I’m actually thinking this is Darcy’s breakout year and he’ll play ruck a lot more and get DPP. Flex is not as important rounds 2-4 also with best 18. So I’m planning on running with someone like S Bolton as flex early rounds and have Darcy FWD, then make him flex when he gets DPP. Boyd should also be playing early rounds for ruck coverage. That’s of course if my theory holds water!
Thoughts on Peatling please.
What do we expect him to average?
How many $ will he make in 6 weeks?
I know that his non-sub average at giants was exceptional and based on that he is way under priced but, giants aren’t adelaide.
Dawson dropped 13 points in ave when he moved to Adelaide with a massive increase in mid time.
Adelaides highest averaging mids last year
Crouch 105.5
Laird 104.1
Dawson 102.1
(Not many teams had 3 mids averaging over 100 last year)
Sholl, Soligo & Dowling all ave in 80’s.
Best case scenario would see Peatling replace Crouch.
Cumming will play half back so doubtful that Laird will move out of the mids if Milera is playing and Dawson isn’t going anywhere.
Rankine and Rachelle want increased mid time, Soligo & Dowling deserve more, Curtain is being touted as a big bodied midfielder and Draper also looks good.
How much time as a pure mid is peatling going to get?
I don’t think that he’ll have enough time on-ball to average what everybody is predicting.
I’m paying a few extra $ for Harley he’s got much more stamina and strength this year is the #1 mid at west coast I expect an ave of 105+ from him over first 7 rounds , if Peating outscores him in the first 2-weeks it’s an easy downgrade for me.
If I start peatling and he just shares time and ave 85, I may as well spend the $ elsewhere and downgrade to a rookie
I also don’t like the fact that Peatling hasn’t been mentioned in any player interviews or match sim reports on crows website.
I remember when Keays first joined the crows on the back of limited opportunities and great SC scores when he did get a full game. We all started him expecting him to be a gun and then he predominantly played a totally different role to what we expected and was a bargain supercoach spud
I have Ashcroft & Oliver. Cerra ceiling is very poor and his durability is questionable. I think Ried Ceiling is well above 150, he knocked out a lazy 147 in his 6th game, and he could have an Oliver or Cripps like 2nd year.
If Peatling pumps out 90+ scores in his first 2 games, I usually have an expensive player who spudded and will be dropping a few $k plus an overpriced rookie and dirt cheap rookie that I missed so he will be a relatively easy get. 🙂
If Peatling gets the minutes/role then I feel like he gets the points.
Last year, he had 11 games that appear to be non sub games (range from 82-104 minutes, his other 6 games were 36 minutes or less) and scored 997 points (90.6 average) in 1,031 minutes at 0.97 ppm.
Priced at 65, if he gets to 90 thats a 25 point improvement and with good grouping of good scores could net you $200k.
It seems that a lot are putting a ruckman into the flex position, the flex is just another player on the field so you get the best 22/23 scores. I would think a DPP mid/fwd for example, would get you more points and more opportunity for swapping players around. Am I missing something, I have been playing SC BBL and your flex player there is just one of the players who may or may not get a high score that helps with your final score.
Last year 3 of the top 10 scorers were rucks and this year it might be 4 or 5 if they play every game
If the 3rd best ruck scores more points than the 9th best mid it’s a win for the strategy and it also provides cover if one of your rucks gets a short term injury.
The top 2 rucks seem to be Gawn and Xerri so starting 1 of them as flex and taking a risk on a Conway or someone at R2 could also be viable.
Hi Waldorf was thinking the same as you however was convinced that 3rd ruck cover is important if short term injury to ruck as you will run a duck or waste a trade. Unless you have a playing 3rd ruck I think it needs to be a ruck flex
I have a different view. I just look at the flexi as a free hit. I am looking at putting my best “extra” player there to hopefully get rid of a lower score. Midfielders normally score more and are generally easier to move around as you generally have dpp to fill the hole. X factors could also be your flexi – when they hit they can scorers big and when they flip you have your best 22 anyway as coverage. If a sub hits then you can put a premium as your flexi. Flexi is just free insurance
JHF, B.Smith, Phillipou, Daniel, Curtin, Kako // Hewett, Erasmus
Lindsay.
Tossing up a higher end premium and Peatling, or Macrae and a cheaper rookie. Think Macrae will stay an obtainable price throughout without too much damage. Peatling cheaper and I think will average 5-10ppg higher. The rest I think I’m set on. If Pittonet is playing R1, I’ll look at Darcy or Meek. Think I might take a DPP Mid/Fwd as my loop this year.
Macrae wont be playing as a fwd or be given the limited game time he got last year. He’ll be starting centre square in a role where ave over 115 for almost a decade.
Lyon saw a weakness in the spine of his team and recruited Macrae to fill it while his youth develop
I agree with where we will play but I don’t think he will go at 115 again though. I would be thinking he goes at 95-100 which doesn’t put him unattainable. It’s just trying to pick those 250-350k guys and get them right. I have no doubt Macrae will be a keeper, just wanted to try and savw that 50-80k and use it elsewhere. But doesn’t matter now, with Poo out, I’ve squeezed Macrae back in.
I’ve done Poo & Peatling to Macrae and Sinn via Allan DPP into Mids. I like the look of a deeper defence, and if Sinn gets that role, he will be a great cash gen. Gives me a DPP position in the mids.
To copy and paste with changes above:
Def: Sheezel, Sinclair, Clark, Mills, Sinn, Travaglia // Smith El-Hawli
Who gets Houstons Job? Would be great if was sinn but I think that would be asking too much when we can get all of those other bargains.
I like your team above mid bench is brilliant but 7 onfield rookies is too many, when 1st lockout comes around you’ll be frantically rejigging.
But it’s still January and all teams posted here are just thoughts atmo
looking at Peatlings 11 games where he wasn’t the sub last year he averaged 90.6. i think that is his basement and with a better role at the Crows i can see him scoring 100.
Phillipou had a role change for his last 4 games and averaged 94.5. if he has a similar role this year that should be around the mark, and as a forward that might be good enough. He isn’t in my team until i see what is role will be and what it looks like with Macrae in the midfield
the $300k-$390k price is awkward because you almost need them to score 100 to justify their selection and at that scoring they are near a keeper.
I don’t like to have too many in the team, at the moment Mills, Smith, and Macrae are locked in and i’m confident with their ability as they are all fallen premiums. Picking the ‘break-out’ is harder, and until Coleman’s injury concerns i was happy with him ahead of Peatling or Philipou
Don’t think you can call flex a complete ‘free hit’ when you are still paying money for the player you select there that comes out of your team budget and impacts decisions you make elsewhere…
I think for Boyd to be an effective R2, you would want to be reasonably sure he’d get a 6 game run at it. If Marshall is back Round 3, it would take away the effectiveness. My safety first approach is to have Boyd at R3, and if he is outscoring one of my onfield rookies, I might just have to grit my teeth and accept it, but enjoy the cash gen.
Wow R2 that’s aggressive! If that comes off what a way to make money early. Don’t think I have the kahunas….
But various comments have scared me off Flynn at R2 so I plan to have Xerri, TDK and Boyd as the ruck line. I’m also now not set on having a ruck as flex if my 3 ruckmen are playing
Gidday all
being SA and watcher of SANL games Boyd is a serious player if you check his SA career
Surprised he was never drafted. wount be surprised if SK play 2 rucks
not the tallest Ruck at 198cm but strong bullocking type like Xerri/Briggs, gets his share of clearances and plenty of tackles. High disposal avge for a Ruck at 20/game but pretty low DE at 41%
Looking like I am going to have to cut my M3 down again (Was orig Daicos, then Green, now maybe Ashcroft?), To fund Pou to maybe back to Parker? Or who else around that $350 mark??
Parker could easy be the Zorko or Couch or Yeo of last year, or Ziebell, Hall or Daniher of previous years, the fallen premium who kills your season if you don’t have him
This is the risk we have once we have liked the structure of our early teams – if one goes down, we immediately look for a like for like replacement. If we don’t have Coleman and Philippou, my starting point was to go Doedee…still in rehab….ok Milera. For Philippou, maybe Parker or Sanders. What we get left with is players we are not so fond of, just to get structure. Sometimes it’s good to clear team and restart the process instead of just filling gaps. I’m looking at Perryman and SPP. Gives me 3 rookies onfield in the fwd line and 3 midpricers in defense, but I am just going to let it sit and see if I can warm to it as a structure
I’m running with Holmes and Rankine but not sure either are ultra popular picks so might be PODs. My only concern with Rankine is injury, think he’ll get plenty of mid time so I’m prepared to start him.
WCE supporters have convinced me to shelve Flynn unless he emerges as a standout R1 but that seems very doubtful right now.
I have 1 extra gun mid in my structure and less heavy in DEF than you but if Flanders can replicate last year it’s probably not much difference either way. Good luck!
Thanks for the reply mate.
Yeah, Flanders seems a good differential to me as most are going with Sheezel.
Rankine an easy switch to Moore/Jackson perhaps if need be, but happy to start with him of fit.
Can’t decide on the Flex really. Flynn seems a popular pick and I’ve read differing opinions on his viability, but sub 280k is a tricky price range to fill that spot.
Also thinking of going Massimo over Oliver as another POD.
It’s only my second season on SuperCoach, so still learning.
Well flex is theoretical for everyone right now and you can see a wide range of opinions even on this forum. I was dead set on ruck as flex initially but have changed that thought and now running with S Bolton. But that’ll probably change 10 times before the season!
Oliver is SC royalty if right. But at the moment that’s a big IF and we’re all waiting to see what happens in pre season matches. I’d keep him in for now but fully aware you need a plan B. I’m thinking Ashcroft or Parker if Oliver doesn’t look right to save structure
Nice one, thanks again.
Bolton would be great as Flex, but it’s a stretch to get him at that price. Inevitable re-shuffles over the next month or so though, so will see what happens with injuries and fitness.
Parker is a good shout, as he is more affordable with current setup and could have high upside.
Like this side. Thinner midfield may be the way to go.
Flanders has a criminally good fixture. Accumulator, hitting his prime, great attributes.
You’re on the money there. Easy start.
I wouldn’t get too caught on on PODs and differentiating though. PODs/against the grain picks only work if they have upside or can outperform or atleast match their popular counterparts.
Don’t go for low ownership players for the sake of it. Not to say you are, your team and selections look really well thought through. Just don’t be turned off say a Sheezel because he’s 55% ownership. I’d have him over Whitfield. Younger, more scope, no bye.
Re: Sheezel/Whitfield – I suppose I thought too many North players was a bit unbalanced and maybe a bit of nostalgia got in the way as Whitfield was a great player for me last season. Sheezel is so highly owned, it does seem a bit daft to go against that one.
Agree totally gd. Pod if really good only retail pod for an about 2 rounds as everyone jumps on. Is the risk worth a few extra points for a couple of weeks.
I’m thinking left field for my flex. Looking to start both Xerri and Gawn. Allows great v/c flexibility with Bont. Then Jackson as flex. Played all game’s last year, means two rucks in every bye round, excellent cover for any Gawn/Xerri injury, and a 2024 average of 94 fine for a flex. Will have some down days, but also some huge ones when Darcy misses his usual 6-8 games.
