When can we do LTI picks?
Iām pretty happy with the way my trading and drafting turned out overall. I had a real weakness in the backline and desperately needed to make sure by the end of the trade/draft it was fixed.
First up Melk came sniffing around for Gibson which then escalated into trading out Christensen for picks 21 and 34. Pretty even trade i think and the end results was Christensen for Bugg and Ruggles. If Christensen stays fit and performs to his best he will be a very good scorer but there are a few ifs there and Ruggles is the first step in fixing my backline.
I still had players i needed to shift so i gave Melk a nudge and asked if he had room and was still interested in Pearce for pick 70. He snapped it up. Melk will win that trade no doubt but when you have 20 keepers you gotta make tough decisions, just the way it should be.
Next Wezza advertised that he was keen to move on some young players and as luck would have it one of them was the player i was very very keen on taking last year Darcy Tucker. I was really tossing up last year over him or Keays and i ended up taking Keays but in a very quick and easy trade pick 25 and 118 and Tucker was finally mine.
Josh Kennedy (WC) out Zaharakis in
I agonized over this decision and tbh itās the hardest decision iāve had to make yet. You could easily mount an argument either way to say one side came out ahead over the other or just easily say it was an even trade and and a win/win.
Basically i traded in a Ā© for an (F) with the same averages but Zaka is 2.5 years younger.
As for my drafting, it went really well with a good mix of kids and solid reasonable scorers. Iāve managed to move out guys that didnāt play enough or scored like crap for players that are at least average consistent scorers along with some kids that could develop into something.
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In terms of player value, you win the Zaharakis trade easily. With 7 Cs each week theyāre now the hardest to find position in our league. The draft reinforced that, I think.
That trade worked for me though as I had high quality centers to spare, and was very short on forwards. Itās win-win for sure, but you left with the better asset.
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I understand that but imo it is harder for forwards to actually score. Cās can run around racking up cheap possessions where as Fās have defenders on them constantly trying to nullify them.
There is more demand for Cās of course as we use 7 in our league but imo there are more high/good scoring Cās than there are Fās.
Either way i think it was a win/win.
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SMOOTH OPERATORS DRAFT ROUND-UP
Pick 10 - Ed Vickers-Willis: āPick 10 was an interesting one. We probably didnāt get early enough to get some of the elite talent of the 2016 draft, so it was a case of weighing up whether to go with some of the late 1st round picks from the '16 draft, or pick a kid who already had 12 months in the system. We decided on the latter, and we think Ed has a real role for him at North now they are going down a youth path.ā
Pick 17 - Sam Powell-Pepper: āLooked at home in the Power midfield. Was just too good to ignore here. We do have plenty of depth in the Cās, however we are mindful of succession planning for some of our older players. He is one for the future.ā
Pick 35 - Will Hoskin-Elliott: āWe think we may have got a bargain here. Looks best 22 for the Pies and has scored relatively well in the JLT. Will add competition for spots in that forward line, which wonāt hurt.ā
Pick 71 - Andy Otten: āHasnāt played a game since 2014, but his JLT form has looked solid. He can score when picked, and with Macca (Jarrad McVeigh) likely to miss the start of the season, there is a spot in defence there for somebody who puts their hand up this pre-season. In the mix for Round 1.ā
Pick 89 - Jake Spencer: āEven though we traded for āNank the Tankā (Toby Nankervis) to bolster the ruck division, being forward-eligible and scoring as well as he has in pre-season, we wanted to start him forward but still have ruck insurance on the bench. Jake fits that bill perfectly. He looks the genuine #2 at Melbourne and coupled with his goal-kicking ability, should start the season at a minimum.ā
Pick 107 - Angus Monfries: āIt was a tough decision to delist an Operators premiership player and great clubman. We told Gus that if he was still there in the late rounds we would select him, so we kept to our word. We know what weāll get with him, a very handy player who adds experience to the front half.ā
Pick 125 - Jack Lonie: āTaken a bit of a punt here. Has the talent, we just hope he graduates a little bit more than just being a forward pocket specialist. If he can get himself into the midfield, he will score very well indeed.ā
