Current side with some explanations:
Want to bat deep in defence and light in the midfield. The exact personnel are still up in the air.
Forward line is pretty settled; aside from Lynch at F7 who could go down to a Stone type or up to Flynn ($600 short from changing a $119k rookie to Flynn).
Fully planning on trading many times in the ruck. If SDK and Byran get the #1 ruck roles (ditto Flynn) then I'll ride them out until they're unviable.
Now for the biggest issue; Jackson in flex. Last year in a similar situation he got to a tick under $600k and was pretty underwhelming aside from a 178 against North Melbourne. Now with Darcy out for 3-5
if Darcy isn't back early and
if Jackson gets the #1 ruck role his run goes:
Geelong (SDK, maybe Stanley, possibly a bit of Blicavs).
Sydney (Grundy)
West Coast: (Flynn or BJW)
WB: (English)
Nank (Richmond), before he hits Gawn in Round 6. If he can beat up on one or two opponents and go 110 avg and push himself to $600k he's a prime option to swap to anyone on any line past their early bye. Last year I should have done so but was reluctant to leave my forward line exposed. No such issue this year.
Now obviously people will point to a lack of elite talent in both the midfield and rucks. Rucks are little simpler. Gawn is amazing but he's getting up there in age, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Xerri regress at least a little. As for the midfield, I think the best cash cows are in the midfield and I'm happy to lose out on Bont as a C option and look for the upside plays elsewhere.