Like this thinking. I have been a consistent Jackson owner in previous years and have been burnt by those ‘down days’ when his score had to be included in your weekly total. The flex role is perfect for players with a massive ceiling and range of scores, such as Jackson and Bolton. I also like the security of having an extra player as ruck cover.
What is the consensus on North’s mature recruits?
Will they take points from Sheezel & McKercher due to there now being 6 or 7 footballers in the team to share the ball around with confidence?
Sheezel looks great but at that price as a supposed mid/fwd this year it’s a concern if Parker takes some of his ball
Both in my team currently David, but both a firm pre-season watch. I love Sheezel but hard to pay over $600k if his role is uncertain despite his quality, McKercher could be great value but could also become awkward if his scores are capped by his role.
Just ran an interesting experiment picking the best team I could with all players sub 500k and just having 8 rookies on the bench. The obviously flawed line is the rucks but the rest is decent. Experminetal only of course but not the worst team in the world!
FWD: JHF Macrae B.Smith Daniel Lynch Hewett ( M.Hall J.Berry)
FLEX: Boyd
CASH: $22,500
Not sold on TDK i want Darcy but will be a wait and see with the Qatar situation. Steele -> Ashcroft is really tempting me but I’ll just wait for practice matches.
Yeah very risky but with some help around him now with macrae and the pou finding his feet now (when he returns) will only help. His body hasn’t been 100% the last two seasons. But last year he showed glimpses of that ceiling. I think he gets back to 110+ seasons avg. I think people forget just how good he was. But far from locked in.
Argh. I hate to piss on your bonfire, Mav, but I don’t see it.
Macrae won’t roll back Steele’s regression these last few years or give him back that edge he lost after repeat AC injuries.
122, 126, 109, 94, 108.
Weak engine room. One of the weakest in the comp frankly. Saints were the worst centre clearance side last year (18th) and 15th for stoppage clearances. A couple of kids and Macrae aren’t changing that.
Not to mention RoMo either doesn’t play R1 or will be tender and limited.
Also (sorry to keep doing this lol), the Saints play more games in South Australia than in Melbourne over the first five games. Opponents themselves aren’t too bad but they’re gonna be on the road, slumming it.
We’ve all wanted Steele to still have that dawg in him and whip back to 120s. I just think it’s a tough ask all things considered.
Have loaded up in the MIDs to stick with what I know – but will keep an eye on Oliver, Peatling, Ashcroft etc. in pre-season games to see how they look. I like the spread in DEF so if a MID premo drops I will probably go up to another DEF premo.
The MID spend is still something I’m thinking about. Didn’t realise that it’s kinda easy to fit in 5 MID premos if you go with a cheaper flex and go all in on a cheap FWD line. Still 47k in the bank as well! But if some MIDs like Ashcroft, Oliver, Peatling show value in pre-season (even looking at guys like Taranto or Cerra) then will shift and shuffle and probably spend that extra $$ in DEF where it’s actually worthwhile.
Just made quick change. Took peatling out put in i Cummings then removed merrit for butters. And Bradshaw instead of serong. Removed j clark for shezell. I think those changes to my team be perfect to start of strong
DEF: Sinclair, Holmes, McKercher, Mills, Travaglia, Allan (Reid, Busslinger)
Honestly the uncertainty around Sheezel’s role scares me, and Sinclair has better looking legs so he gets the D1 spot. Completely unsure if Holmes is a good SC player, but he’s one I enjoy to watch, so why not give myself an actual excuse to put Geelong games on this year?
MID: Bontempelli, Serong, Rozee, Oliver, W. Ashcroft, Smith, Draper, Langford (Robertson, El-Hawli, Erasmus)
Possibly the weakest midfield I’ve fielded at Round 1 (Round 0????), but I am unfortunately incapable of resisting the ridiculous value presented. As a Melbourne fan, I am legally obligated to have Oliver in the team. Rozee and Ashcroft are both players I rate so highly, and Serong is there so I can be extra entertained whenever he goes off against West Coast.
RUC: De Koning, Sweet (Boyd)
I won’t lie to you, not having Gawn in my team makes me feel naked, but that’s just so much money, and I am but a poor, struggling student. TDK is definitely (read: hopefully) going to be the solo ruck. I’ve opted for Sweet over Xerri purely because I don’t trust people that have a name starting with X, but also because I’m convincing myself that Xerri will fall in price sooner rather than later, whereas Sweet should hit an upward trajectory.
FWD: Horne-Francis, Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Lynch, Curtin (Kako, Hewett)
Boy oh boy, what a dearth of premium options do we have here. This forward line seems eerily similar to majority of forward lines I’ve seen skimming through here, so I doubt it needs much explanation.
FLEX: Luke Jackson
The only person I’d trust to explain what the Flex is to me is Luke Jackson, in his infinite wisdom, and so that is why Luke Jackson can have the spot for himself.
Cash: $3,400
Incredibly broke, rookies are obviously subject to change. Also fully expecting someone to let me know of 143 injuries that affect my team that I just haven’t heard any news about yet.
Only 1830 at this early stage, but that’s with projections for Cumming, Peatling, Daniel and SPP types around the 60mark. Obviously we hope for better from these guys!!
Ok, you’ve been tortured with my ramblings, I will show you what I have so far (subject to change at any moment or when the next good idea comes up, what ever comes first) and try and reason my logic/excuse:
Mills, IMO the engine mid and cheap
Budarick, Schoenmaker, Sinn, Travaglia, Smith, IMO possibly running HB, with maybe some kick ins due to current injuries and trades
El-Hawli, Bice, Seem like nice options
Brayshaw, Dawson, IMO the chief commanders in control of the various mid rotations.
Richards, IMO the new main man with the “older” mids more time forward (Hi Bevo!)
Rozee, IMO possibly the general and cheap
Oliver, IMO…. Well, um, not sure really, maybe I’m turning religious coz he’s cheap
Lalor, Hopefully he only has the weight of the world on his shoulders and not the universe
O’Driscoll, IMO Cheap and wing and may miss some mid rotations
Smith, Refer Lalor
L.Ashcroft, Lombard, IMO, may play emergency for first few,
Allan, Not sure really, but a good Flex option
Gawn, Xerri and Reid, Does anyone not know why yet? LOL
JHF, IMO Part of more mid
Jackson, Mainly because of more ruck work, not flex option LOL
Macrae, Smith and Daniel, as per the majority of the SCT universe
Hewett, Refer above to Allan, but with a bit more confidence
Erasmus, Refer O’Driscoll but DPP
Stone, Refer Defence
Boyd, Subject to change each round, depending mostly on which Ruck has the latest game of the round.
Currently ITB 542,400,
Remember subject to gullibility of pre-season games and injuries (Still there Bevo?)
Well reasoned, some nice POD’s (particularly like the Budarick pick as I considered him but don’t have the knackers for it) and I like the ruck/flex options.
Def line is the only one that would scare me a bit.
Best of luck for the season.
I understand that the Flex position is new to all this year. I am not having a crack at anyone that is going down the path of the Flex needing to be a Ruck, but the Flex player takes your lowest score out of the onfield 22.
So covers ruck if a ruck is out, but you don’t need a Ruck positional player to do this. Perhaps I have misinterpreted but I am going a mid to upper mid for value and points only.
Happy to cop a pasting over this, but this is how I am reading it.
Started with Phillipou now going W Ashcroft for Flex for me at the moment to maximise a few blinding scores and retain cash Gen in he mids.
That is exactly how I see it,
The flex replaces your lowest score irrespective of the position.
So pick someone who will score 60-80 consistently and increase in price.
Agree no right or wrong as it is a new idea to the game, but trying to cover 22 players for the bye rounds at the beginning of the season is hoping for a bit, most people would have used 10-15 trades by round 12 so your team is totally different. Rd 12 bye is going to be the killer for most people I think.
I am with you on the flex position I am looking at somebody who can average say 70-80, in the $300-$400K range and hopefully play every game, not worrying about ruck, mid, def, fwd positions as the final score is the best 22 from 23. I might have it all wrong, time will tell, flex will be handy for bye rounds especially Rd12 where I have a shortfall at the moment. The only issue I have with having a ruck as flex is the cost.
Hi Chameleon, wow this is left field but some might be inspired.
It’s a no for me for Budarick (they were saying the same thing last year!). Schoenmaker and Sinn both too unproven for me and it’s a big step for those two I reckon. Sinclair will be the main Def distributor at the Saints and at Port I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Burgoyne or Farrell who I rate above Sinn.
Highly consider SDK in Def if he gets the no1 Ruck spot at Geel (then you will have a team full of Rucks). Or if you want another POD Lobb wouldn’t be the worst option if you can trust Bevo… which the answer is no (I have neither at this stage but putting it out there while I am left of field!).
Brayshaw and Dawson…maybe ok. I get that you are avoiding early bye players but its not worth butchering your Team for it. Brayshaw at M3 maybe but at M1? Yeah not sure. Hey might be inspired, time will tell.
Richards/Rozee I would combine to get at least one more Super Premo. Bont, Butters, Daicos or Green or mine. Both together are too risky. Richards will be a rollercoaster.
Rucks, yeah love that setup with Gawn and Xerri (I am going TDK in place of Gawn because I cant fit both Gawn and Bont together easily). Archer Reid at R3 may not be there early but who knows after WC lose a few early.
Rookies will be a wait and see in practice matches including NOD.
Jackson. Burnt me last year at really bad times. I am not going there again. But enjoy the ride, another rollercoaster. I think I would rather take a punt on Rankine at over 500k but you already have Dawson (Dawson and Rankine). Maybe I have been listening to too many Phantom podcasts which has a big Crows/Port bent!
And Lastly Boyd as the Flexi, Yep I am all in like…well, not Flynn but I may have to reassess that if Boyd doesn’t get up. Would be a real shame.
Your def comments will be looked at, note Farrell is currently injured, that’s why he was swapped, and SDK for Budarick, if he rucks practice games, and Sinclair for maybe Schoey then. The words “trust” and “Bevo” in the same sentence have confused me however.
You were also right in assessing why I had the specific teams in mid.
I’ve nicknamed them my No.2s, ( no, not because they were crap last year), but because they will step up a notch this year and help with some more excess money.
Thank you for the understanding of the rucks.
Jackson will not be there if Darcy is to start on time. As suggested Rankine will be there.
If Boyd doesn’t play, maybe I can put Jackson there and Rankine fwd and etc, etc LOL
So thanks again Rod, I will play around as suggested and hopefully Bevo likes it.
DEF = Sheezel, McGovern, Holmes, Mills, Travaglia, Busslinger // El-Hawli, Bice
Gov/Holmes a bit PODy, Gov is always injury risk but looked superb in ’24, played nearly all games, if Stewart stays back, Danger forward, Holmes pace and ball-use should see improvement, even with Smith inclusion.
MID = Bont, Butters, Serong, Oliver, W.Ashcroft, Jagga, L.Ashcroft, Smillie // Lombard, Allan, Erasmus
Bont might change depending if MrMagnets uses him more forward to cover Jamara. Possibly swap 1 or 2 of the dearer Rookies for cheaper, possibly not.
