Position 2022: Midfield Discussion
- Thread starter KLo30
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Dunkley failed because he got hurt, 74k is nice but that's a poor cash cow and a trade you have to find from somewhere. He's gone as well as a failure can but ultimately when you're trading a premium out at round 6 that's a failure in my book.
Merrett wasn't terrible but there were plenty of better picks available that were very much options that I'd personally just expect would be in the winning side over him.
Short and Ridley were fine but again there were better picks available. Like you could very easily have started a Rich/Crisp pairing there instead and been well ahead of them and I know when I think of a winning team I definitely would expect those types of names to be there over two guys who would get a passing grade but weren't near the top of the class!
They epitomise "not perfect" as picks. I had all 4 and I know I wasn't happy with the outcome of any of them. They weren't bad picks but I'd certainly not call them perfect. They were definitely among the most frustrating picks to have as they just consistently leaked points to their peers but, hey, at least they were playing
I think it serves as a good reminder that you don't need to make perfect picks as much as probably avoiding the really bad ones. As you said, none of the last 3 hurt her from winning, if she'd slipped on a Kelly or Cripps banana peel on the other hand
Also probably a pretty good reminder of the power of durability as we all go chasing underpriced trainwrecks! Ridley and Short were really hard to stomach as they kept putting up sub-par scoring and yet, as you said, they were 6th and 8th on aggregate and given the constant issues with defender rookies last year, solid chance that players missing often didn't get replaced by anything or forced trades so those aggregates mean more than normal.
Merrett wasn't terrible but there were plenty of better picks available that were very much options that I'd personally just expect would be in the winning side over him.
Short and Ridley were fine but again there were better picks available. Like you could very easily have started a Rich/Crisp pairing there instead and been well ahead of them and I know when I think of a winning team I definitely would expect those types of names to be there over two guys who would get a passing grade but weren't near the top of the class!
They epitomise "not perfect" as picks. I had all 4 and I know I wasn't happy with the outcome of any of them. They weren't bad picks but I'd certainly not call them perfect. They were definitely among the most frustrating picks to have as they just consistently leaked points to their peers but, hey, at least they were playing
I think it serves as a good reminder that you don't need to make perfect picks as much as probably avoiding the really bad ones. As you said, none of the last 3 hurt her from winning, if she'd slipped on a Kelly or Cripps banana peel on the other hand
Also probably a pretty good reminder of the power of durability as we all go chasing underpriced trainwrecks! Ridley and Short were really hard to stomach as they kept putting up sub-par scoring and yet, as you said, they were 6th and 8th on aggregate and given the constant issues with defender rookies last year, solid chance that players missing often didn't get replaced by anything or forced trades so those aggregates mean more than normal.
Durability just too unreliable in this group with DPP guys coming through. Would take absolute carnage at the Dogs for him to get the minutes/role to go 110+ this year. Even 100 would be a solid effort given he's more likely to be playing outside where he loses CP but still can't kick.
Yet those 110+ seasons still sit there staring at us all to tempt
You could argue that the side being better would help his scoring, as would additional tag targets. Laird's ability to find space for cheap touches is in the elite of the elite group so if the team has the ball more, especially a guy like Dawson who hits targets and a guy like Crouch who looks for short kicks to open teammates, could definitely be more points.
Looking at the top 15 guys:
Macrae/Bont - Top side and two stars.
Steele - Unicorn
Miller - Even bigger unicorn.
Oliver/Petracca - Top side, two stars.
Lyons - Top side and realistically had Zorko at 16th as well as Neale and Clug.
Mitchell - Probably the most similar player to Laird but has scored no matter what.
Walsh - Unicorn
Laird - Unicorn
Merrett/Parish - Two stars.
Guthrie - Top side and lots of support.
Wines - Top side.
Mills - Good side with Parker 18th as well.
So basically 4 of the top 15 aren't well supported/top side guys.
Mostly devils advocate but wouldn't shock me at all if Laird was actually the top scoring midfielder this year.
I actually love this midfield group. As I said above, I could easily see Laird as the top scoring mid and he hasn't gone near my team because there's so many guys I like for that!
Always is other than Rucks for mine. Even the cheap mid options are super expensive so there's so much to get right. You can generally construct strong for and against stories on everyone, the top guys are "fully priced" but also elite and proven and captain options. The value guys are value but there's a reason for it.
