Gulden a rookie lock, Braeden a maybe and McDonald probably a no?
Being an 18yo, $193k key forward is a tough ask in SuperCoach.
I take McDonald to mean the fork is officially in Buddy for round 1. McDonald is a no for mine, actually really like him as the rare KPF you could take but not at Sydney and not until Buddy would be ruled out for a strong period at a minimum. He's a stud though and delighted we stole him in the draft (thanks North!).
Campbell is a very strong option, without the premium he'd be an absolute lock, but even with it I think he's probably a guy you should start, DPP makes him even more useful. There's a very real case for a Heppell/Rich level of scoring with him. Takes Mills' role as the 2nd distributor in a backline with 2 of Brand/Melican/McCartin who are all non-kickers, Cunningham, Lloyd and Rampe who are all dinky kickers and a wide opening for the guy who can do real damage by foot. Mills put up 77 as a rookie in the same role and a 101 last year.
Gulden at his price is a lock. Think he's more of a bench rookie because playing as a small forward, though seems from the reports he played HF, is not easy, especially in a team that's probably going to be competitive rather than good. I would say if Sydney were shockingly good his best case might be towards Cyril numbers (75) but I would imagine if we're more like expected you'd be looking at 60+ as a strong outcome and that he's going to be an inconsistent scorer with games where he kicks a couple maybe pushing 80s and the games where he doesn't being in the 40s. Looking forward to watching more than just highlights though to get a better read on him!
Especially at a club like Sydney, I would have thought?
Presumably indicates no Gould as well. Still, 3 from one side is welcome!
Technically it was only about draftees so doesn't officially rule him out but I still struggle to fit Gould in. I just think we go with McCartin/Melican/Rampe as the talls and then you've got Lloyd, Campbell and Cunningham as the smalls. I think Ling/O'Riordan/Fox seem to be ahead of Gould for smalls.
I like the look of Gould but he's hard to fit in, Rampe could play small and open up a 3rd tall role for him and he's a good chance of games at some point but he's really hard to squeeze in.
Outside of Downie & Gulden who is everyone locking in for Round 1 mid rookies ?
Lazarro maybe
Cockatoo , Collier-Dawkins & Valente with injury concerns
Ely Smith fringe 22
Can't see Mead & Stephens breaking in
Powell seems to be right in the mix at North and from what I understand would be a lock if picked given his junior scoring. Lazzaro also seems to be in play for them.
Dow, Campbell, Perkins, Smith, Jordon, Ralphsmith, Berry, Brockman and McNeil are all very much in play at this point also I'd have thought.
I've got Ziebell, Daniher, Impey and Cahill as very good starting options forward and may need a 5th if the backs are as bad as they seem but basically it's that weird year where I'm actually looking at the F/M rookies as midfielders only.
I'm absolutely not worried about the forward or midfield options, think we've got plenty and a very good crop of on-field options to boot, personally I think it's shaping up as one of the stronger crops in those two positions. Defenders definitely look like a trainwreck and I've got all my plans in place for if I need to start 5 premium defenders as much as that goes against my traditional positional priorities (to be fair, defenders these days score so consistently it's not like in the past when you could also get guys cheap).