Time for the author of this blog to lay it on the line by posting his AFL Dream Team for this season.
I can’t say I wasn’t one of those making trades up until the last second, because I was. God bless those VirtualSports boys for making this year’s lockout a time of magic and merry, instead of the previous editions of maelstrom and madness.
Brendon Goddard, Ryan Hargrave, Paul Duffield, Joel Macdonald, Nick Malceski, Tadhg Kennelly, Josh Hunt
Beau Waters, Matt Maguire
Dane Swan, Jimmy Bartel, Bryce Gibbs, Dustin Martin, Michael Barlow, Jarrod Kayler-Thomson
Ben Howlett, James Strauss
Hamish McIntosh, Matthew Kreuzer
Robert Warnock, Matthew Lobbe
Nick Riewoldt, Daniel Giansiracusa, Shannon Byrnes, Matthew Bate, Kurt Tippett, Ben Warren, Patrick Dangerfield
Mitchell Duncan, James Podsiadly
Brendon Goddard (who was starting in around 60% of Exteam DTs): The best fantasy back in the game, and like most others I couldn’t see any reason why I shouldn’t select him seeing as his average was so much higher than any of his rivals.
Ryan Hargrave (8%): If last year taught us anything, it was that winning teams breed fantasy premiums. If the Dogs are going to win the flag this year, as many predict, players like Hargrave will turn into monster stat winners. I know everyone was on Corey Enright but I wanted to go more uncommon in this slot.
Paul Duffield (13%): I still think there’s upside in Duffield’s game, mainly through the Dockers getting some better players at inside midfield this year to feed the ball to outside runners like the Duff Man. Again, the masses plumped for Luke Hodge here but I don’t like Hawthorn’s chances of rebounding as a team as much as other pundits do.
Joel Macdonald (4%): I have had success in the past with rebounding backs moving clubs like Martin Mattner, and I like the way that Melbourne have structured their team to allow Macdonald to be the replacement for Jack Grimes as the latter moves into midfield, much the same way as Freo did last year in moving David Mundy into midfield for Duffield.
Nick Malceski (30%): A late injury scare was dampened down by an excellent training report in the week after the NAB, putting to rests any fears that Eski would let anyone down, fantasy coaches included.
Tadhg Kennelly (54%): It seems not many coaches could stomach two Swans in their backline, but I had no problem with this. Kennelly is a proven scorer and he’s had a year off keeping fit in a non-contact sport.
Josh Hunt (51%): If there’s one thing I do know it’s what makes a good Supercoach specialist, so after seeing him last night I should have put more thought into whether he really was start-worthy in Dream Team. The fact that he’s taking so many kick-outs, which are worth nothing in DT, is hurting his scoring potential. It’s not as if he’s going to be a bust pick by any stretch on round 1 form, but I would have liked a structure where he was 8th back rather than 7th, in retrospect.
Beau Waters (39% – note this is a starting percentage only): While I was dismissive of Waters as a starting option all through the preseason, I always maintained that he was a perfectly acceptable bench back, so those planning to pot me for going back on my word should go back and read what I wrote originally. After hearing some poor reports on Rick Ladson and losing Levi Greenwood to injury, Waters was the best of what’s left, given I had no confidence in the Tiger cheapies.
Matt Maguire (8% starting, 17% emergency): The perfect ninth back, in the mould of Zac Dawson. I hope I never have to play him, as he slowly matures as a cash cow to be ready for sale by halfway through the season.
Dane Swan (28%): Sure, Gary Ablett jnr delivered a stellar captain’s score yesterday. But will he play all 22? That’s why I chose Swan, his consistency and durability.
Jimmy Bartel (49%): I don’t think I need to justify this pick, it’s a no-brainer. I toyed with both Swan and GAJ at times, and sometimes all three, but eventually sacrificed Ablett after the Gold Coast rumours hit fever pitch.
Bryce Gibbs (16%): A relatively late pick-up. I have always liked him as a player and have picked him every year. I was slightly disappointed that he didn’t join in the slutfest against Richmond as he concentrated on tagging Brett Deledio, but if he averaged 106 or thereabouts for the season in the games where he tagged I couldn’t complain.
