SC Team 2018 Edition

[jricey]

ahh excellent! Noted  ;D

[PassivePenguin]

Wew almost a month on we are a week away from JLT (Can't wait to see my PODS rise to 15%< ownership  ::)). Had sometime after AFLX to think and read so thought I would revise my side a bit (after seeing some players having interrupted preseasons and seeing players who are looking good)

DEF: Laird, Hibberd, Simpson, Sicily, Smith (Melb), Doedee (Cumming, Mirra)
MID: Dangerfield, Martin, Mitchell, Fyfe, Cripps, Coniglio, Higgins, Kelly (Garlett, Barry, Holman)
RUC: Gawn, Naitanui (Olango)
FWD: Walters, Lambert, McLean, Christensen, Dawson (Syd), Ahern (Venables, Frtisch)
Bank: $900

Now let me explain this picks (Excluding the Rookies of course)
DEF
Laird: Absolute lock by the looks of things and would be hard to find anyone without this man in their teams since he has the potential to be the no.1 pick
Hibberd: Compared to Hurley (who got his wrist injured) and Yeo (Hip complaints?) I would say he is a better pick than both and in my opinion will finish higher than these two with the potential to be no.1
Simpson: Loved how consistent he was for me last year (even though it was considered a "down year" for him. With Docherty gone I reckon he will be the general in defense and I think the way Carlton plays suits him well.
Sicily: Wasn't convinced that he would get that backline role this year, but with it almost being confirmed (And Birchall probably being out Rd.1) He looks like a lock and will be heavily sought after mid season for those that don't start with him.

MID
Dangerfield: It's Dangerfield... pick him simple.
Martin: Brownlow, Norm Smith, B&F etc.... What surprises me about Martin is that at the start of the year he had a patch where he was scoring fairly ordinary (due to injury) and by the end of the year he still had a 120 avg. If he can stay healthy and possibly improve some of his inconsistencies he could be even better
Mitchell: Absolute Ball magnet, last year had him from the start and loved every single second of it. If JOM gets up it could help in the midfield. He could also become a more damaging player and as the season went on he was performing better last year. Lock him in.
Fyfe: Fyfe is Life.
Cripps: Has had an uninterrupted preseason so far and is a player just waiting to explode to elite. At his price he is an absolute bargain for the potential upside you could be getting from him. No Gibbs so those midfield points are his to take. Not worried about the tag since inside ball beats are too difficult to tag in the first place and usually not worth it. Most likely Murphy will get the tag thus causing Cripps to be let off the chain.
Coniglio: 2 years ago was debating whether to get him in or not as a starting option. I was liking what I was seeing but in the end didn't have the guts to go through it. 2 years later Coniglio is older, Fitter and I'm not backing out of picking him this time.

RUC
Gawn: "I'm a lock" - Gawn
Naitanui: I have been trying to find reasons NOT to pick him but in the end I just go back to him. I linked an article earlier this year and after some thinking I just couldn't not have my favourite player. Unless something goes horribly wrong in his preparation his looking right for the last JLT or Round 1 and I just can't bring myself to pick these Half baked options (Yes Jacobs is kind of a desperation pick if we are all being honest). And heard a stat that before the injury he played about ~65%-70% time on ground before while still avg in the 100s so I think he will be a lock and should be find. All I honestly need from him is to avg ~90 and to last till round 10 which is doable in his case. The upside is just too good to pass up.

FWD
Walters: Mundy moving into the forward line, Blakley at Half back, Matera being their small forward, Who moves into Freo's Midfield? Walters that's who. Made a whole thread on this guy and like ALOT more than Billings who will be relying on goals to get points whereas Walters will be getting disposals, will kick goals and get contested possessions. I trust that Lyon will play him in his best position (I know trusting Lyon is usually a bad idea) and even Freo fans are getting exited at the prospect of him playing midfield. Note he was tagged in one game last year, BUT he handled it quite well and still scored 88.
Lambert Back end to the year he played mainly midfield and is looking like he moves in to the 2nd Tier midfield at Richmond (First tier being Martin and Cotchin). When Dusty is playing forward, he will most likely be running the engine room. Love him as a pick and is in under 2% of teams which is absolutely criminal.
McLean: Back end to the year last year his avg was 95+ and with that improvement I will be locking him in. Dogs fans are thinking he spends even more time in the middle rotating forward which is a great sign. In under 2% of teams but can see that changing fairly drastically after JLT  :-\.
Christensen: Looked good in AFLX (what I mean is he didn't break down which is a good sign). Gonna stick to the plan of upgrading him to Heeney after Rd.6 unless he is avg 100+ (unlikely). Mainly because Sydney have a tough draw in the first few rounds but after than it completely opens up for them.

So that is basically it. The players I will be watching in the JLT to see if they get the roles I expect them to get. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[Bully]

Ok, nice team.

Backs - Tick, tick, tick, tick (I like the Sicily pick at D4)

Mids - Hard to fault.

Rucks - I have that combo and after seeing Nic Nat do somersaults at training I'm feeling more at ease. The only issue I see is if Naitanui gets rested in the early stages there's not much to move to. Definitely a risk reward move that could pay off or could see you burn 2 trades to get a replacement.

Forwards - This line is the most concern. really like Walters and he's in my side, so no issues there. Lambert had a brilliant end to the year, finals included, he also finished top 5 in the B&F. The question really comes down to whether he can take the next step and push his average into the mid 90's. That's almost a 10 PPG improvement. Personally I think he's reached his level but I could be wrong, it's just that he had 9 scores under 80 & 2 of those were under 50. Probably not consistent enough for mine. Don't think McLean has the runs on the board to unseat Dahlhaus either, half a season isn't enough evidence. Two rookies in the forwards may also expose you to some really average returns. Think you have also undersold Billings, he chalked up 30+ touches in 4 games and scored 10 tons after round 6.

