G’day SCT community!
Christmas has come early with the 2026 AFL Supercoach Team Picker now available for SC gold subscribers!
Show us what your first draft team is looking like and the community will provide some constructive feedback!
Lets go!!
G’day SCT community!
Christmas has come early with the 2026 AFL Supercoach Team Picker now available for SC gold subscribers!
Show us what your first draft team is looking like and the community will provide some constructive feedback!
Lets go!!
Def: NWM, Rozee, Newman, Coleman, Z Uwland, Farrow (Lindsay, Fincher)
Mid: Daicos, Anderson, Serong, Walsh, Young, Cumming, P Dow, J Smith (Smillie, Sharp, Carmichael)
Ruck: Xerri, Draper (Reidy)
Fwd: Sheezel, Flanders, Treloar, Phillipou, M King, Marshall (S Draper, Robertson)
Flex: Gulden
Love it, KB!
Many similar players to me and some nice value selections. Young and Flanders seem close to must haves.
I’ve currently got Butters in over Daicos due to byes and early matchups, but will be a hard watch without him! Great early draft mate
Haven’t looked to far into fixtures yet but agree Butters fixture will make him almost impossible to look past as a starting pick
Love the value across lines! The midfield quintet you have as well is really solid and should get off to a strong start.
P Dow an interesting selection, if he can secure a spot in the Saints side, can pay dividends though!
DEF – Sinclair, Rozee, Newman, Weddle, Grjl, X.Taylor BENCH – Gibcus, Matofai-Forbes
MID – Bont, Butters, Dawson, W. Duursma, Z. Uwland, Robey, Sharp, Draper BENCH – Retschko, Fincher, T. Williams
RUC – Xerri, D. Cameron BENCH – Reidy
FOR – Sheezel, Humphrey, Flanders, Curnow, Treloar, Weightman BENCH – Dovaston, Said
FLEX – Duff-Tytler
BANK – $47,800
Definitely guns’n’rookies in the midfield. I think sides like Essendon will want to play their new ‘toys’ early on. Xerri got the nod over Max and Grundy (surely Father Time has to catch up with 34 year old first ruck – sorry Max!) Not sure about the Bulldogs returning from injury but they’re good value if they play a reasonable number of games.
I’m sure my first round side will be vastly different to this one.
Ripping work, Baz!
Some POD mid-price selections in Weddle and Curnow could give you a nice head start if they pop off early. I’m with you on Xerri – definately not writing off G & G, but age is on Xerri’s side. I’m looking at Treloar, but haven’t looked into Weightman at all yet. Will add him to the preseason watchlist. Looking forward to seeing how the team develops as we get closer to round 1 mate
tragics…..lol…I picked one too…
Only one?
Nwm rozee mckercher
H. Dean A. Moniz-wakefield
L. Carmichael
J gibcus j. Lindsay
Butters n.diacos will day
H.young darcy wilson(have you seen the rig) w. Duursma
Annable jagga
Sharp draper will brodie
Xerri Tdk reidy
Sheezle rankine flanders
Treloar ugle hagan m.phillipou
Max king t. Marshal
Flex sam draper
Awesome work Steve!
Just a couple of quick things to note mate…Rankine is suspended for round 1 and Max King has had another setback. I need to check out Wilson’s rig – may get me over the line! Haha.
Love your top 3 backs, Xerri as R1 really solid and rate Butters at M1. I’d be a tad more comfottable with a more reliable premo option at M3, but Day has the talent if he can stay on the park. Hopefully JUH can get his career back on track. Some different optons spread about and I love it Steve
Day is still on a modified trading schedule. Hopefully join the ‘main’ group in January.
Great player and Hawks will be a major contender if he stays fit, but I’d be looking elsewhere with his injury history
You can check out Janath’s team below. Breakout options galore and he explains it all here!
https://youtu.be/_F5B1FxB3BU
DEF – NAS, Rozee, McKercher, Z. Uwland, Patterson, Farrow BENCH – J. Lindsay & J. Serong
MID – Butters, Rowell, Bazlenka, Callaghan , Gulden , W. Duursma , Grlj, Sharp BENCH – Draper, J. Smith, W. Brodie
RUC – Xerri, English BENCH – White
FOR – Sheezel, Draper, Flanders, M. Phillipou, T. Marshall, D. Robertson BENCH – Reidy, F. Macrae
FLEX – Carmichael
BANK – $21.8k
Just made a pure ‘GnR’ team for now as I need to see/ hear more from the MPPs ie Coleman, Young, Parish, Day etc (basically those who are returning from injury-affected years). Obviously, rookies are mostly placeholders with some exceptions.
Hey Trats, just pointing out that you have 7 premos with two byes. That’s a lot of high scores missing. I’d have five of them in my squad if it wasn’t for their byes.
Hey Lazza,
Originally, I didn’t even factor in the byes when making the team, too complicated to do so at the moment. I was really just looking at price points, and what sort of strucutre i could make and if making a (loose) ‘GnR’ was possible this year.
However, i did realise after making the team there possibly was going to be a high amount potentially sharing the same bye/s rounds. Thanks for the confirmation on this for me.
