BBFFL#2 2017 Discussion

Hmm, I kinda agree, I should stick to Port guys. At least I got the time zone right. I blame the 12 hour shift at work prior to my pick.

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I dont think Atley was really a big reach at 19. And i like the Butler pick. He was on my radar.

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I echo Saladinā€™s comments. Atley will be alright, better than his bro by a fair margin I suspect. And Butler looked good last week.

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Done. Slim pickings

Pick taken and WOB texted.

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And iā€™m done.

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All done

Just waiting on LTI picks now

Just awaiting confirmation from @saladin as to the order.

Iā€™m ready to go.

This is the deepest draft, apart from the initial one of course, i can remember us having.

That initial draft must have been epic. How long has this comp been running? To what extent are the teams still influenced by the initial draft? Just how much did you guys pillage this list?

The initial draft was awesome because instead of picking hopefuls and discards we were picking the full list of players, so there was no where near as much guessing as what you have to do now.

This is either the fifth or sixth year and there are still many players from that draft going around.

I never once traded with pazza but for others it was like a race to get to him when trading openedā€¦

I have 5 guys still from the original draft from memory (Pendlebury, Roughead, Barlow, Picken & Westhoff).

As far as I can remember I traded a couple of times with Pazza but I never pillaged him, I think he did ok out of the trades. Because I use a fairly common sense approach I donā€™t think that computed with him and it was hard to get anything done. He seemed to much prefer getting absolutely raped at the trade table instead of doing mutually beneficial trading. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Now that Iā€™m done, Iā€™m gonna rate my drafting as poor this year, that said, circumstances werenā€™t the best as I worked very long hours this week and was operating on minimal sleep, so at times logic and good judgment went out the window. I also had no time to watch JLT games and research kids so had to stick to known guys, there is very little upward potential in my picks. And boy, Iā€™ve never had so many players I was eyeing selected right ahead of my picks as this year.

So Sam Lloyd, Matt Shaw, Heath Grundy, Jesse White, Lynden Dunn, Josh Thomas, Jack Hombsch, Jordan Murdoch, Kane Lambert, Joel Hamling makes for a pretty dependable but uninspiring lot. Thomas, Murdoch and Lambert are the only ones I could potentially see as having good upside relative to where I picked them. A strange positive I can see though is that thereā€™s quite a few guys Iā€™ll be quite happy to get rid of should the right Free Agent come along (or if I need to pick someone up to avoid a donut).

For the season proper, Iā€™m way too shallow in the mids, I donā€™t have as much versatility with DPP this year and whilst I have a lot of depth down back I have nowhere near enough scoring power. My list is also a bit too old for my liking, so look for a clear out soon.

Whilst I suspect my guns should see me win a fairly high percentage of games, and Iā€™d be very surprised if Iā€™m not in the finals when they roll around, Iā€™m a fair way off the better teams. Iā€™ll need to do very well with injuries and my fringe players getting selected by their coaches to be a genuine chance. My success this season is also fairly dependent on a number of guys whoā€™ve switched clubs doing well at their new homes. So whilst Iā€™ve got a lot of the same guys Iā€™ve had for a few years, it will be a slightly different feel to the side which is exciting.

Looking forward to another good competitive season, itā€™s been getting tighter and tighter each year.

As long as I finish above Wes thatā€™s all that matters.

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Trade and Drafting Wrap up.
Saracens Footy Club, 2017.

To really look at all of my thinking , its probably necessary to go back to the middle of 2016, specifically the trade period. The side was struggling despite an excellent haul from the 2016 draft. We were close, but usually not getting the job done. The midfield - led by Zerrett and Ward - were holding up despite the injury to Beams, but elsewhere it just wasnā€™t working. Stringer had a poor year, never really getting into gear. Knight was injured. Steele couldnā€™t get a game. Acres finished well, but at the midpoint was, err, middling. We chased our tail up front, the likes of Tim Obrien playing way too many games. Any at all, actually.

The defence was even worse, week after week lacking both consistent output and the occasional big score. I determined to fix it for 2017. No-one was going to trade me a Johanissen or Laird, so i looked elsewhere. Caleb Marchbank appealed. A lot. He too was injured, but his talent is high and there were already murmurings of a return home. His ability to accumulate possessions for a potential KPP is excellent. He returned to the field briefly in the Neafl, injured a shoulder and that was that. But I traded him in with 2017 firmly in mind and promised myself that Iā€™d stick with the plan.

