Our best 22(with all available) - afl.com.au

[little_ripper]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/ ... fault.aspx

BEST 22
B: Dustin Fletcher, Tayte Pears, Henry Slattery
HB: Nathan Lovett-Murray, Cale Hooker, Courtenay Dempsey
C: Jason Winderlich, Jobe Watson, Brent Stanton
HF: Angus Monfries, Michael Hurley, Kyle Reimers
F: Mark Williams, David Hille, Alwyn Davey
Foll: Patrick Ryder, Andrew Welsh, Brent Prismall
I/C: Mark McVeigh, Scott Gumbleton, Ricky Dyson, Heath Hocking

i'm a big fan of this team, think its about right. love the half back line.

Altho Interesting they left our Zaharakis, Lonergan doesn't get a look in and they have gumbleton ahead of Neagle.

[gringo]

Laycock in for Hooker

Houli in for Slattery

Lonergan in for McVeigh

[Windy_Hill]

From the same article

"CRYSTAL BALL
Mark McVeigh and Michael Hurley are suspended early but the Bombers will field close to a full-strength side in round one, with David Hille likely to play. Fixture wise, things look tough: three finalists in the opening five rounds and then every weekend from round 18. They'll also need to make up for the loss of Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas and Andrew Lovett, who kicked 78 goals between them last year.

Expect a finish from ninth to 12th."


f*** the AFL and its ridiculous fixturing - a sham of a competition. Why should one team have an easier draw than another? How is that fair? How can that possibly result in an even competition. Its not our squad but a draw that will ruin this season (and possibly Matthew Knights job!!)

[swoodley]

From the same article

"CRYSTAL BALL
Mark McVeigh and Michael Hurley are suspended early but the Bombers will field close to a full-strength side in round one, with David Hille likely to play. Fixture wise, things look tough: three finalists in the opening five rounds and then every weekend from round 18. They'll also need to make up for the loss of Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas and Andrew Lovett, who kicked 78 goals between them last year.

Expect a finish from ninth to 12th."


f*** the AFL and its ridiculous fixturing - a sham of a competition. Why should one team have an easier draw then another? How is that fair? How can that possibly result in an even competition. Its not our squad but a draw that will ruin this season (and possible Matthew Knights job!!)

WIndy...there has not been an even competition since they packed South Melbourne off to Sydney in the early '80s.

From that time, the comp has been compromised due to the extra travel required by Sydney, then Brisbane, West Coast etc. Not all Vic clubs have to travel the same number of times (we only travel interstate 3 times this year) and so the idea of a fair and equitable draw is pure fantasy.

The fact remains that if we are good enough, we will win our fair share of games against last year's finalists....it is our historically poor record against teams we should beat (and don't) that too often lets us down.

[robrulz5]

That looks like a pretty good side. I don't think Gumbleton would be in our best 22 just yet but its hard not to have him in there with our lack of consistent key forwards at the moment.

[Windy_Hill]

From the same article

"CRYSTAL BALL
Mark McVeigh and Michael Hurley are suspended early but the Bombers will field close to a full-strength side in round one, with David Hille likely to play. Fixture wise, things look tough: three finalists in the opening five rounds and then every weekend from round 18. They'll also need to make up for the loss of Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas and Andrew Lovett, who kicked 78 goals between them last year.

Expect a finish from ninth to 12th."


f*** the AFL and its ridiculous fixturing - a sham of a competition. Why should one team have an easier draw then another? How is that fair? How can that possibly result in an even competition. Its not our squad but a draw that will ruin this season (and possible Matthew Knights job!!)

WIndy...there has not been an even competition since they packed South Melbourne off to Sydney in the early '80s.

From that time, the comp has been compromised due to the extra travel required by Sydney, then Brisbane, West Coast etc. Not all Vic clubs have to travel the same number of times (we only travel interstate 3 times this year) and so the idea of a fair and equitable draw is pure fantasy.

The fact remains that if we are good enough, we will win our fair share of games against last year's finalists....it is our historically poor record against teams we should beat (and don't) that too often lets us down.

Swoods, the travel is not the issue, its a national competition and all teams are in the same boat on that one. But for one club to play the previous season's top 7 sides 12 times and another team only has to play the same sides on 9 occasions, it patently unfair. Especially when one win can separate 8th and 9th place on the ladder.

Until the season has all sides playing each other twice - or divisions in which the fixturing is consisitent every year, the premiership is flawed.

