Pick your Best 22, but in order of preference

[swansrule100]

1. Kennedy
2. Ted
3. Mumford
4. Jack
5. Jetta
6. Goodes
7. Shaw
8. Hanners
9. ROK
10. Smith
11. McVeigh
12. AJ
13. Mattner
14. Grundy
15. Shaw
16. Parker
17. Pyke
18. Reid
19. Rohan
20. LRT
21. Malceski
22. McGlynn

Glad I'm not a selector!!

am i blind or did jude bolton miss out on this list?

[JudesaGun]

Amazed some people don't have Parker in their lists at all.... short memories.

If we're talking importance to the team, he certainly sits above guys like Everitt, Malceski, LRT and Pyke.

[JudesaGun]

Here's mine (assuming everyone is fit):

1. Richards
2. Mumford
3. Kennedy
4. Jack
5. Goodes
6. Jetta
7. Bolton
8. O'Keefe
9. Grundy
10. Shaw
11. Reid
12. McVeigh
13. Mattner
14. Hannebery
15. Smith
16. McGlynn
17. Johnson
18. Parker
19. Rohan
20. Bird
21. LRT
22. Malceski

[Dirtyburt]

Amazed some people don't have Parker in their lists at all.... short memories.

If we're talking importance to the team, he certainly sits above guys like Everitt, Malceski, LRT and Pyke.

When fit, I see Parker and Rohan as direct swaps for mal and Everitt. picked current available (which may change this weekend)

The thing that staggers me is the TDL above players like Okeefe, mcveigh, mattner etc

Staggering!

[RogueSwan]

...
11- johnson...
18 johnson
...

It would be nice to have two of him. Then our backs would look good for a number of years.

[RogueSwan]

Here's mine (assuming everyone is fit):
...

No Pyke?

[RogueSwan]

...The thing that staggers me is the TDL above players like Okeefe, mcveigh, mattner etc

Staggering!

Give him a go to prove me wrong, please.

Update on consolidated list.
Kennedy
Teddy
Mummy
Jack
Goodes
Jetstar
Jude
Reg
McVeigh
Smiff
Pebbles
Shaw
Reid
Hanners
Parker
Pyke
Marty
Bird
AJ
The Hyphen
Benny
The Eski

I have left out TDL and Rohan as they appear on the least number of lists.

[swansrule100]

It would be nice to have two of him. Then our backs would look good for a number of years.

the first johnson should be mcveigh

[Dirtyburt]

the first johnson should be mcveigh

Ooh don't think macca would like being called a Johnson!!

[Nich]

AFL Insider had a segment last night about the most important player for each team. Brad Scott covered the Swans, and settled for Jetta. (Discussion centred around Jack and Goodes as also being possibles.)

The best thing now about Jetts is that he is attracting key players. The Eagles putting Selwood on him was massive. Main reason being Jetts still drifts in and out but no matter how you track him he will still almost kick goals on you. I think he kicked 4 that day. But the bonus being it took Selwood out of the game. If Jetts can attract that key player form the opposition is gives us so much advantage in the centre of the field. And inevitably Jetts will still boot goals. He is turning into such a key Member of the Team.

1. Richards
2. Kennedy
3. Jetta
4. Jack
5. Hannebery
6. Goodes
7. ROK
8. Grundy
9. O'Keefe
10. Bolton
11. Smith
12. McVeigh
13. Johnson
14. Reid
15. Mummy
16. McGlynn
17. Shaw
18. Mattner
19. LRT
20. Malceski
21. Pyke
22. Parker

[swansrule100]

Ooh don't think macca would like being called a Johnson!!

ive called him worse.


I think this list illustrates the biggest strength of this team, which is the even nature of the list. We have a lot of contenders for top spot, and many of us observe the side closely but have very different and valid opinions on the order of the list.

[Dirtyburt]

ive called him worse

I am hoping, for his sake, you don't know what that is slang for!

[DLBIA14]

This is hard and does certainly makes use pit one solid player against another solid even contributer. I think it is easier to cateogise the sorts of plays who are the most important.

Everybody should have our spine in one combination or another at the top of their list. The permutation is individual and on some sort of perceived bias.
Therefore to me the loss of Ted, Grundy, Kennedy, Mumford, Reid and Goodes is of an equally disastrous nature. Our ability to cover those losses is what really distorts the order.

Then you have players like Jack who plays a position where often there are replacements of sorts (in the sense that others can play that specific role if need be though clearly not at any similar sort of standard). However their ability to play their role at an very good to elite level is what makes them our next most valuable commodity. There are other inside/outside midfielders everywhere but not many with Jack's ability to read the play, his ferocity, initial burst of speed, finishing skills and again a consistency in using these weapons. Jude Bolton and R'Okeefe in both their consistency, leadership, work rate and all-round ability as midfielders, are perhaps a step down from Jack, but still worth particular recognition.

Then there are players whose unique role for the team makes them critical. Jetta is the very special case in that he plays a unique role at an elite level (which to me puts him above guys like Bolton and ROK, but around even keel with Jack). The not so vaunted, but still quite important are Mattner who plays the third man up role in defence, Smith who locks down on the best small forward, Shaw who often starts our run out of defense and probably Pyke who is quite successful in paying that ruckman/forward role. They can probably be covered, but their ability to do their role isn't something we should take for granted. Milne might have lowered his colours last week, but how many times has Smith muted some of the best players in opposition teams? How often do we see Marty support Ted and Reg? Arguably the whole thrust of our attack is centered off the half-back line and it is Shaw who is the central player.

Everybody else (in my mind) is good to mediocre and can be covered without a significant (ie. game changing) impact on the team performance.

[DamY]

AFL Insider had a segment last night about the most important player for each team. Brad Scott covered the Swans, and settled for Jetta. (Discussion centred around Jack and Goodes as also being possibles.)

That got me thinking about who the player I'd least like the team to lose right now for an extended period. Traditionally the answer would have been an easy "Goodes" because he was clearly our most potent matchbreaker. But half a season without him playing (or still searching for match fitness) has taught us that the team can well and truly win without Goodes firing.

Mummy is definitely important, though at least we have some competent stand-ins. Collectively our midfield is critical to ongoing success this year, but if we lost any one of Kennedy, Jack, McVeigh et I'd hope the rest could stand up and cover that (with the aid of Parker returning). Reid is important structurally but his direct contribution right now isn't great enough for him to be close to the most important player.

In the end I decided my answer was Ted. While I think the whole defence has worked well together, and each one has performed well on both an individual level and collectively, it is hard to ignore Ted as the conductor of the whole affair. We already get to witness a few moments each game when some combination of Mattner, Smith, Reg or Shaw loses their minds for a while and create goals out of nothing for the opposition. But generally Ted has been there to steady the ship. And when the defence has been bombarded by an opposition run-on, it has been Ted taking intercept mark after intercept mark after intercept mark. I therefore fear not only the loss of Ted for his own contribution, but also for the calming and organisational effect he appears to be having on the rest of the defence.

I agree we'd struggle to replace Teddy

[Dirtyburt]

This is hard and does certainly makes use pit one solid player against another solid even contributer. I think it is easier to cateogise the sorts of plays who are the most important.

That is the point! Otherwise it would be 'post your rambling thoughts' thread