Put your thinking caps on! Best 22

[martymcfly_86]

What would the BEST St Kilda round 1 line up be, given the inclusions thus far? (to be revised post draft)

If it looked somewhat like this I would be happy:

B: NEWNES DELANEY DEMPSTER
HB: FISHER BRUCE WRIGHT
C: HAYES ARMITAGE SAUNDERS
HF: SCHNEIDER RIEWOLDT SAVAGE
F: STANLEY LEE MONTAGNA
R: HICKEY [OR LONGER] STEVEN CURREN
B: ROSS GILBERT MARKWORTH GEARY

[Munga]

F Curren Lee Schnieder
HF Savage Riewoldt Ray
C Jones Montagna Roberton
HB Gilbert Fisher Geary
B Gwilt Delaney Dempster
R Longer Steven Armitage
I Hickey Bruce Ross S:Wright
E Saunders Murdoch Simpkin
Stanley Webster Milera TDL

Very defensively strong, not enough midfielders. I'm thinking guys like Geary, Gilbert and even Gwilt will need to rotate through the midfield. Not a bad idea, a lot of grunt in that bunch. I know SW said he wants two ruckmen to work, so Hickey is there. If we go with one ruck then I'd swap Hickey for Stanley, Rhys a little more versatile.
No doubt about four of that team will be injured come round one, so on go the emergencies.

[sax]

B: Dempster, Delaney, Geary
HB: Fisher, Bruce, Roberton
C: Montagna, Hayes, Savage
HF: Schneider, Riewoldt, Gilbert
F: Curren, Lee, BILLINGS/KELLY/AISH
R: Longer, Steven, Armitage
Int: Hickey, Ray, Ross, Newnes

[spot on]

Geary Delaney gwilt
Fisher Bruce newnes
Wright Ross monty
Savage roo Gilbert
Curren maister lee
Hickey armo Steven

Bench - s billings roberton Hayes sippos longer

[spot on]

We have so many tall half back players its hard to fit them in, simpkin , roberton, dempster , fisher , Gilbert, gwilt. Some are going to have to find new roles

[mad saint guy]

B: Dempster, Delaney, Geary
HB: Roberton, Bruce, Fisher
C: Gilbert, Hayes, Curren
HF: Montagna, Riewoldt, Savage
F: Schneider, Lee, Stanley

Foll: Hickey, Steven, Armitage
Int: Wright, Newnes, Ross
Sub: Billings/Kelly/Aish

[Statsman]

Here's my team:

B: Dempster, Delaney, Geary
HB: Gilbert, Fisher, Roberton
C: Montagna, Hayes, Newnes
HF: Curren, Riewoldt, Savage
F:Schneider, Lee, Hickey
R: Longer, Steven, Armitage
Int: Ray, Ross, Webster, Wright (sub)
Emerg: Bruce, Markworth, Saunders

The challenge I found is finding the right blend of experience and youth.

We're overstocked with tall defenders so I couldn't find a place for Bruce, Simpkin or Gwilt. Bruce as an emergency will be groomed in the VFL to replace Fisher at CHB while Gwilt is insurance for Dempster, Gilbert and Roberton. Gilbert and Roberton would provide run and carry off half back while Dempster is the 3rd man up helping Fisher and Delaney. Webster off the bench would rotate with Gilbert and Roberton and perhaps free up one of them to spend some time on a wing or even half forward. Geary provides experience as a lock down defender on the dangerous small forwards, but we need to develop another small defender or two as we can look a little tallish down back.

I'd like to accelerate the development of Newnes as a midfielder, so I've moved him up to a wing, but he and Geary could be rotated between BP and a midfield role. The experienced core midfield of Hayes, Steven, Armitage and Montagna would be complimented by Curren, Savage, Newnes and Geary with Ray, Ross and Wright off the bench. Wright could play as the substitute to inject some line breaking pace late in the game, but that role would be rotated through a few different players throughout the season (e.g. Wright, Ross, Saunders, Pick #3, Markworth, etc). Saunders as an emergency would be next up to come into the team, and may overtake Ray if he develops well. Obviously pick #3 comes into the mix for the midfield as well and would hopefully be good enough in 2014 to get quite a few games.