After doing further research i’ll likely amend it soon, still early doors and everything could be blown up anyway since our teams are always rookie dependent.
Def: Whitfield, Rozee, McKercher, Colman, Uwland, Allan, Lindsay, JSerong
Mid: Butters, Brayshaw, Gulden, Young, Langford, JSmith, Brodie, Smillie, Annable, Robey, FMacrae
Ruck: Xerri, Grundy, LReidy
Fwd: Sheezel, Flanders, Wilson, Lalor, Marshall, DRobertson, SDraper, Lombard.
Flex: McCarthy
Hard to ignore that run of scores from Grundy last year.
If he goes off like that again everyone will be wishing they started him but I think the AFL want to stop ruckman wrestling and get them jumping again which won’t suit Brodie.
Thoughts guys? Actually feeling pretty good about it atm!
DEF: Rozee, Mckercher, Newman, Ridley, Coleman, Farrow // J.Lindsay, J.Serong,
MID: Butters, N.Daicos, Gulden, Caldwell, Walsh, Young, Sharp, J.Smith // Brodie, F.Macrae, Carmichael
RUCK: Xerri, Draper // Reidy
FWD: Sheezel, Flanders, Trelaor, Philipou, T.Marshall, Robertson // S.Draper, Harrison
FLEX: Parish
Why not…
Draft 1 of 1001…like all of you….
Def: NVM, Rozee, McKercher, newman (4 x rook)
Mid: Butters, C Serong, Gulden, Young, treloar (6 x rook)
Ruc: Xerri, Tingles (rook)
Fwd: Sheez, Trac, Flanders, De Goey (4 x rook but includes phillipou)
Flx: 1 x rook
so much time to the start…so many iterations to go. Some returns from injury to be monitored, rooks will change up until 1 minute before first round…same as all of you…looking forward to start of season.
Enjoy your Xmas or New years or just some hols…
DEF- Rozee Clark Mckercher, Newman, Coleman, Lindsay bench Taylor, Carmichael
Mid- butters, Callaghan, Gulden, Will Ashcroft, Young, Parish, Sharp, Smith bench- Uwland, Smilie, Dalton
Ruck- Xerri, Draper
Bench- Reidy
Fwd- Sheezel, Flanders, Treloar, Daniels, Phillipou, Marshall bench – Draper, Robertson
Flex- Farrow
Nwm, Whitfield, rozee, gibcus, McInnes, x.Taylor,
Serong, Lindsay
Bont, butters, mcluggage, daicos, sharp, Draper, smith, Brodie, retschko, Carmichael,
Gawn, xerri, white
Sneeze, Darcy, Phillipou, Marshall, reidy, macrae, Robertson, McKenna
English
I like Darcy in the FWD as well…but didn’t pick…not sure he jumps up 10 pts….what’s your thinking BF?
I honestly think he will be the pick of the forwards. I’m a Collingwood supporter so not biased but I think he will be better than last year
I do worry about Bonts age now. Will be turning 31 this year and we might start to see the start of the inevitable decline
At his starting price and the early bye i will not be starting the Bont. But will definitely be in the line up at the end of the year.
G’day SCT team. Merry Xmas to you all, hope it was a safe and happy time with the families.
My team picker is as follows – please be harsh as this is draft 1 so criticism is more than welcome. I haven’t taken into account the teams with 2 byes and obvious injury troubles that will pop up before RND1.
B: Nas, Rozee, Maric
Coleman, McKay, Z. Uwland
Bench: Farrow, Dean
M: Butters, Neale
Petracca, Yeo, Treloar
Sharp, Duursma, Jagga Smith/Smilie/Macrae/Carmichael (includes bench)
R: Xerri, Draper
B: C. Duff-Tytler
F: Sheezel, Flanders, Freijah, JUH, Robey, L. Pickett
B: Byrne, Rosas/Marshall
FLX: Parish
Remaining $157.9k (don’t worry, too much spare cash i know lol)
Yeo is all risk and no reward
I don’t care about the byes, they piss me off so I’m just picking my best team. This will change 800 times before the season but it’s still fun.
Back: NWM, Whitfield, rozee, dale, Ballard, gibcus (serong, rookie x)
Gimme the kickers, and my theory is Ballard is a similar price with way more job security than Zeke, and plucks marks for fun. Hopefully his off field shit is sorted. Sydney will do their thing with Serong. Bit worried about gibcus but for that price (140k) it eees what it eeeeeeeeees. Though last year he was one of the most picked and ~160k? so use that information however you please.
Mid: Buttery boy, Rowell, Daicos, Brayshaw, Duursma, Cumming, Jagga smith, rookie x (rookie x, rookie x, rookie x)
My premos should be top 8 locks, rookies will shuffle depending on pre season and my ability to trade out the future best performers for the worst right before the season begins. The memo from the afl to not tag Daicos, butters hopefully choosing to punch someone in the guts the week before I don’t need him to c, and the rest being consistent along with rucks gives me plenty of vc and c choices.
I’m usually an Anderson truther but I think he will take a step back to make room for the crowding they have. The grass eater however is going to be at every bounce tackling and getting clearances and smelling like sunscreen, hence his spot for the season with no rage trading please please please future me. Fin Mac and Brodie a watch but aren’t they always?
