Tried to avoid the early bye players. The exception being Anderson. With GC early draw, he could be a smash pick. (Thanks GD!). It means the difference between a premo score and my 3rd best rookie score. So hoping his early good run wipes out that 30-40 points lost. That might end up being Flanders, Green or Whitfield, or if none of them monster up in R0, Dawson.
Have taken Rankine without conviction. Again, could be Dawson. It’s Rankine atm because he could be the one that gets away early, and allows me one less rookie on field in the forward line in favor of one more in the mids.
Nank is a bit of a pod. I think the ruck rules suit him. But he might become Gawn.
Not thrilled with the Short pick. More of a short term value play because I don’t like the value of other Defenders.
If I do choose to upgrade Short or Nank, it’s probably via dropping Milera to a rookie.
I have aimed to only have 3 R12 players and 4 R13 players. My aim is to run no rookies during the midseason byes. I don’t want to have to use 2 rookie scores in R12, but have 2 premium scores I can’t use in R16. I have 4 at the moment, but I am seeing Parker as a trade on or before his bye after an early season spike.
Have gone against the first year rookies mostly in favor of the experienced ones. Don’t like their roles mostly / Travaglia excepted. (Fell just short of cash for SPP over Berry). Ashcroft would have been the most likely, but is still in rehab apparently, so feels like a sub candidate early.
Good team. I saw The Scodfather was calling Nank is weapon this year, don’t mind it.
It’s really hard to see Rankin outscoring JHF. Especially with Drew injured, it will be Butters, Rozee, JHF in the guts at every bounce. JHF might be the one who gets away for those who don’t start him.
Howdy coaches – ready to lock in for another mediocre season finishing in a disappointing first round finals exit and an overall rank in the millions.
Current lineup with a few notes.
DEF: Sinclair, Holmes, Rivers, Mills, Coleman, B Allan [Smith, El-Hawli]
MID: Bontempelli, Green, Rozee, Day, Oliver, Jagga Smith, E Allan, Lombard [Hewett, Erasmus, Day-Wicks]
RUC: Gawn, Flynn [Boyd]
FWD: Jackson, Macrae, Smith, Sanders, Daniel, Martin [Stone, Davidson]
DEF: I love what Holmes could do this year, he’s locked for mine for now. Rivers could be McKercher or Short, but really liked Rivers end to the year (and DPP).
MID: I’ll have Bont until he retires probably. Green and Rozee a bit underpriced for mine, and I don’t love the value of any of the top $$ mids this year (aside from Bont). I get the feeling I’ll be saying”if he’s right this year” about Will Day for his whole career, but damn he’s a star if he’s right. Fading Levi Ashcroft for now, screams sub to me.
RUC: No clue this year. Open to any structure or any selection really.
FWD: Jackson is there as cover for Flynn to be swung RUC if needed. If Bevo has half the brain he thinks he does, Sanders will be locked in the Doggies midfield all year. Jack Martin is a place holder, could be SPP or a rookie. He’s the kind of player that the Cats somehow (infuriatingly) make look good.
I’ve tinkered with Rivers as well. There is midfield time there for the taking, will be a good preseason watch.
I agree with Green and Rozee. Both way underpriced and haven’t left my team.
Day is a great player, you only need to see how the Hawks started last year 1-7 without him. If it wasn’t for Rozee and Oliver at M4 & M5 I would get him. As a Hawks fan I’ll just be happy he is playing
You don’t need Jackson as your Ruck cover this year. A) it is best 22 of 23 and b) you can have a real ruckman at your flex position as the backup
Rivers CBAs only came after Petracca went down. Direct link. Only concern.
Don’t think Goodwin would have the balls to dislodge Viney.
Does he then score enough as that 4th MID? Should be double digit CBAs with Racca FWD rotations and Satan management. He’s just not a walk up for full time OB.
Explain Jackson to me, Bozza. 2nd banana to Darcy, who’s reportedly getting in his ducks in a row in Qatar. Seen him a lot but don’t get it lol.
Thanks for these thoughts guys, appreciate it (and Chameleon below).
Stupidly didn’t include that my FLEX is W Ashcroft, and have $28,000 ITB.
Jackson certainly isn’t locked in as F1, but I like his ceiling. Don’t love how inconsistent he is, but I don’t see many FWDs this year that are reliable AND have the high ceiling. I’ll believe Darcy is going to play a full season when he does it again (missed 12 games in 2024, 8 in 2023), haven’t seen many examples of heavy ruckmen going overseas for specialist training a month before the season starts and it working out. I think if you consider Darcy is going to eat into Jackson, then you’d almost have to start Darcy as massively underpriced at $529K.
I’d considered Shai Bolton as F1 before his recent setback, Dyl Moore is just a bit low ceiling for mine. Rankine and JHF are just a bit up and down, which is the same counter to Jackson, I think they’re both a bit overpriced to start. I’ve even considered no true F1 and having Macrae there with another higher mid-pricer instead of Jack Martin or SPP (would have been Phillipou before his injury, Oscar Allen anyone?). This would then allow Rivers up to a true premo, or Day up to LDU or similar.
I guess this is all to say, what happened to the days of Robbie Gray, Gaz, Pav or Fyfe as FWDs that you could set your watch to?
Trying to avoid all premo players with the double bye, however I feel Tom Green and Will Ashcroft offer value too good to ignore.
Also toying with the idea of having Parker as my flex due to the Wardlaw injury.
Very GNR!
I am not sure about 3 rookies onfield in defence. Especially since you have two quality rookies in Tsatas and Ashcroft on the bench in the mids. Feels like you could do with an extra premium in defence for one less in the mids.
You could go one step further and move L Ashcroft to flex, Allan to mid bench and put the extra cash on the head of one of your bench right rookies to a Schoenmaker, Milera or Coleman (If fit). Gets your good benched mid rookies in play and gets you down to Travaglia only onfield in defence
Hi Ben
I think too much money sitting on your bench. If Marshall misses many weeks I will be running Boyd as my flexi which frees up more cash – I am guessing Boyd will score similar to Flynn (dpp in r3). With money saved from Flynn and some expensive rookies should allow you to upgrade others and be able to get Parker if you want.
This is my first year so not analysing bye rounds at this stage
Well not long to go now, reading the reports team sim matches, lets see how they line up during the preseason matches. Had to get the Bont with the Trealor injury, and the midfield looks strong with the big fella in the line up.
Few Changes with the news of Marshall. Still cannot find a way to fit in Anderson or Day into the midfield, but will consider a couple of sideway trades early. No room for Peatling at this time, but will consider Cumming to M6 if he is roaming the HB line as distributor during the preseason matches.
TDK may be a option at R2 but its a wait and see. Naturally rookies subject to change
DEF Sinclair Clark Holmes Mills Travaglia Leake. ( Reid Smith)
MID Bont Butters Brayshaw Rozee Oliver Lalor Tsitas Hewett ( Rowston Allen O’driscoll)
RK Xerri Nank (Reid)
FWD Macrae Parker Sanders Daniel Maric Lynch (Erasmus Kako)
Flex Boyd
Yes Maric is a watch for the trial games, if he gets a share of the kick ins he will be difficult to pass on. Looking at some footage U18 very Ryan like in how he positions himself. With Wardlaw on the injury list for the first few weeks, i am thinking Parker sees more action in the midfield rotation, Plus his history of 100+ seasons is difficult to ignore. Obviously Smith is the noticeable name missing, but after his early bye he is in for Sanders or Parker. Keen on Sanders this year, and with the news of Trealor missing early only firms him as a selection. The kid is a jet, but you have Mr Magnets waving at you.
On Peatling, M5 the team looks week, so i need to see how the Crows engine room lines up. Lots of options they can call on. Such a awkward price if he fails early, prefer cummings at M6 if he plays mostly as HB, now waiting on the injury to Milera.
Even with degradation based on age he’s an 85-105 player without sub vests and that makes him there abouts a top 6-10 forward. Our top 6 was only 90 points. Parker can potentially make that, for sure.
Adelaide has a lot of mid rotation choices. Barring injury there’s a lot of players in there.
That’s a lot of potential fingers in the pie to take points.
Parker WILL be in the Roos midfield rotation and is still a dangerous goal kicker if he’s on the flank. He’s not a certainty to make big scores, but he’s way better than his price point.
2023 he was a 96.9 point player, and 2022 he was a 103.9 player.
Regardless what Horse did to him last year he hasn’t lost it.
A player in decline to be sure, but priced at 26 points under his value you have to consider him, the same way we are looking at Caleb Daniel. CValeb Daniel just has a slightly bigger discount (43 points).
No B Smith is a surprise! He seems to be a lock in many teams.
Like most, R12 is a concern. 7 potential keepers out.
Boyd as flex is interesting. For me it’s a strong debate between points on field and cash generation. What pushes me back to the idea of Boyd in R3 is best 18 in R 2-4. For R2 and 4 you have 15 premo + MP. Meaning you only need 3 rookie scores.So I feel like you might only gain around 60-100 points from R1-5, but miss the cash generation of the extra rookie.
Good luck for your season
Early bye, so i have decided to roll the dice and wait to bring him in, with the hope of sneaking a few extra points. But definitely move into the team RD4. Rozee will be the same early sideways move to a RD15/16 assets before the byes. Expect a 5Ok price rise but don’t expect him to be a top 10 mid. Merritt, Neale Green on the radar. Really keen on Day also after his early bye, wait and see.
Daniel at M6 could also be a option, not many Rookies look likely for the M6-M8 positions.
– Backs are the weakest line. I had Coleman but I read he might not make round 1. Could come back in if he does to strengthen the line. Travaglia could replace Goater
– Mids, I’ve dropped Naicos now for Zerrett. With averages of 115, 116, 112,115 and 116 in the last 5 years you know what you’re getting. Pleased with pre season reports for underpriced Day, Oliver and Ashcroft. Peatling seems worth a shot if his inside mid role is correct. Sanders is only newly in but not locked in yet, he’s a gun but wary of the Bevo factor. Possible downgrade to enable Coleman back into def
– Ruck/flex, going with Boyd flex for now to free up cash elsewhere. Most people seem to be using Sims as the loophole but I’m interested in both Barnett (earmarked def, could be Def/Ruc later on) and Steene (he’s 21 years old, might play?)
– Fwds, I did a Smith v Parker test. Parker has better history (except 2024), is a better player for mine, is not coming off an ACL, is cheaper, and Wardlaw is out meaning more early mid time. Parker in. With Ugle-Hagan and English doubts, S. Darcy becomes very prominent and could get DPP early. If he does, might become Flex longer term
Still have a long watchlist so suspect this will change but comments welcome
Thanks GD. I’m happy with Zerrett as I actually want some consistency in between some riskier picks. He obviously won’t be M1 all season but I get your point. I’ve noted your comments on Anderson in other threads and he’s on my watchlist. He can definitely pump out a 150 but it’s the poorer scores in between that he needs to rectify. Maybe it’s 2025 for him.
Whats everyone’s thoughts on Naicos? As a big pies man I vowed to never watch another game again without owning him but the plantar fasciitis issue has to be of some concern. With the early bye we could just wait and see on him but he could be really difficult to get in during the early rounds if he flies out the box. Tempting to just pick him and accept he may not be at full fitness as it feels like if we dont start him itll be a few months before we can upgrade him in. What we reckon?
The AFL website today had a fixture analysis which showed the Pies had it super hard early and much better after R6. Now you could argue that Naicos can score well against any opposition, but you could also see it as another reason to wait until after his bye.
Yep tricky, he was my first picked early but I’ve been spooked by the injury and he’s out for now. But considering how good he is, he might just shrug it off and dominate. I vaguely remember Bont having a limited pre season recently and it made no difference, he just crushed it from the start. Tough choice!
I’ve been going by the “no limited pre-season, no injuries, no niggles” dictum this year.
Didn’t like his fixture initially but the PF put a line through him for me. Daicos probably among the few I’d back to overcome it, just on fitness and profile.
For now, I still don’t have him. Fixture, bye and PF.
What’s REALLY gonna test me is the word on Flanders now fml.
Per CT: Gold Coast: Sam Flanders has been dealing with a back complaint, which has limited his training.
Flanders was my first picked – fixture, role, profile. Was and am so hot on him. 120 last year and was incredible in every position.
That news going to REALLY test my attempt at pre-season discipline.
Here is my first attempt:
DEFENCE
SINCLAIR CLARK SICILY SHORT MILERA TRAVAGLIA ( Whitlock Reid)
MID
BUTTERS SERONG RICHARDS NEWCOMBE PEATLING LALOR SMITH DRAPER (Hewett Hawli Erasmus)
RUCK
GAWN XERRI (Boyd)
FORWARDS
MACRAE SMITH PARKER DANIEL POWELL-PEPPER KAKO (Spargo Sims)
FLEX – Ashcroft
I think Ridley is injured. Can I suggest moving Sinclair back to defence and finding another midfielder.
Swapping Kako and BSmith means you could put E Allan onfield instead of Kako.
The Saad pick is unique. As is the Dylan Moore pick (although I suspect a lot of us will end up with him, but just not start him.
Changed my team. But was thinking the flexi could be a cash cow. My get in my new team looks light on def but threw most of cash in midfield. Tell me what u guys think
Darcy F1 is unique but hey go for it. I like Rowell early, he flies out of the blocks and GC will improve no doubt. Early draw good too. Love the Cripps pick, friggin champion. He’s on my radar.
Tom Lynch will probably break down but cheap. Will he see the ball?
GD, are we going to get some articles on specific positions/strategy/price ranges etc.? Feels like there’s so much to consider this year so the more content the better!
I’ve gone with a captains, value keeper’s, some common midpricers and 2nd & 3rd year rookies where possible approach. There may be another version (or 2!) before the season starts but I have stopped fiddling and settled on this for now.
