TooSerious

...Other than Richmond and Carlton ( and Sydney/GWS obviously ) are over the break...

How good is it? FOOTYS BACK!!!!
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Hawthorn

* B: Brent Guerra, Josh Gibson, Jarrad Boumann
* HB: Grant Birchall, Ryan Schoenmakers, Benjamin Stratton
* C: Isaac Smith, Sam Mitchell, Chance Bateman
* HF: Shaun Burgoyne, Lance Franklin, Cyril Rioli
* F: Luke Breust, David Hale, Jack Gunston
* Foll: Broc McCauley, Brad Sewell, Jordan Lewis
* I/C: Michael Osborne, Brendan Whitecross, Shane Savage, Matt Suckling
* Emg: Xavier Ellis, Jarryd Roughead, Cameron Bruce

Collingwood

* B: Heritier OBrien, Lachlan Keeffe, Heath Shaw
* HB: Alan Toovey, Ben Reid, Tyson Goldsack
* C: Dane Swan, Luke Ball, Martin Clarke
* HF: Dale Thomas, Jackson Paine, Ben Sinclair
* F: Travis Cloke, Chris Dawes, Alex Fasolo
* Foll: Darren Jolly, Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom
* I/C: Luke Rounds, Jarryd Blair, Paul Seedsman, Peter Yagmoor
* Emg: Cameron Wood, Dayne Beams, Tom Young

Melbourne

* B: Joel Macdonald, James Frawley, Clint Bartram
* HB: Rohan Bail, Jared Rivers, Colin Garland
* C: Jack Watts, Jack Grimes, Nathan Jones
* HF: Jack Trengove, Brad Green, Jeremy Howe
* F: Aaron Davey, Mitchell Clark, Stefan Martin
* Foll: Mark Jamar, Brent Moloney, James Magner
* I/C: Matthew Bate, Sam Blease, Jordie McKenzie, Josh Tynan
* Emg: Lynden Dunn, James Sellar, Thomas Couch

* New: Mitchell Clark (Brisbane Lions), Josh Tynan (Gippsland Power), James Magner (Sandringham)

Brisbane Lions

* B: Niall McKeever, Daniel Merrett, Ashley McGrath
* HB: Mitchell Golby, Matt Maguire, Daniel Rich
* C: Tom Rockliff, Jed Adcock, Pearce Hanley
* HF: Jared Polec, Joel Patfull, Todd Banfield
* F: James Polkinghorne, Matthew Leuenberger, Ryan Lester
* Foll: Ben Hudson, Simon Black, Jack Redden
* I/C: Cheynee Stiller, Sam Sheldon, Claye Beams, Rohan Bewick
* Emg: Ryan Harwood, Jesse OBrien, Billy Longer

* New: Ben Hudson (Mt Gravatt (QLD) / Werribee (VIC /...

I am sure that everyone is busily finalising their teams at the moment but consideration needs to be given to our captain’s choice for the weekend. This is especially so because the lockout loophole did not provide any joy last weekend with Mumford and Goodes both having underwhelming games with scores of 95 and 90 respectively. For those who are still able to utilise the loophole, however, Judd’s numbers below are very enticing. So begins our analysis of statistics …
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Thompson v. Gold Coast

Rd 22 2011: 162 SC points, 51 disposals
Rd 8 2011: 136 SC points, 34 disposals

Average is 149 SC points with 43 disposals.

Note: Small sample size but a fantastic record against the Suns. 18 touches in first quarter in Rd 22 led to a big SC score as the Crows ended up winning by more than 10 goals. In good form in the NAB with a 133 in his last pre-season game. Finished last season a little hot and cold with 70, 127, 80, 162, 92, 151 from Round 19 onwards.

Judd v. Richmond

Rd 15 2011: 180 SC points, 31 disposals
Rd 1 2011: 108 SC points, 25 disposals
Rd 20 2010: 146 SC points, 30 disposals
Rd 15 2009: 95 SC points, 29 disposals
Rd 1 2009: 136 SC points, 23 disposals
Rd 1 2008: 102 SC points, 22 disposals
Rd 5 2007: 110 SC points, 21 disposals
Rd 22 2006: 131 SC points, 24 disposals
Rd 3 2006: 119 SC points, 19 disposals
Rd 11 2005: 182 SC points, 23 disposals

Average is 131 SC points with 25 disposals.

Notes: Fantastic consistent high scores against the Tigers despite constantly being tagged. Scored 180 in Round 15 last year whilst being tagged by Grigg. In that game, Carlton thumped Richmond by 103 points. Was tagged by Jackson in the Round 1 clash last year. A quiet pre-season with scores of 34 and 60.

