Have toggled between English and Grundy a few times for the extra 70k but Grundy feels a bit safer while we understand the true impact of the ruck rules!
I am cash league orientated and this is definitely the most bye structured team I have ever done. Sure panic will set in when it counts and I will stuff it up like I do every other year lol !!
Only Petracca and a few rookies out for the start of league match ups R3 and NWM and TDK R4, 4 guns out in R12 but hope not to pick any more between now and then
with cash leagues, you can target a couple of the bye rounds (1 early and mid-season) to tank, making sure you are strong in the others and pick up the important wins (you can also look at your opponent for those weeks – might be a weak team). cash leagues its all about making the finals with a strong team and trades in the bank
DEF: NWM, L. Whitfield, C. Rozee, Z. Uwland, S. Grlj, J. Farrow (J. Gibcus, J, Lindsay)
MID: Z. Butters, E. Gulden, W. Ashcroft, H. Young, D. Parish, W. Duursma, D. Sharp, W. Brodie (J. Smith, J. Smillie, F. Macrae)
RUC: D. Cameron, T. English (K. White)
FWD: H. Sheezel, C. Petracca, S. Darcy, S. Flanders, M Phillipou, T. Marshall (M Lefau, D. Robertson)
FLEX: V. Vistentini
Here me out here. (and this may/will all change once we see some practice games)
– The only rookies I trust from the perspective of playing on field are mids so have gone with 2 premos rather than 3-4 that most people are going. Most others have more def & fwd rookies on field. Small fwd rookies are poison in my humble as, sure they may have JS but they score 35-50. On field that kills you and even on the bench that will stunt any cash gen you’re hoping for. Invariably you get stuck with them. There are countless examples over the years.
– Do have a heap of mid pricers (3 def, 3 mid, 1 ruck & 3 fwd). Will probably end up culling a few after practice matches but for now I am a believer (to varying degrees) in all of them. Lets go through them:
– DEF: Bergman looks to have mid time and 8/20 games last year were 100+. New coach. Upside.
Roberts is probably my 10th of 10 mid pricers in confidence. Again looking to be incorporated into the midfield. Finished with massive numbers late in 2025. Reeks of a breakout year…If he was $50k cheaper he’d be a lock but needs to average near on 95 min to make it a winning move. Can he do that?
McKerch is one of the more popular mid pricers. Role looks to be there across half back and is a proven scorer
– MID: Young is an injury risk but looks to have the CBA’s and is a proven scorer when he has that role
Harley Reid SCREAMS break out year to me! Surely WCE are a little better and Harley has had a full pre season. Talent is there but can he turn it into SC points. At that price its worth finding out.
Parish is a proven scorer and is CHEAP but body is untrustworthy. Worth the punt at that price.
– RUCK: D Visintini is on the assumption he is chosen as Port No1. That is very much in the air currently…as is my ruck structure. Had Gawn + Xerri initially to “set and forget” but it eats up sooooo much money
– FWD: Flanders is a no brainer at the price.
Freijah is my luxury item. Another that SCREAMS break out to me. Right age bracket, will get more CBA’s as Treloar not fit and Libba getting old.
Daniels is a real roughie and and tossing up between him & Lalor currently. Injuries at GWS will aid his cause for more mid time and has shown given the right circumstances, a capacity to score. Lalor looks a gun but might be a year early to go on him.
Love the Freijah pick.
No way you can go with Parish, even in hypothetical. Simply doesn’t play enough, and when he does get back from his 23rd calf injury Durham and Caldwell have gone miles past him.
DEF: NWM, C. Rozee, Kiddy, Z.Uwland, S. Grlj, J.Lindsay (J. Gibcus, J.Serong)
MID: Bont, Butters, Naicos, E. Gulden, H. Young, D. Sharp, J.Smith, W. Brodie (L.carmichael, O.Greeves, Watkins)
RUC: Gawn, Xerri (Reidy)
FWD: H. Sheezel, C. Petracca, S. Darcy, S. Flanders, D.Robertson, F.Macrae (L.Kickett, R.Hamilton)
FLEX: W.Duursma
$20,600 left
I hope to have 14 keepers here.
I’ll play around with the rookies once we have a better idea for who will get a game.
Please rip this apart. Went quite basic in my 100th iteration. See a lot of value with the midpricers, but don’t have the courage to go with all of them (Langford, Reid, Roberts, Bergman, Kozzy etc..) So here goes:
DEF:
NWM, Rozee, McKercher, Uwland, Grlj, Farrow (Lindsay, Serong)
Mids:
Bont, Butters, McLuggage, Gulden, Young, Parish, W.Duursma, Jagga (Drew, Retschko, Smilie)
Ruck:
Gawn, Jackson (White)
Fwd:
Sheezel, Flanders, Lalor, Ugle-Hagan, Phillipou, Marshall (Reidy, Robertson)
(6.8k in the bank)
Bont can become Naicos/Dawson to upgrade the fwd line a bit. Really keen on Oliver as well, so that can be another downgrade option to mine some cash.
Any advice would be great, thanks everyone and good luck!
I always start slow AND run out of trades because I take chances on the “kinda-sorta” version of keepers or mid-price/stepping stones… so, this year taking a different approach and trying to take as many of those players that (barring injury) are in-line for a top-of-line spot (nb overall points). Rookies are minimum priced with some PS juice. The rucks are place holders until the PS provides a bit of clarity on who might be best placed with all the rules changes. Hopeful the best-18 provides cover if there are poor scoring rookies or my 11 keepers stumble.
I’m going to fade NWM in favor of Whitfield. I’m not certain of Nas’s role yet and he’s to expensive to have any doubts. I’m warming to Mckercher to be a keeper and without an early bye should be locked in to starting team. Grlj can become Uwland and rookies. Faded Coleman for now, but we will have a look at him Round 0.
Annoying that Daicos has a round 2 bye, but he is my only R2 bye player and its good that it keeps him out of everyone’s team (only 45%). I see Dawson improving his average by another 2-5pts and pushing from top 10 to top 5 mid. He had two poor scores last year early when crows were playing him forward, that won’t happen again, so there is improvement. Serong is my only doubt, happy i went Brayshaw last year but should i test my luck again? Young and Parish are genuine ‘fallen premiums’ who are they only mid-price types i trust (i have a very poor track record of picking the break-out mid-pricer)
RUC: Gawn, Jackson (White)
I held my nerve in 2024 when Gawn was smashed by Grundy in round 0, i held my nerve when Gawn was smashed by Xerri last year in round 2, i’m holding my nerve again. Unless he is injured, he will carry the entire Melbourne team on his back this year. It might be a good thing they got rid of Oliver and Petracca. BTW Luke jackson can run and jump.
I wanted a piece of the Sun’s great start, with Rowell missing, Petracca becomes an easy avenue to Eagles & Richmond start. He is my only premium missing round 3. Treloar is a maybe at this stage, already have Young and Parish and i don’t really want to push my luck. But he is a genuine ‘fallen premium’ type in the forward line. if i need cash to get ‘better’ rookies, he will be the one to be dropped, but at $311k he only needs to go at 76 to be value. Reidy at F8 in case he plays, i don’t want to have cash locked up at R3.
FLX: Jagga Smith.
Team has been designed around the early byes, Daicos R2, Petracca R3 & Whitfield, Flanders R4 as the missing premiums and only Treloar R3 as the only missing mid-pricer. Round 12 is the worry round bye and will probably keep Serong in team ahead of LDU becuase of that.
On the watchlist:
Ash & Sinclair in defence
Callaghan in the guts
Pittonet in Ruck (i don’t mind a risky R2 and his points per min are fantastic)
Rankine in forwards (i’ve got a crazy idea of starting him in R1 if one of the bench rookies pops a big score)
i did see that Treloar had some calf ‘tightness’ and will be assesed prior to the community game against hawks. Dogs play round 0 will be the ultimate fitness test
Nice team Derek but Treloar and Parish is one too many risks for me, I want to be pretty certain my midpricers can stay on the park for long enough to make coin at least.
And I’m def considering fading NWM but if I do it won’t be to another player with a Rd2 bye. Clark is a possibility.
Just a bit scared that NWM goes well early and is suddenly out of reach.
Have had Callaghan instead of Holmes, however the injury to Callaghan has made me pivot to Holmes, with Gulden and Steele being the other options I am considering.
Hi Derek, yeah that D1 spot is going to be interesting after the preseason games and R0. For me it’s Ash>Sinclair>NWM>Whitfield at the moment. I also think you may be 1 solid Defender short without Coleman.
Mids: Not looking at your bye structure, I like Gulden over Serong which I may of mentioned before.
Fwds: I am on the fence with Treloar as well. Flipping around Treloar/Lalor/Daniels but Treloar is the only DPP which I am still not sure how useful that may be yet (I dont seem to have many starting DPP players this year?).I Like the Petracca pick but I have a bad track record of picking premo new club players so have left him out. Great first up run of games though.
Yet, this was a tad dated, back from the 2nd of feb, lots of injury updates have happened since then. There are obviously other options from Heeney, McKercher, Draper, and Marshall. Yet it’s still worth noting the rough structure.
Also, shout out to Motts, for all the years maintaining this site, many thanks! Wish you luck with whatever you end up doing.
I liked the GnR Team better I think but with Guilden instead of Heeney or if you can swap some Rookies around and get to Dawson for Heeney and then it looks really good. I’m not convinced on J U-H.
Massive delay in posting and having comments/threads appear. Are the new ops aware? It used to be almost post for post, way easier to interact. I’m really hoping this site doesn’t change to much. Quite legally, the OG of SC. A lot of familiar names already not showing up.
Can’t believe I am seeing Parish in this many teams.
Availability – terrible. Do players with chronically injured calves tend to get more durable with age?
Scoring history – inconsistent. 1 great year, all the way back in 2021. 2 strong years in 2022 and 2023 (missed multiple games in both). Downward trajectory since 2021 in both scoring and durability.
Role – uncertain. Merrett, Caldwell, Durham certainly in front of him. Fiorini straight in the leadership group means he’s locked in some kind of meaningful role. Don’t know much of the draftees, but sounds like Robey and Sharp are chances to play throughout the year which has to be a priority over injury prone older players.
I know the price is tempting, and the only similarly priced alternative is Harley Reid (who is an infinitely better option if you’ve got the money), but I’m surprised coaches are forking out an extra $150k for Parish compared to any rookie who is picked in R1. Treloar and maybe even JDG have better recent history and are cheaper.
I think FOS has to be in the conversation as an option too. I know he’s only 2nd year but apparently he’s a lot stronger and they’re looking at him being inside mid.
It’s the temptation factor as to what Parish COULD do as he’s done it before. But definitely a risk. Caldwell is definitely in front of him (I’m tempted to even start Caldwell in my team) but for mine it depends on how they use Zerrett. If he plays predominantly mid then I highly dout I’ll go with Parish
Yes he’s a gun,
in 2023 (his best year so far) he played 22 games and ave 111 @ 1.0 ppm
In 2024 he played 22 games and ave 108 @ 1.0 ppm
In 2025 he played 10 games and ave 104 @ 1.0 ppm
The problem with Errol is that he throws up just as many sub standard games as above average games
In 2023 he had 8 games (36%) below 100 being 47,62,66,85,88,90,93,96,
In 2024 he had 11 games (50%) below 100 being 73,80,82,84,85,93,95,95,98,99
In 2025 he had 5 games (50%) below 100 being 73,92,93,95,96
The only th9ing that keeps him relevant in SC are the few monter scores every season
in 2025 two games (20%) over 120 and 1 game (10%) over 140
In 2024 six games (27%) over 120 and 4 games (18%) over 140
In 2023 eight games (36%) over 120 and 5 games (22%) over 140
These stats actually suggest that he’s not improving and the consistent 1.0 PPM every season support that.