Sheezel, Sinclair, Holmes, Mills, Travaglia, Hardeman / K Smith, Leake
Bontempelli, Butters, Richards, Day, Oliver, E Allan, Tsatas, Sheldrick / Knevitt, B Allan, Erasmus
Gawn, De Koning / A Reid
Rankine, Macrae, B Smith, Daniel, Curtin, Hewett / Simpson, Stone
a few changes from the first team. I’m not confident Coleman is going to be fit for round 1 (likely Brisbane will keep him on ice until after their round 3 bye). Wanganeen-Milera has replaced Coleman (saw some footage of a simuation game and Saints rule number 1 is get ball in his hands). If things change and Coleman is playing round 1, and he will be a must have and Stewart will probably make way for Coleman.
Not confident that TDK will be solo ruck, talk that Pito will be playing as a ‘forward’, i’ve upgraded TDK to Xerri, paying the big bucks. i tinkered with Boyd, but it is looking very unlikely he will play round 1 with Ross saying RoMo is a definate to play round 1. Xerri is expensive and in 54% of teams, would be a tough anti-pod.
To find the cash, Daicos has become Peatling (Daicos slight injury and early bye). Crows training notes say Peatling is pure mid and ‘tearing it up’. I have thought about Cumming for a few dollars cheaper, but with news that Laird will be playing in defense and Cumming on the wing can’t see him scoring enough. Ashcroft and Will Day haven’t been considered due to their early bye and will still be cheap if they start like must haves.
I’ve stuck with Bont, Green and Rozee as my premium midfielders, Bont because he is good at football, and Green and Rozee are way underpriced because of their injury affected games last year. I’ll be watching Butters, Daicos and Serong games from behind the couch in the early rounds until i can get them in.
Parker has been in and out of my team and there is a world where Stewart becomes Coleman and a rookie becomes Parker. Sanders and Kennedy also interest me, but how many midpricers can a forward line have.
Sweet is still there unless there is any news he will be ruck sharing. Having Gawn, Xerri and Sweet as my R1, R2 and Flex gives me ruck back-up plus the option of an easy sideways to an must have.
Current team:
DEF: Wanganeen-Milera, Sicily, Stewart, Mills, Travaglia, Allen (Smith, Leake)
I’m looking for value this year. previous years i’ve started players who have lost truck loads of cash and my team value was only got to around $13.7m last year (probably $1m short of the top teams)
Hi Derek, I like your Flex setup. I looked at Sweet being my flex but ultimately went Flynn (I am a little worried about the sticky tape holding him together but I saved $200k). I agree with you on NWM in defence. Think we will have a good year (think you are mad if you haven’t got Sinclair or NWM). Going old school Sicily and Stewart looks weirdly odd this year but good players don’t lose their ability over the off season. LAshcroft and Smille a few question marks over but they will be easily replaced if needed closer to Round 1.
Sicily and Stewart both have a early bye, so i’m not 100% sold especially Stewart who shares a bye with Mills and Smith, but there isn’t anyone else around that same value i like Maybe Holmes. Sicily shouldn’t play forward, if he does he is out.
The expensive rookies are there as placeholders for now.
I’m not 100% on Sweet, but he can be an easy sideways to Ashcroft or Day after their bye using the flex
Good looking team Derek, midfield looks thin to me but a lot of teams seem to be going that way this year.
I like the Sweet pick, I think he can av110 if he gets a good run at it.
Best of luck for the year.
Hi Derek
I see you have dropped Maric from your team. You had me interested and now you have moved on!
R12 is your (and maybe many coaches) problem round.
Your NWM selection certainly has me thinking. I had preferred Sinclair and Clark, but I might have another look
the ‘expensive rookies’ are just place holders, i prefer not to have too many of them if the cheapies are going to play. This included lynch and maric, they will be sorted out closer to the round 1 teams.
I belive it was Brad Hill in an interview earlier in preseason, where he let slip the saints tactics will be to get the ball in NWM hands all costs. if he isn’t taking the kickouts he will be first receiver. i saw some footage yesterday of practice game and boy oh boy he was beautiful to watch. His only downside is he doesn’t have a massive ceiling. He had 11 scores last year between 101 and 120 with just the one score of 134. Even 2023 he had 7 scores between 105 and 120 and none over 120. I’m hoping there is another 10pts to be added this year through natural improvement,
Peatling is on my radar too, but he strikes me a bit like a mid-pricer who gets stuck in no-man’s land, scoring enough to generate SOME cash, but not enough to bump to a true keeper/premo as soon as we’d want with his starting price. I think if Crouch isn’t looking like having a big role (please Nicks don’t do this again), Peatling will come in to a lot of teams. At best, Peatling is sitting behind Dawson, Crouch, Rankine, and maybe alongside Soligo, Rachelle, Keays, Laird, Draper (?). I have to say, I don’t really have a suggestion for a sideways change from his price point, but I love Sanders as a MID/FWD…
Here is the Feb Team. I am jotting it down here so I can look back on it and remember who I had in it for $0 dollars!
Flanders back issues and RoMo availability Round 1 have spooked me into a total restructure. I’m not happy running 3 rookies on field in defense so I’d really like Coleman to get up for Round 1 (I can’t find a premo in defence under $450k that I like).
As with the earlier thumbs question, Cumming + Coleman could become WAshcroft + Bice/Trainor/113k rook yet. Flynn also in that conversation at $260ishk could be easy changed on Round 1 Teams (its always a mad scramble Round 1 so would be nice to have some pre-conceived plans).
Other notes: keeping an eye on SDK ruck duties but I can’t see him going through the whole season in Ruck (but maybe I only need him to be there for 6 or 7 Rounds?). There is also the early bye. NWM is another on the watch list that could easily come in for Sinclair depending on preseason games. Special mentions to Sheldrick who I couldn’t fit in but pretty much jam packed all that I wanted in that midprice range.
Good/Expensive rookies will probably force their way into the side but at the moment lets keep them all out and replace later if I can justify.
Fwd: Horne-Francis, Macrae, B.Smith, Sanders, Daniel, Stone (Erasmus, Davidson)
Flex M.Flynn
itb: $0 (yep thats right exactly $0), I’m not a fan of leaving anything much over usually anyway. Its a nice feeling getting it to zero. Doubt it will stay like that Round 1!
$0 was short lived! SDK and Jagga Smith in for Coleman and Cumming. (Given in to the rumours about SDK training in Ruck)
Combinations of SDK, Coleman, Cumming, Jagga, WAshcroft in the mix.
R12 is the worry. Have 11 rounds to sort that out.
Stoked about 2025, seems like eternity since end of last season. Here’s my Feb team which no doubt will change. The flex addition is brilliant!
Happy with defenders atm. McKercher is my pick to really impress.
I’ve gone with the Bont and Serong to finish 1 & 2. Oliver to resume his brilliance and Green is undervalued. The others are a watch. L.Ashcroft is arrogant (I know his ex girlfriend) and has the ability to back it up.
Gawn will smash it this year and Sweet is a money maker imo.
JHF hopefully has settled down, can go big. The other fwds should make some coin while producing some decent scores.
Flex atm is Sanders, hoping for mid time with Treleor out.
Nice team. I had Boyd as flex until Ross the Boss came out and said Marshall is a definite so I’ve reverted to Sanders like you. Sweet is very tempting as a lone ruckman- I’ve gone for TDK as his ceiling is higher but it’s so dependent on whether Pittonet plays or not which is a worry.
Maric is a watch, WCE supports don’t seem to think he’ll be on kick-ins regular season but if he is he’s a must. I hope Stone gets a game too
I love this pre season madness.. I’ve swapped a few around already.
Serong out Day in. Serong can wait, Hoping Day stays on the park, seems fragile but at his price hard to ignore.
Smith out Parker in. The early byes really suck. Can always bring him after the bye. Parker is getting older but the new environment should spark him, good value.
TDK was my early pick but yeah Pittonet!! If the D’s want ultimate success this season Max has got to be the main man.
I like your team too. No Bont is risky with no Treleor. Obvious captain pick most weeks..
Ok you and GD have successfully scared me and I’ve found a way to get Bont in for Zerrett. I’d love both however! You’re right, Bont is just such an easy captain option and barring injury it seems unlikely he’s going to drop too much in price.
I’m confident on Day barring injury. He averaged 114 during rounds 10-20 then dropped off because of injury, hence why he’s cheap.
If Sinn gets that HB spot he’s brilliant value but it seems there’s a lot of competition at Port for the spot. Classic high risk/high reward if it comes off.
Very strong midfield, I prefer going for JHF when he’s cheap for a strong fwd line and getting a Bont later but hard to knock picking, setting and forgetting Bont too!
On the “RoMo will play round 1” announcement here’s the amendments. For now.
B: Sinclair, NWM, Stewart, Short, Mills, Z Reid (K Smith, Leake)
M: Bont, Butters, Serong, Oliver, J Smith, E Tsatas, Travaglia, Kako (B Allen, El Hawli, Erasmus)
R: Xerri, Flynn (Boyd)
F: JHF, Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Berry, E Hewett (M Hall, Davidson)
Flex: Rankine
$82k left which I’m not happy with, but I expect one of the rookies to change up to a premium rookie like Draper or Ashcroft and move Kako to the bench. Possibly M Hall for Lynch and move Lynch to flex position and Rankine on field.
Major redesigns expected based on Flynn or RoMo’s availability, but this will do for now. Structurally it’s not likely to change much bar a big shift in the ruck dynamics.
Yeah rucks seem to be the toughest at the moment. Xerri is a R1 lock for mine but then it gets tougher. I have TDK R2 but concerned re the Pittonet factor. Sweet seems ok but will he pump out big scores? How much ruck time will Boyd get, or will he even play? Will Melbourne wind back Gawn’s ruck time? Can Flynn get the number 1 spot?
And is there any value in rookies Sims, Steene or Barnett. I feel like my rucks will change at Round 1 selection. I’d be happy to go Flynn R2 but seems high risk at present
He has to be considered, seems to be clearly number one ruck now and similar price to TDK. Also a little surprised no love for Witts. Averages of 108, 106 and 110 the past 3 years.
If Flynn is number one ruck for WCE then I feel like that’s too hard to ignore but we won’t know for a while yet
I had Barnett at R3 earlier on while Boyd was Flex but there’s no way you can not have Boyd at some spot in your lineup, with the RoMo injury issues. Just too much promise for the coin. He’s a beast waiting to be unleashed.
Word on Barnett has been good but not as a big scoring machine. He’s likely best 22 in another, lower scoring role based on WC injuries. Looks an R3 option for a slow cash trickle. In a normal pre-flex season he’d be a good choice but I think the flex works against him.
Boyd, if it happens can blow it out of the water. Finnbar Maley at least gives you a solid handcuff to most people’s #1 Ruck in Xerri if for 20k more than Boyd. That’s where my R3 thinking lies.
I think Flynn is not TOO much risk at R2, but every rookie priced player is a risk if you don’t have a plan B. So I’ll wait for Round 1. I think he’s clearly the correct choice for WCE but that’s THEIR decision and not mine so they may surprise me.
If not, I have a real hard choice between Sinclair who is priced at exactly what he’ll deliver and Stewart who has growth potential based on prior history but I really dunno if he can match those highs again. Both the game and Geelong’s plans have moved on. SDK with the potential to go Geelong R1 might be a better Geelong Defender to choose for a far cheaper price.
Time will reveal all.
Having NWM and Sinclair in the same lineup worries me, for bye reasons.
Sheezel and Flanders will at least stagnate if not go backwards. The losses are not big enough to not pick them, because both are top 10 defenders and saving a trade is worth money too, but I already have too many cheap North options and Flanders gets an early bye. That’s enough to call it on both of them.
1) Gig isn’t his as of rn. Him and BJ neck and neck, chopping up the #1 role between A and B in training.
2) Poor ruck economy. Batting to no midfield. Sheed, Reid and Yeo injured. Will be one of the lowest H2As rucks and through very little fault of his own. Literally who is there lmao.
3) Poor ATG economy. Our ball movement and F50 structure is and will continue to be appalling. None of these marks down the line, intercepts or cheeky goals you see Maxxy, D. Cam, etc., slapping on.
4) Then just relying on bulk HOs and stoppage CPs. I’ve got him at 70-80.
5) IF he gets the #1 ruck role it won’t be permanent or even exclusive. BJ either plays FWD and chops or gets back into the side. He’s been our hardest worker the last 2 years. No attributes but my god he gives it everything. Would be harsh as to can him.
Hi HH, reckon Lynch Flex and Rankine on field would be the way to go. Would give you super strong Fwds. Strong Def and serviceable Mids.
If Flynn keeps up with the TDK, Meek, Sweet types then you would be on a winner. The other option of course is to pump some of that $82k+ into R2 which there is nothing at $360-370k and the only really two options up would be $409k Draper or $478k Sweet which would prob mean a restructure which I can understand you not wanting to do.
Thanks Phil good to be back. Time to start ramping up the Supercoach now it’s February. And I appreciate the feedback. Honestly I didn’t even look at my bye structure but gee your right that’s going to kill my side. Probably time to re assess a few options here. Cheers mate
Thanks for the comment GD,
I’m quiet bullish on English. I think that abdominal was very minor wasn’t it? Few doggies boys reckon he’s back at it and flying… last year he had a horrible pre season he hardly had any contact training and come in underdone and still got a 108. I think he can bounce back to 115 mate. Tingles really feels right to me.
R2 is anyone’s guess anyway. Gawn overpriced for mine Feel there’s some regression coming. Meek & Cameron viable but could be underwhelming. TDK will be sharing with pittonet on and off all season. Marshall interrupted pre season with injury. Shrek ankle surgery. Nank and just aren’t sexy picks not doing alot for me at their prices. Grundy i think is a shout nice ruck fixture & second year at Sydney now can only help but that R3 bye is a turn off.
