I tend to think Chris Scott is going to just let Danger off the leash (almost purely) within the midfield. With Menzel and Motlop, I don't think they need Danger up forward; and I think he will just stay within the guts to blend throughout the year with Selwood, Blicavs, Caddy and Duncan.
Pendles I think is the 2nd best player in the comp (behind Fyfe), but Collingwood now run very deep and Pendles is proven - he doesn't need to gel with co-mids or be given mid time to build up his midfield capabilities. I think he will be mid and swingman half-back/half-forward.
I also think Danger is potentially a better VC option with a higher ceiling.
You may be right about how they will be used. To me, Buckley is a very logical person, and I see the midfield as the logical place to use one of the comp's best midfielders (ie, you don't need an additional reason to play him there, it is the default as I see it). I think Bucks will also be pretty keen to lock away a finals spot this year, so if I was him I would play Pendles in the mids early and potentially experiment later, rather than the reverse. We seem to talk about up-and-coming players getting more mid time, and the very best players getting less, every pre-season, but I think often it doesn't eventuate.
Has Bucks or someone made comments indicating that Pendles will be used differently? I've seen a few comments to that effect on here, so perhaps I've missed something important.
Your point on Danger being a better C option is potentially quite a good one. If they average the same (obviously we have different views on that
), I would certainly agree with you ... it was actually one of the reasons I picked Danger last year.
What do you think they will average?