Position 2025: DEFENDER DISCUSSION
- Thread starter KLo30
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Finding this by far the hardest position.
There's basically Sheezel and two of Ryan, Sinclair, NWM and Clarke and then an absolute quagmire of problems. I'm not even sure I like Ryan as a pick either
Somehow the best options seem to be McGovern, Stewart with a bye, Dale, Hinge, Vlastuin, Short, McKercher, Rivers and god only knows what else. I can't say that I genuinely like any of that group except for maybe Stewart but that bye hurts so much.
Not a huge fan of Mills but he's cheap enough to cop the bye if he is playing midfield and, more importantly, fit.
Worst part is the rookies look weakest here by far as well.
There's basically Sheezel and two of Ryan, Sinclair, NWM and Clarke and then an absolute quagmire of problems. I'm not even sure I like Ryan as a pick either
Somehow the best options seem to be McGovern, Stewart with a bye, Dale, Hinge, Vlastuin, Short, McKercher, Rivers and god only knows what else. I can't say that I genuinely like any of that group except for maybe Stewart but that bye hurts so much.
Not a huge fan of Mills but he's cheap enough to cop the bye if he is playing midfield and, more importantly, fit.
Worst part is the rookies look weakest here by far as well.
Finding this by far the hardest position.
There's basically Sheezel and two of Ryan, Sinclair, NWM and Clarke and then an absolute quagmire of problems. I'm not even sure I like Ryan as a pick either
Somehow the best options seem to be McGovern, Stewart with a bye, Dale, Hinge, Vlastuin, Short, McKercher, Rivers and god only knows what else. I can't say that I genuinely like any of that group except for maybe Stewart but that bye hurts so much.
Not a huge fan of Mills but he's cheap enough to cop the bye if he is playing midfield and, more importantly, fit.
Worst part is the rookies look weakest here by far as well.
There's basically Sheezel and two of Ryan, Sinclair, NWM and Clarke and then an absolute quagmire of problems. I'm not even sure I like Ryan as a pick either
Somehow the best options seem to be McGovern, Stewart with a bye, Dale, Hinge, Vlastuin, Short, McKercher, Rivers and god only knows what else. I can't say that I genuinely like any of that group except for maybe Stewart but that bye hurts so much.
Not a huge fan of Mills but he's cheap enough to cop the bye if he is playing midfield and, more importantly, fit.
Worst part is the rookies look weakest here by far as well.
I'm struggling a bit deciding what to do in the mids with all the lesser than premo options available including guys like Peatling and Cumming.
You could pick Day, Oliver, Peatling, Cumming...one or two others in that category and really regret it within a few weeks if you start off badly. Haha, I've had plenty of starts to the season like that.
Also had plenty of bad starts due to scrimping in the backline, I don't think 3 or 4 top line guys there would be a bad start this year but who knows. It all seems to change every year.
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I haven’t seen a whole heap of teams with Flanders, even though he’s very highly owned! Personally I don’t really see the appeal paying full price for someone who has a bye.
Played half forward last 3 games kicking 2 goals in each. I don’t really think it matters where he plays cause he’ll score anywhere really but something to watch.
Played half forward last 3 games kicking 2 goals in each. I don’t really think it matters where he plays cause he’ll score anywhere really but something to watch.
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Haven’t seen Tom Stewart in many teams. I thought his new role starting in the midfield and then drifting back into defence as the extra man was excellent both from a SC perspective and a Geelong perspective. Does the addition of Bailey Smith and development of some younger mids mean he goes back to his old role in defence? Does a fit and firing Guthrie push him out?
From rounds 16 to 23 was when he got the role.
In that 8 game sample size he averaged 109.6. Injured and subbed in round 24 where he had the role (24% CBAs in 29% TOG). When he returned for the Prelim, he didn’t get this role. I can’t recall why. Did they not want him there as he was not fully recovered from the injury, or did they just want to go back to the old role? Still a sprinkle of CBAs but nothing close to the amount he was getting pre-injury.
Obviously the round 3 bye is a big reason as to why, but I’ve still seen Holmes in lots of teams. Usually gets thrown in the “injury prone” basket, but he has played 22 games in each of the past 2 seasons. Has there been news that he won’t get this role, or am I overrating the role? A lot of the top tier defenders have question marks on whether they can sustain that level of scoring this year, can easily see him being top 6 at just $521k.
From rounds 16 to 23 was when he got the role.
In that 8 game sample size he averaged 109.6. Injured and subbed in round 24 where he had the role (24% CBAs in 29% TOG). When he returned for the Prelim, he didn’t get this role. I can’t recall why. Did they not want him there as he was not fully recovered from the injury, or did they just want to go back to the old role? Still a sprinkle of CBAs but nothing close to the amount he was getting pre-injury.
Obviously the round 3 bye is a big reason as to why, but I’ve still seen Holmes in lots of teams. Usually gets thrown in the “injury prone” basket, but he has played 22 games in each of the past 2 seasons. Has there been news that he won’t get this role, or am I overrating the role? A lot of the top tier defenders have question marks on whether they can sustain that level of scoring this year, can easily see him being top 6 at just $521k.
Same problem of so many. Round 0.
I do like him but he has been injury prone and the older you get the worse that tends to go, the midfield thing was a good way to try and lessen the tags.
I like him though, he's absolutely on my radar and will be watching for how he's used. I don't think his position really matters as much as health and avoiding tags, you almost want him to be a bit less impactful and end up at 110 rather than pushing 120+ and then getting the attention because he's been worthless when tagged so teams will keep doing it if he's impacting games heavily.
