bondiblue wrote:
coryne wrote:
B.........Hurley.............Jamison.................Thornton
HB.......Scotland..........Bower....................Grigg
C.........Stevens.............Gibbs...................Hadley
HF.......Walker.............Waite.....................Houlihan
F.........Betts...............Fevola....................Kreuzer
R.........Warnock..........Murphy..................Judd
Int Cloke Simpson Browne Carrazzo
EM Hampson Wiggins Armfield Russell
Ild be pretty happy with that line up ...............
That's a very dangerous forwardline.
Whilst I have a hunch that Hurley will be snapped up by Bombers or Port before us, we always have Setanta for he Big Fwds in our backline.
I also suspect that with Warnock, and the improvement of Kreuzer and Hampson in the ruck, we should put an end to our bleeding in the tap outs (16th in the AFL). This should give our mids more of the ball, and we know what the class of Judd, Gibbs, Murphy, Stevens etc can do if we give them more supply.
More importantly, with the improvement in our ruck division, there will be even less pressure on our defense in 2009. I think the improvement we showed in the clearances in 2008 from 2007, will be expedited in a big way in 2009 compared to 2008.
I can't see what role Cloke has to play with a forwardline like the one you've posted coryne. Surely you haven't got him as your changing ruckman with Warnock. The reason we needed Warnock was to stop our trend since 2001 of playing short ruckmen.
My main role for Cloke in the side NEXT year is to protect Hampson and Jacobs. Either will EASILY surpass him as a ruckman when then get some more years under their belts, and I would expect both to be used as the 2nd ruck in 2010 to give them experience to both further their development and to increase their trade value for when the GC/WS sides come in, but I think a years worth of development in the Ants would be great (How many other clubs recruit young ruckmen and then expect then to perform in the 1st couple of years ???)
Cloke is a better forward prospect than say Russel, Wiggins or Fisher IMO. He can take a good mark and cause a contest, allowing Betts and Houlihan to crumb off of. That said, his opportunities should be limited after next year with Hampson and/or Jacobs taking over his role in the ruck.
If Hurley is gone @ #6 then Waite would probably have to go back again next year, unfortunately .................... Not sure who I would take if Hurley was unavailable. NitNat, Rich and Watts SHOULD be gone, but names such as Vickery and Yarren have been thrown around SOOO much, and a trend in clubs recruiting kids from their home states to avoid the "go home" syndrome, could mean that a smokey or two get taken before they may otherwise be. Eg I remember reading somewhere that Vickery may be looked at at #1, NitNat and Rich go at 2 and 3 and Essendon* being EXTREMELY keen on Yarren. If port chose to go with a home grown kid in Hartlett then Watts may slip through to 6 ............ (I know, I am dreaming, but he would be PERFECT, a forward we could develop for 2 years in the ants, then move into the forward line in his 3rd year to play along side, and take over from Fev)
I think our major hole going into the future now will be our forward line. We still have guys such as Browne and Anderson who could slot into the back line, but we have no real forwards coming through, tall or small. I would like our #6 to be used to get the best available forward. Not Yarren, as I have worries about his attitude (yeah, yeah, there was worries about Buddy too ........) and not a Vickery/McKernan who I see more as ruckmen who can move forward (we have enough of those ATM). Someone like a Watts (dreaming), Sidebottom (I know, more of a midfielder who can kick goals, but how many of our current midfielders kick goals regularly ???) or a Johnston.
That said, I think/hope that Watts, Rich, NitNat, Vickery and Yarren will probably go 1-5, so Carlton will have Hurley, Hartlett, Sidebottom and McKernan to choose from. I think it would be hard to choose Sidebottom before Hartlett, so my order of the four would be Hurley, Hartlett, Sidebottom and McKernan.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