Ruck: Xerri, Cameron (white)
I’ve been wrong about Gawn being too old for the past 3 seasons so naturally I can’t pick him another year older tempting as it is. Cameron solo ruck with no other real ruckmen on the list and floating behind taking intercepts would arguably be my first pick in the team. Xerri is Xerri.
Fwd: sheezel, stupid sexy Flanders, poo, t Marshall, Draper, Robertson (rookie, rookie)
I hate the forward line. Sheez is my only top 6 lock and Flanders should get the jack Mac treatment from last year but everyone else is making money and holding steady for those probably disappointing dpp changes. Trac is going to a very crowded with talent Gold Coast team and I’m not sold on any old doggies or their claves (I thought dogs had puppies?)
Everyone and their dog will be hollering for a Marshall but he probably won’t make my Final Cut because there’s a good chance his only contributions will be hi fives to Georgie and he loses money on his 147k price tag. I think Draper is going to have a great year.
Flex: Nick Bryan (he’s 257k)
Yeah that’s right, an Essendon ruckman. What of it? Known worldwide for their consistent and high scoring. He should be solo ruck and easily get 80+ no matter what right? …right….? Ideally someone will tell Brad Scott 2 mediocre rucks don’t make 1 okay one but he’s got much bigger problems. At least he’s my only mid pricer.
Got about 120k left in the bank with all rookies above 119k but it will be all used up on those pesky ones who are pushing 200k if they’re looking the goods in pre season. Lots of key forwards and backs returning from injury or cocaine enjoyment so we should hopefully see some more variety this year than last. I think last year was the worst year of SuperCoach ever for many reasons and I didn’t even do that bad. At least the sub is gone!
Guns n rooks, I’m aiming for job security, low injury (fuck jhf) and tag likelihood, cash gen and early aggressive rookie trading. Good luck coaches and happy rage trading
Bargain rucks appear scarce so Bryan could be a great call. The only watch is he’s no guarantee to make Rd 1 after his ACL. But otherwise I may follow suit!
Hiya Zoe, love ya style.. just one thing to reconsider in your starting line up .. I hear from some Bombers track watchers that Bryan won’t be ready till R7/ R8.
That means Visentini may be a great early season bargain, assuming he’s next in line
Could be, it’s hard for a ruck to come back but these days injury returns are varying. I did have a look around to see how he was tracking but it’s too far out for much info to be found.
If that’s the case Visentini (man the bombers ruck stocks are atrocious) may make his way in (182k) if I need money to spend elsewhere and Pittonet is also worth a hard sniff (408k) if I have a surplus
Well another year on the way, some good teams posted early. Heaps of mid prices options again this year in the midfield, Reid/Langford i like this year so will be a preseason watch. Day, Parish also nicely priced but i will stay away due to ongoing injury concerns. So its Young at M5. Kiddy in defence will be a pre-season watch, premiership teams are always difficult to break into could easily be swapped too? Crystal ball i think the Lions will be very carful with him. Really Like Walsh in the midfield, reckon he has a ripper year, but trying to avoid too many early round players.
Whitfield Clark Rozee Kiddy Ballard Taylor (rook+2)
Daicos Butters Serong Dawson Young Sharp Steele Jagga (rook+3)
Xerri Gawn – white
Shez Flanders Treloar Draper Reidy Robertson (rook+2)
FLEX rookie
Yep think Coleman will be on everyone’s watchlist until Rd 1. He seems too cheap to pass up but how much will he be managed assuming he’s fit? Ideally want solid D7 and 8 as cover
Nice team Vic as would be expected.
Your midfield is same as mine except I currently have Callaghan ahead of Dawson. But this has changed back and forth, with Anderson and Guelden names also in the mix for M3
I have W-Millera/Newman combination ahead of Whitfield/Clark. I have a FOMO issue with W-Millera after last year not having him, and if Newman is fit and has his old role back he isn’t one I want to miss.
Rest of team is Rick solid and will be dependent on rookies.
What you you think about McKertcher?
Another pre season I think will see Finn be a top 5 player in the game. Kid has the frame
Endurance power and speed to be heads and shoulders above nearly all but the very very best. If he’s not better… good disposal mix, does the one percenters and hopefully with maturity stays one the park all year. First picked for me
Mills and LDU interest me a lot. About $530k they seem undervalued for what they can produce.
Mills averaged 113 and LDU 111 over the last 6 games last year.
Mills has an early bye, but LDU doesn’t.
Anyone have them in their teams?
DEF: Rozee, Mills, McKertcher, Newman, Coleman, Gibcus (Lindsey, Serong)
I really want NWM and Whitfield, but they are expensive players with an early bye. I’ll be watching their early games from behind the couch.
Mills is one of my favourite players and usually finds his way into my team. Averaged 113 last year once he was back to full fitness. I genuine premo midfielder with defence status and should be a POD.
McKertcher is a gun, underpriced. Lock.
Newman is a watch but can’t be ignored at his price. Same with Coleman who seems to have been in my preseason team for the last 4 years. Lock if he plays round 1.
Not sure how many rookies we get in defence, we might need to go deep.
