Hi all

This is a simple new post called "Beat the Best".

Its premise is simple.  Lets see how we would go about finding the chinks in the armour of the leading Supercoach team/s, and how we can use our points of differences (PODS) to advantage.

This week, congratulations to The Tentacle, a Hawk fan, though it must be said, he does have some love for their mortal enemies, the Bombers.

2619.  This dude has already put a margin of 319 over me, and Im sure has gapped most of the rest of us by a fair margin.   So what can we do to catch up?

Was it just a Kardashian week from him?  Find out over the break.<!--more-->Know this - we will be hunting the best team (and maybe having a good old yak about the best team structure) each week, so if you are the best team, get here to work out what your opponents are thinking.  If youre not, come here and get some tips on what makes the leading team, then tweak for your own satisfaction.

This one, well after Round 1 its all a bit random, though weve already in the previous thread had a good chat on whether its all over for those under 2300 points in the first week.  Though Id love to fill everyone with confidence that they can make a comeback, a good start is crucial in Supercoach, and I dont want to hoodwink anyone.   To come back from a score of somewhere in the 2000 region in Round 1, thats a bridge too far.

So, back to the Tentacles team in order of points scored this week:

DEF: Newman, Goddard, Shaw, Deledio, Heppell, Grimes, Hurley (Duigan, Stanley, Toy)

MID: Swan, Watson, A Swallow, Pendlebury, Curnow, Krakouer (D Swallow, Harris, Hibberd)

RUC: Cox, Hille (Derickx, McCauley)

FWD: J Riewoldt, Tapscott, McKernan, Jetta (just for you Jo), Green, N Riewoldt, Richardson (Gumbleton, Prestia, Matera)

Defence - My thoughts is firstly we see a heavily loaded backline.  This is an interesting strategy, but as we think here at TS, you probably need a few cows coming from defence, so its clear Aaron will need to get points on the board early, because the chances of getting the upgrades might be diminished.

Mids - Perfect mix of youth, experience and value.  You would have to think Curnow to go this week for Swallow - but it is a tough decision.  The other thing about selecting value candidates is that theres a reason they didnt average the big points last season, and thats because they fluctuated.  So its possible this will occur in 2011, though with Watson, Pendlebury and Swallow I reckon they represent three of the real burgeoning younger mids.  Good selections all.

Rucks - Took the risk on Hille.  This worked for Round 1 but is the real weakness of this team.  If Sandilands keeps his form up, which is likely, and if Hille drops off, which is also likely, its going to take 2-3 trades to make that crucial upgrade.  With nothing in the tank for a bench option, when the bye comes around for Cox, youd have to say this team will be already thinking of munching a donut.

Forwards - This also looks a risky area.  The Riewoldt boys look like they will do OK this year, so not the worst selections, but no Franklin/Rioli will eventually find you out.  Gumbleton looks like an already fat cow that needs slaughtering (a waste of money on the bench at the moment), so I cant see him lasting past R3 to be honest.   Green is a very decent candidate, but will be subject to a few ups and downs.   Still, the way this team is structured, he is a keeper for the longer haul.   With Matera, Prestia and most of the good rookies (aside from Darling who can be obtained through Gumbleton), the upgrade potential is there.

How could I break this team down?

Back Sandilands v Hille over the long haul.
Hope for my slightly higher quality midfielders to do their job and over time win the points battle.
Expect Newman to go down and up.  Could easily be a 60 week this game against St Kilda.
Anticipate that the  lack of forward guns will hurt when the rookies dont come to town.  Seems one classy forward short of most teams (including mine) so expect to him in there.

What are your thoughts on making a charge at the best teams in this years Supercoach?