I’m not sure about you guys and girls but those practice games certainly threw that Cat Bruhn amongst the pigeons. Some guys that have spent most of the preseason in my team like McKenna and McLean didn’t quite make the grade. Then there were those players that were hardly in consideration that put their hands up and screamed pick me.I will go through the team line by line and try to justify my structure and reasons for selections. The bench and all rookies are obviously subject to Round 1 selection.
DashingDonkeys@SCT
Defence
Dawson was literally the first picked player when SC was released. I have played around with teams omitting him and it just feels wrong. I think you need at least one of the top guys and he’s my favourite. Structure wise I have messed around with a very weak defence. Yeo at D2 also feels wrong and I guess that’s where Ridley comes in.This position had been taken by Daicos, that was until the tag risk surfaced and I decided I would rather back in someone that been to the top before. Hopefully the Dons new game style gives Ridley the license to be at his best. The D4 spot has been a merry go round from the start. I’m certainly not expecting tons from Jones every week, but his JS and price make him a reasonably safe selection. Lock in Ginbey and the policeman at D5-6.
Midfield
Captain Laird has won the battle of the big boys for my M1 spot. I would love to start Clayton as well, but I just can’t justify all those dollars on two players. Bont has obvious upside and has been locked in for me from day one. Brayshaw just pips a few of the other MIDs around that 600k mark. His durability and my Freo bias have given him the nod. Structure wise I have played around with him out for a Finn Callaghan while putting Cogs in the forward line and it just feels a bit too forward heavy so Waygu is back in for now. Green just needed to show a bit in the practice games, he did, and I’m more than happy with him at M4. Hopper and the three top line rookies fill out my midfield. I’ve also added Hollands at M9 as the midfield bench spots look very thin.
Rucks
The ruck line has been a huge talking point all pre-season. Marshall is easily the safest selection at his discounted price so he’s a lock. The other ruck spot has been a constant merry go round from the potentially overpriced, yet durable Witts to risky mid pricers like Lycett, Cameron and even Luke Jackson at times. I’ve settled on Shrek Darcy, even with the Jackson factor I can see him improving on last year. He looks fit and hopefully we get to see that huge ceiling in a few of the opening rounds with Freo’s soft early draw. I also just love watching the big guy, so he’s my R1.
Forwards
Although we have a heap of value premiums to choose from in this line, I have actually had a really hard time nailing down the best mix that still leaves the rest of my team looking balanced. I’ve settled on the three premiums and Gulden as my breakout contender. His eye watering performance in that practice game should not be ignored. The Swans just needed to try something different after that shocking display on Grand Final day. I’m backing Gulden and his uber elite ball use to be the one that gets more MID time, and gives the Swans that edge they need to take the next step. The nearly 80k I save from downgrading Cogs is integral to making this team work. Bruhn and Sheezel are both risky picks but in order to start the four premium MIDs it’s a risk I’m willing to take. There’s a chance I ditch Bruhn for Flanders or even Fyfe if Bruhn is named anywhere but on ball Round 1. Sheezel reminds me of Rozee in his first year. He may take a while to get going but the cream always rises to the top, so I want to back him in as there is no doubt the talent is there.
This team leaves a measly 7k ITB but I do have a few dollars invested in my M9 Ollie Hollands if I need to make adjustments. I can also put Flanders in for Bruhn if I need funds for playing bench rookies.
As a thank you to all those that take the time to read my posts. I would like to invite all those not already involved in one of my Tragics leagues to take me on in 2023. Below is a league code for coaches of all levels, first in best dressed.
Tragics@SCT #2
835645
Thank you all for reading and I wish you all the best of luck in 2023.
Cheers FT.
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Ridley could be a terrific POD…though less of a POD this week than last week I suspect
Stacked Forward line is in itself another POD, good choices I reckon
Enough money will be made in the Mids you won’t be left behind there too long, if at all – and with the Fwd’s you’re starting, you are ahead of most already.
Very decent line-up for my 2 cents
Thanks Steverion.
I was actually looking at Ridley before that great score in the pre season game. Those intercept marks were great but its more the style of play I was looking for. I had heard that the Bombers wanted to control the ball more from defence. Watching them use Ridley to switch the ball from that central defensive position gives me some confidence he can score well consistently. It also seems they want to use Redman a little further up the ground. This should leave Ridley more space to hopefully take the majority of the Kick ins and control the play down there.