Errol only averages 100 or more at 4 venues
There are 7 venues where he has played more than 3 times and he only averages 100+ at 2 of them SCG 42 games (102.7) and the Gabba 4 games (107.8)
Only 4 of Errols first 10 games are at the SCG this year and none are at the Gabba
I won’t start him because of his early bye.
I wont trade him in either unless he has had more than 8 games below 100 before round 15, remembering that his usual standard is 50% of games below 100
Just some thoughts, he was my M4 until I dug deeper
Gulden at $566k, I think is a no brainer if you are scrapping together cash for other lines. He is still young and the same age as Nick Daicos and like Daicos is very easy on the eye the way he plays so potentially can score very quickly.
If he was $600k it would be a different story. And if you had enough money to turn him into Dawson then I think I would go with Dawson. But at $566 for me he beats out the likes of Serong, Callaghan, W.Ashcroft, Heeney, Richards, Holmes and Merrett as a pure value play.
Ive messed around with this so much more than last year, there seems like value picks in Parish, Treloar, Young, Gulden but they all have some danger attached to them
If you have Duff-Tytler R3 then it’s definitely worth the risk as you’ll have cover with good job security.
I watched a fair bit of the crows match sim game, McAndrew looked unreal. Only catch is he was up against Visentini but i think he’s well ahead of ROB who’s just been demoted from Vice Captain to just being in the leadership group.
That is an incredibly cunning plan. I must admit I’m warming to a rookie R2 but R1 also is kahunas on the wall. Is Reidy locked? Also I read Steene could get a game and Coleman-Jones or Goad could be NM’s backup. If so there’s a few options.
Have you cost yourself a mid rookie though? It feels like Smith may score well enough to be a viable M8
Hi Harry (and Ranger) thank you for your replies.
You have both made valid responses.
Here’s my reasoning why I chose outside the box;
I’ll start with yours Ranger,
Role Rotations.
I currently have 5 mid rookies (3x mid + 2x mid/def) and with all the hype we get from preseason sensationalism a further 4 more at the first DPP update.
Round 0 should help with any tweaks needed to endorse either of our decisions.
Harry, your view on Smith is also a strong point.
Again I’ll use the sensationalism as my support.
I also see Young and Parish being DPP’d.
I’m then seeing at least 1 of them being “required” to be moved forward, ie injuries and or ruck restructuring.
Hence Smith then moved on field.
DEF: Rozee, Windsor, Uwland, Grlj, Taylor, Lindsay (Serong, Jacques)
INCREDIBLY weak here I’m aware, but I feel as if there’s a fantastic crop of defensive rookies, and it helps take away the NWM/Ash/Sinclair/Whitfield decision I was struggling with prior. As a Dees fan, Windsor looks set to run through the middle, and if he’s able to tidy up his disposal even a little, he’ll be well worth the money.
MID: Bontempelli, Butters, Daicos, Dawson, Young, Parish, Farrow, Smith (Sharp, Brodie, Carroll)
Shelling out the big bucks here, but like, come on, it’s Bontempelli. Butters? Lock. Daicos? The AFL’s golden boy. Dawson? Just a cool dude I guess. I’ll be honest I’m not too fond on both Young and Parish, but the high risk is balanced out by the fact that everyone owns them already, so if I get burned, we’re all in this together (shoutout Zac Efron).
RUC: Gawn, Jackson (McAndrew)
Also spending large here with Gawn, but the man is my captain, how could I take myself seriously as a Melbourne fan if I ignore the greatest ruckman of all time? There are two reasons Jackson is here, the first being that he’s just a bloody good player. The second is the fact that this ruck lineup won the 2021 premiership, so it MUST work in supercoach too.
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, Pickett, Flanders, Hotton, Phillipou (Lombard, Robertson)
A fairly strong forward line, Petracca is too enticing with Rowell out, even if he did break my heart. Kozzy is most likely the main man through the midfield, with my biggest worry being that he’s so good he’ll start attracting tags. Hotton is just a gun and someone I’m hoping really breaks out.
FLEX: T. Marshall CASH LEFT: $20,400
btw before you give your thoughts, I have copyrighted every player in here, so you guys aren’t allowed to copy a single position
As of now seems correct. But the Crows just re-signed ROB for 3 years and clearly they didn’t do that for him to play SANFL so serious pressure on McAndrew to play well. If McAndrew can hold his spot he’s a SC gift
Of more interest for mine is team structure. I keep reading about all these rookies who could play second ruck. Do we think with the vest gone that playing a second ruck on the bench is the new vogue? Even with limited game time, hard to pass up at 120 odd k.
Steene
Coleman-Jones or Goad
Toby Murray
Edwards
Reeves (more expensive)
Max Heath (more expensive)
CDT (more a fwd so unlikely to score high)
Either way it’s great that we may have some rookie rucks to consider. Or maybe none of them are picked round 1 🙂
The fact that there are other rucks to consider for R3 is even more reason to lock McAndrew at R2 or Flex. He will be the solo ruck with Thilthorpe chopping in, so his scoring should be far better than the other options.
In terms of the contract, Crows haven’t been able to find a good ruck for ages and had to lock in ROB, but McAndrew has stepped up and suits the new rules far better than ROB.
I like your thinking Paul. I’m also looking for value in the rucks – I’m fading the big boys costing more than $600K. Saving the cash there has allowed you to beef up your other lines, particularly the midfield.
I couldn’t play this ruck line. All of them, if they play, are coming up against seasoned campaigners in the first 2 rounds. If one or both get injured, dropped or monstered you can’t correct in one trade (unless you’re sitting on a lot of cash). You would end up having a make 2 maybe 4 trades, dropping a premium to shore it up. Worst case you might have 3 dead rucks early.
I don’t think you want a forward at flex given that’s the weakest position, so I’d sell Reidy (bad job security and doesn’t look great) and put CDT to F7. Then you can grab a better rookie like Carroll who looks to have a half back role for Saints.
Finlay Macrae isn’t looking like he’ll play round 1 either and would need to see more from Retschko as he only played 2nd half of match sim.
Rookies that appear to be better options at the moment are Chayce Jones, Cumming, Derksen, Cook, Schoenberg, as well as Uwland & Duursma if you can find the cash.
DEF: Ash, Rozee, Roberts, Mckercher, Uwland, Grlj (Lindsay, Serong)
MID: Butters, Gulden, Walsh, Davies-Uniacke, Reid, Duursma, Sharp, Smith (Farrow, Brodie, Greeves)
RUCK: Jackson, TDK (McAndrew)
FWD: Sheezel, Pickett, Flandeers, CDT, Phillipout, Reidy (Lombard, Robertson)
FLEX: Bruhn
$82K in the bank
Focused on making sure all the seemingly ‘gun’ rookies are in the team as that was probably what I missed last year, and an extra 30k at the start for another 100k of cash gen is always worth it. Currently tossing up with the extra 80k moves such as; Ash up to NWM, Whitfield, or Sinclar — TDK up to English or Cameron — LDU up to Richards or Holmes (with the new rules likely to help quick, transition players) — Bruhn up to Treloar or Parish.
Any suggestions on the possible moves would be much appreciated
Really good team mate, my concerns are with TDK as well as Reidy & CDT on the field up forward.
TDK is quite expensive for someone who will be sharing ruck duties with Marshall AND he has an early bye. I would move him on and put CDT in the ruck and pick another premium forward. Or pick another forward rookie and upgrade Brodie/Greeves to a premium mid.
At this stage Reidy is 2nd choice ruck at best, reports say he looked average in match sim. I think there’s better forward rookies such as Pickett, Rosas, Cook, Dovaston, Artie Jones etc.
I don’t think he does unless he pulls something out in the community cup game. I don’t think fin macrae plays R1 either. I suspect we will looking at Dovaston and those up in the higher price bracket for that last Fwd spot unless Arthur Jones and those fringe players get a game.
For a bit of fun I always like to post a zero bank/salary left Team every year and I think I have got a decent enough one to stop tinkering and sit on it for a few days. Note the forward rookies are very hopeful and I suspect I’ll have to make changes there. Suspect I will need to get Grlj in there as well as he looked the pick out of the practice game reports.
Also just for fun, here’s this weeks team and my team from January.
Which would you run with? I suspect I’ll end up somewhere in between the two after the practice games.
Obviously the rookies are still tbc.
I’m going to the Official practice match Thursday, so I will keep an eye on him. It seems he would have to out play Jake Riccardi for the second Ruck spot. I think Briggs is still the number one guy when fit.
Sam Draper has trained at Brisbane, and looks to possibly be ready for round one. I’m not sure he’ll play opening round though.
I wouldn’t pick Cadman at $359k, he’s a good player but not SC relevant.
A good rule of thumb to use is a player either needs to make you $150k, or be top 8-10 or so in their position in order to be a good pick.
Cadman would have to average 95 to be a tick from me and i dont think he will. This is why i dont love mid priced players except for the likes of Flanders & Parish who should average 95. Or guyslike Bruhn or Rowston who are a bit cheaper and only need to average around 78 to make 150k.
Factoring in price I’d say
1. Parish
2. Bruhn
3. Young
Bruhn only needs to average 75-80+ to make $150k which i think he does comfortably. Parish just needs to average 90+ and he’s the most likely to be a keeper if he stays fit. Young on the other hand needs to average 95+ and sounds like he’s the 3rd midfielder and also rotating forward which doesn’t fill me with confidence he can get back to those levels.
Spending a lot of time fwd with a rare rotation through the middle so far this preseason. Watch the aammi closely. Also he’s only slightly more durable than Treloar, or so it seems.
Cooper Lord a far better option
I’ve been playing this game for 20years+ and never got close to winning anything so this time I may as well start with something that can be upgraded easily if its not the hot points bingeing team I think it is
If everything goes exactly how I want it to I reckon there are 3 Def keepers- 6 Mid keepers- 1 ruck keeper -5 Fwd keepers. That’s a starting squad with 15 Keepers. 😮
I just need to add
Naz, Ash, Clark
Naicos, Mcluggage, Anderson in guts
Rankine up front
Plus 1 ruck
Bruhn will get Def/Mid so he might be keeper bench cover
Think both are traps at awkward price points. Could be lucky and one of them breaks out but it’s a gamble. I don’t think you can take much out of that Carl-Geel game except for Jagga really. May have to wait until R0 to get a good read.
best fordward under 391k
IDK which options to choose from. forwards weak this year
Currently my forwards are sheezel, rtac, flanders,phillipou, marshall, robertson, lombard
or do i go finley mcrea then updrage everywhere else
Yeah no man’s land $391k. Prob either take a punt on Connor MacDonald from the Hawks at $381k or Curnow at $377k the best options around there. Otherwise restructure.
I’d upgrade elsewhere and play a Ugle-Hagan, Pickett, Reidy, or CDT, should make you 150K. Maybe Rachelle with Soligo’s injury or a Trealoar/ De Goey, if they can get right, they’ll make some cash, esp Trealoar.
Am I insane for starting Rozee at M4 over someone like Anderson/Daicos/Brayshaw/Gulden, so I can fit Sinclair, Ash and McKercher alongside all the Def rookies we look like we’re getting? Midfield is Bont, Butters, Dawson, Rozee, Young, Parish, Grlj, Jagga.