Fast forward to end of year and new trading opportunities. I was awaiting positional changes like everyone else, but still wanting to strengthen the playing core as best I could. Three things happened more or less concurrently. Red came into possession of Pick 4 and promptly advertised that it was up for trade for a gun mid. Bewick posted his likely trade bait and the name Patton sat fore and square in my vision. And finally, looking across the league for another defender, Iā€™d tried to open discussions with Paz re Mick Hurley a few days previously. So I began by touching base with Bewick to see what he was looking for in return for Patton. The ballpark Pick he wanted wasnā€™t objectionable and happily coincided with Redā€™s 2nd round selection. The question then became how to get it. Looking at the list, i started to evaluate the nett effect of offering Gibbs out of the midfield for the hypothetical pairing of Hurley and Patton.

The issue of course is that iā€™d finally learnt that you really donā€™t want kppā€™s in Fantasy Footy. Wisdom dictates that the rule is that they just donā€™t get it done. Well, Iā€™d already broken that rule with Marchbank. And i rationalised that I could do so again. Firstly, re Hurley. Thereā€™s an issue in our comp that high scoring defenders are rare. Very rare. Hurley isnā€™t going to be a Laird. Nor is Marchbank. But relative to most other defenders, they donā€™t need to be. If they can average 80 - and I believe they can - then it puts them in front of the majority of defensive options and as a pair offer a competitive advantage. Most vitally, theyā€™ll play every week which is what i needed. Add in Mills and itā€™s a pretty impressive opening salvo each week. I looked at Essendon and backed in Ambrose and Hartley to do the real negative work, hopefully allowing Hurley to get clean possession. Iā€™m expecting Patton to be far more inconsistent in output, but the same key factor - best 18 every single week - applied. I wasnā€™t certain that the pair would offer a points gain over Gibbs. Iā€™m still not. But it installed a solid option in the two areaā€™s iā€™d been chasing my tail. I resolved to do it.

The fly in the ointment was that Paz hadnā€™t responded. As it turned out, he never would. But i was keen to lock Patton away before someone else made Bewick an offer. And so the trade was done without (from my perspective) a key component, bidding fairwell to Gibbs, pocketing pick 4 and sending Redā€™s 2nd to Bewick for The General. I started to ponder on what picks 4 and 5 might shake loose, or alternatively how the draft order looked.

Then Ivan entered the fray. He declared Hurley on the table, and from there i went back to plan A. Pick 5 and Harry Taylor soon departed, Hurley and a 4th round arrived. The backline suddenly had a different look, the forward line a new name.

From here i only did some minor things, the focus was more on how the heck to decide the keeper look. Ellis netted a pick upgrade, i took a flyer on Jordan Foote.

Late in the piece i broached the idea with Stoops of swapping pick 4 for his two teens picks. Unfortunately real life got in the way and i never found the time to think this through properly, eventually killing the idea off mid afternoon of trade deadline. Then i got stuck in traffic on the way home, had a think about it and messaged Stoops with about three minutes to go that iā€™d do the deal if he still wished. Heā€™d gone out for drinks and our metaphorical fax machine broke down and missed the deadline.

And so on to the draft. There were two days of headscratching regarding the last few Keeper spots. No matter how I worked it, I was dropping players i wanted into the draft. Lang earnt the final spot over Knight late in the afternoon of player lodgement and i locked in the 20. Not without misgivings about several.

Below is a photo of a page from my diary as i worked towards the opening of the draft. It may be of interest. Two things - it hasnā€™t been touched since i zeroed in on Bowes as my first pick on the Sunday night. And it was all done prior to seeing the spreadsheet.

Some points:

  • Obviously Acres caused me some heartache. He was in the 20. Then out. Then back in at the very end. Lang took the final bench spot, Acres to midfield, Knight and Hunt missed out. Phillips was originally a doubtful but played himself in.

  • yes, at Pick 4 i was looking at Setterfield, Perryman and Bowes. It was down to those three.

  • ā€œpick Bowes = forwards are midsā€. This was a reminder to myself that with a few CFā€™s on the list, i could afford to take forwards and still indirectly strengthen the Mids. I stuck to this right through and in fact the list of names i wrote down make interesting reading even to me post-draft.

