Teams My 2018 RDT Squad

[Bandicoot]

Early days but I'm prepared to put my thoughts to paper.
Obviously, all rookie positions are up for change but this is the structure I am looking at based on prices and positions.
Unlike last year, I am keeping a bit of cash up my sleeve for compulsory changes that may need to be made after rounds 1 & 2.
All clubs represented other than Geelong and Bulldogs.

Salary Cap
Used: $12,392,400 (98.4%), Remaining: $207,600 (1.6%)
On Ground: $11,098,800 (88.1%), On Bench: $1,293,600 (10.3%)

Defender: 2,532,300 (20.1%)
Midfielder: 5,766,900 (45.8%)
Ruck: 1,208,000 (9.6%)
Forward: 2,885,200 (22.9%)

Bye Structure

Round 10: 3 (10%) | Round 12: 5 (16.7%) | Round 13: 11 (36.6%) | Round 14: 11 (36.6%) |

Dream Team Talk blog
TEAM NAME: The Coots. (Real Dream Team 2018)
Used: $12,392,400 (98.4%), Remaining: $207,600 (1.6%) On Ground: $11,098,800 (88.1%), On Bench: $1,293,600 (10.3%)
Expected Total: 2127, Site Expected Total: 1730
Def: R.Laird (102), J.Lloyd (96), G.Birchall (82), C.O'Shea (57), J.Smith (65), S.Murray (60) (T.Doedee (60), N.Murphy (60))
Mid: T.Mitchell (125), Z.Merrett (118), J.Kelly (115), D.Beams (115), B.Crouch (110), T.Rockliff (120), D.Armitage (95), A.Cerra (70) (L.Davies-Uniacke (70), N.Freeman (50), P.Ahern (50))
Ruc: M.Gawn (95), N.Naitanui (85) (N.Balta (30))
Fwd: M.Barlow (98), I.Heeney (95), M.Robinson (88), B.Ah Chee (78), H.Bennell (75), J.Higgins (58) (L.Keeffe (47), C.Ballard (58))

Thoughts???

Feel free to post your squad here.

 

[Cotchy9]

S

Early days but I'm prepared to put my thoughts to paper.
Obviously, all rookie positions are up for change but this is the structure I am looking at based on prices and positions.

Salary Cap
Used: $12,392,400 (98.4%), Remaining: $207,600 (1.6%)
On Ground: $11,098,800 (88.1%), On Bench: $1,293,600 (10.3%)

Defender: 2,532,300 (20.1%)
Midfielder: 5,766,900 (45.8%)
Ruck: 1,208,000 (9.6%)
Forward: 2,885,200 (22.9%)

Bye Structure

Round 10: 3 (10%) | Round 12: 5 (16.7%) | Round 13: 11 (36.6%) | Round 14: 11 (36.6%) |

Dream Team Talk blog
TEAM NAME: The Coots. (Real Dream Team 2018)
Used: $12,392,400 (98.4%), Remaining: $207,600 (1.6%) On Ground: $11,098,800 (88.1%), On Bench: $1,293,600 (10.3%)
Expected Total: 2127, Site Expected Total: 1730
Def: R.Laird (102), J.Lloyd (96), G.Birchall (82), C.O'Shea (57), J.Smith (65), S.Murray (60) (T.Doedee (60), N.Murphy (60))
Mid: T.Mitchell (125), Z.Merrett (118), J.Kelly (115), D.Beams (115), B.Crouch (110), T.Rockliff (120), D.Armitage (95), A.Cerra (70) (L.Davies-Uniacke (70), N.Freeman (50), P.Ahern (50))
Ruc: M.Gawn (95), N.Naitanui (85) (N.Balta (30))
Fwd: M.Barlow (98), I.Heeney (95), M.Robinson (88), B.Ah Chee (78), H.Bennell (75), J.Higgins (58) (L.Keeffe (47), C.Ballard (58))

Thoughts???

solid backline. Probably going to be fairly standard but nothing wrong with it

A few have questioned whether Titch is too expensive, I don't think he is. Not when you captain him and get double points. Kelly is a great pick, I have him going 120 and a top 3 mid. Crouch is a jet, will only get better. Not sold on Rocky