I’d like to get Mills to D4 not 3 but the only way to do that is put Oliver back to M4.
Lots of teams seem to be running a thin midfield so maybe that’s fine.
Still not sure how I want to use the flex.
My first instinct was to use a key forward so that you could get their decent scores but not their crap ones but I can’t deny it’s tempting to throw another ruck in there.
Shame that Hawkins has retired, he’d have been perfect.
Rd12 looks crap but I think it might be for a lot of teams.
Holmes, Smith and Mills missing Rd3 isn’t ideal.
Green, Rozee, W.Ashcroft, NWM, Sweet and Sanders are all making eyes at me.
Feels like a long pre-season already!
Thanks for the reply GD.
I’m Definetly not sold on Flynn at R2 either my option could be to go Jordan Clark down to shoenmaker and then get nank or TDK or almost anyone else at R2. This does mean 3 saints in defence (sincs, travaglia, shoenmaker) they have the round 13 bye but who says they will last 13 weeks in the team
Looking through these teams looks like everyones forward and back lines are very close to the same, might be time to see if there is a POD or two during the pre season games just for the fun of it.
It’s so good to be back. Here’s my draft team that will probably be torn apart a bunch. The midfield feels way too shallow but I like the rookies in that line much more than everywhere else. This is also my attempt at jamming in some extra mid pricers. Steele will probably be a different mid around $600k but I’m a saints fan and for now, I like seeing the extra logo.
Def. L Whitfield. J Sinclair. C mckercher. C mills. A schoenmaker. B Allen. Bench z Reid. J busslinger.
Mids z butters. P cripps. A Bradshaw. M Rowell. W Ashcroft. S draper. T travaglia. A sheldrick. Bench h Langford. S el-hawli. N Erasmus.
Trucks. T xerri. L meek. H body.
Fwds. S Darcy. J macrae. B smith. C Daniel. T lynch. I kako. Bench e hewett. B Davidson.
Flex I smith. So what u guys reckon I picked a team t that can score big and make money
Just wanting to hear some thoughts on Finn Callaghan, havent heard much about talk about him but think he seems primed to breakout this year, liked his backend to last year. Possibly the awkward price (441) and the fact oliver and ashcroft around the same price putting people off?
Of course rookies are not set in stone
Jackson is looking attractive as the Flex now that Darcy is confirmed > miss the start of the season.
I think Thilthorpe will be immense this season especially with Walker and The Fog also playing in the forward line.
In my opinion a premo ruck is the way to go for the flex position (did I just contradict myself saying earlier Jackson looking good for flex position?). Gives you ruck coverage for a 1 week injury or suspension and can mix them round based on their byes.
I believe that Houston will serve the last week of his suspension in round 0 and then be available for round 1 when supercoach starts.
Yes Thilthorpe is a bit of a POD but check out today’s notes on Adelaide’ internal match Sim.
He has always been in my team.
A lot of people are not starting Neale due to his double bye, the first one is round 3.
He’s an upgrade target, immediately after his bye if he will increase in price or, not for a few weeks if he’s going to drop 50k due to reduced minutes so washcroft can get more.
Ryan was called lazy and not team oriented by his coach last year and he’s getting old, maybe Clark or somebody else is liked more by the coach, preseason will tell.
Sheezel will play more time forward (according to the coach) and he’ll be sharing that part of the ground with some actual footballers this year so he might drop a few dollars. He certainly wont increase in price
Looks good Dazz, Personally, would have Boyd at R3 and replace Pike with someone who will play. Also I’d be nervous anti-podding Sheezel. Other than that, looks good!
Thanx for the advice TJ
I’ve moved Boyd to R 3
I’ve got Matt Whitlock as my Flexi
And Whitfield is out for Sheezel. But to bring in Sheezel I had to trade out Parker for Curtin
So it has been a few years since I have played and this is my first genuine attempt at a team for the year so any feedback would be much appreciated. A couple of notes I am aware that I currently have 6 x Round 3 byes and the rookies are place holders for the moment.
Def: H. Sheezel, D. Houston, H. Perryman, C. Mills, T. Travaglia, S. El-Hawley (Z. Reid, B. Jepson)
Mid: M. Bontempelli, Z. Butters, N. Daicos, A. Bradshaw, C. Oliver, J Smith, X. Lindsay, B. Allan (C. Hall, H. Rowston, M. Hall)
Ruc: T. Xerri, D. Cameron (H.Boyd)
Fwd: J. Horne-Francis, M. Kennedy, J. Macrae, C. Daniel, J. Berry, E. Hewett (N. Erasmus, S. Davidson)
Flex: S. Lalor
Cash Leftover $15,800
According to the track watchers that then share the goings on at training he’s been in full training and done all the match sim etc. He might have missed a session here or there, but they all do as part of individual programs. He was definitely playing the full match sim on Friday. And I can confirm he has been training entirely with the mids suggesting a more permanent midfield role.
The main injury concerns ATM are De Goey (bone bruising), Mitchell (stress fracture), Demetria (not sure possible concussion)and Harrison (ACL). There have that seem to be going between rehab and full training during sessions, but those are the main ones. And of course both Daicos brothers have had injury concerns over the preseason but have been in full training for a couple of weeks now.
Probably not at this point of the pre season. But not for the reasons you think. As an avid Collingwood fan I’ve been following the track reports closely, so I know he’s been training entirely as a midfielder and in the Team A v Team B match sim on Friday he was attending the Centre Bounce for Team A, so it could represent value at his $414k price tag.
It’s doubtful I would have picked up that intel at this stage of the preseason if he was still with the Giants. The positional change is why I’ve picked him, but his club switch is why I’m across that information if that makes sense.
Had a few teams know not sure who to go with
This team has contested beasts in it.
Def. H shezzal. L Ryan. C mckercher. C mills. A schoenmaker T travaglia. Bench z Reid. J busslinger.
Mids. Z butters. L neele. P cripps. M Rowell. I cumming. S lalor. S draper. H Langford. Bench B Allen. S el-hawli. N Erasmus.
Ruck. T xerri. L meek. Bench h boys.
Fwds. S Darcy. J macrae. B smith. C Daniel. S Powell pepper. I kako. Bench e hewett. A Johnson.
Flex I. I smith. So what u guys think of this team lots of points and contested beats players
Been a while since my last team. I was pretty content with where my team was at, but as the days count down, the resist to tinker with structure and certain picks got the better of me.
Feel like I’ve escaped the cookie cutter team I thought I was in when I posted in previous threads.
I love the deep midfield. Although I hate I’m potentially missing so many of the good rookies in there but the premiums look like they could be serious options. I really really like Anderson to come out firing with those nice fixtures. Come Round 6, Laird and Hollands can be moved into Defence, with the hope that upgrade season will be in full effect.
Potential concerns around Round 12 bye. I’m not considering Sanders & Hollands keepers at this point, but if they do by that stage, then I’ll consider them successful picks and cop the loss during that bye.
There looks to be an abundance of defender rookies, that can cover those 6 rounds and hopefully make the cash we want. Same could be said about the forward line. I feel it looks slim, but fading JHF & Smith, I feel I won’t be priced out of them and can pick them up post bye.
I also don’t feel locked into a certain structure with this lineup. Dropping players like Hollands and Maric or making a Clark to Holmes trade can free cash for another premium option, or even fund a player in another position ie: if SDK comes out as starting Ruck, I have some flexibility to get him in.
Thanks for reading, as always, It’s great getting my thoughts out into words.
Agree. When Laird gets DPP he’ll be an excellent def option to bring in but there’s too many good mids to choose from right now to have him take a spot. Dawson is cheaper and will play mid as an example
Maric is such as interesting one. Even if selected Round 1, will we know if he’s on kick outs? A bargain if he is
Laird is interesting. It all depends on how much of the kick ins he gets. The Kick in data on DFS only goes as far back as 2021, which is when he moved into the midfield, so we don’t have the data on how many he had when he was already on the back flank. He is definitely a watch through pre-season, and I’d expect if the he looks the goods and the kick ins are there he’d be in a lot more sides than 1%. But I have the cash to get him up to a Uber which is ideal and the flexibility to go down to a 450k if needed. Bye is favorable too.
Just want to see what Dawson is doing first, as he was on a wing before. I don’t want to get stuck with him being Mr Fix It, like last season. But he could be the option I move Laird too if the role is concrete.
Maric is also interesting, training at halfback as an intercepter which is a scoring role. Ball will be in that backline, so can expect him to make cash. But as mentioned at the bottom of my first post, I feel I have a lot of flexibility there. He could go to Hutchinson, who is getting some wing and midfield minutes during preseason or to Sinn who I’ve had before.
It’s just confirming roles through preseason, but the again, the flexibility is there I feel in this team.
I put SDK late last year which was an initial win. Then they put him back in defence and got injured and I ran out of trades so was stuck with him!
He still has plenty of competition for number 1 ruck so not sure he can be trusted to ruck week in week out. If he did, yes would be a great selection as his scoring was excellent
The Traders interviewed Laird during the week and he even said that he will be playing fairly high up the field and was unlikely to be sprinting back to goals to take the kickins. I think he even said Keane would be the main guy. (The Traders kept pushing him for an answer)
Yeah won’t know until Round1 about the Def rooks but if I had a crystal ball then: Trav at Saints doesn’t start, either does Patton or Bice (Syd always does this!).El-Hawli prob starts as sub but Zac Reid might be a starter (but look what happened last year with him). Bo Allan is prob the only walk up start. Busslinger/Gunslinger a big maybe and not confident. KSmith Rich??, Peake GWS??,so the list starts to narrow, any of them likely to be dropped and if you need 3 on field, then not ideal.
Sic, not settled…see what his role is pre-season. Will be hiding behind the cabbage patch every time Gawn and Xerri play.
Only four genuine rookies on field which allows a lot of depth and 16 possible keepers at a pinch. Jackson looking to go fwd and be replaced by either Gawn or Xerri at some point.
Bauer played three great games to finish 2024, and I’m looking at him as a semi safe rookie. One of the other rookies could become El Hawaii
my son said he read an update on Saturday 8th Feb that RoMo will be out 6-8 weeks, was at the end of an article about Max King, Sinclair and Mason Wood injury updates. I can’t find anything, has anyone else read/heard this to confirm?
DEF: Sheezel, Whitfield, Mills, B. Allan, Z. Reid, Leake (Travaglia, El-Hawli)
MID: Butters, N. Daicos, A. Brayshaw, Oliver, W. Ashcroft, Peatling, O’Driscoll, J. Smith (Langford, L. Ashcroft, E. Hewett)
RUC: Xerri, T. De Koning (A. Reid or Boyd)
FWD: Horne-Francis, J. Macrae, B. Smith, C. Daniel, Maric, Lynch (Erasmus, Davidson)
FLEX: L. Reidy
$68,500 Surplus
Like to get some opinions on something I’m pondering.
I can start with Xerri in the ruck and only 4K ITB or drop him down to Jackson and start the season with 141K ITB.
Not something I would normally consider but it gives me a lot of cash to sideways/upgrade any of Mills (M3), Oliver (M5), Ashcroft (M6), Macrae (F2), B.Smith (F3) or Sanders (F4) should any of them not be working out after a few rounds.
Getting off to a good start is just so crucial so having bank for corrections is tempting, and the amount of mid-pricers I’m running at the moment concerns me, I would normally be more G’n’R.
Of course if they all come off I’ve then got bank to start on rookie upgrades early.
If I start Jackson I’d aim to swing him fwd at some point.
Thoughts?
Personally think it’s bit of a risk with Xerri a certain 1st ruck and Jackson probably just filling in until Darcy comes back and talk about Liam Ready impressing, but have to admit I have Jackson as my flex as he can score big
Yep the number of midpricers is concerning and this seems to happen every year. We get excited about them but often don’t work out.
However, this year there seems to be a lot more fallen premos so you can pick with more confidence. Mills, Oliver, Parker, Daniel and Macrae have all been guns so hard to ignore.
I’m wavering on the others though I must admit.
B Smith- Geelong love ‘managing’ players and he’s back from an ACL. I think he’ll get less TOG than we want
Sanders- Looks primed but we all know who his coach is
Schoenmaker- Seems he’ll clearly make money but he almost needs to be a keeper at his price and not sure he is. There might be enough def value rookies
Peatling- How much mid time does he get? So many names being thrown into Crows midfield at the moment
Maric seems a punt as he’s almost rookie priced and looks like he’ll play half back. If T Lynch gets back to anywhere near his best he should make 200k+ at his price.
Just changed my ruckz let me know what u think. I went gawn and witts instead of xeri. And meek. What do u think I guess I like a different pod to other teams
My new team is. Still trying decided.
Def.
Ryan, j siclly. C mills. A schoenmaker. T travaglia. C mckercher. Bench Reid. Busslinger.
Mids
W Ashcroft. L neele. P cripps. M Rowell. A Bradshaw. S lalor. J smith. S draper. Bench b Allan. S el-hawli. N Erasmus.
Rucks,
M gawn. J witts. Bench h boyd.
Fwds.
S Darcy j macrae. B smith. C Daniel, I kako. J berry. Bench e hewett. S Davidson.
Flex I.
H Langford.
Every bye rd I have 23 players it’s a bit different from other teams might work might not
Sanders is the sleeper pick this year, i havent seen him much but with the injuries coming in thick and fast for the dogs, surely he cant be bevod 2 years in a row and he will get midfield minutes
A very quiet Sunday morning GoD.
Hopefully we’ve all been told what to do with our Flexies now!!!
