Colley Dogs v. 2018: DANGER-LESS

[Colley Dogs]

Def: Yeo / Laird / Hibberd / L. McDonald / E. Richards / Doedee (O’Brien / Cumming)

Mid: Dangerfield / Mitchell / Kelly / Fyfe / Cripps / Dow / Davies-Uniacke / T. Kelly (Ahern / Worpel / Holman)

Ruc: Jacobs / Gawn (Olango)

For: Heeney / Petracca / C. Curnow / Christensen / Stephenson / Venables (J. Garlett / L. Ryan)

Bank: 8.9K


Thinking:

I’m pretty settled on this structure i.e. allocating cash into a top end mid-pricer / cheap premium at D4; but I’m can be argued out of this.

I’m locked into my Ruck set-up; no interest at all in Naitanui (even though he’s my favourite player who doesn’t play for my club).

I’m a Carlton fan. C. Curnow is a lock; Patrick Cripps is not a lock (even though he’s my favourite Blue). I’d feel a lot more comfortable if Cripps was M. Crouch. But regarding Curnow, I made a decision midway through last year that he’d be a lock in my side this season if priced under 450K. Please don’t worry about comments re Curnow. I’m prepared to live-and-die with him at F3.

L. McDonald at D4 is a place-holder. JLT will sort out what I do here. He could become J. Lloyd, Shaw, Sicily, McGrath, or â€" if I have the courage â€" A. Brayshaw, Seedsman, or Bonner (allowing Cripps to become M. Crouch / D. Martin & L. Ryan to become Raynor).

Would love to provide feedback on your team if you insert a link in your comment. Thanks in advance.

[ubeaut]

I think 3 midpricers is a good amount. Wouldn't want many more than that.
Like the team, only concern is Petracca at F2. I'd look at finding a cheaper option for Yeo as he's max price, uncertainty on role, and use the cash to strengthen F2.
Possibly Stephenson could become a cheaper rookie as well.
Say Yeo > Hanley,  Stephenson > Fritsch, Petracca > Billings/ other fwd.
Then u could maybe afford to do Cripps > Crouch/Dusty as well?
Curnow is a good as option as any for his price will be a star.

[Colley Dogs]

Thanks for the comment and suggestions ubeaut.

Yeo > Hanley (not sold on Hanley, but like what it allows me to address in other areas)
Stephenson > Fritsch (he's been in and out of my side all month, so easy to climb back on)
Cripps > Crouch (gives me my first-choice first five mids)
Hibberd > Hurley (really want Hurley - Laird as my D1 & D2 combo)

Solid recommendations all around. I'll sit on this for a bit.

Thanks.

[Colley Dogs]

Guns-'n-Rookies + 3 mid-pricers. A small restructure to solidify my guns (L. McDonald > Hurley; Petracca > Franklin; Cripps > M. Crouch):

Def: Hurley / Laird / Hibberd / Sicily / E. Richards / Doedee (Cumming / Payne)

Mid: Dangerfield / Mitchell / Kelly / M. Crouch / Fyfe / Davies-Uniacke / Brodie / T. Kelly (Ahern / Worpel / Holman)

Ruc: Jacobs / Gawn (Olango)

For: Franklin / Heeney / C. Curnow / Christensen / Venables / J. Garlett (Fritsch / L. Ryan)

Bank: $900

[Money Shot]

Really good team with Sicily/Curnow a good shot at being top 10 or there abouts, Bundy will make plenty of cash as well.

Only premium I have doubts on is Franklin, he is sure to throw ina a stinker and drop in price and I see him as a perfect upgrade target after his bye.

Laird, Danger, Crouch, Fyfe, Jacobs and Heeney already have that bye as well so I would look at getting someone with the round 12/13 bye... maybe Dahlhaus?

[Ringo]

Like the team. One concern is amount of cash left over if you have to adjust rookies. 

Franklin as has been said will give you a rollercoaster ride and based on previous years will get cheaper through the season so perfect upgrade target, Players I would look at with different bye Greene, Devon Smith, Dahllhaus/Maclean (watch JLT to see roles of both).

With having Sicily maybe look at a forward/def Dpp to allow you to move Sicily to forwards if need be.

[GoLions]

Like the team. One concern is amount of cash left over if you have to adjust rookies. 

Franklin as has been said will give you a rollercoaster ride and based on previous years will get cheaper through the season so perfect upgrade target, Players I would look at with different bye Greene, Devon Smith, Dahllhaus/Macrae (watch JLT to see roles of both).

With having Sicily maybe look at a forward/def Dpp to allow you to move Sicily to forwards if need be.

Do you mean McLean instead of Macrae?

Rookies should be fine for now with LDU and Brodie both in there already. Team looks pretty good.

[Ringo]

Like the team. One concern is amount of cash left over if you have to adjust rookies. 

Franklin as has been said will give you a rollercoaster ride and based on previous years will get cheaper through the season so perfect upgrade target, Players I would look at with different bye Greene, Devon Smith, Dahllhaus/Macrae (watch JLT to see roles of both).

With having Sicily maybe look at a forward/def Dpp to allow you to move Sicily to forwards if need be.