Standard rucks

Like the Barlow pick, if he's fit and firing round 1 he could well be the number 1 forward. Heeney having an interrupted pre season so he's a wait and see for me. Robbo is quite cheap for what he's capable of

 

[Bandicoot]

S

solid backline. Probably going to be fairly standard but nothing wrong with it

A few have questioned whether Titch is too expensive, I don't think he is. Not when you captain him and get double points. Kelly is a great pick, I have him going 120 and a top 3 mid. Crouch is a jet, will only get better. Not sold on Rocky

Standard rucks

Like the Barlow pick, if he's fit and firing round 1 he could well be the number 1 forward. Heeney having an interrupted pre season so he's a wait and see for me. Robbo is quite cheap for what he's capable of

Thanks for your comments Cotchy. I originally thought Titch was too expensive but then I figured he is the automatic selection as C each week which makes him worthwhile. Rocky is a pig and is just too cheap. Means Gray will be a permanent forward again next year and a non starter.
I'm not overly concerned about Heeney's early season interruption. I'm hoping Robbo gets more midfield time next year and I am very confident Ah Chee will be given every opportunity at WC.

 

[Bandicoot]

There are so many uber options for our midfield and you could mount a case for all of them however I doubt I will change mine unless there is a pre season injury.
Mitchell is a simple select and forget as captain. Zerrett is remarkably consistent with only 2 scores under 90 this year. Kelly is just starting to come into his prime and I expect him to go even higher next year. Beams is a DT pig in the making and is underpriced due to his injury score of 5 in round 14. B Crouch showed in the second half of year what he can deliver - lots if 100+ scores and he represents value. Rocky's move to Port will be Godsend for all DTers imo as he will not need to spend time in the forward line as he did at a depleted Brisbane. Gray, Wingard and Motlop will take care of that. I see Rocky getting back to his piggish best.
As much as I can see reasons for other speculative picks in Hanners, Parker, Neale, Fyfe, Cripps or Sloane I can't see any reason why any of these should replace whom I have already chosen.

 

[Cotchy9]

There are so many uber options for our midfield and you could mount a case for all of them however I doubt I will change mine unless there is a pre season injury.
Mitchell is a simple select and forget as captain. Zerrett is remarkably consistent with only 2 scores under 90 this year. Kelly is just starting to come into his prime and I expect him to go even higher next year. Beams is a DT pig in the making and is underpriced due to his injury score of 5 in round 14. B Crouch showed in the second half of year what he can deliver - lots if 100+ scores and he represents value. Rocky's move to Port will be Godsend for all DTers imo as he will not need to spend time in the forward line as he did at a depleted Brisbane. Gray, Wingard and Motlop will take care of that. I see Rocky getting back to his piggish best.
As much as I can see reasons for other speculative picks in Hanners, Parker, Neale, Fyfe, Cripps or Sloane I can't see any reason why any of these should replace whom I have already chosen.

I like the reasoning and I would encourage you to back yourself in with these picks. I have my guys

Taylor Adams- Just think he does it all, big ceiling and consistent as, POD and gets no attention

Matt Crouch- racks up the footy, young and still improving, consistent and hopefully not much attention with Sloane/Gibbs

Kelly- turned into a star this year, huge ceiling, growth still, see him going 120

Cripps- racks up the footy, marks, tackles, still improving, see him 105-110

Titch-,captain every week, bad days are 95-105, goes 120+ very often

 

[Pea Nut]

There are so many uber options for our midfield and you could mount a case for all of them however I doubt I will change mine unless there is a pre season injury.
Mitchell is a simple select and forget as captain. Zerrett is remarkably consistent with only 2 scores under 90 this year. Kelly is just starting to come into his prime and I expect him to go even higher next year. Beams is a DT pig in the making and is underpriced due to his injury score of 5 in round 14. B Crouch showed in the second half of year what he can deliver - lots if 100+ scores and he represents value. Rocky's move to Port will be Godsend for all DTers imo as he will not need to spend time in the forward line as he did at a depleted Brisbane. Gray, Wingard and Motlop will take care of that. I see Rocky getting back to his piggish best.
As much as I can see reasons for other speculative picks in Hanners, Parker, Neale, Fyfe, Cripps or Sloane I can't see any reason why any of these should replace whom I have already chosen.