MID: Butters, Daicos, Dawson, Serong, LDU, Young, Sharp, Smith (Hannaford, Brodie, Smillie)
Going quite deep in the midfield as well, but this might change depending on rookies and where they are, a few nice cheap options.
Leaving Bont alone, he’s 30 now and we might see him slowing down, worst case if get him cheaper mid-season.
Going Serong ahead of Brayshaw (did opposite last year and paid dividends). Can’t ignore the price difference this year. Young is a no brainer.
Dawson is there mainly because he doesn’t have the early bye. Would consider Callaghan, Anderson and Guelden in his place, but you know what to expect with Dawson.
LDU averaged 111 last 8 games in 2025. $530k seems great value. I’ve never owned him so don’t have any burn scares. I don’t love the pick and he will probably be the first to go, but his early draw is nice.
RUC: Xerri, Visintini (Reidy)
I always love a risky R2 and this is right out there. Obviously if he isn’t Essendon’s main ruck he won’t start, but if he is, we only need 5-6 weeks of ok scores to step to the next in-form ruck.
FWD: Sheezel, Flanders, Treloar, Phillipou, Marshall, Draper (McCrea, Robertson)
Everyone will have the first two. Same with Treloar if he doesn’t get injured in the preseason.
Petracca is on a very close watch. How much midfield time will he get at new club? I have a feeling he will be in my team early once his bye is done.
Phillipou is a cheap best 22.
Marshall is a pre-season watch. Has been training as a defender.
FLX: Draper
Underpriced for what he can do. Feels like a better version of Flynn 2025. Even if he shares ruck, he can still be a decent pick as a forward this year. His DPP is perfect for the flex position.
That leaves $16k in bank
Main difference from previous seasons is I havnt gone for any of the ‘expensive’ rookies, that might change with the No-sub rule. In the end, it’s all about the rookies round 1 and what lines they are on will ultimately determine the structure
Thanks fellas
Love your preseason thinking Derek.
The risky R2 might depend on how long Pittonet and/or Bryan are out for.
I know it’s probably too early to be considering mid season byes, but Rd 12 is an issue. You have 7 premiums from Rd12. I think that will be a challenge for all of us. Port, North and Adelaide all miss the early byes, which makes them attractive, but all have the Rd 12 bye.
Thanks Phil, I’ll give it a few tweaks with that in mind
Could/Would he be contemplating using Peter Wright as ruck ?
There’s a few interesting def options sub 500k. Apparently McKercher averaged 105 last year once put in defence. Jaspa Fletcher seems to be flagged to go next level. Bergmann will be playing midfield. Ridley is super cheap if his body ever holds up. Can’t pick them all but a few to watch
Houston is one I’m interested in. A Fallen premium who didn’t find his role at a new club last year. Can see plenty of upside
Rivers is another to watch.
Someone has to fill the shoes of Oliver and Petracca in the midfield at Melbourne
Yeah the whole Melbourne midfield mix is interesting. There has to be at least one real SC bargain in there
Well well well. We’re so back.
Rather than post my first draft, I thought I’d post a few players I am currently considering as near-locks, and asking for some thoughts or arguments AGAINST them.
DEFENDERS
Rozee – DPP status for a star mid? near-lock.
McKercher – Just finds the footy like crazy, and Clarko loves directing the footy through one or two distributors.
Jai Serong – If he is named Round 1, I expect him to be in a huge number of teams.
MIDFIELDERS
Butters – Mostly a lock due to Bont’s price tag being so high. Has an extremely juicy early draw for the C.
Jagga Smith – should be in 100% of teams if named Round 1.
O Greeves – Could be an instant impact player based on physicality alone and the Worpel absence.
RUCKS
Xerri – not really a lock, but the closest we have to one this year.
FORWARDS
Flanders – absolute certainty to rack up stats with no impact on winning (sorry Saints fans, we’ve seen this story before with players going to the Saints, and also players leaving the Suns – see Aaron Hall).
Let me know what y’all think!
Callaghan or Green will end up in my midfeild at some point, but again early bye. Anderson is in my team at some point also, will wait and see how the Swans set up their midfield. But Gulden injury affected 2025, with a solid preseason definitely one to watch, very capable of a 110+ average. And the best left foot in the business.
Newman, great price but with that major injury and his age i will “maybe”????? pass.
Mc Kercher is on the shortlist and is a good chance of starting, good price, good role and average 100+ after the byes . I have a sample DEF lines with him in it with Newman but need to see him in the HB role where he belongs, any time spent FWD in pre season will be a red flag.
Actually prefer Sinclair over NWM, i think he may regress as a full time mid, not many cheap points at the coal face.
Yeah Vic, but that NWM- he plenty good sometimes players just have a way of getting and moving with the ball that makes them look unstoppable. Think prime GAJ and prime juddy. He looks mighty like them to me,and as all know I’m a mad lion fan
GWS have the round 4 bye. Only GWS and Saints have the round 4 bye, so its not bad.
GWS have round 13 bye, only Tigers have the round 13 bye
Do we know if those byes are best 18 or best 22?
i’m sure they will be best 18, always has in the past
Happy New Year SuperCoaches!
Have had some spare time as I sip a few beers over the past few days, so here’s my first crack it (minus Bench) – feedback welcome!