Ok, then I will kick it off
Def. Sinclair, Clark, Short, Mills, Milera, Travaglia (Leake, Reid)
Mid: Bont, Brayshaw, Anderson, Oliver, Peatling, O’Driscoll, Tsatas, Sheldrick (B Allan, Hewett, Erasmus)
Ruck; Nank TDK (Boyd)
Fwd: Rankine, Macrae, Smith, Parker, Daniel, Lynch (Curtin, Berry)
Flex Knevitt
ITB: 7.8k
Tried to avoid the early bye players. The exception being Anderson. With GC early draw, he could be a smash pick. (Thanks GD!). It means the difference between a premo score and my 3rd best rookie score. So hoping his early good run wipes out that 30-40 points lost. That might end up being Flanders, Green or Whitfield, or if none of them monster up in R0, Dawson.
Have taken Rankine without conviction. Again, could be Dawson. It’s Rankine atm because he could be the one that gets away early, and allows me one less rookie on field in the forward line in favor of one more in the mids.
Nank is a bit of a pod. I think the ruck rules suit him. But he might become Gawn.
Not thrilled with the Short pick. More of a short term value play because I don’t like the value of other Defenders.
If I do choose to upgrade Short or Nank, it’s probably via dropping Milera to a rookie.
I have aimed to only have 3 R12 players and 4 R13 players. My aim is to run no rookies during the midseason byes. I don’t want to have to use 2 rookie scores in R12, but have 2 premium scores I can’t use in R16. I have 4 at the moment, but I am seeing Parker as a trade on or before his bye after an early season spike.
Have gone against the first year rookies mostly in favor of the experienced ones. Don’t like their roles mostly / Travaglia excepted. (Fell just short of cash for SPP over Berry). Ashcroft would have been the most likely, but is still in rehab apparently, so feels like a sub candidate early.
Good luck to everyone for the season ahead.
Good team. I saw The Scodfather was calling Nank is weapon this year, don’t mind it.
It’s really hard to see Rankin outscoring JHF. Especially with Drew injured, it will be Butters, Rozee, JHF in the guts at every bounce. JHF might be the one who gets away for those who don’t start him.
Nice, Phil.
I considered Nank.
Has an okay ruck fixture. If RoMo’s timeline gets pushed back past their R3 match up, I’d be heavily swayed.
I’d prefer him to be a little cheaper though.
Those Crows boys all make sense but Adelaide just been so…mid. Good roles on paper. I don’t know why I haven’t been hotter on them.
I really like your point of difference in a few of those picks Phil, although I’d be extremely nervous anti-podding Sheezel and Xerri.
Really like Anderson too! One I have my eyes on, Not in my side at the moment, but one I really want to squeeze in.
Howdy coaches – ready to lock in for another mediocre season finishing in a disappointing first round finals exit and an overall rank in the millions.
Current lineup with a few notes.
DEF: Sinclair, Holmes, Rivers, Mills, Coleman, B Allan [Smith, El-Hawli]
MID: Bontempelli, Green, Rozee, Day, Oliver, Jagga Smith, E Allan, Lombard [Hewett, Erasmus, Day-Wicks]
RUC: Gawn, Flynn [Boyd]
FWD: Jackson, Macrae, Smith, Sanders, Daniel, Martin [Stone, Davidson]
DEF: I love what Holmes could do this year, he’s locked for mine for now. Rivers could be McKercher or Short, but really liked Rivers end to the year (and DPP).
MID: I’ll have Bont until he retires probably. Green and Rozee a bit underpriced for mine, and I don’t love the value of any of the top $$ mids this year (aside from Bont). I get the feeling I’ll be saying”if he’s right this year” about Will Day for his whole career, but damn he’s a star if he’s right. Fading Levi Ashcroft for now, screams sub to me.
RUC: No clue this year. Open to any structure or any selection really.
FWD: Jackson is there as cover for Flynn to be swung RUC if needed. If Bevo has half the brain he thinks he does, Sanders will be locked in the Doggies midfield all year. Jack Martin is a place holder, could be SPP or a rookie. He’s the kind of player that the Cats somehow (infuriatingly) make look good.
I like the team a lot
I’ve tinkered with Rivers as well. There is midfield time there for the taking, will be a good preseason watch.
I agree with Green and Rozee. Both way underpriced and haven’t left my team.
Day is a great player, you only need to see how the Hawks started last year 1-7 without him. If it wasn’t for Rozee and Oliver at M4 & M5 I would get him. As a Hawks fan I’ll just be happy he is playing
You don’t need Jackson as your Ruck cover this year. A) it is best 22 of 23 and b) you can have a real ruckman at your flex position as the backup
Rivers CBAs only came after Petracca went down. Direct link. Only concern.
Don’t think Goodwin would have the balls to dislodge Viney.
Does he then score enough as that 4th MID? Should be double digit CBAs with Racca FWD rotations and Satan management. He’s just not a walk up for full time OB.
Explain Jackson to me, Bozza. 2nd banana to Darcy, who’s reportedly getting in his ducks in a row in Qatar. Seen him a lot but don’t get it lol.
Thanks for these thoughts guys, appreciate it (and Chameleon below).
Stupidly didn’t include that my FLEX is W Ashcroft, and have $28,000 ITB.
Jackson certainly isn’t locked in as F1, but I like his ceiling. Don’t love how inconsistent he is, but I don’t see many FWDs this year that are reliable AND have the high ceiling. I’ll believe Darcy is going to play a full season when he does it again (missed 12 games in 2024, 8 in 2023), haven’t seen many examples of heavy ruckmen going overseas for specialist training a month before the season starts and it working out. I think if you consider Darcy is going to eat into Jackson, then you’d almost have to start Darcy as massively underpriced at $529K.
I’d considered Shai Bolton as F1 before his recent setback, Dyl Moore is just a bit low ceiling for mine. Rankine and JHF are just a bit up and down, which is the same counter to Jackson, I think they’re both a bit overpriced to start. I’ve even considered no true F1 and having Macrae there with another higher mid-pricer instead of Jack Martin or SPP (would have been Phillipou before his injury, Oscar Allen anyone?). This would then allow Rivers up to a true premo, or Day up to LDU or similar.
I guess this is all to say, what happened to the days of Robbie Gray, Gaz, Pav or Fyfe as FWDs that you could set your watch to?
Hi RB,
Keep Rivers our secret.
…..and dare I ask “Who’s ya flexi?” and what does it all leave you itb?
Cheers
Something different could this work.
Def Sheezel Sinclair mills schoenmaker Allan Leake Paton smith
Mid Ndaicos Cripps Brayshaw LDU Newcombe Oliver w Ashcroft jsmith tsatas hawli Erasmus
Ruck Xerri sweet Boyd
Fwd Macrae Daniel Powell pepper curtin berry Hewett kako stone
Flex Bailey smith
Would love any input on this lineup.
DEF: Sheezel, Sinclair, Mills, Travaglia, Allan, Smith. (El Hawli, Reid).
MID: Butters, Serong, Green, Oliver, W. Ashcroft, Lalor, Smith, Allan. (Tsatas, L.Ashcroft, Hewitt).
RUC: Gawn, Xerri. (Boyd).
FWD: JHF, Macrae, Smith, Daniels, Curtin, Berry. (Kako, Erasmus).
FLEX: Flynn.
Trying to avoid all premo players with the double bye, however I feel Tom Green and Will Ashcroft offer value too good to ignore.
Also toying with the idea of having Parker as my flex due to the Wardlaw injury.
Very GNR!
I am not sure about 3 rookies onfield in defence. Especially since you have two quality rookies in Tsatas and Ashcroft on the bench in the mids. Feels like you could do with an extra premium in defence for one less in the mids.
You could go one step further and move L Ashcroft to flex, Allan to mid bench and put the extra cash on the head of one of your bench right rookies to a Schoenmaker, Milera or Coleman (If fit). Gets your good benched mid rookies in play and gets you down to Travaglia only onfield in defence
Ashcroft is a tough one because he shares a bye with cats, swans and Collingwood.
Meaning at least Smith and Mills will also be missing that round and Coleman if he is fit
I’m happy to fade him for now, knowing he will only have had 1 price rise before his early bye and at his price he will still be cheap.
The other early byes only have 2 teams and I’m ok with maybe a Green or a Sicily missing an early round if they the only ones missing
Ashcroft will go well.
Lions with Tigers and Eagles R2 and R4. Then Pies and Saints a bit later.
That, combined with price and place in a strong Lions side, is enough for me.
Don’t have Daicos or any Swannies, so can cop the bye.
Hi Ben
I think too much money sitting on your bench. If Marshall misses many weeks I will be running Boyd as my flexi which frees up more cash – I am guessing Boyd will score similar to Flynn (dpp in r3). With money saved from Flynn and some expensive rookies should allow you to upgrade others and be able to get Parker if you want.
This is my first year so not analysing bye rounds at this stage
DEF: Whitfield, Zorko, Clark, Mills, Travaglia, Allan (Smith, Leake)
MID: Cripps, Brayshaw, Rowell, Richards, Day, Oliver, Peatling, J. Smith (Kako, Hall, Hewitt).
RUC: TDK, Darcy (Boyd).
FWD: Macrae, Parker, Daniels, Berry, Erasmus, Stone (Simpson, Davidson).
FLEX: B. Smith.
Well not long to go now, reading the reports team sim matches, lets see how they line up during the preseason matches. Had to get the Bont with the Trealor injury, and the midfield looks strong with the big fella in the line up.
Few Changes with the news of Marshall. Still cannot find a way to fit in Anderson or Day into the midfield, but will consider a couple of sideway trades early. No room for Peatling at this time, but will consider Cumming to M6 if he is roaming the HB line as distributor during the preseason matches.
TDK may be a option at R2 but its a wait and see. Naturally rookies subject to change
DEF Sinclair Clark Holmes Mills Travaglia Leake. ( Reid Smith)
MID Bont Butters Brayshaw Rozee Oliver Lalor Tsitas Hewett ( Rowston Allen O’driscoll)
RK Xerri Nank (Reid)
FWD Macrae Parker Sanders Daniel Maric Lynch (Erasmus Kako)
Flex Boyd
70K ITo
Enjoy the season coaches.
I’ll be keeping an eye on Maric. Not sure how good he will be
I see you have Parker ahead of Peatling. Why you like Parker?
And Smitj
Yes Maric is a watch for the trial games, if he gets a share of the kick ins he will be difficult to pass on. Looking at some footage U18 very Ryan like in how he positions himself. With Wardlaw on the injury list for the first few weeks, i am thinking Parker sees more action in the midfield rotation, Plus his history of 100+ seasons is difficult to ignore. Obviously Smith is the noticeable name missing, but after his early bye he is in for Sanders or Parker. Keen on Sanders this year, and with the news of Trealor missing early only firms him as a selection. The kid is a jet, but you have Mr Magnets waving at you.
On Peatling, M5 the team looks week, so i need to see how the Crows engine room lines up. Lots of options they can call on. Such a awkward price if he fails early, prefer cummings at M6 if he plays mostly as HB, now waiting on the injury to Milera.
Proven history, cheaper price, dual position?
Even with degradation based on age he’s an 85-105 player without sub vests and that makes him there abouts a top 6-10 forward. Our top 6 was only 90 points. Parker can potentially make that, for sure.
Adelaide has a lot of mid rotation choices. Barring injury there’s a lot of players in there.
Crouch, Laird, Dawson, Neal-Bullen, Scholl, Soligo, Rankine, Peatling, Berry, Jones, Cumming, Draper.
That’s a lot of potential fingers in the pie to take points.
Parker WILL be in the Roos midfield rotation and is still a dangerous goal kicker if he’s on the flank. He’s not a certainty to make big scores, but he’s way better than his price point.
2023 he was a 96.9 point player, and 2022 he was a 103.9 player.
Regardless what Horse did to him last year he hasn’t lost it.
A player in decline to be sure, but priced at 26 points under his value you have to consider him, the same way we are looking at Caleb Daniel. CValeb Daniel just has a slightly bigger discount (43 points).
A team I have been playing with??? Please peruse and dissect!!!
Backs
Whitfield, NW-M, Rivers, Short, Mills, Sinn. (Travaglia, El-Hawli)
Mids
Bont, Oliver, Reid, Sanders, C. Daniel, F. Macrae, Lalor, O’Driscall (J.Smith, I.Kako, E Hewett)
Rucks
Xerri, Meek (T. Campbell)
Forwards
Neal-Bullen, M.Kennedy, J. McCrae, B.Smith, Lynch, Curtin, (Ramsden, Erasmus)
Flexi
J Martin
$47,900 remaining
I prefer Lynch as a Flex over Martin, assuming both are fit. Lynch is a yo-yo scorer.
No B Smith is a surprise! He seems to be a lock in many teams.
Like most, R12 is a concern. 7 potential keepers out.
Boyd as flex is interesting. For me it’s a strong debate between points on field and cash generation. What pushes me back to the idea of Boyd in R3 is best 18 in R 2-4. For R2 and 4 you have 15 premo + MP. Meaning you only need 3 rookie scores.So I feel like you might only gain around 60-100 points from R1-5, but miss the cash generation of the extra rookie.
Good luck for your season
This is supposed to be a reply to Vicwood.
Early bye, so i have decided to roll the dice and wait to bring him in, with the hope of sneaking a few extra points. But definitely move into the team RD4. Rozee will be the same early sideways move to a RD15/16 assets before the byes. Expect a 5Ok price rise but don’t expect him to be a top 10 mid. Merritt, Neale Green on the radar. Really keen on Day also after his early bye, wait and see.
Daniel at M6 could also be a option, not many Rookies look likely for the M6-M8 positions.
I reckon fading Macrae makes more sense if you can’t/don’t want to accommodate 2x of those 400k types.
Smith a much better profile and in a stronger side than Macrae.
As vanilla as it is, we’re all gonna probably have similar M2-6s.