Longer and Hickey would play as a ruck tandem with each playing half a game in the ruck and the balance either deep in the forward line or resting on the bench - maybe a 50/30/20 split. If one ruckman starts to emerge as the clear #1 and/or the tag-team model isn't working, the lesser ruckman gets squeezed out for a medium forward like Markworth, Murdoch or Siposs, another running midfielder like Saunders or Pick #3 or a 3rd tall forward like Stanley.

Up forward I went with 3 talls and 3 smalls. The high half forwards in Curren and Savage both have the capability to rotate through the midfield. Equally I'd want the starting midfielders to spend some time "resting" up forward using their ball winning skills and football smarts to create scoring opportunities. Roo continues to play his roaming CHF role for as long as his body allows, with perhaps some longer periods playing deep forward. White is the obvious long term replacement for Roo and will play some games in 2014. Lee is a tradition lead-up full forward. The resting ruckman in Longer or Hickey provides the deep marking target, blocking to free up Lee for the lead and rucking in the forward line to allow the on-ball ruckman to play a kick off the play. Schneider is the wily crumbing forward, but we lack depth here with Milne's retirement, Saad's expected suspension and both Milera and TDL not making the grade yet. Minchington is an option behind Schneider, particularly if he can play some midfield as well. We need to recruit our next mercurial small forward.

There is also quite a bit of promising talent developing in the VFL with Bruce, Simpkin, Saunders, Siposs, Markworth, Murdoch, Dunell, Pierce, White, Stanley and Minchington. They'll all get some senior game time in 2014 and will need to produce when the opportunity comes to claim a regular spot in the first 22.

[#gosaintas]

I always overrate our players but I just cannot see this team finishing bottom 3

[plugger66]

I always overrate our players but I just cannot see this team finishing bottom 3

We did this year and have lost Dal, Milney and Ben and of the players we have picked up only Savage and Delaney will probably have any real impact this season.

[Jaz]

I always overrate our players but I just cannot see this team finishing bottom 3

We did this year and have lost Dal, Milney and Ben and of the players we have picked up only Savage and Delaney will probably have any real impact this season.

We lost a lot of games by a small amount, and had some pretty significant injuries especially in our all ready undersized backline. I think on paper we were better than bottom 3 last year so if we get a good run with injuries I would expect to move up the ladder, at least better than the dogs and lions.

[plugger66]

I always overrate our players but I just cannot see this team finishing bottom 3

We did this year and have lost Dal, Milney and Ben and of the players we have picked up only Savage and Delaney will probably have any real impact this season.

We lost a lot of games by a small amount, and had some pretty significant injuries especially in our all ready undersized backline. I think on paper we were better than bottom 3 last year so if we get a good run with injuries I would expect to move up the ladder, at least better than the dogs and lions.

Ok but I would expect the Dogs to improve even more and Brisbane to drop back a bit but they did finish 5 game ahead of us. I think for our side to improve more quickly in the long run then last place seems the best position for that. If i remeber even last year some on here said we would improve even after losing BJ because Sippos was going to be just as good. The same has happened this year. Losing Dal, Milney and Ben means we will be in more trouble. We cant replace very good players yet but we will.

[Dis Believer]

Ok but I would expect the Dogs to improve even more and Brisbane to drop back a bit but they did finish 5 game ahead of us. I think for our side to improve more quickly in the long run then last place seems the best position for that. If i remeber even last year some on here said we would improve even after losing BJ because Sippos was going to be just as good. The same has happened this year. Losing Dal, Milney and Ben means we will be in more trouble. We cant replace very good players yet but we will.

I think a lot of how we go this year will depend on how much progress is made in the development of Ross, Wright, Newnes, Saunders, Curren & Lee. The fact that we start from the position of having Gilbo and Chips available along with a genuine FB in Delaney, puts our backline a long way in front of last year. Yes we have lost Ben and Dal, but we have replaced Ben, and the major loss of Dal in our midfield should be at least partially offset by natural development in that young midfielder rotations group.

The forward line is the interesting one for mine. Yapper gone means a lot of goals to replace. Someone needs to grasp the opportunity and step up, and Lee needs to make significant strides in development. If injuries are kind, I think we will be marginally in front of last year, despite significant losses in personnel, purely on the development of the GROUP. Last year we had a small group carrying us all year whilst we played lots of kids who had zero to twenty games.

