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Let the 2026 AFL Fantasy Season Begin! #PODPOD
3.5k Plays1 day ago
It’s been a long pre-season, Round 0 has been and gone and we are now just hours away from the first rolling lock-out of 2026. We have all the information we will get, decisions must be made as coaches now embark on the quest to win the upgraded Tundra. The podcast was delayed so that the most up to date information could be presented.. It is now officially game on!
In this episode, Holmesy, Lewy and Jordy talk strategy and structure, discussing key players that have risen or dropped in ownership as the pre-season has progressed. They discuss opening round bolters with hidden breakevens and price rises as well as answer a stack of listener questions.
PODPOD Team Names
Holmesy - Holmesysheroes
Lewy - Hawk Tuah (Pittonet Thang)
Harmey - Hirdy’s Heroes
Sam - Mandaclawrian FC
Jordy - AIRJORDAN
PODPOD Challenge - Join the community!
League code: JXR8EF6M
Ask me on Qu
- Podpodafl has once again partnered with Qu platforms in 2026 to help answer your afl fantasy questions
- During the season - Selby and Holmesy will be recording a podcast late in the week to answer general questions and themes
- For a guaranteed answer and to help support the PODPOD, for a small fee you have the ability to have a personalised audio response to your afl fantasy questions
- There is the ability for full team reviews, questions on individual players and during the season there is the ability to ask trade questions, vc/c options and many more
- Head to https://askmeonqu.com/podpodafl now!
The PODPOD is brought to you by Moreira’s Magic in 2026. All Holmes Files episodes will be available exclusively as a part of the 2026 Season Guide. As well as the podcasts, the Season Guide will also include:
- Player profiles and comments for all players in the AFL
- Best 22’s from the MM team
- Draft rankings
- DVP
- Strength of schedule
- Market Share
- Podcasts with Selby and Xavier Ellis
- Holmes Files episodes exclusive to the guide
- Much much more!
The guide is now live! A must have for any serious Fantasy coach head over to moreirasmagic.com.au/ to order now! The guide will be updated right up until the start of round 1 and the in-season content begins
Follow us on X:
The PODPOD: @podpodAFL
Holmesy: @Holmesysheroes
Lewy: @AFLewy
Harmey: @jonharmey
Sam: @grillis03
Jordy: @jordandsena
Dossy: @HKdos
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Transcript
Introduction and AFL Fantasy Achievements
00:00:07
JORDAN DSENA
Thank you.
00:00:18
Holmesy
G'day and welcome to the Pod Pod brought to you by Moreira's Magic. I'm your host Holmesy, three-time top 10 finisher and twice runner-up in AFL Fantasy Classic.
00:00:29
Holmesy
Bit of an apology to the listeners, obviously our normal recording day is a Monday, we've had to push
Round One Excitement and Team Locking
00:00:35
Holmesy
it back. push it back. our Life's got in the way, but at the same time, we thought this was a good opportunity to have the most up-to-date information as round one kicks off tomorrow and the 2026 AFL fantasy season officially begins.
00:00:51
Holmesy
As always, we have our perennial top 1K finisher and pod pod stalwart Louie with us today, mate. How are you? bet excited for round one to kick off tomorrow.
00:01:01
Lew
I'm good, mate. I can't wait for tomorrow. We're finally going to start locking in some of these teams. with We've only been podcasting for about three or four months now.
00:01:09
Holmesy
Thank you.
00:01:10
Lew
So it's ah it's starting to get real. And I just can't wait. It's going to be so much fun. And then this time next week, we'll be talking about our trade. So it all comes around quite quickly.
00:01:24
Holmesy
It's the the height of optimism. We all are, we all believe that we've got the the Tundra winning team and that nothing can fail. And then this time next week, we'll absolutely be scrambling to fix all of the holes that we have in our sides.
00:01:31
Lew
Thank you.
00:01:38
Holmesy
And to be honest, I can't wait for it.
Apology and Connor Buterick Welcome
00:01:41
Holmesy
And we'll call them a special guest. It's been a while, but before we do that, Jordy, do have, I do have something I need to say to you.
00:01:51
Holmesy
Okay. I'm sorry, you were wrong. I was, no, sorry, I was wrong. You were right. You're tall, I'm short.
00:02:04
Holmesy
You were patient. I was reactive. You are honest. I was defensive. Connor Buterick, you've nailed it. Welcome back.
