Strategy 2026 Planning Thread

[Maybe Tomorrow]

Byes

R2: Bris, Carlton, Pies, Cats
R3: Suns, WB, Hawks, Sydney
R4: GWS, St Kilda

R12: Adelaide, Suns, Port, North
R13: GWS, Richmond
R14: Pies, Hawks, Carlton, Freo
R15: Lions, Sydney, WC, Essendon
R16: WB, Cats, St Kilda, Melbourne

 

[Tulendeena]

I'm not being gaslit into believing Oliver was a good pick. His injury was a blessing in disguise, as it allowed us all to jump off him. No serious team had clarry post bye. No one picked him hoping for a 93 average, and we all expected 100+ minimum.

Yes some of these guys missed games but roughly in the same price range, Ashcroft, Callaghan were better picks and then players in other lines such as, Ash would have been better. The real kicker, is when you consider for the price i paid to start Trac and Oliver, I could have almost started 2 of Richards/Hewett/Clug. 50k odd k short, but a slight restructure and my team would've been significantly better.

If you're running these guys post byes you've had too many other spot fires I guess, their purpose is only to make it to the byes, have a strong score on field rather than bad rooks and flick to a bont/butters/naicos type when the difference between them is 50-80k rather than 200k

The oliver injury was around the time you'd think about jumping off anyway, so didn't really make a difference, you could flip him to trac for 10k or so at the time or warner for a profit.

Obviously you can try and crystal ball the Clugg/Hewett types, but I didn't see a single post preseason about Clug and only one about Hewett, expecting to be able to pick this is not realistic

 

[Tulendeena]

He did miss a game, as did Smith. That has to be factored in.

Are you assuming they were all traded at their byes?

I'd say from your list only really Smith and Callaghan were a success. I had Cerra all year and he was good then bad. Should I have traded him earlier? In hindsight of course, but the problem with these picks is they are rarely your most pressing issue on any given week so they stay in your team too long.

There are bound to be a few good options next year in this range though.

Oliver was just based off jumping off in rd8, which looks like what the vast majority ended up doing.

Baz should be down a bit from the missed game, but I don't think anyone's arguing he wasn't a good pick

 

[Lord De Goey]

If you're running these guys post byes you've had too many other spot fires I guess, their purpose is only to make it to the byes, have a strong score on field rather than bad rooks and flick to a bont/butters/naicos type when the difference between them is 50-80k rather than 200k

The oliver injury was around the time you'd think about jumping off anyway, so didn't really make a difference, you could flip him to trac for 10k or so at the time or warner for a profit.

Obviously you can try and crystal ball the Clugg/Hewett types, but I didn't see a single post preseason about Clug and only one about Hewett, expecting to be able to pick this is not realistic

Doesn’t change the fact that Oliver was a bad pick. You probably didn’t realise how average he was because of his ownership.

Clug and hewett were long shots of course but you’d also be more inclined to give them a shot if you didn’t have Oliver in your team. They’re just examples anyway, Richards is a fair shout and there was no crystal ball required.

I’ve had a good season and I only just got off Roberts before running out of trades. It’s an interesting debate for sure, but I’m definitely favouring pure gnr unless they off immense value, like Hayden Young should next season

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

Doesn’t change the fact that Oliver was a bad pick. You probably didn’t realise how average he was because of his ownership.

Clug and hewett were long shots of course but you’d also be more inclined to give them a shot if you didn’t have Oliver in your team. They’re just examples anyway, Richards is a fair shout and there was no crystal ball required.

I’ve had a good season and I only just got off Roberts before running out of trades. It’s an interesting debate for sure, but I’m definitely favouring pure gnr unless they off immense value, like Hayden Young should next season

IMO the dead zone is $300-450k.

Smith and Macrae were $390k but they had enough runs on the board to be solid picks.

 

[Scythe]

Yeah, in no way was Oliver a successful pick. You pick $450k guys with a view to them being low-level keepers (if not, very close). At that price, they're seldom going to make enough to be worthwhile stepping stones. The reality is that Oliver is nowhere close to a midfield keeper, and only made $22k on his starting value at his peak price, whilst likely costing two trades to move on.

There have been worse picks, but that was a failed one.

 

[Scythe]

Think if you’re going GNR next year, the play is definitely loading up on low-mid 500k breakout candidates/fallen premos. There's just no value in loading up with a heap of 600k+ players anymore – grab a couple for early captaincy picks, then look for value IMO.

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

Think if you’re going GNR next year, the play is definitely loading up on low-mid 500k breakout candidates/fallen premos. There's just no value in loading up with a heap of 600k+ players anymore – grab a couple for early captaincy picks, then look for value IMO.