TU: Nice idea
TD: Nuts, pick a real midfielder and just one of Sinclair and Ash
Yeah I think rucks are causing teams the most diversion. With White’s return TBC find 8k and go White to Reidy or Zakostelsky if he plays next week. Both free you up to put a forward/ defender into flex if required and still make some coin. Luckily we will have next week to see how they look.
Slightly different strategy than what I usually go for here, but my thinking is that the aim of the game is to get to full premo as quickly as possible, and every year, it’s the forward rookies who are the hardest to get right and make enough cash to upgrade. So I figured I’d play around with a team where I’ve got depth in the forward at the expense of going a bit thin in other lines where rookies are going to make more cash.
Might be a risky play but gets me 7 deep in the forward line if Phillipou, Lalor, and De Goey hold up. Plus enough cash left over that I can make some early fixes if needed.
I see Carmichael didn’t get up for tonight’s game but you’ll get a look at Jaques. Maybe Reidy at F7, will give you more flexibility with your R2. If it was me I’d be looking at turning Duursma or Lalor into a Parish or Bruhn.
Problem is that Xerri, Jackson and Gawn don’t play Rd 0.
Set-and-forget is the easiest approach because then you can focus on the other lines, but I can see why people are consider McAndrew and/or Visentini on field. I think we’ll only know the correct answer to this question after a month or so.
It’s time to remember TOG.
Yes, Windsor was/is good, but look at Rivers, and TOG,
Ash, and Whitfield TOG
Wait for Rd 0, and check injury returns.
Good Luck!
Problems is both NTH and Melb aren’t playing OR. So I have one game to see if McKercher plays well. Agree some of these Community Cup games aren’t being helpful with TOG and some taking it as a training run.
Even worse, it’s actually zero games due to the broken finger.
Picking Colby at this point has to be done on blind faith, no idea what his role will be and if that injury might affect his play at all (unlikely but nobody really knows for sure).
I’ve been fading Coleman recently after nearly been the first picked when I started. Looks like McKercher isn’t playing the last practice game so its looking more like Windsor for me (I was trying to find a excuse not to pick him but I can’t). It also allows me to upgrade Lalor to Sam Darcy (shame I couldn’t get to Petracca for that extra $5k but no matter hard I screwed down on rookies just couldn’t make it work).
Both look like solid picks. I would’ve liked seeing Windsor play a whole game and prove he can sustain that output over 4 quarters; he was also playing against Richmond which looked easy.
Blakiston looked great and I prefer his role slightly.
Really good team, only concern i have is that you’ve stacked up on early bye players in the same positions.
For example in round 2 you have Daicos, Walsh and Jagga who all have the bye. Means you’re relying on Brodie, Schoenberg and Carrol who don’t have great job security.
In round 3 you’ll have Petracca, Lombard and Artie Jones all on the bye. I had a very similar issue because i think those 3 forwards are locks, so I’ve put Artie Jones into midfield. Perhaps you should do the same and get rid of Brodie who’s an emergency in todays pre season game?
Yeah still a bit too unfold before round 1 which is nice.
There are quite a few forward rookies on my radar still.
Dovaston has looked great against a weak Collingwood side, he will be playing round 1 for sure but I don’t expect a heap of points. Same can be said for L. Pickett and Rosas.
Todd Marshall & Finn Macrae have both been picked so see how they go tonight.
Brayden Cook looked decent for Crows but a bit more expensive and not fully sold on his job security.
Phillipou, Dev & Lombard should be locks, Artie Jones too.
Coleman Jones could go R3 if picked round one then Reidy into the forward line if hes picked as well.
Dovaston looked the goods for sure! idk if he will score super well without goals (could be hard to come by in the Nth FWD line lol) but fingers crossed
i’m a big Dawson fan, he hasn’t left me preseason team. No bye is good. i seriously think he will be top 5 midfielder for the season. Last season his kicking efficiency was around 56%, the three seasons prior he was 65-63%. He just needs to sort that out this season and he will average 110+
He looked great in the preseason game! I think if he can get those mid minutes before Viney comes back he should make enough coin to upgrade pretty quickly (or as a D7-8 keeper if he scores well when the Dees mids are full strength!)
he is a class player, it seems he is the man in the guts to start the year. if he can average 85 over the first 6 weeks, that will get the $150k we want.
$103k in the bank. Really happy with structure, not stressing too much about early byes as I think those guys will make up the pts by seasons end. Having 4 premos on RD3 bye is a concern though. (Bont/English/Gulden/Trac)
Handy looking Mid line you have there. I guess you can do that by going light in the Rucks. Just have a backup plan if McAndrew fails and ROB comes back in. Derksen is looking unlikely so keep $21k up your sleeve for that.
Current team, hasn’t changed alot since the start of February.
The team has been built around the early byes, only have Daicos R2, Petracca R3 and Flanders R4 as the premiums on the bye. Only one per round should set me up well early. I attacked the early bye rounds last year as well and was 77th after round 6, hoping for another good start.
Only main changes have been McKercher has replaced Mills and Clarke has replaced Whitfield, i like the idea that Ryan might not be in best 23 and Clarke will get all the kickouts. McKercher and Clarke don’t have the early bye.
I’m really big on Dawson this year, should be a top 5. Treloar is still in my team and should play round 0, i might swap him out to Windsor or Bruhn for about the same price if he doesn’t play.
RUC: Gawn, Jackson (White)
Gawn is still in the team, not sold on McAndrew holding his place but he is ok at Flex and gives me some options.
DEF: NWM, Rozee, McKercher, Coleman, Taylor, Lindsay (Serong, Jaques)
MID: Bont, Butters, Diacos, Serong, Young, Uwland, Smith, Sharp (Retschko, Brodie, Schoenberg)
RUC: Grundy, Jackson (White)
FWD: Sheezel, Flanders, Ugle-Hagan, D Robertson, Philipou, Duff-Tytler (Reidy, Lombard)
Flex: McCarthy
$23k remaining
Seriously thinking of going the way of Grundy and Jackson.
Have toggled between English and Grundy a few times for the extra 70k but Grundy feels a bit safer while we understand the true impact of the ruck rules!
This weeks team…
DEF: NWM, Rozee, McKercher, Uwland, Gibcus, Serong – McInnes, Lindsay
MID: Butters, Naicos, Merrett, Gulden, Young, Bruhn, Sharp, Smith – Smillie, Macrae, Prindable
RUK: Jackson, De Koning – Reidy
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, Treloar, Phillipou, Marshall – Whitlock, Robertson
FLX: W.Duursma
75K in the bank. Rd’s 4 + 12 are not great.
Keen to see some preseason games now…
Greetings all and Happy New SC Season !!
I am cash league orientated and this is definitely the most bye structured team I have ever done. Sure panic will set in when it counts and I will stuff it up like I do every other year lol !!
NWM, J Daicos, McKercher, Blakiston, Uwland, Grlj, (Serong, Lindsay)
Butters, McCluggage, B Smith, Merrett, Young, Duursma, J Smith, Sharp (Smillie, Draper, Carmichael)
Jackson, TDK (White)
Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, Phillipou, Marshall, Macrae (Reidy, Robertson)
Parish
$5600 ITB
Only Petracca and a few rookies out for the start of league match ups R3 and NWM and TDK R4, 4 guns out in R12 but hope not to pick any more between now and then
with cash leagues, you can target a couple of the bye rounds (1 early and mid-season) to tank, making sure you are strong in the others and pick up the important wins (you can also look at your opponent for those weeks – might be a weak team). cash leagues its all about making the finals with a strong team and trades in the bank
Hey all! Good luck this year 🙂
Here is my team so far:
DEF: NWM, L. Whitfield, C. Rozee, Z. Uwland, S. Grlj, J. Farrow (J. Gibcus, J, Lindsay)
MID: Z. Butters, E. Gulden, W. Ashcroft, H. Young, D. Parish, W. Duursma, D. Sharp, W. Brodie (J. Smith, J. Smillie, F. Macrae)
RUC: D. Cameron, T. English (K. White)
FWD: H. Sheezel, C. Petracca, S. Darcy, S. Flanders, M Phillipou, T. Marshall (M Lefau, D. Robertson)
FLEX: V. Vistentini
Cash left: $7.1k
Trades Left: Unlimited
My team for today
Nas ash McKercher
Grlj farrow Lindsay
(Serong Carmichael)
Bont butters daicos Anderson
Young uwland sharp smith
(Carroll Brodie retschko)
Xerri Grundy
(White)
Sheezel Flanders Phillipou
Marshall dovaston Robertson
(Reidy Lombard)
Flex Rozee
Left over 6k
Ash, Rozee, Clark,
Uwland, Grlj, Gibcus,
(Lindsay, Serong)
Butters, Daicos, Sheezel, Serong,
Parish, Sharp, Smith, Brodie,
(Farrow, Retschko, Schoenberg)
Xerri, English
(Reidy)
Petracca, Pickett, Greene,
Flanders, Marshall, Dovaston
(Lombard, Robertson)
Flex, Phillipou
Lots of Fwd options there 🙂
Think I would be picking Gulden before Serong or possibly both.
Thanks Rod, I’ll probably do that if Gulden is playing on ball.
TU: Ash
TD: Whitfield
We are splitting hairs, worth seeing what people think
Now that Callaghan is injured, might need to sweat on that a little longer.
not sure how that affects Ash or Whitfield
Whitfield more forward / on ball,
Ash stepping into Whitfield def role.
Mid Price Madness or Value Central. You decide…
DEF: NWM, Rozee, Roberts, McKerch, Bergman, Serong (Lindsay, Jaques)
MID: Butters, Naicos, Young, Reid, Parish, Grlj, Jaggar, Brodie (Sharp, Carroll, Retschko)
RUCK: English, D Visentini (McAndrew)
FWD: Sheezel, Tracc, Freijah, Flanders, Daniels, Philippou (Marshall, Robertson)
FLEX: Z Uwland
$23k in Bank
Here me out here. (and this may/will all change once we see some practice games)
– The only rookies I trust from the perspective of playing on field are mids so have gone with 2 premos rather than 3-4 that most people are going. Most others have more def & fwd rookies on field. Small fwd rookies are poison in my humble as, sure they may have JS but they score 35-50. On field that kills you and even on the bench that will stunt any cash gen you’re hoping for. Invariably you get stuck with them. There are countless examples over the years.
– Do have a heap of mid pricers (3 def, 3 mid, 1 ruck & 3 fwd). Will probably end up culling a few after practice matches but for now I am a believer (to varying degrees) in all of them. Lets go through them:
– DEF: Bergman looks to have mid time and 8/20 games last year were 100+. New coach. Upside.
Roberts is probably my 10th of 10 mid pricers in confidence. Again looking to be incorporated into the midfield. Finished with massive numbers late in 2025. Reeks of a breakout year…If he was $50k cheaper he’d be a lock but needs to average near on 95 min to make it a winning move. Can he do that?
McKerch is one of the more popular mid pricers. Role looks to be there across half back and is a proven scorer
– MID: Young is an injury risk but looks to have the CBA’s and is a proven scorer when he has that role
Harley Reid SCREAMS break out year to me! Surely WCE are a little better and Harley has had a full pre season. Talent is there but can he turn it into SC points. At that price its worth finding out.
Parish is a proven scorer and is CHEAP but body is untrustworthy. Worth the punt at that price.