The other bonus is if Schneids can stay on the paddock, that at least replaces some of the classy ball use we lose with Dal's departure.

[#gosaintas]

Yes Plugs, I was surprised to finish bottom 3 this year. As I say, I am a chronic overrater of our players.

[SaintPav]

Ok but I would expect the Dogs to improve even more and Brisbane to drop back a bit but they did finish 5 game ahead of us. I think for our side to improve more quickly in the long run then last place seems the best position for that. If i remeber even last year some on here said we would improve even after losing BJ because Sippos was going to be just as good. The same has happened this year. Losing Dal, Milney and Ben means we will be in more trouble. We cant replace very good players yet but we will.

I think the dogs form was misleading and they may have had a bit of a false dawn.

Adelaide a chance to tumble.

I could live with second last but not last. We have enough spoons and we don't need any more to add to our vast collection.

[BringBackMadDog]

I always overrate our players but I just cannot see this team finishing bottom 3

We did this year and have lost Dal, Milney and Ben and of the players we have picked up only Savage and Delaney will probably have any real impact this season.

But we also had Fisher, Gilbert, Schneider, Gwilt, Hayes miss big chunks of the season and we will also have Webster, Wright, Newnes, Curren, Saunders and Ross who will all be better for the extra pre-season.
I think we will improve quicker than the experts predict. Roll on season 2014

[gringo]

Ok but I would expect the Dogs to improve even more and Brisbane to drop back a bit but they did finish 5 game ahead of us. I think for our side to improve more quickly in the long run then last place seems the best position for that. If i remeber even last year some on here said we would improve even after losing BJ because Sippos was going to be just as good. The same has happened this year. Losing Dal, Milney and Ben means we will be in more trouble. We cant replace very good players yet but we will.

I think the dogs form was misleading and they may have had a bit of a false dawn.

Adelaide a chance to tumble.

I could live with second last but not last. We have enough spoons and we don't need any more to add to our vast collection.

I think last year was misleading for us as we lost a good portion of our defence compounding the fact we didn't recruit a FB. Fisher had stop gapped the year before but went down as did Simpkin who might have done that role. Dempster, Lenny, Schnieds all lost plenty of games too. Gilbert was missing most of the year.

Roberton probably replaced Goddards out put from the previous two years. I could see a log jam with that middle lot of teams. WCE, Adelaide, Collingwood,Carlton, Brissy, Suns, Port, GWS and even Melbourne improving their list.

I expect Geelong to slip a bit but still just make the 8. NM into the top 4, Richmond possible top 4, Freo, Hawks, Sydney around 5th, then the last 3 spots Essendon, Geelong and GCS.

really probably a log jam from 6 to 16 again with plenty of teams improving without the ladder position gains. We could be anywhere from 9th to last depending on how good our recruits actually are, development of current kids and our ability to avoid injuries to key players. There will be very few easy beats again. Brisbane might be psychologically scarred from the mass walk out but no one else will be obviously bad.

[plugger66]

Ok but I would expect the Dogs to improve even more and Brisbane to drop back a bit but they did finish 5 game ahead of us. I think for our side to improve more quickly in the long run then last place seems the best position for that. If i remeber even last year some on here said we would improve even after losing BJ because Sippos was going to be just as good. The same has happened this year. Losing Dal, Milney and Ben means we will be in more trouble. We cant replace very good players yet but we will.

I think the dogs form was misleading and they may have had a bit of a false dawn.

Adelaide a chance to tumble.

I could live with second last but not last. We have enough spoons and we don't need any more to add to our vast collection.

I think last year was misleading for us as we lost a good portion of our defence compounding the fact we didn't recruit a FB. Fisher had stop gapped the year before but went down as did Simpkin who might have done that role. Dempster, Lenny, Schnieds all lost plenty of games too. Gilbert was missing most of the year.

Roberton probably replaced Goddards out put from the previous two years. I could see a log jam with that middle lot of teams. WCE, Adelaide, Collingwood,Carlton, Brissy, Suns, Port, GWS and even Melbourne improving their list.