DEF: Whitfield, Rozee, Clark, Coleman, Uwland, Gibcus
MID: Bailey Smith, Naicos, Dawson, Day, Young, Annable, Sid Draper, Jagga Smith
RUC: Meek, TDK
FWD: SHeezel, Petracca, Flanders, Treloar, Phillipou, Robertson
FLX: Sam Draper
Cheers and good luck for the upcoming season!
i was really keen on Day to start (Hawks fan), but he is still a fair way off joining the main group at training. I’m sure he will be right come round 0, but with his injury history (especially foot issues) i’m not going to start him
Wise decision. I see Will Day has been taken from the track with a shoulder injury. Hope it’s not too serious.
Will miss start of season
No Worpel and no Day means at least one mid at the Hawks will get a points bump surely?
Mitchell, Ward and McDonald are now on the watchlist.
i would love to see Weddle go into the midfield
Good to be back…first crack with not a heap of bye or fixture research…
DEF: NWM, Rozee, McKercher, Coleman, McInnes, Gibcus – Serong, Lindsey
MID: Butters, Naicos, Gulden, Oliver, Young, Treloar, Smith, Smillie – Prindable, Sweid, F.Macrae
RUK; Xerri, Cameron – Reidy
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, De Goey, Phillipou, El Achkar – Whitlock, Mccarthy
FLX: W. Duursma
I’m intrigued to hear what the community thinks about the new out of bounds rule and how that might affect point scoring.
I assume it will be given to the nearest player.
Wingers might benefit.
My guess is NDaicos will find himself near the boundary a lot.
Obviously there will be less throw ins.
I’m intrigued to see how teams try to make use of the new rule.
Surely less throw ins is going to affect the rucks point scoring?
I think they’ve been using this rule in the SANFL for a while, anyone got any intel on what effects it might have?
i don’t think it will be a significant change.
It only effects the out of bounds outside the 50m arc.
Plus, it is only from a disposal (kick or handball), not a spoil or a ‘rushed’ out of bounds. Teams will adjust and make sure someone ‘touches’ it before it goes out.
Been fairly absent and haven’t yet picked a full team, not planning to burn out early this year, but my early thoughts on some picks along each line.
DEF
NWM – self-explanatory
Rozee – premo, DPP, no early bye, easy pick
MID
Butters – again no early bye, soft early draw, bound to be top 2-3 MID
Callaghan – can see him continuing to improve and get into 115+ range, has the early bye but also has the soft bye in the main bye rounds so balances out IMO
Langford – really surprised to see his name isn’t popping up more (and hope it stays that way lol) with no Oliver, Petracca, an aging Viney, and a new Dees era starting, I think he really stamps himself as the future of that midfield
Smillie & Jagga Smith – easy picks
RUC
Xerri – pricey but safest pick, the next dominant ruck and right in his prime
FWD
Sheezel – easy lock
Flanders – easy lock
Pickett – same as Langford above, the Dees midfield has cleared out and Pickett might get even more time in there. Can see him being a smokey POD to average 95+ up forward.
Few others will come along but these are my early thoughts…
Saints and GWS have round 4 bye, only two teams.
Makes picking players from those teams a little easier
Whats your thoughts Derek
Whitfield Callaghan / Flanders, SInclair and Phillipou
IS five too many. to start with.
i’m not counting Phillipou, he is rookie priced and therefore not much cash on bench
My current team has been trimmed to just 2 from each of the early byes:
Newman (Round 2)
Daicos (Round 2)
Treloar (Round 3)
Mills (Round 3)
Callaghan (Round 4)
Flanders (Round 4)
Coleman and Draper are difficult to start with their round 2 bye.
The great thing about all the players with an early bye, we get to see them in round 0, especially the likes of Newman, Mills, Coleman and what role they are playing.
The change to ruck rules might help Jackson. Plus his soft draw and no early bye puts him high on my list.
The No sub rule will let Fremantle play two rucks with Darcy maybe 50-60% TOG
Not a team – just a thought bubble on the 5 player interchange.
If an already tall heavy team like Freo picks an extra midfielder on the pine, does that mean Serong/Brayshaw lose their appeal?
If a team that played a single ruck like North pick an extra tall FWD/Ruck than they did in their line up last year, does Xerri become an avoid?
Or is the consensus that guns will retain their maximum minutes and impact and the extra bench player will be used to keep “depth” players fresher?
My guess is we will see a player (or 2) with very low TOG, maybe 40-50%, probably a rookie who doesn’t have the kegs yet.
Other teams, like the Hawks might go with a two ruck strategy, with 1 ruck having the 50% TOG
Some of the older players like Pendlebury, Neale, Danger will have lower TOG
Slow mids trying to get to the chuck up down field
Also clubs might have noms to ruck at fwd/back
Luck to all !
The game is open 🙂
Good skills coaches!
First of all, welcome back to the under new management SCT for 2026.
20th Jan and it’s open for all so here’s my first shot. Rookie placeholders obviously and all that.
