Back - Shaw, Hibberd, R.Murphy, Newnes, McIntosh, Hamling (Goddard, Saad)

Midfield - Pendlebury, Fyfe, Selwood, Sloane, J Anderson, Boekhorst, Freeman, Krakouer (Heeney, Vandenberg, Ellis-Yolmen)

Ruck - Jacobs, Nic Nat (Read)

Forward - Goddard, Franklin, Martin, Swan, Clark, Hogan (Daniel, Lambert)

$329k in the bank though I plan to use some of it with a change somewhere

Down back, I have decided to take a punt on Murphy. He finished the year well (I think averaged 100+ in the last 5 games) and I think he is going to put in more this year now that he is captain and will thrive in the role. A bit of a POD and was a last minute change, I had Simpson originally but with the backs all a bit up in the air, I thought I'd take a punt and go with Murphy in defense.

I also had Ablett in my side the whole time, up until last night. I have decided for the first time I am not going to start with him which is always a risk.

How do you think I plan on using some of the $329k in the bank? That said, I want to leave something in the kitty (maybe $50k), I suffered last year by wanting to make a change after round 1 and didn't have the funds to do it when I wanted to fix a stuff up.

One idea I have is maybe turning one of my midfield rookies into Lumumba which is another risk, but I also think he might thrive at Melbourne with midfield time and it feels like all defenders are a bit of a risk this year.
But thinking about turning a rookie midfielder into Lumumba, and then later down the track moving Lumumba into defense and give his spot to a true midfielder.

Any other comments on my team or how to use some of my spare cash?

Also, where do I go to join one of the TS leagues? I

Obviously the rookie picks don't really mean anything until the teams are up for rd1, but I don't think Krakouer will play straight away for Port and think the money would be very well spent upgrading him to Wells. I think he will do well enough to make you plenty of money if you get a chance to upgrade him to a real premium, but could also just end up as your 8th mid from a very cheap price. He is $254.5k more expensive than Krakouer, which would leave you with $74.5k in the bank.

H.Shaw, M.Hibberd, J.Newnes, S.Higgins, J.Hamling, H.Goddard (M.Dick, A.Saad)
G.Ablett, S.Pendlebury, N.Fyfe, R.Griffen, A.Swallow, P.Cripps, J.Anderson, I.Heeney (A.Vandenburg, C.Ellis-Yolmen, T.Miller)
I.Maric, N.Naitanui (K.Brooksby)
R.Gray, D.Martin, D.Swan, M.Bontempelli, C.Salem, M.Clark (J.Hogan, K.Lambert)

$20.8k left, been thinking that if I didn't start with Ablett it would be the same team other than:
Ablett to J.Selwood and M.Bontempelli to H.Bennell, which would leave $13.2k left

Made some subtle changes

Backs - Gibson, H.Shaw, Newnes, Lumumba, N.Brown (pies), H.Goddard, (Dalgleish, A.Saad)

Mids - GAJ, Pendles, Fyfe, Danger, Cripps, Rich, Wells, NVB, (Ellis Yolmen, J Anderson, Steele)

Rucks - NicNat, Berger (Cox)

Fwds - Lids, Buddy, Ryder, Clark, Karnezis, Hogan (Saad, Lambert)

231k

Not a bad side, though I'd only take 1 of your ruckmen, I think both are slightly risky and with only 3 ruckmen this year you want one certainty.
Luey and NicNat is both a bit of a risk, but if they come off. Well done.

Also, I'm guessing Ryder is a 'wait and see' depending on the Essendon outcome

Nice side HPCD

Pure GnR (excepting Newnes). Nice work resisting the allure of the mid pricers!

Its quite solid everywhere - my feedback would be to try and get Cripps into your team, probably for Freeman who hasn't been sighted much. Use the cash for that.
As said about, Krak probably won't make the Port side - put Lambert there instead for DPP and replace Lambert with Lonie in the fwd line.
No Gray AND no Ablett is interesting...

Solid.

GAJ is now a POD, and I guess you're hoping Griff and Swallow become keepers? Will they both finish in top 8 mids?

Not much needs changing really, perhaps a better backline rookie than Dick (is there one?) and perhaps Lambert to midfield line for DPP and bring Lonie in fwd rookies.

Your forward line is full of KPFs - maybe get Martin or Swan in there?

One for the thumbs...

For M4:

TU: Luke Parker

TD: Jordan Lewis

Not sure if this is the right thread or not (I've been out of the SC loop for a couple of years due to time constraints but couldn't resist making a team this year!). But I thought people might be interested in what I think will be the likely WB team list for round 1 (long time member and very keen observer):

B: Wood Roughead Morris
HB: Murphy Talia Johannisen
C: Stevens M.Boyd Bontompelli
HF: Stringer T.Boyd Dickson
FF: Honeychurch Redpath Dahlhaus
Bench: Picken Jong Grant
Emg: One of Hrovat/Daniel depending on how Hrovat goes this weekend in the VFL practice match

This is also assuming ASADA bans Crameri and given the club imposed suspension of Hunter for round one. Match-ups could alter this. At this stage I'd say Hamling is next in line for a key defensive post, but IMO we will likely play Talia ahead of Hamling. So yeah, could help peoples team selection, which is why I put it here.

Is he worth $245K?

Yeah buddy could be the one to change up fwd but feel pretty settled on the rest... I think he might go big this year

No worries
I think promoting Goodes made the most sense out of all our rookies. He played well against Collingwood (but then he wasn't alone there lol) in a slightly different role to the HB role he played under Macca (although TBH I wasn't watching him all that much). I can't see him being named round 1. And if I'm gonna be honest, he butchers the ball at times. A chance to get games if we get more injuries. But I have been wrong on him before... Vague answer? lol

that's really solid.

My only concerns would be choosing higgins, he has burnt so many times, and I know bont will be a gun but second year blues potential.

Thats being a little nit picky, but yeah good team otherwise

A lot of similarities
Stevens is an interesting one. Not sure why he played NAB1, but not games 2 and 3... You could be right about fitness, just not on the injury list.
I do like Hamling, has done some nice things in the NAB. I think SC players would definitely prefer your team though eh