Team changed a fair bit recently and far from locked in I’m sure. Rookies of course subject to change
B: Holmes, McKercher, Mills, Schoenmaker, Goater, El-Hawli (B. Allan, Leake)
M: Zerrett, Day, Oliver, Ashcroft, Peatling, Sanders, J Smith, Tsatas (E. Allan, Knevitt, Hewett)
R: Xerri, De Koning (Barnett)
F: JHF, Rankine, Darcy, Macrae, Parker, Daniel (T Lynch, Curtin)
Flex: Boyd
– Backs are the weakest line. I had Coleman but I read he might not make round 1. Could come back in if he does to strengthen the line. Travaglia could replace Goater
– Mids, I’ve dropped Naicos now for Zerrett. With averages of 115, 116, 112,115 and 116 in the last 5 years you know what you’re getting. Pleased with pre season reports for underpriced Day, Oliver and Ashcroft. Peatling seems worth a shot if his inside mid role is correct. Sanders is only newly in but not locked in yet, he’s a gun but wary of the Bevo factor. Possible downgrade to enable Coleman back into def
– Ruck/flex, going with Boyd flex for now to free up cash elsewhere. Most people seem to be using Sims as the loophole but I’m interested in both Barnett (earmarked def, could be Def/Ruc later on) and Steene (he’s 21 years old, might play?)
– Fwds, I did a Smith v Parker test. Parker has better history (except 2024), is a better player for mine, is not coming off an ACL, is cheaper, and Wardlaw is out meaning more early mid time. Parker in. With Ugle-Hagan and English doubts, S. Darcy becomes very prominent and could get DPP early. If he does, might become Flex longer term
Still have a long watchlist so suspect this will change but comments welcome
I see Zerrett’s consistency the other way: he’s capped. He is what he is. 115~. No real upside, as great as he is.
Had him the last few years but for M1 I’d want a look in to 120+ season long. Don’t like the bye either. Fixture is okay.
Love the rest of the side. Some real sleepers.
Thanks GD. I’m happy with Zerrett as I actually want some consistency in between some riskier picks. He obviously won’t be M1 all season but I get your point. I’ve noted your comments on Anderson in other threads and he’s on my watchlist. He can definitely pump out a 150 but it’s the poorer scores in between that he needs to rectify. Maybe it’s 2025 for him.
Starting to get a little worried about the Doggies.
JUH and Tingles indeterminate, Treloar a few months, now Jones.
Bont fine, he’s atlas anyway, but am concerned about the side as a whole and specifically guys like Sanders and Ed Richards.
Sure, Treloar’s CBAs are there for the taking but without a ruck and depleted key stocks at either end all those clearances will be in vain.
Tricky.
Think of the rookie options.
Sam Davidson. Jed Busslinger. Sam Darcy (as ruck). Lachie Smith (actual Ruck)
Whats everyone’s thoughts on Naicos? As a big pies man I vowed to never watch another game again without owning him but the plantar fasciitis issue has to be of some concern. With the early bye we could just wait and see on him but he could be really difficult to get in during the early rounds if he flies out the box. Tempting to just pick him and accept he may not be at full fitness as it feels like if we dont start him itll be a few months before we can upgrade him in. What we reckon?
The AFL website today had a fixture analysis which showed the Pies had it super hard early and much better after R6. Now you could argue that Naicos can score well against any opposition, but you could also see it as another reason to wait until after his bye.
Yep tricky, he was my first picked early but I’ve been spooked by the injury and he’s out for now. But considering how good he is, he might just shrug it off and dominate. I vaguely remember Bont having a limited pre season recently and it made no difference, he just crushed it from the start. Tough choice!
I’ve been going by the “no limited pre-season, no injuries, no niggles” dictum this year.
Didn’t like his fixture initially but the PF put a line through him for me. Daicos probably among the few I’d back to overcome it, just on fitness and profile.
For now, I still don’t have him. Fixture, bye and PF.
What’s REALLY gonna test me is the word on Flanders now fml.
Per CT: Gold Coast: Sam Flanders has been dealing with a back complaint, which has limited his training.
Flanders was my first picked – fixture, role, profile. Was and am so hot on him. 120 last year and was incredible in every position.
That news going to REALLY test my attempt at pre-season discipline.
M5
Tu Oliver
Td W Ashcroft
Cheers
If Ashcroft becomes a must have, get him round 4 after his early bye and only 1 price rise, will still be cheap
True but will have had to make 400k realistically in 4 weeks after any rookie adjustments needed, not likely I think.
Thanks for the advice though.
So here i am again for another year – good luck everyone. I have changed this about 100 times, and most likely will do it another 100 times:
DEF: Whitfield, Ridley, Saad, Mills, Travaglia, B Allan (El-Hawli, Bice)
MIDS: Bont, Sinclair, Steele, W Day, W Ashcroft, B Smith, J Smith, S Draper (Hewitt, Erasmus, E Allan)
RUC: Xerri, TDK (Boyd)
FWD: Dylan Moore, Macrae, Daniel, Lynch, Kako, J Martin (Davidson, Day-Wicks)
FLX: M Flynn
i have $43K itb
any ideas or advice? I wanted to shake it up a little and not have a carbon copy of everyone else
cheers
Ridley injured – see below info from Phil
Here is my first attempt:
DEFENCE
SINCLAIR CLARK SICILY SHORT MILERA TRAVAGLIA ( Whitlock Reid)
MID
BUTTERS SERONG RICHARDS NEWCOMBE PEATLING LALOR SMITH DRAPER (Hewett Hawli Erasmus)
RUCK
GAWN XERRI (Boyd)
FORWARDS
MACRAE SMITH PARKER DANIEL POWELL-PEPPER KAKO (Spargo Sims)
FLEX – Ashcroft
Tobie Travaglia and Ed Allan
OR
Arie Schoenmaker and Josaia Delana (loophole)
I think Ridley is injured. Can I suggest moving Sinclair back to defence and finding another midfielder.
Swapping Kako and BSmith means you could put E Allan onfield instead of Kako.
The Saad pick is unique. As is the Dylan Moore pick (although I suspect a lot of us will end up with him, but just not start him.
This is a reply to Jodie. Second time I have failed on simple tech!
i found you Phil! thanks – didn’t know Ridley was injured – seems solid what you’ve suggested – cheers
B: Sinclair, Wanganeen-Milera, Stewart, Short, Mills, Leake (Reid, Smith)
M: Bontempelli, Butters, Serong, Oliver, Parker, Jagga Smith, Elijah Tsatas, Travaglia (Allen, El-Hawli, Erasmus)
R: Xerri, Boyd (Barnett)
F: Horne-Francis, Jack Macrae, Bailey Smith, Daniel, Kako, Joe Berry (Elijah Hewett, Davidson)
Flex: Rankine.
$300
Boyd R2, ballsy, like it, if RoMo doesn’t get up at season start, I’ll be same
Boyd isn’t even in full training. On a managed load. RoMo racing to get up for R1.
Boyd R3 for now.
Changed my team. But was thinking the flexi could be a cash cow. My get in my new team looks light on def but threw most of cash in midfield. Tell me what u guys think
New team
Dec l Whitfield. H shezzal. C mills. A Schopenhauer. J sinn. T travaglia. Bench z Reid j gunslinger.
Mids. Bont. Butters. Cripps. A Bradshaw. M Rowell. W Ashcroft. S draper. A sheldrick. Bench b Allen. S el-hawli. N Erasmus.
Rucjx t xerri. M Flynn. Bench body
Fwds s Darcy. J macrae. B smith c Daniel. T lynch I kako. Bench e hewett. S Davidson.
Flexi j smith. Rip into it think this team could change depends on rookies
Darcy F1 is unique but hey go for it. I like Rowell early, he flies out of the blocks and GC will improve no doubt. Early draw good too. Love the Cripps pick, friggin champion. He’s on my radar.
Tom Lynch will probably break down but cheap. Will he see the ball?
Good luck Nick.
That’s a schoenmaker
Def: Sheezel, Clark, NWM, Mills, Travaglia, B Paton. Reid, Busslinger.
Mid: Bont, Brayshaw, Day, Oliver, Peatling, J Smith, Tsitas, Lindsay. Kako, Knevitt, B Allen.
Ruck: Xerri, Darcy. Boyd.
Fwd: JHF, Macrea, Smith, Daniel, Maric, Hewett. Berry, Davidson.
Flex: Parker.
Bank: $500
I really like this Team minus Darcy. Nice work Paul. Love your structure you have there.
Thanks rod, Darcy is a big watch for me during the pre season his bye just suits my structure.
Won’t be much watching now cobber
B: Sneezel, Stewart, Mills, Coleman, Travaglia, B Allan (Reid, Rice)
M: Bontempelli, Butters, Daicos , Serong, Green, Draper, Smith, Ashcrosft (M Hall, El-Hawli, Erasmus)
R: Xerri, TDK (Body)
F: Matt Kennedy, Jack Macrae, Bailey Smith, Daniel, SPP, Kako (Elijah Hewett, D Curtain)
Flex (Tom Lynch)
35K left
Didn’t realise Kennedy was a forward. Interesting.
Yeah I feel he is underpriced especially if he gets that inside mid role. When we was at blues he averaged around 100 whenever he played inside mid.
looks fantastic, that’s some great budgeting
GD, are we going to get some articles on specific positions/strategy/price ranges etc.? Feels like there’s so much to consider this year so the more content the better!
Yeah, GK, it’s all coming. Plenty in the pipeline!
Version ‘I’ve lost count’
I’ve gone with a captains, value keeper’s, some common midpricers and 2nd & 3rd year rookies where possible approach. There may be another version (or 2!) before the season starts but I have stopped fiddling and settled on this for now.
Sheezel, Sinclair, Holmes, Mills, Travaglia, Hardeman / K Smith, Leake
Bontempelli, Butters, Richards, Day, Oliver, E Allan, Tsatas, Sheldrick / Knevitt, B Allan, Erasmus
Gawn, De Koning / A Reid
Rankine, Macrae, B Smith, Daniel, Curtin, Hewett / Simpson, Stone
Any feedback is welcome.
Cheers
Whitfield Sinclair Holmes Short Travaglia Allan (Reid Bice)
Bont Brayshaw LDU Oliver Jagga Draper Smilie Ashcroft (Lindsay Lombard ElHawli)
X TDK (Boyd)
JHF Macrae Smith Parker Daniel Erasmus (Hewett Johnson)
Langford
Contemplating Rioli ahead of Holmes. Will he get the Flanders role under Hardwick?
Tophawk is running the world-famous “Guns and Rookies” league this year. No amateurs tolerated! The code is: 422757
i’m in
I’m in TH
Going for something different this year.
DEF: Sicily, Stewart, Mills, Sinn, Travaglia, Allan (Leake & Busslinger).
MID: Bont, Butters, Day, Josh Daicos, Oliver, Will Ashcroft, Hollands, Jagga Smith (Lalor, Tsatas, & Knevitt).
RUCKS: Briggs & Sweet (Boyd).
FWDS: Macrae, Smith, Parker, Sanders, Daniel, Lynch (Hewett & Erasmus).
FLEX: Flynn.
Probably will change the team anyways, hoping to get Xerri a bit cheaper in the future.
Briggs R2 bye and high priced rooks on the bench I’m not wild about. Don’t mind the Josh Daicos POD pick. He could step up this year.
I’d derisk a pick or two but otherwise like it. If a bunch of very popular selections flop early, you and your spread out savings will be laughing.
TU: WAshcroft + Bice/Trainor/113k rook
TD: Cumming + Coleman (if he gets up R1).
thanks I really want to start Serong this year after his fast start last year so happy to go
M Kennedy as F1 so I can afford Serong
February version
a few changes from the first team. I’m not confident Coleman is going to be fit for round 1 (likely Brisbane will keep him on ice until after their round 3 bye). Wanganeen-Milera has replaced Coleman (saw some footage of a simuation game and Saints rule number 1 is get ball in his hands). If things change and Coleman is playing round 1, and he will be a must have and Stewart will probably make way for Coleman.
Not confident that TDK will be solo ruck, talk that Pito will be playing as a ‘forward’, i’ve upgraded TDK to Xerri, paying the big bucks. i tinkered with Boyd, but it is looking very unlikely he will play round 1 with Ross saying RoMo is a definate to play round 1. Xerri is expensive and in 54% of teams, would be a tough anti-pod.
To find the cash, Daicos has become Peatling (Daicos slight injury and early bye). Crows training notes say Peatling is pure mid and ‘tearing it up’. I have thought about Cumming for a few dollars cheaper, but with news that Laird will be playing in defense and Cumming on the wing can’t see him scoring enough. Ashcroft and Will Day haven’t been considered due to their early bye and will still be cheap if they start like must haves.
I’ve stuck with Bont, Green and Rozee as my premium midfielders, Bont because he is good at football, and Green and Rozee are way underpriced because of their injury affected games last year. I’ll be watching Butters, Daicos and Serong games from behind the couch in the early rounds until i can get them in.
Parker has been in and out of my team and there is a world where Stewart becomes Coleman and a rookie becomes Parker. Sanders and Kennedy also interest me, but how many midpricers can a forward line have.
Sweet is still there unless there is any news he will be ruck sharing. Having Gawn, Xerri and Sweet as my R1, R2 and Flex gives me ruck back-up plus the option of an easy sideways to an must have.
Current team:
DEF: Wanganeen-Milera, Sicily, Stewart, Mills, Travaglia, Allen (Smith, Leake)
MID: Bont, Green, Rozee, Oliver, Peatling, Smith, LAshcroft, Smille (El-Hawli, Marshall, Angrove)
RUC: Gawn, Sweet (Boyd)
FWD: Horne-Francis, Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Kako, Hewett (Erasmus, Stone)
FLX: Xerri
$12k in bank.
