{"id":8692,"date":"2013-08-27T14:57:18","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T04:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/boundforglorynews.com\/?p=8692"},"modified":"2013-08-27T14:57:18","modified_gmt":"2013-08-27T04:57:18","slug":"2013-tac-cup-team-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2013\/08\/27\/2013-tac-cup-team-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"2013 TAC Cup team of the year"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAC Cup AA Discussion<\/a><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>Listen to the discussion on the team with Peter Williams and Jourdan Canil on SYN FM’s ”The Sports Desk’.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>Rising Stars writer Jourdan Canil, who wrote his phantom draft earlier in the year, has devised a team of the best TAC Cup players for 2013. Much like the All-Australian team there are always some surprise inclusions and shock omissions. This is how he saw the TAC Cup this season in the form of a best 22 and overall squad of 40.<\/p>\n

Criteria:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Must have played at least eight games to be eligible<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Consistency was rewarded<\/em><\/p>\n

3. Squad must be even. Two ruckmen, 11 forwards, 11 backmen and 16 midfielders<\/em><\/p>\n

——<\/p>\n

Team:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Backs:<\/strong>
\nAaron Heppell (GP)
\nIsaiah Miller (BP)
\nZak Jones (DS)
\nDarcy Gardiner (GF)
\nFraser Fort (GF)
\nGuy Dickson (OC)
\nHugh Beasley (OC)
\nLouis Herbert (NB)
\nJake Lever (CC)
\nDan McStay (ER)
\nKarl Amon (SD)<\/p>\n

Rucks:<\/strong>
\nJack Leslie (GP)
\nAgape Patolo (DS)<\/p>\n

Forwards:<\/strong>
\nJosh Scott (GP)
\nJarman Impey (MB)
\nClayton McCartney (DS)
\nBilly Hogan (OC)
\nJames Toohey (OC)
\nDallas Willsmore (NB)
\nJake Owen (CC)
\nMitchell Norton (WJ)
\nChristian Petracca (ER)
\nJames Sicily (WJ)
\nJay Kennedy-Harris (OC)<\/p>\n

Midfielders:<\/strong>
\nNathaniel Paredes (GP)
\nAlex Carr (GP)
\nSam Heavyside (BP)
\nJacob Chisari (BP)
\nMichael Gibbons (MB)
\nJosh Turner (NK)
\nMatthew Haynes (NK)
\nBilly Hartung (DS)
\nAlex Hickey (GF)
\nDarcy Lang (GF)
\nJames Tsitas (GF)
\nLewis Taylor (GF)
\nLachlan Cassidy (NB)
\nMatthew Merlo (CC)
\nBen Cavarra (ER)
\nJake Greiser (WJ)<\/p>\n

B: Zac Jones (DS) – Darcy Gardiner (GF) – Jake Lever (CC)
\nHB: Isaiah Miller (BP) – Fraser Fort (GF) – Louis Herbert (NB)
\nC: Ben Cavarra (ER) – Jacob Chisari (BP) – Sam Heavyside (BP)
\nHF: James Sicily (WJ) – James Toohey (OC) – Jay Kennedy-Harris (OC)
\nF: Billy Hartung (DS) – Josh Scott (GP) – Christian Petracca (ER)
\nR: Jack Leslie (GP) – Lewis Taylor (GF) – Matt Merlo (CC)<\/p>\n

INT: James Tsitas (GF) – Lachlan Cassidy (NB) –\u00a0 Josh Turner (NK) – Guy Dickson (OC)<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the only team that doesn\u2019t have a representative in the team of the year is Sandringham. Karl Amon barely met the eligibility criteria and scraped into the squad of 40 but guys like Josh Kelly, Christian Salem and Nathan Freeman all played too few games.<\/p>\n

Northern Knights only had two players selected in the squad. Neither Ben Lennon nor Marcus Bontempelli played enough games to make it into the squad. Josh Turner and Matthew Haynes have had consistent years. They are both smokies to go late in the draft.<\/p>\n

Eastern Ranges also had quite a few guys miss out. Tom Boyd and Mitch Honeychurch haven\u2019t played enough games. Dan McStay was stiff to not make the team and Ben Cavarra might have been lucky to get a spot on the wing. Christian Petracca is one of only two 17-year-olds to make it into the team of the year, alongside Calder\u2019s Jake Lever.<\/p>\n