Longer and Mitch Hibberd were dependant on seeing the spreadsheet. I missed out on Billy, obviously. Hibberd was a keeper for someone.

DBJ was of major interest but i wasnt expecting him in the draft pool. JOā€™M i raised during trade week with trev. Lukas Webb is a huge prospect imo. Beleive it or not, i left him in the pool for Wobs late picks when i thought I had to draft for him, and instead took my smokey with my final pick. Iā€™m pleased to see Wob made use of him.

And so the draft crop looked like this (detailed thoughts were posted in the thread as i took them):

#4 Jack Bowes {CF}. Classy dual position kid who can hit the scoreboard and will get early chances. A Rolls Royce prospect. Dont Fay The Perryman and Setterfield Taddler the others in the mix.

#23. Darcy Byrne Jones {D}. Was pleasantly surprised to see him available. I had Begley in my thoughts here. For a while I thought Perryman might miraculously make it through. Neither did and this became an easy choice. A running defender who can get midfield touches to slot in alongside Mills and the two key defenders.

#41. Kobe Mutch {C}. Ball magnet as a junior. plays for my team. talk out of essendon is that heā€™s impressive. We need lots of centres in our league, heres one for the future. Would have strongly considered Longer at this pick. Considered Preuss. Riley Knight was in my thinking, I wanted him back and thought Melk was a likely poacher. Checked the draft order and happily realised i had another pick first.

#59. Riley Knight.{F} Possible midfield numbers if fit. Didnā€™t want to delist him. Adelaide think he will play a midfield role. Didnā€™t really look at anyone else here.

#74. Jonathon Giles. I had to find a ruck. That simple. I may not have, even so. Dawson Simpson was the other one. I wasnā€™t on to Jake Spencer, unfortunately. Slim pickings.
#75. James Harmes.{D} . decent numbers for a young defender. Seems to be in Melbournes thinking. Similar to Hunt who i let go.

#146. Josh Green {F} a 60 pick gap shredded the list. I liked the look of plenty that went in the meantime. I watched Green stay on the board for 40 or so picks and by the time this pick came up he was my major priority. Steele, Acres, Phillips can all go midfield if needed - as long as i have playing forward backup.

#148: Sam Weideman {F}. See Green. I like him as a player, will play, more options granted to my CFā€™s. I considered Frawley here but thought he was a realistic chance to slip through.

#152: James Frawley {D}. Best 22. I needed some defensive coverage. A no brainer for list management and can score ok at times.

#165. Quinton Narkle (CF). Who? Ok, this should have been Lukas Webb. But i was trying to balance Wobs list and thought he was perfect for that. And anyway, Narkle was my draft luxury, the ridiculous pick that if it works out makes the game so much fun. Probably the first off the list if FA needs arise but i have hopefully safeguarded the list far better than i have previously.

So the final result -

Backs: Hurley, Marchbank, Mills, Gleeson, Byrnes-jones. Bench: Frawley, Harmes, Francis

Centres: Ward, Zerrett, Hopper, Beams, Acres, Atkins, Steele. Bench: Mutch, Bowes, Foote

Ruck: Lycett Bench: Roughead, Giles.

Forwards: Stringer, Patton, Fantasia, Knight, Green Bench: Weideman, Lang, Narkle, Phillips

Its still fairly young. It relies a lot on dual position flexibility. Francis coming through in many ways is a key factor. The best lineup is far from clear. But thereā€™s potential to score well imo and most are legit chances for senior footy.

The early risk is the Ruck. Two of the three currently injured. Oh joy.

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Iā€™ll post a post a review of my list and draft during the week.

Huge thanks to @vandrs who not only helped me by making picks for me to keep the draft moving despite the time difference, but also offered much wise counsel.

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This will be out 6th season - started in 2012. I will post the originally drafts one day this week. We did it in two halves - 15 picks in each. From memory @TrevorBix took Leunberger with pick 1.

Also I can probably dig out a complete trading history to show what happened with Pazza at the trade table. But it wasnā€™t just trading it was his keepers (Aaron Hall last year) and his drafting - the one I remember was him taking Burgoyne (who didnā€™t make a keepers squad of 20) at 2 when he had to chance to grab Daniher or Wines and whoever else was available. In hindsight Burgoyne probably wasnā€™t a complete shocker but he was taken too high.

