To challenge for the Flag in 2017....

[Doctor J.]

All comments are moot.

There is no point to having players fit, stepping up a level, etc etc, if the AFL, media and umpires department are against us.

Last year was our chance pre GWS dominance, and we were absolutely screwed, by a team that was allowed to play a combination of basketball, (just throw the thing everywhere) Rugby, (go low in the scrum) and AFL.

[Maltopia]

* Not face a "fairy tale" opponent in the PF or GF - like St Kilda breaking a 50 year premiership drought, GWS for their maiden premiership, or Melbourne rebuilding after Stynes.

[The Big Cat]

The only thing you can rely on from Tippett is injury, inconsistency, and his big wage. He will cost us again this year. IMO.

Being from the Barossa, you're not by any chance a Trojan horse Crows supporter obsessed with besmirching the good name of Kurtis Interuptus?

[Ludwig]

* Not face a "fairy tale" opponent in the PF or GF - like St Kilda breaking a 50 year premiership drought, GWS for their maiden premiership, or Melbourne rebuilding after Stynes.

After a 4 year premiership drought, the Melbourne media and the umpires will be feeling sorry for us and will do everything possible to make sure that 4 doesn't turn into 5.

The AFL may impose harsh penalties on the GWS Giants, like only allowing them to have 16 players on the field at any one time.

Lachie Whitfield is still refusing to come out of hiding and may not play at all next season. He has reportedly asked for his toys to keep him company.

Lachie.jpg

The Bulldogs Jake 'The Package' Stringer may never regain form again. Some Bulldog fans are already calling him 'McHackage', speaking of which, and getting back on track, I think the main key to a premiership run is a rejuvenated Jarrad McVeigh getting back to his 15.06 beep test days.

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[Meg]

Love photos of a young Jarrad McVeigh with hair. His little daughter has exactly the same hair now. (And presumably will always have, as she is unlikely to suffer the same hair depletion as her Dad!)

[ScottH]

Will be interesting to see how Cloke and Crameri fit into the Dogs line up.
Might throw them out of balance more than they think. We'll wait and see next year.

[Nico]

Will be interesting to see how Cloke and Crameri fit into the Dogs line up.
Might throw them out of balance more than they think. We'll wait and see next year.

Cloke will be a valuable player in their 2's lineup.

[robamiee]

While it would be great for buddy to be kicing 70-80 goals..
we need at least one more kicking 30-40 or 2 or 3 kicking 20-30...

our biggest hurdle will be making sure our yng brigade that stood up last year dont get second year blues...our experienced depth will be tested and we need someone else to step up in JPK's role to give him a break for all the effort he does, we dont need him going down..

we need a bit more pace around the midfield though..other teams faster paced midfields get us if we dont get the quick inside clearance...

i do like how we ahve some xfactor players from the draft..

[707]

AFL officially now have GWS as the second oldest side so I will spew if there is a single utterance by commentators about the young GWS side. The other commentator crap I hate is constantly talking about how tall Cripps is!

But we are down to 14th oldest side and that's a nice place to be for a contender. Very clever refresh of our list.

[Wazza]

I would like to see Reid back in and Rohan playing as a wing / outside Midfielder, I still believe Rohan is our X factor if he can increase his consistency and become more involved. I dont believe there are major changes required just tweaks - IMHO outside speed was always going to be an issue for us 2016, for the majority of the year it didnt impact us until we played GWS and Dogs. Hopefully Rohan and Reid have huge injury free - preseasons (Reid allows Rohan to move to wing). As others state the improvement from 2 year + players will have a large bearing as well, but I really like the age / experience mix - plenty of older heads to keep all focused and lots of energy from newer guys. We should be close again all the expectation will be on GWS and Dogs.

Cheers

Waz

[Mountain Man]

The losses from GF line up are Mitchell (and his cover has been assumed covered by Mills and Heeney); and XR (and his replacement is presumably Reid). Something else needed to release Rohan.

[longmile]

The losses from GF line up are Mitchell (and his cover has been assumed covered by Mills and Heeney); and XR (and his replacement is presumably Reid). Something else needed to release Rohan.

And McGlynn

I expect our best 22 would be the GF team but Reid, Aliir and Newman in for XR, Mitchell and McGlynn.

Not quite a like for like swap but I agree Rohan on the wing in a Jetta-esque role would allow Reid to play forward, a far more natural 3rd tall than Rohan or XR.

Heeney/Mills to midfield for Mitchell, Newman would take Mills position in defence.

[longmile]

Jetta and Rohan seem to have a lot in common, their speed, x factor and inconsistency. However I rate Rohan higher cause he can play as a making forward and can actually tackle and play 2 way footy

[Levii3]

Newman will likely take Laidlers spot in defence than Mills. Mills still doesn't have the body to spend big minutes in the midfield. Jack Maibaum might also make his way into the side in the back end of the season.

[Ludwig]

The area that most thought needed beefing up a couple of years back, KPDs, is now looking good, despite the loss of the Richards brothers. Grundy, Aliir, Talia, AJ, Maibaum and Melican gives us a lot depth in numbers, although there is much left to be done before the fate of most will be known. I'm optimistic about this group and think we might start the season with 3 KDs in Reg, Aliir and Talia, just to see how it goes. We can always drop back to 2 as Rampe has proven more than capable of playing on taller opponents, with Laidler and Marsh depth as 3rd tall in defence.

There is still a chance that rookie listed players might be able to play senior footy this year, irrespective of the LTIL rules, depending on the outcome of the CBA. Sentiment seems to be that if not 2017 then 2018. This would be a bonus for us with Shaun Edwards AFL ready and both Robbie Fox and Ben Ronke not far off. O'Riordon may be ahead of them all.