What you chase changes narratives completely. Like I wouldn't bet against Petracca outscoring Oliver and he's much cheaper but if you put the gun to my head I'm taking Oliver as the higher scorer every time but it's 70k. Macrae and Bont have the same story and those are just picking two teammates where you can isolate the most variables!
This year I genuinely want to pick 8 premiums as well. Only positive of Walsh being injured is there's one less that I'm considering... I can so easily make the starting case for Macrae, Oliver, Steele, Miller, Bont, Mitchell, Laird, Parish and Petracca without even trying.
And then there's Neale
Always there tempting me but I just don't trust Ratten. He doesn't like players with composure or footskills to be in the midfield and every year they talk up that they need that and so far each year they get worse at it as he throws more and more butchers at the problem. I mean honestly, Steele shouldn't be the clear classiest midfielder for a team and Dunstan should never have been the 2nd classiest guy in an AFL side and yet they keep playing Ross, Crouch, Hanners (great by hand, woeful kick), Jones (I like his dash but he's a stinker of a kick) while guys like Clark, Billings, Gresham and Higgins all get stuck in peripheral support roles instead.
I like Ratten but he's always been a baffling coach for mine. I can't question the effort he extracts from players but I can't help but feel like he handcu*** the team positionally and can never trust him to play guys in the right spots
Yet those 110+ seasons still sit there staring at us all to tempt
You could argue that the side being better would help his scoring, as would additional tag targets. Laird's ability to find space for cheap touches is in the elite of the elite group so if the team has the ball more, especially a guy like Dawson who hits targets and a guy like Crouch who looks for short kicks to open teammates, could definitely be more points.
Looking at the top 15 guys:
Macrae/Bont - Top side and two stars.
Steele - Unicorn
Miller - Even bigger unicorn.
Oliver/Petracca - Top side, two stars.
Lyons - Top side and realistically had Zorko at 16th as well as Neale and Clug.
Mitchell - Probably the most similar player to Laird but has scored no matter what.
Walsh - Unicorn
Laird - Unicorn
Merrett/Parish - Two stars.
Guthrie - Top side and lots of support.
Wines - Top side.
Mills - Good side with Parker 18th as well.
So basically 4 of the top 15 aren't well supported/top side guys.
Mostly devils advocate but wouldn't shock me at all if Laird was actually the top scoring midfielder this year.
I actually love this midfield group. As I said above, I could easily see Laird as the top scoring mid and he hasn't gone near my team because there's so many guys I like for that!
Always is other than Rucks for mine. Even the cheap mid options are super expensive so there's so much to get right. You can generally construct strong for and against stories on everyone, the top guys are "fully priced" but also elite and proven and captain options. The value guys are value but there's a reason for it.
What you chase changes narratives completely. Like I wouldn't bet against Petracca outscoring Oliver and he's much cheaper but if you put the gun to my head I'm taking Oliver as the higher scorer every time but it's 70k
. Macrae and Bont have the same story and those are just picking two teammates where you can isolate the most variables!This year I genuinely want to pick 8 premiums as well. Only positive of Walsh being injured is there's one less that I'm considering... I can so easily make the starting case for Macrae, Oliver, Steele, Miller, Bont, Mitchell, Laird, Parish and Petracca without even trying.
And then there's Neale
Always there tempting me but I just don't trust Ratten. He doesn't like players with composure or footskills to be in the midfield and every year they talk up that they need that and so far each year they get worse at it as he throws more and more butchers at the problem. I mean honestly, Steele shouldn't be the clear classiest midfielder for a team and Dunstan should never have been the 2nd classiest guy in an AFL side and yet they keep playing Ross, Crouch, Hanners (great by hand, woeful kick), Jones (I like his dash but he's a stinker of a kick) while guys like Clark, Billings, Gresham and Higgins all get stuck in peripheral support roles instead.
I like Ratten but he's always been a baffling coach for mine. I can't question the effort he extracts from players but I can't help but feel like he handcu*** the team positionally and can never trust him to play guys in the right spots
That and he doesn’t have a bunch of competition that’s going to steal points off him: Sloane is getting on a bit, Crouch - as discussed above (and coming back from injury), Benny Keays is alright but his disposal efficiency is a bit rubbish, Schoenberg and all the other young guys are still coming on.
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