Dustin Martin (75%): Right body shape, right level of commitment, mid-60s will do nicely for the first 8-10 weeks thanks Dustin.
Michael Barlow (43%): Everyone important has him.
Jarrod Kayler-Thomson (0.5%): I had Jack Trengove for a long time here but I decided late on that I was going to commit fully to a mature-ager policy. Players like JKT may not be as inherently gifted as those in the top five of a draft but their experience, bigger body and confidence means their fantasy ceiling is 10-15 points higher than their younger counterparts, with a higher likelihood of lasting long enough on the rollercoaster to max out their price playing consistent games. Evidently the masses have written off the Hawk kids as fantasy factors, just like they did last year with Garry Moss and Brendan Whitecross. I think JKT has enough staying power to withstand the selection pressure of the return of senior midfielders like Cyril Rioli and Clinton Young.
Ben Howlett (0% starting, 0.5% emergency): 72/65 in his first game just shows the value of the mature-ager policy. He got one quarter where he ran with Ablett, where he scored 28 in DT and snagged a goal. His other quarters on 19, 16 and 11, however, showed that he wasn’t the sort to completely go missing, as some young players do. I wasn’t sure which of Howlett or JKT to start in R1 and eventually went on matchups. The two players’ form may make the decision for me in future weeks.
James Strauss (0%): I would have liked Brodie Moles in this position, but him not being selected for round 1 has scared me off. Strauss has had glowing official reports from training sessions, which is always good as it shows he’s got the coach’s eye. There are goldmines at the Dees for fantasy coaches, but not many have looked there again this year beyond the two famous draftees.
Hamish McIntosh (7%): The 6-8 week foot injury to Drew Petrie drove this one home. McIntosh has no serious competition from the gangly Todd Goldstein in the ruck.
Matthew Kreuzer (15%): Could turn out better than I anticipated if his tandem with Warnock blossoms, as it started to on Thursday night. His spells up forward should become increasingly brief once Setanta O’hAilpin and Lachie Henderson come on.
Robert Warnock (1% starting, 8% emergency): I didn’t have him as an emergency so I couldn’t pull the “cheat” tactic of making him my #2 ruck if I tried. Which I wouldn’t have wanted to anyway, as he won’t play Richmond’s non-existent ruck division every week. David Hille owners will find that out soon enough.
Matthew Lobbe (0% emergency): Is only here to enable multi-positional tactics.
Nick Riewoldt (79%): It’s actually a bit unhealthy how popular Big Nick is in fantasy circles. He’s not that much better than smaller, less injury-prone players at about his price. Take Alan Didak at 6% or Leon Davis at 3%, for example. Still, he looked a million dollars in the preseason, even if he’s not getting paid a million this year.
Daniel Giansiracusa (45%): I wanted not to pick him, again because it was such a nothing, boring pick. But the logic is inescapable: key player in a flag favourite team, coming off an injury-affected downer season, but with a great preseason. With hindsight I could have taken Eddie Betts (5%) at this position and been much happier now.
Shannon Byrnes (0%): Woo Byrnesy! 141 big big points in round 1, including 57 in a Q4 riot. Ecstatic with that start. The thinking here was that with no Mathew Stokes, Ryan Gamble or Max Rooke, and with Steve Johnson still ever so slightly underdone, Byrnes would start the season off with a bang. And wow, did he go BANG!
Matthew Bate (2%): With no Liam Jurrah, Bate becomes all-important to the Demon structure, and his targets should go through the roof as a link player across the wings and flanks. They need him so badly to straighten them up that they have to feed him the ball continuously, from what I’ve seen on their preseason without him. He may not start like a train but I’d expect this pick to pay off in the second half of the year.
Kurt Tippett (16% in rucks, 8% in forwards): If the two-premium-ruck strategy wasn’t enough, I have bolstered it with MPP support. Tippett is another one who should get an insanely large amount of targets, as he did in the game against Carlton in the NAB. Adelaide have gone into round 1 with no Ivan Maric (or injured Brad Moran) supporting Jonathan Griffen, which is a strong indication that Tippett will rotate through the ruck as he did last year. This is a bit of a lowballing pick for a forward premium if he merely holds his average, but there’s enough upside to justify it in my opinon.
