This is one of the tough sides to gauge for 2006. We know what most of the players can do at their best but for all of 2005 and critical parts of 2004 many were too badly banged up to produce. Is the situation chronic?
This is what they got:
Jed Adcock
Jason Akermanis
Marucs Allan
Jayden Attard
Simon Black
Daniel Bradshaw
Jared Brennan
Jonathan Brown
Jamie Charman
Mitchell Clark
Robert Copeland
Anthony Corrie
Josh Drummond
Ben Fixter
Pat Garner
Richard Hadley
Rhan Hooper
Chris L Johnson
Clark Keating
Nigel Lappin
Justin Leppitsch (vet)
Joel MacDonald
Beau McDonald
Ashley McGrath
Daniel Merrett
Mal Michael
Wayde Mills
Matthew Moody
Tim Notting
Joel Patfull
Luke Power
Michael Rischitelli
Brad Scott
Chris Scott
Troy Selwood
Justin Sherman
Michael Voss (vet)
Cameron Wood
Rookies
Colm Begley (international)
Leonard Clark
Luke Forsyth
Will Hamill
Scott Harding
Marty Pask
Brendan Quigley (inter)
Jason Roe
Cheynee Stiller
When assessing Brisbane, you start with Michael Voss. Possibly one of the greatest players of all time, he has the hallmark of a champion- the harder it gets, the better he gets. But he's getting on and I don't know that he's got much cushion left in the bad knee. If he were a horse, he'd be carrying a copper by now.
Even in their heyday I'd say that Brisbane was a one man team. No Voss, no Brisbane. But I was probably too simplistic. Black is the other key. A 78kg inside ruckrover, Black is the key to supply, now. Of course, being so small, he is targeted by opposition sides, physically. And he's begun to succumb. He's the main man now. Voss is not the man he was. IF Black can be protected somehow while Brisbane accumulates enough wins to make the four, they can win the flag in another weak year.
So who's going to cover Black?
Brad Scott was doing the tagging job and a lot of the physical work inside in 2003 and 04. But he to has succumbed to injury. Can he come up?
Richard Hadley was working inside too, before the knee. Can he come up the very next year? Few do. He has mass, clean hands and grunt. But I doubt he'll come up in 2006.
Troy Selwood did some good work in 2005. But he's very light and playing inside. He's the first bloke I'd target next year. Can he stand up to it?
Luke Power won plenty of ball forward of the skirmishes, turned quickly and usually blazed. He's a star small forward but not much better than Hyde in the big games inside. I've gone off him a bit. I'd like to see him play HBF for a year to polish up his use. The fact is that Power was central in too many losing games. Not good enough.
Nige Lappin and Jason Akermanis are two of the finest outsde players in the land but who will get it to them?
There are more injury issues with this team. It's not stable. Will Keating play during the year? Will he be okay for the finals?
Will Leppitsch come up? He's near THE END.
Brown is a problem. One of the worst overhead marks in the comp, he could ill-afford a shoulder injury. Let's see.
Chris Scott is G-O-N-E.
Premiership Side:
FB- Vacancy, M.Michael, Vacancy
HB- C.Johnson, J.Leppitsch, Vacancy
C- J.Akermanis, S.Black, L.Power
HF- M.Voss, J.Brown, Vacancy
FF- D.Bradshaw, Vacancy, A.McGrath
R- C.Keating, N.Black, Vacancy
Int: J.Charman, T.Notting, T.Selwood, A.Corrie
It would be easy to say "Let's play Charman in the pocket and Bradshaw at full forward with McDonald as the reserve ruck" but this side gets top-heavy. I think that's the thing Sydeny has exposed over the years. They need more run.
So, where is it coming from?
Anthony Corrie can run. He played all his foty as a frightened outsider until he went mad and got his jaw broken. After that Lethal pumped up his tyres and AC started to believe his own publicity. Having got broken up on one of the few occasions when he went in, hilariously, his confidence issues bacame a thing of the past when he returned.
Selwood runs hard defensively and he could yet make a run-with player. He has no future inside IMO. But his offensive game is very limited.
Justin Sherman is one who could go either way. He was a precocious debutant, playing as a small forward, wide, on a flank. He would use his judgement and pace to get to the fall with smarts. It reamains to be seen whether he can shake an opponent.
Brennan is a leper.
Adcock and J.MacDonald have done some good jobs but mainly stopping. Are they the jey to Brisbane's demise? Not enough attack?
Drummond did well in losing teams. More vedence required.
Rischitelli showed some stuff.
Merrett is an interesting player. He's heavy and quick. Not a bad grab. Just a kid who could go either way. But I like him. Maybe. He plugs a big hole in their forward setup.
I'd have given Fixter a go. He's a baby and very quick. He can panic with the ball. Is it youth? He'll play senior footy for the 'Baners this year.
The fact is that if Black and Voss don't play in August and September, Brisbane is in strife. The Bears lack grunt in the middle and have other injury concerns in the spine with Leppitsch and Brown. They have no dominant man inside the arc.