I guess the value lies in not needing to trade the top line guys out.

The risk with the slightly lower guys is you have to trade.

 

[Deliverance]

It's an accumulative effect. I had SDK, Oliver, Perryman, Roberts and Cerra all scoring below the premo range and not far enough ahead of the good rookies. As a package they were death by a thousand cuts.

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

It's an accumulative effect. I had SDK, Oliver, Perryman, Roberts and Cerra all scoring below the premo range and not far enough ahead of the good rookies. As a package they were death by a thousand cuts.

Yes this is a good point. And having a lot of them means you never get rid of all of them.

 

[Scythe]

I guess the value lies in not needing to trade the top line guys out.

The risk with the slightly lower guys is you have to trade.

Unless those 'top line' guys fall off a cliff (see Cripps, Flanders, Ryan, Houston etc).

Obviously less risk in the 600k guys, but it's never a guaranteed home-run (unless it's a Bont/Gawn etc).

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

Unless those 'top line' guys fall off a cliff (see Cripps, Flanders, Ryan, Houston etc).

Obviously less risk in the 600k guys, but it's never a guaranteed home-run (unless it's a Bont/Gawn etc).

Yeah I'll thinking more Bont, Butters, Xerri, Gawn, Daicos. Only injury stops them being in the top scorers.

 

[Scythe]

Some lower-range premos/upper mid-pricers that—off the top of my head—will probably come under consideration next year are Washcroft, JHF, Serong, TDK (depending on Marshall), LDU (maybe), Warner, Pickett, Bowey, Rozee, Rivers (if Trac or Oliver move), Bergman, Humphrey, Flanders, Freijah, Sicily and Soligo.

Nail a few of those, and you'd be in business.

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

Some lower-range premos/upper mid-pricers that—off the top of my head—will probably come under consideration next year are Washcroft, JHF, Serong, TDK (depending on Marshall), LDU (maybe), Warner, Pickett, Bowey, Rozee, Rivers (if Trac or Oliver move), Bergman, Humphrey, Flanders, Freijah, Sicily and Soligo.

Nail a few of those, and you'd be in business.

JHF and Freijah will be forwards, that's a different equation due to the lack of options. Little choice but to take a few punts there. Flanders IF FIT should be good.

Washcroft of those you name interests me. Myabe TdK if they change the ruck rule to suit the jumpers.

 

[stevebbb]

He did miss a game, as did Smith. That has to be factored in.

Are you assuming they were all traded at their byes?

I'd say from your list only really Smith and Callaghan were a success. I had Cerra all year and he was good then bad. Should I have traded him earlier? In hindsight of course, but the problem with these picks is they are rarely your most pressing issue on any given week so they stay in your team too long.

There are bound to be a few good options next year in this range though.

Starting these picks means you have to make a decision to hold or trade if they don't go nuts. Those decisions are bloody tough. Rather try to avoid that altogether.

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

Starting these picks means you have to make a decision to hold or trade if they don't go nuts. Those decisions are bloody tough. Rather try to avoid that altogether.

100% - there is always the worry they hit form after you trade.

 

[Deliverance]

100% - there is always the worry they hit form after you trade.

Cerra, case in point. 3 games in a row in the 80s, so I trade him. The week I trade him he bangs out a 140

 

[Sherman41]

I guess I’m not a serious coach having Oliver all season

 

[Tulendeena]

Yeah, in no way was Oliver a successful pick. You pick $450k guys with a view to them being low-level keepers (if not, very close). At that price, they're seldom going to make enough to be worthwhile stepping stones. The reality is that Oliver is nowhere close to a midfield keeper, and only made $22k on his starting value at his peak price, whilst likely costing two trades to move on.

There have been worse picks, but that was a failed one.

A 450k player needing to be a keeper feels very much like a remnant from when we didn't have 40 trades and a ridiculous number of boosts, with the ability to turn the entire squad over I think it's more important to play fantasy-style, where every single pick needs to be outperforming what they are priced at.

I don't see the issue in flipping Oliver at round 8 to Warner for profit, Trac/Dawson/LDU/Cripps for less then 40k (Or Heeney/Sheezel/Dunks for 100k), when that would cost 100k+ at the start of the season.

 

[Obese Arachnid]

IMO the dead zone is $300-450k.

Smith and Macrae were $390k but they had enough runs on the board to be solid picks.

Also being fwd eligible in shizen fwd line made it even easier.

 

[Scythe]

Warner

Not sure what I included him here. Never again lol

 

[Eagling]

The hardest thing will be picking out what lessons are applicable in all seasons, and what was applicable in 2025 specifically.

