Locked until final teams are announced ... please rate ..

[mpollock]

B: Goddard, Deledio, Broughton, Malceski, Clarke, Bugg, Ellis (Morris, Townsend)
M: Ablett, Pendlebury, Mitchell, Selwood, Parker, D.Smith (McDonald, Magner)
R: Mumford, Hale (Giles, Big O)
F: Franklin, Goodes, Fyfe, Cloke, Dangerfield, Kennedy, Dickson (Cameron, Hall)

A little unlucky with Parker getting the vest after a knock from McDonald ...
Also should have started McDonald and Bugg on the ground ... but at least i picked them up.

Please let me know your thoughts ...

[Fireballz]

Pretty unique ruck combo... You rate Hale?
I'd play Giles as #2 ruck rather than using Hale.

[mpollock]

If i had my time over i would have put Hale in the fwd line and gone with Giles as my number 2 ruck.

Hale NAB form was out of this world and should score MUCH better then previous seasons as the number 1 ruck ... he is also very consistent kicking 2-3 goals each game and the occassional bag ... esp. if buddy plays up the field more.

Should average 90 ish ..

[Praetorian]

Well, it's not too late to move Hale to your forwards. All you'll need to do is cop Stephenson's (or maybe Redden's?) score this week and start Giles next week. A 60 or so from either of those two certainly won't be the end of the world, particularly if it lets you pick a team you're happier with. :P

I like Hale better in the forwards anyway. In the rucks, I don't understand what his role would be. Do you expect him to be in the top 2 rucks by the end of the year? - probably not, which means you're getting him as an upgrade prospect. That's a very expensive upgrade prospect. I'd be more inclined to buy someone cheaper who will make you more money before you upgrade him.

Although this all depends on whether you're going for league or ranking. How much money do you have left over? As much as I love Mitchell, to be honest I think he's a touch overpriced this year. He'll have a cracker, but the Hawks are going to have about a million midfielders getting 80-90 every game, I'm just not sure Mitchell can maintain his lofty standards (truth be told, the Hawks will probably hope the ball gets shared around a bit more rather than going through him every single time). Boyd, on the other hand, is likely to be the only midfielder in his team doing squat around stoppages. I think Rockliff's going to get a ton of it weekly too - just take a look at his numbers last year. Think he dropped below 85 once in about 12 games. Of course, they've got a different bye from Mitchell, so it also depends on how much attention you're trying to pay to those.

[mezzoculo]

Well done on having the testicles to go with Malceski! I chickened out at the last minute and watched him have a very productive game. Let's hope that he can maintain that when O'Keefe returns!

I would consider bringing in Boyd as his scores during the preseason suggest the Dogs new possession style will see him maintain or even increase his scoring (this could be good for Griffen too if you want someone a little cheaper - just be sure he is playing in Round 1).

Also, you have three forwards with the Round 12 bye, so if you don't want a donut there you could either a) trade out Selwood for Boyd (enabling you to swap a either Fyfe or Goodes onto the midfield bench) or b) trade out one of the three for a premium with the Round 13 bye (say Martin or Robo).

[mpollock]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Fall just short of getting Boyd ...

I did notice i had 3 round 12 bye key forwards but I think there is a significant gap between Goodes (now locked anyway), Fyfe & Cloke compared to Martin (will start season slow in my opinion) and Robertson (a lot of competition for midfield time and late started in preseason).

I could swap Mitchell and Selwood for Boyd and Del Santo ... but I really want Selwood as i think he is slightly underpriced.
Mitchell's form has been awesome in the preseason ... 36 pos in his last game ... don't really think he will drop off at all or if so anything significan

Also considered putting Hale in the fwds and coping a score from Big O ... but want to win overall and hence don't want to sacrifice any points even round 1 ... i also put myself well behind overall by not having McDonald and Bugg on the ground!!!

[mezzoculo]

Well, if you are going for overall then you NEED to do something about your three Round 12 premium donuts. Having two midfield premiums (i.e. Selwood and Pendles) won't help.

[mpollock]

I think i will gain a lot of points having a Fyfe over a Martin in the first half of the year ... May have to do a sideways trade in round 12 depending on injuries, form, breakout seasons, rookies and all the other millions of factors that will change between now and then.

Looking a the SC winner last year he traded out and back in Sandilands ... and did a couple of other trades that would be considered sideways or questionable in nature ... all about risk and rewards i suppose.

My overall team is very well balanced for the byes.

[mpollock]

The only player i would swap Fyfe or Cloke for is Chapman ... who happens to share the same bye.
I would also consider Sidebottom but not in the same category as these guys ... and again has the round 12 bye.

Petrie round 11 bye doesn't fill me with that much confidence and already have quite a few rookies + danger in rd 11 out.

Martin and Robinson no for reasons i stated.

ROK if fit would be a yes - but again rd 12.

So out of options ....