I expect Geelong to slip a bit but still just make the 8. NM into the top 4, Richmond possible top 4, Freo, Hawks, Sydney around 5th, then the last 3 spots Essendon, Geelong and GCS.

really probably a log jam from 6 to 16 again with plenty of teams improving without the ladder position gains. We could be anywhere from 9th to last depending on how good our recruits actually are, development of current kids and our ability to avoid injuries to key players. There will be very few easy beats again. Brisbane might be psychologically scarred from the mass walk out but no one else will be obviously bad.

So you honestly think we could win up to 12 games next season? And thats with losing Dal, Ben and Milney. And to go up teams must come down and gringo there wasnt really a log jam to 16th position this year. Didnt we finish about 3 games behind 15th.

[kimberly saint]

the loss of dal will be big , means jack will be getting a hounding from taggers even more so may be tuff year for him. Be great if and big if schnieder can play a small role in midfield will ad that bit class dal had and armo improves anther 10% and few young blokes improve that little bit. Fingers crossed we snag one those first year players in the draft that walks into the midfield in first year

[cwrcyn]

B Gwilt Delaney Fisher
HB Gilbert Bruce Roberton
C Newnes Steven Geary
HF Montagna Lee Armitage
F Schneider Maister Riewoldt

R Hickey, Curren Hayes

Inter Jones Wright Stanley Ross

Emerg. Ray Longer Webster Savage

[cwrcyn]

Hell, I forgot Dempster!

It really is hard to pick, particularly the back half

[Munga]

Hell, I forgot Dempster!

It really is hard to pick, particularly the back half

It's ok, I just realised I forgot Lenny!!!
If anyone needs me I'll be sitting in the corner.

[SaintPav]

There's also Murdoch, the bloke with the funny head, Sipposs, Markworth, White, Michington...

we are either really crap or have a lot of depth.

[gringo]

I think last year was misleading for us as we lost a good portion of our defence compounding the fact we didn't recruit a FB. Fisher had stop gapped the year before but went down as did Simpkin who might have done that role. Dempster, Lenny, Schnieds all lost plenty of games too. Gilbert was missing most of the year.

Roberton probably replaced Goddards out put from the previous two years. I could see a log jam with that middle lot of teams. WCE, Adelaide, Collingwood,Carlton, Brissy, Suns, Port, GWS and even Melbourne improving their list.

I expect Geelong to slip a bit but still just make the 8. NM into the top 4, Richmond possible top 4, Freo, Hawks, Sydney around 5th, then the last 3 spots Essendon, Geelong and GCS.

really probably a log jam from 6 to 16 again with plenty of teams improving without the ladder position gains. We could be anywhere from 9th to last depending on how good our recruits actually are, development of current kids and our ability to avoid injuries to key players. There will be very few easy beats again. Brisbane might be psychologically scarred from the mass walk out but no one else will be obviously bad.

So you honestly think we could win up to 12 games next season? And thats with losing Dal, Ben and Milney. And to go up teams must come down and gringo there wasnt really a log jam to 16th position this year. Didnt we finish about 3 games behind 15th.

not likely but I couldn't see how with Port losing players it was going to go up. I'm thinking our likelihood of playing the duds twice is high and we should still be competitive and if we have a solid defence it goes a long way. I think we should finish in the bottom 3 most likely but you never know. beat Melbourne, Brisbane and GWS twice you start with six games, Carlton, collingwood and Bulldogs are all gettable, Port in Melbourne even Richmond won't that unbeatable. Geelong will slip a bit with out the old guard and more ageing.

I have learnt that you can never accurately predict the ladder for the next year. there always seems to be a bolter and a disappointment.

[BringBackMadDog]

B: Geary Delaney Dempster
HB: Roberton Bruce Fisher
C: Webster Steven Newnes
HF: Gilbert Roo Armo
F: Lee Stanley Schneids
R: Hickey Hayes Monty
Int: Wright Curren Ross Longer

Emerg Ray, Savage, Gwilt, Saunders

[Hurricane]

B: Geary Delaney Dempster
HB: Roberton Bruce Fisher
C: Savage Steven Ray
HF: Newnes Riewoldt Montagna
FF: Stanley Lee Schneider
R: Longer Armatige Hayes
Int: Wright, Hickey, Gilbert Sub: Ross
Emerg: Webster, Gwilt, Saunders, Curren

BANG BANG