I’m looking for value this year. previous years i’ve started players who have lost truck loads of cash and my team value was only got to around $13.7m last year (probably $1m short of the top teams)
Hi Derek, I like your Flex setup. I looked at Sweet being my flex but ultimately went Flynn (I am a little worried about the sticky tape holding him together but I saved $200k). I agree with you on NWM in defence. Think we will have a good year (think you are mad if you haven’t got Sinclair or NWM). Going old school Sicily and Stewart looks weirdly odd this year but good players don’t lose their ability over the off season. LAshcroft and Smille a few question marks over but they will be easily replaced if needed closer to Round 1.
Sicily and Stewart both have a early bye, so i’m not 100% sold especially Stewart who shares a bye with Mills and Smith, but there isn’t anyone else around that same value i like Maybe Holmes. Sicily shouldn’t play forward, if he does he is out.
The expensive rookies are there as placeholders for now.
I’m not 100% on Sweet, but he can be an easy sideways to Ashcroft or Day after their bye using the flex
Good looking team Derek, midfield looks thin to me but a lot of teams seem to be going that way this year.
I like the Sweet pick, I think he can av110 if he gets a good run at it.
Best of luck for the year.
Hi Derek
I see you have dropped Maric from your team. You had me interested and now you have moved on!
R12 is your (and maybe many coaches) problem round.
Your NWM selection certainly has me thinking. I had preferred Sinclair and Clark, but I might have another look
the ‘expensive rookies’ are just place holders, i prefer not to have too many of them if the cheapies are going to play. This included lynch and maric, they will be sorted out closer to the round 1 teams.
I belive it was Brad Hill in an interview earlier in preseason, where he let slip the saints tactics will be to get the ball in NWM hands all costs. if he isn’t taking the kickouts he will be first receiver. i saw some footage yesterday of practice game and boy oh boy he was beautiful to watch. His only downside is he doesn’t have a massive ceiling. He had 11 scores last year between 101 and 120 with just the one score of 134. Even 2023 he had 7 scores between 105 and 120 and none over 120. I’m hoping there is another 10pts to be added this year through natural improvement,
Hey Derek – nice notes here, great insight.
Peatling is on my radar too, but he strikes me a bit like a mid-pricer who gets stuck in no-man’s land, scoring enough to generate SOME cash, but not enough to bump to a true keeper/premo as soon as we’d want with his starting price. I think if Crouch isn’t looking like having a big role (please Nicks don’t do this again), Peatling will come in to a lot of teams. At best, Peatling is sitting behind Dawson, Crouch, Rankine, and maybe alongside Soligo, Rachelle, Keays, Laird, Draper (?). I have to say, I don’t really have a suggestion for a sideways change from his price point, but I love Sanders as a MID/FWD…
Thanks for feedback
My thoughts are usually there are only two types of players. Keepers and cash makers.
Not sure if Peatling is either
Current Team
Backs Sheezel Rivers Mills Coleman Travaglia Allan El-Hawli Bice
Mids Bont Daicos Holmes Oliver Lalor Draper L Ashcroft Langford Lindsay Hustwaite Day-Wicks
Gawn TDK Boyd
FWDs Horne-Francis Rankine Pickett Macrea B Smith C Daniel Hewett Erasmus
Flex Lombard
I think Pickett is suspended for start of season. Might be 3 games. You Better check
Here is the Feb Team. I am jotting it down here so I can look back on it and remember who I had in it for $0 dollars!
Flanders back issues and RoMo availability Round 1 have spooked me into a total restructure. I’m not happy running 3 rookies on field in defense so I’d really like Coleman to get up for Round 1 (I can’t find a premo in defence under $450k that I like).
As with the earlier thumbs question, Cumming + Coleman could become WAshcroft + Bice/Trainor/113k rook yet. Flynn also in that conversation at $260ishk could be easy changed on Round 1 Teams (its always a mad scramble Round 1 so would be nice to have some pre-conceived plans).
Other notes: keeping an eye on SDK ruck duties but I can’t see him going through the whole season in Ruck (but maybe I only need him to be there for 6 or 7 Rounds?). There is also the early bye. NWM is another on the watch list that could easily come in for Sinclair depending on preseason games. Special mentions to Sheldrick who I couldn’t fit in but pretty much jam packed all that I wanted in that midprice range.
Good/Expensive rookies will probably force their way into the side but at the moment lets keep them all out and replace later if I can justify.
Def: Sheezel, Sinclair, Mills, Coleman, Allan, Paton, (K.Smith, Z.Reid)
Mid: Bontempelli, Butters, Green, Oliver, Peatling, Parker, Cumming, Hewett (El-Hawli, M.Hall, A.
Day-Wicks)
Rucks: Xerri, De Koning (Boyd)
Fwd: Horne-Francis, Macrae, B.Smith, Sanders, Daniel, Stone (Erasmus, Davidson)
Flex M.Flynn
itb: $0 (yep thats right exactly $0), I’m not a fan of leaving anything much over usually anyway. Its a nice feeling getting it to zero. Doubt it will stay like that Round 1!
$0 was short lived! SDK and Jagga Smith in for Coleman and Cumming. (Given in to the rumours about SDK training in Ruck)
Combinations of SDK, Coleman, Cumming, Jagga, WAshcroft in the mix.
R12 is the worry. Have 11 rounds to sort that out.
Exactly $0 is always a good (and satisfying) omen!
Hey guys,
Stoked about 2025, seems like eternity since end of last season. Here’s my Feb team which no doubt will change. The flex addition is brilliant!
Happy with defenders atm. McKercher is my pick to really impress.
I’ve gone with the Bont and Serong to finish 1 & 2. Oliver to resume his brilliance and Green is undervalued. The others are a watch. L.Ashcroft is arrogant (I know his ex girlfriend) and has the ability to back it up.
Gawn will smash it this year and Sweet is a money maker imo.
JHF hopefully has settled down, can go big. The other fwds should make some coin while producing some decent scores.
Flex atm is Sanders, hoping for mid time with Treleor out.
Rookies are obviously a wait and see.
Comments welcome.
DEF: Sinclair, Holmes, McKercher, Mills, Travaglia, B.Allan (Z.Reid, Mentha)
MID: Bont, Serong, Green, Oliver, Peatling, Parker, Lalor, L.Ashcroft (E.Hewett, C.Anderson, Day-Wicks)
RUCK: Gawn, Sweet (Boyd)
FWD: JHF, Macrae, B.Smith, R.Maric, Kako, C.Stone (Whilock, Davidson)
FLEX: R.Sanders
$137k itb
Nice team. I had Boyd as flex until Ross the Boss came out and said Marshall is a definite so I’ve reverted to Sanders like you. Sweet is very tempting as a lone ruckman- I’ve gone for TDK as his ceiling is higher but it’s so dependent on whether Pittonet plays or not which is a worry.
Maric is a watch, WCE supports don’t seem to think he’ll be on kick-ins regular season but if he is he’s a must. I hope Stone gets a game too
I love this pre season madness.. I’ve swapped a few around already.
Serong out Day in. Serong can wait, Hoping Day stays on the park, seems fragile but at his price hard to ignore.
Smith out Parker in. The early byes really suck. Can always bring him after the bye. Parker is getting older but the new environment should spark him, good value.
TDK was my early pick but yeah Pittonet!! If the D’s want ultimate success this season Max has got to be the main man.
I like your team too. No Bont is risky with no Treleor. Obvious captain pick most weeks..
P.S. Year of the Cat (again). GO CATS
Ok you and GD have successfully scared me and I’ve found a way to get Bont in for Zerrett. I’d love both however! You’re right, Bont is just such an easy captain option and barring injury it seems unlikely he’s going to drop too much in price.
I’m confident on Day barring injury. He averaged 114 during rounds 10-20 then dropped off because of injury, hence why he’s cheap.
ahem*
DEF: Sheezel, Whitfield, Mills, Sinn, Travaglia, Allen (Reid, Busslinger)
MID: Bontempelli, Butters, Brayshaw, Green, Day, Smith, Draper, Ashcroft (Langford, El-Hawli, Erasmus)
RUC: Xerri, Cameron (Boyd)
FWD: Macrae, Smith, Parker, Sanders, Daniel, Kako (Berry, Hewett)
FLEX: TsaTas
I’m going with this so far but I could swap a few things for example;
Sinn + Parker Roberts + Stone (put Berry onfield)
Day + Brayshaw Oliver + Daicos
If Sinn gets that HB spot he’s brilliant value but it seems there’s a lot of competition at Port for the spot. Classic high risk/high reward if it comes off.
Very strong midfield, I prefer going for JHF when he’s cheap for a strong fwd line and getting a Bont later but hard to knock picking, setting and forgetting Bont too!
On the “RoMo will play round 1” announcement here’s the amendments. For now.
B: Sinclair, NWM, Stewart, Short, Mills, Z Reid (K Smith, Leake)
M: Bont, Butters, Serong, Oliver, J Smith, E Tsatas, Travaglia, Kako (B Allen, El Hawli, Erasmus)
R: Xerri, Flynn (Boyd)
F: JHF, Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Berry, E Hewett (M Hall, Davidson)
Flex: Rankine
$82k left which I’m not happy with, but I expect one of the rookies to change up to a premium rookie like Draper or Ashcroft and move Kako to the bench. Possibly M Hall for Lynch and move Lynch to flex position and Rankine on field.
Major redesigns expected based on Flynn or RoMo’s availability, but this will do for now. Structurally it’s not likely to change much bar a big shift in the ruck dynamics.
Yeah rucks seem to be the toughest at the moment. Xerri is a R1 lock for mine but then it gets tougher. I have TDK R2 but concerned re the Pittonet factor. Sweet seems ok but will he pump out big scores? How much ruck time will Boyd get, or will he even play? Will Melbourne wind back Gawn’s ruck time? Can Flynn get the number 1 spot?
And is there any value in rookies Sims, Steene or Barnett. I feel like my rucks will change at Round 1 selection. I’d be happy to go Flynn R2 but seems high risk at present
What about your thoughts on Meek?
He has to be considered, seems to be clearly number one ruck now and similar price to TDK. Also a little surprised no love for Witts. Averages of 108, 106 and 110 the past 3 years.
If Flynn is number one ruck for WCE then I feel like that’s too hard to ignore but we won’t know for a while yet
I had Barnett at R3 earlier on while Boyd was Flex but there’s no way you can not have Boyd at some spot in your lineup, with the RoMo injury issues. Just too much promise for the coin. He’s a beast waiting to be unleashed.
Word on Barnett has been good but not as a big scoring machine. He’s likely best 22 in another, lower scoring role based on WC injuries. Looks an R3 option for a slow cash trickle. In a normal pre-flex season he’d be a good choice but I think the flex works against him.
Boyd, if it happens can blow it out of the water. Finnbar Maley at least gives you a solid handcuff to most people’s #1 Ruck in Xerri if for 20k more than Boyd. That’s where my R3 thinking lies.
I think Flynn is not TOO much risk at R2, but every rookie priced player is a risk if you don’t have a plan B. So I’ll wait for Round 1. I think he’s clearly the correct choice for WCE but that’s THEIR decision and not mine so they may surprise me.
If not, I have a real hard choice between Sinclair who is priced at exactly what he’ll deliver and Stewart who has growth potential based on prior history but I really dunno if he can match those highs again. Both the game and Geelong’s plans have moved on. SDK with the potential to go Geelong R1 might be a better Geelong Defender to choose for a far cheaper price.
Time will reveal all.
Having NWM and Sinclair in the same lineup worries me, for bye reasons.
Sheezel and Flanders will at least stagnate if not go backwards. The losses are not big enough to not pick them, because both are top 10 defenders and saving a trade is worth money too, but I already have too many cheap North options and Flanders gets an early bye. That’s enough to call it on both of them.
Two cents as an Eagles supporter. Can’t do Flynn.
1) Gig isn’t his as of rn. Him and BJ neck and neck, chopping up the #1 role between A and B in training.
2) Poor ruck economy. Batting to no midfield. Sheed, Reid and Yeo injured. Will be one of the lowest H2As rucks and through very little fault of his own. Literally who is there lmao.
3) Poor ATG economy. Our ball movement and F50 structure is and will continue to be appalling. None of these marks down the line, intercepts or cheeky goals you see Maxxy, D. Cam, etc., slapping on.
4) Then just relying on bulk HOs and stoppage CPs. I’ve got him at 70-80.
5) IF he gets the #1 ruck role it won’t be permanent or even exclusive. BJ either plays FWD and chops or gets back into the side. He’s been our hardest worker the last 2 years. No attributes but my god he gives it everything. Would be harsh as to can him.
Hi HH, reckon Lynch Flex and Rankine on field would be the way to go. Would give you super strong Fwds. Strong Def and serviceable Mids.
If Flynn keeps up with the TDK, Meek, Sweet types then you would be on a winner. The other option of course is to pump some of that $82k+ into R2 which there is nothing at $360-370k and the only really two options up would be $409k Draper or $478k Sweet which would prob mean a restructure which I can understand you not wanting to do.
V2
DEF: sheez Whitfield NWM Mills Travaglia Allan ( B.Paton K.Smith)
MID: Bont Butters Richards Oliver Peatling J.Smith Draper Langford (Kako Knevitt El-Hawli)
RUCK: Xerri English (Boyd)
FWD: JHF Macrae B.Smith Daniel Erasmus Hewett ( Davidson J.Berry)
FLEX: Tsatas
CASH: $50,000
Welcome back Mav.
Round 12 is your issue. 8 premiums missing, including both your rucks and 3 of your 5 starting mids.
Can’t argue with one of your individual selections. But that R12 is a season killer.
