It does seem obvious that Campbell and Warner should be in the best 22 of any AFL team, yet it's not at all obvious who would get dropped from the current side to make way.
Chad and Rowbottom each have 13 centre clearances from 12 games this year, although Chad has had a few breakaways that were really impressive. Nonetheless, 1 CC per game isn't enough to turn around this problem area, albeit it should help.
I'm not knocking the enthusiasm expressed for any particular player. We all have our favourites. Personally, I like them all. I think we have a fair few youngsters who each have something special to bring to the team. A few months ago I said that I was comfortable picking a good team from around 30 players and I wasn't too concerned which 22 were picked, as long as we got the team balance right. I still feel that way.
I would suggest that one of the reasons we picked Stephens in the draft is that he comes across as a level-headed kid without a big ego. He must realise that he will be a regular in the Swans' team in the not too distant future, but right now we have a lot of good midfielders that are in the same boat and they each will have to push hard to get to the top of the list.
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