Top 5 forwards

[Pokerface]

I've been playing around with Ceglar R2 instead of Nic Nat. I still believe Nic Nat will score more and is a better pick at the price, however it means I have an extra keeper in Ceglar compared to the stepping stone in Nic Nat. I'll monitor how Ceglar goes in the next game before making the call. I know I would rather Ceglar and Steven/Smith compared to Sauce, Ceglar and one of Dev/Steven

Ceglar is not the R2 option,  his benefit is to other FWD keeper options.    Steven, Smith, Greenwood etc.  Given guaranteed ruck coverage and potential to be a keeper fwd makes him a long term selection that reduces overall team risk.     Do not see benefit in starting him at R2 and then having to find money to upgrade to Gawn later.    Ceglar will be my F2/3 depending on how deep I want to start rookies in the fwds if I decide this path is the best option for the year.

I have him at R2. He doesn't need to be upgraded to Gawn. The upgrade can be done in the forward line, and swing Ceglar into the forwards as part of the trade. Not starting with Gawn in this fashion really is no different to not starting with Whitfield, Macrae etc, especially if you think he might start on par with other uber-premiums not in your initial squad.

Hi Pokerface,   my fault did not explain myself clearly.    It is better to play a rookie in fwds and get additional cash generation and still start GG.   Ceglar just DPPs into R2 if Gawn is affected.   Sure Gawn will drop at some stage but you are going to have to bring him in.   Why not make it easier and just start Ceglar in FWDS.   Effectively 2 Keepers as Cegalr ends up F6/7 Ruck cover

Hi Crowls. Agree you need to bring Gawn at some stage. I also believe you need to bring in Whitfield, Macrae et al at some stage. People are more comfortable not starting with those guys than Gawn, quite rightly because no Gawn usually means a stepping stone there rather than a cash cow as you would in other lines. Unless you use a Ruck/Forward dpp at R2.
I'm not convinced Gawn comes out like a house on fire more than ubers on any other line - it's a relatively tricky first 7 rounds, particularly with his R1 clash on the Perth concrete. Due to Ceglar's dpp, I just see it as say starting Gawn v Macrae, or Gawn v Whitfield. Instead of Gawn, I have an extra uber elsewhere, I'm not losing out on number of keepers, and I have the same number of forward rookies if I had Gawn R2, Ceglar F4 rather than Ceglar R2, xxx.
I admit it does feel like a big leap of faith starting without Gawn. But when I was able to view it as picking him against other ubers rather than against other rucks, I'm ok with going down this different path. I think ...

[eaglesman]

At the start of this preseason I would never of thought I would be leading the ceglar bandwagon. But I’m feeling like I need to scoot on over to let a few more jump on ....

I Duno about ceglar at r2.

[shaker]

If Gawn misses round 1 (in Perth, hard Optus surface so its a good chance of happening) do you still pick him and field Ceglar?
Or just pick Ceglar R2 and hope for a significant dip in Gawns price.

By the time R1 comes around that would be close to 6 or 7 weeks since Gawn injured his knee if it's still not right by then or they are worried about Optus I would be having doubts about starting him at his price especially on the bench so that means another R2 Ceglar's advantage is his FWD status as well , lets see what unfolds.

[SilverLion]

MacPherson>Greenwood

[Mat0369]

Knee-jerk time. Trac will be a top 5 forward come the end of the season. If there was ever going to be a season that he breaks out, it has to be now. Most true premiums will have had that breakout season by year 3 or 4. He is now past that and only averaged 80ish the last two seasons. He has way too much talent to not be a star of the comp and if he plays anywhere near as much time in the midfield as he did today he will clear 95 with ease.

Ceglar is not the R2 option,  his benefit is to other FWD keeper options.    Steven, Smith, Greenwood etc.  Given guaranteed ruck coverage and potential to be a keeper fwd makes him a long term selection that reduces overall team risk.     Do not see benefit in starting him at R2 and then having to find money to upgrade to Gawn later.    Ceglar will be my F2/3 depending on how deep I want to start rookies in the fwds if I decide this path is the best option for the year.

The value in Ceglar is being able to start him as your R2 instead of a Gawn and still have a keeper in the long term. You play your rookies in the forward line or midfield to earn cash along with your keeper options in Steven/Smith/McDonald and shift him forward using his DPP when you're ready to bring in Gawn with the funds.

It means you're starting a cheaper ruck still getting a keeper on another line and you aren't picking a stepping stone like the case would be with Jacobs/Nic Nat. It's no different to say starting Heeney in the mids and moving him forward later in the season once you have the funds to upgrade to a Neale/Macrae type.

[RaisyDaisy]

Petracca was insane yesterday.

If he plays as much mid time in Marsh 2 (can't see why he wouldn't) then he could be the answer to our forward line prem selection worries

Brayshaw not playing might have allowed him to have so much more mid time so we'd need to keep an eye on that, but Goodwin said yesterday that the amount of work Trac has done to increase his tank this summer allowed that - so that sounds very encouraging

[shaker]

Is there a limit to the amount of times a player burns you ? had Petracca on two other occassions and I am still applying cream to the wounds.

[frenzy]

Is there a limit to the amount of times a player burns you ? had Petracca on two other occassions and I am still applying cream to the wounds.

Lol  ;D

[RaisyDaisy]

Is there a limit to the amount of times a player burns you ? had Petracca on two other occassions and I am still applying cream to the wounds.

Haha, I've never had him afaik, but I did just see this comment from Goodwin which isn't great

"From game to game, we'll assess it" Simon Goodwin post game presser on the Christian Petracca midfield/forward percentage split

[IntegralX]

Very surprised that Dev got to 87. Didn't pass the eye test for me...

[eaglesman]

Very surprised that Dev got to 87. Didn't pass the eye test for me...

Agreed. I dropped him and moved bonar forward the other day and felt good about it.

Serong to the mids.

Sauce to Nic Nat.

[Grazz]

Very surprised that Dev got to 87. Didn't pass the eye test for me...

Agreed. I dropped him and moved bonar forward the other day and felt good about it.

Serong to the mids.

Sauce to Nic Nat.

Still holding him,  I'd be surprised if he plays that much forward time when the season kicks off proper.
Bombers were missing a couple of forwards from that game. (Stringer , Daniher)
Smith won a B&F (1st year) with them as a Mid, that's where he'll play predominantly in 2020 I'm tipping.

[jvalles69]

Very surprised that Dev got to 87. Didn't pass the eye test for me...

Agreed. I dropped him and moved bonar forward the other day and felt good about it.

Serong to the mids.

Sauce to Nic Nat.

Dev looked pretty average, but the fact he still got 87 keeps him in my team, maybe even more so now.

[RaisyDaisy]

Dev looked pretty average, but the fact he still got 87 keeps him in my team, maybe even more so now.

66 of that 87 was in the second half, when he attended 8 of his 9 CBA's and the likes of Merrett barely played

Need to see another match, but if I had to guess it's looking like it will be 2019 Dev in terms of position and not 2018 so he might be a pass

Shiel coming in, and the likes of McGrath/Parish etc growing is what I thought might stop him from 2018 mid version, and it could be the case

[jvalles69]

Need to see another match

Definitely, on the eye test I was ready to replace him until I checked the stats/scores, will leave him there for now.