Ben Warren (7%): Petrie’s injury helps Warren even more than it does McIntosh. North’s new coach Brad Scott has decided not to pick either Aaron Edwards or Corey Jones for round 1 despite the absence of Petrie, which sends a message to both the Roo players and fantasy coaches that he’s going to stick with youth. Warren probably won’t be a keeper but he should appreciate in value enough to deliver a single trade to a premium midway through the season using cash from midfield cows.
Patrick Dangerfield (48%): Many would have been agonising over Dangerfield or Hayden Ballantyne, with others tossing up the name of Sam Wright. I decided to go with the majority on this one, as I didn’t like Ballantyne’s soft tissue issues or Wright’s job security after getting exposed for defensive shortcomings in the NAB. Dangerfield is no keeper either, so hopefully he lasts long enough to upgrade later on.
Mitchell Duncan (1% starting forward, 2% emergency): Most would have had Tom Rockliff here before news of his non-selection. I liked the idea of handcuffing the two rookie-priced Geelong forwards.
James Podsiadly (1% starting, 8% emergency%): He may not have started this week but that may have been a matchup thing, because he probably would have got pantsed by Dustin Fletcher. I am hanging onto the fact that coach Mark Thompson said this week he will play plenty of games this year. Then again, he said that last year about Simon Hogan…
I will do a Supercoach version of this post presently.
migman19
March 27, 2010 at 5:36 am
Not bad mOnt, but I can see 9 players there that you are going to have to upgrade if you want to rival the big boys up the top of the scoring tree. And i wouldnt call Kruezer a premium ruckman either…yet. Ive got a bad feeling your midfield could fall to pieces, its going to take some serious cash injection to upgrade those rookies…all in all alittle too risky for my liking. 7/10.
Pravis
March 27, 2010 at 5:39 am
Im not very good at DT (First serious crack at it this year.) but i went for job security over Mature age. Whats the point of having a 10 – 15 point extra ceiling if you never reach it…or even worse you reach it in round 20?
I think danger is out for round 1 so i hope you had Duncan as Emergencie, just in case.
I wasgonna get on Byrnsie, but decided against it. Your looking pretty good after last night withthat selection mOnty’ol’pa.
Backline is top notch, i doubt there is anything to worry about there. Maybe J.Hunt, but if he is all you have to worry about that just goes to show how strong your backline is.
GL mOnty its unique enough to still play it safe…if you know what i mean.
jessec
March 27, 2010 at 8:47 am
Nice pickup in Byrnes. If Bate pushes into the midfield you could be on a winner, his durability is a bit of a worry though.
I wanted JKT but I was under the impression Young would take his spot when fit.
I’d give you 8/10, because your midfield is as weak as mine 🙂
twinpeaks
March 27, 2010 at 9:15 am
like what you have done monty, keen to keep it unique. I ended up with Hargrave as well but no Goddard, Ablett or Carazzo to bring me down
Interested in your Duncan and Pods forward bench, you assume if one doesnt play the other will? can they both play at the same time in a full strength cats team?
I thought about Byrnes for a while, great unique, i went trengove over JKT, i see the logic in JKT but i see more of a rise in the long run with trengove despite JKT perhaps being better for 150k growth quicker if things go bad i have a rookie who will play almost all games, but like you, i have gambled a lot on three rookie mid strategy
jmorgan
March 27, 2010 at 9:52 am
This years winner will have started with 3 -4 rookies in mids as there is no potential else. Good team Monty, but i think you could of loaded up a bit more in your forward line, you have 2 premiums in your forward line with bate and tippet fringe line. 7.5/10
chunkyslot
March 27, 2010 at 10:28 am
Nice team mOnty.
Backs: I agree with most of what you have said but I think having 152k on the pine is a waste. You could have gone for Silvani for the last possie because he is likely to get early games and make you money (would have saved you 75k). Also, I am not sold on Eski but fortune favours the brave !