RUCK = Gawn, Xerri // Sims
Top 2 for now. 1 or both could become 1 or both of TDK/Sweet
FWD = JHF, Macrae, Daniel, Curtin, Kako, Hewett // Johnson, Davidson
Thin line I think. No Smith. If I opt for cheaper Rucks I’d look at Rankine in for a Rookie.
FLEX = Boyd
for now. Could yet be R2 depending RoMo injury….and a lot of unknowns to try to evaluate
R12 bye looks terrible too, definitely plenty to tinker with yet!
18% ownership. Would be more were it not for the bye. Excellent pick. I’m on him too.
I don’t think you can pass on Smith. 400k, new club, reinvigorated, lot to prove, good age profile, OB/stoppage role. Should get enough ball it compensates for his terrible use.
I’d cut down on a few of the expensive rookies and bring him in.
GD’s point about the excellent early draw for GC is well made. I can see that’s a fair argument to carry perhaps one of the GC/GWS players through their R2 bye.
So far, the emphasis is on Flanders for that. I am considering Anderson instead. I did see on some content that his average when they win is much higher and when they lose is lower. So we should get the early big scores. The positive with Flanders is that he is a likely top 6 defender, but whether Anderson can be a top 10 mid for the season is less clear. The positives for Anderson are the 70k savings and the clearer certainty around role. If GC can win more games this year and his scoring follows, he might be a chance to be a proper premium.
Thanks for the feedback GD. Appreciate the time. So i had a tinker and if i remove cerra and oliver i get take bont or butters but that brings a rookie on field in the mids, which could be L. Ashcroft. Then allows me to get lynch in fwd line 41k ITB.
Dont know how i feel anout bont and butters. just real expensive and I love Neale at M1.
This is my other tinkering which involces risk taken at R2 but i get smith off the field and take rivers in the mids, brayshaw to richards and parker comes in for curtain
DEF = Whitfield, Zorko, J.Clark, Mills, Travaglia, Allan (Reid, Leake)
Given their friendly bye, team outlook, and scoring profile, is anyone else considering doubling up and getting both Serong & Brayshaw? I don’t want to leave either one out tbh
I definitely think it is viable but i couldnt bring myself to do it. Last year I had to sit and watch Serong and brayshaw tear it up as I already had young, jackson and Ryan (My rule is no more than 3 premos from a side). Personally since freo have so many SC relevant options I want to assess them all and work out which 3 I’m going to want come their bye. I think both are great options but for me I’m likely going to select 1 and see what the other freo options start the season like.
The flexibility of Jackson as flex (forgive the pun !! ) appeals as he can be substituted as flex on his bye rounds with any forward then benched, as well as swapping with a R3 dpp during the bye rounds of your starting rucks. With a sole ruck flex, punters are restricted to those not on the same bye as their two starting rucks.
You can get ruck cover by having ANY player in your flex spot. If you want to use Bont or Sheez or Flanders as flex to cover your ruck gaps during any short term injury, or a bye, that’s ok.
Having a third ruck somewhere is less of an issue, although, since rucks tend to score highly if you want a consistent performer in the flex position a ruck might be a good choice.
But tbh, Boyd or even Barnett based on match practice gives you a cheap R3. Heck, I’ve even seen Boyd at R2 due to the Marshall injury.
Boyd is currently my Flex, based on the theory of using a high risk/reward player in Flex position, until we see what he does in some pre season matches. Although a Tom Lynch or Nick Larkey type with a high ceiling but a lower average makes sense too.
At the moment there’s no proof of any particular winning strategy for the flex position. So long as you’ve got someone who’s scoring in there.
Macrae won’t take points off Steele. Every team has a midfield. If anything, the addition of a consistent, accumulating midfielder is a positive. Saints were 18th for centre clearances and 15th for stoppage clearances.
Just a matter of whether Macrae’s still got it in him to make that contribution.
I don’t see Steele as relevant due to the double AC joint injuries, trajectory and Saints profile and fixture but the arrival of Macrae is no reason to strike him off.
Total misnomer that MIDs “take points” off one another. Look at the Dogs over the last few years: Bont, Libba, Dunks, Macrae, Treloar, Richards. Precisely because they were stacked OB that their MIDs flourished.
Fair points GD, it was a flippant response that should have included your injury/profile/fixture points.
I think you could argue that Richards and Treloar “took points” off Macrae last year – as a result of them being OB more often he wasn’t in there as much which I would suggest contributed to a drop in his point scoring – but I take your point that if both Macrae and Steele play as pure mids it’s entirely possible that they could both score well.
Made a few changes to my team. Think this one is better.
Def. H sheezel. M holmes. J Sicily. C mills. J sink. T travaglia. Bench. Reid. J busslinger.
Miss. Bont. Z merrett. M Rowell. C Oliver. W Ashcroft. J smith. S draper. J skill is.bench B Allen. S el-hawli. N Erasmus.
Ruck . T xerri. Tdk. Bench h boys.
Fwds S Darcy. J macrea. B smith. C Daniel. T lynch. I kako. Bench hewett. S Davidson.
Flex m Flynn. Know I have 4 ruck options. I do think sam Darcy will explode this year. And not sure about matt Rowell be him of jhf. I sorta want a different team to the rest
Granted I’m gonna have a challenge in Round 12, but am hopeful I’m able to trade myself into coverage.
What this structure does provide is
– potentially 6 potentially bonafide mids for early season points,
– decent top-liners across all lines,
– loads of value picks
– players that have been in the system for a few years to cut-down on donuts,
– most of the highest selected players to start, and
– 3 potential playing rucks and a R/F swing on the forward bench for captain loop and future flex.
I like the structure, so will keep it until after the praccy and preseason games. Rookies are placeholders. After all selections there’s currently $88.3k ITB. Constructive feedback appreciated.
I’m hoping Boyd will be an early viable R2 and use Flynn as Flex. It’s the one position I’m really not happy with at this point.
Quite possibly will have go Gawn or TDK instead and lose one of the premos in defence or mid, and top up Flynn to a 400k player, or downgrade Peatling and a Rookie to upgrade Flynn to Gawn. Or leave the structure and go Sweet for Flynn, and Peatling down to a rookie.
There’s options available, for sure.
At this stage there’s a lot of theoretical rookies who can fit the bill in every position, like
D: Busslinger, Bice, K Smith
M: Hall, Draper, Lindsay, Hall
F: Davidson, Moir, Shanahan, Simpson, Stone, Fullarton, Hall, Curtin.
Not that this is an exhaustive list.
I don’t have a true donut player yet so that’s another 20k at least I have in the kitty for the upgrade.
We’re still a few weeks away from the rookie question to be answered and there’s still more preseason matches (and injuries) to come, so it’s about structure not exact names.
Not a bad Team Tinka. Maybe too many high priced Rookies there in you mids so see how they perform. I would take a couple of them out, shift Travalia into Def and stiffen up your Def a little more.
Thanks for the feedback. I have paid up atm for the top rookies and hope to down grade a couple and make another keeper or two if possible, Green in mid or Sinclair down back would be nice. Cheers
But Barass was typically a high 70’s low 80’s guy. I would think that Maric might therefore be a high 60’s low 70’s. This might give you 150k cash gen, but really not more cash gen than a cheaper rookie with little difference in points on field. Feels like a rookie might be just as effective.
Looks like it atmo mate and we all know what taking most of the kickins can do for a SC score, I have him at F6 until the praccy matches show a better alternative he could even be an option for flex
FWD: JHF, S. Bolton, J. Macrae, Daniel, Curtin, Kako (J. Berry & C. Stone)
FLEX: W. Ashcroft
I note my midfield may look a little on but these are the dice I am choosing to roll at the moment. I think Clayton will bounce back, Neale will back it up again but not so sure on Bont this year (thus omitted).
Bailey Smith is a notable omission as are a few high priced rookies. Shoemaker is a risk. Wait and see on practice matches.
Flexing with W Ashcroft – if he can pick up where he left off from last year, he could squeeze into a top 8 mid. Good cash Gen option too if he can average 100+ and substitutes a predictable numpty score from a rookie each week.
Still some tinkering required but got the bones of my structure. $180k ITB to play with.
Mids don’t look too bad if you consider Ashcroft is the Flex (looks great actually if Hewett is the Flex and it’s exactly the same result pretty much).
Baz Smith over Bolton for me easily with extra cash left over…
I’d back W Ashcroft to outscore Boyd week in week out. Boyd is a first year AFL ruckman, with sweet FA job security. Ashcroft just won a norm smith medal, premiership and blitzed the last 5 games of 2024.
Boyd sits on my bench and may generate cash, and may provide some bye ruck coverage for the byes, big if! R2 or Flex for Boyd is a trap.
Good points. That’s the beauty of the flex as I see it, takes out the bottom score, but if Hewett brains it one week and tonnes up, I keep the score. My philosophy on flex is an up and coming premo mid.
Will likely find a way to squeeze in Baily Smith, not at the expense of Bolton through. I reckon he is primed for a SC friendly role with Freo.
What’s the news on S Bolton being out for first 4 rounds re HH. Pinged a calf a few days ago according to the Independent State of WA rag… but out for the next 3 months??
Thoughts are:
* Have about 5 captain/vice choices (Sheezel, Bont, Butters, Brayshaw, Xerri)
* Try not to have too many high draft rookies. We do every year and often the cheaper options outscore them. Will know more after practice matches.
* Tossing up flex options still. Had Lalor there a few times. Hopefully Powell-Pepper is fully fit. Time will tell.
* Have one non-playing rookie with a mid-fwd option to assist captain loop. Not sure if the Bombers play many late games.
* Also unsure how the team fares with the fixture and the bye rounds yet.
* Believe that Holmes will continue to improve and that W Ashcroft will go to a new level. He has to show bro who is the boss surely 😉
* Did consider Boyd as R2 but that might be cray cray. Looking forward to seeing how he works with Ro.
Not sure a v/c loop is as important this year. Eight bye rounds give an auto loop for those rounds. Three of those byes are in the first three Rounds of SC. By R5, most of us will have someone to use as C loop.
Rip it to shreds boys!!!
Backs- Sheezel, Sinclair, mills, Gibcus, B Allen, Z Reid (K Smith, S-El Hawaii)
Mids- Butters, Daicos, Serong, Oliver, Peatling, J Smith, H Langford, J Smilie (Lindsay, Marshall, Day Wicks)
Rucks- Xerri, T De Koning (Boyd)
Forwards- JHF, Macrae, B Smith, C Daniel, T Lynch, M Hall (Hewitt, Simpson)
Flex – T English
Gone with a strategy play with English at my flex. Think the 3 premo rucks on field is a nice way to go.
Hi Gibbo,
Both Gibcus and Smilie will miss the early rounds. Gibcus unlikely for first month.
Thanks, not fussed with rookies yet. Most likely 65% of them will change before opening bounce
Hi Gibbo,
The round 12 bye will decimate your rucks/flex.
English is struggling at the moment with some sort of Injury
Are you concerned with Darcy eating into English’s ruck time? Structure of the team otherwise is good. Yes I’ve got about 20 rookies on my watchlist!
