Best 22 for 2020

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  • Captain
    Captain of the Side
    • Feb 2004
    • 3602

    Swans chat Best 22 for 2020

    Now the trade period has finished, and with a pretty healthy list (all players meant to be training before Christmas), I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see how our best 22 is looking for next year.

    I have Naismith coming back in as #1 ruck, Cunningham to take over the small defender role that Nick Smith did so well for so long and have tried to mix our midfield up a little.

    McCartin Franklin Hayward
    Papley Reid Parker
    Blakey Heeney Florent
    Lloyd Aliir Dawson
    O'Riordan Rampe Cunningham
    Naismith Mills Kennedy
    Hewett Rowbottom Gray Taylor
    Emergencies: Fox, Brand/Melican (to come in against taller forward lines for O'Riordan), Sinclair, Ronke

    Pretty young and raw side but still one that I think is competitive. The rucks are our biggest weakness and the midfield the most intriguing. Will players like Heeney, Mills, Florent and Blakey step up to become absolute stars and win games off their own boot or are they still a few more years away?
  • Doctor J.
    Senior Player
    • Feb 2003
    • 1310

    #2
    Originally posted by Captain
    Now the trade period has finished, and with a pretty healthy list (all players meant to be training before Christmas), I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see how our best 22 is looking for next year.

    I have Naismith coming back in as #1 ruck, Cunningham to take over the small defender role that Nick Smith did so well for so long and have tried to mix our midfield up a little.

    McCartin Franklin Hayward
    Papley Reid Parker
    Blakey Heeney Florent
    Lloyd Aliir Dawson
    O'Riordan Rampe Cunningham
    Naismith Mills Kennedy
    Hewett Rowbottom Gray Taylor
    Emergencies: Fox, Brand/Melican (to come in against taller forward lines for O'Riordan), Sinclair, Ronke

    Pretty young and raw side but still one that I think is competitive. The rucks are our biggest weakness and the midfield the most intriguing. Will players like Heeney, Mills, Florent and Blakey step up to become absolute stars and win games off their own boot or are they still a few more years away?
    To fix the ruck weakness put Sinkers on the interchange, Gray to the Emergencies

    Comment

    • aardvark
      Veterans List
      • Mar 2010
      • 5685

      #3
      Neither Naismith or Sinclair are A grade ruckmen but at least Sinkers contributes around the ground so I'd have him before Naismith.

      Comment

      • Markwebbos
        Veterans List
        • Jul 2016
        • 7186

        #4
        Naismith is the better ruckman by a fair bit. Sinkers does more around the ground. I'd' still prefer to play Naismith if fit and think he's got more improvement in him.

        Comment

        • Blood Fever
          Veterans List
          • Apr 2007
          • 4050

          #5
          Originally posted by aardvark
          Neither Naismith or Sinclair are A grade ruckmen but at least Sinkers contributes around the ground so I'd have him before Naismith.
          Naismith is first choice if fit, a big if I admit.

          Comment

          • Mountain Man
            Regular in the Side
            • Feb 2008
            • 908

            #6
            The emergencies are confusing me.
            If Gray and Taylor are included they would be taking forward pressure space from Papley and Haywood - who do pretty reasonable jobs - or replacing Parker who is listed there in the team. Heeney should also have minutes forward.
            So one or both would not play many minutes IMHO
            If Sinclair is included he is another “tall” added to Franklin, Reid, McCartin with Blakey moving sometimes forward as well.
            Interesting times for the forward coach

            Comment

            • bloodspirit
              Clubman
              • Apr 2015
              • 4448

              #7
              Fair effort, Captain. I'm taking Melican/Brand ahead of Taylor at this stage and we'll need the pre-season to determine whether Gray or Ronke gets that 22nd spot. Finally, do you make no allowance for our top 5/6 pick to make the best 22 for 2020? Blakey did it last year and our other last top 10 picks, Mills and Heeney, won spots in their first seasons too. It's hard to see who gets pushed out though. Will depend also on who we select. Serong might push out Gray/Ronke. Could Young take COR's spot? If it were Jackson then he probably will bide his time in the 2s for a while.
              All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated, and well supported in logic and argument than others. -Douglas Adams, author (11 Mar 1952-2001)

              Comment

              • Captain
                Captain of the Side
                • Feb 2004
                • 3602

                #8
                Originally posted by Mountain Man
                The emergencies are confusing me.
                If Gray and Taylor are included they would be taking forward pressure space from Papley and Haywood - who do pretty reasonable jobs - or replacing Parker who is listed there in the team. Heeney should also have minutes forward.
                So one or both would not play many minutes IMHO
                If Sinclair is included he is another “tall” added to Franklin, Reid, McCartin with Blakey moving sometimes forward as well.
                Interesting times for the forward coach
                Sinclair for Taylor is a good call. I probably missed that.