[SilverLion]

Think you have also undersold Billings, he chalked up 30+ touches in 4 games and scored 10 tons after round 6.

Now this I would like to see ;D

[PassivePenguin]

Ok, nice team.

Backs - Tick, tick, tick, tick (I like the Sicily pick at D4)

Mids - Hard to fault.

Rucks - I have that combo and after seeing Nic Nat do somersaults at training I'm feeling more at ease. The only issue I see is if Naitanui gets rested in the early stages there's not much to move to. Definitely a risk reward move that could pay off or could see you burn 2 trades to get a replacement.

Forwards - This line is the most concern. really like Walters and he's in my side, so no issues there. Lambert had a brilliant end to the year, finals included, he also finished top 5 in the B&F. The question really comes down to whether he can take the next step and push his average into the mid 90's. That's almost a 10 PPG improvement. Personally I think he's reached his level but I could be wrong, it's just that he had 9 scores under 80 & 2 of those were under 50. Probably not consistent enough for mine. Don't think McLean has the runs on the board to unseat Dahlhaus either, half a season isn't enough evidence. Two rookies in the forwards may also expose you to some really average returns. Think you have also undersold Billings, he chalked up 30+ touches in 4 games and scored 10 tons after round 6.

To be fair with Lambert, his back end had an average of 95+ (so about from rd.12 onwards) which means he does have the consistency going forward. Also when looking through the games he played before Rd.12 he was doing the odd jobs and filling gaps in the midfield (tagging for example) but after he became a ball magnet and inside mid who freed up Dusty to go forward.

I'm sure after last year McLean will get the chances early to prove his is a genuine gun mid and will surpass expectations with that. Dahlhaus at times last year as well was used as a small forward meaning there is also a chance of that happening this year as well. 

When it comes to Billings most of what I have heard from posters is something along the lines of "If he can kick straight" which doesn't really inspire me with much confidence if we are relying on him kicking straighter to score significantly better. My main reason however would be the soft tissue injury he has suffered prior to AFLX (Hamstring) which makes me want to steer clear until I upgrade a player to him, if the club were just trying to get him out of playing AFLX they would have just withdrawn him (like what port and Freo did with their stars). Him and Heeney will be on my watch list after the rounds start though.

Overall the forward line is comprised of players I think will be playing midfield at their teams. When compared to players like Greene for example who play that HF role I think mids will provide better results (Doesn't mean later in the season I won't pick these players up)

[Money Shot]

Defence and mids are pretty solid so can't fault those lines.

Nic Nat is an interesting one as although he still has very high ownership percentage I assume it would be in those teams that don't take supercoach that seriously meaning he could be somewhat of a pod amongst the top teams in the comp so it could pay off starting him. I just think he is really likely to get rested and miss games and would rather start someone like Jacobs who is a boring pick but has a lot more safety around him.

Forward line is a good and I love the Walters/McLean picks along with Bundy who I am starting to think could be an F6/F7 come years end. Lambert I am not convinced with however and I think Graham is more likely to play the inside mid role and think that Lambert's scoring could be impacted.

Overall it is a pretty good team though.

[PassivePenguin]

Defence and mids are pretty solid so can't fault those lines.

Nic Nat is an interesting one as although he still has very high ownership percentage I assume it would be in those teams that don't take supercoach that seriously meaning he could be somewhat of a pod amongst the top teams in the comp so it could pay off starting him. I just think he is really likely to get rested and miss games and would rather start someone like Jacobs who is a boring pick but has a lot more safety around him.

Forward line is a good and I love the Walters/McLean picks along with Bundy who I am starting to think could be an F6/F7 come years end. Lambert I am not convinced with however and I think Graham is more likely to play the inside mid role and think that Lambert's scoring could be impacted.

Overall it is a pretty good team though.

That's an interesting point of view. In my opinion I think the tigers are still within their premiership window so they would rather a more senior body in the guts rather than a Graham. Dimma did say in a q&a that he would be rolling with basically the premiership side (for how long who knows) likely in the positions they played in. If Graham were to play more mid minutes than Lambert I would think it would be for development reasons rather for winning games.
But would love to hear the other side of this because it could go either way.

[Bully]

Defence and mids are pretty solid so can't fault those lines.

Nic Nat is an interesting one as although he still has very high ownership percentage I assume it would be in those teams that don't take supercoach that seriously meaning he could be somewhat of a pod amongst the top teams in the comp so it could pay off starting him. I just think he is really likely to get rested and miss games and would rather start someone like Jacobs who is a boring pick but has a lot more safety around him.

Forward line is a good and I love the Walters/McLean picks along with Bundy who I am starting to think could be an F6/F7 come years end. Lambert I am not convinced with however and I think Graham is more likely to play the inside mid role and think that Lambert's scoring could be impacted.

Overall it is a pretty good team though.

That's an interesting point of view. In my opinion I think the tigers are still within their premiership window so they would rather a more senior body in the guts rather than a Graham. Dimma did say in a q&a that he would be rolling with basically the premiership side (for how long who knows) likely in the positions they played in. If Graham were to play more mid minutes than Lambert I would think it would be for development reasons rather for winning games.
But would love to hear the other side of this because it could go either way.

I'm a Tigers man and I just can't see Lambert hitting mid 90's, that's pretty much the bar you should be setting. Dahlhaus, Billings and Heeney are all better options.