Sven's Vikings 2016

[Sven]

Sven's Vikings!

First draft for the year, day before SuperCoach starts. Yay!  ;D ;D

Love to hear any and all thoughts.

Salary cap left: $200.

Heath Shaw, Jarrad McVeigh, Jimmy Bartel, Brodie Smith, James Aish, Mitch W. Brown
Bailey Rice, Jeremy Finlayson

Patrick Dangerfield, Gary Ablett jnr, Tom Rockliff, Tom Liberatore, Jaeger O'Meara, Brad Crouch, Jed Anderson, Nathan Freeman
Ben Keays, Rhys Mathieson, Mitchell Hibberd

Todd Goldstein, Matthew Lobbe
Darrean Wyatt

Brett Deledio, Dustin Martin, Luke Dahlhaus, Craig Bird, Ben Kennedy, Christian Petracca
Oleg Markov, Jake Hiscox

[MC]

This team exemplifies what is referred to as 'chasing last year's points.'
You've got some very expensive players in your team who aren't certain to be #1 in their positions. Montagna/Shaw/Deledio/Goldy are pretty much as expensive as you can get. I think it's a risk to rely on them all to repeat last year's efforts.
Lids to Martin frees up around 50k for what I predict to be the same output. Shaw to someone like KK/Yeo frees up 150k etc

[Sven]

Thanks for the feedback MC.

It's true, I might be chasing the success of last years players, but I'm backing them all in. :)

Made a couple switches since SC has opened, fair to say, I'm happy with the way it looks, and it might even remain this way until NAB Challenge is finished!

[Sven]

Well 24 hours later, this is where I leave it for the day.

Love any and all thoughts!  ;D ;D

[Sven]

Wasn't happy with Barlow in the side....rejuggled a few players around, and now I'm very happy with the sides makeup.

Could it be possible I'm done until NAB Challenge? :D :D :D

[Sven]

Did I mention I have exactly $0 left?  8)

[Peter]

I would be a little concerned about players missing round 1 - McVeigh, Petracca, Trengrove, Freeman, O'Meara; But NAB will reveal more. Also perhaps use King for DPP due to better loophole timing

[Ringo]

You have a number of players with injury concerns as has been highlighted which you would need to watch for Round 1.

Personal opinion is that Shaw is overpriced so maybe downgrade if you need cash adjustments for Rd 1.

[Sven]

I would be a little concerned about players missing round 1 - McVeigh, Petracca, Trengrove, Freeman, O'Meara; But NAB will reveal more. Also perhaps use King for DPP due to better loophole timing

Yeah, it'll definitely be a watch and see kinda deal. Aware of all players.

McVeigh is running again, so not too worried he'll miss Round 1.
http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/2016-01-27/mcveigh-up-and-running

Christian Petracca is in "a race against time for Round 1", but he's rookie priced so I'm not worried if he's stays on the bench.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/melbourne/dom-tyson-says-melbournes-young-midfield-is-ready-to-ease-the-load-on-demons-stars-nathan-jones-and-bernie-vince/news-story/033b7bbe6b9677a6da485514a7b68e24

Jack Trengove I picked only cause I had the money left and is great value for his price. Fox Sports reported mid-March return.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/christian-petracca-injury-melbourne-demons-youngster-could-still-make-early-season-debut/news-story/2d54dd1e8a11921b2a3ae286a0f6f9fb

Nathan Freeman wont be risked for NAB Challenge, but instead will go through intense training to future-proof his hamstring. Hopefully he'll be right for Round 1.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/nick-riewoldt-could-captain-st-kilda-for-one-more-year-with-decision-to-be-make-next-week/news-story/83e406a5b810215fc94e949fb0c800dc

Jaeger O'Meara is on track for round 1 return as well.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/young-gun-gold-coast-sun-jaeger-omeara-could-return-for-round-1-2016-injury-timetable-supercoach/news-story/982db3b45ce9f7a5c1a6c5097aabcb51



Done the research, know the risks, but I'm more interested about the team, not the players?

[Mantis]

Very good team SVEN, i think your backline is strong enough that you could downgrade Aish to a rookie at D5 and use cash elsewhere.

Will be watching Anderson to see what role he gets, i think Simpkin is a safer pick, will be in essendons best 22 and will get mid time. If you do free up money guess it could be spent on O'Meara if he doesn't play round 1.

[Sven]

You have a number of players with injury concerns as has been highlighted which you would need to watch for Round 1.

Personal opinion is that Shaw is overpriced so maybe downgrade if you need cash adjustments for Rd 1.

Defense is a tricky one this year, but I'm backing Shaw in. True, he might be a little overpriced, but I'm really trying to avoid sideway trades to save a few bucks this year.

Very good team SVEN, i think your backline is strong enough that you could downgrade Aish to a rookie at D5 and use cash elsewhere.

Will be watching Anderson to see what role he gets, i think Simpkin is a safer pick, will be in essendons best 22 and will get mid time. If you do free up money guess it could be spent on O'Meara if he doesn't play round 1.

Yeah, had thought about Aish. NAB Challenge will determine that.

For me, its Anderson v Simpkin v Duggan. All are very similarly priced, and all have huge upsides. Again, I'll wait to see what happpens in NAB Challenge.