Def: NAS, WHITFIELD, ROZEE, NEWMAN, Simpson, Lindsay (Patterson, Serong)
Mid: BUTTERS, SERONG, GULDEN, YoUnG, PaRiSh, Uwland, Sharp, Smith (Retschko Smillie, Charmichael)
Ruck: GAWN, XERRI (Reidy)
Fwd: SHEEZ NUTS, DRAPER, SSF, Poo, Marshall, Robertson (Draper, Lombard)
Flex: CoLeMaN
$39,100
12 and 3 maybes or 11 and 4 maybes.
Best of luck to you all in 2026.
A team I’m playing with – please peruse and comment. I didn’t go Butters as I have Rozee and there is talk Bergam getting more mid time. Also, Daicos is apparently carrying an injury???
DEF – Rozee, McKercher, Bergman, Jiath, Dean, McInnes (Gibcus, Serong)
MID – Anderson, Dawson, Gulden, Young, Reid, Cully, Bruhn, Retschko (Smith, Brodie, McCrae)
RUCK – Xerri, Sweet (Visentini)
FWD – Sheezel, Petracca, Curnow, Martin, McDonald, Duursma (Gallop, Robertson)
FLEX – Reidy
My biggest problem with Trac is the byes. He has 2 byes before some clubs have their first bye, which is why I find it pretty hard to include him even though he’ll clearly be a top 6 fwd. That applies for all the Gold Coast premos like Anderson. Worse, that round 12 bye includes Trac, Anderson, Sheez, Xerri, Rozee, Bergman, Dawson, McKercher and Sweet. 9 of your premiums.
So if you’re intending to sacrifice round 12 completely for a greater chance of round wins and $1000 prizes in rounds 13-16 that’s a REALLY good strategy. Likewise, if you’re after league wins, sacrificing one round is potentially going to up your chances in 4 other weeks.
If you’re worried about overall, that round is going to be tough to field a solid 18 in.
Bergman vs the injury risk of Newman was a close call for me, went the other way in previous drafts. My original back 123 were the same as yours. Pretty sure Bergman will play mid based on all the gossip from training. Match sims will show all.
Curnow versus Stupid Sexy Flanders? Could be a really good POD. Curnow will do much better this year I believe. If there’s any injury doubts on Draper I’d seriously consider Curnow for a swap.
McDonald really should be considered rookie priced with better job security. You’d think if fit he’s a lock for 180-200k growth which many of the rookies have struggled to attain, and he’s not expensive enough to be worried about losing his output for round 3.
I definitely think Reidy will be good enough to be on field.
Hello all, and happy new year (if we’re still allowed to say that after three weeks). Only six weeks to go, so here is my bucket of slop which will hopefully be moulded into a champion outfit over that time
Whitfield, Rozee, Mills, Coleman, Uwland, Simpson (Gibcus, Serong)
Bont, Butters, Callaghan, Gulden, Parish, Annable, Cox, JSmith (Brodie, Smillie, Schoenberg)
Xerri, English (Reidy)
Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, Phillipou, Draper, Macrae (Robertson, White)
WDuursma
$15K in the bank. Usual disclaimers about rookies being placeholders etc. I hate the Parish pick, and he’ll be gone just as soon as I find the time for a decent replacement. I’ve tried to factor in the byes, but in all honesty it does my head in these days.
no one likes the Parish pick, but i can see the appeal. Young at similar price will be less risky, especially as everyone will have him
yeah, you do have a few too many early bye players. Mills, Gulden, Bont, English, Petracca all on round 3 bye
Morning and happy new years, currently:
NAS, Rozee, McCarthy, McKercher, Uwland, Lindsay (Whitlock, Serong)
Butters, Serong, Gulden, Steele, Young, Duursma, Annable, Brodie (Smith, Smilie, Macrae)
Xerri, Draper (Reidy)
Sheezel, Pickett, Flanders, Philipou, Marshall, Draper (Robertson, White)
Reid
$18K left, obviously rookies will change but considering downgrading Annable and Marshall to play Jagga and Macrae on field then upgrading Steele to a fully fledged keeper. Main focus is on trying to select guys who will be keepers.
Steele should be ok, but his best days might be behind him. Has turned 30.
although somone has to get the ball in the melbourne midfield, so he should be ok, he will be a decent 100-105 average.
no early bye and 7 of their first 10 games at MCG
at his price range, there isn’t much else (except LDU), you either go up to a proper premo or use the cash on another line.
don’t mind him, but personally would go LDU ahead of him at that price
ended up doing the marshall + annable downgrade then going up to Callaghan for Steele
Most definitely my round 1 team, can’t see myself changing it at all. I also have a date with Scarlett Johansson lined up next week.
Team Name: Going Going Gawn
DEF: Rozee, Mills, McKercher, Houston, Coleman, Grlj (Lindsay, Serong)
Fairly standard structure, Houston can very easily be Bergman but that comes with the caveat of being unable to claim I’m ‘out there’ and ‘different from the rest’.
MID: Butters, Dawson, Callaghan, Young, Langford, Uwland, Sharp, Smith (Brodie, Smillie, Greeves)
Now you might look at this and think, “that midfield is possibly a tad weak Balla, I think there should be another premo in there.” Well let me introduce you to 2026 Brownlow winner Harvey Langford, who is obviously going to average 135 this year. In all seriousness, I’m not the biggest fan of this midfield structure, but I am unfortunately a sucker for mid price potential 🙁 Dawson is great and Callaghan should be greater.
