
1) How much a player could contribute to the team.
2) To what degree we could cover him with our current youngster pool.

If we are going after a key midfielder, Stevens and O'Keefe are only value we got to offer. I doubt, they would take a midfielder-midfielder exchange.

For outside of the box trade, I would not be that unhappy to see Leaping Barry traded if the trade is decent enough from purely a football/skill perspective. Although he has been very good this year, it would not be too difficult to replace him. This is very unlikely to happen though given how much sentimental value he holds (for the team?).

[liz]

Originally posted by Newbie
Leaping Barry ... it would not be too difficult to replace him.

I actually disagree with that quite strongly. On one level I can see where you're coming from in that HBF is probably the easiest position to recruit for so long as you can find a medium height, athletic type with OK skills.

But Barry plays the position like no-one else in the comp. He may not be the classiest in the league but he provides an 'x' factor that other teams find hard to counter. Don't underestimate how much his willingness to take a risk is core to Roos' game plan.

I have similar views on Goodes and Hall. Part of their value is how they have redefined the positions they play in a way that makes them so hard to match with traditional style footy.

I don't think, on their own, that the hard work, overall athleticism and team spirit would have got the Swans to where they finished this year. It's been that unpredictability that has been the added ingredient.

Of course, that means that one of the ongoing challenges for Roos is how to evolve the game plan as opposition coaches find out ways to counter these three.

I also wonder whether Leo would thrive so much in a team structure that didn't allow him to play that way. He and Roos are a perfect match, IMO.

[Reggi]

I think people have to mindful of Terry Wallace's comments from when he traded Montgomery and Powell - it destroyed the fabric of the team and club and they went nowhere.

Also have memories of Carlton in 99 when they surprised all by making the GF - then topped up with O'Reilly and Mansfield.

It's been a stunning winning formula for them really.

The less trading the better

[snajik]

I'm not convinced that there would be room for both Schauble and Michael in the same side. Too similar as players. They are both great footballers but neither is blessed with pace.