First up, thought I’d throw up (excuse the pun) my team from a few weeks ago for comparison.
A few of these have left the building for various reasons, most of which I am incapable of explaining fully, but will endeavour to. Got a little anxious about Kerch’s lack of ball handling pre season, although he will still rack them up if playing half back. Was more about Sinclair’s and Windsor’s rise in appreciation after the AAMI and R0 I guess. Gibcus presented as less of option once some rookie defenders put their hands up to provide faster cash options.
Daws went mainly due to varying roles in the trials and AAMI, Culley for injury and Brodie needs to get picked. One for a later downgrade!
Set and forget disappeared with the emergence of McAndrew and the chance to strengthen elsewhere, and the forward line does not look to have room for my early POD Freijah, who I believe will come back to haunt me sooner rather than later. Murhy’s Law. Treloar and Parish made way for Tracca despite the clash of byes early.
Here’s what it looks like today, but I am still a little unsure if I have too much mid price madness despite some good solid scoring in the AAMI and R0. Just think back to the 119 point difference between the praccie and R0 for Buku Khamis to see how this thinking could stuff you over.
IN DEFENCE: Sinclair’s role looked sensational and his efficiency is terrific, so he slots in. Rozee, everyone needs him with his insane early draw. I think McCarthy will keep a midfield role and improve exponentially and be the Weagle’s top scorer, and I’ve tracked Rivers role closely and am happy he will deliver above his price. Serong and Jaques can fight over the last on field spot as much as they like, and Lindsay looks a player and should get the nod for R1. NB I got scared of NAS when I saw how easily he can be tagged. Might be a false dawn but he already has that low score in his cycle and will likely drop in price after R1.
MIDFIELD: Butters, no brainer!! Brayshaw is my POD mid despite a quite preseason. I listen to the wisdom of Father Dougal who says they return to their normal in the real stuff. Hope you are right FD. Erroll looks so fit it’s scary and I couldn’t resist despite removing my favourite Crow to fit him in. I’m taking a punt on value in Sam Walsh who looks brand new and the Blues certainly need him. Tanner Bruhn has a really SC friendly role with some centre stoppage and then back to half back. He covers the ground well and they seem to look for him as an outlet which can only be beneficial. Heard rumours that Hayden Young left the track early and may be doubtful. Could be a worry so if anyone has any further news, please drop it in the comments. Parish would be a like replacement if needed.
Rookies are not super prevalent in the mids but I’ve still decided to go with two on field rooks in Dyson Sharp and Jagga. Sam Grlj is in the mids as a DPP for defence in absence of many options, and Blamires is a walk up at the price if he makes the cut. Jack Carroll can be good from what I’ve seen, but Chayce Jones can be as well and is still a consideration
RUCKS: McAndrew ! Leapt from about two percent ownership to over fifty five and has thrown a spanner in the team sheets of heaps of us. Most of us voted him as a treasure in the polls so I went with you all. Timmy English looks fit and roving the length of the ground at will so should pick up transition points as well as HTAs. Not sure what happens if the McAndrew experiment is shortened so I stuck Reidy in the forwards as a DPP as a worst case scenario. With the early bye rounds, it may mitigate the problem somewhat.
FORWARDS: Sheez and Flanders, everyone’s got. I tried to avoid too many early bye players (so my Tech Team should be good) but Tracca popped up and said pick me, and Buderick was a way toward that juggling to get him under the salary cap. It does give me five omissions from the field in R3, plus Jaques and Lombard cannot be used as cover. That’s an area of concern but with 40 trades I’m willing to burn one or two if need be after a few rounds to mitigate that problem. The two cheapies at D5 and D6 are also unilaterally owned, so self explanatory. I’ve mentioned why Liam Reidy is there but he may not even stay in Carlton’s team, let alone mine, and Leo Lombard looks a beast, tackles hard and covers a shiteload of territory for a forward which I think helps his scoring avenues outside of goal kicking. Tracca is flex for now because of his DPP.
Twenty of my players are owned by over 40% of all coaches (21 if you count Erroll at 39%), which certainly screams cookie cutter, but I’m hoping the less than 21% owned in Walsh, Buderick, McCarthy, Rachelle, Rivers and Brayshaw can make a difference. I reckon there might be thirteen keepers in there which I’m OK with, but the seven mid pricers may be a stretch. What do you think? Let me know your thoughts and comments as I can still be swayed on a couple of these selections.