Lifelong Port Adelaide supporter Craig McKay, aka Macca19 from BigFooty, gives us his thoughts on the best 22 for Round 1.
THE season is on our doorstep and a big year for Port Adelaide is about to commence.
With Fremantle away first up, it's important we get away to a fantastic start. Assuming everyone will be fit and available, this is the side I'd like to see play in Round 1.
There are only two changes from the side that lost to Hawthorn in the Preliminary Final last year, but they are important changes.
Macca’s Best 22
B: Tom Jonas, Alipate Carlile, Jack Hombsch
HB: Matt Broadbent, Jackson Trengove, Jasper Pittard
C: Jared Polec, Ollie Wines, Brad Ebert
HF: Hamish Hartlett, Justin Westhoff, Chad Wingard
F: Angus Monfries, Jay Schulz, Patrick Ryder
R: Matthew Lobbe, Travis Boak, Robbie Gray
I: Jarman Impey, Andrew Moore, Kane Cornes, Matthew White
EMG: Cameron O'Shea, Jake Neade, John Butcher
FORWARD LINE
To see us with three high quality key forwards for the first time in a decade will be a wonderful thing.
Not only will Ryder provide elite support to Lobbe in the ruck and not only will he offer a goal kicking, strong marking target deep forward, he also allows Westhoff to roam the field without leaving us one tall short up forward.
Flanked by the magical Wingard, the hard working Monfries and the sheer force of Hamish Hartlett, this forward line has strength, class, x-factor and the ability to kick plenty of goals.
Jake Neade is unlucky, especially after what was a very good finals series last year, but with the inclusion of Ryder, someone unfortunately had to give way.
MIDFIELD
It really does pick itself. The elite clearance winning ability of our captain Travis Boak and reigning Best and Fairest Robbie Gray, the brute force of Ollie Wines, the gut running and positive attitude of Matt Lobbe, Brad Ebert and Kane Cornes, and the left foot genius of Jared Polec.
Throw in Matthew White and Andrew Moore on the bench and it is a midfield that has many weapons.
This is an important year for Andrew Moore, a big pre-season which saw him stay fit will hopefully see him go the extra mile in 2015 and become that fantastic 2nd string inside/outside midfielder that we've been screaming out for.
BACKLINE
2014 saw Port Adelaide have statistically its best ever defence at AFL level.
The improvement in Jack Hombsch was a key to that, giving us three strong, well rounded key defenders.
Surrounded by the pace and creativity of Broadbent and Pittard and the versatility of Tommy Jonas - it is a backline that I expect will continue to improve and develop in 2015.
The final position was the one I had the most heartache over. Personal favourite Cam O'Shea, or young gun Jarman Impey.
Despite my love for the Fridge, Jarman Impey makes sense for Round 1 against a Fremantle outfit that will have All Australian Hayden Ballantyne and Michael Walters as small forwards giving us headaches.
The thing I like best about this side is its versatility. Almost every player can play in numerous areas on the ground.
The midfield rotations run 13-14 deep, with guys such as Trengove, Westhoff and Ryder able to swap ends of the ground comfortably and the addition of that second ruck in Ryder allows us to stretch defences up forward.
Even if the likes of Trengove, Wingard, Ryder and Monfries aren't available for Round 1, the depth of the squad runs deep. Young, Mitchell, Butcher, Clurey, Amon and the three emergencies are all capable of fitting in that Round 1 line up.
This is a team that can get us off to a strong start in 2015.