Ablett v. Adelaide

Rd 22 2011: 145 SC points, 39 disposals
Rd 8 2011: 198 SC points, 41 disposals
Rd 16 2010: 76 SC points, 19 disposals
Rd 18 2009: 115 SC points, 21 disposals
Rd 4 2009: 197 SC points, 46...

Supercoach Season Preview 2012 - West Coast

2012 Supercoach Player Ranking Chart

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<a href="http://tooserious.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/WestCoastEagles_SC2012.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5229" src="http://tooserious.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/WestCoastEagles_SC2012.jpg" alt="" width="451" height="557" />[/url]

2012 List Analysis:

Two more teams to go, and here is one of the best 4 from last season, the West Coast Eagles.   They have had a rough few weeks losing two of their better forwards in Le Cras and Nicoski, likely for the season.   Its hard enough for a team like Collingwood to replace two crumbers, but I"m not convinced the Eagles can cover their loss.   The Eagles did well last season with a combination of a brilliant collection of vintage players in near career best form, along with some of the best young talent in the league.

West Coasts claim to finals success could still be there in 2012, and thats mainly because they are the team best placed to exploit the forward press.   They have the best ruck combination in the competition, along with tall forwards (great to kick long to), and midfielders who are great at getting the ball and pushing it forward.   The query is whether the small forwards can get in and put the pressure on.   Youd imagine that a good opportunity awaits Stevens and Weedon.

West Coasts list rating is 43 and they have a depth of 23.   This places them 5th for their best 22, and 4th in terms of depth.   West Coast are at that time in their list development that a premiership is an option.  Hence, they need to ensure this opportunity is not wasted, because players of the class of Cox, Embley, Glass and Kerr are not always going to be able t0 churn out good form.

<img src="http://tooserious.net/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" alt="" /><img src="http://tooserious.net/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" alt="" />...

Not long to go now until the for reals lockout kicks in, so join us in the live chat as we catch the teams come out. (well at least he blues v tigers tonight anyways)

Welcome all to the pre-season wrap-up of the Best Buys.

Over the break youll find a summary of the most fantasy-relevant players from each team (in my opinion), excepting Sydney and GWS after covering them last week.
As it is the pre-season the summaries are quite short and there are plenty of them. I have used the official SC scores from NAB rounds 2, 3 and 4 as these were the "full-match" games and provide the best estimation of current form. During the regular season Best Buys will be a lot more focussed, and contain more details on less players. The pre-season edition is designed to give you a wide array of potential players for your team and make selecting a few smokies a little easier. As always the key to the article is in the thumbs, so join me over the break for more.

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After a long off-season I have to say, Im bloody glad to be getting the NAB out of the way and moving onto the real stuff. With the partial lock-out last week we have the chance to re-assess our line-ups and patch up a couple of glaring holes that may have arisen, and should put most teams in good stead for the lock-out proper. This means the thumbs are more important than ever, and gives us a great chance to see what people think are the best ways to shore up our squads. As always if you have a selection dilemma, put it to the vote! Yes-no questions work best for the format and can provide some valuable insight into how the community of TS see your current choices. EG "Pendlebury (thumbs-up)or Ablett (thumbs-down)?" gives people a chance to let you know what they think without having to fully review your squad and is a great help to many. So for any queries about your squad, chuck em below, and see what TS reckons. Good luck all in the upcoming games, and Im looking forward to your company over what promises to be a ripper season.

DEFENCE
ROOKIES
Sam Shaw (ADE) DEF 113k
Sam Shaw is one of two rookie Sams at the Crows, and both seem to be similar...

Supercoach Season Preview 2012 - Western Bulldogs

2012 Supercoach Player Ranking Chart

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<a href="http://tooserious.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/WBulldogs_SC2012.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5228" src="http://tooserious.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/WBulldogs_SC2012.jpg" alt="" width="479" height="533" />[/url]

2012 List Analysis:

Western Bulldogs went into the 2010 team as the premiership favourites.  They made regular Preliminary Finals.  They were a very respected team.   Unfortunately, they have slipped recently, and its not considered to be any chance at all of premiership success this season, nor are given a realistic chance of making the finals.

Im not sure where they are in the rebuild, but one thing I am certain of is that they will need to get Brian Lake (and another quality tall defender) up and firing.   And a tall forward stepping up will be very important.   Liam Jones, your time is now.

It appears McCartney is going to have a chip and charge game similar to Hawthorn used by their team.  All very well to go slowly into the forward line if you have Roughead, Franklin, Hale and Rioli.   Another thing altogether when you have Giansiracusa as your only premium forward, and his best football is behind him.  Im thinking it will take a few years for the McCartney game style to bed in successfully.