Suggesting Darcy Cameron instead?
I’m actually thinking this is Darcy’s breakout year and he’ll play ruck a lot more and get DPP. Flex is not as important rounds 2-4 also with best 18. So I’m planning on running with someone like S Bolton as flex early rounds and have Darcy FWD, then make him flex when he gets DPP. Boyd should also be playing early rounds for ruck coverage. That’s of course if my theory holds water!
Backs: Sheez, Sinclair, Mills, Coleman, Allan, Smith (El-Hawli, Reid)
Mids: Bont, Butters, Oliver, Ashcroft, Peatling, Lalor, O’Sullivan, Smith (Langford, Lindsay, Hayes)
Rucks: X, Flynn (Boyd)
Forwards: Hornet, Macrae, Smith, Phillipou, Daniel, Curtin (Hewett, Erasmus)
Flex: Darcy
Thoughts on Peatling please.
What do we expect him to average?
How many $ will he make in 6 weeks?
I know that his non-sub average at giants was exceptional and based on that he is way under priced but, giants aren’t adelaide.
Dawson dropped 13 points in ave when he moved to Adelaide with a massive increase in mid time.
Adelaides highest averaging mids last year
Crouch 105.5
Laird 104.1
Dawson 102.1
(Not many teams had 3 mids averaging over 100 last year)
Sholl, Soligo & Dowling all ave in 80’s.
Best case scenario would see Peatling replace Crouch.
Cumming will play half back so doubtful that Laird will move out of the mids if Milera is playing and Dawson isn’t going anywhere.
Rankine and Rachelle want increased mid time, Soligo & Dowling deserve more, Curtain is being touted as a big bodied midfielder and Draper also looks good.
How much time as a pure mid is peatling going to get?
I don’t think that he’ll have enough time on-ball to average what everybody is predicting.
I’m paying a few extra $ for Harley he’s got much more stamina and strength this year is the #1 mid at west coast I expect an ave of 105+ from him over first 7 rounds , if Peating outscores him in the first 2-weeks it’s an easy downgrade for me.
If I start peatling and he just shares time and ave 85, I may as well spend the $ elsewhere and downgrade to a rookie
I also don’t like the fact that Peatling hasn’t been mentioned in any player interviews or match sim reports on crows website.
I remember when Keays first joined the crows on the back of limited opportunities and great SC scores when he did get a full game. We all started him expecting him to be a gun and then he predominantly played a totally different role to what we expected and was a bargain supercoach spud
I don’t think Peatling is a must have and a bit of a risk in a new team but it’s a risk I am taking for the price ($352k).
Harley Reid is $434k so $80k diff. If I was going a mid to low $400k player I would rather Ashcroft or Cerra I think.
If Peatling fails, then it’s a swap to Parker or higher priced best performing Rookie which I have gone light on.
I have Ashcroft & Oliver. Cerra ceiling is very poor and his durability is questionable. I think Ried Ceiling is well above 150, he knocked out a lazy 147 in his 6th game, and he could have an Oliver or Cripps like 2nd year.
If Peatling pumps out 90+ scores in his first 2 games, I usually have an expensive player who spudded and will be dropping a few $k plus an overpriced rookie and dirt cheap rookie that I missed so he will be a relatively easy get. 🙂
If Peatling gets the minutes/role then I feel like he gets the points.
Last year, he had 11 games that appear to be non sub games (range from 82-104 minutes, his other 6 games were 36 minutes or less) and scored 997 points (90.6 average) in 1,031 minutes at 0.97 ppm.
Priced at 65, if he gets to 90 thats a 25 point improvement and with good grouping of good scores could net you $200k.
The latest crows match sim report had Peatling pure mid, Cumming on a wing, Curtain forward and Rankin mostly midfield.
I can see Peatling averaging 100 and making near $175k
Where were their other key mids?
Sounds like who’s best backup training, ala when stars mingle with the promotional chores.
Jackson hately ring a bell
It seems that a lot are putting a ruckman into the flex position, the flex is just another player on the field so you get the best 22/23 scores. I would think a DPP mid/fwd for example, would get you more points and more opportunity for swapping players around. Am I missing something, I have been playing SC BBL and your flex player there is just one of the players who may or may not get a high score that helps with your final score.
Last year 3 of the top 10 scorers were rucks and this year it might be 4 or 5 if they play every game
If the 3rd best ruck scores more points than the 9th best mid it’s a win for the strategy and it also provides cover if one of your rucks gets a short term injury.
The top 2 rucks seem to be Gawn and Xerri so starting 1 of them as flex and taking a risk on a Conway or someone at R2 could also be viable.
A lot of people are going with a Ruck because they don’t get a tag.
Play around with all options and see what can give you the most flexibility.
The main key is at least 1 DPPin each position.
BBL has 1 less position to play with, and just look at the byes and when the games are played by your flex.
They can definitely help in all games.
Hi Waldorf was thinking the same as you however was convinced that 3rd ruck cover is important if short term injury to ruck as you will run a duck or waste a trade. Unless you have a playing 3rd ruck I think it needs to be a ruck flex
If your ruck gets a two week injury your flex can cover the donut, it’s best 22 of 23
Yes, but you have a zero on field as one of your 23, meaning you don’t get the ‘free swing’
I’d prefer 23 playing ahead of 22
I have a different view. I just look at the flexi as a free hit. I am looking at putting my best “extra” player there to hopefully get rid of a lower score. Midfielders normally score more and are generally easier to move around as you generally have dpp to fill the hole. X factors could also be your flexi – when they hit they can scorers big and when they flip you have your best 22 anyway as coverage. If a sub hits then you can put a premium as your flexi. Flexi is just free insurance
I’m just looking at it as best 22 out of 23.
However, rounds 2, 3, and 4 it won’t matter.
This is the reason I’ve been considering a key forward.
You get there big scores but not there small ones.
Some small changes I’ve made from my comment in the previous thread.
Sheezel, Sinclair, Clark, Mills, Travaglia, Allan // Smith El-Hawli
Bont, Butters, Serong, Oliver, Peatling, J.Smith, Draper, Ashcroft // Langford, Knevitt, C.Hall
Xerri, De Koning // Boyd
JHF, B.Smith, Phillipou, Daniel, Curtin, Kako // Hewett, Erasmus
Lindsay.
Tossing up a higher end premium and Peatling, or Macrae and a cheaper rookie. Think Macrae will stay an obtainable price throughout without too much damage. Peatling cheaper and I think will average 5-10ppg higher. The rest I think I’m set on. If Pittonet is playing R1, I’ll look at Darcy or Meek. Think I might take a DPP Mid/Fwd as my loop this year.
Macrae wont be playing as a fwd or be given the limited game time he got last year. He’ll be starting centre square in a role where ave over 115 for almost a decade.
Lyon saw a weakness in the spine of his team and recruited Macrae to fill it while his youth develop
I agree with where we will play but I don’t think he will go at 115 again though. I would be thinking he goes at 95-100 which doesn’t put him unattainable. It’s just trying to pick those 250-350k guys and get them right. I have no doubt Macrae will be a keeper, just wanted to try and savw that 50-80k and use it elsewhere. But doesn’t matter now, with Poo out, I’ve squeezed Macrae back in.
I’ve done Poo & Peatling to Macrae and Sinn via Allan DPP into Mids. I like the look of a deeper defence, and if Sinn gets that role, he will be a great cash gen. Gives me a DPP position in the mids.
To copy and paste with changes above:
Def: Sheezel, Sinclair, Clark, Mills, Sinn, Travaglia // Smith El-Hawli
Mid: Bont, Butters, Serong, Oliver, J.Smith, Draper, Ashcroft, Langford // Allan Knevitt, C.Hall
Ruck: Xerri, De Koning // Boyd
Fwd: JHF, Macrae, B.Smith, Daniel, Curtin, Kako // Hewett, Erasmus
Flex: Lindsay.
Who gets Houstons Job? Would be great if was sinn but I think that would be asking too much when we can get all of those other bargains.
I like your team above mid bench is brilliant but 7 onfield rookies is too many, when 1st lockout comes around you’ll be frantically rejigging.
But it’s still January and all teams posted here are just thoughts atmo
Is Lindsay your Flex?
I rate both Macrae and Peatling ahead of Phillipou.
Why Peating and not Phillipou?
IMO Same roles.
Peatling will be #2 pure mid at Adelaide, Phillipou #4 or #5 at the Saints.
Peatling also scores at a higher ppm rate.
looking at Peatlings 11 games where he wasn’t the sub last year he averaged 90.6. i think that is his basement and with a better role at the Crows i can see him scoring 100.
Phillipou had a role change for his last 4 games and averaged 94.5. if he has a similar role this year that should be around the mark, and as a forward that might be good enough. He isn’t in my team until i see what is role will be and what it looks like with Macrae in the midfield
the $300k-$390k price is awkward because you almost need them to score 100 to justify their selection and at that scoring they are near a keeper.
I don’t like to have too many in the team, at the moment Mills, Smith, and Macrae are locked in and i’m confident with their ability as they are all fallen premiums. Picking the ‘break-out’ is harder, and until Coleman’s injury concerns i was happy with him ahead of Peatling or Philipou
Hi Lazza, who do you think maybe #1 and #3?
I’m expecting more rotations and combinations this year from all, well many, of the teams.
IMO you may either see very few #1 v #1 or nearly all #1 v #1 in mid CBs.
Maybe we can get an idea from the practice games? LOL (attempted humour)
Cheers
Hi Chameleon, early days I know, training and match sim indicating Dawson and Soligo to make up the top 3. Rankine @ 4. Laird to return to half back.
This argument is moot now with Phillipou injury but I agree, rated Peatling higher anyway.
I don’t see Macrae returning to his halcyon days but a 100 or nearby avg is fine for his price.
I also wonder if Boyd is essential as R3 now with doubts on Marshall
Boyd at R2
FIrst go around. Usual disclaimers apply
DEF: Sheezel, Sinclair, Farrell, Mills, Trevaglia, BAllan (ZReid, ORyan)
MID: Butters, Serong, Anderson, WAshcroft, JSmith, LAshcroft, Tsatas, Sheldrick (El-Hawli, Hall, LKennedy)
RUC: Xerri, TDeKoning (Boyd)
FWD: Horne-Francis, BSmith, Phillipou, Daniel, Powell-Pepper, Curtin (Hewett, Erasmus)
FLX: Merrett
Farrell in the rehab group is a bit of a watch. Hopefully he gets up for preaseason!
Darn! Any Port thoughts on Houston replacement?
Sinn?
Thanks PP, will watch.
i think Sinn will get a decent look at it
I think there might be 2 or 3 in front of him, Evans and Bergman are both more assertive and Burgoyne would be sensational in the role
Isn’t Burgoyne earmarked to play wing?
Just a quick one I read phillipou is out for the first 5 to 8 weeks he h as stress fractures so could be a risk.
Yep, he’s goneski, will need to reshuffle.
Hi all,
A Ruck Flex scenario in non bye rounds.
Imagine R2 out for 1-2 weeks, and you have R1 R2 and R3dpp
Flex to R3, – R3 dpp to flex.