                Comment

                • caj23
                  Senior Player
                  • Aug 2003
                  • 2462

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Markwebbos
                  Naismith is the better ruckman by a fair bit. Sinkers does more around the ground. I'd' still prefer to play Naismith if fit and think he's got more improvement in him.
                  How do you figure that?

                  He's a 27 year old coming off a two year injury lay off who has managed 27 games over five seasons. He hasn't shown anything to suggest that he has the ability to compete against the elite mobile ruckmen in the game (or the average ones for that matter). He can count his blessings that he is 206cm and we have woefully mismanaged our ruck stocks over the last five or so years.

                  Sinclair is first picked every day of the week.

                  Comment

                  • Markwebbos
                    Veterans List
                    • Jul 2016
                    • 7186

                    #10
                    Originally posted by caj23
                    How do you figure that?

                    He's a 27 year old coming off a two year injury lay off who has managed 27 games over five seasons. He hasn't shown anything to suggest that he has the ability to compete against the elite mobile ruckmen in the game (or the average ones for that matter). He can count his blessings that he is 206cm and we have woefully mismanaged our ruck stocks over the last five or so years.

                    Sinclair is first picked every day of the week.
                    I figure it based on the fact (1) Naismith was picked ahead of Sinkers in the past (2) He's three years younger than Sinkers (3) He's generally been rated more highly than Sinkers when you look at Ruckman rankings (4) He's better at winning hitouts.

                    But he is coming off a 2 year ACL layoff. If both play at their best I say they'd play Naismith over Sinkers.

                    Comment

                    • Aaron
                      Regular in the Side
                      • Jan 2009
                      • 805

                      #11
                      I prefer Sinclair too. Here is a comparison between Sinclair of 2018 and Naismith of 2017 when playing as our number 1 ruck:

                      Comment

                      • caj23
                        Senior Player
                        • Aug 2003
                        • 2462

                        #12
                        Aaron has hit the nail on the head

                        It’s a myth that Naismith is as somehow the reason we made the gf in 2016.

                        People conveniently forget that Buddy kicked 81 goals that year

                        A ruckman that averages 8 possessions and less than 2 marks a game isn’t up to it

                        Injuries have clearly hampered Sam throughout his career, but he turns 28 this year and I don’t hold out much hope for him as our saviour

                        Comment

                        • Melbourne_Blood
                          Senior Player
                          • May 2010
                          • 3312

                          #13
                          Best 22 for 2020

                          Originally posted by caj23
                          Aaron has hit the nail on the head

                          It’s a myth that Naismith is as somehow the reason we made the gf in 2016.

                          People conveniently forget that Buddy kicked 81 goals that year

                          A ruckman that averages 8 possessions and less than 2 marks a game isn’t up to it

                          Injuries have clearly hampered Sam throughout his career, but he turns 28 this year and I don’t hold out much hope for him as our saviour
                          Have to agree, Naismith was serviceable but Hardly ever did anything that stood out in a game. Nankervis arguably showed better glimpses than Naismith in the games he got in 2016.

                          Not to say Naismith might not develop into a good ruckman but I think he’s a got fair bit to prove before unseating Sinclair. If your going to play as a low possession , low marking, minimal physical presence , rarely scoring , pure tap ruckman , you want to be dishing it up like Gawn or Nic Nat. I don’t recall ever saying much tap wizardry from Sam , but my memory may be failing me as he hasn’t played in that bloody long !


                          Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                          Comment

                          • Markwebbos
                            Veterans List
                            • Jul 2016
                            • 7186

                            #14
                            Lets hope they both stay fit in 2020 and we can see which one earns the #1 spot on merit?

                            Comment

                            • Blood Fever
                              Veterans List
                              • Apr 2007
                              • 4050

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Markwebbos
                              Lets hope they both stay fit in 2020 and we can see which one earns the #1 spot on merit?
                              Sinclair is a good honest player but gets absolutely monstered by the likes of Grundy and Martin etc. Naismith, if fit, is a far better ruckman who gets first hand on ball and is quite agile around the ground. That's why the club has been so patient. This year will determine if they have been too patient.

                              Comment

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