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Just in the other side of the Hurley tradeā€¦

Iā€™d formed the view early that I wanted to bring 5 or 6 players in so I could clear the decks a bit and dump a host of underperforming kps.

I decided that my carrots would pick 2 and 20 (but only if I could preserve my draft position satisfactorily), Hurley and Mumford. Mumford attracted zero interest.

Melkman came straight out of the gates and offered Stanton, Watson, Dea, 32 and 57 for 2 and some steak knives. This was immediately attractive because it got me 3 of the 6 plates I was after but I was hesitant to throw two at it too quickly because of the age of stants and jobe. Once Sal offered up pick 5 for hurls with some other bits and pieces thrown in I felt doing the melk deal made sense but I asked that he changed DEA to Conor to improve the age profile somewhat. He obliged. pick 32 became horlin-smith and 57 was traded for Nick Graham ( probably overs in hind sight but I still had 56 and it meant I could cut another fwd kp).

In effect I got jobe, stants, Connor, Graham, and horlin-smith for Hurley and 3 pick first round pick down grade which landed me Brodie who honestly I would have been pretty tempted by at pick 2. I just think Brodie looks like a natural, durable footballer who will play plenty of footy this year and be the backbone of that side before too long.

I have to acknowledge that (i think), at least in part, melk and sal were being slightly generous in a welcome to the league, sorry your list is so ā– ā– ā– ā–  kinda way. Both could have driven a harder bargain and these two trades really set me up to start to transition the list without being completely humiliated over the course of the season.

As it is I expect to be well and truly bringing up the rear

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#25 Billy Longer - R Rapt I was able to lock up a ruck early and have the Saints 1-2 combo. If Hickey doesnt play, then Longer should.
#28 Lewis Jetta - C,F After seeing the available Cā€™s to draft. In hindsight, I should have kept more Cā€™s. So basically wanted to pick as many playing Cā€™s in the draft. Read lots about Lewis putting in hard work over offseason. Considered Jy Simpkin at this pick.
#38 Jayden Hunt - B I couldnt resist. Dees seem to love his run and carry.I was a bit surprised Sal delisted him, seems like we could have just done a Hunt/DBJ straight swap.
#51 Billie Smedts - C,F Carlton are ā– ā– ā– ā–  and Smedts is a C who should get games. Dual position huge bonus.
#69 Teia Miles - C,F Has some buzz about having a great pre-season. Another dual position C, who will hopefully get some games, especially in the back 6 and possible CB next year.
#87 David Cuningham - C Carlton are ā– ā– ā– ā–  and should be playing their kids. A ā€˜Cā€™, but slightly worried he was a late cut to last JLT team.
#105 Matt White - C,F Injured last year, dual position C who should get games in average port side.
#118 Alex Witherden - C, B A flier on an injured brisbane HBF. Hopefully can stash till end of year and utilise the CB.
#123 Jimmy Webster - B Re-draft. Rate his play and hopefully is considered best 22.
#135 Dan McStay - B A (hopefully) best 22 back, who should get a FB added. Looked at other options such as Hamling, but went for a risk knowing I can pick up old Bā€™s on FA list.

Best 18
Curtly Hampton AD - B Nick Haynes GWS - B Jasper Pittard PA - B
Dylan Roberton SK - B Jayden Hunt - B
Patrick Dangerfield GE - C Lachie Neale FR - C Lachie Hunter WB - C
Brandon Ellis RI - C Jack Ziebell NM - C David Mundy FR - C
Travis Boak PA - C
Lewis Jetta - C,F Jack Watts ME - F Angus Brayshaw ME - C,F
Isaac Heeney SY - F Bradley Hill HW - C,F
Tom Hickey SK - R
Bench: Nathan Wilson GWS - B Billie Smedts - C,F Josh Schache BL - F Billy Longer - R
Jayden Short RI - B Teia Miles - C,F Nakia Cockatoo GE - F
Jimmy Webster - B David Cuningham - C
Dan McStay - B Matt White - C,F
Alex Witherden - C, B

Team will flog Bargeā€™s ā– ā– ā– ā–  squad.

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Did you get Sam Lloyd in the end? I canā€™t remember. Looks like he broke his leg yesterday. Just call me Nostradamus.

Glad I could be of help. Was interesting to see different players available in each league.