Thanks Phil good to be back. Time to start ramping up the Supercoach now it’s February. And I appreciate the feedback. Honestly I didn’t even look at my bye structure but gee your right that’s going to kill my side. Probably time to re assess a few options here. Cheers mate
Love it, Mav, but Tingles you can’t do. Some abdominal issue rn and listed as “TBC”.
Regressing from 128 to 108 still also disgraceful.
Thanks for the comment GD,
I’m quiet bullish on English. I think that abdominal was very minor wasn’t it? Few doggies boys reckon he’s back at it and flying… last year he had a horrible pre season he hardly had any contact training and come in underdone and still got a 108. I think he can bounce back to 115 mate. Tingles really feels right to me.
R2 is anyone’s guess anyway. Gawn overpriced for mine Feel there’s some regression coming. Meek & Cameron viable but could be underwhelming. TDK will be sharing with pittonet on and off all season. Marshall interrupted pre season with injury. Shrek ankle surgery. Nank and just aren’t sexy picks not doing alot for me at their prices. Grundy i think is a shout nice ruck fixture & second year at Sydney now can only help but that R3 bye is a turn off.
BACK – Sheezel, Dale, Stewart, Mills, Travolta, Allen ( Paton, Leake )
MID – Bont, Butters, Goulden, Oliver, Pearling, Lalor, Smith, Kako. ( Tsatas, Kneivitt, Halloween)
RUCKS – Xerri, Briggs ( Boyd)
FORWARDS – JHF, Macrae, Smith, Sanders, Berry, Day-wicks ( Erasmus, Stone )
FLEX – Daniels
I like the Gulden pick, nice POD.
This weeks version…
Def: Sheezel, Holmes, Mills, Schoenmaker, Travaglia, B.Allan – Reid, Busslinger
Mid: Bont, Butters, Serong, Dawson, Oliver, J.Smith, Draper, Erasmus – El-Hawli, Payne, Hynes
Ruk: Xerri, Meek – Boyd
Fwd: JHF, Macrae, B.Smith, Parker, Daniels, Curtin – Hewett, Johnson
Flex: Lynch
By no means the finished article.
I’d like to get Mills to D4 not 3 but the only way to do that is put Oliver back to M4.
Lots of teams seem to be running a thin midfield so maybe that’s fine.
Still not sure how I want to use the flex.
My first instinct was to use a key forward so that you could get their decent scores but not their crap ones but I can’t deny it’s tempting to throw another ruck in there.
Shame that Hawkins has retired, he’d have been perfect.
Rd12 looks crap but I think it might be for a lot of teams.
Holmes, Smith and Mills missing Rd3 isn’t ideal.
Green, Rozee, W.Ashcroft, NWM, Sweet and Sanders are all making eyes at me.
Feels like a long pre-season already!
Love this. Big TD from me.
Right here goes first team for 2025 help me out please
DEF
sheez – Sinclair – J.Clark ( Busslinger
Mills – travaglia – Allen ( K.Smith
MID
Bont – Daicos – LDU – N.Anderson
Oliver – jagga – Langford – smilie ( Erasmus El-Hawli C.Anderson
RUCK
Xerri – Flynn ( Reid
FWD
JHF – macrae – B.Smith ( Berry
Sanders – Daniel – hewett ( Davidson
FLEX
H.Boyd
Great team.
Don’t think Flynn will work though. Discussed above in reply to HH.
Love the backline as well as LDU & Anderson picks.
Thanks for the reply GD.
I’m Definetly not sold on Flynn at R2 either my option could be to go Jordan Clark down to shoenmaker and then get nank or TDK or almost anyone else at R2. This does mean 3 saints in defence (sincs, travaglia, shoenmaker) they have the round 13 bye but who says they will last 13 weeks in the team
Looking through these teams looks like everyones forward and back lines are very close to the same, might be time to see if there is a POD or two during the pre season games just for the fun of it.
*me toying with Sam Darcy*
Sheezel Clark NWM Mills Travaglia Allen Busslinger Jepson
Bont Green Rowell Day Oliver Smith Kako Hustwaite El-Hawli Gross Anderson
English Briggs Boyd
JHF Macrae Smith Daniel Hewitt Erasmus Stone Johnson
Dekoning
Version 2 (significant change to V1)
DEF: Sheezel, Holmes, Short, Mills, Travaglia, Allen (Reid, Leake)
MID: Bont, Daicos, Brayshaw, Rozee Oliver, Peatling, Smith, Tsatas (El-Hawli, Erasmus, Hall)
RUC: Xerri, Jackson (Boyd)
FWD: Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Hutchinson, SPP, Hewett (Kako, Angove)
FLX: Sanders
I think I am getting to a stage where I can’t see the wood for the trees. Would love some feedback.
I like the Jackson pick at R2, you will be able to swing him forward when the best rucks present themselves
Everyone will do same now as Darcy is injured again and again
Yeah, last year I started Jackson bc Darcy was set to miss a bit. Didn’t capitalize as much as I expected.
Will still probably do it again but not holding out for much.
It’s so good to be back. Here’s my draft team that will probably be torn apart a bunch. The midfield feels way too shallow but I like the rookies in that line much more than everywhere else. This is also my attempt at jamming in some extra mid pricers. Steele will probably be a different mid around $600k but I’m a saints fan and for now, I like seeing the extra logo.
Def: NWM, Stewart, Short, Roberts, Mills, Travaglia (Allan, Reid)
Mid: Bont, Steele, Oliver, Peatling, O’Sullivan, Smith, Tsatas, Ashcroft (Langford, Hewett, El-Hawli)
Ruc: Gawn, Xerri (Boyd)
Fwd: JHF, Macrae, Bazlenka, Sanders, Daniel, Kako (Paton, Erasmus)
Flex: Flynn
Hey, Johnno. Great to see you around again.
Very good side. I don’t mind a shallow midfield even though I myself have gone quite deep. You’ve spread those savings around really well.
Steele better not be there come Round 1 though lol.
Tried a few teams this one looks good.
Def. L Whitfield. J Sinclair. C mckercher. C mills. A schoenmaker. B Allen. Bench z Reid. J busslinger.
Mids z butters. P cripps. A Bradshaw. M Rowell. W Ashcroft. S draper. T travaglia. A sheldrick. Bench h Langford. S el-hawli. N Erasmus.
Trucks. T xerri. L meek. H body.
Fwds. S Darcy. J macrae. B smith. C Daniel. T lynch. I kako. Bench e hewett. B Davidson.
Flex I smith. So what u guys reckon I picked a team t that can score big and make money
Just wanting to hear some thoughts on Finn Callaghan, havent heard much about talk about him but think he seems primed to breakout this year, liked his backend to last year. Possibly the awkward price (441) and the fact oliver and ashcroft around the same price putting people off?
I reckon you answered your own question Kev. I think Cogs is cooked and with natural improvement he’s worth watching in pre season.
Yeah. Spot on. Price.
Super Coaches, which would you rather have?
TU: Rozee & Mills
TD: Butters & Blight/Sinn
Cheers.
Sinclair a hammy
Here we go again coaches – latest version of Butslappers@SCT
Def – Sheezel, McKercher, Mills, Houston, Travaglia, Allan (El Hawli, Trainor)
MIds – The Bont, Butters, Peatling, Oliver, Sanders, Smith, O’Driscoll & Draper (Knevitt, Hewett & Erasmus)
Fwds – Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Thilthorpe, Curtin, Lynch (Stone & Kako)
Rucks – Xerri & TDK (Boyd)
Flex – Cameron
Of course rookies are not set in stone
Jackson is looking attractive as the Flex now that Darcy is confirmed > miss the start of the season.
I think Thilthorpe will be immense this season especially with Walker and The Fog also playing in the forward line.
In my opinion a premo ruck is the way to go for the flex position (did I just contradict myself saying earlier Jackson looking good for flex position?). Gives you ruck coverage for a 1 week injury or suspension and can mix them round based on their byes.
Houston will miss Rd 1 due to his ban and then he has a bye in Rd 3 Shaggi.
Thilthorpe is a ballsy pick, genius if it comes off.
I believe that Houston will serve the last week of his suspension in round 0 and then be available for round 1 when supercoach starts.
Yes Thilthorpe is a bit of a POD but check out today’s notes on Adelaide’ internal match Sim.
He has always been in my team.
Ha! Good point Shaggi, I momentarily forgot the faintly ridiculous Rd0!
TU: Meek + Brayshaw
TD: Gawn + Day
If you could only choose one:
TU: Bailey Smith
TD: Jack Macrae
Thanks SuperCoaches!
And also, either
TU: Daniel (& $$$)
TD: Parker
Sorry, one more:
TU: Hogan
TD: Jackson
Thanks!
.
Hey guys, put this team together but pretty new with SuperCoach and haven’t done much research. Any advice would be great, cheers
$24,800 Salary Left
Defenders
M.Holmes,C.McKercher,J.Short,C.Mills, T.Travaglia,B.Allan (Z.Reid,J.Leake)
Midfielders
M.Bontempelli,N.Daicos,A.Brayshaw,
E.Gulden,C.Oliver,J.Smith,S.Draper,
L.Ashcroft(H.Langford,I.Kako,S.El-Hawli)
Rucks
T.Xerri,T.De Koning(H.Boyd)
Forwards
J.Horne-Francis,J.Macrae,R.Sanders,
C.Daniel,D.Curtin,E.Hewett(J.Berry,
N.Erasmus)
Flex
I.Cumming
TU-Xerri
TD- De Koning
Just bit of a problem who thinks better to start neele or butters. Hardly anyone has neele. But he is a contested beast.
And trying choose between like Ryan or shezzal hardly anyone has Ryan. But feel he is a ball magnet and never gets tagged. What is your thoughts
Easy fix , both and both. Gives you ownership coverage as well as two early pods.
Reminds me of the Old El Paso ad, “Why don’t we have both” Lol
A lot of people are not starting Neale due to his double bye, the first one is round 3.
He’s an upgrade target, immediately after his bye if he will increase in price or, not for a few weeks if he’s going to drop 50k due to reduced minutes so washcroft can get more.
Ryan was called lazy and not team oriented by his coach last year and he’s getting old, maybe Clark or somebody else is liked more by the coach, preseason will tell.
Sheezel will play more time forward (according to the coach) and he’ll be sharing that part of the ground with some actual footballers this year so he might drop a few dollars. He certainly wont increase in price
I’m happy to anti-pod Sheezel
So expensive
Hey everyone. I hope everyone had a great Xmas and New Year. It’s been a while since I last posted. Any advice would be great.
Backs-Whitfield,Holmes,Mills,Travaglia,Allan,Smith
(Reid,Busslinger)
Mids-Bont,Butters,N,Daicos,Day,Oliver,Lalor, Smith,Tsatas,
(Lombard,Robertson,Erasmus)
Rucks-Xerri,De Koning. (Pike)
Fwds-JHF,Macrae,Smith,Parker,Sanders,Daniel
(Kako,Hewett)
Flex-Boyd
Cash$6,100
Looks good Dazz, Personally, would have Boyd at R3 and replace Pike with someone who will play. Also I’d be nervous anti-podding Sheezel. Other than that, looks good!
Yep. I second TJ. Spot on.
Thanx for the advice TJ
I’ve moved Boyd to R 3
I’ve got Matt Whitlock as my Flexi
And Whitfield is out for Sheezel. But to bring in Sheezel I had to trade out Parker for Curtin
So it has been a few years since I have played and this is my first genuine attempt at a team for the year so any feedback would be much appreciated. A couple of notes I am aware that I currently have 6 x Round 3 byes and the rookies are place holders for the moment.
Def: H. Sheezel, D. Houston, H. Perryman, C. Mills, T. Travaglia, S. El-Hawley (Z. Reid, B. Jepson)
Mid: M. Bontempelli, Z. Butters, N. Daicos, A. Bradshaw, C. Oliver, J Smith, X. Lindsay, B. Allan (C. Hall, H. Rowston, M. Hall)
Ruc: T. Xerri, D. Cameron (H.Boyd)
Fwd: J. Horne-Francis, M. Kennedy, J. Macrae, C. Daniel, J. Berry, E. Hewett (N. Erasmus, S. Davidson)
Flex: S. Lalor
Cash Leftover $15,800
Hey, Ella.
Great stuff. Just a heads up that Perryman is not in full training.
Since when? I follow the Pies track reports fairly closely (from track watchers not the club) and he’s been in full training all summer as of Friday.
SEN this week. Haven’t heard anything to contract from club or media since.
He was 100% managed over December.
According to the track watchers that then share the goings on at training he’s been in full training and done all the match sim etc. He might have missed a session here or there, but they all do as part of individual programs. He was definitely playing the full match sim on Friday. And I can confirm he has been training entirely with the mids suggesting a more permanent midfield role.
The main injury concerns ATM are De Goey (bone bruising), Mitchell (stress fracture), Demetria (not sure possible concussion)and Harrison (ACL). There have that seem to be going between rehab and full training during sessions, but those are the main ones. And of course both Daicos brothers have had injury concerns over the preseason but have been in full training for a couple of weeks now.
What you described sounds more like De Goey.
Ella would you have picked Perryman if he was still at GWS?
Probably not at this point of the pre season. But not for the reasons you think. As an avid Collingwood fan I’ve been following the track reports closely, so I know he’s been training entirely as a midfielder and in the Team A v Team B match sim on Friday he was attending the Centre Bounce for Team A, so it could represent value at his $414k price tag.
It’s doubtful I would have picked up that intel at this stage of the preseason if he was still with the Giants. The positional change is why I’ve picked him, but his club switch is why I’m across that information if that makes sense.
Had a few teams know not sure who to go with
This team has contested beasts in it.
Def. H shezzal. L Ryan. C mckercher. C mills. A schoenmaker T travaglia. Bench z Reid. J busslinger.
Mids. Z butters. L neele. P cripps. M Rowell. I cumming. S lalor. S draper. H Langford. Bench B Allen. S el-hawli. N Erasmus.
