What's our best 22 now?

[mightytiges]

Expecting to be howled down but based solely on form in the 2nd half of the season I really do wonder if Newman is still in our best 22 

IMO he was playing injured. Remember he hurt his shin earlier in the season. He was fine the week after but his form dipped and became inconsistent after that.

[WilliamPowell]

Expecting to be howled down but based solely on form in the 2nd half of the season I really do wonder if Newman is still in our best 22 

IMO he was playing injured. Remember he hurt his shin earlier in the season. He was fine the week after but his form dipped and became inconsistent after that.

Perhaps but he wouldn't be the only player running around playing injured during the latter part of a season.

Thing that stood out to me all season was he seemed a lot slower this year

[mightytiges]

Expecting to be howled down but based solely on form in the 2nd half of the season I really do wonder if Newman is still in our best 22 

IMO he was playing injured. Remember he hurt his shin earlier in the season. He was fine the week after but his form dipped and became inconsistent after that.

Perhaps but he wouldn't be the only player running around playing injured during the latter part of a season.

Thing that stood out to me all season was he seemed a lot slower this year

The thing that I noticed was the penetration in his kicking was short by about 5m or so. Sure that can be sign of age (he's 30 now) but it also can be a sign of someone carrying a leg injury. He did his PCL late last year and then injured his shin this year which also resulted in a huge haematona in his leg. So we'll have to wait until next year to see if it was injury-related or 'old' age catching up.

[Judge Roughneck]

Expecting to be howled down but based solely on form in the 2nd half of the season I really do wonder if Newman is still in our best 22 

You make a good point

But bacha the squib houli is surely in the same boat

[Danog]

Expecting to be howled down but based solely on form in the 2nd half of the season I really do wonder if Newman is still in our best 22 

You make a good point

But bacha the squib houli is surely in the same boat

Did you even watch games this year?

Agree on Newman though.

[Judge Roughneck]

There.is only.21 spots

Helbig could go past him. Or sea.

Don't.forgot Jack doesn't need to earn his place so its only 20 spots.

[Tigeritis™©®]

AFL site's Richmond best 22:

B:    Morris       Rance     Grimes
HB:  Deledio    Chaplin    Newman
C:     Grigg        Tuck        Houli
HF:   Martin     Vickery     Griffiths
F:     Knights   Riewoldt   Edwards
R:    Maric    Cotchin    Foley
Int: Ellis, Batchelor, Astbury
Sub: Conca

Richmond
The Tigers were ruthlessly efficient during the Gillette AFL Free Agency Period. A key defender and an experienced midfielder were their clear targets and within 24 hours they had brought both Adelaide's Chris Knights and Port Adelaide's Troy Chaplin to the club. Knights can swing through the midfield and sneak forward, while Chaplin adds height, strength and experience to a backline that was probably the club's main weakness in 2012. The Tigers are putting together a strong side as they push for their first finals appearance in 12 years, and at this stage and at full strength, Robin Nahas and Jake King would battle to get a game.
 - Ashley Browne

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/150669/default.aspx

why would they name astbury on the bench. surely with rance, chaplin, grimes down back theres no spot for him unless he actually replaces one of them.
with riewoldt, griffiths, and vickery forward there is no place for him unless he actually replaces one of them.

hes not going to be the second ruckman surely.

what the hell are they doing naming vickery at chf is he or is he not to be the second ruckman. they better hurry up and decide. if he is surely he must play out of a pocket as a long target with significant time in the ruck,  a damn site more than in the past.
 if hes not our ruck stocks are even worse.

dont get too worked up craw, its just some journo, not the club itself.

Yep. The journo has Lids on a HBF when Lids no longer plays there.

The 3rd tall/CHF spot is still one I find difficult to pinpoint even if Vickery returns to his 2011 form. The Club brought in Aaron Edwards but he's just a fill in even if he commits himself after his latest misdemeanour.  Griffiths has the potential to fill the void but he played all last year in defence. With Chaplin now in the side it's time to push him forward. Elton and Astbury are still unknowns or different reasons - Elton is still developing while Astbury will hopefully improve significantly next year with a full preseason under his belt.