I'm interested in the Rocky to Port discussion. Look at Port's inside mid fleet. I reckon Rocky spends more time forward, not less. Port posters seem to suggest the same thing for the most part.

 

[guero]

I'm interested in the Rocky to Port discussion. Look at Port's inside mid fleet. I reckon Rocky spends more time forward, not less. Port posters seem to suggest the same thing for the most part.

Will be interesting to see how it pans out. Personally I think Gray and Wingard have more forward craft in their little fingernails than Rocky has in his entire body so imo Kern would be insane to play Rocky forward more than necessary to give him a spell.

 

[Pea Nut]

Will be interesting to see how it pans out. Personally I think Gray and Wingard have more forward craft in their little fingernails than Rocky has in his entire body so imo Kern would be insane to play Rocky forward more than necessary to give him a spell.

Do you think it leaves them a bit one paced and slow in the midfield though ?? Boak, Wines, Rocky and SPP. Very 1 dimensional in my opinion.

 

[Bandicoot]

Do you think it leaves them a bit one paced and slow in the midfield though ?? Boak, Wines, Rocky and SPP. Very 1 dimensional in my opinion.

So often we speak of the midfield and mention 4 or so players. Most teams have at least 8 players going through there.

 

[Pea Nut]

So often we speak of the midfield and mention 4 or so players. Most teams have at least 8 players going through there.

Which was where I was leading to. There are a core group that play the bulk of the minutes in the midfield though, and in my opinion Port will need to have Wingard and Gray play plenty of minutes through the middle to give them a better balance of inside grunt and outside run. Which comes back to why I think Rocky will play forward more at Port, not less.

 

[Schulzenfest]

If Rocky was priced at his 120-130 ppg best he'd be far too much of a risk to go near, but after his injury affected second half of the season, even if he does spend more time forward than he has in the past I'd still expect him to get more than enough midfield time to eclipse his starting value of 103 ppg. Plus spending time in Port's forward line isn't quite the fantasy scoring death sentence that playing in Brisbane's forward line is.

Do you think it leaves them a bit one paced and slow in the midfield though ?? Boak, Wines, Rocky and SPP. Very 1 dimensional in my opinion.

SPP is actually pretty quick when he gets going. But I'd expect of those four that Boak and SPP will both spend more time forward than Rocky does.

While we're talking about Port players who might have reduced midfield time, I wouldn't touch Robbie Gray with a ten foot pole. Looks a bargain at his price but it's fool's gold IMO.

 

[Cotchy9]

Rocky is very tempting, there's a few unknowns but he could go 120 again. He has the annoying stand alone round 10 bye so you'll have to play a rookie that week whilst others play a premo, but could make up those points during the 3 multi-bye weeks

 

[go you pups]

Do you think it leaves them a bit one paced and slow in the midfield though ?? Boak, Wines, Rocky and SPP. Very 1 dimensional in my opinion.

Sydney's midfield is slow, but they win their own footy, that's what I see here with Ports, nothing wrong with that.

 

[Bandicoot]

Which was where I was leading to. There are a core group that play the bulk of the minutes in the midfield though, and in my opinion Port will need to have Wingard and Gray play plenty of minutes through the middle to give them a better balance of inside grunt and outside run. Which comes back to why I think Rocky will play forward more at Port, not less.

It's odd that we have completely opposite opinions on this matter. You believe he will spend more time forward and I feel he will spend less time there. I don't see that Port would have gone to the expense of bringing him to the club in order to play him forward when they already have more than enough options there. He is a midfielder, not a forward. We will soon see who's right.