Mids: I can understand the logic of picking either Howlett or JKT but taking both is a huge risk because their TOG and/or job security is very questionable after the first couple of rounds when senior players are due to come back into their respective team. Straus is also an interesting pick. He is no certainty for regular games. I prefer Jetta, Banner, Shuey or Bastinac around the same price.
Rucks: No arguments there. Should be a reasonably high scoring, durable combo.
Forwards: It could turn out to be a stroke of genius for picking Byrnes. Time will tell but he certainly looked the goods last night. Overall, a sound forward line but I’m not sure on the Bate selection. After coming back from injury he has had no match practice and will likely be eased back in. I’ll be keeping an eye on him because he is capable of big numbers when fit, firing and a key forward target.
Nice work. 7.5/10
woofta
March 27, 2010 at 10:41 am
C Monty
Hargrave-reasonable premium pick butHarbrow further down offers more upside for same WB reasons.
Malceski-only one good yr in 07 yet the love lingers.
Kennelly-bad pick.Not a proven scorer,only ever ave mid 60’s,limited upside,big durability concerns.
Hunt-why the surprise? Only ever ave 65.
Strauss-Melb have injuries so unlikely to play the required games.
Lobbe-not playing,no need for DP with Warnock on bench.
Podsiadly-why pick a cold body on the bench when downgrade targets will be hard to find?
Gun/3 rookie structure in mids requires too many hudge upgrades
Fwd line may require too many trades.
jeremya87
March 27, 2010 at 10:53 am
I have mixed feelings about your team Monty.
Firstly, I like your backline, it is solid with no evident holes.
However, I think your centre needs some work. I’m not saying having 3 rookies starting in the centre is a problem, because I have the same amount. I am just questioning your rookies. Not sure how many games JKT will get, nor Howlett or Strauss. I think Bastinac should have been there, and Jetta looks set to get alot of games.
Rucks are okay, but no superstars, and don’t like Lobbe’s chances, firstly he won’t play much and secondly not likely you’ll be able to sub him in the forward line unless someone else is a ruck/forward, poor excuse, trengove would have been better.
Lastly, forward line does not have enough keepers for my liking. Furthermore, don’t like your rookie choices either, even if you think at least one will always play.
7/10
koray
March 27, 2010 at 10:58 am
Kudos on the Byrnes pick Monty.
Overall you have a nice team balanced with a couple of uniques.
However the selection of Bate and Warren has to be questioned.
1 pt of for each
8/10
cptFantasy
March 27, 2010 at 11:30 am
Very weird looking side m0nty, I really thought you didn’t like Tippett, yet there he is wowee!
Arky
March 27, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Kudos for putting it on the line and not going with conventional wisdom in a lot of ways. But….
1. I think that backline will bring you pain. It’s like all the people starting Josh Hunt and Kennelly never looked up their season averages before blithely “locking them in” for 70 . But I know you would have looked, which makes it a bit odd. Backocalypse 2010 incoming for all these “value” backlines I suspect.
2. Mids: Talk to us in a month. If JKT, Howlett and Strauss are all still playing, we’ll applaud. It’s a high risk strategy- big rewards if it pans out, obviously.
3. Rucks: Kreuzer’s not a premium, He got 100 last year against Richmond and less this year, it’s not a sign he’s a cheap premium, it’s a sign Richmond’s big men are immobile (cf. Warnock’s score). If Kreuzer is avergaging 90 in 4 or 5 weeks we’ll talk.
4. Smart call on Byrnes (sure, he won’t play on Dempsey every week, but your reasoning is good and he doesn’t need to get anywhere near 140 every week to be a good pick). We’ll see how Bate goes, and how many games the Geelong duo actually gets (it’s not like Roberts or Gumbleton looks likely to be a super cow, so you probably aren’t missing much unless Hitchcock or Moore goes bananas).
For the sake of transparency (not requiring any commentary), my own pre-lockout scrambles ended with:
Goddard (same reasons)
Enright (always locked)
Bock (had both Hargrave and Duffield at various times; injury risk but I see him as a surefire top 7 back apart from that)
Grimes (same as Bock, but probably even more upside)
Hodge (he’s priced at last year and fit; even holding his average is acceptable as long as he plays 22, but I expect him to improve a bit, 5-10 points).
