A select few squads received the magical 10/10 rating in the recent Rate My SuperCoach comment threads. (more…)

A select few squads received the magical 10/10 rating in the recent Rate My Dream Team comment threads. (more…)

Now that the SuperCoach competition has opened, let’s take a look at some typical fan-made squads. (more…)

Now that the AFL Dream Team competition has opened, let’s take a look at some typical fan-made squads. (more…)

Warning: if you allow this team to beat you, you have no self respect left. I know I won’t if she does! (more…)

Since I’ve already gone through AFL Dream Team 2007 winner Steve Morfesse’s team for 2008, after a suggestion from coggers I guess it makes sense to look at the 2008 Super Coach side of 2007 SC winner Casha. Here’s his starting Casha’s Killers EDT squad:

Backs: Heath Shaw, Andrew McLeod, Lindsay Gilbee, Jake King, Martin Mattner, Brad Symes, Mark Nicoski, Nathan J. Brown, Scott D. Thompson.
Centres: Nick Dal Santo, Lenny Hayes, Nathan Jones, Andrew Swallow, Chance Bateman, Nick Stevens, Bachar Houli, Craig Bird.
Rucks: Justin Koschitzke, Troy Simmonds, Matthew Kreuzer, Shaun Hampson.
Forwards: Matthew Pavlich, Nathan G. Brown, Brett Deledio, Alan Didak, Stuart Dew, Nathan Thompson, Leroy Jetta, Cyril Rioli, Kurt Tippett.

This is almost the complete opposite of the Peckin Away team strategy which won DT last year. Where Steve starts five rookies, Casha starts none. Casha spends big on only six premium-priced players, where many others would have 10-12. The fact that Houli starts on his bench only underlines how little Casha values rookies in his structure.

This method requires a huge amount of faith in mid-priced players. Some of them look like genius picks based on round 1 performances, such as Dew, Nathan Thompson, King and Bateman. Others are not so hot, like Swallow, Brown and Didak. His round 1 score was just inside the top 30,000 so he has a lot of ground to make up. It will be interesting to see how many premiums he can manage to trade up to by season’s end… his trade targets will have to deliver in spades!

Those of you who bought the NAB Cup ‘08 AFL Record would have been interested to see an article about Steve Morfesse, winner of the 2007 AFL Dream Team with his Peckin Away squad. Amongst tales of his derring-do were snippets about how he only made one trade before round 8 due to his travelling in Europe, how much he valued his bench and how much research he did before the season. This year, Steve’s Peckin Away team starts as follows:

Backs: Chad Cornes, Joel Bowden, Heath Shaw, Brett Jones, Martin Mattner, Adam Hartlett, Jake Edwards, Scott D. Thompson, Albert Proud.
Centres: Jimmy Bartel, Kane Cornes, Daniel Cross, Nick Stevens, Ricky Dyson, Kieran Jack, Craig Bird, Cale Morton.
Rucks: Dean Cox, Troy Simmonds, Cameron Wood, Matthew Kreuzer.
Forwards: Matthew Pavlich, Nick Riewoldt, Jonathan Brown, Brett Deledio, Jason Porplyzia, Cyril Rioli, Kurt Tippett, Ryan Gamble, Jarryd Morton.

I like this team a lot, especially from a structural point of view. He’s starting five rookies, which is consistent with the high-risk strategy that wins championships. You could point at Dyson, Deledio and Hartlett as poor picks given their round 1 performances, but that’s not the point - the structure is the thing that gets you there. I particularly like how he has spent big on Kornes and Jimmy, in line with his comments in the AFL Record article about how he likes to buy “the absolute best players in the game”. This is where I differ in thinking from those who are on the bandwagons of both Lenny Hayes and Cross due to their prices being slightly deflated compared to their best previous form, as opposed to spending top dollar to get Kane or Jimmy. I have tried to follow Steve’s lead and not pinched pennies with my premiums.

The one big flaw in Steve’s team based on round 1 scores is that too much faith is being placed in mid-priced younger players and not enough in mid-priced older players whose prices are discounted due to recent long-term injuries. Stuart Dew, Brett Burton, Nathan Thompson, Daniel Bradshaw, Tadhg Kennelly, Mark Nicoski… these names are under-represented in elite teams but they all delivered on the Easter weekend. Then again, it’s a long season and those old bones may start creaking again while the young pups are still jumping around. We shall see!