– RUCK: D Visintini is on the assumption he is chosen as Port No1. That is very much in the air currently…as is my ruck structure. Had Gawn + Xerri initially to “set and forget” but it eats up sooooo much money
– FWD: Flanders is a no brainer at the price.
Freijah is my luxury item. Another that SCREAMS break out to me. Right age bracket, will get more CBA’s as Treloar not fit and Libba getting old.
Daniels is a real roughie and and tossing up between him & Lalor currently. Injuries at GWS will aid his cause for more mid time and has shown given the right circumstances, a capacity to score. Lalor looks a gun but might be a year early to go on him.
Let me have it community 🙂
Love the Freijah pick.
No way you can go with Parish, even in hypothetical. Simply doesn’t play enough, and when he does get back from his 23rd calf injury Durham and Caldwell have gone miles past him.
he dominated on weekend, albeit against a lacklustre Tiger outfit…but looks to overcome his issues from 2024 and 2025.
It appears we like the G&R (Guns and Rookies) format.
But why do we pick them in that order ?
Do any of us stock up on premium rookies first and then fill the gaps with our set and forget premium Guns ?
ie. Def last spot with money left would help decide whether we chose Whitfield or Ash, Mids: Naicos or Gulden, Rucks: Duff-Tyler or Reidy………..
I try and have about 14-15 keepers and a few midpricer that I’m happy to start.
When we are fairly certain who the best rookies are and they and locked in first, I then back-fill the rest of my team.
That way, it is the rookies who determine the team structure
It’s looking like we might get a few defender rookies this year, will then go thin in defence as most of the keepers have early bye and over priced
DEF: NWM, C. Rozee, Kiddy, Z.Uwland, S. Grlj, J.Lindsay (J. Gibcus, J.Serong)
MID: Bont, Butters, Naicos, E. Gulden, H. Young, D. Sharp, J.Smith, W. Brodie (L.carmichael, O.Greeves, Watkins)
RUC: Gawn, Xerri (Reidy)
FWD: H. Sheezel, C. Petracca, S. Darcy, S. Flanders, D.Robertson, F.Macrae (L.Kickett, R.Hamilton)
FLEX: W.Duursma
$20,600 left
I hope to have 14 keepers here.
I’ll play around with the rookies once we have a better idea for who will get a game.
is that a typo, ’14 keepers’ – are you counting Coleman and Young?
very gun’s ‘n rookie team, but with Greeves, Watkins, Kickett and Hamilton on your bench all at $99k, i doubt any will start.
I suggest to go one less Gun, and use the funds on better rookies for you bench.
Please rip this apart. Went quite basic in my 100th iteration. See a lot of value with the midpricers, but don’t have the courage to go with all of them (Langford, Reid, Roberts, Bergman, Kozzy etc..) So here goes:
DEF:
NWM, Rozee, McKercher, Uwland, Grlj, Farrow (Lindsay, Serong)
Mids:
Bont, Butters, McLuggage, Gulden, Young, Parish, W.Duursma, Jagga (Drew, Retschko, Smilie)
Ruck:
Gawn, Jackson (White)
Fwd:
Sheezel, Flanders, Lalor, Ugle-Hagan, Phillipou, Marshall (Reidy, Robertson)
(6.8k in the bank)
Bont can become Naicos/Dawson to upgrade the fwd line a bit. Really keen on Oliver as well, so that can be another downgrade option to mine some cash.
Any advice would be great, thanks everyone and good luck!
Happy SC season!
I always start slow AND run out of trades because I take chances on the “kinda-sorta” version of keepers or mid-price/stepping stones… so, this year taking a different approach and trying to take as many of those players that (barring injury) are in-line for a top-of-line spot (nb overall points). Rookies are minimum priced with some PS juice. The rucks are place holders until the PS provides a bit of clarity on who might be best placed with all the rules changes. Hopeful the best-18 provides cover if there are poor scoring rookies or my 11 keepers stumble.
D: Sinclair, Whitfield, Rozee, Clark, Gibcus, Serong (Lindsay, Jaques)
M: Bont, Butters, Naicos, Young, Parish, Brodie, Carroll, Shoenberg (Jones, Retschko, Prindable)
R: Gawn, Jackson (Reidy)
F: Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, Phillipou, Marshall, Robertson (Lombard, Murray)
Flex: Jagga
$19.7k
Current team
DEF: Whitfield, Rozee, McKercher, Grlj, Gibcus, Lindsay (Serong, Jaques)
I’m going to fade NWM in favor of Whitfield. I’m not certain of Nas’s role yet and he’s to expensive to have any doubts. I’m warming to Mckercher to be a keeper and without an early bye should be locked in to starting team. Grlj can become Uwland and rookies. Faded Coleman for now, but we will have a look at him Round 0.
MID: Butters, Daicos, Dawson, Serong, Young, Parish, Sharp, Carroll (Brodie, Schoenberg, Prindable)
Annoying that Daicos has a round 2 bye, but he is my only R2 bye player and its good that it keeps him out of everyone’s team (only 45%). I see Dawson improving his average by another 2-5pts and pushing from top 10 to top 5 mid. He had two poor scores last year early when crows were playing him forward, that won’t happen again, so there is improvement. Serong is my only doubt, happy i went Brayshaw last year but should i test my luck again? Young and Parish are genuine ‘fallen premiums’ who are they only mid-price types i trust (i have a very poor track record of picking the break-out mid-pricer)
RUC: Gawn, Jackson (White)
I held my nerve in 2024 when Gawn was smashed by Grundy in round 0, i held my nerve when Gawn was smashed by Xerri last year in round 2, i’m holding my nerve again. Unless he is injured, he will carry the entire Melbourne team on his back this year. It might be a good thing they got rid of Oliver and Petracca. BTW Luke jackson can run and jump.
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, Treloar, Phillipou, Marshall (Reidy, Robertson)
I wanted a piece of the Sun’s great start, with Rowell missing, Petracca becomes an easy avenue to Eagles & Richmond start. He is my only premium missing round 3. Treloar is a maybe at this stage, already have Young and Parish and i don’t really want to push my luck. But he is a genuine ‘fallen premium’ type in the forward line. if i need cash to get ‘better’ rookies, he will be the one to be dropped, but at $311k he only needs to go at 76 to be value. Reidy at F8 in case he plays, i don’t want to have cash locked up at R3.
FLX: Jagga Smith.
Team has been designed around the early byes, Daicos R2, Petracca R3 & Whitfield, Flanders R4 as the missing premiums and only Treloar R3 as the only missing mid-pricer. Round 12 is the worry round bye and will probably keep Serong in team ahead of LDU becuase of that.
On the watchlist:
Ash & Sinclair in defence
Callaghan in the guts
Pittonet in Ruck (i don’t mind a risky R2 and his points per min are fantastic)
Rankine in forwards (i’ve got a crazy idea of starting him in R1 if one of the bench rookies pops a big score)
thanks fellas
I’ve also left NWM out at his price, plus we don’t know how he’ll handle a tag.
However Treloar has nicked a calf, seems unlikely to make round 1
Young seems a lock, I’m 50/50 on Parish too depending on how he goes in practice games
i did see that Treloar had some calf ‘tightness’ and will be assesed prior to the community game against hawks. Dogs play round 0 will be the ultimate fitness test
Nice team Derek but Treloar and Parish is one too many risks for me, I want to be pretty certain my midpricers can stay on the park for long enough to make coin at least.
And I’m def considering fading NWM but if I do it won’t be to another player with a Rd2 bye. Clark is a possibility.
Just a bit scared that NWM goes well early and is suddenly out of reach.
Love the Dawson pick. Very high on his prospects this season.
Dawson is a real Smokey
Dawson’s kicking efficiency was around 56% last year. Bizarre numbers, as previous 3 seasons it was between 63-66%.
He only has to go back to his usual standard and there is 4pts a game there
“Rankine in forwards (i’ve got a crazy idea of starting him in R1 if one of the bench rookies pops a big score)”
Trouser stretching comment
DEF:
Whitfield, Rozee, McCarthy, McKercher, Upland, Grilj (Serong, Jaques).
MID:
Butters, Daicos, Dawson, Holmes, Young, Parish, Smith, Brodie (Sharp, Retshecko, Schoenberg).
RUC:
Jackson, English (McAndrew).
FWD:
Sheezel, Flanders, Lalor, Phillipou, Marshall, Robertson (Ready, Lombard).
FLEX:
Lindsay.
ITB:
$13,700
Have had Callaghan instead of Holmes, however the injury to Callaghan has made me pivot to Holmes, with Gulden and Steele being the other options I am considering.
Hi Derek, yeah that D1 spot is going to be interesting after the preseason games and R0. For me it’s Ash>Sinclair>NWM>Whitfield at the moment. I also think you may be 1 solid Defender short without Coleman.
Mids: Not looking at your bye structure, I like Gulden over Serong which I may of mentioned before.
Fwds: I am on the fence with Treloar as well. Flipping around Treloar/Lalor/Daniels but Treloar is the only DPP which I am still not sure how useful that may be yet (I dont seem to have many starting DPP players this year?).I Like the Petracca pick but I have a bad track record of picking premo new club players so have left him out. Great first up run of games though.
PS love the Dawson pick. Really strong premo mids there.
Treloar played 22 games in 2024 and averaged 116.
I’m going to give him every chance to be in my team round 1. As a forward, mouth-watering
Gulden hasn’t been in my team once this year. I’m more likely to have Mills as an extra premium in defence than Gulden in the guts.
If Mills gets it right, he can easy be a top 6. He averaged 113 over last 6 games in 2025 once he got back from injury
I’m not sold on Serong, but his price is similar to Gulden, no bye
DEF: Whitfield, Rozee, Uwland, Farrow, Gibcus, Serong (Lindsay, Jaques)
MID: Bontempelli, Butters, Daicos, W.Ashcroft, Young, Parish, Sharp, Smith (Brodie, Retschko, Macrae)
RUC: Jackson, English (Reidy)
FWD: Sheezel, Pickett, Greene, Flanders, Ugle-Hagan, Butler (Robertson, Murray)
FLX: Phillipou
I’m in two trains of thought at the moment, either going midprice madness as is, or cutting back all unestablished players, and sticking to GnR.
GnR looked more like
DEF: Sinclair, Whitfield, Rozee, Uwland, Gibcus, Serong (Lindsay, Jaques)
MID: Bontempelli, Butters, Daicos, Heeney, Serong, Sharp, Smith, Brodie (Retschko, Macrae, Greeves)
RUC: Grundy, Jackson (Reidy)
FWD: Sheezle, Darcy, Phillipou, Marshall, Draper, Alger (Lombard, Robertson)
FLX: Ugle-Hagan
Yet, this was a tad dated, back from the 2nd of feb, lots of injury updates have happened since then. There are obviously other options from Heeney, McKercher, Draper, and Marshall. Yet it’s still worth noting the rough structure.
Also, shout out to Motts, for all the years maintaining this site, many thanks! Wish you luck with whatever you end up doing.
I liked the GnR Team better I think but with Guilden instead of Heeney or if you can swap some Rookies around and get to Dawson for Heeney and then it looks really good. I’m not convinced on J U-H.
The Team
Def – Rozee, McKercher, Weddle, Coleman, Uwland, Grlj (Gibcus, Serong)
Mid – Butters, Daicos, Anderson, Young, Parish, Smith, Brodie, Retschko (Sharp, Carroll, Carmichael)
Rucks – Jackson, Cameron (Reidy)
Fwd – Sheezel, Petracca, Flinders, Curnow, Ugle-Hagen, Marshall (Robertson, Dovaston)
Flex – Humprey
Appreciate your comments.