[fanTCfool]

Think you should give up hope on O'Meara for round one, who is the back-up plan?
Maybe a touch heavy in defence, Shaw and Bartel and McVeigh and Smith, I'd get rid of one of Shaw and Bartel as they share the same bye.
Could use the spare change to upgrade O'Meara.

[Sven]

Think you should give up hope on O'Meara for round one, who is the back-up plan?
Maybe a touch heavy in defence, Shaw and Bartel and McVeigh and Smith, I'd get rid of one of Shaw and Bartel as they share the same bye.
Could use the spare change to upgrade O'Meara.

If O'Meara isn't fit for Round 1, I might go with Liam Duggan. Gives me a DPP link, he's breakout material, and a good POD.

Not too worried about byes for now, I've never been one to specifically make up my team with byes in mind. Your team is going to undoubtedly change between Rounds 1 - 11, it manages to work itself out when they come around naturally. If not, I'm more of a league winner vs overall winner anyway.

[Ringo]

Nice research done and hope all are correct for you.

Just a couple of suggestions and as usual up to you:
With having 4 D/M DPP I would look at moving Hibberd to mid bench and bring another def rookie. Maybe replace Keays as I can not see him starting Rd 1.
For similar reasons would also look at Kerridge to mid bench.
This will give you flexibility for trading and also covering short term absences.  eg you may want to upgrade Aish for a mid which you could do via Hibberd but at the moment you do not have that option.
Also if you plan to work VC Loophole you will need to factor that in in your rookies.

As I said earlier nice team and just needs tweaking of rookies when teams announced after NAB cup.

[Sven]

New team.

DEF: H. Shaw, K. Kolodjashnij, J. Bartel, B. Smith, A. Francis, M. Brown (R. Bonner, N. Broad)

MID: S. Pendlebury, G. Ablett, T. Rockliff, O. Wines, T. Liberatore, B. Crouch, J. O'Meara, J. Hopper (J. Polkinghorne, C. Petracca, M. Hibberd)

RUC: N. Naitanui, M. Lobbe (S. Grimley)

FWD: L. Montagna, L. Dahlhaus, T. Greene, M. Leuenberger, L. Duggan, S. Kerridge (L. Sumner, S. Yarran)



Defense: Really happy with the make up of the backline. Shaw, while expensive is too good to leave out; should remain the #1 defender in the comp. Been tossing up between McVeigh and KK for a while, but I'm going to back KK in to improve on last year. Bartel and Smith are too good to pass up after an injury-affected 2015 season. Hopefully Francis and M. Brown will be walk-ins to Essendon's Rd 1 side. Bonner and Broad are looking the goods early, but will wait on NAB Challenge.

Midfield: Pendlebury, Ablett, Rockliff are locks. Backing in Wines, now he's fully fit to breakout. Liberatore, Crouch and O'Meara are also locks, back from injury ravaged seasons. Libba is the fit of the lot, and backing him in to return to 110+ average. Kid is a jet. Crouch does have some durability issues, having only played 25 matches in the past 3 years. It is a risk, but that's the beauty of this game, hopefully the reward pays off. O'Meara isn't fully fit, wait and see, do have a backup plan (explained later). I'm not usually one to pick expensive rookies, but Jacob Hopper excites me, praying he'll be picked Rd 1. Polkinghorne, Petracca, Hibberd are in as DPPs, but NAB Challenge might change that. Mathieson, Menegola, Freeman, Jansen are also in the mix.

Rucks: Being a North fan, I so wanted Goldstein in the side, but he's ssooooo expensive. A little too expensive for my liking. So, I decided to bring in someone mid-priced that will improve. Come on down, Matthew Lobbe. Proven to average 90+ when he's the #1 ruckman, and without Ryder in the side, I'm backing him in. Down the track, I'll look to upgrade him to Goldstein. As for R1, I decided on Nic Nat. First uninterrupted pre-season, and a freakish talent. Mumford and Blicavs are also in the mix. Sam Grimley was impossible to pass up as R3 when he signed as a top up.

Forwards: This is the line I'm continuously struggling with. Dahlhaus has been the only lock. Deledio, Montagna and Martin have been floating in and out depending on cashflow. Greene is an intriguing prospect, but I'm hopeful with Treloar gone, he'll return to the midfield rotation and therefore return to his high-scoring potential. Leuenberger....oh Leuenberger. Currently he's in for two reasons: a) valuable DPP and b) he's underpriced for a #1 ruckman. But he's not a lock by any means. Duggan is just one of many players to be thankful the green vest is gone. He's highly rated within WC circles, and perfect breakout material. Kerridge is a wait and see, unsure of his JS at Carlton at the moment. Sumner and Yarran again, are placeholders, but both are looking strong for Rd 1.



If O'Meara isn't fit, there are a few scenarios. They all begin though by downgrading O'Meara to a playing rookie. Then:

a) Upgrade Lobbe to Blicavs/Mumford.
b) Upgrade Leuey to Barlow.
c) Radical idea: Downgrade O'Meara to a rookie, then downgrade Leuey to N. Cockatoo/B. Kennedy and then upgrade Lobbe to Blicavs/Mumford and upgrade Wines to Dangerfield.