Flex to Fwd DPP – Fwd dpp to flex
Flex to either mid or def depending on dpp – choice to flex
That’s where you can get a playing person on field to cover the injury and have 23 players on field again.
Hope that helps
Cheers
I went meek xerri. And tdk. As a Flexi. Each bye still h ave two trucks
Xerri and TDK both have Rd 12.
They were part of my original choice.
Is your R3 a playing coach too?
Don’t think you can call flex a complete ‘free hit’ when you are still paying money for the player you select there that comes out of your team budget and impacts decisions you make elsewhere…
Hi GKMC,
Try using the term as “Extra Hit”.
Then it may help bounce things around while deciding.
Cheers
PHILLIPOU IS GONE!
So it’s time to get creative. Thoughts on this:
B: Sheezel, Whitfield, Sinclair, Mills, Travaglia, Allan (Whitlock, Nguyen)
M: Bont, Butters, Green, Day, Oliver, Jagga, L Ashcroft, Smilie (El-Hawli, Erasmus, Moreas)
R: Xerri, TDK (Boyd)
F: Bolton, Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Lynch, Hewett (Kako, Sims)
Rookies I’m not so worried about at the moment – obviously changes to these after preseason
Hi everyone good luck for anther year. Let me know what u guys think.
Def. J clark. M holmes. J sickly. C mills. T travaglia. J gunslinger. Bench b Allen z Reid
Miss bont. C serong. Z merrett. C Oliver. J peatling. J smith. L Ashcroft. J smillie. Bench s elhawli n Erasmus c Anderson.
Ruc. Tristan xerri. L meek. Bench h boys.
Fwds. J message. B smith. J stringer. C Daniel. T lynch. I kako. Bench e hewett. S Davidson.
Flex. T de koning any feedback if not good luck
is Boyd seriously looking like playing early?
tinkering with idea of Boyd at R2
RoMo pelvis fracture, had been managed beforehand.
Word is “We’re hopeful that Rowan will be available for Round 1 or soon thereafter.”
Boyd would play before Heath and Dodson.
I think for Boyd to be an effective R2, you would want to be reasonably sure he’d get a 6 game run at it. If Marshall is back Round 3, it would take away the effectiveness. My safety first approach is to have Boyd at R3, and if he is outscoring one of my onfield rookies, I might just have to grit my teeth and accept it, but enjoy the cash gen.
Boyd is currently my “Fleximan”. LOL
Yeah. I had Boyd R3 even before this news. Saints still have a fetish for running two rucks.
Wow R2 that’s aggressive! If that comes off what a way to make money early. Don’t think I have the kahunas….
But various comments have scared me off Flynn at R2 so I plan to have Xerri, TDK and Boyd as the ruck line. I’m also now not set on having a ruck as flex if my 3 ruckmen are playing
Would need a DPP at R3 for it to work anyway HH.
Stick Sims in your your Fwd line and you can rotate Boyd/Daniel/Sim through the Ruck and Fwd positions. Anyway that’s what I am doing if Boyd named.
Because of Darcy trip, I have Jackson on the fwd line.
….and because of many later games I have Livingstone or Reid as R3.
Yep me too now aboard the Boyd Flex train if named R1 (in place of Flynn).
If he gets selected…reckon he is in top ten SC players chosen
With all our rucks starting to crumble, could it be a scientific phenomenon caused by having their heads to close to the sun?
Asking for a 160cm friend……..
Gidday all
being SA and watcher of SANL games Boyd is a serious player if you check his SA career
Surprised he was never drafted. wount be surprised if SK play 2 rucks
not the tallest Ruck at 198cm but strong bullocking type like Xerri/Briggs, gets his share of clearances and plenty of tackles. High disposal avge for a Ruck at 20/game but pretty low DE at 41%
Might be on to something here…….have to avoid rucks from Sydney and Brisbane….they are closer to the sun.
This would also explain why Witts rarely plays a full season.
Phillipou replacements?
Looking like I am going to have to cut my M3 down again (Was orig Daicos, then Green, now maybe Ashcroft?), To fund Pou to maybe back to Parker? Or who else around that $350 mark??
Am I crazy to be thinking Sanders after last year’s Bevo-ing
..,,,,,,and then you’ve got Kennedy etc.
He just recruited to replace last years losses IMO.
We might have to get excited about the pre-season games for a while.
Parker could easy be the Zorko or Couch or Yeo of last year, or Ziebell, Hall or Daniher of previous years, the fallen premium who kills your season if you don’t have him
This is the risk we have once we have liked the structure of our early teams – if one goes down, we immediately look for a like for like replacement. If we don’t have Coleman and Philippou, my starting point was to go Doedee…still in rehab….ok Milera. For Philippou, maybe Parker or Sanders. What we get left with is players we are not so fond of, just to get structure. Sometimes it’s good to clear team and restart the process instead of just filling gaps. I’m looking at Perryman and SPP. Gives me 3 rookies onfield in the fwd line and 3 midpricers in defense, but I am just going to let it sit and see if I can warm to it as a structure
……and may the SC lord be with you, amen.
Structure is going to change depending on which line rookies are available on.
Wise words GFH, you surprised me!
G’day all.
Feels pretty template, but how many holes to pick here?
Def: Flanders Whitfield Holmes Mills K Smith Busslinger (Z Reid, Bice)
Mid: Bont Butters Oliver Peatling Jagga L Ashcroft Travaglia Allen (Hewett, Hustwaite, El-Hawli)
Ruck: Gawn Xerri (Boyd)
Fwd: JHF Rankine McRae B Smith Daniel Kako (Erasmus Sims)
Flex: Flynn
I’m running with Holmes and Rankine but not sure either are ultra popular picks so might be PODs. My only concern with Rankine is injury, think he’ll get plenty of mid time so I’m prepared to start him.
WCE supporters have convinced me to shelve Flynn unless he emerges as a standout R1 but that seems very doubtful right now.
I have 1 extra gun mid in my structure and less heavy in DEF than you but if Flanders can replicate last year it’s probably not much difference either way. Good luck!
Thanks for the reply mate.
Yeah, Flanders seems a good differential to me as most are going with Sheezel.
Rankine an easy switch to Moore/Jackson perhaps if need be, but happy to start with him of fit.
Can’t decide on the Flex really. Flynn seems a popular pick and I’ve read differing opinions on his viability, but sub 280k is a tricky price range to fill that spot.
Also thinking of going Massimo over Oliver as another POD.
It’s only my second season on SuperCoach, so still learning.
Well flex is theoretical for everyone right now and you can see a wide range of opinions even on this forum. I was dead set on ruck as flex initially but have changed that thought and now running with S Bolton. But that’ll probably change 10 times before the season!
Oliver is SC royalty if right. But at the moment that’s a big IF and we’re all waiting to see what happens in pre season matches. I’d keep him in for now but fully aware you need a plan B. I’m thinking Ashcroft or Parker if Oliver doesn’t look right to save structure
Nice one, thanks again.
Bolton would be great as Flex, but it’s a stretch to get him at that price. Inevitable re-shuffles over the next month or so though, so will see what happens with injuries and fitness.
Parker is a good shout, as he is more affordable with current setup and could have high upside.
Cheers Harry! Appreciate your feedback
Hey, Stu.
Like this side. Thinner midfield may be the way to go.
Flanders has a criminally good fixture. Accumulator, hitting his prime, great attributes.
You’re on the money there. Easy start.
I wouldn’t get too caught on on PODs and differentiating though. PODs/against the grain picks only work if they have upside or can outperform or atleast match their popular counterparts.
Don’t go for low ownership players for the sake of it. Not to say you are, your team and selections look really well thought through. Just don’t be turned off say a Sheezel because he’s 55% ownership. I’d have him over Whitfield. Younger, more scope, no bye.
That’s great feedback, thanks!
Re: Sheezel/Whitfield – I suppose I thought too many North players was a bit unbalanced and maybe a bit of nostalgia got in the way as Whitfield was a great player for me last season. Sheezel is so highly owned, it does seem a bit daft to go against that one.
Yeah, I mean 118.0 and D2 is his second year is just insane.
Lock him in!
Agree totally gd. Pod if really good only retail pod for an about 2 rounds as everyone jumps on. Is the risk worth a few extra points for a couple of weeks.
I’m thinking left field for my flex. Looking to start both Xerri and Gawn. Allows great v/c flexibility with Bont. Then Jackson as flex. Played all game’s last year, means two rucks in every bye round, excellent cover for any Gawn/Xerri injury, and a 2024 average of 94 fine for a flex. Will have some down days, but also some huge ones when Darcy misses his usual 6-8 games.
Thoughts ????
Like this thinking. I have been a consistent Jackson owner in previous years and have been burnt by those ‘down days’ when his score had to be included in your weekly total. The flex role is perfect for players with a massive ceiling and range of scores, such as Jackson and Bolton. I also like the security of having an extra player as ruck cover.
What is the consensus on North’s mature recruits?
Will they take points from Sheezel & McKercher due to there now being 6 or 7 footballers in the team to share the ball around with confidence?
Sheezel looks great but at that price as a supposed mid/fwd this year it’s a concern if Parker takes some of his ball
Both in my team currently David, but both a firm pre-season watch. I love Sheezel but hard to pay over $600k if his role is uncertain despite his quality, McKercher could be great value but could also become awkward if his scores are capped by his role.
Just ran an interesting experiment picking the best team I could with all players sub 500k and just having 8 rookies on the bench. The obviously flawed line is the rucks but the rest is decent. Experminetal only of course but not the worst team in the world!
B: McKercher, Farrell, Short, Mills, Schoenmaker, Coleman
M: Day, J Daicos, Wardlaw, Oliver, Ashcroft, Cerra, Peatling, Parker
R: Sweet, Flynn
F: Darcy, Bolton, Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Lynch
Flex: M Kennedy
That is also with Boyd at R3 which could in part fix the ruck problem if you made him R2!
Sweet is an great pick
Don’t expect too much feedback here as it’s pretty vanilla. But please drop a comment or TU/TD if you have anything for me.
DEF: sheez Whitfield Sinclair Mills Travaglia Allan ( K.Smith El-Hawli)
MID: Bont Butters Steele Oliver Peatling J.Smith Draper Smillie (Kako C.Hall Erasmus)
RUCK: Xerri TDK (A.Reid)
FWD: JHF Macrae B.Smith Daniel Lynch Hewett ( M.Hall J.Berry)
FLEX: Boyd
CASH: $22,500
Not sold on TDK i want Darcy but will be a wait and see with the Qatar situation. Steele -> Ashcroft is really tempting me but I’ll just wait for practice matches.
First team I’ve seen with Steele!
Yeah very risky but with some help around him now with macrae and the pou finding his feet now (when he returns) will only help. His body hasn’t been 100% the last two seasons. But last year he showed glimpses of that ceiling. I think he gets back to 110+ seasons avg. I think people forget just how good he was. But far from locked in.
Argh. I hate to piss on your bonfire, Mav, but I don’t see it.
Macrae won’t roll back Steele’s regression these last few years or give him back that edge he lost after repeat AC injuries.