 

[Tulendeena]

The hardest thing will be picking out what lessons are applicable in all seasons, and what was applicable in 2025 specifically.

Especially since there's so many huge changes every year

If round 0 is scrapped a whole lot will be different early doors

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

Especially since there's so many huge changes every year

If round 0 is scrapped a whole lot will be different early doors

Sounds like the sub rule is going. That should mean rookies make money quicker which makes the whole game easier.

 

[Lord De Goey]

Cerra, case in point. 3 games in a row in the 80s, so I trade him. The week I trade him he bangs out a 140

I also traded him then (after two 80s). Even though I didn’t realise it at the time, it was definitely the correct decision. Had to miss a few of his big scores, but I wouldn’t have had the trades to trade him out a month or two later. Can almost guarantee he’d be sitting on my bench right now.

My only issue is I traded him to Warner thinking a forward keeper made more sense lol

 

[Eagling]

Just looking at my starting squad:

Fails:

Sheezel, Short, Roberts, Oliver, Knevitt, Camporeale, Hastie, Tsatas, Allan, Flynn, Boyd, Stone, Paton.

Toss-ups:

Elijah Hewett (Good but I traded far too early), TDK (Traded too late), JHF (50/50 due to injury), Kako (Ended up making alright cash and practically played every game, but was the 40s and 50s he dropped worthwhile? I traded him a few weeks back but I reckon if he was your Round 24 Rankine cover you'd have been happy with him)

Successes:

NWM, Clark, Holmes, Trainor, Reid, Dawson, Richards, Lindsay, English, Hall (Traded him too early, amazingly), Daniel, Macrae, Rankine, Davidson.

Looking at the list profile, my successes were:

With 15 rookies started, 8 were abject failures, which is the lynchpin of everything else going wrong.

Daniel and Macrae (And Baz who I grabbed a couple of weeks later, were such popular picks I don't really see them as personal successes, similar to TDK, JHF and Rankine.)

Short, Oliver and Roberts were all in that $400k bracket that failed. Sheezel was the only $600k player, who also failed. The golden area was the quintet of Holmes, Nasiah, Clark, Richards, Dawson and even English to a degree, all within that mid $500k range and all doing well over the whole season; barring any disaster today. Some started slower than others, but over the latter half of the season, most of them came home with a wet sail.

I think in 2026, I'd rather have $300k instead of a Roberts or Short type. The thing will be identifying which players are discounted and will bounce back, and which players are done as Supercoach Options - Clayton Oliver

13

Clayton Oliver

Age

28

Ht

189cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.8

5star

K

9.5

4star

HB

18.4

5star

M

3.2

3star

T

6.3

5star

CL

6.3

5star

D

25.1

5star

K

11.1

4star

HB

14.0

5star

M

3.6

4star

T

5.6

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

19.2

5star

K

4.6

2star

HB

14.6

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

4.4

5star

CL

3.8

5star

being the prime example. Do you go again hoping he turns his form around?

Current 2026 Starting XXXI idea:

Xerri terrifies me. I've skipped him in 2024 and in 2025 I grabbed him late, and he slaughtered me for missing him. Do Ruck rule changes effect him? Maybe. The ruck-line as a whole is a toss-up; I'm not sold on Sean Darcy

4

Sean Darcy

Age

27

Ht

203cm

Wt

111kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.1

3star

K

3.4

1star

HB

6.6

4star

CL

2.4

4star

HO

28.8

5star

D

6.8

1star

K

2.0

1star

HB

4.8

3star

CL

1.8

4star

HO

20.3

5star

D

11.4

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

6.8

5star

CL

2.6

5star

HO

32.0

5star

either. Sam Flanders at another club with a better role is almost a lock; might even be worth considering if he remains at Gold Coast.

Player	2026 Price
NWM	$627,400​
Rozee	$566,000​
Mills	$535,800​
McKercher	$447,400​
Rookie	$156,400​
Rookie	$145,600​
Rookie	$119,900​
Rookie	$119,900​
Daicos	$625,800​
Merrett	$581,100​
Serong	$575,200​
LDU	$524,500​
Rookie	$204,900​
Rookie	$199,500​
Rookie	$194,100​
Rookie	$188,700​
Rookie	$172,500​
Rookie	$140,200​
Rookie	$134,800​
Xerri	$684,600​
Darcy	$416,700​
Rookie	$119,900​
Sheezel	$577,900​
JHF	$509,400​
Flanders	$391,400​
Philipou	$203,300​
Rookie	$183,300​
Rookie	$151,000​
Rookie	$119,900​
Rookie	$119,900​
Rookie	$161,700​
Team Value	$9,898,700​
Salary Left	$101,300​