Heath Shaw (was in at the start, and a late addition again at the end, pretty much same thoughts at Hodge… the price is right as 6th back, and any gain in average is a bonus)
Waters (he and Mal are the only two value backs with serious upside, and he’s much cheaper)
Nason (comfortable with this call after the weekend, kid will keep getting games and make OK money)
Silvagni (Dawson/Mitch Brown pick)
Bartel (captain pick)
Pendlebury (my pick for most likely 100 guy to become an 110 guy)
Martin (obvious)
Barlow (obvious)
Scully (out of spite for the unreasonable imbalance in people picking Trengove)
Morabito (improved over the NAB cup; saw him play in person vs North; the quality outside man Freo needed, and very confident they will play through him more and more, but at least a 60 average)
Jetta (job security and talent; psst Monty, he’s a mature-ager too….)
Shuey (could easily have been Banner or Howlett; with so many rookie mids, I took the guy I was most confident would keep getting games)
Sandilands (obvious)
Clark (obvious)
2 premium ruck strategy where I don’t trust Cox to play 22, no better choices
Warnock (obvious)
McNamara (why do we have 2 ruck bench spots anyway? give us a spare mid or back bench instead. Unlikely to ever cash anyone in this spot or use them as a sub, so took a minimum price guy this year)
Riewoldt (obvious)
ROK (obvious)
Gia (same reason as Monty)
Pav (happy even if he retains his 2009 average at that price, but there’s no reason to believe he won’t go back to scoring like it’s 2008 now that he’s playing forward again)
Boomer (underpriced due to his injury, history suggests he’s durable, and the return of Wells takes some of the tagging focus away)
Wright (gained confidence in his odds of playing 22, and worried about an injury rumour for Campbell… if Campbell is OK I would have preferred to keep Campbell, though)
Roberts (oops)
Gumby (sigh)
Moore (hoping for Whitecross mark 2, and he’ll probably go on the field from next week)
the dud
March 27, 2010 at 3:28 pm
whats your team name monty?
m0nty
March 27, 2010 at 3:33 pm
FanFooty EDT.
malz18
March 27, 2010 at 4:21 pm
brave team monty, some odd selections. no hodge are u serious?
question marks over bate now that he will be up forward rather than where he scored all his points last year in the midfield. byrnes looks like a great pickup early.
unsure about picking up all the underpriced players in the backline with mcguire, waters, malceski, kennelly and hunt.
although to be crowned champion of dreamteam your not going to do it with a standard popular team so your team could very well pay off.
nashie43
March 27, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Macdonald? Bate? 3 rookies in your midfield? no hodge or carrazzo? pretty par team if you ask me. probs a 7/10 if your lucky, maybe you should be getting advice for us
Soothsayer
March 27, 2010 at 5:59 pm
@ Arky…impressive team with great commentary! 😉 Interested indeed in following a similar yet appreciably different well thought out structure…what’s ya Teams name mate?
p.s Sorry Monts, would also say a surprisingly ave team for your calibre cob?!? Probs a 7/10 if I may be so bold lol…but thanks for sharing & best of luck 😉
nashie43
March 27, 2010 at 6:18 pm
from us*
woofta
March 27, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Team name INSECURIOUS
(They say I’m insecure but I say I’m just curious)
FROM THE BACKLINE:
B. GODDARD – You the man Brendan
C. ENRIGHT – Welcome back Corey, love you long time
P. DUFFIELD – Prove last year was no fluke Paul
L. HODGE – It’s up to you General, the troops are falling
J. HARBROW – You know your role Jarrad
R. LADSON – Watch the knee Rick, watch the knee
B. WATERS – Watch the elbow Beau, watch the elbow
B. NASON – You’re not here to make up the numbers Ben
A. SILVAGNI – The name is not enough Alex
IN THE MIDDLE:
CAPTAIN JAMES BARTELL
FIRST MATE BRYCE GIBBS
L. BALL – Ross has got your dog Luke
M. ROBINSON – Here’s to you Mitch Robinson
D. MARTIN – Money Money Money
M. BARLOW – Keep a lid on it Michael
L. SCHUEY – Earn your spot Luke
R. BASTINAC – Ditto Ryan
THE RUCK DEPARTMENT:
N. NAITANUI – Big things expected Nick
B. MCEVOY – I love you Ben, even if no one else does
R. WARNOCK – Heard you been spreading yourself around Robert
B. MCCAULEY – Who?
UP FORWARD:
P. CHAPMAN – I’m holding on Paul
R. RIEWOLDT – Sorry about the second billing Nick
A. GOODES – Cost me plenty Adam
R. O’KEEFE – Remember last year Ryan
B. HALL – Last chance Barry, fire up or #*%&
off!
S. WRIGHT – You just scraped in Sam
C. HITCHCOCK – Plenty want your spot Cameron
C. PETERSON – Up there Carl
M. DUNCAN – You are not sucking cans at East Perth now Mitch
Available Funds: $310K
Jeesh
March 27, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Looks pretty good Monty but I’m a little disappointed in the fact a fellow Hawks supporter didn’t get on Hodge. In saying that I’m a SC man and don’t know how he scores in DT. I know it was only Melbourne today but he could be in for a big year. My SC team is called JJ’s ELITE and so far I’m 1541 from 14 which ain’t a bad start.
Defenders
Brendan Goodard – 131
Luke Hodge – 121
Jarrad Waite – 89
Tadhg Kennelly – 90
Josh Hunt – 81
Rick Ladson – 91
Beau Waters
Emerg
Matt Maguire
Ben Nason – Last minute decision put him in for Silvagni, not sure I made the right decision now but not the end of the world.
Mids
Gary Ablett captain – 254
Leigh Montagna – 115
Dane Swan
Jimmy Bartel – 124
Jack Trengove – 46
Dustin Martin – 72
Emerg
Michael Barlow – Looks to be taking Trengove’s spot next week
Ryan Bastinac
Rucks
Kurt Tippett
Robert Warnock – 47
Emerg
Jackson Trengove
Matthew Lobe
Forwards
Nick Riewoldt – 163
Ryan O’Keefe – 117
Matthew Pavlich
Brent Harvey
Josh J Kennedy
Chris Mayne
Ben Warren
Emerg
Cameron Hitchcock
Scott Gumbleton
I had Robbie Gray and Taylor Walker in but noticed comments about Gray being 50/50 in the Richmond-Carlton chat and pulled him out along with Walker. In – Josh J Kennedy and Chris Mayne. $46,700 in the bank.
lucanus
March 28, 2010 at 12:51 am
Kayler Thomson starting? I don’t mind coaches having 3 rookies in the mids, but why KT? After todays performance I’m not sure if he’ll be able to keep his spot for another week.
Also no Hodge? 140 today, durely regretting that decision.
6/10 team m0nty.
woofta
March 28, 2010 at 3:58 am
How was NicNat a letdown,scored exactly what he is priced at.
Manikato1
March 28, 2010 at 4:12 am
Interesting team. Your whole season will be determined by your midfield so the rest of team becomes less relevant.
Dubious selections in the backs with Hunt and Tad who are not good DT scorers on past form.
Warren, Bate and Byrnes are also risky although Byrnes clearly is a winner this week.
Never been much rapt in the hype of uniques. A couple is fine but too many becomes high risk. A unique is only of value if a) they score much higher than other players at their price or b) they score as good as the popular lock players eg 90-100 while most people have some popular lock player that is scoring badly.
Choosing someone who no one else has means nothing by itself.
Not sure how your team is scoring mid round but with nine to play as I write this if you are not around the 1400-1500 mark you are off to a bad start.
Kewell
March 28, 2010 at 9:59 am
Really not sure with JKT Monty. I can’t see him playing more than 5 games with Bateman, Sewell, Rioli, Burgoyne, and Young all to return.