Definitely one to watch.
I do like him but he has been injury prone and the older you get the worse that tends to go, the midfield thing was a good way to try and lessen the tags.
I like him though, he's absolutely on my radar and will be watching for how he's used. I don't think his position really matters as much as health and avoiding tags, you almost want him to be a bit less impactful and end up at 110 rather than pushing 120+ and then getting the attention because he's been worthless when tagged so teams will keep doing it if he's impacting games heavily.
Definitely one to watch.
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I’m very hot on Stewart as well, think he’s very underpriced for what he’s capable of. He got tagged out of pretty much every game pre bye and had multiple concussions.
I’d expect he’s back to pure defence with everyone fit again and addition of Smith, seemed like he was only there because of injuries, tags and lack of senior players in the midfield.
I’d expect he’s back to pure defence with everyone fit again and addition of Smith, seemed like he was only there because of injuries, tags and lack of senior players in the midfield.
Just reading an interview with Jack Viney recently & came across this snippet :-
The Demons have tweaked their coaching staff and their game plan, with half back Caleb Windsor expected to play half back.
Trent Rivers is set to play predominantly midfield and Kysaiah Pickett will join him onball for periods
Liked what I saw when Rivers went into the middle late last year & was on my radar. Has a great bye round also & here are some Fantasy stats I just saw on X (Twitter) :-
Fitness gone through the roof… keen to see him in the preseason games
The Demons have tweaked their coaching staff and their game plan, with half back Caleb Windsor expected to play half back.
Trent Rivers is set to play predominantly midfield and Kysaiah Pickett will join him onball for periods
Liked what I saw when Rivers went into the middle late last year & was on my radar. Has a great bye round also & here are some Fantasy stats I just saw on X (Twitter) :-
Fitness gone through the roof… keen to see him in the preseason games
Had him in my very first draft.
Typical preseason talk though, it's amazing how many midfield spots there are in preseason to go around!
My worry is that he only played MID without Petracca. Oliver and Viney are both pure midfielders and both in their best few players. So either you have to sacrifice Petracca and play him forward or Rivers doesn't really have much of a spot. Salem and Pickett each had one game last season of >70% CBA when Oliver, Petracca and Viney all played (Pickett has 2 if you count the Pies game Petracca left at QT) and that's it, not one other player managed it in 12 games. So basically Petracca is going to have to take a significant hit for Rivers to get the chances. Petracca is probably their best midfielder so that's a big ask.
Do really like Rivers though, unlike Petracca, Oliver and Viney he can genuinely kick at a very high level, those 3 are all somewhere in the bad to awful level as kicks so that particular trait may be a huge factor. He's got good toe as well. I expect Pickett basically just takes the ANB midfield minutes which would bring him up to the 45-50% midfield, could definitely put up some numbers if it's higher than that but likely to be that, especially if Rivers is also going through. Another positive is Rivers has great size and is plenty physical, so unlike the issues that playing Salem in there to improve the kicking has caused Rivers will hold up fine.
If there's a clear indicator that he's going to be in the main midfield mix, I'll probably start him. I like his best case scenario the most of everyone in his price bracket. Hopefully Petracca is fit for the preseason games to give us a good indicator of the chopping order.
Absolutely high on the watchlist for me.
Typical preseason talk though, it's amazing how many midfield spots there are in preseason to go around!
My worry is that he only played MID without Petracca. Oliver and Viney are both pure midfielders and both in their best few players. So either you have to sacrifice Petracca and play him forward or Rivers doesn't really have much of a spot. Salem and Pickett each had one game last season of >70% CBA when Oliver, Petracca and Viney all played (Pickett has 2 if you count the Pies game Petracca left at QT) and that's it, not one other player managed it in 12 games. So basically Petracca is going to have to take a significant hit for Rivers to get the chances. Petracca is probably their best midfielder so that's a big ask.
Do really like Rivers though, unlike Petracca, Oliver and Viney he can genuinely kick at a very high level, those 3 are all somewhere in the bad to awful level as kicks so that particular trait may be a huge factor. He's got good toe as well. I expect Pickett basically just takes the ANB midfield minutes which would bring him up to the 45-50% midfield, could definitely put up some numbers if it's higher than that but likely to be that, especially if Rivers is also going through. Another positive is Rivers has great size and is plenty physical, so unlike the issues that playing Salem in there to improve the kicking has caused Rivers will hold up fine.
If there's a clear indicator that he's going to be in the main midfield mix, I'll probably start him. I like his best case scenario the most of everyone in his price bracket. Hopefully Petracca is fit for the preseason games to give us a good indicator of the chopping order.
Absolutely high on the watchlist for me.
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Interested in what everyone is doing with their backline now that we know Flanders isn't training much due to back complaint, Sinclair may have just done his hamstring (could still play round 1 but not ideal), and Sheezel may be playing more FWD than we would like (could just be trying out scenarios in training). Certainly throws a spanner in the works, and could make defences look a lot different to what they were looking like a week ago.
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With Coleman/Doedee news have switched to a two def rookie onfield setup with Mills at D4. He and Holmes have been mainstays in most of my setups. Sheezel as well but entertaining options without him for those other two onfield positions and have yet to take byes into consideration.
Did not understand those wasting multiple midfield spots last season on N Martin and K Amon given their lack of ceiling relative to other midfielders and taking up a valuable premium spot in one of the higher scoring lines in the hope they would receive dual position status with a high likelihood that a trade was required. In saying that, I have been looking at starting the likes of O Hollands and I Cumming in the midfield and then switching down back after the first dual position announcements, if they receive dual position status.