FB King Thursfield Rance
HB Bowden Polak Newman
C McMahon Deledio Johnoson
HF Pettifer Richo Tambling
FF Brown Reiwolt Edwards
R Simmonds Foley Tuck
B Conners Pattison M.Morton Coughlan
E Raines jackson Cotchin
Backline:- Thursfield showed last year that he is more than capable of holding down fullback. He shows great speed off the mark and uses his long arms to spoil effectively. King was a revelation last year with showing terrific speed and defensive pressure while running the lines when rebounding from defence. The other back pocket position was a toss-up between Rance and McGuane. Although younger Rance has the size over McGuane. Id also like to see T.W to start builing a team and partnership between Rance and Thusfield considering they will be our long term KPB in the future.
Half Back line:-Polak this year must play CHB. He has to show a will to spoil when not in the position to mark. More importantly T>W must make him accountable. If Polak holds down CHB then it allows Bowden to play his natural sweeping game while using his attacking skills to deliver up forward. Newman is an outstanding player many seem to forget that he was coming back from a badly broken leg this year and did superbly. Never backs away from a contest and is a natural footballer.
Centre Line:- A good balance across here with Mcmahon Deledio and Johnson. Although soft Mcmahon does posses exemplary skills. Deledio has speed and lots of it. Id like to see him start in the guts early in the year. If he can learn to shake a tag he will become a true A Grader. On the other wing I chose Johnson. He doesn’t show the best skills but is a brilliant tagger that also has reasonable in and under skills.
Half Forward Line:- Pettifer is truly underrated he has improved immensely in the time under T.W. He is an excellent lead forward that consistently kicks goals. Richo is a Champion simple as that and shows no sign of slowing down. On the other HFF I chose Tambling. He was a little inconsistent this year but showed his true potential against west coast. This could be the year that he explodes onto the scene now that he has had a full preseason under his belt.
Forward line:- Brown could get back to his best this year expect goals from this little freak im guessing 50+.
You don’t normally expect anything to much from a 2nd year KPP but there is something special about him. Has shown enough at VFL level to warrant this selection. Edwards is an excitement machine expect to see him as a permanent crumbing forward this year with bursts in the middle and on a wing.
Rucks:- Simmonds will hopefully regain full fitness and recapture his 2006 form. When fit is one of the premier ruckmen in the comp. Foley as we all know exploded onto the scene and was extremely close to all Australian selection. He is a tireless worker who puts in 150% each week. Tuck is a clearance player although he does not posses the best skills around. Can also go forward and kick goals.