My best 22 at this stage:

B:    Morris       Rance     Grimes
HB:  Batchelor Chaplin   Houli
C:     Conca      Tuck       Deledio
HF:   Martin    Griffiths     Grigg
F:     Vickery   Riewoldt   S.Edwards
R:    Maric    Cotchin    Foley
Int: Ellis, Newman, Knights
Sub: Pick 9 (assuming we draft a mid)

Nailed it MT. Good team. Hopefully pick 9 is that good too. 

[Coach]

Expecting to be howled down but based solely on form in the 2nd half of the season I really do wonder if Newman is still in our best 22 

You make a good point

But bacha the squib houli is surely in the same boat

Did you even watch games this year?

Agree on Newman though.

Are you trying to deny that Houli is soft? He has less of a crack than McMahon. At least Jordy didn't try to hide his softness. I love it when Houli has the opportunity to go back with the flight and take a grab but he chooses to stay where he is and rove the crumbs. It's especially good to watch when the contest is only a 1 on 1 yet he still refuses to go back with the flight
Weak as pee but can kick a footy.

[MADTIGER2010]

FB morris chaplin ellis
HB grimes rance batchelor
C edwards cotchin conca
HF king vickery knights
FF griffiths reiwoldt nahas
FOLL maric martin deledio
INT grigg jackson foley tuck

[JVT]

Expecting to be howled down but based solely on form in the 2nd half of the season I really do wonder if Newman is still in our best 22 

IMO he was playing injured. Remember he hurt his shin earlier in the season. He was fine the week after but his form dipped and became inconsistent after that.

Perhaps but he wouldn't be the only player running around playing injured during the latter part of a season.

Thing that stood out to me all season was he seemed a lot slower this year

i think your spot on WP, went a long way back from his 2011 form. Looks to have lost a little bit of everything (pace, penetration in his kicking etc.).

I think Newman knows this as well, hence him stepping down from the captaincy as the season closed. I wouldn't be surprised if, in the 2nd half of 2013, he is being used as the sub. Really, that would be good for us as it means others have stepped up and gone past him.

[torch]

A good thing Hardwick has done is created pressure for positions.

Knights, King, Nahas, Edwards, Nahas are all battling for one or two positions.

Would seem Aaron Edwards will slot into the forward line with Riewoldt and Vickery, so one or two positions left leaving one position open for Cotchin, Martin or Deledio to play.

Batchelor, Dea fighting for a spot too in defence.

Grigg, Conca, Foley rotating on the wings??? Would like to have another midfielder.

Jackson unfortunately will NEVER lose his position 

Where do we play Ellis in 2013???

Cotchin, Martin, Deledio are our midfield.

Tuck ever the durable man will keep playing and i have this feeling will get better with age!

You would like to think they settle Griffiths, Astbury in a position!

Hope Helbig, Arnot begin to develop into that hard, tough inside midfielder.

Would target two good inside midfielders this draft, a genuine forward and key defender ...

[Judge Roughneck]

Foley on a.wing? Pure rover in my book


Then again I think grimes is a full back while others don't agree

[Penelope]

i reckon you throw A Edwards in that list with king, knights and co, torch

[Judge Roughneck]

I agree with this with the exception of two selections. I believe bachelor has shown enough to play ahead of A Edwards. I would also go with the Dutchman over Jake King.


Edit good work MT.

Mine would be slightly different -

B: Steven Morris, Troy Chaplin, Dylan Grimes
HB: Bachar Houli, Alex Rance, Chris Newman
C: Brett Deledio, Shane Tuck, Shaun Grigg
HF: Shane Edwards, Ben Griffiths , Jake King
F: Tyrone Vickery, Jack Riewoldt, , Aaron Edwards
R: Ivan Maric, Trent Cotchin, Nathan Foley
INT: Dustin Martin, Chris Knights , Brandon Ellis, sub: Reece Conca


Left Overs: Robin Nahas, Jake Batchelor, Brad Helbig, Todd Elton, David Astbury, Daniel Jackson, Jayden Post, Matthew Dea


IMHO -  that is a very strong team ! 

[hammo1976]

headaches headaches come round 1 for the boys plenty to choose from know which we haven't really had for sometime... players don't perform next year see yeah later... must say the following guys are at the roads
1- jackson 2- king, 3- nahas, 4- ashbury 5- Griffiths

drunk Edwards will certainly play a role we would be silly not to try him early specially if vickery is up and running to have 3 prong attack would haunt any teams backline

go u tigers