And Podsiadly is an interesting choice. Competing with the likes of Mooney, Hawkins, Gamble and Lonergan I think he’s just on the list as cover. And should he happen to play, he’ll struggle to score points as he doesn’t really get a whole lot of ground level possession.
rhythmgill
March 28, 2010 at 11:58 am
M0nty .. pretty average DT week for You ..
you said ” If last year taught us anything, it was that winning teams breed fantasy premiums. ” …
based on that you have 2 demons mid price players … J macdonald and bate …
kinda contradicting urself ..
stevemac
March 28, 2010 at 8:11 pm
what a sublime team. it balances common-sense and balls. i wish you all the best in 2010, you won’t be needing it though.
phenom
March 28, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Ummmm. You were meant to tell me before we started m0nty.
lightning
March 29, 2010 at 1:23 am
you have a poor ruck and average defence but the rest is mostly ok,shouldve put ablett in not swan, its unlikly he’ll get injured anyway.
DT=Life
March 29, 2010 at 2:00 am
Hey m0nty, hope you recognised the moniker at the top of the league rankings mate. Trying to shake things up on the usual suspects this year and the massive round 1 lead makes me think It’s going to be tough to catch us.
m0nty
March 29, 2010 at 2:15 am
Yeah, what’s the story on that league? Is it just you and 15 of your closest clones? 😉
mitchc6
March 29, 2010 at 8:08 am
Kills me how everyone will get on Barlow and claim they found him early.
poita78
March 29, 2010 at 11:53 am
James Strauss – are you kidding? The guy is a dud.
DT=Life
March 29, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Haha nah m0nty, 16 different teams. I can’t take all the credit, its mostly run by myself and 1 other guy. We’ve got a few good mates in there and our brothers as well. I will admit some of our other family members teams are getting a fair bit of executive help from the more experienced coaches though.
Marcz
March 29, 2010 at 12:09 pm
i got 2104 which is ok considering most of the rookies i had starting were outscored by their bench including GUMBY started, i went with 4 premium backs waters hunt 1 rookie starting, midfield stanton swann ablett 3 rookies starting, sanilands clark in ruck, forwards riewoldt ROK J Brown Gia B Harvey 2 rookies starting Hitchcock and Gumby
thollo
March 29, 2010 at 5:07 pm
what was your score for the week Monty?
crumpet
March 29, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Another long season ahead for you Monty. Perhaps now you can focus more time on losing weight and less time in front of your computer!
papbomber
March 29, 2010 at 5:21 pm
@ Crumpet.. don’t be a rude !@#%^
@ everyone else… surprised that Byrnes is considered a ‘risky’ pick by many of you, he averaged 85 from 19 games last year and has well established himself in the Cats best 22. will do exceptionally well this year with no Stokes and Rooke also missing for the moment.. i’d say he could average mid to high 90s this year.
Slashers
March 29, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Yea, what did you score Monty?
jdog333
March 29, 2010 at 7:10 pm
good back line. unique picks with diffeild and hargrave, no real weakness there.
3 guns in the mid, with 3 rookie (bit of a risk, espically JKT if he doesnt play) -0.5
pretty standard in the rucks. kruezer is not a premium but will get u 70s and 80s, is fairly consistant.
very risky fwd line, warren (inconsistant), geelon rookies (are they both going to play enough games, byrnes (a lot to pay for someone that inconsistant) -2
good unique pick with bate, was good towards the end of last year
7.5/10
numberwang
March 29, 2010 at 11:09 pm
im guessing you had, with bartel captain just over 2000 monty? if Swan I’d say about 2070?
apple_meat
March 30, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Not sure about Strauss. That would have to be the craziest pick ive seen this year. You’ve definitely got balls though Mont.
I’m liking the pick of Mcdonald as he can be a hidden gem. Wouldnt surprise me if he avg 85 .
magpies76
March 30, 2010 at 7:22 pm
I disagree apple_meat – McDonald cost about $350K and will not average 85, maybe around 75 and you can get Malceski for $275K who will average 70-75 as well.
