The Watchlist - 2025 Edition

[Mat0369]

SC is open and I am having a look at a quick draft of my team. I am also going to go through the lines and make a list of potential options that I am considering

First draft

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I don't love it, but I don't hate it. I think a few guys won't be ready for round 1 like Coleman/Gibcus, I'll go through the reasoning for my picks when I start my line posts

[Ringo]

Nice Structure. Good sitting team till we know rookies playing.

As a lions supporter I avoided Will Ashcroft mainly due to the fact of the number of mids ((Neale, Dunkley, McCluggage, Ashcroft, Fletcher and possibly Levi) that will be competing for points.

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Backs

Sheezel - I have him locked in as my D1 right now, the one advantage he has over Flanders is he doesn't play in the Round 0 game or have the Round 2 bye. He is a ball magnet and should play pure mid while being able to pick him as a defender, it's a no brainer

Flanders - He had a monster finish to the season with 4 scores over 120 in his last 6 games. There are a couple question marks heading into the season, with Noble and Rioli coming into the team, where does he play? They also have a really early bye week which isn't ideal. I think he is a pass for now

Ryan - He casually averaged 130 up until his bye week with only 1 score under 105. Post bye he was nowhere near as dominant and averaged 102. Every time I've owned Ryan he has had some bad form slumps while also having a huge hot streak. Priced at 116 you don't want him to start the season cold, but he can also be an early difference maker with a fantastic bye. Right now, he is probably out of my side as I can only really afford one 600k+ defender and that's Sheezel

Whitfield - One of my fave and best picks last season, I traded him in Round 14 and he averaged a whopping 123 for the rest of the season with a low score of 97 (only one under the ton). He had a pretty good start to the season averaging 116 in the first 3 before his first, and then was a bit of a roller coaster leading up to his second bye. He is one I will target as an upgrade with GWS playing Round 0 and then the Round 2 bye. I think I learnt from last year that missing too many of those guys was a recipe for dropping down the rankings.

Zorko - He had an amazing season and outside of a couple clunkers (which he is prone to in past seasons) he was dominant and a league winner. The shift to half back allowed him to play freely and impact games, it sounds like he will stay there but another year older and with Coleman coming back I think I'll hold off. He is also another victim of the opening round fixture.

Gov - A career high 110 for Gov which came at the ripe old age of 32. Two reasons I won't be picking him. He tends to pick up injuries and missed games last year. He also hasn't had a season anywhere near this scoring in the past so it is an outlier.

Sinclair - He is an option I really like for D2. After missing round 1 and a slow start he was a monster. He had a nice mix of playing midfield some games and then also taking the kickins with Nas, so he has a nice floor each week with that role. I don't know if Nas eats into more of those defensive half duties and they look to keep him in the midfield, but he is pretty tempting at his price with a huge ceiling.

Houston - So I think he is due to play Round 1 and miss opening round with the suspension, but he also had a round 3 bye which is a slight killer. I think on that alone it is a pass and I'll look at him as a potential upgrade.

Martin - Not a fan of this pick at his price. He had a 'high floor' last year due to the amount of ball he was getting, although he is a butcher which stopped him having some monster scores in some of those games. He was also thrown around a bit in the second half of the season so it's a pass.

Clark - He is one I really liked last year and he was pretty damn consistent each week. He did have a couple of really poor scores, but more often than not he was hitting the ton and showed to be a good option next to Ryan. I don't mind him as a cheaper option with room to grow, but I like Sinclair a little bit more if I can find 30k or a couple of guys for a little less.

Ridley - He is one of the best kicks in the competition, but he has missed games the last couple of years or he has had his role screwed with resulting in some crap scores. He has a huge ceiling, but I don't think I would take the risk starting him.

Nas - Last year was his breakout season. He takes the majority of the kickins and is amazing by foot. He could take another step this year, but he may be capped by Sinclair taking some of the kickins from him. Maybe a nice upgrade option if he has a clunker or injury

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Backs cont.

This is a place holder, reckon I'll need a second post for each category

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Mids

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Mids 2.0

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Rucks

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Rucks 2.0

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Forwards

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Forwards 2.0

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[Mat0369]

So Darcy out indefinitely, does Reidy come into play as R3? They played him in the ruck late in the season and Jackson forward