Massive delay in posting and having comments/threads appear. Are the new ops aware? It used to be almost post for post, way easier to interact. I’m really hoping this site doesn’t change to much. Quite legally, the OG of SC. A lot of familiar names already not showing up.
DEF: NWM, Rozee, Mckercher, Windsor, Uwland, Gibcus (Serong, Carmichael)
MID: Butters, Callaghan, Gulden, Young, Reid, Sharp, Smith, Brodie (Retschko, Carroll, Kickett)
RUC: Xerri, Jackson (Reidy)
FWD: Sheezel, Pickett, Flanders, Rachele, Lalor, Phillipou (Lombard, Roberston)
FLEX: Grlj
Cant see myself going in with this many mid pricers but struggling to decide who to leave out, I’m very high on most of these guys.
Windsor, Lalor and Rachele definitely on my watch list over the preseason games.
Can’t believe I am seeing Parish in this many teams.
Availability – terrible. Do players with chronically injured calves tend to get more durable with age?
Scoring history – inconsistent. 1 great year, all the way back in 2021. 2 strong years in 2022 and 2023 (missed multiple games in both). Downward trajectory since 2021 in both scoring and durability.
Role – uncertain. Merrett, Caldwell, Durham certainly in front of him. Fiorini straight in the leadership group means he’s locked in some kind of meaningful role. Don’t know much of the draftees, but sounds like Robey and Sharp are chances to play throughout the year which has to be a priority over injury prone older players.
I know the price is tempting, and the only similarly priced alternative is Harley Reid (who is an infinitely better option if you’ve got the money), but I’m surprised coaches are forking out an extra $150k for Parish compared to any rookie who is picked in R1. Treloar and maybe even JDG have better recent history and are cheaper.
I think FOS has to be in the conversation as an option too. I know he’s only 2nd year but apparently he’s a lot stronger and they’re looking at him being inside mid.
It’s the temptation factor as to what Parish COULD do as he’s done it before. But definitely a risk. Caldwell is definitely in front of him (I’m tempted to even start Caldwell in my team) but for mine it depends on how they use Zerrett. If he plays predominantly mid then I highly dout I’ll go with Parish
You could have said the exact same thing about Treloar at the start of 2024. He went and played 22 games at ave of 116.
He’d played 20 games a year for the two before that
I have noticed Parish at M6 in your current team. What a you expecting as a avg first 6-7 rounds before your upgrade.? What your pass mark.?
I also see you have what i would call (5) keepers who have early byes. If the expected injury appears early rounds who do you pivot too.?
My thoughts on Gulden
Yes he’s a gun,
in 2023 (his best year so far) he played 22 games and ave 111 @ 1.0 ppm
In 2024 he played 22 games and ave 108 @ 1.0 ppm
In 2025 he played 10 games and ave 104 @ 1.0 ppm
The problem with Errol is that he throws up just as many sub standard games as above average games
In 2023 he had 8 games (36%) below 100 being 47,62,66,85,88,90,93,96,
In 2024 he had 11 games (50%) below 100 being 73,80,82,84,85,93,95,95,98,99
In 2025 he had 5 games (50%) below 100 being 73,92,93,95,96
The only th9ing that keeps him relevant in SC are the few monter scores every season
in 2025 two games (20%) over 120 and 1 game (10%) over 140
In 2024 six games (27%) over 120 and 4 games (18%) over 140
In 2023 eight games (36%) over 120 and 5 games (22%) over 140
These stats actually suggest that he’s not improving and the consistent 1.0 PPM every season support that.
Errol only averages 100 or more at 4 venues
There are 7 venues where he has played more than 3 times and he only averages 100+ at 2 of them SCG 42 games (102.7) and the Gabba 4 games (107.8)
Only 4 of Errols first 10 games are at the SCG this year and none are at the Gabba
I won’t start him because of his early bye.
I wont trade him in either unless he has had more than 8 games below 100 before round 15, remembering that his usual standard is 50% of games below 100
Just some thoughts, he was my M4 until I dug deeper
Gulden at $566k, I think is a no brainer if you are scrapping together cash for other lines. He is still young and the same age as Nick Daicos and like Daicos is very easy on the eye the way he plays so potentially can score very quickly.
If he was $600k it would be a different story. And if you had enough money to turn him into Dawson then I think I would go with Dawson. But at $566 for me he beats out the likes of Serong, Callaghan, W.Ashcroft, Heeney, Richards, Holmes and Merrett as a pure value play.
Ive messed around with this so much more than last year, there seems like value picks in Parish, Treloar, Young, Gulden but they all have some danger attached to them
NVM, Rozee, McKercher, Uwland, Grlj, Gibcus, (Lindsay, Carmichael)
Butters, Daicos, Gulden, Walsh, Duursma, Farrow, Sharp, Brodie (Smith, CArrol, Macrae)
Grundy, Jackson (McAndrew)
Sheezel, Pertracca, Freijah, Flanders, Treloar, Phillipou (Lombard, Roberston)
JSerong
Here we go again. Good luck to everyone.
DEF:- Ash, Rozee, McKercher, Coleman, Gibcus, Serong (Lindsay, Jacques)
MID:- Bontempelli, Butters, N Daicos, Dawson, Young, W Duursma, Sharp, Brodie (Grij, Carroll, Retschko)
RUC:- Xerri, Jackson (White)
FWD:- Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, Phillipou, Marshall, Robertson (Reidy, L Lombard)
Flex:- J Smith
Best Team of premos I think I’ve seen so far. Nice work. Duursma a little skinny for me at his price is the only thing I can question.
Good team. Maybe Coleman down and Duursma up to Parish.
It looks like the new rules will definitely impact Xerri, I think fade him at that price.
McAndrew really suits the new rules, ROB won’t get back in.
Downgrade Xerri to McAndrew and upgrade elsewhere
I have faded Xerri to Pittonet who will surely be Blues prime ruck…and mcAndrew is r3.
I like it
Pitto has insane points per minute. If he is solo ruck he will go ok
DEF: Rozee, Clark, Blakey, Coleman, Grlj, Jacques (Gibcus, Lindsay)
MID: Butters, Daicos, Gulden, Steele, Young, Parish, Rowston, Uwland (Sharp, Brodie, Carrol)
RUC: Jackson & McAndrew (Duff-Tytler)
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, Kosi, Flanders, Phillipou, Dev Robertson (Lombard, Artie Jones)
FLEX: Jagga Smith
Thoughts?
I’ve tried a team with McAndrew at R2, allows for a great team elsewhere.
I actually havnt seen him play, just going on other peoples reports.
If he is named round 1, I’ll probably do it. Even if he is dropped round 2, it’s worth the punt with rounds 2,3 and 4 best 18
If you have Duff-Tytler R3 then it’s definitely worth the risk as you’ll have cover with good job security.
I watched a fair bit of the crows match sim game, McAndrew looked unreal. Only catch is he was up against Visentini but i think he’s well ahead of ROB who’s just been demoted from Vice Captain to just being in the leadership group.
Thrown the team around so many times and still none the wiser. Any help or ideas would be great thanks.
I have had nas in and out about 30 times
Still not 100 percent on ash either
Changed the Ruck set up even more then that.
I also felt curnow could be worth a punt with the delivery he will be getting
Def
nas, ash, rozee, grlj, Lindsay, Jacques
Bench – serong, Graham
Mid
Butters, daicos, gulden, petracca, young, parish, duursma, Smith
Bench – brodie, carroll, Jones
Ruck
Jackson, English
Bench – duff-tyler
Fwd
Sheezle, pickett, Flanders, budarick, m. Phillipou, Lombard
Bench – Rosas, Robertson
Flex
Mcandrew
Graham needs to become Uwland don’t you think?
Not 100 percent that uwland at his price will do enough to make much money
Would you say the say for Duursma as well though?
I’m contemplating whether to go with Brodie over Duusma/Uwland but less job security I think.
Should know a lot more before round 1 at least
I agree. He needs to score 65’s to be value.
I hear his JS might be good
Fading both Duursma & Uwland I reckon. So many rookies to choose from with just as good scoring ability & cheaper
Due to valuable SCT Community thoughts and comments i currently have a cunning plan……
Rozee Clark Mills
Grlj Gibcus Lindsay
Serong Jaques
Butters Naicos Dawson
Gulden LDU Steele
Young Parish
Smith Schoenberg Anderson
McAndrew Reidy
White
Sheezel Petracca Flanders
Lalor CDT Phillipou
Lombard Robertson
Flex The Zoolander
ITB 142.7
Is this viable ? Or have i outdone Baldrick ?
I’ve had a look at doing something like this in the past but rookie mids are usually the highest scoring rookies no?
That is very cunning. About as cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University
I have both Mills and LDU high on my watch list. Both scream value
I’m all for a risky R2, but not a risky R1
Yeah if it wasn’t for Mills’ early bye I’d have him in. But if he kills it OR then every chance he comes in.
LDU has burnt me before so not considering, Caldwell’s my POD at this stage
That is an incredibly cunning plan. I must admit I’m warming to a rookie R2 but R1 also is kahunas on the wall. Is Reidy locked? Also I read Steene could get a game and Coleman-Jones or Goad could be NM’s backup. If so there’s a few options.
Have you cost yourself a mid rookie though? It feels like Smith may score well enough to be a viable M8
Hi Harry (and Ranger) thank you for your replies.
You have both made valid responses.
Here’s my reasoning why I chose outside the box;
I’ll start with yours Ranger,
Role Rotations.
I currently have 5 mid rookies (3x mid + 2x mid/def) and with all the hype we get from preseason sensationalism a further 4 more at the first DPP update.
Round 0 should help with any tweaks needed to endorse either of our decisions.
Harry, your view on Smith is also a strong point.
Again I’ll use the sensationalism as my support.
I also see Young and Parish being DPP’d.
I’m then seeing at least 1 of them being “required” to be moved forward, ie injuries and or ruck restructuring.
Hence Smith then moved on field.
Round 0 will be of great interest.
Good luck.
From now on, you shall be known as “The Black Vegetable”……
A little experimental with this one, here’s v2.
DEF: Rozee, Windsor, Uwland, Grlj, Taylor, Lindsay (Serong, Jacques)
INCREDIBLY weak here I’m aware, but I feel as if there’s a fantastic crop of defensive rookies, and it helps take away the NWM/Ash/Sinclair/Whitfield decision I was struggling with prior. As a Dees fan, Windsor looks set to run through the middle, and if he’s able to tidy up his disposal even a little, he’ll be well worth the money.
MID: Bontempelli, Butters, Daicos, Dawson, Young, Parish, Farrow, Smith (Sharp, Brodie, Carroll)
Shelling out the big bucks here, but like, come on, it’s Bontempelli. Butters? Lock. Daicos? The AFL’s golden boy. Dawson? Just a cool dude I guess. I’ll be honest I’m not too fond on both Young and Parish, but the high risk is balanced out by the fact that everyone owns them already, so if I get burned, we’re all in this together (shoutout Zac Efron).
RUC: Gawn, Jackson (McAndrew)
Also spending large here with Gawn, but the man is my captain, how could I take myself seriously as a Melbourne fan if I ignore the greatest ruckman of all time? There are two reasons Jackson is here, the first being that he’s just a bloody good player. The second is the fact that this ruck lineup won the 2021 premiership, so it MUST work in supercoach too.