Do you mean McLean instead of Macrae?

Rookies should be fine for now with LDU and Brodie both in there already. Team looks pretty good.

Yep meant McLean and amended. To many Macs in Bulldogs team haha.

[Colley Dogs]

Thank you Money Shot, Ringo, and GoLions.

Will definitely take the Franklin advice on board. And you’re right... with Sicily it would be foolish to not have a DPP Rookie on the forward line.

Much appreciated for the time and comments.

[SilverLion]

Guns-'n-Rookies + 3 mid-pricers. A small restructure to solidify my guns (L. McDonald > Hurley; Petracca > Franklin; Cripps > M. Crouch):

Def: Hurley / Laird / Hibberd / Sicily / E. Richards / Doedee (Cumming / Payne)

Mid: Dangerfield / Mitchell / Kelly / M. Crouch / Fyfe / Davies-Uniacke / Brodie / T. Kelly (Ahern / Worpel / Holman)

Ruc: Jacobs / Gawn (Olango)

For: Franklin / Heeney / C. Curnow / Christensen / Venables / J. Garlett (Fritsch / L. Ryan)

Bank: $900

Very nice side that bats deep on all lines.

Like the Kelly selection, surprised he's not in more teams.

Got the 3 most expensive backs, so having Sicily at D4 looks great.

Don't mind Curnow as a PoD, would just be concerned over his consistency as a key forward in a low ranked team.

[Colley Dogs]

Thanks for the insights, SilverLion.

I do agree with you about Curnow... tbh, if I wasn't a Blues fan I'd try and turn him into McLean or higher. It's still marginal for me, but I think I'm going to ride the lows with the highs. I'm hoping for a front half averaging 85, and a strong back-end to the season seeing him ending up with an overall 92-93 average. Probably wishful thinking, I know. But you gotta have one player from your own team that's a bit of a gamble :)

[Colley Dogs]

Def: Hurley / Laird / Hibberd / Sicily / Coffield / Doedee (Naughton / Mirra)

Mid: Dangerfield / Mitchell / Kelly / Fyfe / Cripps / Dow / Hunter / Barry (Finlayson / Kelly / Holman)

Ruc: Goldstein / Gawn (Olango)

For: Heeney / McLean / D. Smith / Christensen / J. Garlett / Fritsch (Stephenson / L. Ryan)

Bank: 3.1K

Thinking:

Mid-Pricer = 250K - 450K

Every year I fight like heck to run with a Guns-'n-Rookies set-up:

12-13 premiums (at least 10 ultra-prems)
1-2 mid-pricers (400K plus only)
8 Rookies (with a maximum of 2 160k+ Rookies)

This season my lack of faith in the 102K â€" 149K Rookies is forcing me to consider a diluted premium/mid-pricer approach with more cash invested in top-tier Rookies. I feel very uncomfortable with the side I'm currently sitting on; but I think I have to trust my read.

12 Premiums (9 ultra-prems)
3 Mid-Pricers (only 2 of which are 400K plus)
7 Rookies (5 160K+ Rookies)

I can't tell you how much I want to reverse this. But my gut-feel is to take the short-term pain for a guaranteed cash cow return. I'd rather over-invest and correct down, than end up with Rookies who're struggling to put together five games.

[Money Shot]

Really like this team!

You have 11 premiums who are as good a chance as any too be top 10 in there positions
3 low end premiums who are a good chance at 10-15 (Sicily, McLean, Smith) I think they are all a chance at top 10 as well.
Bundy will make heaps of money
Coffield, Dow and Hunter can all be downgraded if need be.

[Colley Dogs]

Danger-less Team:

Def: Laird / Hibberd / Savage / Doeedee / Murray / Finlayson (Naughton / Keeffe)

Mid: D. Martin / Mitchell / Kelly / Fyfe / Parker / A. Brayshaw / Brodie / T. Kelly (Coffield / Banfield / Holman)

Ruc: Goldstein / Gawn (Olango)

For: Franklin / McLean / D. Smith / Sicily / Dunkley / Christensen (Fritsch / Ryan)

Bank: 0.6K

If I decide to re-install Dangerfield before next Thursday:
Dunkley > Stephenson
D. Martin > Dangerfield
Bank: 23K

Thinking:
- I understand the pros & cons re Franklin v. Heeney, but I’m going with my gut on this one.
- Can see myself changing Savage to J. Lloyd. Coin flip. Trying to be bold, but will probably end up being conservative.
- I’ve sacrificed an O’Meara/Armitage type at M6 for depth in the forward line; this gives me the flexibility to swing Sicily down to D4, and slide Fritsch into F8 if required.
- Contrary to popular opinion, I’ve decided to invest heavily in the 150K-200K Rookies (4)
- Going Danger-less, even if he plays Round 1, is a serious option for me. How I’ve redistributed the cash, it’s basically Dangerfield & Fritsch v. D. Martin & Dunkley. I know the C on Dangerfield adds value, but Richmond have many Thursday/Friday games, which allows for loop-holing Martin. I’m sure I’ll cower and get Dangers back before Round 1, but I so wish I have the courage to hold firm.