Pick 143 - Dan Houston: āLots of noise coming out of Port Adelaide that he is earmarked for a half-back role with Pittard injured. Appears to have neat skills and if he can play that rebounding half-back role, could score well. Might be in line for a position change if that is the case, which would only increase his value.ā
Pick 160 - Lindsay Thomas: āWe noted with interest he was playing a little higher up the ground. His PPM (point per minute) on the ground were very impressive. Given the real lack of options late in this draft, selecting Thommo was a no-brainer. Could be the best value pick of our draft.ā
Pick 173 - Sam Butler: āAn experienced head who if he stays injury-free should be a best 22 player for the Eagles. If so he can score reasonably well. Late in the draft you are just looking for reliability if injuries or suspension strikes.ā
SMOOTH OPERATORS BEST 18:
Backs - Heath Shaw, Sam Docherty, Matthew Suckling, Jarrad McVeigh, Jake Carlisle
Centres: Gary Ablett, Trent Cotchin, Luke Parker, Dylan Shiel, Shaun Grigg, Mitch Robinson, Steele Sidebottom
Forwards: Michael Walters, Richard Douglas, Toby Nankervis, Cale Hooker, Alex Fasolo
Ruck: Brodie Grundy
Reserves: Jake Spencer, Rhys Mathieson, Angus Monfries, Rory Lobb, Sam Powell-Pepper, Ed Vickers-Willis, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Andy Otten, Jack Lonie, Dan Houston, Lindsay Thomas, Sam Butler
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Letās not sugar coat it. Itās a horrendous fk up. He had zero idea
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Didnāt he take Sam Dwyer ridiculously early one draft too? I actually cut him off my list before that draftā¦
Took him pick1 from memory
Lti picks.
As it stands, there are three LTI picks to be taken.
Pick 181. The Melkmen (Christensen)
Pick 182 Saladin (Jordan Roughead)
Pick 183. 51 Bewick ( NicNat)
Because im a nice fella (just ask me!) , deadline is extended to 2pm. YOU MUST PM ME, im not going to sift through the discussion thread. Im also not going to go beyond that, i want to be following the Bendigo action, not trying to sort out LTI orders.
Unless Red vetoās it, i suggest the picks be taken tonight from 7pm. Lets wrap it all up. Players nominated for tonight will be eligible for selection for Round 8. Players subsequently LTIād post Round 1 must miss 8 weeks of AFL matches.
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Great draft write ups, everyone.
I knew that Hunt, WHE, Sheppard and Knight were sure to attract attention. Im pleased i was able to get one back at least.
Interesting to note that all 3 LTI claims so far are from teams outside last yearās top eight. Certainly not the only reason they had ordinary seasons, but they are all very good players and will be sorely missed while they are out.
Draft Recap:
Pick 13: Sam Petrevski-Seton C
Thought that he was probably the best available player here and the fact that he was a C was a bonus. I suspect he will add F eligibility at some stage too so I am pretty happy with this pick. Should see regular game time when fit and very highly rated, was glad that he was available for me at this pick, definitely thought he would be gone.
Pick 18: Harry Perryman CB
Donāt know too much about him and unsure as to how much he will play at the Giants but probably a good one to sit on and see what happens. High draft pick and has played in the JLT so the signs are encouraging. Back eligibility certainly helps.
Pick 31: Jy Simpkin F
Wanted to add a bit of quality to the forward line and to be honest was very pleasantly surprised that he was still available at this pick. Good smarts and will move into the midfield at some stage and should play regular senior footy this year. Could be one of my better value picks from the draft.
Pick 36: Sam Wright B
Wanted to pick up a defender at this pick and think that he will score well when fit. With a couple of my defenders coming back from knee recos (Thurlow and Scharenberg) I wanted to add to my depth and think with a good year he would be a fair chance of making my keepers at the end of the season.
Pick 49: Daniel Venables FC
Similarly to my post in the other league I didnāt know much about him but know he is a big bodied player that was a high draft pick, which should stand him in good stead for senior football this year once back from injury. Wasnāt certain heād make it to the next pick so I wanted to pull the trigger. FC position is certainly a plus.
Pick 67: Jack Graham C
Highly-rated junior that is a ball magnet. Suspect he will play a bit of senior footy this year and could be a nice addition to the side, especially with the need to find 7 centres. Hopefully he can get on the park early.
Pick 103: Marco Paparone B
Had missed the boat on other ruckmen by this point so I decided to shore up the backline. Injury interrupted season last year but should be part of the Lionsā best 22 when fit. May be depth but could end up being my 5th defender.
