hey guys. long time lurker here. you guys helped me countless times already and i would really appreciate your help here too DEF: Goddard, Deledio, Shaw, Broughton, Trengrove (Port), Lake, Bugg (Mohr, Paine) MID: Ablett, Priddis, Gray, Dangerfield, Ledger, Shiel (McDonald, Magner) RUC: Mummy, Giles, Reddard, Stephenson FWD: Buddy, Fyfe, Cloke, Sidebottom, Hale, Porpoise, D. Smith (GWS), (Smedts, Hall (GC)) now, the obvious weakness is having Lake, Dangerfield, Porpoise and maybe Hale / Gray in the team for defense, would it be a better to bring in Birchall or Carazzo and a rookie (what about Ellis from Richmond?) + extra cash for Trengrove + Lake or would you take the risk? Mids, really worried about not having Pendles / Swan. And then Gray / Dangerfield. WIth cash freed up from the defense swap upgrade Gray to Dustin Martin (despite Richmond's tough opening rounds). And perhaps downgrade Porps, upgrade Dangerfield and have 4 premium mids instead of 3 + dangerfield? Ruc: pretty happy with Rucks, 1.0.3 seems to be the popular choice this season Fwds: what about taking out Porps and upgrade fwd line? Sidebottom / Hale to Pav / ? or so? Thanks for the help
Gray and Dangerfield should not be in MID. They will not be in top 20 MIDs at season's end, let alone top 10 or top 6 (which is what you should aim for your SC team). Gray is in my opinion some decent chance to make it into top 10 FWDs this year, Dangerfield not so much but he is popular as a potential breakout FWD also. Don't pick your rucks because they are popular, pick them because you want them in your team. I suggest you ditch one of Cloke/Sidebottom and put Gray FWD. Then upgrade Dangerfield to an elite MID and bring in another MID rookie. Coniglio if the cash allows, or Kennedy if it doesn't. Trengove is a unique selection, his name has not come up much. If you like him, stick strong and don't just follow everyone else's choices. But if you're unsure, the safer option would be to ditch Trengove+Lake for another rookie and a more expensive DEF.
thanks a lot for the quick response Jason. i mainly picked dangerfield since he is, as you said, a potential break-out, and especially since the crows are playing GC, GWS, Bulldogs and Port in 4 of their first 5 matches and already showed some decent pre-season form. however, i played through the scenario you suggested above and it does look good indeed as well. Putting Gray in the forward line and ditching sidebottom in favour of coniglio gives me the freedom to upgrade Dangerfield to whatever I want (Dangerfield and remaining cash would be 702k), so this does look tasty too. I think I am gonna regret Dangerfield either way. If i pick him, he starts out average and i regret it. If i dont pick him, he goes nuts in the first few games. I do like the look of Trengrove but having him in the team takes a bit of flexibility away. I prolly stick with him though One last question, if i'd follow your advice i have 3 gws guys (coniglio, shiels, mcdonald) in the mids. Could that be too much of a GWS overload for the probably most important positions on the field.
The most popular MID structure would be 4-0-4, whereas you will end up with 3-0-5 if you follow this path. I don't think there is a big problem with this, it is mostly a result of your choices in DEF in particular.
Just a note on Trengove. He has had a bit of a mixed pre-season and you would do well to read Bearfly's assessment, either through the main page or profiles in the Stats. I have had him for the past couple of seasons, but not this one. I feel his true potential is half forward, and until they play him there I won't be buying. If you keep him, it should be with a specific upgrade in mind, during or post byes.