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, Pickett, Flanders, Hotton, Phillipou (Lombard, Robertson)
A fairly strong forward line, Petracca is too enticing with Rowell out, even if he did break my heart. Kozzy is most likely the main man through the midfield, with my biggest worry being that he’s so good he’ll start attracting tags. Hotton is just a gun and someone I’m hoping really breaks out.
FLEX: T. Marshall CASH LEFT: $20,400
btw before you give your thoughts, I have copyrighted every player in here, so you guys aren’t allowed to copy a single position
Hi all
Backs : Sinclair Rozee McKercher
Z.Uwland Grlj Farrow (Lindsay J.Serong)
Mid : Butters N.Daicos
Anderson Gulden Young
Sharp J.Smith Brodie (Retschko Schoenberg Carmichael)
Rucks : Jackson English (White)
Fwds: Sheezel Petracca Flanders
Rachelle Phillipou Marshall (Lombard Robertson)
Flex : L McAndrew
Still $ 141,700 in ‘ The Kitty’ for later adjustments
Would appreciate any comments
McAndrew should be on field, either FLEX or R2 in everyones team I think.
I think he will average 80+ and it would be painful to watch those scores on your bench every week.
T/U or T/D?
As of now seems correct. But the Crows just re-signed ROB for 3 years and clearly they didn’t do that for him to play SANFL so serious pressure on McAndrew to play well. If McAndrew can hold his spot he’s a SC gift
Of more interest for mine is team structure. I keep reading about all these rookies who could play second ruck. Do we think with the vest gone that playing a second ruck on the bench is the new vogue? Even with limited game time, hard to pass up at 120 odd k.
Steene
Coleman-Jones or Goad
Toby Murray
Edwards
Reeves (more expensive)
Max Heath (more expensive)
CDT (more a fwd so unlikely to score high)
Either way it’s great that we may have some rookie rucks to consider. Or maybe none of them are picked round 1 🙂
The fact that there are other rucks to consider for R3 is even more reason to lock McAndrew at R2 or Flex. He will be the solo ruck with Thilthorpe chopping in, so his scoring should be far better than the other options.
In terms of the contract, Crows haven’t been able to find a good ruck for ages and had to lock in ROB, but McAndrew has stepped up and suits the new rules far better than ROB.
I’m a crows fan btw
I’ve read there’s a school of thought to play Murray as second ruck and leave Thilthorpe forward. Your understanding?
I did see a headline about that, if true it will impact Thilthorpe more than McAndrew though.
I currently have both.
Here we go again. Good luck to everyone.
DEF:- Whitfield, Rozee, Clark, Blakey, Grlj, Farrow (Lindsay, Jacques)
MID:- Bontempelli, Butters, Smith, N Daicos, Gulden, Young, Sharp, Smith (Brodie, Carroll, Retschko)
RUC:- CDT, McAndrew (Steene)
FWD:- Sheezel, K. Pickett, Flanders, Phillipou, L. Pickett, Robertson (Draper, L Lombard)
Flex:- Parish
I like your thinking Paul. I’m also looking for value in the rucks – I’m fading the big boys costing more than $600K. Saving the cash there has allowed you to beef up your other lines, particularly the midfield.
I couldn’t play this ruck line. All of them, if they play, are coming up against seasoned campaigners in the first 2 rounds. If one or both get injured, dropped or monstered you can’t correct in one trade (unless you’re sitting on a lot of cash). You would end up having a make 2 maybe 4 trades, dropping a premium to shore it up. Worst case you might have 3 dead rucks early.
Current team before Practice matches
Def: Rozee, Clark, Uwland, Grlj, Lindsay, Serong, Cochran, Carmichael
Mid: Butters, Daicos, Dawson, E.Richards, J.Steele, Parish, Coniglio, J.smith
Sharp Watkins, Greeves
Ruck: Grundy, Jackson
Fwd: Sheezel, K.Pickett, Flanders, L.Pickett, Harrison, D.Robertson, Marshall,
Dovaston
Flex: J. DeGoey
TU:
– R2/3 Duff + McAndrew
– D4 Coleman
– M6 Young + better rookie depth
TD:
– R2 Cameron + McAndrew
– D4-6 Rookies
– M6-8 Rookies
Currently:
DEF: Whitfield,Rozee,Mckercher, Farrow, Gibcus, Jacques (J Lindsay, J Seeing)
MID: Butters, Naicos, Gulden, Walsh, H Young, Grlj, Sharp, J Smith (Brodie, Retschko, F McCrae)
RUCK: Jackson, English ( McAndrew)
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, K Pickett, Flanders, M Phillipou, T Marshall ( L Reidy, D Robertson)
FLEX: CDT
61k in the bank
Any suggestions?
Sorry that should say J Serong not seeing +
Hey mate, couple of suggestions.
I don’t think you want a forward at flex given that’s the weakest position, so I’d sell Reidy (bad job security and doesn’t look great) and put CDT to F7. Then you can grab a better rookie like Carroll who looks to have a half back role for Saints.
Finlay Macrae isn’t looking like he’ll play round 1 either and would need to see more from Retschko as he only played 2nd half of match sim.
Rookies that appear to be better options at the moment are Chayce Jones, Cumming, Derksen, Cook, Schoenberg, as well as Uwland & Duursma if you can find the cash.
Hope this helps!
Cheers mate!
Currently sitting at:
DEF: Ash, Rozee, Roberts, Mckercher, Uwland, Grlj (Lindsay, Serong)
MID: Butters, Gulden, Walsh, Davies-Uniacke, Reid, Duursma, Sharp, Smith (Farrow, Brodie, Greeves)
RUCK: Jackson, TDK (McAndrew)
FWD: Sheezel, Pickett, Flandeers, CDT, Phillipout, Reidy (Lombard, Robertson)
FLEX: Bruhn
$82K in the bank
Focused on making sure all the seemingly ‘gun’ rookies are in the team as that was probably what I missed last year, and an extra 30k at the start for another 100k of cash gen is always worth it. Currently tossing up with the extra 80k moves such as; Ash up to NWM, Whitfield, or Sinclar — TDK up to English or Cameron — LDU up to Richards or Holmes (with the new rules likely to help quick, transition players) — Bruhn up to Treloar or Parish.
Any suggestions on the possible moves would be much appreciated
Really good team mate, my concerns are with TDK as well as Reidy & CDT on the field up forward.
TDK is quite expensive for someone who will be sharing ruck duties with Marshall AND he has an early bye. I would move him on and put CDT in the ruck and pick another premium forward. Or pick another forward rookie and upgrade Brodie/Greeves to a premium mid.
At this stage Reidy is 2nd choice ruck at best, reports say he looked average in match sim. I think there’s better forward rookies such as Pickett, Rosas, Cook, Dovaston, Artie Jones etc.
First draft for this year, really dont know how ruck rules will impact guys so tempted to run with McAndrew at R2
Def
NWM, rozee, archie roberts, mckercher, grlj, farrow, (serong or gibcus, jacques)
Mid
Butter, daicos, brayshaw, gulden, parish, sharp, jagga smith, brodie (chayce jones, retschko, schoenberg)
Ruck
Tdk, McAndrew (white)
Fwd
Sheezel, petracca, pickett, flanders, philipou, robertson (marshall, lombard)
Flex hayden young
$99k in the bank
Will todd marshall play
If not who is a good replacement who isnt mcrae, robertson or phillipou who i have
I don’t think he does unless he pulls something out in the community cup game. I don’t think fin macrae plays R1 either. I suspect we will looking at Dovaston and those up in the higher price bracket for that last Fwd spot unless Arthur Jones and those fringe players get a game.
Brayden Cook from the crows is firming for round 1. He’s a good player too and will have a nice role.
For a bit of fun I always like to post a zero bank/salary left Team every year and I think I have got a decent enough one to stop tinkering and sit on it for a few days. Note the forward rookies are very hopeful and I suspect I’ll have to make changes there. Suspect I will need to get Grlj in there as well as he looked the pick out of the practice game reports.
Anyway my latest team (zero bank edition):
Defenders: J.Sinclair, L.Ash, C.Rozee, C.McKercher, J.Gibcus, J.Lindsay (L.Jacques, J.Serong)
Midfielders: Z.Butters, N.Daicos, C.Serong, E.Gulden, H.Young, D.Parish, D.Sharp, J.Smith
(W.Brodie, P.Retschko, H.Schoenberg)
Rucks: M.Gawn, Grundy (K.White)
Forwards: H.Sheezel, S.Flanders, S.Lalor, M.Phillipou, L.Lombard, D.Robertson (H.Harrison, A.Jones)
Flex: L.McAndrew
Bank: $0
Also just for fun, here’s this weeks team and my team from January.
Which would you run with? I suspect I’ll end up somewhere in between the two after the practice games.
Obviously the rookies are still tbc.
FEB team
Rozee, Clark, McKercher, Uwland, Gibcus, Serong – Lyndsay, Jaques
Butters, Naicos, McCluggage, Gulden, Young, Bruhn, Sharp, Smith – Anderson, Carmichael, Kickett
Jackson, TDK – Reidy
Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, Treloar, Phillipou, Marshall – Whitlock, Robertson
JAN team
NWM, Rozee, McKercher, Coleman, McInnes, Serong – Lyndsay, Gibcus
Butters, Naicos, Gulden, Oliver, Young, Treloar, Sharp, Smith – Anderson, Carmichael, Kickett
Xerrie, Cameron – Reidy
Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, De Goey, Phillipou, Marshall – Whitlock, Robertson
i have some concerns about McKercher’s finger, Clarke has taken his spot in my team
DEF: Whitfield, Rozzee, Daicos, Grlj, Gibcus, Lindsay (Serong, Jaques)
MID: McCluggage, Daicos, Merrett, Gulden, Parish, Smith, Brodie, Smillie (Draper, Carroll, Schoenberg)
RUC: Grundy, Cameron (McAndrew)
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, Darcy, Flanders, McCarthy, Phillipou (Marshall, Lombard)
FLX: Robertson
$4,900
Something a little different. I like this team.
Hi All,
What’s the current thoughts of a Maddern at R1, or still too early (another GWS match required) to contemplate ?
Sorry,
Tu hmm maybe
Td nah price not right
Thanks
Hello Chameleon.
Re Madden. I’m not sure he’s best 23
I’m going to the Official practice match Thursday, so I will keep an eye on him. It seems he would have to out play Jake Riccardi for the second Ruck spot. I think Briggs is still the number one guy when fit.
Sam Draper has trained at Brisbane, and looks to possibly be ready for round one. I’m not sure he’ll play opening round though.
Good luck everyone. This is my Team I think I might leave it.
Def L Whitfield. C rozee. C Salem. L Humphries. K Coleman. J serong. Bench j Lindsey. L Carmichael.
Mids. Bont. Z butters . H sheezel. E gulden. H young. W duursma. D sharp. J smith. Bench o greeves. W brodie. P retschko.
Ruck. L Jackson. T English
Bench m Edwards.
Fwds. K picket. S Flanders. L reidy. F Macrea. D Robertson. Brnch l lombard. L kicket .
So don’t go to savage on me. Remember best 22 scores of 23. That’s why I choose big scoring ruckman
Sorry mate but Reidy, Macrae, Kicket Edwards, Carmichael all very unlikely to play round 1.
Not sure about Retschko either, he didnt play until the second half of the match sim but he might come good.
Also who’s your flex?
