The Fanplanner is open for 2011 for you to craft squads for next year’s major comps with estimated prices and positions.
Next year will include a lot of changes to Dream Team and Supercoach, of course, not least of which is the shift from 30 players to a squad of 33. What this will do to the magic number, such as it is, is known only to the Vapor Media crew. I only know that there will be some downward adjustment to take into account the extra three players needed. For now, I have set the Dream Team MN – the number by which season averages are multiplied to arrive at the base starting price – at 4272. It was 4393 last year. Similarly, the Supercoach MN is at 5057 in the Fanplanner, down from 5312 last year.
As far as positional changes go, there are a few contentious ones. I suspected Luke Hodge would change to a CTR this year, but he stayed a CTR/BAC. There’s even less justification to keep him as a BAC this year but I’ve left him as such in the Fanplanner, because I know there would be an outcry if not. I have given BAC eligibility to Brett Deledio, Brady Rawlings, Brent Staker, Andrew Walker and Robert Murphy, among others. I have not given dual positioning to Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy, Shane Tuck or Joel Corey despite them spending time out of the middle this year. I have taken forward eligibility off Tom Rockliff, Travis Varcoe, Jack Ziebell and Richard Douglas. Ben McGlynn, Steele Sidebottom, David Zaharakis, Ricky Petterd and Lynden Dunn are now eligible as FWDs.
The first-round price premiums go all the way down to pick 25 this year. This means that the #1 draft pick is significantly higher-priced than in previous years, which is why you will find David Swallow so exy. Discounting is always problematic because the “rules” change every year and get rather random as to who qualifies and who doesn’t, but I’ve been generous where possible. Daniel Harris and Andrew Krakouer present particular conundrums, your guess is as good as mine as to how they will be priced but I’ve given Harris a 40% disco and put Krakouer at draftee price.
As always, I’ve been keeping an eye on trends in plan teams from those who have already been pottering round with the database. Without giving too much away from what is always sensitive material, here’s a list of the most popular player in each position so far.
Starting backs: Andy Otten. As soon as he went down with an LTI early last season this was always on the cards, and with Nathan Bock leaving a big hole at CHB there’s no doubt he will be in all serious fantasy teams next year. There don’t appear to be nearly as many home-run cheap backs as last season in the Fanplanner, so everyone is going to gravitate towards Andy.
Starting midfielders: Dane Swan. With the departure of Gary Ablett jnr to the Gold Coast, fantasy coaches seem to have dropped off him in droves. While the likes of Matthew Boyd and Leigh Montagna are still strongly represented, most coaches are using the strategy of not skimping on their premiums, with Swan leading by a margin of three to one for each of those two.
Starting rucks: Aaron Sandilands. It appears that 211 has settled in comfortably to the role in fantasy sides that Dean Cox used to fill, albeit with a more traditional ruckman’s role than the more mobile and athletic Big C. I’m not sure Sandilands can string together as many great scoring years as Cox given his style, though, and his late injury problems this year indicate that he’s not going to be as reliable.
Starting forwards: Nick Riewoldt. Of the 11 games he managed in 2010, you could say three were injury-affected: the 20 in the round three game in which he tore his hamstring, and the first two comeback games in rounds 15 and 16 where he could only manage 68 and 71 in Dream Team. Thus, his season average of 94.4 is significantly depressed from his average for the other eight games, which totalled 879 points for an average a tick under 110. Makes perfect sense, which is why he’s the most popular.
Bench backs: Josh Toy. As you’d expect, the first four slots in this list are filled by Gold Coast players. A word of warning, though: most of the senior recruits to the Suns have been in the backline, so I’m not sure Guy McKenna can fit Jarrod Harbrow, Campbell Brown, Toy, Karmichael Hunt and Sam Iles all in the same defence. Michael Coad probably has more job security as second fiddle to Nathan Bock. Then again, there’s merit in the thought that you know you’ll get at least one of them playing every week.
Bench midfielders: Andrew Krakouer. No one wants to miss out on 2011’s version of Michael Barlow, if such a creature exists. Of course it won’t, Barlow was unique in many ways. Krakouer’s story has been different in a number of ways, not least that he has already played at the AFL level. Krakouer’s popularity is an aspect of a common trend among fantasy coaches, that they don’t wan’t to pay a cent more than base draftee price for their mid bench. It’s why the likes of Luke Shuey and Ryan Bastinac were so prominent last year. In 2011, the usual suspects are the hot Dog father/sons in Mitchell Wallis and Tom Liberatore, as well as Sam Blease and a bunch of kids already on the Gold Coast list.
Bench rucks: Zac Smith. This one’s not even close. It’s a no-brainer, really. Prior to the draft, Smith is set to carry the Suns ruck division at a draftee price. Things may change after the draft and give the likes of Sam Day or Daniel Gorringe more currency, depending on how the picks fall.
Bench forwards: Brandon Matera. Another one where there’s daylight between first and second on the list, with the obvious Gold Coast connection bolstering job security for another kid. Behind him there’s not a lot of knowledge or confidence in any draftee prospects, so the draft will have to sort them out.