RUC: Gawn, Xerri (Reidy)
Yes this is expensive. Yes Gawn is old. Yes I can use my money more wisely. But how am I meant to look myself in the eyes knowing I’ve left out my team’s namesake (Gawn 9 time AA incoming cope)
FWD: Sheezel, Pickett, Flanders, Phillipou, Marshall, Draper (Macrae, Robertson)
I cannot remember the last year the forward line has looked pretty pre-round 1, and here we are again. Honestly I’m surprised I haven’t seen Pickett in more teams, he’s only going to see even more of the ball with Oliver and Petracca moving to greener pastures.
FLEX: Visentini
SURELY he scores something with how dire Essendon’s ruck stocks are right?????? right?!?!?!??!?!?!
Cash: $78,900
No I haven’t put any stock into byes, if I don’t believe they exist they don’t exist.
i love the Mills pick. is way under the radar.
McKercher will be a lock if he is playing in defence. there is talk he will be midfield and Harvey given the half-back role ($223k fwd)
Houston is on my watchlist, just can’t put my finger on why he was so bad last year and if that will change
Dawson is a nice starting pick because he doesn’t have an early bye, for me it is between Dawson vs Daicos, and i’ll probably go Daicos
thanks for the heads up on Langford, will have a close look
Gawn has been first picked in my team for the last 5 years. its scary not having him though, no early bye is sweet
Pickett is $495k, he is a player who we know will have a few low scoring games and therefore will be cheaper at some stage. lets see what the melbourne midfield look like
My essendon friends say that Blackiston will likely be the first ruck, not Visentini.
good team
I understand the Pickett hesitancy, but Melbourne truly have no midfielders left from last year bar an aging Jack Viney. There’s been a clear desire to move Kozzy into the midfield, and his growth as a player should see him thrive.
Ultimately, I don’t see many ‘reliable’ forward options (ignoring Sheezel) and so Pickett provides that option as we know there is a plethora of midfield time for him.
I also refuse to believe Blackiston is a real player and therefore reject your reality.
agree, i can’t find Blackiston in the Ruck section. its an illusion
Rivers?
Are you asking if he’s a good option or if he’s taking midfield minutes from Pickett? Ideally, Melbourne’s midfield is a mix of Langford, Pickett, Rivers and Windsor, so I don’t see them taking minutes off of each other. Pickett will be resting forward a lot, but that just means he’ll be adding a goal or two a game. Viney and Steele also exist, but in all honesty I don’t see both of them being in the midfield at the same time, with Viney used more as a pressure forward at this stage in his career.
Steele and Viney surely play most of the time in the guts, Langford will get his chance. they will need Pickett in their for his speed. Viney is unlikely for round 1, so we might see Rivers start the year there and give false hope
Defenders
N.Wanganeen-Milera, C.Rozee, C.McKercher, Z.Uwland, S.Grlj, J.Serong (J.Lindsay, K.Fincher)
Midfielders
Z.Butters, J.Dawson, F.Callaghan, L.Davies-Uniacke, H.Young, W.Duursma, D.Sharp, J.Smith (J.Farrow, W.Brodie, L.Carmichael)
Rucks
T.Xerri, S.Draper (L.Reidy)
Forwards
H.Sheezel, K.Pickett, S.Flanders, M.Phillipou, S.Robey, D.Robertson (T.Marshall, F.Macrae)
Flex
E.Gulden
$10,000 left. Thoughts?
love the LDU pick. finished last year great. he was subbed out early in round 17 and missed round 18, but prior to that he went 102, 108 & 108.
After round 18 he finished the season with an average of 112.
i think he is 15pts undervalued to start the season.
No early bye, Eagles, Essendon, Carlton, Richmond all in the first 6 games.
As someone who’s started LDU in the past two years, I definitely won’t be starting him. I’m sure if someone did the analysis they’d be able to demonstrate his back halves of seasons are far better than his front halves.
you are correct. every season since 2020 his second half of the season average has been significantly higher than the first half. Why?
this is a player who’s starting price in 2023 was $617k
What are you hopes for Sam Draper? Keeper? Might make $80k.
To me he isn’t good enough to be a keeper, especially if share the ruck.
Won’t make enough cash
Has a very high injury risk
I was keen at the start but I can’t see a place for him in team. If he was cheaper like Flynn last year he would be a nice flex, pass for me
Not a lot of great forward options at this stage. If he’s fit and solo rucks he’ll get in the 90’s unless the new ruck rules completely destroy ruck scoring, which will put him only about 5 points behind a F6 but allow much greater flexibility for injury or byes.
Should be clear #1 ruck at Brisbane (sorry Darcy Fort). F/R flexibility is always a useful flex point given limited ruck positions and frequent short term ruck injuries, even without weird bye structures.
If Reidy is a regular 70- 80 point scorer you can absolutely do without Draper. If he seems to be a best 23 player for Carlton I’ll look at using him in the forward line, deliberate donut Kalani White, lose Draper for either Curnow or accept a rookie downgrade (eg Patterson to Gibcus) and bring Draper up to a Premium.
