This is what I believe our starting lineup will look like... (As of now, I have been changing my mind quite a bit recently)
With our two back pockets we know what we are going to get, two solid tagging players that more often beat their opponents than not, they can also have a run in the middle of the ground as well which can be quite handy, personally I believe that L.Fisher is a required player despite what many posters seem to think.
Hudghton and Maguire are obviously a no brainer, two of the best at their position going around when fit, the key will be to keep them fit, something which we seem to have failed at already....
Sam Fisher and Goddard our two flankers, I believe that we should rotate them between loose man in back duties, personally I believe that Sammy is more use in the backline with Goddard running up the wing.
This is where it starts getting slightly more interesing and to help explain I will go to the forward line first.
I don't believe that with Gehrig that our forwardline is necessarily too topheavy, I like the structure with Riewoldt leading forward from the goal square and having free reign to go further up the ground. I like Gehrig and Kosi going out wide so that we almost always have three leading forwards going into every F50 Entry.
Schneider and Milne each kicked around 30 goals this year, I would expect Schneider to stay around that mark with Milne to go up to about 35. If these two can stay in form they can add some unpredictably to our lineup, it will also be good to see Milney with some help from another small forward like his work with Guerra in '04.
I believe that we should have a 5 man forward line and the reason for that is simple too often we were beaten in the midfield this year, this frees us up to play an extra midfielder.
Gilbert is quite solid defesively but I believe his biggest strengths to be his ability to find space, his runs and his tackles, this is why I see him play a defensively centre role, just behind the midfielders so he can get into the thick of the action as well as drop back to help out the defenders.
Our Rucks are just like our KP Backs, we know what we will get if they stay fit, but whether or not they will stay fit is the key.
Hayes.... Enough Said....
Ball his fitness will play a major part in our performance next year, if he could get back to full fitness we have basically recruited an elite midfielder and this would make our other midfielders look so much better...
Gram - I believe he should be on the wing, alot of people will argue that we lose alot of his attack when he is thrown into the contested situation but there were many a time this season when I saw him more than hold his own against other midfielders in some very heated contested situation s but regardless of that I would like to see him playing an outside traditional winger role where he could use his pace, skill, ability to run and booming kick to greatest advantage.
Montagna - Arguably the highlight of 2007. If he can keep up his form and hopefully slightly improve he will be one of the best outside midfielders in the game....
Dal Santo is another interesting one, some people have argued that he should be played on the forward flank while others have contested that he is too valuable in the centre, I propose a compromise, I believe he should play an attacking centre role. This way he could be involved in most centre contests while playing somewhat of an outside role, this would hopefully have the ball in his hands more often as we are entering the forward 50 and that is exactly where we want it. This way he would be there in the heated centre contests as well as being able to drift forward and hopefully kick a couple of goals a game.
Our bench is quite tricky, it is the only thing I'm not sure what to do with...
two spots are certain in Harvey and King. I would hope that one of Armitage, Howard, Allen or pick 9 will step up to take it but that is too much of a gamble at this stage. My other two would probably be Fiora and Xavier Clarke. These two players can both play in the forward line as well as in the midfield and add some pace and excitement to the team, if Fizz can get his kicking right he will be a valuable asset to the team otherwise he is on thin ice with some players very close to taking his spot...
Anyway this is just my idea of what I would like to see next year, obviously it wouldn't be as rigid and set as this because in reality the structure is a lot more fluid and there aren't quite as many clear positions...