Getting to this structure has been hard part of the preseason. I personally think another mid pricer in the midfield and the extra forward may score more points early. I just feel starting only 3 big mids means thats 5 you need to find over the year. With the sub rule I fear that if cash gen becomes a problem, it maybe hard to get all the best mids in during the year. I also wanted to leave some space forward if we get DPP’s like Gawn and possibly Petracca.
Thanks for commenting and best of luck this year.
Nice side, FT! I was running an extremely similar line up for about 3hours 13minutes and 47seconds before I started tinkering around again! Now I’m running a bit more midprice But I do like this structure still! Good luck with the season mate
Hey Mav
Yeah I looked into a few more mid-pricers myself. My main concern is it means you are most likely only starting 11 keepers. This means you’re using a few more trades to get to full Premo. Theres’s also a few unknowns around how the Sub rule will affect rookie cash gen. I feel safer with the extra Premo to start at this stage.
More mid-pricers could work. But if just one or two fail finding workable replacements that make the cash could mean your burning through trades early.
Hope you haver a great season.
Yeah I like the GnR with maybe 1-2 potentially 3 midpricers. I am so bullish on setterfield though that it’s starting to compromise my team to get him in.. in the right role (which I believe he has) I think he goes 100-103. But to make it happen I’m losing Jelly/Libba at M3 which scares me.
Love both the picks, scream value imo.
Sooner Thursday night comes around the better haha
How can you resist Brodie? Must be very tempting.
Yeah not really TOF.
Looks like Brodie may have increased his tank a little. I just can’t see him improving enough to push the top 10-12 mids in the comp. If he was priced a fair bit cheaper he maybe worth a punt. At his current price I would much rather take a shot at other Pod types in J Kelly or even Libba. Both these guys may have better upside as they have had some significant midfield departures and should get more CBA’s.
Love Brodie’s improvement and would take him in Draft. I’m just not ballsy enough to pick him in Classic.
I had Will Brodie in my side for a long time, just love him as a player.
Like you FT, I just thought there were better options at that price point.
If he was $50k cheaper, now that’s a different story!
Hey FT. Two Freo players I thought might have made your team have missed the cut – Sturt and Henry. Personally I think they are better choices than Chandler and Sheezel. Any inside goss on why you are not selecting them?
Hey Phil.
Mostly about job security with theses two. Sturt looks to have taken Fredricks spot forward. Word is Freddy id now fit and will be ready for round one. Sturt may still get a start as Walters is still injured. He will have to play well to keep his spot though as I’m not sure he’s best 22 when all our forwards are fit. He could surprise though.
Henry is very hard to read. He has been marked for a wing spot and did his chances no harm win the practice games. The problem is they seem to like Ethan Hughes as a defensive winger. O’Driscoll has been missing but should be fit round one as well. Aish has one wing spot, They may play Hughes off the bench as he can cover in defence. This leaves Henry fighting it out with O Driscoll for the other spot. Once again he may start and do well. I just worry he may get dropped if he doesn’t perform. Basically that why I went Sheezel as I feel his JS is rock solid.
Love the side mate
Cheers Nateo.
Good side FT. Like the stacked FWD line.
I know you were interested in Tom Powell at one stage. Did he do enough to win you over to potentially swap for Bruhn?
Hey there GKMC
Yeah I did like Powell. I still like him as a player. Looks like he was the one pushed out to the wing when Cunnington and Simpkin returned. He could still work. I just worry North may not produce enough outside ball for him to score well. He may go missing some weeks. That awkward price also puts me off a bit.
He is one I may look at going sideways to as a correction, if it looks like Bruhn / Flanders aren’t working out.
Cheers for the comment and good luck this year.
Very fair. I’ve actually currently got both him and Bruhn in my FWD. I’ve got no rookies onfield, I just feel like forward rookies always kill you so I’d rather go deep and not have to worry about them. Hopefully they both work out. Correction is possible if not down to a rookie (hopefully not) or sideways to a Fyfe/Ziebell/Flanders type.