I have Cadmen in the fwf line. My flexi is xerri
I wouldn’t pick Cadman at $359k, he’s a good player but not SC relevant.
A good rule of thumb to use is a player either needs to make you $150k, or be top 8-10 or so in their position in order to be a good pick.
Cadman would have to average 95 to be a tick from me and i dont think he will. This is why i dont love mid priced players except for the likes of Flanders & Parish who should average 95. Or guyslike Bruhn or Rowston who are a bit cheaper and only need to average around 78 to make 150k.
Would anyone consider aaron Cadmen
Sorry I redo team.
My flexi is t xerri. And I have aaron cadmen in I was missing those 2
TU: Bruhn
TD: Parish
Comment: Young
Factoring in price I’d say
1. Parish
2. Bruhn
3. Young
Bruhn only needs to average 75-80+ to make $150k which i think he does comfortably. Parish just needs to average 90+ and he’s the most likely to be a keeper if he stays fit. Young on the other hand needs to average 95+ and sounds like he’s the 3rd midfielder and also rotating forward which doesn’t fill me with confidence he can get back to those levels.
wouldn’t it be crazy if Young got DPP in round 6
Fingers are crossed Derek.
…. an’ Parish
Young>Parish>Bruhn for me. And I don’t trust Geelong.
Spending a lot of time fwd with a rare rotation through the middle so far this preseason. Watch the aammi closely. Also he’s only slightly more durable than Treloar, or so it seems.
Cooper Lord a far better option
Other than last year Young has been pretty durable.
23 games in ’24, and 22 games in ’23.
Thought I’d experiment with ateam where I firstly pick all the rookies I currently fancy, then fill up with keepers.
Rozee Mills Z Uwland Grij Farrow Gibcus (Lindsay/Serong)
Butters Naicos Dawson Merrett Bont Gulden Parish J Smith (Macrae Brodie Sharp)
English McAndrew (Reidy)
Petracca Flanders DeGoey Phillipou L Pickett El Achkar (Marshall/Robertson
Sheezel
Obviously rookies subject to selection, but there already appears to be good alternaives.
18.0 itb
This is the highest projection team I have come up with….1875
I’ve been playing this game for 20years+ and never got close to winning anything so this time I may as well start with something that can be upgraded easily if its not the hot points bingeing team I think it is
Absolutely Podalicious
Rozee-McCarthy-McKercher
Blakiston-Gjrqrx-Lindsay (Jacques-Derksen)
Butters-Brayshaw-Steele-Durham
Parish-Lord-Bruhn-Smith (Sharp-Brodie-Carroll)
Jackson-Visentini (McAndrew)
Sheezel-Petracca-Pickett
Flanders-Macdonald-Robertson (Marshall-Riedy)
Flex: Cook
Not even $1 left
If everything goes exactly how I want it to I reckon there are 3 Def keepers- 6 Mid keepers- 1 ruck keeper -5 Fwd keepers. That’s a starting squad with 15 Keepers. 😮
I just need to add
Naz, Ash, Clark
Naicos, Mcluggage, Anderson in guts
Rankine up front
Plus 1 ruck
Bruhn will get Def/Mid so he might be keeper bench cover
They should just post me the cheque now 🙂
About now, every year, I think they should post me the cheque.
No point starting the season any other way!
Still undecided on some of the mid-pricers, but this is how I am looking atm.
Def: NAS, Ash, Rozee, Clark, Farrow, Lindsay (Serong/Derksen)
Mids: Butters, Daicos, Gulden, Walsh, Parish, Grlj, Sharp, Smith (Brodie/Retschko/Carmichael)
Ruck: Jackson, English (Reidy)
Fwd: Sheezel, Darcy, Flanders, Phillipou, Lombard, Robertson (Marshall/Macrae)
Flex: McAndrew
Cash: $8.2k
Don’t hold back – let me know your thoughts!
Bench Rookies will need readjustment when named R1 but I don’t mind your structure and team. Nice work
For M6
TU – Rowston
TD – Bruhn
Think both are traps at awkward price points. Could be lucky and one of them breaks out but it’s a gamble. I don’t think you can take much out of that Carl-Geel game except for Jagga really. May have to wait until R0 to get a good read.
I may have come around to Bruhn in place of Parish (only to squeeze a few more $$). R0 may be the deciding factor.
…. an’ Parish
best fordward under 391k
IDK which options to choose from. forwards weak this year
Currently my forwards are sheezel, rtac, flanders,phillipou, marshall, robertson, lombard
or do i go finley mcrea then updrage everywhere else
Yeah no man’s land $391k. Prob either take a punt on Connor MacDonald from the Hawks at $381k or Curnow at $377k the best options around there. Otherwise restructure.
I’d upgrade elsewhere and play a Ugle-Hagan, Pickett, Reidy, or CDT, should make you 150K. Maybe Rachelle with Soligo’s injury or a Trealoar/ De Goey, if they can get right, they’ll make some cash, esp Trealoar.
De Goey?
DEF: Nas, Rozee, McKercher, Coleman, Farrow, Lindsay (Carmichael, Derksen)
MID: Butters, Daicos, Anderson, Walsh, Kelly, Sharp, Smith, Uwland (Retschko, Brodie, Greeves)
RUC: Xerri, Jackson (McAndrew)
FWD: Sheezel, Flanders, Curnow, Lalor, Ugle-Hagan, Phillipou (Reidy, Robertson)
FLEX: Bruhn
Am I insane for starting Rozee at M4 over someone like Anderson/Daicos/Brayshaw/Gulden, so I can fit Sinclair, Ash and McKercher alongside all the Def rookies we look like we’re getting? Midfield is Bont, Butters, Dawson, Rozee, Young, Parish, Grlj, Jagga.
TU: Nice idea
TD: Nuts, pick a real midfielder and just one of Sinclair and Ash
Defenders: J.Sinclair, C.Rozee, C.McKercher, S, Gril, J.Lindsay, L.Jacques (W,Dersken, J.Serong)
Midfielders: M. Bont, Z.Butters, N.Daicos, E.Gulden, D.Parish, H. Rowston, W. Dursman J.Smith
(J.Farrow, D.Sharp, H.Schoenberg)
Rucks: M.Gawn, Xerri (K.White)
Forwards: H.Sheezel, C. Petracca , S.Flanders, M.Phillipou, , B Cook, D.Robertson (T, Marshall, L.Lombard)
Flex: L.McAndrew
13k in bank
Would love some feedback am taking bit of a punt on both Gawn and Xerri. Did look at Xerri for Jackson but Xerri draw is just to good to pass on.
Yeah I think rucks are causing teams the most diversion. With White’s return TBC find 8k and go White to Reidy or Zakostelsky if he plays next week. Both free you up to put a forward/ defender into flex if required and still make some coin. Luckily we will have next week to see how they look.
Made updates after games this weekend
Defenders: NAS, C.Rozee, L. Blakiston, K. Colema, S, Gril, J.Lindsay,(W,Dersken, J.Serong)
Midfielders: M. Bont, Z.Butters, N.Daicos, E.Gulden, H. Young D.Parish, T. Bruhn, J.Smith
(J Carrol, D.Sharp, T. Blamires)
Rucks: M.Gawn, English (K.White)
Forwards: H.Sheezel, C. Petracca , S.Flanders, M.Phillipou, , B Cook, D.Robertson (T, Marshall, L.Lombard)
20k
Flex: L.McAndrew
13k in bank
Slightly different strategy than what I usually go for here, but my thinking is that the aim of the game is to get to full premo as quickly as possible, and every year, it’s the forward rookies who are the hardest to get right and make enough cash to upgrade. So I figured I’d play around with a team where I’ve got depth in the forward at the expense of going a bit thin in other lines where rookies are going to make more cash.
DEF: NWM, Sinclair, Rozee, Uwland, Grlj, Serong (Lindsay, Carmichael)
MID: Bont, Butters, Daicos, Langford, Duursma, Farrow, Sharp, Smith (Brodie, Smillie, Greeves)
RUC: Xerri, CDT (McAndrew)
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, Pickett, Flanders, Lalor, Phillipou (Lombard, Robertson)
FLX: De Goey
Cash: $106k
Might be a risky play but gets me 7 deep in the forward line if Phillipou, Lalor, and De Goey hold up. Plus enough cash left over that I can make some early fixes if needed.
Thoughts?
I can see the logic but that midfield would scare the bejesus out of me
I see Carmichael didn’t get up for tonight’s game but you’ll get a look at Jaques. Maybe Reidy at F7, will give you more flexibility with your R2. If it was me I’d be looking at turning Duursma or Lalor into a Parish or Bruhn.
Def: Rozee, Daicos, McCathy, Windsor ,Grij,Farrow/ Lindsay, Serong
Mid: Butters, Dawson, Walsh, Steele, Young, Uwland, Sharp, Smith/ Cook, Brodie, Macrae
Ruc: English, McAndrew / Reidy
For: Sheezel, Pickett, Simpkin, Flanders, Phillipou. Pickett/ Draper, Robertson
Flex: De Goey
$21.700 in the bank for adjustments after next week
Thoughts?
Def : Sinclair Rozee Mc.Kercher
Windsor Farrow Lindsay [Serong Derkson]
Mid : Butters N.Daicos
Anderson Gulden H.Reid
Grlj Sharp J.Smith [Brodie Schoenburg Greeves]
Ruc : Grundy Jackson [White]
Fwd : Sheezel Petracca Flanders
Rachelle Phillipou Marshall [ Lombard Robertson]
Flex : McAndrew
$22,900..ITB
Comments please
What to do with rucks
TU- Set and forget
TD- premo + rookie
Or Comment for alternative
ATM : Nothing. Wait for Rd 0 results.
Problem is that Xerri, Jackson and Gawn don’t play Rd 0.
Set-and-forget is the easiest approach because then you can focus on the other lines, but I can see why people are consider McAndrew and/or Visentini on field. I think we’ll only know the correct answer to this question after a month or so.
Current team – thoughts?
Def: NWM, Whitfield, Rozee, Coleman, Gibcus, Serong (Lindsay, Derksen)
Mid: Bont, Butters, Naicos, Gulden, Young, Uwland. Grij, Smith (Sharp. Brodie, Macrae)
Ruck: Gawn, Grundy (Reidy)
Fwd: Sheez, Flanders, Lalor, Phillipou, Marshall, Lombard (Jones, Robertson)
Flex: McAndrew
120K ITB
D4:
TU: McKercher
TD: Windsor
I really wish Windsor was a mid or fwd
It’s time to remember TOG.
Yes, Windsor was/is good, but look at Rivers, and TOG,
Ash, and Whitfield TOG
Wait for Rd 0, and check injury returns.
Good Luck!
Problems is both NTH and Melb aren’t playing OR. So I have one game to see if McKercher plays well. Agree some of these Community Cup games aren’t being helpful with TOG and some taking it as a training run.
Even worse, it’s actually zero games due to the broken finger.
Picking Colby at this point has to be done on blind faith, no idea what his role will be and if that injury might affect his play at all (unlikely but nobody really knows for sure).
Just depends on your appetite for risk
I’ll throw another one out there for D4:
TU: Windsor
TD: Coleman
TU: Windsor
TD: Blakiston
I’ve Windsor’d both of those. Coleman doesn’t do kick-ins, or does he?