Finally, Bendigo can say they haven\u2019t been overlooked. Jacob Chisari has played 15 games and been named in the bests 13 times, while Sam Heavyside has played nine games and has been named in the bests every time. Isaiah Miller, their most promising prospect was named on the half back flank.<\/p>\n

North Ballarat Rebels also had a solid showing for a wooden spoon side. Matt Crouch was ineligible, but Louis Herbert and Lachlan Cassidy were named in the 22. Dallas Willsmore was named in the squad.<\/p>\n

The Falcons were a little luckier than Sandringham. A lot of their top end players just scraped into eligibility. Nick Bourke hasn\u2019t had enough impact through the year to be named, but midfielders Lewis Taylor, James Tsitas, Darcy Lang and Alex Hickey have all made the squad, with the first two making the team. Fraser Fort and Darcy Gardiner, the two best key defenders (although Fort is more than capable up forward) have made the team as well.<\/p>\n

Dandenong had a few players who were very close to selection, both in the 22 and the squad. Nathan Gardiner was close to making the squad. Clay McCartney is too inconsistent to make the 22 but he\u2019s certainly played well enough to make the 40. Agape Patolo has been underwhelming after injury problems early in the year but still one of the better ruckmen. Billy Hartung just made the games requirement, but is certainly worthy of a spot. Zak Jones has been consistent and played better than his statistics suggest.<\/p>\n

Calder was the hardest team to select from. They have plenty of \u2018solid\u2019 players who have got them through the year, but the lack of polish and x-factor made it hard. Jake Owen has been ultra consistent. Matt Merlo hasn\u2019t been talked about enough. Half the games he\u2019s played in, he\u2019s been in Calder’s top two players. Jake Lever thoroughly deserves his spot, despite the amount of competition for key defensive posts.<\/p>\n

Murray has struggled for representatives. Despite sitting in eighth, only Michael Gibbons and Jarman Impey have stood out. Gibbons is a bit stiff to miss out on making the team. Impey has been up and down in form, but he\u2019s one of the classiest players in this draft class. Having said that, he hasn\u2019t had enough games where he\u2019s torn the opposition to shreds to get a gig.<\/p>\n

The Western Jets have had a host of guys who have performed very solidly all year. James Sicily and Jake Greiser have been the best of those. Mitchell Norton also made it into the squad marginally over the Ranges\u2019 Andreas Roth as a full-time small forward, but his lack of time in the midfield stopped him from getting into the 22.<\/p>\n

Oakleigh has had quite the range of representatives in the squad. Jack Billings and Will Maginness haven\u2019t played enough games to make the cut. Darcy Gardiner got the nod over Hugh Beasley for the main lock down defensive spot, and Jake Lever just edged out Guy Dickson for the third defender role. Jay Kennedy-Harris has been phenomenal this year, which earns him a spot next to versatile big man James Toohey. Billy Hogan just missed out on a spot in the forward pocket.<\/p>\n

The Power are a team with a lot of strong bodied, consistent players, but there weren\u2019t many guys who screamed out “pick me”. Jack Leslie got the number one ruck spot. Aaron Heppell just missed out on a spot in the team but was one of the first picked in the squad. Alex Carr and Nathan Paredes have both had excellent years, but neither made the team. Josh Scott, the league\u2019s leading goal kicker, was the obvious choice for full forward considering his year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TAC Cup AA Discussion\u00a0\u00a0Listen to the discussion on the team with Peter Williams and Jourdan Canil on SYN FM’s ”The Sports Desk’.\u00a0 Rising Stars writer Jourdan Canil, who wrote his phantom draft earlier in the year, has devised a team of the best TAC Cup players for 2013. Much like the All-Australian team there are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":8934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[426,498,619,713,783,794,1317,1370,1376,1393,1445,1584,1672,51,1782,1920],"class_list":["post-8692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bendigo","tag-calder","tag-dandenong","tag-eastern","tag-geelong","tag-gippsland","tag-murray","tag-north-ballarat","tag-northern","tag-oakleigh","tag-phantom-draft","tag-rising-stars-2","tag-sandringham","tag-tac-cup","tag-team-of-the-year","tag-western"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}