Position 2023: Defenders Discussion

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His scores can fluctuate wildly, look at the finish to his season last year :-

View attachment 52876

He is prone to throwing in a few shockers so I can see him dropping in price.

Prefer starting premium picks that are consistent
On the flipside, consistency is something that comes with development and maturity, if he can add consistency he goes to a very elite level of scoring.

Not saying he will but that's definitely the positive argument.
 
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I think I’m a bit crazy but I’ve settled on having Redman, Daicos and Richards leading into the 1st week of practice matches.
Does anyone think this is a viable strategy, or am I just asking for trouble.
If you can justify it in your head then it doesn't matter what we think. FWIW I believe you can make a case for it.
 
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I think I’m a bit crazy but I’ve settled on having Redman, Daicos and Richards leading into the 1st week of practice matches.
Does anyone think this is a viable strategy, or am I just asking for trouble.
Yes to both.

Daicos is actually low risk, at this point he's on the so popular he's more risky to not start.

Richards and Redman are both sound prospects.

The question I'd ask is what is your projection on all 3 and where does that rank in your projection for the top 6 cutoff. If you think they're 105 guys but the cutoff is 110 (last year's number) then having all 3 is a poor decision, you can carry one value based keeper but having 3 means you're leaking a lot of points over the season, especially if others are getting the 110 guys for value in the season. The bigger the gap the worse the decision and vice versa.

Basically there's nothing wrong with the picks or taking all 3 as long as you are confident they make the cut.

It's definitely a riskier way of doing it though in that you're fading at least 3 of the carry over top premiums for the season, who will be more popular than Richards and Redman and because those two are rare in themselves so you'll be failing relatively alone if they do.
 

Darkie

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Any chance Atkins has the game to become a premo defender: Nice uptick in mid time and scoring last year, but not quite there yet it seems.
I’m a little surprised that he has barely rated a mention this season: defender playing as a mid, average reduced by only moving into the midfield in round 11. Between then and being subbed in R23, he averaged about 88.

His TOG started to drop off a fair bit, especially from R17 (generally 70 or below, from mid to high 80s early in the season). That indicated to me that he may have been carrying something, or may simply have tired playing a new and more taxing role for the first time at AFL level. I expect he’ll be better with a pre season of training with the mids under his belt.

Selwood has also left, freeing up 56% CBA attendance. Atkins still has plenty of upside to his season average of 38%, especially given he was playing close to 80% in there when Danger was out.
 

Connoisseur

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Any chance Atkins has the game to become a premo defender: Nice uptick in mid time and scoring last year, but not quite there yet it seems.
One I have been keeping an eye on for a few seasons, especially for keeper league/draft formats. Averaged 6.3 tackles in 2022 (9th per game and 6th in total) and has a very nice career contested possession rate (only one season below 45%= 2021= 37.3%).

14/72 career matches with 20 or more disposals (8 last year from a season avg of 18.1). If he can push this to a 21-22+ disposal range, then he should be good for a mid to high nineties average.
 
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The ownership on Daicos is crazy. I love the way the kid plays but gee it's a big ask.
Don’t think it is. Played footy all his life in the backyard, park, young footy teams, with his father and brother. Natural player with such skill, his team mates look for him for good reason, elite player already.
 
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Any chance Atkins has the game to become a premo defender: Nice uptick in mid time and scoring last year, but not quite there yet it seems.
Had him at D1 for ages, Yeo at D2 but geez I’m not across everything like some here and all I've heard about Geelong this summer is crickets! Lol
Will try to see him in the praccy games to assess, atm the moment Ive put Diacos into D1
Theres time and space in the guts for someone with life after Selwood, Danger moving maybe to more forward time, so its definitely watch this space?
 
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Currently D1 for me, but must say I’m not sure if I’m happy about this report or not. Hearing that he is “learning” about stoppages and possibly flipping between mid and defence has me a bit nervous TBH. ... Also, the new father thing also adds an Extra element of uncertainty.
Over-reaction or reasonable assessment?
 
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