I'm going to give votes for the best and worst picks of each round and tally them up to see where we land. it won't just be a 3-2-1 each round though, sometimes there might be 3 blokes with 3 votes and other times there might be a 5 votes and a 1 vote as there was only one real shocker. And I won't be rewarding blokes who delayed their picks and managed to nab a bloke who broke out i.e. Paul nabbing Nicholls in round 30 after he'd gunned it etc. 1. Jabba - Lance Franklin 2. Brett - Scott Pendlebury 3. Morgie - Gary Ablett jr 4. Paulfromoz - Trent Cotchin 5. Nino - Joel Selwood 6. Jager - Patrick Dangerfield 7. Theo - Dane Swan 8. Harps - Marc Murphy 9. Diggler - Jobe Watson 10. Jimmy_C8 - Josh P. Kennedy 11. Shagger - Tom Hawkins 12. Skippos - Nic Naitanui 13. Benny - Matthew Pavlich 14. Mousey/Teacups - Harry Taylor 15. MightyPies/Heef - Scott Selwood 16. Masters - Sam Mitchell 17. Masters - Scott Thompson (Adelaide) 18. MightyPies/Heef - Jack Riewoldt 19. Mousey/Teacups - Dayne Beams 20. Benny - Chris Judd 21. Skippos - Nat Fyfe 22. Shagger - Luke Hodge 23. Jimmy_c8 - Travis Cloke 24. Diggler - Taylor Walker 25. Harps - Andrew Swallow 26. Theo - Kurt Tippett 27. Jager - Cyril Rioli 28. Nino - Nick Riewoldt 29. Oz - Joshua J. Kennedy 30. Morgie - Bryce Gibbs 31. Brett - Drew Petrie 32. Jabba - Jarryd Roughead 33. Masters - Brett Deledio 34. MightyPies/Heef - Dean Cox 35. Mousey/Teacups - Mitch Clark 36. Benny - Zac Smith 37. Skippos - Rory Sloane 38. Shagger - Aaron Sandilands 39. Jimmy_c8 - Ivan Maric 40. Diggler - Sam Jacobs 41. Harps - Todd Goldstein 42. Theo - Matthew Kreuzer 43. Jager - Jimmy Bartel (traded to Mousey/Teacups) 44. Nino - Ben McEvoy 45. Oz - Shane Mumford 46. Morgie - Will Minson 47. Brett - Matthew Leuenberger 48. Jabba - Steele Sidebottom 49. Jabba - Lewis Jetta 50. Brett - Matthew Boyd 51. Morgie - Jack Darling 52. Paulfromoz - Brendon Goddard 53. Nino - Ryan Griffen 54. Jager - Hamish McIntosh 55. Theo - Michael Hurley 56. Harps - Justin Westhoff 57. Diggler - Ben Reid 58. Jimmy_C8 - Ted Richards 59. Shagger - Corey Enright 60. Skippos - Paddy Ryder 61. Benny - Kieran Jack 62. Mousey/Teacups - Jonathon Patton 63. MightyPies/Heef - Nathan Brown (Collingwood) 64. Masters - Daniel Talia Jabba: Franklin, Roughead, Sidebottom, Lew Jetta Brett: Pendlebury, Petrie, Leuenberger, Boyd Morgie: Ablett, Gibbs, Minson, Darling Paul: Cotchin, JJ Kennedy, Mumford, Goddard Nino: J Selwood, N Riewoldt, McEvoy, Griffen Jager: Dangerfield, Rioli, Bartel, McIntosh Theo: Swan, Tippett, Kreuzer, Hurley Harps: Murphy, Swallow, Goldstein, Westhoff Diggler: Watson, Walker, Jacobs, Reid Jimmy: JP Kennedy, Cloke, Maric, Richards Shagger: Hawkins, Hodge, Sandilands, Enright Skippos: Naitanui, Fyfe, Sloane, Ryder Benny: Pavlich, Judd, Z Smith, Jack Mousey: Taylor, Beams, Clark, Patton MP/Heef: S Selwood, J Riewoldt, Cox, N. Brown There were several rushes in the first few rounds. First up, most people tried to secure an elite midfielder. second up, people tried to secure an elite key forward. third, people tried to secure a ruck and fourth, well, that came down to needs. There were 7 teams who went mid/KF/ruck in that order for their first three picks and another two who went those three in a different order. In some cases it was a case of beating the rush, in other cases trying to snaffle something out of nothing. The first round definitely saw elite midfielders as the key theme with 11/16 picks being them, including 9 out of the first 10. I can't really criticise anyone who picks up Dane Swan at pick 7, while Dangerfield at pick 6 was an excellent choice too. Pendlebury, Ablett, Cotchin and J Selwood and Watson were all picked up at slots you wouldn't really complain about either. Marc Murphy certainly was a bolter, after his 2013 he probably wasn't worthy of the first round, perhaps not even the second and JP Kennedy's 2013 probably should have seen him slide to the early second. Mitchell was a good pick for his versatility and experience, a player who's perenially underrated while Harry Taylor being the first key defender to go is certainly nothing to be surprised about. Naitanui probably offers the most of any ruck for a dynasty game like this so it's no surprise to see him go while at the time Hawkins was probably the #1 key forward around, but with the benefit of hindsight it was a shocker. Best picks of round 1: 3. Swan (Theo) 2. Dangerfield (Jager) 1. Mitchell (Masters) Worst picks of round 1: 4. Pavlich (Benny) - absolute shocker. Not even close to the best KPF around and has age against him 2. Murphy (Harps) - needs to learn to shake a tag before being grouped with the elite midfielders 2. Hawkins (Shagger) - his back injuries have rendered him near a spud. perhaps harsh given foresight isn't really a human trait, but it's still a bad pick 1. S Selwood (MP) - he can tag and accumulate, no worries, but out of an elite midfielder you want more - like leadership, efficiency and the ability to score goals. Selwood lacks this The second round saw the KPF rush. 8/16 picks were KPFs while most of the rest were midfielders. Dayne Beams was an excellent pick, his usage and accumulation is second to none and really, he should have been a first round pick. Fyfe too is a love-child of most on here and deserved to go higher, he's got the x-factor, the versatility, the composure and the marking to really be a star midfielder in this. As for the key forwards, There's no way Roughead should have been the 10th KF picked. Not