Hey all! I, like most of you, made a promise to myself to not touch SC this year until after the first NAB challenge game, but like a drunken New Year's Eve resolution on the 8th of January, it's gone to sh*t, and here i am.
It's good to be back and i hope everyone's been having an enjoyable off-season!
Without further ado, here's my first crack for the 2016 season and a few random thoughts of where i'm at at this early stage.
DEF: McVeigh, Hibberd, Yeo, Smith, Thurlow [Hipwood, Brown (WCE), Bonner]
MID: Pendlebury, Ablett, Sloane, Rockliff, Liberatore, Crouch [Freeman, Mathieson, Gresham, Kerridge, Davis]
RUC: Martin, Leuenberger [Nyuon]
FWD: Deledio, Barlow, Harvey, Brayshaw, Menzel [Petracca, West, Brown (Ess)]
Locks - I'll be definitely running with these guys, barring catastrophe in pre-season. McVeigh, B Smith, Sloane, Rocky, Libba, Crouch, Leuey, Lids. Not putting Ablett and Pendles in this category just yet, but they're close. Their status will have a bit to do with a couple of blokes i have in the "wait and see" category..
Smokies - Jackson Thurlow and Angus Brayshaw. Backing these guys in for a breakout season, will probably only pick one of them based on pre-season form but wanted both in my initial side for posterity.
Wait and see - Fyfe, Selwood, Bennell. Same as everyone, i hate starting with guys that have had an interrupted pre-season but if signs start looking good then Fyfe and Selwood especially will be in quick-smart. Otherwise they'll be at the top of the early upgrades list once the real stuff starts. I'm also liking the look of McGovern as a swingman at his price. It'll be interesting to see what role he gets if all of WCE's tall defenders are back, but if he gets a SC friendly loose role and is over his injuries, i could definitely be tempted.
Just missed out - Parker, Franklin. Feel that Parker's propensity to hit the scoreboard will stand him in good stead with the further reduction in interchanges, but having a total mental blank as to why he dropped off last year (injuries/form/role? anyone have any insight?) so he's out at this stage. Buddy's price tag has almost sucked me in, but i'm not sure i can take another ride on that rollercoaster.
Structure - Like the thought of pairing up Martin/West & Leuenberger/Nyuon in the rucks for safety but it all but guarantees at least one ruck donut during 2 of the 3 bye rounds which i'm not entirely sold on. Hibberd, Yeo, Barlow and Harvey i'm also not in love with so if i need to restructure based on some extra likely rookies that present in either the DEF or FWDs then one from that list will be dropped. Will also definitely sharpen up on the "mid-priced madness" look of this initial team and only go for a couple of the more speculative picks in this current version, but all in all i'm pretty happy at this early stage!