- Jun 27, 2013
- 46,992
- 43,989
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
- Other Teams
- Tottenham Hotspur, SSC Napoli, ESH
The NAB Challenge is over folks, this is my preseason review from the players who are cheaper than others or are forgotten about.
Vanilla premium players like Ablett, Swan, Goddard etc won’t be on this list. Players with fantasy frustrating injury histories that I don’t rate at all won’t be found in here either (sorry all Harley Bennell and Mark Lecras fans
).
I will only include players that are above 200k, most players on this list are below 500k with the exception of a few underpriced premiums who may be ignored.
For rookies please check this thread http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/rookies-2015.1087432/
Adelaide
Nathan Van Berlo is Adelaide's best cheap option even though he didn't set the preseason alight, his job security is excellent and with Brad Crouch going down with yet another injury he will be relied upon, Tom Lynch has been ok also but there is an abundance of forwards ahead of him at the moment.
Brisbane
Rohan Bewick and Matthew Leuenberger are Brisbane's best mid priced options from the NAB Challenge, Leuenberger scored a solid 73 against Gold Coast in NAB 4 sharing the ruck with Martin, he could be good ruck bench cover when our teams are finished while Bewick consistently ran down a wing using that left foot of his finding plenty of footy.
Carlton
Patrick Cripps then daylight................. Yarran is an awkward price but as he is not a marking type defender and more of a dashing run and carry type, he will need to get 25+ touches and a few tackles every week to crack scores of 80+. Sam Docherty has not lived up to his last year hype with mediocre preseason scores in the 50s
Collingwood
Taylor Adams looks to be Collingwood's best option but Levi Greenwoods injury could change his midfield role. Many were keen on Paul Seedsman but he is out with a hip injury until mid-late April.
Essendon
I would hold off Essendon players until we find out the ASADA findings, Jonathan Giles and Shaun McKernan should have good job security if ASADA comes down hard, otherwise Tom Bellchambers for R2. I will reassess them on the day of the findings or the day after.
Fremantle
Plenty of options here, Lachie Neale looks to be the pick of the bunch while scoring an impressive 131 against Sydney and getting 28 possessions against Melbourne. Clancee Pearce may be used as a run with player due to Ryan Crowley's drugs tribunal hearing, he has scored a 90 and a 74 but also a poor 20. Not sold on Garrick Ibbotson yet and I was keen on Michael Walters during summer, his numbers have not been great in preseason, he may be spending more time closer to goal however.
Geelong
I'm a huge Mitch Duncan fan and he is locked into my team, though Harry Taylor is turning heads at the moment also with the lack of defensive options.
Gold Coast
Kade Kolodjashnij looks to be one of the best mid-priced defensive options for this year while Mitch Hallahan has impressed early.
GWS
Way too many who could breakout, put a blanket over any number of Whitfield, Kelly, Tomlinson, Hoskin-Elliott etc. Ryan Griffen pumped out scores of 107 and 82 from his 2 games, and is a very solid underpriced premium option with more bodies in GWSs midfield who could cop attention instead of himself.
Hawthorn
Matthew Suckling perhaps could improve on last year and get an 85 avg, while Brad Hill and Will Langford could improve well on last years averages. It will be a case of the same old names with the Hawks, though they seem to have a ruck dilemma also with Ben McEvoy, Jonathan Ceglar and David Hale fighting for 2 spots in the team, Hale could be phased out though for the younger ruckmen.
Melbourne
An interesting cause, a seemingly extremely relevant team this year, could Dom Tyson pump out a 100 avg? Ben Newton could be a handy 230k option in midfield, while Heritier Lumumba looks set to be unleashed into Melbourne's midfield, he is one of the more popular defensive picks so far and pumped out a score of 113 against the Bombers.
North
Dare I say it but Shaun Higgins could be an excellent defensive choice with the severe lack of relevant defenders, he only had 1 small injury issue last year which was managed and he played the following week, but apart from that he played 20 games last year the 2 games missed when he was dropped late in the year for reasons unknown. Andrew Swallow looks to be a great underpriced premium at 506k, Jack Ziebell can be selected in our forwardlines for 478k, while Daniel Wells represents great value at 351k, if he can avg about 90 that is a great return. North also have a plethora of mid-priced defenders like Ben Jacobs, Jamie Macmillan, Luke Macdonald and Sam Wright, who knows with these guys. North should be more fantasy relevant this year than what they have been in previous years.