Happy planning!
Junktimer
October 4, 2010 at 6:54 am
hey m0nt,
think you mean which is why you will find DAVID Swallow so exy, not andrew 😛
i think bryce gibbs is a definite defender next year. im a carlton man and he was playing every game down back
prosserd
October 4, 2010 at 10:19 am
guru r1 scores seems a tad out?
m0nty
October 4, 2010 at 12:59 pm
The Guru scores aren’t working at the moment because the draw hasn’t been released. It has to have the matchups to work.
As for Gibbs, my reasoning is that players like Shane Tuck have spent large slabs of time as defenders in previous years and not qualified as BACs in fantasy. In any event, the key is not where you start at the centre bounce, but where you get your possessions. Gibbs zones up the ground enough not to qualify.
Bonez
October 4, 2010 at 1:33 pm
I’m probably just stupid but how do I get back to my planned team after I made it and closed the window?
Cheers for this Monty.
m0nty
October 4, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Bonez, use the “Change focus” link at top right. You can also make that team your primary one, so that it’s in focus when you log in.
AndyJ
October 4, 2010 at 4:32 pm
You’ve removed the forward eligibility from Travis Varcoe .. ? I dunno how much crystal balling the champion data/virtual sports guys do but theres no guarantee varcoe will make the move to the midfield at all next year replacing Ablett. Considering he played the majority of this year in the forward line do ya really think thats the way his eligibility will go?
magpies76
October 7, 2010 at 3:22 am
Hi Monty, I can’t seem to locate Luke Tapscott (Melb). Is he a forward this year?
YourAGun
October 7, 2010 at 4:56 pm
If Brad Green is not listed in the forward line its a joke, he almost kicked 60 goals for the year 2010
prosserd
October 8, 2010 at 12:42 am
Not that i’m going to get him – but I can’t see Max Gawn either – just letting you know in case there is a systemic error
Good work so far Monty 🙂
starz
October 8, 2010 at 9:57 am
hey monty loving the work you have been doing. your a legend
but it would be great if you could:
-add luke tapscott
– add peter faulks to the backline for freo
– change the team colours for players such as krakeour fraser veszpremi
cheers monty.
Fatbar5tad
October 9, 2010 at 10:15 am
33 players with the same salary cap? Ouch. That’s going to make things pretty tight.
bigstar
November 17, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Monty what how many players should i have from each team? i have:
AC-6
BL-2
Carlton-1
Coll-2
Ess-0
Freo -1
Cats-2
H- 2
Melb-1
NM-2
PP-1
GS-1
Saint-3
Syd-1
WB-1
WC-4
i know this is wrong but can you give me an idea what i should have
DamenS
November 24, 2010 at 5:40 am
How does the new “Byes” column work ?
DamenS
November 24, 2010 at 5:57 am
Sorry for the stupid question – I worked it out once I took a closer look at it !!
DamenS
December 12, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Hi Monty – Thanks for the Fanplanner, it is a fun and invaluable resource. Before the conspiracy theorists commence suggesting you are an apologist for Matthew Knights however, would you mind adding Bachar Houli ? Couldn’t get a game for Essendon and now he’s at Richmond he can’t get a game in Fanplanner !!
m0nty
December 12, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Houli is in there, DamenS, but as a midfielder and not a back.
DamenS
December 13, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Ah, thanks for that Monty – looks like I may have to keep “Dodgy Groins” Krakouer in my team then … 🙁
Bandicoot
December 16, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Might need to show round 5 (in the Byes column) as BOLD. It is also a three bye round.
Bandicoot
December 16, 2010 at 9:22 pm
In looking at Bigstar’s side, would be fair to suggest he’s a Crow.
Only one player from the Suns??? I would think most teams will have a minimum of anywhere between 6 – 10 Suns players at the start of year.
probably
December 22, 2010 at 2:08 pm
hey Monty, Scott Selwood will definitely be listed as a mid this year. If not though everyone should jump on, great scoring potential.
And Sam Butler is a good chance to go defender too.
Fatbar5tad
January 3, 2011 at 1:05 am
@Bandicoot
The Suns have a bye in Rounds 1 and 9. With league matches starting in Round 1 this year instead of round 4 this makes having too many GC players in the squad a bit of a risk I reckon.
6-10 seems a bit excessive for mine.
DamenS
January 12, 2011 at 11:00 pm
Hey Monty – Is Brad Miller (Richmond) in Fanplanner ? I can’t find him as a Fwd … much as you may question why I would even want to … 😉
DamenS
January 13, 2011 at 3:45 am
Also, Simon Taylor the ex-Hawthorn ruckman ?
DamenS
January 13, 2011 at 4:13 am
LOL – don’t worry about Simon Taylor – I had a brain fade and was confusing him for Robert Campbell !! 🙁
glj71144
January 19, 2011 at 11:28 am
In FanPlanner is there an option to reorganise selected players so they are shown in the groups Backs, Mids etc as selected?