But where are the fwd premiums? Or at least the ones that don’t have early byes? Because even though Brisbane have two byes, including the round 2 bye, they don’t get their second until round 15, which is a lot better than fielding Petracca and having to wear Round 3 and Round 12. Rankine effectively ends up with 2 early byes.
Martin’s done for the season. Miers and Darcy have two byes. Jezza’s gotta be too old and has 2 byes.
Pickett works if you trust the midfield move in a depleted Melbourne mid will work in his favour.
Mason Cox or Max Heath might also create similar dpp opportunities at a discounted price, although I dunno how Freo are going to field all their ruckmen at present.
Honestly it’s yet another horror year for forward selection.
agree, if reidy plays round 1, he is in my forward line (waste at R3)
there is still some quality in forward line. Rankine would be in my team if he wasn’t suspended for the start of the season
Petracca also close to my team, but the Suns early bye makes him a no
Darcy will be in team at some stage, again the early bye and the fact he is a key forward means you will get him at some stage cheaper.
Pickett is a decent pick, as the midfield time will be real, but you can get him at his price whenever you like, can’t see him ever becoming to expensive
there are the ‘fallen premium’ types. Curnow $377k, Treloar $311k, De Goey $321, Flanders $396k, all high risk – probably have one or maybe two of them to start
Greeves a possiable interchange in training for the Hawks Derek ?
i doubt it. i would say he is well away from a start. Hustwait and probably Dalton are ahead of him, but he is a big body and you never know.
hawks didn’t have any debuts last year, and i’t would be unlikely to be many this year
Usually when we go out of our way to recruit someone, they’re going to play big minutes. Forty’s a cult hero and has underrated skills, but he’s still limited.
For the most part we’ve been able to get injured recruits on the park, although we have bled conditioning and fitness staff to other clubs in recent years. And a guy like Doedee hasn’t been a success story.
Draper seems to be ticking all the boxes with PS work from what I’ve heard. But yeah, he’s a stepping stone only for mine if you’re talking about a ruck purely. But the FWD status and an increase of $80-100K would put him in top 10 FWD calculations.
DEF: Rozee, Roberts, McKercher, Bergman, Coleman, Serong, Moniz-Wakefield
MIDS: Butters, Serong, Gulden, Young, Parish, Sharp, JSmith, Brodie, Grlj, Draper, Smillie
RUCKS: Xerri, Draper, Reidy
FWD: Sheezel, Petrecca, Pickett, Flanders, Phillipou, Marshall, Budarick, Robertson
FLEX: Uwland
Cash: 57.5k
Looking at the teams so far, seems to be a complete change when it comes to the flex position, last season it was mainly Rucks sitting in that position, seem this season rookies are getting the spot. Why the change, I prefer at least a dual position player who can make cash quickly.
we are seeing that the flex position is just another player, nothing special about it.
a DPP player does make sense, but you can just swing a DPP into that place from another line for flexibility at anytime
The only time it isn’t flexible is when you have a Ruc only player there.
I mean, you can pretty easily sub the rookie to any other priced player if you would prefer there. 5 non rookie mids, 3 rookies and a rookie at flex is the same as 4 + 4 and a non rookie flex.
The idea of 3 rucks was super exciting last year but I know I at least got stuck with Flynn not doing anything and then really struggled to get 23 on the park because of that
Version 50 of 5000 below.
B: NWM, T McCarthy, Bergman, Coleman, Gibcus, Serong (Lindsay, Goater)
The first 3 are all reportedly playing mid but I have many others on the watchlist. McKercher’s pre season will be interesting. I also like the sound of X Taylor as a rookie.
M: Butters, Rowell, Callaghan, Gulden, Young, H Reid, J Clark, Sharp (J Smith, Brodie, Retschko)
I know Rowell’s byes aren’t great but his game is made for SC. H Reid is highly pre-season dependent, there’s a few other options around if he keeps giving away 8 frees a game.
R: Xerri, S Darcy (Reidy)
Before you bite my head off on Darcy, I read he’s the fittest in years (could just be pre-season rhetoric) but he’s there for a pre-season watch. I’m also cautious on how much to spend on rucks until we see the effect of the new rule. Hopefully early scores will help.
F: Sheezel, S Darcy, Flanders, Phillipou, Marshall, Robertson (King, F Macrae)
S Darcy started in my team last year and probably will for many years to come. There seems to be scope a cheap experienced player so King could be JUH, L McDonald, or I’m particularly interested in Cooper Harvey. If he takes McKercher’s role, hard to pass up at 223k and future DPP.
Flex: Treloar
Comments welcome.
You are spot on about Taylor and Harvey. Very likely to be in my starting team
Hey all,
Is lockout round 0 or round 1
Cheers all
Talk soon
Last game if round 1
Not a rate my team per se but I’m currently doing things a little differently to most;
Got Sinclair and Whitfield at D1 and D2. Fin Callahan at M3. Grundy and Jackson at R1 and R2. Daniels at F3 and Connor MacDonald in Flex. Leaves me with $17.7K in the bank.
Happy with my team until preseason games start.
Only problem with my team above is round 4. 3 Saints out and 3 Giants out. Besides that, happy days.