In most probably my last posting in Christchurch, as I’ll be fully-busy the next 2 or 3 days, I shall post a review of the not so mighty Carringbush.
List:
2026 will be 3 years since the last Carringbush premiership, yet they are still going in with the same bunch. Even the slightly younger mature bunch that they traded in a year or two ago – Schultz, Houston, Perryman and Sullivan – are now turning into twilighters.
15 players on their list now are twilighters, and all but 2 were core players last season.
The other interesting factor is, looking at the developing (22-24yo) and junior (18-21yo) groups, take out Nick Daicos, Beau McCreery, and Ned Long, they have put very few games and little development into their juniors.
Quite clearly, they have start puuting games into their younger players. It starts in the defence! CHB to be precise. Charlie Dean was delisted due to injuries, albeit excellent intercept statistics, but who takes his place? Cochran, who has 0 games, suddenly becomes your next junior option, beside the twilighter, Frampton. Outside of the aging McStay, Buller with 10 games as their only other key forward option.
The signs are there. Collingwood now struggle to run out 4 quarters.
Select 23:
On 2025 stats, I’ve picked nearly an unchanged team from last year, but I don’t believe in it. Too many twilighters!
I’ve tried to relegate as many twilighters to the bench as I could, and kept only those that can’t be replaced. Josh Daicos needs to play full-time on the ball, as the squad has too many back flankers. In fact, the whole list lacks for genuine midfielders, supported by part-time midfielders.
I expect that my mid-season team will look significantly different to the pre-season team because it will take half a season for the truth to hit home to those sitting in the Carringbush’s ivory tower.
Collingwood 2026 Select 23
B: Quaynor, Moore, Howe
HB: Maynard, Frampton, Houston
C: Crisp, N.Daicos, Perryman
HF: Hill, McStay, McCreery
F: Elliott, Buller, Membrey
R: Cameron, N.Long, J.Daicos
I: Pendlebury, De Goey, Sidebottom, West, Lipinski
You can follow all my list updates as they become available at https://www.ozfootylistmanager.com/2026-lists-new.html
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About
It was 25 years ago that I began developing a model for analysing footy squad lists for the purpose of improving those lists into a premiership window. Since then, the model has been used to successfully predict premiership clubs and to improve either lop-sided or underdeveloped lists into premiership lists. Indeed, the model was used for an article that I had published as a double page spread in The Age 2005 Pre-Season magazine. Over the 25 years, I have analysed the annual lists of one particular club but have used it for other clubs upon request. It has always been on my bucket list to display the lists of all the clubs, using the model, which I've done since 2021 on my website - OzFootyListManager.com
Now hang on, we have moved on seven members of the premiership team, most of whom were old timers – Cox, Mihockek Hoskin-Elliot Mitchell and Markov. Plus we moved on several coodabeens such as Johnson and Fin Macrae. Then there’s others like O.Henry and Richards who would be useful but behind other players in their position. That’s nearly half a side.
We have a habit of getting the best out of the trash and treasure market, such as Nick Maxwell, so I am looking forward to our two dollar shop recruits, such as West, Buller and Angus making the Baz Luhrmanns of the anti Collingwood brigade sit up and take notice.
I have noticed that the Baz Luhrmanns, “They”, have perpetually picked Collingwood to miss the finals – last year twelfth! every year since 2021. So i would take what the Baz boys offer with a pinch of salt.
From Jack Dyer to Jim Main to Chiefy and all the keyboard warriors. I doubt if we can win the flag, but we can have fun proving “the Kings of Wishful Thinking” wrong…