[Gatsid]

From the same article

"CRYSTAL BALL
Mark McVeigh and Michael Hurley are suspended early but the Bombers will field close to a full-strength side in round one, with David Hille likely to play. Fixture wise, things look tough: three finalists in the opening five rounds and then every weekend from round 18. They'll also need to make up for the loss of Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas and Andrew Lovett, who kicked 78 goals between them last year.

Expect a finish from ninth to 12th."


f*** the AFL and its ridiculous fixturing - a sham of a competition. Why should one team have an easier draw then another? How is that fair? How can that possibly result in an even competition. Its not our squad but a draw that will ruin this season (and possible Matthew Knights job!!)

WIndy...there has not been an even competition since they packed South Melbourne off to Sydney in the early '80s.

From that time, the comp has been compromised due to the extra travel required by Sydney, then Brisbane, West Coast etc. Not all Vic clubs have to travel the same number of times (we only travel interstate 3 times this year) and so the idea of a fair and equitable draw is pure fantasy.

The fact remains that if we are good enough, we will win our fair share of games against last year's finalists....it is our historically poor record against teams we should beat (and don't) that too often lets us down.

Swoods, the travel is not the issue, its a national competition and all teams are in the same boat on that one. But for one club to play the previous season's top 7 sides 12 times and another team only has to play the same sides on 9 occasions, it patently unfair. Especially when one win can separate 8th and 9th place on the ladder.

Until the season has all sides playing each other twice - or divisions in which the fixturing is consisitent every year, the premiership is flawed.

Whilst I can see your point where it's not all that fair that some teams get much harder runs (travel and having to play better opposition more frequently) than other sides, I think to say the premiership is flawed is a massive overstatement. If this were the case we would be able to look back over the past years and find some premiers or at least runners up that didn't deserve to be there. By looking back over the past 9 years I don't think you'll find that even if you gave the premiers the hardest draw that they wouldn't make it. The premiers end up being so because they're the best team in the comp and that's that. Ok maybe in 2008 the Cats were the best team in the comp, but the Hawks were far and away the 2nd best and then performed better on the big stage. To say any premiership in recent years is flawed is a bit much. Ok maybe some sides that finished 9th-11th could have made finals if not for a bad draw, and some sides that finished 6th-8th mightn't have done as well without a favorable draw. But lets be honest, do we seriously think the Bombers Premiership of 2000, Lions of 2001-2003, Port of 2004, Swans of 2005, Eagles of 2006, Cats of 2007, Hawks of 2008 and Cats of 2009 were flawed and went to a team, and only got there due to unevenness of the comp? I'm not so sure.

[Windy_Hill]

Gats, whos to say that the side that finished third, may not have finished second and thus changed the dynamics of the outcome in any season. My point is not that the Premier in each year is not deserving, but the manner in which they won the flag, the competition itself, is not truly equitable. In which case, the premeiership is flawed

[Old mate]

Um, Hi Windy Hill!!

How is everyone in the same boat? Interstate teams have to travel every 2nd week...how many times does Essendon have to travel this year...3...4 times?

Um, how can you say everyone is in the same boat?

[ealesy]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/ ... fault.aspx

BEST 22
B: Dustin Fletcher, Tayte Pears, Henry Slattery
HB: Nathan Lovett-Murray, Cale Hooker, Courtenay Dempsey
C: Jason Winderlich, Jobe Watson, Brent Stanton
HF: Angus Monfries, Michael Hurley, Kyle Reimers
F: Mark Williams, David Hille, Alwyn Davey
Foll: Patrick Ryder, Andrew Welsh, Brent Prismall
I/C: Mark McVeigh, Scott Gumbleton, Ricky Dyson, Heath Hocking

i'm a big fan of this team, think its about right. love the half back line.

Altho Interesting they left our Zaharakis, Lonergan doesn't get a look in and they have gumbleton ahead of Neagle.

I would have Paddy Ryder at CHF, Hurley at FF, Hille first ruck, Lonergan in the team before Hocking and possibly Laycock in the 22 ahead of Gumbleton at this point of time, if for no other reason than it allows us to play Ryder permanently at CHF. I would also strongly consider Zaharakis on the HFF ahead of Reimers.

[hillchaser]

In Zaha and Houli

Out Reimers (For now) and Dyson/Hocking

[Windy_Hill]

Um, Hi Windy Hill!!

How is everyone in the same boat? Interstate teams have to travel every 2nd week...how many times does Essendon have to travel this year...3...4 times?

Um, how can you say everyone is in the same boat?