Powell I’m bullish on because he’s been noted as a standout in every North article I’ve read through the preseason, also scored well in the practice match. Just seems a classy user who’ll make the most of his touches. Worth a shot to potentially start 6 deep in the FWD line.
That’s nearly my team. I’ve gone a couple of mid pricers in the midfield. but if I chose to go one up one down, Brayshaw would be my choice. So in that case it’s a great looking team FT lol
Great minds Wognuts Great minds !
Great looking team – I’m still stuck with Cameron at R2 and wanting to upgrade him to Darcy but that means Callaghan out at M6 for a rookie and not sure yet if I want to do that, yet. Joined your league as had one league spot to fill so looking forward to the challenge.
Thanks Lisa
I’m so glad you grabbed a league spot happy to have you on board.
I messed around with Cameron at R2 myself. He actually has a reasonable run of opponents early so he may go ok. My problem is he may require a trade as I’m unsure he can score enough to warrant a forward spot later in the year.
Callahan is one I would love to get in. He just looks all class and with the Giants juice early draw he may fire big time. With my current structure it would require me to downgrade Bruhn to another on field rookie forward and push Phillips to the bench. I think for team balance I may have to pass on him for now.
Best of luck this year Lisa.
Nice looking side FT!
Saw the comment above surrounding Henry and Sturt, what would your projections for them be say over the first 6 weeks? Looking to consider both in my side currently.
Hard to get a read on these guys as they haven’t played a heap of senior footy.
We do have a pretty soft early draw so they could both go ok.
In the past our established wingers in Aish and Acres have comfortably put up 80’s
Henry will run all day, I’m just not sure we will have as much confidence in using him as his marking game isn’t as strong as the other two. He does have good ball use so could do ~70 off limited touches if he can hold his spot. O Driscoll has a much better marking game and sneaky goal sense so Henry will need to play out of skin to retain his spot.
Sturt is a medium tall that likes to link up a bit up the ground. He also uses the ball well and only need 8 touches and 2 goals to score 80 last practice game. He should score well enough as a $124K rookie. Its just a matter of if he can hold his spot with established players like Fredrick now fit and Walters likely to return round 2-3.
Wow. Great side, FT. Very balanced, a bunch of keepers and no real precarious fielding issues.
After Round 1 against the Saints, we’re gonna be laughing all the way to the bank with Brayshaw I reckon. Big season for him, soft fixture after Saints.
Good luck, brother!
Thanks Gunboat.
I just don’t get folks fading Brayshaw over a possible round 1 tag. You are basically picking a super durable midfielder for the whole year that is on the rise. Round one is ~4% of his total output for the year. Not only that but his round one score will only affect his price for the first price change. From round two onwards his soft fixture should mean he gets back to around $600K by upgrade season anyway. This should limit the risk of others getting him significantly cheaper.
I can”t wait to see what sort of team you have put together.
Staying away from Brayshaw cause I have too many bad memories of him last year going 38 touches, 6 tackles, 2 goals for 110 points lol. CD hate him.
Nice team FT!
Rucks are where I’ve got to (except Reidy instead of Madden as Darcy injury coverage) and idea of an extra topliner in the forwards is very intriguing. At this point I’m running an extra mid which pushes Phillips to M9.Best,Mark.
Hey Mark
Yeah I got Reidy in to back up Shrek in my draft side. The fact he’s Ruck only really limits what you can do with him in Classic. You really need to have a DPP player at R3 so if you do get a R/F later in the year you can use that player to cover in the Ruck. If Marshall goes down for a week I’m not sure Reidy will be there to cover him.
Great side Freo- especially love that forward line.
Want to use your Freo knowledge.
Noticed you went for Greene as Forward bench. I like Sturt- think capable of scoring more, but reckon his JS a bit dodgy.
Is that why you went Greene over Sturt?
Hey Mick
Yeah manly about JS with the Greene v Sturt decision. I also think Greene is a more experienced footballer , being a little older he is possibly more likely to be consistent rather than a very young Sturt. Green could also be forgiven for a bad game or two as theres no real replacement waiting in the wings. Freo have a very strong list so if Sturt doesn’t perform he is more likely to be replaced straight away. Hope this helps.
Best of luck this year.