00:02:14
JORDAN DSENA
Hell yeah. Hey boys, yeah, good to be back. I flew in this morning actually from Europe, so I was meant to come back last week, but it's good to be back and it's been about four weeks and I've been listening to Pod Pod every week and um yeah, it's good to see Budarik 30% owned now in teams. So i was watching there in in London, so um but yeah, that was quite nice there, Homsi.
00:02:39
Holmesy
I tell you what, you're always ah you're always pretty active in the group chats and you like to you like to let us know when yeah when you're up and about with with something that you've called when when others have gone against you. And in that game on Sunday night when Butterick was lighting it up, you were you were very quick to let us know that you are you'd called it and you were you were there all along. But as Vams, our good friend says, unfortunately, there's no bonus points in this game for being early.
00:03:06
JORDAN DSENA
I know, know. It would have been nice. But yeah, it's good to for him to put up that 94. That's a bit more than I probably expected, to be honest. I was happy with about a 75-80. So had the role and looked really good. So happy to lock him in there. I think I've got him at F5 at the moment. So ah yeah, and that group chat was good fun on, ah was it Saturday? Saturday morning for me.
00:03:32
Holmesy
yeah Yeah, true. True, the time zones. Yeah, no, it's very interesting talking points. I mean, he's just become a template pick now. We talk about the opening round cheat code, but you put up a score like that in ah in a game with that particular role. And yeah, we're not sure whether he's going to have eight kick-ins each week as Dale gets his fitness back and whatnot. But there was a there was a clear direction to get him the ball and and he was winning his own ball too, not the role I expected. And I'll put my hand up and say that I wasn't as interested, but now I definitely am.
Pod Challenge Invitation and Team Strategy
00:04:03
Holmesy
Before we get stuck into the podcast, just a reminder about the Pod Pod Challenge. so I think I looked in there today and we've got about 650 guys in there and girls competing for the Pod Pod Challenge this year. So that's really pleasing to see. So if you haven't joined that, the lead code is in the show description below and can be found at the top of our Twitter page. So go and check that out. And and as always, from last year, the winner of the Pod Pod Challenge will receive a custom AFL Fantasy ring from our friends over at supercoachchampion.com. But let's get stuck straight into some general team discussion. And what I want to start with, boys, is now that we're on the eve of round one, we've done all of our tinkering, really, outside of a few maybe decisions to make around teams tomorrow. But, Jordy, in terms of your sort of structure,
00:04:52
Holmesy
Where have you landed at the moment in terms of the number of rookies that you're now fielding, at least in round one, and then sort of these mid prices that you're dabbling in as well?
00:05:04
JORDAN DSENA
Yep, so are we counting Blackiston as a ah rookie or a mid-pricer?
00:05:10
Holmesy
Let's go a rookie. So let's say under 400K are rookies.
00:05:13
JORDAN DSENA
Yep. So at the moment, I have actually six rookies on field. So Blackiston, they're a and D6, I've got a Jax. And then M7 and M8, I'm running rookies. And then a F6 or NR2. So that's the six there.
00:05:31
JORDAN DSENA
um that's how I'm currently structured. I've probably got three mid-prices. Or I guess you'd catch would you count Parish and Houston as an underpriced primo potentially?
00:05:44
Holmesy
Let's yeah it's yeah, let's go under price primos for those. That's best case, obviously, but yeah, yeah's let's call that. So
00:05:52
JORDAN DSENA
So I've got, yeah, about three mid-prices and six rookies, and that's how I'm structured up at the moment.
00:05:59
Holmesy
very, very interesting. I'll get to mine in a sec, but Lou, how are you looking?
00:06:04
Lew
Yeah, I reckon I'm looking the exact same, actually. I've got the six rookies on field, so under 400K. In terms of mid prices, have we got? One, two, three, four.
00:06:20
Lew
I've probably got five or six mid prices as well, to be honest with you. So... um Yeah, quite similar to Geordie, I think. So ah yeah, I'm still a little bit up in the air on on like basically one or two picks and where they actually settle, but feeling good about locking in this weekend, that's for sure.
00:06:40
Holmesy
Yeah, well, that just shows once again, there's there's lots of different ways to play this game and I'll i'll put my hand up straight away is that I'm very, very different to you boys as it stands. So I only have the four rookies on field at the moment. So obviously including Blackiston as a rookie and I've got the six mid prices there. So it's Yeah, it's it's interesting. i I kind of like the idea of being a little bit more mid-priced heavy to start round one when it is best 22 and we still don't have all of the information that we might need to have moving into rounds two, three, four for the for the opening round buys. But yeah, I like the idea of being able to adjust my structure on the fly and potentially going down to bring another rookie on field and and maybe bringing in another scorer um once we start to to reach those those weeks with the buys where we need the ceiling scores. but
00:07:28
Holmesy
Yeah, very, very interesting. In terms of Louis, you were very big early days about wanting flexibility in your side and you've toyed with having i player in your midfield that has either mid-forward status for flexibility or mid-defender status to be able to throw things around there. Are you still keen to explore that avenue if the options arise or have you gone back to more of a traditional approach?