If Merrett comes up and Voss and Black fire, with average luck, they could win the flag.
This is what they got:
Jed Adcock
Jason Akermanis
Marucs Allan
Jayden Attard
Simon Black
Daniel Bradshaw
Jared Brennan
Jonathan Brown
Jamie Charman
Mitchell Clark
Robert Copeland
Anthony Corrie
Josh Drummond
Ben Fixter
Pat Garner
Richard Hadley
Rhan Hooper
Chris L Johnson
Clark Keating
Nigel Lappin
Justin Leppitsch (vet)
Joel MacDonald
Beau McDonald
Ashley McGrath
Daniel Merrett
Mal Michael
Wayde Mills
Matthew Moody
Tim Notting
Joel Patfull
Luke Power
Michael Rischitelli
Brad Scott
Chris Scott
Troy Selwood
Justin Sherman
Michael Voss (vet)
Cameron Wood
Rookies
Colm Begley (international)
Leonard Clark
Luke Forsyth
Will Hamill
Scott Harding
Marty Pask
Brendan Quigley (inter)
Jason Roe
Cheynee Stiller
When assessing Brisbane, you start with Michael Voss. Possibly one of the greatest players of all time, he has the hallmark of a champion- the harder it gets, the better he gets. But he's getting on and I don't know that he's got much cushion left in the bad knee. If he were a horse, he'd be carrying a copper by now.
Even in their heyday I'd say that Brisbane was a one man team. No Voss, no Brisbane. But I was probably too simplistic. Black is the other key. A 78kg inside ruckrover, Black is the key to supply, now. Of course, being so small, he is targeted by opposition sides, physically. And he's begun to succumb. He's the main man now. Voss is not the man he was. IF Black can be protected somehow while Brisbane accumulates enough wins to make the four, they can win the flag in another weak year.
So who's going to cover Black?
Brad Scott was doing the tagging job and a lot of the physical work inside in 2003 and 04. But he to has succumbed to injury. Can he come up?
Richard Hadley was working inside too, before the knee. Can he come up the very next year? Few do. He has mass, clean hands and grunt. But I doubt he'll come up in 2006.
Troy Selwood did some good work in 2005. But he's very light and playing inside. He's the first bloke I'd target next year. Can he stand up to it?
Luke Power won plenty of ball forward of the skirmishes, turned quickly and usually blazed. He's a star small forward but not much better than Hyde in the big games inside. I've gone off him a bit. I'd like to see him play HBF for a year to polish up his use. The fact is that Power was central in too many losing games. Not good enough.
Nige Lappin and Jason Akermanis are two of the finest outsde players in the land but who will get it to them?
There are more injury issues with this team. It's not stable. Will Keating play during the year? Will he be okay for the finals?
Will Leppitsch come up? He's near THE END.
Brown is a problem. One of the worst overhead marks in the comp, he could ill-afford a shoulder injury. Let's see.
Chris Scott is G-O-N-E.
Premiership Side:
FB- Vacancy, M.Michael, Vacancy
HB- C.Johnson, J.Leppitsch, Vacancy
C- J.Akermanis, S.Black, L.Power
HF- M.Voss, J.Brown, Vacancy
FF- D.Bradshaw, Vacancy, A.McGrath
R- C.Keating, N.Black, Vacancy
Int: J.Charman, T.Notting, T.Selwood, A.Corrie
It would be easy to say "Let's play Charman in the pocket and Bradshaw at full forward with McDonald as the reserve ruck" but this side gets top-heavy. I think that's the thing Sydeny has exposed over the years. They need more run.
So, where is it coming from?
Anthony Corrie can run. He played all his foty as a frightened outsider until he went mad and got his jaw broken. After that Lethal pumped up his tyres and AC started to believe his own publicity. Having got broken up on one of the few occasions when he went in, hilariously, his confidence issues bacame a thing of the past when he returned.
Selwood runs hard defensively and he could yet make a run-with player. He has no future inside IMO. But his offensive game is very limited.
Justin Sherman is one who could go either way. He was a precocious debutant, playing as a small forward, wide, on a flank. He would use his judgement and pace to get to the fall with smarts. It reamains to be seen whether he can shake an opponent.
Brennan is a leper.
Adcock and J.MacDonald have done some good jobs but mainly stopping. Are they the jey to Brisbane's demise? Not enough attack?
Drummond did well in losing teams. More vedence required.
Rischitelli showed some stuff.
Merrett is an interesting player. He's heavy and quick. Not a bad grab. Just a kid who could go either way. But I like him. Maybe. He plugs a big hole in their forward setup.
I'd have given Fixter a go. He's a baby and very quick. He can panic with the ball. Is it youth? He'll play senior footy for the 'Baners this year.
The fact is that if Black and Voss don't play in August and September, Brisbane is in strife. The Bears lack grunt in the middle and have other injury concerns in the spine with Leppitsch and Brown. They have no dominant man inside the arc.
If Merrett comes up and Voss and Black fire, with average luck, they could win the flag.