The Bulldogs list rating is 32 and they have a depth of 16.  This places them 14th for their best 22, and 17th in terms of depth.   This means that the pundits placement of the Dogs in the lower half of the ladder is bang on target in relation to the list.   The Dogs with little depth will be needing to blood youngsters.  This offers a likely opportunity for players such as Clay Smith, Zephaniah Skinner, Tory Dickson, and maybe a few others.

<img src="http://tooserious.net/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" alt="" /><img...

While we still have the <a href="http://tooserious.net/forum/afl-group2/rmt-forum14">RMT Forum[/url] these days, last weeks RMT thread was well and truely smashed.

Considering the majority of our teams are still potentially up in the air, it only seems right to crack the thread open for a do-over.

So if youre interested in getting your team a once over from many others (or yanno, youre just interested in a sneaky peek at some decent teams), jump in and have a looksee.

We had an awesome first round of playoffs this week and now we are down to 4 teams in each league. We had two games (out of 6) decided by less than 5 points and both winners were the teams that finished the regular season lower on the ladder out of the two sides. A week ago, there was a bit of discussion whether the 5 point headstart for the team with better reg season record was enough or not - most arguing the later. If the headstart was larger, the two losers may well have won, so its something to consider for next season. Last season we ran a couple of votes to decide how much the headstart should be and 5 points was what was voted in by the 20 league members.

I am going to exclude the teams that had the bye from the following records as it would take too long for me to add up their scores for the week. The highest score came from a team that didnt make the finals - well done to Cobra_Magic, of division 2, for your score of 1728, which was the only score above 1700 for the week. The highest scoring loser was joellamerton, also of Div 2, with a score of 1601, which would have won all other finals bar 1. The lowest score out of all finalists was nicksnow, again from Div 2, with 1072 - maybe he forgot that we had playoffs, or there was match fixing going on :mrgreen: It was actually a lower score than all teams that didnt make the finals as well. As mentioned above, there were 2 extremely close games this week... In Div 1, LiQuiD_SiXx pipped bgt2110 by just 4 points; however that was trumped in the Premier League where Owen beat chris88 and smittys07 by the smallest of margins - just 1 point! I dont think we have had a margin of just 1 point all season - full on for it to happen in the playoffs. And a big thank you to the teams involved for giving <a href="http://tooserious.net/ts-fantasy-nba-playoffs-are-here#comments" target="_blank">updates throughout the day today[/url] as well. I loved reading them as I was not able to watch the fantasy cast today....

WOOHOO!!!

Well, sort of. Yes, its the launch, but its not the OMG, Lock it in and let everyone else know how awesome your team is launch.

Still, it is awesome, so make you you join us in the live chat tonight for some good ol fashioned footy talk.

The link pops down at the top of the screen there, or you can just <a href="http://tooserious.net/live_scores.php?page=gameday&id=10250966&process=live">Click here[/url]

TS Best Buys?  Nope, you read it correctly: TS Best Bets is a new addition to the TS Community that will feature the best offerings in the market for AFL based wagers each week.  Many of you out there like to put a lazy $20 on the nose or in a 5 leg multi each week, and this post is designed to help you with your selections.

The m-far-sis will be on statistics, taking out the bias and personal opinion as much as possible, and promote discussion on where the best value can be found.  Given there is only one game this weekend, and the result is already guaranteed (or is it???), this first edition will focus on many of the season-long bets that are on offer: who will be premiers?, make the top 4?, the wooden spoon - and of course the individual medals and this weeks game are there too.

See you over the break!

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2012 Premiership Winner

Past 5 winners:

2011 - Geelong
2010 - Collingwood
2009 - Geelong
2008 - Hawthorn
2007 - Geelong

To win a premiership - you have to be strong in all areas of the ground.  Geelong have been able to take out 3 of the last 5 cups with the only deficiency being an elite tall forward, yet their goal-kicking midfielders and plethora of elite small forwards was about to counter this.  Collingwood have been strong in all parts of the ground over the last 2 years, whilst the Hawks poor ruck division is a key factor in them only making 1 GF throughout this period.

The captains have rated Hawthorn and West Coast the most likely teams to make the grand final, yet the agencies still see it as a three horse race between the 3 teams who have shared the cup over the last 5 years.  For the Pies ($3.50), they have the downside of a new coach - although Geelong have proved that this isnt necessarily a downfall after taking home the cup in Chris Scotts first year.  The Pies also won the flag in the year before last (as Geelong did in 2009), yet they didnt have to lose their number 1 player (again - this has to be an...