00:07:54
Lew
ah it It does change every now and then, but I think I will be running a mid-forward in the fall in the midfield line. And depending on whether or not, if you count Grittle, I've got that defensive link down back as well. So that that flexibility hasn't changed, I think,
00:08:12
Lew
and There's probably a little bit more confidence in the forwards than what there was when that initially happened, but I think that can flip on a dime as well. like i'm I'm still not completely sold on on blokes. like you know Even a Budarik, for example, even though we we've given him a big shout out, that could go south very quickly. so Keeping in mind, I might want to get out of that line quite quickly.
Ruck Position Debate
00:08:33
Lew
i really want that flexibility through that midfield.
00:08:36
JORDAN DSENA
you
00:08:37
Holmesy
Yeah, don't hate that at all, Jordy. We'll have a bit of the R2 debate and discussion now. So I suppose there's there's two camps at the moment. let's let's go Let's start with the McAndrew R2.
00:08:51
Holmesy
So coaches that are running McAndrew at r two I think there's going to be two two camps here. There's going to be those coaches that run the R2 and then maybe you want to throw that position away. But also at the same time, maybe they start with The Brisbane guy, what I can't even say his name, but ZZ, we'll call him as his nickname, as maybe a bit of a cash riser over the first couple of weeks and then probably loses his spot once they get the troops back.
00:09:18
Holmesy
Or there's the camp of you know so trying to start a value option, whether it be, I suppose, CDT, but probably he's more in the ZZ camp or or maybe even a Vicentini as someone that can you know maybe go that 10, 15, 20 points above their starting price and at least make a little bit of cash. Where are you seeing all that at the moment?
00:09:37
JORDAN DSENA
Yeah, I think the biggest thing was the surprise of Dante. So obviously quite hyped in the preseason and he's actually only 4% owned. So I thought he'd be a bit higher than that. And that is basically, yeah, surprised me.
00:09:50
JORDAN DSENA
Um, And I guess that got me thinking, you know everyone's going have McAndrew. He's at R2, R3. It just seems risky if you're to have him r two and then you're going to go ZZ at R3.
00:10:01
JORDAN DSENA
But 20% of people are doing that. So that just got me interested and put it on this up paper here on our run sheet because I just thought Dante might have been a little bit higher if he wanted to go on for down that down that route, which is one that I'm looking at quite heavily, just in case of McAngie. We even heard today on Twitter or X um about Rob, you know, potentially there's a bit of hype there, him coming in maybe. So that's just my main concern there. and I just wanted to sort of put it on the run sheet.
00:10:35
Holmesy
So, yeah, I suppose the the important thing to kind of think in this situation is that people will say that 500-odd K for Dante is a lot to sit on the bench, but really it's the same spend as if you had him at R2 and McAndrew was at R3. So you are still, you know, if you did have McAndrew at R2 and then ZZ or a red dot at R3, that's extra cash that you can spend elsewhere to... to bolster your field. But the point you make is right is, you know, how, how many weeks are we going to get out of McAndrew, Dante and, and ZZ before, you know, it might become a bit of an issue. So Louis, can you see any argument where coaches want to play McAndrew at R3, but still go, maybe not two big dog rucks, but you know, a big dog and some value in terms of a a Briggs or another option?
00:11:21
Lew
Yeah, absolutely. I think like Jordy mentioned, ah you know having a potential out plan if if Andrew does have to share that ruck or if he's even dropped is probably a wise choice. um Ultimately, I do think as long as you do go in with a plan on how to get out of that situation, you should be fine. But there's definitely some rucks that you know we're looking at R2 that could be quite interesting.
00:11:46
Lew
um so yeah it's really about just making sure that you're assessing all your options and being able to to sort of backflip out of something that you might be a little bit uncomfortable with but you know i thought you know briggs was okay on the weekend i thought certainly his first quarter what was elite shown what he can actually score and what he can do he faded out of the game which unfortunately has been a little bit of a trend in the last year or so but um Yeah, I'm still really open to a couple of these R2s. You could even pit net thing.