122, 126, 109, 94, 108.
Weak engine room. One of the weakest in the comp frankly. Saints were the worst centre clearance side last year (18th) and 15th for stoppage clearances. A couple of kids and Macrae aren’t changing that.
Not to mention RoMo either doesn’t play R1 or will be tender and limited.
Also (sorry to keep doing this lol), the Saints play more games in South Australia than in Melbourne over the first five games. Opponents themselves aren’t too bad but they’re gonna be on the road, slumming it.
We’ve all wanted Steele to still have that dawg in him and whip back to 120s. I just think it’s a tough ask all things considered.
As a Saints man I would go Ashcroft (I have him) rather than ManofSteele
Think I’ve finally settled on a first version.
DEF: Sheezel, NWM, Sicily, Travaglia, Allan, Smith (Leake, Whitlock)
MID: Bont, Butters, Daicos, Serong, LDU, O’Driscoll, Draper, Kako (El-Hawli, Hall, Anderson)
RUC: Xerri, TDK (Boyd)
FWD: JHF, Macrae, Smith, Curtin, Hewett, Erasmus (Stone, Sims)
FLEX: Daniel
Cash: $47,400
Have loaded up in the MIDs to stick with what I know – but will keep an eye on Oliver, Peatling, Ashcroft etc. in pre-season games to see how they look. I like the spread in DEF so if a MID premo drops I will probably go up to another DEF premo.
Thoughts?
Hi GKMC,
Are you aware that Boyd’s score will not be included if Xerri and TDK both play?
Cheers
Why would I not be aware of this lol
Lmao.
On your team, GK, I think the MID spend is too big but that’s what you wanted. Very nice.
Cheers GD.
The MID spend is still something I’m thinking about. Didn’t realise that it’s kinda easy to fit in 5 MID premos if you go with a cheaper flex and go all in on a cheap FWD line. Still 47k in the bank as well! But if some MIDs like Ashcroft, Oliver, Peatling show value in pre-season (even looking at guys like Taranto or Cerra) then will shift and shuffle and probably spend that extra $$ in DEF where it’s actually worthwhile.
Can some job my memory do league games start in rd 3 or 4?
Hi Tom,
It can depend on your league set-up.
Public leagues start Rd 2.
Cheers
Hi Tiger fans. Any thoughts/knowledge about Smith and Short?
… Blues, will Zac be this years Newman? If not who?
Cheers
As a guess Docherty will take Newman’s role.
Richmond has too many unknowns – who does who’s role
Just made quick change. Took peatling out put in i Cummings then removed merrit for butters. And Bradshaw instead of serong. Removed j clark for shezell. I think those changes to my team be perfect to start of strong
DEF: Sinclair, Holmes, McKercher, Mills, Travaglia, Allan (Reid, Busslinger)
Honestly the uncertainty around Sheezel’s role scares me, and Sinclair has better looking legs so he gets the D1 spot. Completely unsure if Holmes is a good SC player, but he’s one I enjoy to watch, so why not give myself an actual excuse to put Geelong games on this year?
MID: Bontempelli, Serong, Rozee, Oliver, W. Ashcroft, Smith, Draper, Langford (Robertson, El-Hawli, Erasmus)
Possibly the weakest midfield I’ve fielded at Round 1 (Round 0????), but I am unfortunately incapable of resisting the ridiculous value presented. As a Melbourne fan, I am legally obligated to have Oliver in the team. Rozee and Ashcroft are both players I rate so highly, and Serong is there so I can be extra entertained whenever he goes off against West Coast.
RUC: De Koning, Sweet (Boyd)
I won’t lie to you, not having Gawn in my team makes me feel naked, but that’s just so much money, and I am but a poor, struggling student. TDK is definitely (read: hopefully) going to be the solo ruck. I’ve opted for Sweet over Xerri purely because I don’t trust people that have a name starting with X, but also because I’m convincing myself that Xerri will fall in price sooner rather than later, whereas Sweet should hit an upward trajectory.
FWD: Horne-Francis, Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Lynch, Curtin (Kako, Hewett)
Boy oh boy, what a dearth of premium options do we have here. This forward line seems eerily similar to majority of forward lines I’ve seen skimming through here, so I doubt it needs much explanation.
FLEX: Luke Jackson
The only person I’d trust to explain what the Flex is to me is Luke Jackson, in his infinite wisdom, and so that is why Luke Jackson can have the spot for himself.
Cash: $3,400
Incredibly broke, rookies are obviously subject to change. Also fully expecting someone to let me know of 143 injuries that affect my team that I just haven’t heard any news about yet.
Wondering what are some of the highest “Proj. Rd 1 Score” people are ending up with?
1914 with Mills D4, J Dawson M5, Flynn R2 ( maybe a tad unrealistic), Helmet F4 and Peatling Flex.
Only 1830 at this early stage, but that’s with projections for Cumming, Peatling, Daniel and SPP types around the 60mark. Obviously we hope for better from these guys!!
Ok, you’ve been tortured with my ramblings, I will show you what I have so far (subject to change at any moment or when the next good idea comes up, what ever comes first) and try and reason my logic/excuse:
Mills, IMO the engine mid and cheap
Budarick, Schoenmaker, Sinn, Travaglia, Smith, IMO possibly running HB, with maybe some kick ins due to current injuries and trades
El-Hawli, Bice, Seem like nice options
Brayshaw, Dawson, IMO the chief commanders in control of the various mid rotations.
Richards, IMO the new main man with the “older” mids more time forward (Hi Bevo!)
Rozee, IMO possibly the general and cheap
Oliver, IMO…. Well, um, not sure really, maybe I’m turning religious coz he’s cheap
Lalor, Hopefully he only has the weight of the world on his shoulders and not the universe
O’Driscoll, IMO Cheap and wing and may miss some mid rotations
Smith, Refer Lalor
L.Ashcroft, Lombard, IMO, may play emergency for first few,
Allan, Not sure really, but a good Flex option
Gawn, Xerri and Reid, Does anyone not know why yet? LOL
JHF, IMO Part of more mid
Jackson, Mainly because of more ruck work, not flex option LOL
Macrae, Smith and Daniel, as per the majority of the SCT universe
Hewett, Refer above to Allan, but with a bit more confidence
Erasmus, Refer O’Driscoll but DPP
Stone, Refer Defence
Boyd, Subject to change each round, depending mostly on which Ruck has the latest game of the round.
Currently ITB 542,400,
Remember subject to gullibility of pre-season games and injuries (Still there Bevo?)
Cheers All
Well reasoned, some nice POD’s (particularly like the Budarick pick as I considered him but don’t have the knackers for it) and I like the ruck/flex options.
Def line is the only one that would scare me a bit.
Best of luck for the season.
Cheers Thanks Ranger
Am I reading it correct, Mills is your M1?
Def, Swans Mid,
Also I mentioned emergency, sorry, I meant Sub.
How many keepers? 13 by my count. Is that enough to start the season?
Round 12 bye of 7 out? To many?
Can’t help but feel you are to light in defence.
With 542,400 itb you have plenty of $$$ to weave some magic.
Good luck.
I understand that the Flex position is new to all this year. I am not having a crack at anyone that is going down the path of the Flex needing to be a Ruck, but the Flex player takes your lowest score out of the onfield 22.
So covers ruck if a ruck is out, but you don’t need a Ruck positional player to do this. Perhaps I have misinterpreted but I am going a mid to upper mid for value and points only.
Happy to cop a pasting over this, but this is how I am reading it.
Started with Phillipou now going W Ashcroft for Flex for me at the moment to maximise a few blinding scores and retain cash Gen in he mids.
That is exactly how I see it,
The flex replaces your lowest score irrespective of the position.
So pick someone who will score 60-80 consistently and increase in price.
There is no right or wrong re the flex. For me, a third premo ruck appeals as they rarely have low floors, and can mean two rucks for each bye round.
Agree no right or wrong as it is a new idea to the game, but trying to cover 22 players for the bye rounds at the beginning of the season is hoping for a bit, most people would have used 10-15 trades by round 12 so your team is totally different. Rd 12 bye is going to be the killer for most people I think.
Round 16 isn’t far behind it either. People dodging Round 12 need to be just as aware of loading up on round 16 players
I am with you on the flex position I am looking at somebody who can average say 70-80, in the $300-$400K range and hopefully play every game, not worrying about ruck, mid, def, fwd positions as the final score is the best 22 from 23. I might have it all wrong, time will tell, flex will be handy for bye rounds especially Rd12 where I have a shortfall at the moment. The only issue I have with having a ruck as flex is the cost.
I have luke Parker in the flex for exactly those reasons
Yes T and Champ what you say is correct as well, but do you have cover Eg Jackson for your Rucks as a fwd?
Yes your flex will be used, but as a take what you get 22/22 then.
Also I was thinking, and had Gawn, Xerri and Marshall which then gave full flex coverage.
Compare your team each bye round and see if it’s going to help too.
Cheers
Hi Chameleon, wow this is left field but some might be inspired.
It’s a no for me for Budarick (they were saying the same thing last year!). Schoenmaker and Sinn both too unproven for me and it’s a big step for those two I reckon. Sinclair will be the main Def distributor at the Saints and at Port I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Burgoyne or Farrell who I rate above Sinn.
Highly consider SDK in Def if he gets the no1 Ruck spot at Geel (then you will have a team full of Rucks). Or if you want another POD Lobb wouldn’t be the worst option if you can trust Bevo… which the answer is no (I have neither at this stage but putting it out there while I am left of field!).
Brayshaw and Dawson…maybe ok. I get that you are avoiding early bye players but its not worth butchering your Team for it. Brayshaw at M3 maybe but at M1? Yeah not sure. Hey might be inspired, time will tell.
Richards/Rozee I would combine to get at least one more Super Premo. Bont, Butters, Daicos or Green or mine. Both together are too risky. Richards will be a rollercoaster.
Rucks, yeah love that setup with Gawn and Xerri (I am going TDK in place of Gawn because I cant fit both Gawn and Bont together easily). Archer Reid at R3 may not be there early but who knows after WC lose a few early.
Rookies will be a wait and see in practice matches including NOD.
Jackson. Burnt me last year at really bad times. I am not going there again. But enjoy the ride, another rollercoaster. I think I would rather take a punt on Rankine at over 500k but you already have Dawson (Dawson and Rankine). Maybe I have been listening to too many Phantom podcasts which has a big Crows/Port bent!
And Lastly Boyd as the Flexi, Yep I am all in like…well, not Flynn but I may have to reassess that if Boyd doesn’t get up. Would be a real shame.
All the best until the next revision comes out
Cheers and thanks for the in-depth response Rod
Your def comments will be looked at, note Farrell is currently injured, that’s why he was swapped, and SDK for Budarick, if he rucks practice games, and Sinclair for maybe Schoey then. The words “trust” and “Bevo” in the same sentence have confused me however.
You were also right in assessing why I had the specific teams in mid.
I’ve nicknamed them my No.2s, ( no, not because they were crap last year), but because they will step up a notch this year and help with some more excess money.
Thank you for the understanding of the rucks.
Jackson will not be there if Darcy is to start on time. As suggested Rankine will be there.