Backs:
Chad Cornes (vc), Joel Bowden, Andrew McLeod, Martin Mattner, Brad Symes, Daniel Bradshaw, Nathan J. Brown.
Scott D. Thompson (e), Albert Proud.

Midfielders:
Adam Goodes (c), Nick Stevens, Bryce Gibbs, Bachar Houli, Travis Tuck, Kieran Jack.
Craig Bird (e), Jarryn Geary.

Rucks
Jeff White, Darren Jolly.
Matthew Kreuzer, Shaun Hampson.

Forwards:
Matthew Pavlich, Nick Riewoldt, Brad Johnson, Jonathan Brown, Steve Johnson, Brett Deledio, Stuart Dew.
Kurt Tippett (e), Cyril Rioli.

I’m much happier with this team than my DT team, notwithstanding Gibbs’ round 1 performance. He’s easily replaceable.

For those few of you who had been hanging out to see it, here it is.

Backs:
Chad Cornes (vc), Joel Bowden, Heath Shaw, Brad Symes, Mark Nicoski, Xavier Ellis, Scott D. Thompson.
Lachie Hansen, Albert Proud.

Midfielders:
Kane Cornes (c), Nathan Jones, Nick Stevens, Bryce Gibbs, Travis Tuck, Craig Bird.
Jarryn Geary (e), Cale Morton.

Rucks:
Jeff White, Troy Simmonds.
Cameron Wood, Matthew Kreuzer.

Forwards:
Jonathan Brown, Matthew Pavlich, Nick Riewoldt, Steve Johnson, Brad Johnson, Stuart Dew, Nathan Thompson.
Kurt Tippett (e), Cyril Rioli.

I’m not entirely happy with it. Gibbs has let me down already, albeit he did play in the middle for most of the game which is an improvement over back pocket. Another 50-odd and Gibbs is highly likely to get subbed out before round 3 for whoever looks more like this year’s Matt Priddis. I would have liked more time to go over the rookies who are actually playing in round 1… but that’s a topic for another post.

daniel writes:

i was wondering where i can submit my team for it to be reviewed…it would be greatly appreciated to get some feedback from someone who really knows what they are talking about….

Team: Danz DEEstroyers
Coach: Daniel
Competition: Dream Team
As at round: 5
Ranking: 592
Money Left: $14,800

Backs: Jordan McMahon, Jess Sinclair, Grant Birchall, Darren Milburn, Joel Bowden, Jed Adcock, Justin Koschitzke, Xavier Ellis, David Trotter

Centres: Scott West, Cameron Bruce, Kane Cornes, Sam Mitchell, David Rodan, Joel Selwood, Bryce Gibbs, Richard Hadley

Rucks: Aaron Sandilands, Dean Cox, Ben Hudson, Patrick Ryder

Forwards: Chad Cornes, Matthew Lloyd, Dale Thomas, Angus Monfries, Damon White, Lance Franklin, Alwyn Davey, Tom Hawkins, Aaron Edwards

I like this team! A ranking of 592 is just reward for a team this good. Unlike most teams I’ve seen, Daniel has gone with two premium rucks, which is guaranteed to get a high score from me. Patrick Ryder on the bench is also a good get, I don’t think many people would have picked him as a fantasy sleeper this year. No doubt a lot of that high ranking has been due to solid captain choices, and with West and Kornes in your side you never have to suffer a dud captain’s score.

The only query I’d have on this team is that it’s too top-heavy in the centres, with four premiums and only two rookies, while the forwards are filled with less than impressive mid-tiers. Lloyd has underperformed badly this year and that was predictable given the extent of his injury last year, though in Dan’s defence not many would have predicted that Kevin Sheedy would use Lloyd up the field in a different role. Monfries is too inconsistent to merit a long-term spot. White just doesn’t get enough of the ball to be a decent fantasy player… I’m guessing Dan was taking the chance that he’d step up this season in the early-season absence of Warren Tredrea but that didn’t quite work out.

The big advantage to Dan’s strategy is that there are two golden trade targets coming up in the next couple of weeks. Dan is in an excellent position to buy the aforementioned Tredrea and Nick Riewoldt, probably getting rid of White and Monfries in the process. After that, all he needs is to upgrade Lloyd to a true premium like Matthew Pavlich and he can leave everything but his rookies alone.

-1 for Lloyd and -0.5 for Monfries and White, giving a score of 8/10… which looks rather harsh in retrospect. A solid team that a lot of coaches could learn from. Good luck Dan!