Yeah I think the examples you have provided were definitely successful, curious to find out how many of those players failed in the last 3 years (e.g. Clarke)?
Where are you planning to start him Wogitalia? Forward or defence?
Coleman starting back most likely as there are a lot more FWD options in that price range than defenders.
I think for all the names that paid off last year if you went back over the last decade the vast majority of 200-300k starting selections have failed, lot of recency bias with people loading that price range for mine, dont get players the quality of Ziebell and Impey as bargains every year either.
There's a pretty clear distinction between the guys taking new roles compared to hoping for natural improvement to be the driver although both can work or fail.
Those that fail generally fall into a few categories:
1. Not best 22 or role not certain - Clark last year a perfect example of this. Not playing regularly in good roles is a reason players are here.
2. Durability issues - Hayden Young the perfect example here, guys in that range are very often there because of durability problems in the previous season.
3. Position doesn't stick - Atkins last year a perfect example, albeit he made over 100k from an expensive starting point still.
4. Relying solely on improvement - If there's guys ahead, relying on them to pass others to take roles is very risky. Clark an example of this again, Young, fwiw, is an example of it "working" if you ignore the timing because of his injury.
The ones that are successful generally have strong position changes, the ones who did it last year and show something and then keep going are good, basically coaches liked what they saw and get an o***eason developing. The other successful group are the injury prone guys who stay fit, I actually think this group is a worse play in general but some are so cheap you have to risk it (Ziebell for example).
Looking at the main candidates this year:
Coleman - Part 3 is his one, a bit of 4 mixed in.
Curnow - Part 2 is a major concern.
Coniglio - Part 2 is a fairly strong concern.
McGovern - Part 2 but also role might not stick, definitely potential chain reaction if Curnow/McKay are out and they need a forward.
Rayner - Role not certain, if he gets mid it might not stick, durability interestingly is his smallest concern!
Milera - Yeah, part 2 sure stands out!
Phillips - Job security/role certainty major issue.
Brodie - Best 22/role certainty issues. Durability might also be.
Henry - Role and whether he even scores well in that role questions.
Bowey/L. Jones - 4 with a bit of 1 mixed in for both.
Ruscoe - 1/3 in play as well as too much turmoil.
I do think last years group was a fair bit stronger but I also think that Curnow, Coleman, Coniglio, McGovern, Rayner and Milera are all well placed to work out but probably important to temper expectations. They're being taken to make cash, not as keepers, I think the thresholds shift upward this year and only a couple of these guys really has the scope to get there.
I've ignored the mids above but several can squeeze into this, they're mostly durability also though Polec is a "I don't even know what"...
It's also worth noting that there are a lot more "durability" guys this year, which I think is more akin to previous years than last year where really only Ziebell was a pure durability play. Impey/Young had a single injury issue. Dale, Hind, Cumming, Atkins and Jiath were all genuine position changes or in Cumming's case, Heath Shaw's retirement and Whitfields injury clearing a wide open path. For mine that is a better target than durability plays. McGovern the interesting combination of both.
Personally at this point the only ones I really "want" to pick are Coleman and Coniglio. Rookies have me picking more of these guys than I want.