00:12:18
Holmesy
You had to get it in there. You had to get it in there. Don't don't mind that. And for for anyone that might not have seen, so obviously Liam Reedy has been dropped. So Pitnett will be the solo ruck and Lou is definitely considering going there. No, just kidding. But I mean, we are going to have options hopefully in the next few weeks, right? So like a Draper is not going to be too far away in terms of he might even be named this week. We don't have teams yet.
00:12:43
Holmesy
does a Liam Reedy come in at some stage? So anytime we can have a sort of ruck forward option to be able to swing around in there and add flexibility is going to be a good thing. And, you know, who knows this Blackiston role might last longer than five or six weeks if Brian doesn't make it back or or he cements his spot. and And no doubt he'll then have defender ruck status, which will add flexibility into your sides as well. So it's very interesting to see which way coaches are going.
00:13:09
Holmesy
And it's going to be a big talking point this time next week. But, Jordy, let's have this one final discussion before we we have a few little
Player Considerations for Upcoming Games
00:13:18
Holmesy
segments today. And that is Harry Sheasel.
00:13:21
Holmesy
So it's been a big talking point all preseason, whether you start him, whether you don't start him. We all know the numbers of what he scores as ah as a full-time midfielder, but we do know that in his short career, he's been a bit of a Swiss Army knife where they do throw him around midfield, defence and forward.
00:13:38
Holmesy
reports today that Colby McKercher was in the midfield and that was a main midfield rotation of LDU, Finno Sullivan, and there was one other I can't remember. And and Parker was actually training at halfback and we've heard that Blamiers is going to debut.
00:13:52
Holmesy
They'll probably go with Caleb Daniel again. So that might suggest that Sheezal still does have that sort of 30% to 40% centre bounce role and still playing forward of the ball. Has your opinion changed on Chisel? Is there any sort of tendency there to to start him more you're still happy to just lock that away?
00:14:10
JORDAN DSENA
I have thought about this a bit more this week. And i think last week we had a lot more forward options. Like there your Toby Greens, your Connor McDonald's, your Philippos. So I feel like there was a bit more of a world of, okay, maybe at Sheasel's price, we've got these other value options.
00:14:26
JORDAN DSENA
Maybe we can start without him, especially coming up against Port. But now that those options have sort of faded away a little bit, like not sure how you guys feel about C-Mac or Philippos, but I've seen them sort of come out of a lot of teams.
00:14:39
JORDAN DSENA
I feel like I've gone back to just putting Sheezo in there. Yes, he plays Port this week. So is that like a flat hundred? He might come down, but I don't know if you had a look at his run after Port.
00:14:49
JORDAN DSENA
He goes into West Coast. He goes Essendon, Carlton, Brisbane might be tough. And then he goes Richmond. And I think Louis made a point earlier in the year. Some of these games are Sundays as well.
00:15:01
JORDAN DSENA
So like next week, you could roll into Sheezo captain against West Coast or against Richmond on a Sunday. in the early rounds of the season, um I've just put him back in there. But there I did sort of have a little think, but I'm a bit scared to go against just with that early run.
00:15:20
Holmesy
Yeah, 100%. yeah a hundred percent It's definitely something to so something to think about. i don't know about you guys. I've always been a bit of a nervous sheasel captain guy. like I shouldn't. He's typically had a ah pretty high floor and has a good ceiling on his day. That that Richmond matchup, after he had 50-odd touches on them and 180 last year, I'd be very surprised if a Jack Ross or someone isn't in his pocket for the entire game. as We know coaches kind of react to that kind of stuff. But...
00:15:49
Holmesy
Lou, that early run is, if you fade in, and I know some coaches will, not a lot, it's going to be a a nervous watch. You might have to turn your phone off on Sundays if that's the case.
00:16:00
Lew
Yeah, that's it. And, you know, I know that that role might be a little bit more forward than so forward of centre. Sorry, it's getting a bit late in the night, but ah he is that guy for North Melbourne. He's the man that they look to to basically get that engine room turning. So...
00:16:17
Lew
I think they're going to continue that way. Yes, he is susceptible for a tag because of that, but you know theyre they're also quite a poor team. So his flexibility kind of works in his favor there where he can go through a number of positions and sort of escape that a bit. So ah yeah, that that fixture is really giving me a lot of FOMO there. So I would really struggle personally to fade him, but I can see a world where it works out really well for coaches. I think if there was...