only does he score the most goals at the moment, but he can backup in the ruck, back up if a defender goes down and he wins a lot of his own ball. Should have been a first round pick. All the other KFs were a much of a much. I'd probably have picked Cloke, Walker and Riewoldt ahead of the others but it's really down to personal choice. Gibbs was a stinker of a pick, if the bloke was a 3rd round draft pick he'd have slid to the 6th round. Thompson too, absolutely offensive pick, bloke's a role player nowadays and not much more thanks to his offensive footskills Best picks of round 2: 5. Roughead (Jabba) 3. Beams (Mousey) 3. Fyfe (Skippos) 1. N. Riewoldt (Nino) Worst picks of round 2: 6: Thompson (Masters) - words need not be said. Awful 4. Gibbs (Morgie) - covered above 2. Hodge (Shagger) - he's just not that flash anymore. He's handy, he's great to have but he's not a top pick 2. J. Riewoldt (MP) - he doesn't win enough of his own ball. limited touch player and as your #1 forward and 2nd pick you want a bloke who does more that score goals. You want someone who'll set them up too Round three was the ruck rush with 11 rucks and 1 half ruck picked. Sandilands and Cox are still the best rucks in the game and that can't be argued, and for that reason them being the first to go was fitting. Harps did well to snaffle Goldstein after Maric and Jacobs had been picked as, well, Goldstein is just far better at the tap than Jacobs and Maric - while Maric offers more around the ground Goldy offers more pressure around the bounce which is more important. Leuenberger was a nice pickup so late as he's got the potential to be anything and in a game like this that's important, while Kreuzer stands as a high risk/high reward pick but if you wanted a likable ruck who could go forward - Ryder was a better bet. This season will decide Mumford and whether he was a good pickup; the new ruck rules have boned both he and Jacobs but if they can adjust they'll be worthwhile. Sloane was someone who certainly jumped the gun - especially when blokes like Griffen, Jack and Goddard were left - but for me he was a personal favourite and complimented Fyfe well. Didn't want too many cooks in the kitchen. Best picks of round 3: 3. Cox (MP) 3. Sandilands (Shagger 2. Goldstein (Harps) 1. Leuenberger (Brett) Worst picks of round 3: 7: Smith (Benny) - if Smith is even close to the 3rd best ruck in the comp then I'm fucked. I wouldn't have him in the top 15 despite his potential. He was a terrible pick. Awful pick 3. Clark (Mousey) - he just doesn't have enough runs on the board yet. I appreciate that the genuine fwd/rucks had gone and structurally he offers a lot, I reckon Mousey'd have been better off picking up someone else and then nabbing a weaker fwd/ruck later. At Brisbane he was quite good as a ruckman and if picked as a ruck it was an early pick but not an awful one, but when played as a ruck/fwd there he scored half a goal a game and 10 hitouts a game. He occupied space. Yeah, he's got about 50 goals in 30 odd games for Melbourne which shows nice signs but he needs a bigger sample unfortunately 2. Sloane (Skippos) - there were better, quite simply 1. Jacobs (Diggler) - he was absolute gash last season. Absolute gash. Not AFL standard. Only reason he doesn't get more votes is that he's been elite before. Let's hope the new ruck rules are something he can adjust to. Round 4 was a bit of a 'tie up loose ends' round. A few went for completing their midfield, some stared off with their key backs and others nabbed a ruck or a key forward. Kieran Jack was an excellent pick, wonderful even while I really rated the Talia pick from Masters - Talia's got a track record of blanketing the best and offers a reasonable kick out of defence. No way should Goddard have lasted this long, as a small defender he's elite and as a midfielder he's one of the best. Same goes for Griffen who was a top 5-10 AFL midfielder last season. Westhoff is one of the most valuable players in the league nowadays IMO and offers excellent ruck relief while given all the rucks that went last round, there's no way that Ryder - who's equal to most of them but can also rest forward well or hold a key defensive slot should have slipped. A few shockers though, which I'll get to later Best picks of round 4: 4. Griffen (Nino) 4. Jack (Benny) 3. Goddard (Paul) 3. Westhoff (Harps) 2. Ryder (Skippos) 1. Talia (Masters) Worst picks of round 4: 7: Jetta (Bots) - can he even make an AFL best 22 nowadays? Has pace and excitement but fuck all else 6: McIntosh (Jager) - if you wanted to pick a B grade ruck with serious injury problems plenty were available in round 20. Ryder was picked after this. Grundy, Simpson, Nicholls, Clarke, Bellchambers, Griffin, Hale, Lobbe, Nicholls all went after this and all are better rucks. Heck, even Jamar. 4. Brown (MP) - at best he's a blanket who shuts his man down but offers absolutely nothing offensively. At worst he gets monstered by elite key forwards. Picked by virtue of the club he played for, not his ability.
1) Had he done anything of note in the many seasons before that 2) Does anyone expect him to replicate that form? 3) Old
Still happy with Selwood given where in the 1st round I was picking. Cox has proven he's going to be a gun in this with his pre-season results. MP's picks coming out 'worse' than mine so far (Selwood/Cox vs. Riewoldt/Brown)
Wish I was a part of this from the beginning of the draft. I would've drafted differently to how Shagger did.
