Cheers, Morgie. My bench is very much subject to change with Martin and Vickery in contention. Midfield balance was always going to be an issue because I do all of my drafting based off stats since I'm lucky if I watch 1 game a week
Overachievers FC (Diggler) FB: Ben Stratton - Jake Carlisle - Dylan Grimes HB: Brandon Ellis - Ben Reid - Grant Birchall C: Lewis Jetta - Jobe Watson - Jared Polec HF: Craig Bird - Taylor Walker - Steven Motlop FF: Troy Menzel - Tom Bellchambers - Patrick Ambrose R: Zac Clarke - Jaeger O'Meara - Nathan Van Berlo I: Reece Conca - Brodie Martin - Dylan Buckley S: Claye Beams Hmmm. Well, the defence is really good - Carlisle and Reid when playing defence are both very good, Stratton is a top-class medium-sized defender, and Ellis and Birchall should provide strong rebound. Walker makes for a strong spearhead, Reid and Carlisle can both comfortably swing up forward if necessary and Menzel and Motlop are classy smalls, so there's not a lot of issues with the forward line. Unfortunately though the midfield is lacking. Watson is clearly gun, but Polec and O'Meara aren't quite elite yet, Ellis and Bird aren't starting in the midfield and Jetta doesn't really have an outside game. If there was a silver-tier midfielder to complement Watson effectively I'd really like this side, but ultimately I don't think it's quite there. Prediction: I'd think this side would easily have the upper hand over the weaker ones, but unfortunately for him he's playing Div 1, so I think the weaknesses of this side will be more exposed. Possible relegation material.
Peptides (Brett) FB: Steven May Cale Hooker Lee Spurr HB: Heath Shaw Luke McPharlin Bryce Gibbs C: David MacKay Scott Pendlebury Dom Tyson HF: Ben Howlett Scott Lycett Mitch Duncan FF: Jake Lloyd Drew Petrie Lindsay Thomas R: Zac Smith Matthew Boyd Brent Macaffer I: Lenny Hayes Jack Trengove Luke McDonald S: Ryan Harwood Good side. The defence looks really good - Hooker, McPharlin and May could all handle #1 defender duties, so the side will be tough to score on, and unlike many key defenders they also have attacking games. Shaw is generally a top class small and Spurr also adds a shutdown element to the backline. I quite like the midfield - Pendlebury is genuinely elite, Gibbs is finally starting to live up to his potential, Macaffer is getting close to overtaking Crowley as the game's premier tagger and with Hayes on the bench the depth is good too. If there is a cocnern, it's the lack of true goalkicking options in the forward line. Petrie and Thomas are both good players, but there isn't a 2nd tall here and it seems to lack a proper crumbing option (Thomas plays more as an undersized key forward). Smith/Lycett also feels mediocre as a rucking combo. Prediction: I do worry that they'll often struggle to kick a winning score, but their other lines are good enough to prevent this from being a major concern. Might not truly get over the line and win the comp, but they'll certainly be a strong unit.
Native Tongues (Mousey) B: Jared Rivers - James Frawley - Liam Picken HB: Rhyce Shaw - Harry Taylor - Steven Morris C: Chris Judd - Dayne Beams - Jimmy Bartel HF: Cyril Rioli - Jack Gunston - Taylor Duryea F: Mike Pyke - Jesse White - Michael Walters R: Matthew Kreuzer - Dion Prestia - Heath Hocking Int: Danyle Pearce - Kade Kolodjashnij - Sean Dempster - Jake Stringer (sub) Interesting side. Defensively, it looks damn good - Taylor is the best key defender in the game and Frawley isn't that far behind him when he plays defence. Picken and Morris adds strong shutdown options and Hocking makes for a good tagger, so it'll be hard to kick a winning score on this side. Gunston makes for a good spearhead and Walters and Rioli are top-class smalls. The problem I have is that the side just seems too defensive. I think the side will struggle for rebound, and while the midfield certainly isn't bad, with Bartel and Judd not the forces they once were it isn't that good, either. Prediction: I think they'll compete pretty well, but the side seems a tad imbalanced in certain areas. Don't quite think they'll really push on.
I'm pretty happy with mine, I think a midfield of Beams, Prestia, Judd and Bartel with Rioli being able to run through and guys like Pearce and Walters being potential wingers to provide outside run. As for rebound I think I'll be right too, I'm planning on playing Pearce or someone off a HBF with Shaw (or rotating them through there) to provide that run. I'm concerned about my key forwards really. I'll be playing Kreuzer primarily at CHF so yeah, I think that's where I'll slip up.
Dempster into the back picket, Picken to rover to replace Hocking and Pearce in for Duryea and it's considerably better offensively without sacrificing much in the way of defence imo
Machetes (me) WARNING: Below post may contain significant bias. B: Nick Smith - Darren Glass - Dustin Fletcher HB: Matt Suckling - Scott Thompson - Chris Yarran C: Luke Parker - Gary Ablett - Steve Johnson HF: Jarrad Grant - Matthew Pavlich - Brent Harvey F: Hayden Ballantyne - Jack Darling - Nathan Vardy R: Will Minson - Andrew Carrazzo - Brad Crouch INT: George Horlin-Smith - Michael Rischitelli - Zach Tuohy - Matt Shaw (sub) Very strong line-up. Most areas seem to be covered fairly well, the key defensive stocks are good, Smith is probably the best lockdown small in the game, Suckling offers strong rebound, any midfield containing Harvey, Parker, Johnson and Ablett will be hard to stop, Pavlich and Darling make for good tall forward, Ballantyne is a strong crumber and Minson is a strong tap ruckman. Pavlich, Darling, Harvey, Parker, Johnson and Yarran all also have strong versatility. The worry could be depth, there seem to be a few players here that aren't quite up to the required standard. But overall it looks a better side than it did last year, which for a side that finished 4th is a pretty strong achievement. Prediction: One of the main contenders. Probably one of the only sides that has close to every base covered.