00:16:45
Lew
Better options without the buy in terms of premiums that really sort of presented some value. I'd seriously look at it a little bit more. But, you know, i look at my midfield. I've got a forward in there. I've got two defenders in there. um I'm really struggling to find a couple of those midfielders that, you know, really present that value without the buy.
00:17:07
Holmesy
Yep, no, they're all great points. so boys, what I wanted to do now is, and it was it was an interesting sort of thing to think about on the way home today, is that every year we kind of have these, we call it template picks, where we kind of put them in our side early in the preseason and
00:17:18
Lew
Thank
00:17:24
Holmesy
And we don't really think about it. And then all of a sudden come round two, three, four, five, they're not as good as what we thought they were going to be. And we, we kind of question why we didn't put too much thought into it. And, and on the flip side as well, we have players that we have in, but then they come out for a particular reason and then we don't consider them again and they end up being good picks. So,
00:17:46
Holmesy
What I've done, and and shout out to the bit in that guys, if yeah're if you're not following them on on Twitter, go and check them out. They do a ah mountain of work behind the AFL fantasy stats. They've given me a little spreadsheet and I've got ownership numbers from...
00:18:01
Holmesy
before the first unofficial practice game and then to now. So we've got these updated ownership numbers and that's going to determine just a little bit of a discussion point around some of the big movers. Now, there's some very obvious ones in terms of your McAndrews, your Jarks and note those types that have now come in because A, that they're playing but they put up big opening round scores. So we're not going to talk about that. But, Louis, the first one I'm going to is going to give you your props because...
00:18:29
Holmesy
you put your You put your balls on the line early in the preseason and you got roasted a little bit for this, but you backed yourself in and and we did as well. But Tanner Bruin, four This is adjusted ownership numbers, by the way, so I've completed sides.
00:18:43
Holmesy
But before the first practice game, he was at 4.7% owned and he's now at 54.5% owned. So massive from Tanner Bruin.
00:18:51
Lew
Wow.
00:18:53
Holmesy
And once again, no points for calling it early, but halfback role confirmed in both the practice games and round zero. Is he someone that we just lock away?
00:19:02
Lew
Yeah, yeah, absolute lock. The break even is already moving. So I think that's one that you put in your midfield now and hope that the role continues. And yeah, if just there's not much more I can say about this guy. I've been spruiking more preseason. Yeah. it's kind of come to fruition so far. Hopefully he can continue to get it done and make, you know, he's priced at 500K. So I'm hoping he can get us up to, you know, 750, areas. And we know that a team like Geelong, that should be really advantageous for his fantasy scoring. We saw Baz Smith, what he was able to do. I'm certainly not comparing the two from last season, but um I think he's one that they're going to want to get the ball in the hands of it half back. And,
00:19:44
Lew
you know Someone like ah like a Holmes, for example, who's moved from halfback into a more permanent midfield role should really allow for some points back there because there's not a whole lot of distributors out there. You've got Humphreys. I'm not sure he's quite the accumulator yet. I think Tom Stewart's, there's a little bit of you know father time going on. So, you know yeah, there's definitely a role for him to be carved out. And even if he does rotate a bit of midfield, I still like that, to be honest.
00:20:12
Holmesy
Is there any concern whatsoever in terms of too many of the round two by players in the midfield at and your side? So you talk about a Bruin. We've also got Jagger.
00:20:23
Holmesy
Yes, he's a rookie.
00:20:24
JORDAN DSENA
Thank you.
00:20:24
Holmesy
We like Sam Walsh. Coaches like Will Ashcroft. there's ah There's a multiple of names there. Are you comfortable starting three or does locking in a Bruin and locking in a ah Jagger mean that you might be more likely to fade a Sam Walsh if you're on the fence?
00:20:41
Lew
No, I'm super comfortable with it. ah you know I'd go four as well. you know I look at round three and a lot of coaches have Petrarca, Goulden, one of English or Grundy. There might be a couple of rookies in there as well. So I think as long as you're fielding a pretty competitive, you know at least 23, 24 players each week, then you can get away with it. The important thing is sort of the price points that they represent. Now, round three is a little bit of a log jam. So I think that puts a little bit of an asterisk on a lot of coaches, fantasy teams. We're all in the same boat, so we're all taking that whack, um so to speak. But and these round two guys, Bruins priced at, what, 50?
00:21:22
Lew
ah Jagger Smith is a two hundred and thirty k rookie. Walsh is 93. I think he can go 105 potentially. So they're all representing different amounts of value for me. So I'm happy to take that hit in round two and and keep on trucking along because it's a lot of these guys i'm I'm going to be picking until the mid-season buy anyway.
