Steele v Oliver v Macrae?
I think it’s likely that all three will end up in our teams by the end of the season but which one is best to start with?
Gonna copy
@McLovin and assess my thoughts on all of them:
Oliver - Feels slightly overpriced, that 205 game is extreme, dropping it to 145 drops his average by 4 points. Has basically had a 170 type score each season so fine with the other one but that's an outlier of a score to me. Also questions if Petracca is even fitter of how he will handle the handover of #1 midfielder, can he score as well as the secondary target? I like him but just think he's probably in the 115 range.
Steele - Unlike most he's my favourite of the group. Unquestioned #1 midfielder of an emerging team with two excellent ruckmen. He's an elite kick for a contested midfielder, kicking goals and I think he can continue to improve. He doesn't have any real outlier scores and didn't get a golden ticket last year until late in the season when it became clear he was going to be top 5 in the Brownlow and he started to get that CD love. Think he can maintain his average (which in this group is excellent).
Macrae - I like Macrae, I don't like the chaos around him or the talk of peripheral roles. If there's one thing you can count on from Bevo it's that if a stupid idea appears it almost certainly comes from him and will almost certainly be acted on. Ultimately he's the guy who makes sense to play a weaker fantasy role for the good of the team along with Dunkley. Treloar is a pure midfielder, Bont is their best midfielder, Smith has the potential to be even better, Libba is at his best by far at the coal face and rather ineffective away from it. Macrae is the one who, while great inside, still uses a lot of his best skills outside. The group of guys with 4+ 120+ seasons is also remarkably small. Just feels like he could drop back to the 110-115 range to me and even if he doesn't I think all the uncertainty at the Dogs thanks to Treloar makes it worth waiting to be sure.
Petracca - I like him a lot. Negatives are tags, does he rest on his laurels?, whether the shorter quarters helped him or if he can keep it going. The positives are he's amazingly talented, the penny seemed to drop last year regarding fitness needed and the transition into the #1 mid with the best ruck in the game could be even more fruitful. Of this entire group, gun to my head, he's the one I pick if you tell me one of them has a 130+ season in them. He's the best goal scorer, most damaging kick (although I assume not the most efficient) and he's just a beast. Of course gun to my head that one of them scored below 100 I'm also taking him
because who knows if he's just happy to have one great season. Wouldn't even be the first guy in his own midfield to tick that box nevermind the whole league!
I think Oliver is the safest pick, I like Steele the most and I think Petracca has the biggest risk/reward factor with by far the most potential for value. I can't really construct a positive reason to start Macrae that I believe in.