Something very different: No GG. hear me out..

[piesfan1989]

Def:Daniel, Stewart, Short, Duggan, Clarke, Briggs (Kozzie, Highmore)

Mids: Petracca, Bontempelli, Merrett, Kelly, Fyfe, Parish, Campbell, Smith (Brockman, Gulden, Scott)

Ruck: Draper, Hunter (Meek)

Fwd: Dangerfield, Dusty, Phillips, Ziebell, Daniher, Warner (Bergman, Rowe)

Cash: $88k left over

Okay here's the rationale:
- Everybody has to field at least 5 or 6 rookies
- Where does the value lie in rookies this year? None of the mid rookies stand out to me as reliable 70+ scorers (happy to be proven wrong), in fact I have very little confidence in rookies across def/fwd as well (again, happy to be proven wrong). Typically ruck rookies outscore mid (with the exception of premo rookies), def or fwd rookies. This means they'll also generate more cash, so my two main reasons are:
1. Choosing the highest scoring rookie regardless of position and;
2. Cash generation

Everybody always says that you have to shape your team around where the rookies are but nobody ever does that when the rookies are in the rucks...why is that?

Why haven't I gone with a 3rd under-valued fwd? Because I don't like Impey (he was on 6 possessions at half time in the praccy match and got very little of the ball when he returned last year). Dow is a possibility but he's very low down the pecking order in that midfield (Kennedy still has to return). McKernan is probably the only other option since he'll get ruck time with Hunter.

No GG? Gawn is absolutely overpriced by ~$80k and won't hold his avg - He just signed a 4 year deal, sometimes players get comfortable after this (although I don't think Gawn is this type of person - he should still be hungry). Grundy dropped off last year and it's yet to be proven if he'll snap back to 130 avg. Is the plan to get them both into the team? Absolutely, but I think I can replace grundy with another premo mid and catch gawn on discount.

Why Draper?
He represents value - He'll be Ess's no. 1 ruck and plays with gusto. In 3 years time I think he'll be one of the premo rucks in the comp. Nankervis is probably another undervalued option given Soldo is out.

Don't hold back - tell me if this is absolutely crazy. Everyone has the same starting budget so you get ahead by finding value before round 1 and not overpaying for players. What scares me is Gawn going ham in round 1.

[Ringo]

Not commenting on the structure as I believe players rights to choose own structures and you have given reasons for it,

My question is do you consider Duggan, Parish and Phillips to be keepers and top 10 in their position.  Personally I doubt it and if the case that only leaves you 10 premiums and based on 1 up one down that makes 24 trades to complete team leaving only 6 trades for injuries,   I would probably down one and up one to at least give you 11 certain prem keepers.

Best of luck to you.

[Zabs]

To be honest, I am also banking on rucks this year to score a lot less than before.(happy to be proven wrong) Less ball ups to due less stoppages, less throw in due to new rules and more free flowing game. In my opinion, if you look at preseason games all of the high scorers were not rucks. I am opting with 1 premium ruck and 1 cheap ruck (Draper or S Martin) still yet to decide... Gawn is over priced, and if he scores like he did in the preseason games, he will be cheap upgrade target for Draper.

[Bully]

The big problem here is you don't have too many captain's options, most will be running with GG & if not, Neale & Macrae.

[fanTCfool]

Dow is a possibility but he's very low down the pecking order in that midfield (Kennedy still has to return).

Kennedy is fit, he is simply not best 22.



I really don't understand the Draper pick, much less following this quote.

In 3 years time I think he'll be one of the premo rucks in the comp.

Probably a pick better made in 3 years, he's not cheap enough to generate any meaningful amount of cash relative to the points he'll be leaking to Grundy and Gawn who both have largely soft starting fixtures, without even considering captaincy. If he was Stefan Martin price, sure, go ahead, but he's the better part of 400k and has as many ACL injuries as he has SuperCoach tons to his name. I can understand leaving out one of Gawn/Grundy in favour of an additional cheap ruck and am still toying with the idea myself, but I personally don't see both as a viable option. If you really wanted to go down the value ruck path, I'd much rather use the additional 88k you have in the kitty and go with Nankervis, who actually has a near-premium season under his belt from those pre-Soldo days. Even so, I can't see him close enough to Gawn/Grundy early to make the points sacrificed for cash generation worthwhile.

[Mat0369]

To be honest, I am also banking on rucks this year to score a lot less than before.(happy to be proven wrong) Less ball ups to due less stoppages, less throw in due to new rules and more free flowing game. In my opinion, if you look at preseason games all of the high scorers were not rucks. I am opting with 1 premium ruck and 1 cheap ruck (Draper or S Martin) still yet to decide... Gawn is over priced, and if he scores like he did in the preseason games, he will be cheap upgrade target for Draper.

A lot of people thought this would be the case a couple of years ago when they brought in 6-6-6 and killed third man up. Grundy averaged career high 130.4 and Gawn 127.5. Pre-season always looks more free flowing as teams won't to work on their offensive ball movement and it is generally a focus. Then the real stuff kicks in and the defensive footy ramps up.

Also Kennedy is on the rookie list for Carlton and was lucky to end up with a spot. He is not in the best 22 and if he gets picked it will likely be as a half forward since he had his best stretch of footy playing as a marking option. He has shown nothing at AFL level to be a legit option as a midfielder. The coaching staff love Dow and while I am not his biggest fan he will get first crack and hopefully he can run with the opportunity because it could be his last real shot.

[piesfan1989]

Great feedback above - thank you for your help, it's much appreciated. I've updated to the following:

Def:Daniel, Stewart, Short, Duggan, Clarke, Briggs (Kozzie, Highmore)

Mids: Macrae, Petracca, Merrett, Mitchell, Fyfe, Taranto/Parish, Campbell, Smith (Brockman, Gulden, Scott)

Ruck: English, Hunter (Meek)

Fwd: Dangerfield, Higgins, Phillips, Ziebell, Daniher, Warner (Bergman, Rowe)

English surely has some upside in him as he develops or maybe I'm an idiot with the whole Stef Martin thing. Higgins I think will be given more opportunity at Stk and will roam around as that High half fwd and should hopefully rack it up. Think he has the potential to score a little bit like Didak back in the day