Port
Only Ollie Wines looks likely so far, Matthew Broadbent perhaps down back? Chad Wingard is injured and while Cam O'Shea has shown plenty of potential in the past, his job security worries me.
Richmond
Taylor Hunt could be a defensive option at 324k but they should have a few PODs with Houli and Maric. Their premium forwards are their most relevant players this year.
St Kilda
Jack Newnes is the biggest lock down back, he will be the most popular defender pick this year. I'm staying well away from the likes of Gilbert, Geary and Fisher. If Jack Steven can handle the tag, he will be great value as an underpriced premium and should put up numbers like Griffen and Swallow. Luke Dunstan with an increased midfield role could push a 85-90 avg, he is definitely one for the future.
Sydney
Too many question marks over Tom Mitchell's job security and whether Gary Rohan or Dane Rampe can step up in Malceski's absence. With Sydney it's premos and rookies for me namely in Luke Parker and Isaac Heeney.
West Coast
Lots of options here. Nic Nat and Lycett are solid R2 options if you want to spend a little more there, with Cox gone at least one of them should break the 80 avg barrier, Brad Sheppard had an impressive first 2 weeks of NAB averaging 83 there, while the likes of Scott Selwood and Chris Masten should boost their last year averages.
Western Bulldogs
While initially I thought he'd only be Supercoach relevant, can Marcus Bontempelli on the back of Tom Liberatore's knee injury do a Nat Fyfe and bust out a 90+ average in his second year? His full potential was on show against Collingwood with 29 possies, 9 tackles, 3 goals and a NAB Challenge competition high of 144 DT points. Lin Jong could be a better choice in midfield than the likes of Van Berlo and Rich and Brett Goodes is a lock if he is upgraded as he looks to have a place in the Dogs midfield currently with the lack of experience in there. Mitch Honeychurch off the back of a Nathan Hrovat injury and a possible suspension to Lachie Hunter could be a great scorer early in the year (similar to Jackson Merrett for Essendon last year) with scores of 54, 75 and 76 so far and priced at 225k.
Vanilla premium players like Ablett, Swan, Goddard etc won’t be on this list. Players with fantasy frustrating injury histories that I don’t rate at all won’t be found in here either (sorry all Harley Bennell and Mark Lecras fans
).I will only include players that are above 200k, most players on this list are below 500k with the exception of a few underpriced premiums who may be ignored.
For rookies please check this thread http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/rookies-2015.1087432/
Adelaide
Nathan Van Berlo is Adelaide's best cheap option even though he didn't set the preseason alight, his job security is excellent and with Brad Crouch going down with yet another injury he will be relied upon, Tom Lynch has been ok also but there is an abundance of forwards ahead of him at the moment.
Brisbane
Rohan Bewick and Matthew Leuenberger are Brisbane's best mid priced options from the NAB Challenge, Leuenberger scored a solid 73 against Gold Coast in NAB 4 sharing the ruck with Martin, he could be good ruck bench cover when our teams are finished while Bewick consistently ran down a wing using that left foot of his finding plenty of footy.
Carlton
Patrick Cripps then daylight................. Yarran is an awkward price but as he is not a marking type defender and more of a dashing run and carry type, he will need to get 25+ touches and a few tackles every week to crack scores of 80+. Sam Docherty has not lived up to his last year hype with mediocre preseason scores in the 50s
Collingwood
Taylor Adams looks to be Collingwood's best option but Levi Greenwoods injury could change his midfield role. Many were keen on Paul Seedsman but he is out with a hip injury until mid-late April.
Essendon
I would hold off Essendon players until we find out the ASADA findings, Jonathan Giles and Shaun McKernan should have good job security if ASADA comes down hard, otherwise Tom Bellchambers for R2. I will reassess them on the day of the findings or the day after.
Fremantle
Plenty of options here, Lachie Neale looks to be the pick of the bunch while scoring an impressive 131 against Sydney and getting 28 possessions against Melbourne. Clancee Pearce may be used as a run with player due to Ryan Crowley's drugs tribunal hearing, he has scored a 90 and a 74 but also a poor 20. Not sold on Garrick Ibbotson yet and I was keen on Michael Walters during summer, his numbers have not been great in preseason, he may be spending more time closer to goal however.