I’ve been fading Coleman recently after nearly been the first picked when I started. Looks like McKercher isn’t playing the last practice game so its looking more like Windsor for me (I was trying to find a excuse not to pick him but I can’t). It also allows me to upgrade Lalor to Sam Darcy (shame I couldn’t get to Petracca for that extra $5k but no matter hard I screwed down on rookies just couldn’t make it work).
Both look like solid picks. I would’ve liked seeing Windsor play a whole game and prove he can sustain that output over 4 quarters; he was also playing against Richmond which looked easy.
Blakiston looked great and I prefer his role slightly.
DEF: Whitfield, Mckercher, Rozee, Windsor, Lindsay, Serong ( Jacques, Derksen)
MID: Butters, Naicos, Gulden, Walsh, Young, Grlj, Sharp, Smith (Brodie, Carrol, Schoenberg)
RUCK: Jackson, English (Reidy)
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, K.Pickett, Flanders, M Phillipou, Robertson ( Lombard , A.Jones)
FLEX: McAndrew
80k in the bank
Some of these guys on Round 0 watch obviously, Reidy, Derksen etc
Suggestions?
Really good team, only concern i have is that you’ve stacked up on early bye players in the same positions.
For example in round 2 you have Daicos, Walsh and Jagga who all have the bye. Means you’re relying on Brodie, Schoenberg and Carrol who don’t have great job security.
In round 3 you’ll have Petracca, Lombard and Artie Jones all on the bye. I had a very similar issue because i think those 3 forwards are locks, so I’ve put Artie Jones into midfield. Perhaps you should do the same and get rid of Brodie who’s an emergency in todays pre season game?
Yeah just had Brodie as a place holder, I’ll see what happens closer to round 1 to sort out those ones.
Good point about the byes. Any suggestions on a forward replacement for Jones?
Yeah still a bit too unfold before round 1 which is nice.
There are quite a few forward rookies on my radar still.
Dovaston has looked great against a weak Collingwood side, he will be playing round 1 for sure but I don’t expect a heap of points. Same can be said for L. Pickett and Rosas.
Todd Marshall & Finn Macrae have both been picked so see how they go tonight.
Brayden Cook looked decent for Crows but a bit more expensive and not fully sold on his job security.
Phillipou, Dev & Lombard should be locks, Artie Jones too.
Coleman Jones could go R3 if picked round one then Reidy into the forward line if hes picked as well.
I’ve dropped Brodie, put Jones in the midfield and picked up Dovaston.
Ok changed ny team. Might start this one.
Def. L Whitfield. C Salem. T McCarthy. K Coleman. J farrow. J serong. Bench j Lindsey. W derision.
Mids bont. Butters. N daicos. D parish. T bruin. W duursma. J smith. W brodie. Bench d sharp l kickett. O greeves.
Rucks. L Jackson. T English. Bench l mcandraw.
Fwds
C petracca. K picket. S Flanders. S Lalor. M phillpou. L reidy. Bench lombard. D Robertson.
Flexi. T xerri
Taken a punt on brunan. And 3 big scoring rucks
I’ve dropped Brodie, put Jones in the midfield and picked up Dovaston.
Dovaston looked the goods for sure! idk if he will score super well without goals (could be hard to come by in the Nth FWD line lol) but fingers crossed
our midfield rookies are drying up
Which Docker
TU: JACKSON
TD: SERONG
Latest update – thoughts?
Def: Sinclair, Whitfield, Rozee, Gibcus, Uwland, Lindsay (Serong, Derksen)
Mid: Bont, Butters, Naicos, Gulden, Young Grij, Sharp, Smith (Macrae, Brodie, Retschko)
Ruck: Gawn, Grundy (Reidy)
Fwd: Sheez, Tracca, Flanders, Phillipou, Marshall, Dovaston (Lombard, Robertson)
Flex: McAndrew
$200 ITB
– Sinclair over NWM
– Gawn over Jackson or Tingles
– Tingles will score less with Darcy in the side
– Gulden over Dawson – No money
i’m a big Dawson fan, he hasn’t left me preseason team. No bye is good. i seriously think he will be top 5 midfielder for the season. Last season his kicking efficiency was around 56%, the three seasons prior he was 65-63%. He just needs to sort that out this season and he will average 110+
Only thing I might say to that is that last year was really his first as full mid and not half back/mid.Less time to get rid of it where he plays now.
Hello all, hopefully the rest of you aren’t panicking like I am. Got the following team for your judgement, let me know what you think.
DEF: Rozee, Clark, Kerch, Blakiston, Windsor, Lindsay (J.Serong, Derkson)
MID: Butters, Naicos, Walsh, H.Young, Parish, Bruhn, Grlj, Jagga (Farrow, Brodie, F.Macrae)
RUC: Grundy, English (Reidy)
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, T.Greene, Flanders, Phillipou, D.Robertson (Lombard, K.White)
FLX: McAndrew
Windsor made his way into my team as well this week
He looked great in the preseason game! I think if he can get those mid minutes before Viney comes back he should make enough coin to upgrade pretty quickly (or as a D7-8 keeper if he scores well when the Dees mids are full strength!)
he is a class player, it seems he is the man in the guts to start the year. if he can average 85 over the first 6 weeks, that will get the $150k we want.
I’ve just put Visentini at R2 and goddamn!
NWM, Rozee, Windsor, Grlj, Lindsay, Serong, (Farrow, Jaques)
Bontempelli, Butters, Dawson, Gulden, Walsh, Young, Parish, Smith, (Sharp, Carroll, Jones)
English, Visentini, (McAndrew)
Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, Phillipou, Marshall, Robertson, (Dovaston, Lombard)
McCarthy
$129K in the bank so plenty of room to move, especially if Blamires and/or Derksen get a call up
Shifted the magnets around after pre-season games. Trying to mitigate early bye damage too.
DEF: NWM, Rozee, Worrell, Windsor, Lindsay, Serong (Jaques, Derksen)
MID: Butters, Dawson, Neale, Serong, Young, Parish, Grlj, Smith (Jones, Watkins, Blamires)
RUC: Gawn, Grundy (Reidy)
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, Phillipou, Marshall, Lombard (Robertson, Dovaston)
FLEX: McAndrew
hi all,
love some feedback
Def:
Nas, Rozee, Blakey, Worrell, Grlj, Farrow (Lindsay, Derkson)
Mid:
Bont, Butters, Naicos, Young, Parish, Sharpe, Jagga, Macrae (Carroll, Carmichael, Blamires)
Ruck:
Jackson, Mcandrew (white)
Fwd:
Thilthorpe, Darcy, Flanders, Rachele, Phillipou, Marshall (Lombard, Robertson)
Flex:
Sheez
Fwd:
Thilthorpe, Darcy, Flanders, Rachele, Philipou, Dovaston (
Fwd bench:
Lombard, Robertson
Flex:
Sheez
first team i’ve seen with Worrell, not in my classic team, but i’ve been targeting him in draft, nice POD with no early bye
DEF: NAS, Rozee, Kerch, Windsor, Lindsay, Serong (Jacques, Derksen)
MID: Bont, Butters, Daicos, Gulden, Walsh, Young, Parish, Smith (Sharp, Carroll, Blamires)
RUC: English, McAndrew (Reidy?)
FWD: Sheez, Petracca, Flanders, Pou, DevRob, Lombard (Marshall, Jones)
FLEX: Grlj
$103k in the bank. Really happy with structure, not stressing too much about early byes as I think those guys will make up the pts by seasons end. Having 4 premos on RD3 bye is a concern though. (Bont/English/Gulden/Trac)
AFL Team Selection Sensationalism (Sarcasm)
2x Geelong Players set to return after “severe” arm and leg injuries (High profile money makers),
Carlton player set to return after fractured rib and severe bruising (?) (refer above)
…. Just waiting to hear of a fringe player being unavailable due to bruising of his fingernail…….
Need to save some cash. Thoughts on Brent Daniels at F4 @ 300k?
TU: Pickett F3, Flanders F4
TD: Flanders F3, Daniels F4.
Many thanks.
Put a line through Daniels. Confirmed hammy so at least 4 weeks. May open a spot on the bench for Delana who I’ve been keeping an eye on.
Also
TU: Gulden
TD: Dawson
Thanks.
you save a bit of cash with Gulden, but have an early bye to deal with.
i think Dawson can be a top 5 midfielder this year.
Still can’t decide on Dawson, tough draw first up with Pies, Dogs, Cats and Freo.
DEF- NWM Ash Rozee Blakiston Grlj Lindsay (Serong Derkson)
MID- Butters Neale Gulden Walsh Young Bruhn Sharp Smith (Brodie Carroll Blamires)
RUC- Jackson English (Reidy)
FWD- Sheezel Pickett Flanders Lalor Phillipou Roberston (Dovaston Marshall)
FLEX- Mcandrew
Def: NWM, Whitfield, Rozee, Windsor, coleman, farrow, lindsay, serong
Mid: Butters, Daicos, gulden, yound, parish, bruhn, durrsma, smith, carroll macrae brodie
For: Sheezel, trac, flanders, JUH, phillipou, dovaston, reidy, robertson
Ruck: Grundy, TDK
Flex: Sharp
Any help would be appreciated
i have $25k
JUH to T Marshall is one I’d be doing
And probably Lombard for Reidy
Hey lads, I know this isn’t a rate my team but I did a draft and have a trade sent to me, who would you rather
TU – Sicily
TD – Marshall
Just with now tdk and Marshall playing forward a bit more not sure who I’d rather
Hi all, first time asking for advice on my team in 2026 so any suggestions would be awesome –
DEF: Sinclair, Rozee, McCarthy, A. Roberts, Lindsay, Serong (Jaques, Derksen)
MID: Butters, Daicos, Dawson, Gulden, Walsh, Young, Parish, Smith (Sharp, Carroll, Blamires)
RUCK: English, McAndrew (Reidy)
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, Phillipou, Marshall, Robertson (Lombard, Macrae
FLEX: Grjl
(Rookies subject to selection)
good team.
McCarthy and Roberts are nice PODs, no early bye players and hopefully at least one of them becomes a keeper.
Handy looking Mid line you have there. I guess you can do that by going light in the Rucks. Just have a backup plan if McAndrew fails and ROB comes back in. Derksen is looking unlikely so keep $21k up your sleeve for that.
Current team, hasn’t changed alot since the start of February.
The team has been built around the early byes, only have Daicos R2, Petracca R3 and Flanders R4 as the premiums on the bye. Only one per round should set me up well early. I attacked the early bye rounds last year as well and was 77th after round 6, hoping for another good start.
DEF: Rozee, Clarke, McKercher, Grij, Farrow, Serong (Lindsay, Jaques)
Only main changes have been McKercher has replaced Mills and Clarke has replaced Whitfield, i like the idea that Ryan might not be in best 23 and Clarke will get all the kickouts. McKercher and Clarke don’t have the early bye.
MID: Butters, Daicos, Dawson, Serong, Young, Parish, Treloar, Smith (Sharp, Caroll, Jones)
I’m really big on Dawson this year, should be a top 5. Treloar is still in my team and should play round 0, i might swap him out to Windsor or Bruhn for about the same price if he doesn’t play.
RUC: Gawn, Jackson (White)
Gawn is still in the team, not sold on McAndrew holding his place but he is ok at Flex and gives me some options.
FWD: Sheezel, Petracca, Flanders, Phillipou, Marshall, Roberston (Lombard, Macrae)
Forward line picks itself.
FLX: McAndrew
itb $10,800
thanks fellas
TU: Jackson
TD: English
Who are people replacing Derksen with?
Besides Jacques, Lindsay and Serong