Pick 121: Brandon Matera F
Wanting to add forward depth here, just need to get him to put it together again on-field for it to be a good selection. Excited to see how his season turns out.
Pick 139: Nathan Freeman C
Purely a hit and hope here in wanting to get another C that could become a keeper. Donāt have any expectations here at all, but would be nice to see him play senior footy at some stage.
Pick 157: Jed Anderson F
Another one that Iām hoping gets his body right as he could be a very handy pick up for me, again not holding my breath.
Overall Iām pretty happy with my draft, managed to pick up four of the first 14 picks from last yearās draft with my first four selections, and with none of those being a key position player Iām quite bullish as to how it will turn out, if I can get at least two keepers out of it Iāll be stoked. A lot will be left to Goldstein again this year having not picked up a back up ruck, had every intention of getting one in the middle of the draft but they never really presented themselves. Not too worried though as Iām banking on Vickery picking up R eligibility at some stage during the season which should give me some insurance. Went youth with all of my picks as I feel like I could be entering a rebuild phase and wanted to get ahead of the curve a little bit.
Best 22:
B: Birchall, Howe, Thurlow, Z Jones, Wright
C: Sloane, Priddis, Bontempelli, Polec, Rosa, Edwards, Petrevski-Seton
R: Goldstein
F: LeCras, Laverde, D Menzel, M Weller, J Cripps
Int: Vickery, M Kennedy, Scharenberg, Bonner
Depth: Perryman, Simpkin, Venables, Graham, Paparone, Matera, Freeman, Anderson
Not overly happy with the side but have started to push my side towards youth and a core group of young talent. Of the squad Birchall, Priddis and LeCras are the only real old players so I suspect that there will be a fair bit of fluctuation in my scoring week to week but it will be interesting to see how it goes, especially when at the mercy of UF positions.
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That was me who let Burgoyne go. Probably the worst decision I have ever made playing FF. I was just anticipating (without properly looking into it) that he was in decline and going to get squeezed out of the team. Oh how I was wrongā¦
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Best 18 (approx).
B: Bob Murphy, Steven May, Shaun Atley, Brendan Whitecross, Harry Cunningham
C (+R): Tom Rockliff, Stephen Coniglio, Stephen Hill, Dustin Martin, Jack Newnes, Hamish Hartlett, Craig Bird, Tom Boyd Ā®
F: Luke Dahlhaus, Matthew Wright, James Sicily, Jarryd Blair, Chris Mayne
INT: Jackson Trengove (BR), Trav Colyer, Jeremy Cameron, Ryan Bastinac, Jarrod Berry, Sam Gilbert, Nathan Krakouer, Neville Jetta, Sam Reid (Syd), Shaun Hampson, Jarrad Grant
Jarrod Berry will prob slot into line up in the backline once he debuts for Lions given he will get considerable midfield time I imagine. Backline and forwardline hard to fully know who is best 18 as have depth in both.
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No. No change.
Burras
Pick 9. Ben Ainsworth - Very pleased to get the 4th selection at the AFL draft for pick 9. The talk about him in the media is very positive.
Pick 27. Jeremy McGovern - This bloke will walk straight into the starting 18. Tried to trade for him without success, so very happy to get him in the draft. His little brother is all fired up getting to play with his big brother and cut loose in a practice match today.
Pick 45. Taylor Hunt - Consistently gets games for the Tigers so hopefully that continues.
Pick 47. Dale Thomas - Absolutely hate the little *** but needed some depth in the midfield.
Pick 63. Dean Gore - Was looking really good before concussion, so with the Crows midfield problems he should get games.
Pick 81. Samuel Collins - Showed a lot of promise last season so happy to re-draft him.
Pick 99. Aliir Aliir - With Teddy retired should get regular games plus itās really cool to have a player with the same christian and surnames.
Pick 117. Mason Cox - Donāt know what to expect from him but a chance to get an āRā added to his position.
Pick 141. Tom Papley - Got a lot of games last season so fingers crossed he forces his way back into the Swans side.
Pick 158. Brady Grey - On the Rookie list but coach has mentioned him in dispatches.
Pick 183. Brett Eddy - Really suprised to get him here. Think he played his way onto the senior list today.
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So is there anything we have to do to get our sides done on UF or does red do that?
id take that kinda game from hickey every week please.
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I just need to finalise them on UF. Will try to knock it over this morning.