Interstate teams also enjoy fortress like home ground advantages as a result, but thats the price you pay for a National Competition - the only problem with this is that the comp is very Melb centric with too many teams based in Melb. However, over time that is likely to balance out a bit more with further interstate teams coming into the mix

What is wrong though is we may come up against a red hot interstate team on their patch with no right to a return game on our turf.

[swoodley]

From the same article

"CRYSTAL BALL
Mark McVeigh and Michael Hurley are suspended early but the Bombers will field close to a full-strength side in round one, with David Hille likely to play. Fixture wise, things look tough: three finalists in the opening five rounds and then every weekend from round 18. They'll also need to make up for the loss of Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas and Andrew Lovett, who kicked 78 goals between them last year.

Expect a finish from ninth to 12th."


f*** the AFL and its ridiculous fixturing - a sham of a competition. Why should one team have an easier draw then another? How is that fair? How can that possibly result in an even competition. Its not our squad but a draw that will ruin this season (and possible Matthew Knights job!!)

WIndy...there has not been an even competition since they packed South Melbourne off to Sydney in the early '80s.

From that time, the comp has been compromised due to the extra travel required by Sydney, then Brisbane, West Coast etc. Not all Vic clubs have to travel the same number of times (we only travel interstate 3 times this year) and so the idea of a fair and equitable draw is pure fantasy.

The fact remains that if we are good enough, we will win our fair share of games against last year's finalists....it is our historically poor record against teams we should beat (and don't) that too often lets us down.

Swoods, the travel is not the issue, its a national competition and all teams are in the same boat on that one. But for one club to play the previous season's top 7 sides 12 times and another team only has to play the same sides on 9 occasions, it patently unfair. Especially when one win can separate 8th and 9th place on the ladder.

Until the season has all sides playing each other twice - or divisions in which the fixturing is consisitent every year, the premiership is flawed.

How can you say that travel is not an issue when the six non Victorian teams travel 11 times a year and some Victorian sides only travel 3-4 times? How does that inequity tell you that all teams are in the same boat?

Check the number of times a travelling team loses the week after a trip to Subiaco, check the travelling record of the interstate teams to see how often they win away from home....travel is a major factor and cannot be discounted.

The draw will will always be flawed until we get a situation where there are an equal number of teams in each city who play each other at home and away each season....a situation that will never happen.

[azza78]

I like the idea of Laycock as a permanent forward. Think he's showed potential as a big leading target in the past. Allows Hille and Ryder to rotate in the ruck and thru FP if we wanna go tall and stretch the opposition.

Hurley at CHF until Gumbleton proves himself. Then he goes to key defence, more than likely for Hooker.

McVeigh takes Slattery's spot and takes the opposition's best small forward. Welsh takes Slattery's spot on the bench.

Hard to find a spot in that team for Zaharakis and Lonergan. Dyson did enough last year to be in our best 22 but Davey and Reimers need to find more of the pill and kick more goals to keep their spots.

[dom_105]

You are never going to fix the travel issue, but it is very easy to construct a situation whereby every club plays the exact same amount of finalists and non finalists. Split the competition in half for the purposes of constructing the draw - odds (ladder position 1,3,5,7,9 etc) and evens. The odds play each other twice and the evens once and vice-versa. 7 plus 7 = 14, plus 8 = 22 games.

You will have to kiss goodbye some "blockbusters", but you will always have one ANZAC Day match, one showdown, one derby, one game of Collingwood v Carlton v Richmond v Essendon, one Grand Final rematch

[Windy_Hill]

How can you say that travel is not an issue when the six non Victorian teams travel 11 times a year and some Victorian sides only travel 3-4 times? How does that inequity tell you that all teams are in the same boat?

Check the number of times a travelling team loses the week after a trip to Subiaco, check the travelling record of the interstate teams to see how often they win away from home....travel is a major factor and cannot be discounted.

The draw will will always be flawed until we get a situation where there are an equal number of teams in each city who play each other at home and away each season....a situation that will never happen.

Sounds like we are in total agreement with each other

[swoodley]

How can you say that travel is not an issue when the six non Victorian teams travel 11 times a year and some Victorian sides only travel 3-4 times? How does that inequity tell you that all teams are in the same boat?

Check the number of times a travelling team loses the week after a trip to Subiaco, check the travelling record of the interstate teams to see how often they win away from home....travel is a major factor and cannot be discounted.

The draw will will always be flawed until we get a situation where there are an equal number of teams in each city who play each other at home and away each season....a situation that will never happen.

Sounds like we are in total agreement with each other