Geelong
I'm a huge Mitch Duncan fan and he is locked into my team, though Harry Taylor is turning heads at the moment also with the lack of defensive options.
Gold Coast
Kade Kolodjashnij looks to be one of the best mid-priced defensive options for this year while Mitch Hallahan has impressed early.
GWS
Way too many who could breakout, put a blanket over any number of Whitfield, Kelly, Tomlinson, Hoskin-Elliott etc. Ryan Griffen pumped out scores of 107 and 82 from his 2 games, and is a very solid underpriced premium option with more bodies in GWSs midfield who could cop attention instead of himself.
Hawthorn
Matthew Suckling perhaps could improve on last year and get an 85 avg, while Brad Hill and Will Langford could improve well on last years averages. It will be a case of the same old names with the Hawks, though they seem to have a ruck dilemma also with Ben McEvoy, Jonathan Ceglar and David Hale fighting for 2 spots in the team, Hale could be phased out though for the younger ruckmen.
Melbourne
An interesting cause, a seemingly extremely relevant team this year, could Dom Tyson pump out a 100 avg? Ben Newton could be a handy 230k option in midfield, while Heritier Lumumba looks set to be unleashed into Melbourne's midfield, he is one of the more popular defensive picks so far and pumped out a score of 113 against the Bombers.
North
Dare I say it but Shaun Higgins could be an excellent defensive choice with the severe lack of relevant defenders, he only had 1 small injury issue last year which was managed and he played the following week, but apart from that he played 20 games last year the 2 games missed when he was dropped late in the year for reasons unknown. Andrew Swallow looks to be a great underpriced premium at 506k, Jack Ziebell can be selected in our forwardlines for 478k, while Daniel Wells represents great value at 351k, if he can avg about 90 that is a great return. North also have a plethora of mid-priced defenders like Ben Jacobs, Jamie Macmillan, Luke Macdonald and Sam Wright, who knows with these guys. North should be more fantasy relevant this year than what they have been in previous years.
Port
Only Ollie Wines looks likely so far, Matthew Broadbent perhaps down back? Chad Wingard is injured and while Cam O'Shea has shown plenty of potential in the past, his job security worries me.
Richmond
Taylor Hunt could be a defensive option at 324k but they should have a few PODs with Houli and Maric. Their premium forwards are their most relevant players this year.
St Kilda
Jack Newnes is the biggest lock down back, he will be the most popular defender pick this year. I'm staying well away from the likes of Gilbert, Geary and Fisher. If Jack Steven can handle the tag, he will be great value as an underpriced premium and should put up numbers like Griffen and Swallow. Luke Dunstan with an increased midfield role could push a 85-90 avg, he is definitely one for the future.
Sydney
Too many question marks over Tom Mitchell's job security and whether Gary Rohan or Dane Rampe can step up in Malceski's absence. With Sydney it's premos and rookies for me namely in Luke Parker and Isaac Heeney.
West Coast
Lots of options here. Nic Nat and Lycett are solid R2 options if you want to spend a little more there, with Cox gone at least one of them should break the 80 avg barrier, Brad Sheppard had an impressive first 2 weeks of NAB averaging 83 there, while the likes of Scott Selwood and Chris Masten should boost their last year averages.
Western Bulldogs
While initially I thought he'd only be Supercoach relevant, can Marcus Bontempelli on the back of Tom Liberatore's knee injury do a Nat Fyfe and bust out a 90+ average in his second year? His full potential was on show against Collingwood with 29 possies, 9 tackles, 3 goals and a NAB Challenge competition high of 144 DT points. Lin Jong could be a better choice in midfield than the likes of Van Berlo and Rich and Brett Goodes is a lock if he is upgraded as he looks to have a place in the Dogs midfield currently with the lack of experience in there. Mitch Honeychurch off the back of a Nathan Hrovat injury and a possible suspension to Lachie Hunter could be a great scorer early in the year (similar to Jackson Merrett for Essendon last year) with scores of 54, 75 and 76 so far and priced at 225k.
Last edited:
