Also didn't Ryder play better in defence and ruck last season? Surely he will get DR and be working alongside Jackson Trengove. Hudson to me looked like insurance and might just be there to lessen the load on Leuenberger for a few matches. Can't see him playing more than 15 to be honest. Most of the best ruck options I think are in R11, so I will upgrade to the best of them at this stage. In R11 you have NicNat, Goldstein, Cox, Leuenberger, McIntosh and Jacobs. Plenty of nice R2 options here to upgrade into.
NicNat is one I'm tempted with for my R2 spot. NicNat will be 22 and is still improving. SC wise, he improved his average by 22.7 to 93.8. The problem is can he improve this further with Cox around? Cox will be approaching 31 when the season starts. He had a brilliant 2011, but can he match it in 2012?
I'm thinking of putting Ivan Maric in my team. The only problem is that you don't want too many players from the same team.
Almost no one will be able to avoid zeros during the byes. For each zero your average will be about 4 points lower than if you didn't have the zero. Most people (who are serious) will probably receive 2-3 zeros during the bye rounds.
How many Richmond players you gunna have mate? I stacked my DT team with Tigers last season for fun. Didn't work out so well. Maric I'm not sold on and will reserve judgement until the pre-season. If he's cheap enough and shows form...then maybe.
@Patrician Between 2 and 5, depending on factors like if there MPP, magic number, bench spots and craziness.
muha. You're a Richmond supporter, craziness is a given! I could possibly find space for Tyrone if I could fit him in my forward line.
@Patrician NicNat would be good chance to improve on last years figures given he was injured all season. 2012 will hopefully be the year he actually takes the marks in the forward line and kicks a few more goals... he certainly has looked dangerous with big leaps but has been spilling the ball too much after getting hands on it.. hopefully iwht his shoulders right ha can add that to his game!
Stephenson and Giles are looking fantastic options thus far, and might even mean we don't need a R/F combo to cover for the byes. That said though, if Sam Rowe scores himself a little R/F lovin, the we will be spoilt for choice. I might even do something crazy like a 3 rookie ruckline! (with Paddy up forward, ready to swing into the ruck just before round 1 kicks off!) That said, it will be interesting to see Giles stats in the prospectus, he's been fairly consistantly rated in the GWS's bests through the year (9 out of 16 games), it will be interesting to get a read on what we expect him to average (in that getting him, or Stephenson on the field over our F7 might be a boon to the team and not so crazy!)
Giles will he get regular game time? Will Brogan take more of the ruck than Fraser did at GC? I'd suggest so. RF options abound and should be plentiful next season. Leigh Brown be praised.
Thinks are looking even better for both the big O and Trent West. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/geelong-clear-on-ruck-recruit-but-will-wait-on-vardy-20111212-1orgd.html Would anybody be ballsy enough for a Premium - West - Giles - Stephenson ruck combo with a back up down forward if West retains his R/F eligibility?
Gumby's Top 5 2012 SC Rucks and predicted scores: Name - 11 Avg - 11 Price - 12 Avg Cox, Dean - 122.2 - $662,600 - 117.2 Mumford, Shane - 112.6 - $610,300 - 112.6 Sandilands, Aaron - 110.8 - $600,500 - 110.8 Goldstein, Todd - 113.2 - $613,600 - 108.2 McEvoy, Ben - 101.2 - $548,800 - 102.3
I think I'll go with the Mumford, Leuenberger, Giles, Stephensen combination because there are a lot of good premiums with their bye during round 13.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/127669/default.aspx Says a lot about Vickery, Batchelor and co
Im thinking i might have Giles as bench emergency in Round 1 (remember its partial lockout) and if he scores 80+ vs Sydney then ill use him as my 2nd ruck and use cash saved elsewhere.
I am thinking of doing the same thing but there aren't too many lock ins in the forward and backlines, I also want to start with a few rookies in my midfield to get some cash and the midfielders are likely to drop more in price.
Mids and rucks are where you can find the most dependable premiums this season I reckon. So thats where I'm spending most money: GAJ, Murphy, Swallow, Selwood in mids Sandilands, McEvoy in rucks Hopefully it will pay off...