Best 22 Team.....Updated

[kaos theory]

After 5 games, best 22 would look very different to what we thought at the start of the season. So what is our best 22 now for the next 5 games?

We will probably have some tougher games coming up, we have some key players coming back from injury too....


The team from the port game was:

Backs: Ray Blake Dawson
Half-backs: Geary S Fisher Goddard
Centres: Gram Ball Dal Santo
Half-forwards: Milne Riewoldt Schneider
Forwards: Hayes King Gilbert
Followers: Gardiner Jones
Rover: Montagna
Interchange: Baker McQualter Gwilt Eddy

Key players that should be squeezed in, not necessaily all next, but gradulally over the coming weeks. (I'm assuming king is ok, which he seems to be):

Maxy - He is an elite backman. Critical for our defence, especially when up against big power forwards
Kosi - Hopefully back for the dogs game, no question he comes straight back in
Raph - He is a gun player, and is best 18 imo. Creative & skillful

They are the must have. There are a number of other players who would normally get in too:

e.g. X, Armo, etc... But only looking at the must inclusion for the next stage of tougher games. So who comes out?

Dawson for Maxy - obvious. Dawson has been good, and will get better, but not in the class & experience of maxy atm.
Who? for Kosi - Possibly eddy, but eddy adds run. First game in, after a lay off was good. Too many people here underestimate his run and is up side for the team...
Who? for Raph - Possibly gwilt, though again a tough call. Gwilt is getting better with each game, but Raph is ready to blossom into a star of the game imo...


So, possible best 22 now:

Backs: Ray Hughton Blake
Half-backs: R. Clarke S Fisher Goddard
Centres: Gram Ball Dal Santo
Half-forwards: Milne Riewoldt Schneider
Forwards: Hayes Kosi Gilbert
Followers: Gardiner Jones
Rover: Montagna
Interchange: Baker McQualter Geary King

....

[Winmarvellous]

Agree on Max and Kosi. Raph I'm not so sure about. The fascination with the Clarkes seems to come from the fact they were high draft picks, but I don't think they can stand up to the rigours of AFL footy. If someone else goes down, bring in Raph/X. Leave the rest in I say.

[bigcarl]

The fascination with the Clarkes seems to come from the fact they were high draft picks.

the fascination with the clarkes comes from the fact that they can play.

but, yes, i wish they weren't so injury-prone.

[kaos theory]

Agree on Max and Kosi. Raph I'm not so sure about. The fascination with the Clarkes seems to come from the fact they were high draft picks, but I don't think they can stand up to the rigours of AFL footy. If someone else goes down, bring in Raph/X. Leave the rest in I say

- Raph came into the team for the second half of last yr and became one of our key contributors, with virtually no pre-season. In the finals he was one of our better players. In the first round he was best on ground before he got injuried

- I'm not prepared to move a player for X, at this stage though. I'm happy for him to keep working on his hardness & consistency for a little while longer.

[Eastern]

Agree on Max and Kosi. Raph I'm not so sure about. The fascination with the Clarkes seems to come from the fact they were high draft picks, but I don't think they can stand up to the rigours of AFL footy. If someone else goes down, bring in Raph/X. Leave the rest in I say

- Raph came into the team for the second half of last yr and became one of our key contributors, with virtually no pre-season. In the finals he was one of our better players. In the first round he was best on ground before he got injuried

- I'm not prepared to move a player for X, at this stage though. I'm happy for him to keep working on his hardness & consistency for a little while longer.

I would even take it a step further and say that Raph was our BEST player in the finals. Definately in the starting 18 of our best side !!

[Goose is king]

Raph definitely back in. Absolute gun.

Tough call on Gwilt possibly Mini instead for mine.

However thats a tough call on Mini.

[bigcarl]

Raph definitely back in. Absolute gun.

Tough call on Gwilt possibly Mini instead for mine.

However thats a tough call on Mini.

eddy?

whoever misses will be stiff, but you really should put your best fit team out there and, imo, raph is in it.

[kaos theory]

eddy?

whoever misses will be stiff, but you really should put your best fit team out there and, imo, raph is in it

I've already got eddy making way for kosi, which is tough on eddy, as I think he is got big up side..

Only others are mini or schnieder, but not sure either would be dropped.

[saintly_safes]

Tough call at present because everyone is playing thier role pretty well so far. Max & Kosi would be a definte starters imo but X & Raph need to prove they can not only play at the highest level but sustain it for longer than a couple of weeks before they make my best 22.
At current form & value to the team (imo) this is my 22 .Positions subject to change to suit opposition match ups

Bakes Max Blake
Gram Chips Gilbert
Joey Lenny Ray
Schnieder Roo Dal
Milne Kosi Goddard
King Jones Ball
Gardiner Gwilt Mini Geary
Dawson (unlucky)Maguire ,X, Raph, McEvoy ,Eddy,need to keep performing at Sandy to force thier way in

[Con Gorozidis]

The fascination with the Clarkes seems to come from the fact they were high draft picks.

the fascination with the clarkes comes from the fact that they can play.

but, yes, i wish they weren't so injury-prone.

5 good games in 5 years does not make you a "gun".

[ThePunter]

Some wingnut on SEN on Saturday morning rang in and said we had no depth, and once we started getting some injuries, we'd fall away.

Saints who did not play on Friday night

Xavier Clarke
Ben McEvoy
Max Hudghton
Raphael Clarke
Colm Begley
David Armitage
Justin Koschitzke
Sean Dempster
Matt Maguire
Jack Steven

I'd suggest we have quite a bit of depth. As much as I love Maxy, his inclusion is no no-brainer. Dawson has played really well three weeks out of five. Gwilt and Geary have improved every week. Jones has become an elite run-with player. Few tackle with McQualter's enthusiasm and technique, and he is a reliable kick for goal (one of the few I don't worry about when having a set shot).

[SainterK]

I heard that caller on SEN as well, we are certainly not one of the teams struggling with depth at the moment. I just think people are both surprised and a little intimidated by our form

Ben McEvoy had another good game on the weekend, and I wouldn't mind seeing him get a game should King not be up in time. I don't think we will lose to much having Ben helping out Gardiner, we need to get some game time into him for the future.

We are choosing sides based on form and not reputation at the moment, a very sensible approach.

[older saint]

Backs: Ray Blake Dawson
Half-backs: Geary S Fisher Goddard
Centres: Gram Ball Dal Santo
Half-forwards: Milne Riewoldt Schneider
Forwards: Hayes King Gilbert
Followers: Gardiner Jones
Rover: Montagna
Interchange: Baker McQualter Gwilt Eddy

Friday nights team

Changes to best team allowing for shown form and last season form:

Backs: Ray Max Blake
Half-backs: R Clarke S Fisher Goddard
Centres: Gram Ball Dal Santo
Half-forwards: Milne Riewoldt Schneider
Forwards: Hayes Kosi Gilbert
Followers: Gardiner Jones
Rover: Montagna
Interchange: Baker Geary King Eddy

In Max, Kosi R clarke
Out Dawson , McQualter Gwilt

Very lucky and depending on opposition Schnieder