Hi Herbie,
things in little old Denmark are ok. We haven't been too hard hit by C19 yet, but it's coming. We're not at the hoarding stage yet, and the local supermarket has plenty of toiletpaper, rice and pasta ........ for now!
History certainly says the $250-$300k price area is a graveyard! Last year there were 96 players in that range, with only one of them proving to be a useful starting pick. Darcy Macpherson opened $293,100 and reached $468,500 (+$175,400) at his bye, and averaged 83, playing every game along the way. What you intimated is absolutely correct. We shouldn't lump the all into one basket, and you need to look at them individually. What caused them to be priced that way? Are they inexperienced, and on the way up? Are they a player with a decent history, that can possibly rebound? Or are they just deadwood, that have fooled us into thinking that they have some sort of upside?
One of the great things about this game is, everyone can have their own opinion, and that opinion is valid, no matter how much it differs to others. You mention +$150k as a number to be a successful Stepping Stone. I tend to think +$100k is ok, and if they filled their other SS criteria (score useful points, play pretty much every game, and keep your dodgy 5th or 6th Rookie offthe ground), then I'll call +$100k a win, and +$80k a little disappointing, but you didn't really lose too much on the deal.
Birchall ($292,700 Def) - way too much bad history. Never considered him.
Long ($283,100 Fwd) - Marsh scores 64 & 85. Looked to have a good role in the pre-season, but needs to average close to 80 to be a good pick, and he didn't manage that with good game time in the lower pressure Marsh series. Will probably make money, but I'm thinking not enough.
Lukosius ($274,600 Def/Fwd) - Marsh 70 (from 56% TOG) & 58 (from 76% TOG). Might possibly be a good link with Brander (or Hill, if he ever gets match fit). 195 cm Pick #2 in the Draft, coming into his 2nd season, so it reads like a player with upside. Gold Coast are likely to improve, at least just a little, this season, which also helps. Only cracked 16 or more Disposals 4 times in his 21 games last season, and went SC 70+ only 4 times, with a high of 88. Seemed to play a slightly different role in the Marsh, and I think time will prove he is a better player than what he has shown so far, but I would like to have seen more upside to hang my hat on, before I picked him this season.
Fort ($264,800 Fwd) - Marsh 70 & 61 from low TOG's. Even if selected Round 1, I'd be too worried about his JS to even consider him. The low TOG's might point to poor JS, and I think Ratugolea might hold him out of the team.
Rayner ($251,800 Fwd) - 60 & 61 in the Marsh. I'm not seeing anything luring me into this seemingly obvious trap.
Naismith ($251,500 Ruck) - 79 & 69 in the Marsh. I really want Naismith in my side. I think he's a safe +$100k, and there's not many of them this season. I'm facing an unusual problem though, which has been mentioned in the Ruck thread. I'm having trouble spending the dollars, when I put Naismith at R2 (no faith in the Fwd/Def Prems), and if you sit Naismith at R3, it makes for an expensive bench, with good points you can't access. To be honest, I still don't know if he's R2, R3 or out!
Good luck sorting it out, and good luck for the season.
things in little old Denmark are ok. We haven't been too hard hit by C19 yet, but it's coming. We're not at the hoarding stage yet, and the local supermarket has plenty of toiletpaper, rice and pasta ........ for now!
History certainly says the $250-$300k price area is a graveyard! Last year there were 96 players in that range, with only one of them proving to be a useful starting pick. Darcy Macpherson opened $293,100 and reached $468,500 (+$175,400) at his bye, and averaged 83, playing every game along the way. What you intimated is absolutely correct. We shouldn't lump the all into one basket, and you need to look at them individually. What caused them to be priced that way? Are they inexperienced, and on the way up? Are they a player with a decent history, that can possibly rebound? Or are they just deadwood, that have fooled us into thinking that they have some sort of upside?
One of the great things about this game is, everyone can have their own opinion, and that opinion is valid, no matter how much it differs to others. You mention +$150k as a number to be a successful Stepping Stone. I tend to think +$100k is ok, and if they filled their other SS criteria (score useful points, play pretty much every game, and keep your dodgy 5th or 6th Rookie offthe ground), then I'll call +$100k a win, and +$80k a little disappointing, but you didn't really lose too much on the deal.
Birchall ($292,700 Def) - way too much bad history. Never considered him.
Long ($283,100 Fwd) - Marsh scores 64 & 85. Looked to have a good role in the pre-season, but needs to average close to 80 to be a good pick, and he didn't manage that with good game time in the lower pressure Marsh series. Will probably make money, but I'm thinking not enough.
Lukosius ($274,600 Def/Fwd) - Marsh 70 (from 56% TOG) & 58 (from 76% TOG). Might possibly be a good link with Brander (or Hill, if he ever gets match fit). 195 cm Pick #2 in the Draft, coming into his 2nd season, so it reads like a player with upside. Gold Coast are likely to improve, at least just a little, this season, which also helps. Only cracked 16 or more Disposals 4 times in his 21 games last season, and went SC 70+ only 4 times, with a high of 88. Seemed to play a slightly different role in the Marsh, and I think time will prove he is a better player than what he has shown so far, but I would like to have seen more upside to hang my hat on, before I picked him this season.
Fort ($264,800 Fwd) - Marsh 70 & 61 from low TOG's. Even if selected Round 1, I'd be too worried about his JS to even consider him. The low TOG's might point to poor JS, and I think Ratugolea might hold him out of the team.
Rayner ($251,800 Fwd) - 60 & 61 in the Marsh. I'm not seeing anything luring me into this seemingly obvious trap.
Naismith ($251,500 Ruck) - 79 & 69 in the Marsh. I really want Naismith in my side. I think he's a safe +$100k, and there's not many of them this season. I'm facing an unusual problem though, which has been mentioned in the Ruck thread. I'm having trouble spending the dollars, when I put Naismith at R2 (no faith in the Fwd/Def Prems), and if you sit Naismith at R3, it makes for an expensive bench, with good points you can't access. To be honest, I still don't know if he's R2, R3 or out!
Good luck sorting it out, and good luck for the season.
Glad to hear all is going well , with Italy in complete lockdown , the world is certainly changing very rapidly.
Certainly is a even more scarier times rapidly approaching.
Hopefully we still have the football and SC.
Thank you so much for a detailed response pretty much confirmed my thoughts , I am trying very hard to having a competitive side from the start this year , back to Grundy & Gawn , follow the rookies once they reveal themselves etc etc , happy with Doc , Lynch , Steven & Smith.
I actually had the same issue with Gawn - > Naismith , the extra $$$ didn't get me the players I was happy with.
Be interesting to see how Naismith pans out.
I probably get too caught up in that $ 150k profit so probably need to be a bit more aggressive.
Depending on final round 1 sides , I might just sneak in one of those players I mentioned.
Thanks again and good luck , hopefully I don't have to contact you again in Round 8 when my team has completely fallen over ?