 

[Schulzenfest]

My first draft:

Def: R. Laird, J.Lloyd, A.Brayshaw, G.Birchall, N.Coffield, C.O'Shea (T.Doedee, S.Murray)
Mid: T.Mitchell, Z.Merrett, J.Kelly, D.Beams, T.Rockliff, W.Setterfield, A.Brayshaw, L.Davies-Uniacke (T.Kelly, J. Garlett, P.Ahern)
Ruc: M.Gawn, N.Naitanui (B.Frampton)
Fwd: M.Barlow, C.Wingard, I.Heeney, L.Dahlhaus, A.Christensen, H.Bennell (J.Higgins, L.Ryan)

9.5k left over. Obviously risky selections like Christensen and Bennell are dependent on them getting through a pre-season. And if you think those two are bad, I considered Ryan Griffen too

 

[go you pups]

It's odd that we have completely opposite opinions on this matter. You believe he will spend more time forward and I feel he will spend less time there. I don't see that Port would have gone to the expense of bringing him to the club in order to play him forward when they already have more than enough options there. He is a midfielder, not a forward. We will soon see who's right.

Yep, considering Gray, Wingard and now Motlop will run through that forwardline, you'd think Rockliff will be used as primary ball winner, helping Wines and Boak out, leaving Ebert to plug holes wherever needed.

 

[Bandicoot]

My first draft:

Def: R. Laird, J.Lloyd, A.Brayshaw, G.Birchall, N.Coffield, C.O'Shea (T.Doedee, S.Murray)
Mid: T.Mitchell, Z.Merrett, J.Kelly, D.Beams, T.Rockliff, W.Setterfield, A.Brayshaw, L.Davies-Uniacke (T.Kelly, J. Garlett, P.Ahern)
Ruc: M.Gawn, N.Naitanui (B.Frampton)
Fwd: M.Barlow, C.Wingard, I.Heeney, L.Dahlhaus, A.Christensen, H.Bennell (J.Higgins, L.Ryan)

9.5k left over. Obviously risky selections like Christensen and Bennell are dependent on them getting through a pre-season. And if you think those two are bad, I considered Ryan Griffen too

Like it. I suppose I have to as it is similar to mine.
You are obviously basing your pick of Setterfield based on his prelim final. Prior to that he hadn't done much to get excited about.
I've now gone with the same top 4 defenders as you and the same top 5 mids although I've gone with a 6th keeper as well.
Those two will make up a fair % of ruck combinations. It's a shame we don't have a genuine fwd/ruc that we could put into our forward line in order to give us some cover. Nank and Ryder were perfect for that this year.
Although you say you are a little worried with the pick of Christensen, I'm more worried about your pick of Wingard. We were at the mercy of Hinkley last year as to whether he would play him in the midfield (where he scored well) or primarily in the forward line (which he did a few games) and scored poorly. With Rocky now at the club, I see Wingard playing forward more than midfield. Dahlhaus similarly played forward far too much this year which had a negative impact on his scoring and I don't really see that changing next year.
One little thing that you should keep in mind is having a little bit of cash up your sleeve come round 1. I made that error last year. I wanted to bring in a certain rookie who had scored really well in the first two weeks but I needed an extra $30K or so but didn't have it. I plan on having at least $50K in the kitty next year.

 

[Schulzenfest]

You are obviously basing your pick of Setterfield based on his prelim final. Prior to that he hadn't done much to get excited about.

Don't think he played in the prelim mate? Are you thinking of Hopper maybe?

The pick is more based on the fact that GWS have lost Smith, Kennedy and Stevie J without really recruiting anyone to replace them. Last year's #5 draft pick seems an obvious choice to break into the side IMO. He's basically rookie price, so given that he's shown some scoring ability at AFL level already (scored a 70 in his one full game last year) and has an extra year in the system, I've got more faith in Setterfield having a good year in 2018 than a fresh out of the TAC Cup type like Rayner who's a similar price.

Those two will make up a fair % of ruck combinations. It's a shame we don't have a genuine fwd/ruc that we could put into our forward line in order to give us some cover. Nank and Ryder were perfect for that this year.

Should've been Rory Lobb. The guy averaged 11 hitouts a game last year, god knows how that doesn't qualify him as a ruck DPP.