If Boyd doesn’t play, maybe I can put Jackson there and Rankine fwd and etc, etc LOL
So thanks again Rod, I will play around as suggested and hopefully Bevo likes it.
Good Coaching
usual Rookie disclaimers
117k ITB
DEF = Sheezel, McGovern, Holmes, Mills, Travaglia, Busslinger // El-Hawli, Bice
Gov/Holmes a bit PODy, Gov is always injury risk but looked superb in ’24, played nearly all games, if Stewart stays back, Danger forward, Holmes pace and ball-use should see improvement, even with Smith inclusion.
MID = Bont, Butters, Serong, Oliver, W.Ashcroft, Jagga, L.Ashcroft, Smillie // Lombard, Allan, Erasmus
Bont might change depending if MrMagnets uses him more forward to cover Jamara. Possibly swap 1 or 2 of the dearer Rookies for cheaper, possibly not.
RUCK = Gawn, Xerri // Sims
Top 2 for now. 1 or both could become 1 or both of TDK/Sweet
FWD = JHF, Macrae, Daniel, Curtin, Kako, Hewett // Johnson, Davidson
Thin line I think. No Smith. If I opt for cheaper Rucks I’d look at Rankine in for a Rookie.
FLEX = Boyd
for now. Could yet be R2 depending RoMo injury….and a lot of unknowns to try to evaluate
R12 bye looks terrible too, definitely plenty to tinker with yet!
Holmes not PODy, Steve.
18% ownership. Would be more were it not for the bye. Excellent pick. I’m on him too.
I don’t think you can pass on Smith. 400k, new club, reinvigorated, lot to prove, good age profile, OB/stoppage role. Should get enough ball it compensates for his terrible use.
I’d cut down on a few of the expensive rookies and bring him in.
GD’s point about the excellent early draw for GC is well made. I can see that’s a fair argument to carry perhaps one of the GC/GWS players through their R2 bye.
So far, the emphasis is on Flanders for that. I am considering Anderson instead. I did see on some content that his average when they win is much higher and when they lose is lower. So we should get the early big scores. The positive with Flanders is that he is a likely top 6 defender, but whether Anderson can be a top 10 mid for the season is less clear. The positives for Anderson are the 70k savings and the clearer certainty around role. If GC can win more games this year and his scoring follows, he might be a chance to be a proper premium.
the forgotten man is Touk
i’m personally sticking with Green. underpriced because of injury effected score last year
I’ve had Anderson from the go too, Phil.
Dare I say it, it will depend on their R0 scores.
DEF = Whitfield, Zorko, J.Clark, Mills, Travaglia, Allan (Reid, Leake)
MID = Neale, Cripps, Brayshaw, Day, Oliver, Cerra, Peatling, J.Smith (L. Ashcroft, El-Hawali, Anderson)
RUCK = TDK, Jackson (Boyd)
FWD = J’Macrae, Daniel, Curtin, Berry, Hewett, Stone (Erasmus, Davidson)
FLEX = Rowell
Rowell flex. Wow. I kind of love that, Paul.
I doubled up on the Suns with Flanders and Anderson largely in part due to their fixture. Rowell should also capitalize.
You could potentially merge two of those more speculative 400-500k players into say a Bont or Butters for VC/C stability but I quite like this side.
Only real problem are those early byes.
how far away is your team reveal GD??
Soon!
Gonna do some writing this weekend.
Thanks for the feedback GD. Appreciate the time. So i had a tinker and if i remove cerra and oliver i get take bont or butters but that brings a rookie on field in the mids, which could be L. Ashcroft. Then allows me to get lynch in fwd line 41k ITB.
Dont know how i feel anout bont and butters. just real expensive and I love Neale at M1.
also takes me done to 13 keepers instead of 14
That’s fair.
If you prefer a wider structure, go for it. Keeper maximisation is the name of the game.
I’m just thinking of your VC/Cs over the first few rounds.
Who are you going R1?
Cripps into rowell at this stage
This is my other tinkering which involces risk taken at R2 but i get smith off the field and take rivers in the mids, brayshaw to richards and parker comes in for curtain
DEF = Whitfield, Zorko, J.Clark, Mills, Travaglia, Allan (Reid, Leake)
MID = Neale, Cripps, Richards, Day, Rivers, Oliver, Cerra, Peatling (J.SMith, El-Hawali, Anderson)
RUCK = TDK, Boyd (Riddle)
FWD = J’Macrae, Daniel, Parker, Berry, Erasmus, Stone (Cleary , Davidson)
FLEX = Rowell
Def: Whitfield, Sinclair, Mills Coleman, Travaglia, Allan (Reid, Bice)
Mid: Bont, Butters, Flanders, Oliver, W Ashcroft, Jagga, L Ashcroft, Smillie (Hewett, El-Hawli, Erasmus)
Ruck: Xerri, TDK (Boyd)
Fwd: JHF, Macrae, Smith, Parker, Daniel, Lynch (Kako, Sims)
Flex: 200K ITB
Given their friendly bye, team outlook, and scoring profile, is anyone else considering doubling up and getting both Serong & Brayshaw? I don’t want to leave either one out tbh
I definitely think it is viable but i couldnt bring myself to do it. Last year I had to sit and watch Serong and brayshaw tear it up as I already had young, jackson and Ryan (My rule is no more than 3 premos from a side). Personally since freo have so many SC relevant options I want to assess them all and work out which 3 I’m going to want come their bye. I think both are great options but for me I’m likely going to select 1 and see what the other freo options start the season like.
No objections.
I’m super hot on Brayshaw.
Of all the teams, I think the Fremantle midfield is the most clear-cut.
Serong, Brayshaw and Young.
(Cameos from Fyfe and Bolton)
You could easy pick all 3
Here goes. Been off the site for while lamenting my poor performances. New year, new hope.
DEF: Flanders, Holmes, Mills, Travaglia, Allen, Reid// o’Sullivan, Bice
MID: Daicos, Brayshaw, Rozee, Day, Oliver, Peatling, Smith, Angove// Smillie, Lombard, Edward’s
RUC: English, Cameron// Boyd
FWD: JHF, Macrae, Daniel, Smith, SPP, Hewett// Kako, Berry
FLEX: Jackson
English on no-contact training after a knock, Max. You can’t go him at R1. Even before that I’d have said the same thing.
Rest of the team is great.
Seeing Jackson flex a lot. What am I missing? He’s still going to be second banana to Darcy?
Yeah Jackson is firmly on my ‘never again’ list along with Rowell and Sam Walsh, no idea how people are talking themselves into him again
Jackson was still the second highest scoring forward last year. Darcy is often injured and using Jackson as flex gives you ruck cover as well.
You can get ruck cover by having a proper ruck at flex, not a DPP in forward line like previous years
The flexibility of Jackson as flex (forgive the pun !! ) appeals as he can be substituted as flex on his bye rounds with any forward then benched, as well as swapping with a R3 dpp during the bye rounds of your starting rucks. With a sole ruck flex, punters are restricted to those not on the same bye as their two starting rucks.
You can get ruck cover by having ANY player in your flex spot. If you want to use Bont or Sheez or Flanders as flex to cover your ruck gaps during any short term injury, or a bye, that’s ok.
Having a third ruck somewhere is less of an issue, although, since rucks tend to score highly if you want a consistent performer in the flex position a ruck might be a good choice.
But tbh, Boyd or even Barnett based on match practice gives you a cheap R3. Heck, I’ve even seen Boyd at R2 due to the Marshall injury.
Boyd is currently my Flex, based on the theory of using a high risk/reward player in Flex position, until we see what he does in some pre season matches. Although a Tom Lynch or Nick Larkey type with a high ceiling but a lower average makes sense too.
At the moment there’s no proof of any particular winning strategy for the flex position. So long as you’ve got someone who’s scoring in there.
Thanks GD. Just changed my rucks to Gawn and Sweet.
Same R1 and R2 as me. I haven’t heard much from PTA training, I’m assuming Sweet will be solo ruck
There’s an in-depth interview somewhere on AFL Fantasy.
Maybe under Port Adelaide?
Darcy has no guaranteed return time frame, so I would expect that this suggests to some people that he may not be playing early.
Having a dpp flex would help a lot in being able to rotate your flex player, especially during bye rounds.
Hi All,
Any reason(s) why we haven’t thought about Steele as a mid?
Isn’t his game/role plan similar to Cripps?
Thoughts please.
Cheers
I’m steering clear until we see what Macrae’s role is, if Macrae is pure mid he’s likely to take points off Steele.
Macrae won’t take points off Steele. Every team has a midfield. If anything, the addition of a consistent, accumulating midfielder is a positive. Saints were 18th for centre clearances and 15th for stoppage clearances.
Just a matter of whether Macrae’s still got it in him to make that contribution.
I don’t see Steele as relevant due to the double AC joint injuries, trajectory and Saints profile and fixture but the arrival of Macrae is no reason to strike him off.
Total misnomer that MIDs “take points” off one another. Look at the Dogs over the last few years: Bont, Libba, Dunks, Macrae, Treloar, Richards. Precisely because they were stacked OB that their MIDs flourished.
Fair points GD, it was a flippant response that should have included your injury/profile/fixture points.
I think you could argue that Richards and Treloar “took points” off Macrae last year – as a result of them being OB more often he wasn’t in there as much which I would suggest contributed to a drop in his point scoring – but I take your point that if both Macrae and Steele play as pure mids it’s entirely possible that they could both score well.
They took his role – not his points.
First time posting a team & my second attempt of many to come.
DEF – Huston, Holmes, Mills, A. Roberts, Travaglia, B. Allen // El-Hawli, Leake
MID – Bont, Sinclair, Brayshaw, Green, Rivers, Lador, Smillie // Kako, Hewett, A. Hall
RUCK – Xerri, Meek // Boyde
FWD – Darcy, Bolton, Macrea, Smith, Daniel, Berry // Stone, Davidson
Still tossing around M5 & F1 & the usual story about rookies.
Missing one mid – only 7 listed.
Can anyone tell me what Luke Parker is priced to average at $343?
Is having Daniels and Parker in the fwd line one too many Norf mid-pricers?
I have a little formula I apply to a starting price that gives me an idea what they need to score to have been a good selection.
My calculation is Parker needs to average 82+
I’m not sure what the magic number is this year, but an 82 should see him make about $105k
I’m thinking he can at least do that.
Daniel only needs to average 72. She will easy do that.
It doesn’t matter one rats if they are from the same team
Parker on the upside is a 95 player, but realistically 85-90 is probably a likely outcome. So he’ll be about the mark I think
Forgot the Flex – Curtin
ITB – $39,600
Sinclair Whitfield Short Mills Travaglia Allan (Reid Bice)
Butters Brayshaw LDU Richards Oliver Peatling Jagga Ashcroft (Smillie Lombard ElHawli)
Xerri TDK (Boyd)
Macrae Smith Daniel Sanders Hewett Erasmus (Kako Johnson)
Draper
Thoughts?
Thanks Maximus, missing mid is J. Smith from Carlton
Made a few changes to my team. Think this one is better.