Monty has plums the size of Brad Ottens head here but this side appears to be lucky to crack 2100 mark. Backline is very good, mids are your weak point with 3 players who will be lucky to play 12 games and in a row as well, rucks are good and forwards are good and a few uniques which will give you a few wins.
chucknorris
March 30, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Yeah totally agree with you about Barlow – 6’3, quick, great skills on both sides and a mature reader of play and poised in traffic – and form wise blitzed in the NAB. A monty…Monty. Though I do have a bloke called Gumbleton downforward so the team aint perfect…..yet.
chucknorris
March 30, 2010 at 10:55 pm
I actually went in with only 3 premium mids in my DT and got 2002 – I’ve got kids everywhere in my DT – gonna cash half of em, keep the Barlows and the Bastiacs etc
chucknorris
March 30, 2010 at 10:56 pm
LOved a one liner on the Freo v Adel match blog on Sunday night – a bloke referred to Freo as the “Essendon retirement village”
megawatt
March 31, 2010 at 9:51 am
Ok Monty, time to roll out your SC team. Lets have a look. Can’t really comment on your DT as I don’t play but would’ve thought your 6th-8th mids could have been better, but then again you know more about these youngsters than I do. And Matthew Bate? that one is questionable. Started well with 2423 in SC, in 689th, though only 70 odd points behind top 50. And if you are reading this KORAY, Stanton 1, Ablett 0. Cmon Stants.
m0nty
March 31, 2010 at 1:27 pm
I got 2082 with this team in R1.
I’ll get to posting my SC team now.
wogboy
March 31, 2010 at 4:27 pm
i tell u wat…uve taken a big risk wif those midfielders….so hav i….heres my sc team ready for round 2…
DEFENDERS
c.ENRIGHT
j.DRUMMOND
h.SHAW
r.SHOENMAKERS
m.MATTNER
g.URQUHART
j.GRAM
no strong subs
MIDFIELDERS (NOT MY STRONGEST POINT…quite bad actually)
j.WATSON
c.JUDD….subbed for m.BARLOW
a.COONEY
l.BALL
d.MARTIN
j.TRENGROVE
FORWARDS ( pretty good )
n.RIEDWOLt
m.PAVLICH
b.HARVEY
j.BROWN
h.BALLENTYNE
b.HALL
c.HITCHCOCK
about 70k left
judd4eva
April 2, 2010 at 8:01 am
i like my team at this point in time. all the rave about robbie gray being is ludacris. i believe he’ll be back for round 4 when the competiotion really heats up. anyway here is my team:
DEFENDERS:
B Goddard (An all-round premium)
C Enright (will find the ball even more with no tom harley)
L Hodge (set for a rippa season)
H Shaw (either him or carrazzo)
N Malceski (in career best form)
T Kennelly (hype is about him)
J Hunt (he or waters and waters has let me down in the past)
M Maguire (genuine emergency)
B Nason (believe tigers will play him a lot)
MIDFIELDERS:
D Swan (obvious choice for captain)
G Ablett (another obvious choice)
J Bartel (rarely scores under 100)
M Barlow (a ball magnet)
D Martin (an absolute jet)
J Trengove (it was he or scully)
L Shuey (eagles expect big things from him)
R Bastinac (like barlow he can go up as high as liam anthony)
RUCKS:
A Sandilands (only premium ruck worth picking, plus has no competition for anyone at freo)
D Hille (it was between naitinui or him but with cox and lynch at the eagles, i believe hille will go up and a possible trade later in the year)
R Warnock (every decent coach has him on their bench)
M Lobbe (there to look pretty)
FORWARDS:
N Riewoldt (the best forward in the comp, enough said)
R O’Keefe (chose him over Brown and despite Brown’s big scores last night and last week, i believe i made the right call)
L Franklin (is gonna go off this year)
R Gray (bit iffy but i’m willing to risk it)
J Ziebell (i’m a huge fan of this kid, how could you not pick him)
B Hall (should go up in value and then possibly a trade for brown later on in the season)
H Ballantyne (is better than dangerfield)
S Gumbleton (i’m confident in this lad i mean after all he was taken pick 3 in the draft)
J Podsiadly (confident he’ll play)
58k left in the kitty
crumpet
April 8, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Strauss out! Wrong again Monty!! Get back in the gym you fat prick
gas_sam
April 8, 2010 at 6:51 pm
and Howlett! Monty could be eating humble pie (or should i say donut) if JKT doesn’t get up.