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Strategy 2026 Planning Thread

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Last disposal out of bounds free kick now applies between the 50m arcs

That could greatly impact ruck scoring. Would need the stats, but I’d suggest majority of throw-ins would occur in this area of the ground.
 
Saints4ever said:
All common sense changes.

Surprising isn’t it 😂
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Last disposal is stupid. They tried last touch for like 10 years in the 30s and 40s and it didn't work. Teams were loathe to take it down the wings lest it go out and a free kick against so they started ignoring the wings and going down the centre. Opposition teams did they same. So both teams started clogging iup the centre and it became a slow slog fest so they got rid of it. And now they are half reintroducing it? Madness.
 

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Current Team Iteration:

Salary Remaining: $1,247,500
D: Rozee, McKercher, Houston, Ridley, Simpson, Gibcus, (Coleman, Serong)
M: Serong, Wardlaw, Young, Picks 1-5, (Brodie, Smith, Smilie)
R: Briggs, Darcy, (Conway)
F: Sheezel, Pickett, Flanders, Phillipou, King, Weightman, (Draper, Robertson)
F: Blakiston

Rookies are obviously placeholders, but I tried to spend up, especially on field, so I can easily move down.

Going line by line:

Big risk with McKercher, Houston and Ridley; I'm hoping for a breakout year from McKercher, a return to form from Houston, and for Ridley to hold the fort and add 15-20 ppg on his 2025 average before being traded out.

Looking at Gulden, Oliver and LDU in addition to the selections listed. Not sure how well Oliver fits in at GWS with Green as the prime contested bull already; and I think Wardlaw has a bit more upside than LDU. But both could be good options and might find their way in.

Don't love the ruck line - aim here is to get a couple of rucks averaging 90+ for the first quarter/third of the season and snap a top-liner off when the ruck meta settles. Neither inspire much confidence; but with a plethora of ruck rule changes and no sub, who knows whether the 2nd ruck will be more in vogue in 2026? I like English, Meek and Xerri, but very reluctant to spend up straight away, unless someone has a dream run to start 2026.

Probably the most settled on the forwards. Melbourne's midfield mix is a big question mark; could easily switch Kozzy with a Langford/Lindsay/Rivers. King and Weightman just expensive placeholders.

Flex is the Essendon early ruck for now; Blakiston more expensive so he's in.

Now to address the elephant in the room; the massive salary cap.

My theory is that my season is torpedoed by wasting both cash and space with useless, list clogging picks that do nothing but lose money, which means I don't have enough rookies making money. In 2025 there were very few starting picks over $600k that worked over the first 6-8 weeks of the season. My logic is - if I have a rookie make $100k, and the premium I want drops $75k, that's basically a $175k turnaround which can then be invested into the team. Is 1.2m too much to hold? Is it worth the lost points? I don't know. I am considering players like NWM and Naicos who I think do potentially have upside even at their price, but I'm seriously considering going in with a huge salary, because looking at my trading trends over the past two seasons - I don't run out of trades, I just waste them on nothing picks, especially during the prime upgrade months. But if I have 1.2m in the bank, I'm going to be able to rush upgrades week after week, and I'm more likely to be able to hit and keep the POD rookies that end up making bank, because I won't have to swap them in and out.
 
Jiska said:
Last disposal is stupid. They tried last touch for like 10 years in the 30s and 40s and it didn't work. Teams were loathe to take it down the wings lest it go out and a free kick against so they started ignoring the wings and going down the centre. Opposition teams did they same. So both teams started clogging iup the centre and it became a slow slog fest so they got rid of it. And now they are half reintroducing it? Madness.
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Never thought about that.

Be interesting to see if modern day tactics can change the clog up the middle style.
 
Jiska said:
Last disposal is stupid. They tried last touch for like 10 years in the 30s and 40s and it didn't work. Teams were loathe to take it down the wings lest it go out and a free kick against so they started ignoring the wings and going down the centre. Opposition teams did they same. So both teams started clogging iup the centre and it became a slow slog fest so they got rid of it. And now they are half reintroducing it? Madness.
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Its not a free kick if spoiled or "fumbled" over the line. Can't see teams ignoring the wings completely. Maybe more long kicks to contests?
 
Thank God the cheat god Xerri going to be hampered.

That rule I can get around as a positive. I think most of the others is a bit of Dillon trying to leave some stamp on the game so throwing small changes to look like he is doing something about speeding up the game.
 
iDon said:
Thank God the cheat god Xerri going to be hampered.

That rule I can get around as a positive. I think most of the others is a bit of Dillon trying to leave some stamp on the game so throwing small changes to look like he is doing something about speeding up the game.
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Don’t need to speed up the game. Game was perfectly fine 20 years ago before they started changing all these rules to manufacture an outcome, then changing rules to deal with the unintended consequences of changing the rules. Game has worked fine for more than a century and now they’re changing fundamental key components of it. Barely recognisable from the game I grew up in love with.
 
Jiska said:
Don’t need to speed up the game. Game was perfectly fine 20 years ago before they started changing all these rules to manufacture an outcome, then changing rules to deal with the unintended consequences of changing the rules. Game has worked fine for more than a century and now they’re changing fundamental key components of it. Barely recognisable from the game I grew up in love with.
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Grampa Simpson Grandpa GIF by MOODMAN
 

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Great rule changes from the D/H's running the AFL.
Jiska said:
Don’t need to speed up the game. Game was perfectly fine 20 years ago before they started changing all these rules to manufacture an outcome, then changing rules to deal with the unintended consequences of changing the rules. Game has worked fine for more than a century and now they’re changing fundamental key components of it. Barely recognisable from the game I grew up in love with.
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It's completely cooked, going to be an absolute shitshow next year. Disappointing.
 

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Maybe Tomorrow said:
He was $294k FWD only this year. 0 games played this so should be $200-210k. Value hunters will be all over this one right?

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I mentioned him a few weeks ago as a smokie. If he gets a role down back being 198cm he could get quite a few intercept marks and can pinch hit in the ruck maybe.
 

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