Ruck. T xerri. L meek. Bench h boys.
Fwds. S Darcy. J macrae. B smith. C Daniel. S Powell pepper. I kako. Bench e hewett. A Johnson.
Flex I. I smith. So what u guys think of this team lots of points and contested beats players
TU: Clark + Parker
TD: NWM + McKercher
Been a while since my last team. I was pretty content with where my team was at, but as the days count down, the resist to tinker with structure and certain picks got the better of me.
Def: H.Sheezel, J.Clark, C.Mills, T.Travaglia, B.Allan, B.Paton // S.El-Hawli, B.Jepson
Mid: M.Bontempelli, Z.Butters, N,Anderson, R.Laird, E.Richards, C.Oliver, J.Smith, E.Tsatas // M.Knevitt, I.Kako, T.Gross
Rucks: M.Gawn, T.Xerri // H.Boyd
Fwd: J.Macrae, R.Sanders, C.Daniel, R.Maric, J.Berry, E.Hewett // C.Stone, S.Davidson
Flex: O.Hollands
ITB: 68k
Feel like I’ve escaped the cookie cutter team I thought I was in when I posted in previous threads.
I love the deep midfield. Although I hate I’m potentially missing so many of the good rookies in there but the premiums look like they could be serious options. I really really like Anderson to come out firing with those nice fixtures. Come Round 6, Laird and Hollands can be moved into Defence, with the hope that upgrade season will be in full effect.
Potential concerns around Round 12 bye. I’m not considering Sanders & Hollands keepers at this point, but if they do by that stage, then I’ll consider them successful picks and cop the loss during that bye.
There looks to be an abundance of defender rookies, that can cover those 6 rounds and hopefully make the cash we want. Same could be said about the forward line. I feel it looks slim, but fading JHF & Smith, I feel I won’t be priced out of them and can pick them up post bye.
I also don’t feel locked into a certain structure with this lineup. Dropping players like Hollands and Maric or making a Clark to Holmes trade can free cash for another premium option, or even fund a player in another position ie: if SDK comes out as starting Ruck, I have some flexibility to get him in.
Thanks for reading, as always, It’s great getting my thoughts out into words.
Starting Laird is a risk. As a defender he might be 95-100 at best. By round 7 he will be cheaper
Agree. When Laird gets DPP he’ll be an excellent def option to bring in but there’s too many good mids to choose from right now to have him take a spot. Dawson is cheaper and will play mid as an example
Maric is such as interesting one. Even if selected Round 1, will we know if he’s on kick outs? A bargain if he is
G’day Derek and Harry, thanks for the reply.
Laird is interesting. It all depends on how much of the kick ins he gets. The Kick in data on DFS only goes as far back as 2021, which is when he moved into the midfield, so we don’t have the data on how many he had when he was already on the back flank. He is definitely a watch through pre-season, and I’d expect if the he looks the goods and the kick ins are there he’d be in a lot more sides than 1%. But I have the cash to get him up to a Uber which is ideal and the flexibility to go down to a 450k if needed. Bye is favorable too.
Just want to see what Dawson is doing first, as he was on a wing before. I don’t want to get stuck with him being Mr Fix It, like last season. But he could be the option I move Laird too if the role is concrete.
Maric is also interesting, training at halfback as an intercepter which is a scoring role. Ball will be in that backline, so can expect him to make cash. But as mentioned at the bottom of my first post, I feel I have a lot of flexibility there. He could go to Hutchinson, who is getting some wing and midfield minutes during preseason or to Sinn who I’ve had before.
It’s just confirming roles through preseason, but the again, the flexibility is there I feel in this team.
I put SDK late last year which was an initial win. Then they put him back in defence and got injured and I ran out of trades so was stuck with him!
He still has plenty of competition for number 1 ruck so not sure he can be trusted to ruck week in week out. If he did, yes would be a great selection as his scoring was excellent
The Traders interviewed Laird during the week and he even said that he will be playing fairly high up the field and was unlikely to be sprinting back to goals to take the kickins. I think he even said Keane would be the main guy. (The Traders kept pushing him for an answer)
Hi TJ, think you have the same issues as me with only 2 premo’s in defence. Think you will need to stiffen that up.
Keep an eye out for who will be Ports Houston replacement and jump on either Dyl Williams or Sinn if it looks like they have that role.
I am thinking of playing a Def in Flex like Dyl Williams to cover my thin defence.
That should of read two and a half premos n Def before the spell checker ate it!
I think you can have 2 premos in defence
Many of the premos this year are too expensive or they have an early bye
Early indications are we might have minimum of 6 rookie defenders this year.
With best 22 of 23 in round 1, then best 18 in rounds 2, 3 and 4, there is a world to just start 2
Yeah won’t know until Round1 about the Def rooks but if I had a crystal ball then: Trav at Saints doesn’t start, either does Patton or Bice (Syd always does this!).El-Hawli prob starts as sub but Zac Reid might be a starter (but look what happened last year with him). Bo Allan is prob the only walk up start. Busslinger/Gunslinger a big maybe and not confident. KSmith Rich??, Peake GWS??,so the list starts to narrow, any of them likely to be dropped and if you need 3 on field, then not ideal.
Trav a watch if Sinclair’s hammy is LT.
Read somewhere that Sinclair’s hammy is ok. Has still put me off him now though
You are correct, happens every year the rookies dry up fast.
At this stage I have Reid, Allen, Trav and Leake in the probable. El-H, Busslinger, Smith and Oliver in the likely
Apparently Trainor is a chance too. Reid will definitely play injury permitting but reckon he’d be lucky to hit 60 most weeks
I’ve been watching Dyl Williams (and Farrell) like a hawk. Great shout, Rod.
Would love if Dyl gets the nod as I need the cash diff between him and Sinn!
Dyl was in the B team today
Looks like Coleman is very unlikely for round 0.
Has had swelling in his knee as he has ramped up his training. He’s been told to rest for next 3 days and reassess.
There’s Milera in that price bracket. He’s a watch.
I’m trying to use cash for Parker or Saunders in forward line and run 3 rookies in defence
TU: Peatling
TD: Sanders
Third draft, so its getting more settled.
Sicily Dale McKercher Mills Travalgia Allan….Reid Bice
Bont Dawson Rozee Day Oliver B Smith Sanders J Smith ..Lalor Smillie Moraes
TDK Jackson….Boiyd
Macrae Daniel Lynch SPP Curtin Bauer…..Kako Berry
JHF
Sic, not settled…see what his role is pre-season. Will be hiding behind the cabbage patch every time Gawn and Xerri play.
Only four genuine rookies on field which allows a lot of depth and 16 possible keepers at a pinch. Jackson looking to go fwd and be replaced by either Gawn or Xerri at some point.
Bauer played three great games to finish 2024, and I’m looking at him as a semi safe rookie. One of the other rookies could become El Hawaii
Hi All,
‘Just read (long read) AFL News re Dr Seuss etc, Richards training with Bont and Libba in mid stoppage role.
Grab some popcorn and have a read, and see if it was just a nightmare I was having cos I nodded off……
I think Richards gets a decent amount of time with Trelor out. But Trelor won’t be out all season
Need to see the CBA split at the Doggies asap.
“Training the house down” Hahaha
Popcorn must have been a bit too strong.
It also got me wondering whether a Flexi is nothing more than a slow moving manual Optimise………
When we played bBL this year, the flex player just seemed like an extra player, didn’t seem to matter what position
Best definition I have seen derek.
Only 3 positions in BBL…..
Ella would you have picked Perryman if he was still at GWS?
Second go. Comments appreciated.
Sheezel, Holmes, Mills, Travaglia, Allan, Busslinger – Reid, Leake
Bont, Serong, Zerrett, Oliver, Ashcroft, Parker, Lalor, Kako – Knevitt, Hewett, El-Hawli
Xerri, De Koning – Boyd
JHF, McCrae, Smith, Sanders, Daniel, Lynch – Berry, Hall
Flex: Hutchinson
Wanted Powell-Pepper if fit. Might change Zerrett to Day to get him and have 60k leftover
i’m thinking the same structure, only 3 premos (including mills) in defense and load up the mid-pricers in the forwards
Teams are all starting to look pretty similar ATM, just gotta wait pending practice games now to sort the wheat from the chaff. Quick TU TD…
L Ryan & B Dale
NWM & McKercher
Hmmmm, closer than i thought…
my son said he read an update on Saturday 8th Feb that RoMo will be out 6-8 weeks, was at the end of an article about Max King, Sinclair and Mason Wood injury updates. I can’t find anything, has anyone else read/heard this to confirm?
AFL.com injury update for Saints on Feb 7, has RoMo ready to play round 1.
DEF: Sheezel, Whitfield, Mills, B. Allan, Z. Reid, Leake (Travaglia, El-Hawli)
MID: Butters, N. Daicos, A. Brayshaw, Oliver, W. Ashcroft, Peatling, O’Driscoll, J. Smith (Langford, L. Ashcroft, E. Hewett)
RUC: Xerri, T. De Koning (A. Reid or Boyd)
FWD: Horne-Francis, J. Macrae, B. Smith, C. Daniel, Maric, Lynch (Erasmus, Davidson)
FLEX: L. Reidy
$68,500 Surplus
Discuss…
Like to get some opinions on something I’m pondering.
I can start with Xerri in the ruck and only 4K ITB or drop him down to Jackson and start the season with 141K ITB.
Not something I would normally consider but it gives me a lot of cash to sideways/upgrade any of Mills (M3), Oliver (M5), Ashcroft (M6), Macrae (F2), B.Smith (F3) or Sanders (F4) should any of them not be working out after a few rounds.
Getting off to a good start is just so crucial so having bank for corrections is tempting, and the amount of mid-pricers I’m running at the moment concerns me, I would normally be more G’n’R.
Of course if they all come off I’ve then got bank to start on rookie upgrades early.
If I start Jackson I’d aim to swing him fwd at some point.
Thoughts?
Personally think it’s bit of a risk with Xerri a certain 1st ruck and Jackson probably just filling in until Darcy comes back and talk about Liam Ready impressing, but have to admit I have Jackson as my flex as he can score big
Jackson should finish top 6 FWD, so I think your plan is solid.
Yep the number of midpricers is concerning and this seems to happen every year. We get excited about them but often don’t work out.
However, this year there seems to be a lot more fallen premos so you can pick with more confidence. Mills, Oliver, Parker, Daniel and Macrae have all been guns so hard to ignore.
I’m wavering on the others though I must admit.
B Smith- Geelong love ‘managing’ players and he’s back from an ACL. I think he’ll get less TOG than we want
Sanders- Looks primed but we all know who his coach is
Schoenmaker- Seems he’ll clearly make money but he almost needs to be a keeper at his price and not sure he is. There might be enough def value rookies
Peatling- How much mid time does he get? So many names being thrown into Crows midfield at the moment
Maric seems a punt as he’s almost rookie priced and looks like he’ll play half back. If T Lynch gets back to anywhere near his best he should make 200k+ at his price.
Decisions, decisions……. 🙂
Is this team too risky – Too many mid pricers?
Backs,
Sheezel, Rivers, Short, Roberts, Mills, Travaglia, (Reid, Trainor)
Mids,
Bont, Laird, Horne-Francis, Oliver, Peatling, Sanders, Daniel, El-Hawli (Lalor, J.Smith, E.Hewitt)
Ruck,
Jackson, Sweet (T. Campbell)
For,
Kennedy, McCrae, B. Smith, Parker, Lynch, Powell-P, (Ramsden, Erasmus)
Flexi – Reidy
Anthony it looks like you are avoiding rookies. Find some cash cows and use the spare cash to turn some midpricers into premos
Anything that should be changed here? Havent kept overly up to date recently in the pre-season and worried I’ve gone a bit week in DEF.
DEF: Sheezel, Sinclair, Mills, Coleman, Allan, Smith (Reid) (Bice)
MID: Bont, Neale, Green, Oliver, Peatling, Lalor, Smith, Ashcroft (Travaglia) (Hewett) (El-Hawli)
RUCK: Xerri, De Koning (Boyd)
FWD: JHF, Macrae, Baz, Sanders, Daniel, Lynch (Erasmus) (Davidson)
FLEX: Flynn
Coleman is out for 6 weeks according to AFL.com.
Just changed my ruckz let me know what u think. I went gawn and witts instead of xeri. And meek. What do u think I guess I like a different pod to other teams
My new team is. Still trying decided.
Def.
Ryan, j siclly. C mills. A schoenmaker. T travaglia. C mckercher. Bench Reid. Busslinger.
Mids
W Ashcroft. L neele. P cripps. M Rowell. A Bradshaw. S lalor. J smith. S draper. Bench b Allan. S el-hawli. N Erasmus.
Rucks,
M gawn. J witts. Bench h boyd.
Fwds.
S Darcy j macrae. B smith. C Daniel, I kako. J berry. Bench e hewett. S Davidson.
Flex I.
H Langford.
Every bye rd I have 23 players it’s a bit different from other teams might work might not
My final team not including rookies
Def – Sheezel, Whitfield, Clark, Mills, Travaglia, Allan (Leake, Rice)
Mid – Bont, Butters, Serong, Green, Ashcroft x 2, Smith, Smillie (Kako, El-Hawli, Anderson)
Rucks – Xerri, Nank (Boyd)
Forwards – Macrae, Smith, Sanders, Daniel, Berry, Erasmus (Hewitt, Davidson)
Flex – Sheldrick
Sanders is the sleeper pick this year, i havent seen him much but with the injuries coming in thick and fast for the dogs, surely he cant be bevod 2 years in a row and he will get midfield minutes
Still undecided who will have the best scorer between these two players
TU – Parker
TD – Peatling
Thanks all.