Def. H sheezel. M holmes. J Sicily. C mills. J sink. T travaglia. Bench. Reid. J busslinger.
Miss. Bont. Z merrett. M Rowell. C Oliver. W Ashcroft. J smith. S draper. J skill is.bench B Allen. S el-hawli. N Erasmus.
Ruck . T xerri. Tdk. Bench h boys.
Fwds S Darcy. J macrea. B smith. C Daniel. T lynch. I kako. Bench hewett. S Davidson.
Flex m Flynn. Know I have 4 ruck options. I do think sam Darcy will explode this year. And not sure about matt Rowell be him of jhf. I sorta want a different team to the rest
That’s j sinn. Sorry
Some really good advice on the site as usual!
Innovative takes on starting teams and the flex role.
Below is v2 for my salary-cap side.
Def: Sheezel, Sinclair, Mills, Travaglia, Hardeman, Allan (Smith, Reid)
Mid: Butters, Serong, Walsh, Green, Oliver, O’Driscoll, Smith, Allan (El-Hawli, Erasmus, Moraes)
Ruck: Xerri, TDK (Boyd)
For: Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Lynch, SPP, Curtin (Hewett, Reid)
Flex: Bontempelli
Granted I’m gonna have a challenge in Round 12, but am hopeful I’m able to trade myself into coverage.
What this structure does provide is
– potentially 6 potentially bonafide mids for early season points,
– decent top-liners across all lines,
– loads of value picks
– players that have been in the system for a few years to cut-down on donuts,
– most of the highest selected players to start, and
– 3 potential playing rucks and a R/F swing on the forward bench for captain loop and future flex.
I like the structure, so will keep it until after the praccy and preseason games. Rookies are placeholders. After all selections there’s currently $88.3k ITB. Constructive feedback appreciated.
Great to read all the comments from those that know a lot more than me, so here is V2 of the ‘Mallee Bulldogs’ team. The usual comment re rookies!
Def: Martin, Clark, Holmes, Travaglia, Allan, Reid [El-Hawli, Bice]
Mids: Bont, Butters, Richards, Day, Oliver, J. Smith, Draper, Langford [M. Reid, Erasmus, Charleson DPP ‘bench sitter’]
Rucks: Xerri, Sweet [Boyd]
Fwds: Moore, Rankine, Kennedy, Smith, SPP, Curtin [Hewett, Stone]
Flex: Daniel
Comments appreciated!
Sorry ny spelling in my team says j skill instead I ment j smilie it’s my abc
After the Intraclub Carnage:
Def: Sheez, Sinclair, Wang-Milera, Mills, Travaglia, El-Hawli (Z Reid, Leake)
Mid: Bont, Butters, Serong, Oliver, Peatling, Jagga, E. Tsatas, Lombard (Kako, B. Allan, Erasmus)
Ruck: Xerri, Flynn (Barnett)
Fwd: JHF, Rankine, Macrae, Smith, Daniel, J Berry (E. Hewett, Shanahan)
Flex: H. Boyd.
$10,600 remain
Possible switches Draper and Tsatas, Shanahan and Davidson.
Flynn R2 looks a bit risky but it let’s you afford Rankine which is a good tradeoff. A nice POD.
Looking less likely that Flynn will be solo ruck
I share your concern about Flynn.
I’m hoping Boyd will be an early viable R2 and use Flynn as Flex. It’s the one position I’m really not happy with at this point.
Quite possibly will have go Gawn or TDK instead and lose one of the premos in defence or mid, and top up Flynn to a 400k player, or downgrade Peatling and a Rookie to upgrade Flynn to Gawn. Or leave the structure and go Sweet for Flynn, and Peatling down to a rookie.
There’s options available, for sure.
At this stage there’s a lot of theoretical rookies who can fit the bill in every position, like
D: Busslinger, Bice, K Smith
M: Hall, Draper, Lindsay, Hall
F: Davidson, Moir, Shanahan, Simpson, Stone, Fullarton, Hall, Curtin.
Not that this is an exhaustive list.
I don’t have a true donut player yet so that’s another 20k at least I have in the kitty for the upgrade.
We’re still a few weeks away from the rookie question to be answered and there’s still more preseason matches (and injuries) to come, so it’s about structure not exact names.
Did anyone else notice the St Kilda game was contested but non contact?…… and no Sinclair!!!
HH have a look at the the Swannies game and compare.
NWM, IMO was being centrepieced for a reason.
Cheers
There is a big chance Boyd might be my R2. Sweet there at moment, but if Boyd is likely to get a few games he is hard to ignore
If you don’t mind casting an eye over this team please.
Def
S. Flanders, M. Holmes, C. Mills, B. Allan, S. El-Hawkins, J. Busslinger (Z. Reid, R. Bice)
Mid
M. Bontempelli, Z. Butters, A. Brayshaw, N. Anderson, S. Lalor, F. O’Sullivan, J. Smith, S. Draper (L. Ashcroft, T. Travailia, N. Erasmus)
Ruck
T. Xerri, T. De Koning (T. Sims)
Fwd
J. Horne-Francis, J. Macrae, B. Smith, C. Daniel, J. Berry, E. Hewett (H. Armstrong, S. Davidson)
Flex
M. Gawn.
44k itb
Paid up for rookies to be swapped etc etc
Cheers.
Not a bad Team Tinka. Maybe too many high priced Rookies there in you mids so see how they perform. I would take a couple of them out, shift Travalia into Def and stiffen up your Def a little more.
Yeah, you don’t need half of those paid up rookies atm.
Your M1-4 are identical to mine. Love it.
Thanks for the feedback. I have paid up atm for the top rookies and hope to down grade a couple and make another keeper or two if possible, Green in mid or Sinclair down back would be nice. Cheers
Maric Mid/Fwd $223k playing pure defence in match sim. Taking kick outs. Is he the Barrass replacement?
I think so Derek.
But Barass was typically a high 70’s low 80’s guy. I would think that Maric might therefore be a high 60’s low 70’s. This might give you 150k cash gen, but really not more cash gen than a cheaper rookie with little difference in points on field. Feels like a rookie might be just as effective.
Played down back as a junior.
Looks like it atmo mate and we all know what taking most of the kickins can do for a SC score, I have him at F6 until the praccy matches show a better alternative he could even be an option for flex
He won’t get most of the kick ins. No way.
Witherden is gone as well.
Maybe Ginbey gets them? Mczgovern gets them all?
Good afternoon SC’s,
Here we go:
DEF: Flanders, Sinclair, Mills, Schoenmaker, B. Allen, Z. Reid (K. Smith & R. Bice)
MID: Butters, Neale, Brayshaw, Oliver, Peatling, J. Smith, Draper, Hewett (El-Hawli, Erasmus & Moraes)
RCK: Xerri, TDK (Boyd)
FWD: JHF, S. Bolton, J. Macrae, Daniel, Curtin, Kako (J. Berry & C. Stone)
FLEX: W. Ashcroft
I note my midfield may look a little on but these are the dice I am choosing to roll at the moment. I think Clayton will bounce back, Neale will back it up again but not so sure on Bont this year (thus omitted).
Bailey Smith is a notable omission as are a few high priced rookies. Shoemaker is a risk. Wait and see on practice matches.
Flexing with W Ashcroft – if he can pick up where he left off from last year, he could squeeze into a top 8 mid. Good cash Gen option too if he can average 100+ and substitutes a predictable numpty score from a rookie each week.
Still some tinkering required but got the bones of my structure. $180k ITB to play with.
Mids don’t look too bad if you consider Ashcroft is the Flex (looks great actually if Hewett is the Flex and it’s exactly the same result pretty much).
Baz Smith over Bolton for me easily with extra cash left over…
You remembered that Bolton is out for 4 rounds, right?
….and if Boyd plays as StK R1 and gets a 100+ you won’t get any of it as is….
I’d back W Ashcroft to outscore Boyd week in week out. Boyd is a first year AFL ruckman, with sweet FA job security. Ashcroft just won a norm smith medal, premiership and blitzed the last 5 games of 2024.
Boyd sits on my bench and may generate cash, and may provide some bye ruck coverage for the byes, big if! R2 or Flex for Boyd is a trap.
Why is Bolton out for four rounds, that is S Bolton from Fremantle?
What are you talking about, HH…
Thanks for the feedback Rod.
Good points. That’s the beauty of the flex as I see it, takes out the bottom score, but if Hewett brains it one week and tonnes up, I keep the score. My philosophy on flex is an up and coming premo mid.
Will likely find a way to squeeze in Baily Smith, not at the expense of Bolton through. I reckon he is primed for a SC friendly role with Freo.
What’s the news on S Bolton being out for first 4 rounds re HH. Pinged a calf a few days ago according to the Independent State of WA rag… but out for the next 3 months??
Feb 1st
Yayyyyy
The time has come….
Can we get a league thread?
Also, can I join the websites Open Group?
Hey, Simon.
That’s all going up soon/now.
More the merrier in the open group, ofc.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thoughts are:
* Have about 5 captain/vice choices (Sheezel, Bont, Butters, Brayshaw, Xerri)
* Try not to have too many high draft rookies. We do every year and often the cheaper options outscore them. Will know more after practice matches.
* Tossing up flex options still. Had Lalor there a few times. Hopefully Powell-Pepper is fully fit. Time will tell.
* Have one non-playing rookie with a mid-fwd option to assist captain loop. Not sure if the Bombers play many late games.
* Also unsure how the team fares with the fixture and the bye rounds yet.
* Believe that Holmes will continue to improve and that W Ashcroft will go to a new level. He has to show bro who is the boss surely 😉
* Did consider Boyd as R2 but that might be cray cray. Looking forward to seeing how he works with Ro.
Def: Sheezel, Sinclair, Holmes, Mills, Travaglia, El-Hawli (Paton, Leake)
Mid: Bont, Butters, Brayshaw, Oliver, Ashcroft, Lalor, Hewett, Kako (B. Allan, Erasmus, A. Day-Wicks)
Ruck: Xerri, TDK (Boyd)
Fwd: JHF, Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Lynch, J Berry (Curtin, Hall)
Flex: Powell-Pepper.
Not sure you need a donut play to start season. Rounds 2, 3 and 4 are bye rounds, you should have one or two for those weeks who are on an early bye.
Not sure a v/c loop is as important this year. Eight bye rounds give an auto loop for those rounds. Three of those byes are in the first three Rounds of SC. By R5, most of us will have someone to use as C loop.
Back
Flanders, Sheezel, Sinclair, Holmes, Coleman, Allan (Reid, Leake)
Mid
Bont, JHF, Day, Ashcroft, Lalor, Smith, O’Driscoll, Draper (Ashcroft, Travaglia, El-Hawli)
Ruck
Xerri, TDK (Livingstone)
Forward
Jackson, Macrae, Smith, Daniel, Curtin, Kako (Hewett, Erasmus)
Flex
Boyd
Please, have at it!!!
Coleman out the first couple of weeks and also has early bye. I’m thinking nice upgrade round 5ish just before his rise.
I can’t look one week ahead let alone 5 at this time of year !!!!
Super Coaches, which would you rather have?
TU: Rozee & Mills
TD: Butters & Blight/Sinn
Cheers.