Although you say you are a little worried with the pick of Christensen, I'm more worried about your pick of Wingard. We were at the mercy of Hinkley last year as to whether he would play him in the midfield (where he scored well) or primarily in the forward line (which he did a few games) and scored poorly. With Rocky now at the club, I see Wingard playing forward more than midfield. Dahlhaus similarly played forward far too much this year which had a negative impact on his scoring and I don't really see that changing next year.

Personally I see Wines, Ebert, Rockliff and Wingard as Port's primary midfielders next year, with Gray, Boak and SPP all spending more time up forward. Wingard is definitely a 'pre-season watchlist' pick though. If he doesn't look like getting much midfield time then it's an easy downgrade to a Devon Smith type. But if he does look like getting a lot of midfield time then he's more than capable of bumping his average up towards the 100 mark IMO.

 

[Bandicoot]

Don't think he played in the prelim mate? Are you thinking of Hopper maybe?

I was mislead by an article in the Herald Sun stating that he had 30 possessions and 10 tackles in his last game. I knew it couldn't have been the last h&a game so I assumed it was the prelim. My bad.

 

[Keystone agony]

Will be interesting to see how it pans out. Personally I think Gray and Wingard have more forward craft in their little fingernails than Rocky has in his entire body so imo Kern would be insane to play Rocky forward more than necessary to give him a spell.

Wasnt Rocky the leading goal kicker in his Tac cup year?

Something else interesting is Port avg 85 more points than Brisbane last year, so Rockys going to a more prosperous scoring side fantasy wise

The greatest concern isnt whether he will be playing midfield enough, but injury and bye round

 

[Cotchy9]

Wasnt Rocky the leading goal kicker in his Tac cup year?

Something else interesting is Port avg 85 more points than Brisbane last year, so Rockys going to a more prosperous scoring side fantasy wise

The greatest concern isnt whether he will be playing midfield enough, but injury and bye round

Rocky is one of the gun clearance players in the Comp. it just makes no sense for Port to play him forward, particularly when they've already got gun small/medium forwards in Gray and Wingard, as well as Motlop now. Sure I think Rocky will have spells up there, all mids do, but I'd be surprised if doesn't play at least 80% in the midfield

 

[Keystone agony]

Rocky is one of the gun clearance players in the Comp. it just makes no sense for Port to play him forward, particularly when they've already got gun small/medium forwards in Gray and Wingard, as well as Motlop now. Sure I think Rocky will have spells up there, all mids do, but I'd be surprised if doesn't play at least 80% in the midfield

Yeh its a fascinating discussion. Port may prefer Wingard in the midfield. Wingard was drafted as a midfielder and has shown some great ability there.

The power setup will be one to watch during PS

Rockys a huge 50/50 right now for me

 

[Bandicoot]

Rocky is one of the gun clearance players in the Comp. it just makes no sense for Port to play him forward, particularly when they've already got gun small/medium forwards in Gray and Wingard, as well as Motlop now. Sure I think Rocky will have spells up there, all mids do, but I'd be surprised if doesn't play at least 80% in the midfield

I know that there are a couple who will disagree with me but I would be amazed if Rocky spends much time forward. I firmly believe he has been recruited to Port to play as a mid. It's fair to assume he had this discussion with Hinkley before making the decision to call Port his new home.

 

[Cotchy9]

I know that there are a couple who will disagree with me but I would be amazed if Rocky spends much time forward. I firmly believe he has been recruited to Port to play as a mid. It's fair to assume he had this discussion with Hinkley before making the decision to call Port his new home.

Yeah well if you wanted to recruit a forward, you wouldn't recruit Rocky that's for sure. He's handy up there but you'd go out and get a specialist. You'd only recruit Rocky for one reason, to play where he's best suited, in the guts. I'd assume he'd be on 650-700k, you wouldn't spend that on a clearance specialist to play him up forward

 

[Keystone agony]

I know that there are a couple who will disagree with me but I would be amazed if Rocky spends much time forward. I firmly believe he has been recruited to Port to play as a mid. It's fair to assume he had this discussion with Hinkley before making the decision to call Port his new home.

What was with all the media comments that he was playing a bit more forward at port compared to brisbane times from rocky/port? Wasnt there a bit of that chat going around?