Your team is significantly better than last years but there are two weaknesses - Height in attack. Your two focal points of attack are sub 6'4. You'll struggle to clunk constested marks in general as a result. Kinda makes your forward line a little one dimensional. - Key defense. You're overrating Glass. He's sub 6'4 and Thompson is 6'4. With the modern day KPFs being 6'5-6'7 they're both undersized. Thompson's an excellent ball user and excellent defender but I feel in your setup he'll be matched up often on opponents he won't be able to cover. Glass towards the end wasn't able to match up on forwards, athletically they were too good. He's a smart defender hence why he was able to play despite physically being not up to the grade but this year ALL of his opponents were the resting rucks. Last year the most 'key' opponents he had in 20 games were Jenkins, Bock and Vickery. The other 17 games he was either the floater, taking the resting ruck or playing on the Winderlich/Thomas types. Glass over the last two years has been the 3rd tall at best. MacKenzie and Brown have always taken the two primary targets and on occasion Schofield or Yeo have taken the third tall. Glass was the 3rd/4th tall and quite simply I think if you play him key on a #1 or 2 forward he'll be an absolute liability. That said I think you're a lock for top 4
Rat Pack FC (Theo) FB: Neville Jetta - Jack Frost - Will Schofield HB: Nick Malceski - Jackson Trengrove - Bachar Houli C: Kane Cornes - Hamish Hartlett - Clinton Young HF: Rhys Palmer - Michael Hurley - Nick Suban FF: Dayne Zorko - Kurt Tippett - Ben Griffiths R: Robbie Warnock - Luke Shuey - Dane Swan INT: Tom Scully - Liam Jones - Jesse Stringer - Danny Stanley Hmm. Yes it did finish 3rd last season. And I guess there's not that much wrong with the side, it is pretty well balanced and doesn't seem to have many liabilities. But I feel it lacks something. I worry about the midfield's grunt, and in any case it probably lacks a silver-tier mid to complement Swan. The side seems to lack a true crumber - all the small forwards are midfielders - and the side in general feels too tall. I also am unconvinced on how well Frost or Trengove can handle the #1 key defensive slot. Prediction: I don't rate this side that highly. Probably an also-ran in the context of Division 1 though it should account for the lower sides.
STR8 OUTTA SPRINGVALE (Paul) Hombsch, Rutten, Staker Duffield, Grima, Grimes Barlow, Priddis, Treloar Monfries, Kennedy, Edwards Mayne, Casboult, Betts Mumford, Liberatore, Cotchin Kersten, Dwyer, Taylor Very good side. Defensively, it's kinda suspect. Hombsch is a fine 3rd tall, but Rutten isn't what he was, and Grima doesn't take the #1 forward. Elsewhere though this is awesome. The midfield is one of the strongest in the comp, with few liabilities and one of the few midfields with 5 genuinely good players. The forward line should work really well, with a spearhead (Kennedy), a useful #2 forward (Casboult), a strong mid-sized #3 forward (Mayne), a classy athletic half-forward (Monfries) and a genuinely skilled crumber (Betts). Mumford is one of the games elite ruckmen and in Nicholls he has a back-up that would be the #1 ruck for plenty of other sides. Prediction: The side should go a long way and is one the genuine contenders. Great list.
The Accumulators (Skippos) FB: T. Jonas R. Thompson R. Laird HB: R. Henderson H. Grundy D. Swallow C: J. MacRae D. Mundy B. Ebert HF: T. Lynch J. Westhoff T. Mitchell FF: J. McGovern L. Henderson J. Billings R: N. Naitanui N. Fyfe T. Rockliff IC: L. Whitfield T. Hickey A. Miles SUB: S. Docherty Were last season's premiers and they should be up there again. That midfield looks scary, given the depth it's very likely the best in the comp, and the other lines look pretty good too. Their key defensive stocks are strong, Grundy is a very good #2 tall and Jonas has a lot of versatility. When fit Naitanui is a monster ruckman and Hickey offers good back-up. The concerns here include possibly the lack of a genuine #1 forward (though the tall forwards offer versatility and ability up the ground), the lack of a real crumber and possibly the lack of a really good rebounder. But overall it looks very good. Prediction: Will challenge again, but I think a couple of other sides have caught up to them. Very good side nevertheless.
Division 1 ladder: 1. Erect Flyers 2. STR8 OUTTA SPRINGVALE 3. The Accumulators 4. Machetes 5. Peptides 6. Native Tongues 7. Rat Pack 8. Cornhusslers 9. Overachivers
Definitely agree that others have caught up . Reckon my attack will hold up purely because it has so many different targets that'll cover against the lack of a superstar. I think I'll probably win it purely because I've got the best depth. Injuries will fuck over teams but I'm pretty well covered which is my strength