00:21:41
Holmesy
Jordy, we just had the R2 debate before. Tristan Cherry. So started before the practice matches at 52, well, basically 53% owned and has come all the way down to 18% owned. So there are still some coaches that are choosing to ignore what they've seen to the eye in the preseason. And I'm just assuming that they're going to back in this amazing run that he has to start in terms of rucks.
00:22:09
Holmesy
Are we maybe overthinking this and that we know some players in the preseason just come out and and roll the legs over and then come the real stuff, away they go. Should we still be putting some time into to starting Tristan Cherry? Some thoughts, sorry.
00:22:24
JORDAN DSENA
I think that Cherry, there's been a lot of stuff going out on social media of, I mean, the Marmalade boys, a little video, and there's probably been a bit of hype about him not getting the rules, but he's come out against Dante round one.
00:22:38
JORDAN DSENA
He could probably, he could put up a ton round one. Like, is that out of his possibility? Like, if you said Cherry and Dante 100, I'd be like, oh, okay, you know,
00:22:50
JORDAN DSENA
And then maybe you look at him. I think for me personally, I've gone the the other the other route. I'm going, you know, I'm going to pay off a little bit more. But ah I just wouldn't be surprised against Dante this week if it's a decent score.
00:23:04
JORDAN DSENA
What do you guys think?
00:23:05
Holmesy
Dante, Dante, Blackiston, Flynn, Nank.
00:23:08
JORDAN DSENA
Yeah.
00:23:10
Holmesy
Like the run is insane. Like, yeah, full disclosure. um At this stage, I'm not, but it's just one of those ones. If he comes out and goes 1.15, 1.20 to start the year, you wouldn't you wouldn't be surprised and it would be the the biggest overreaction in the in the fantasy community, Lou.
00:23:26
Lew
I wouldn't be surprised, but I would find it tough to start him at R1 if you're really interested in an English or a Grundy because as soon as you go set and forget, you know, I think most coaches will tell you that he's probably, you know, not a top two ruck. He might be in that three or four. yeah. If that's enough, that's fine. But I think that there's going to be a little bit of a gap between English and Grundy and the rest of the field this year, just based off, you know, a small sample size, but just with how these ruck rules have changed a little bit. So, um you know, you can potentially run him for a majority of the season and that's fine. But I think I would like the opportunity to be able to trade into some of these real top rucks sort of as soon as possible. So,
00:24:09
Lew
You know, I can see the vision. i'm not sure if I would extend out to R2 for a Tristan Sherry.
00:24:17
Holmesy
Yeah, no, that's fair enough. We've got some other big rises. So Blackiston has gone from 12% to 47%. Now that that role is confirmed, coaches are jumping on. We spoke about Buderick before, 2% all the way up to 35%. But I want to talk about a few players where the ownership has actually dropped down and quite significantly and and whether you believe that's fair. So I'll stay with you, Louis.
00:24:42
Holmesy
Zeke Uland was 77% owned, adjusted before these matches and is now less than 40% owned. So still relatively high, but coaches are are jumping off him after his performance on the weekend.
00:24:57
Holmesy
Has the Eagles and has Richmond in his first two games, has a bye and then has Melbourne. In terms of getting a ceiling score from a rookie, it it doesn't get much better. What are your thoughts on Zeke?
00:25:08
Lew
Look, I'm still high on Zeke. I wonder if that ownership has been affected partly because there's been a couple of other rookies that have presented themselves that maybe coaches just feel a little bit more comfortable with. Maybe the break even is moving in the right direction.
00:25:23
Lew
ah Looking at Zeke Uland on the weekend, I really liked his game. Now, understanding that the second half, he went a little bit missing. And I think coaches are really focusing on that. I'd choose to be a little bit more optimistic. I'm sort of looking at that 40-point first half. So that shows a capacity for him to be able to score.
00:25:41
Lew
I think we're kidding ourselves if we are going to sit here and say that rookies aren't going to go missing from quarter to quarter. you know They're rookies. They're young players. They're finding the pace of the game.
00:25:51
Lew
ah In terms of Zeke Olin, he's in a really nice fantasy scoring role on that wing. and he's got the nice fixture to start. So if he comes out and pops a 70 next week, I can see a lot of coaches jumping on him immediately. And then all of a sudden round zero gets forgotten quite quickly because that break even looks a whole lot nicer.
00:26:10
Lew
Um, Yeah, this is a guy that if you were really keen on him before, I would keep in your side. No, the break even is not as low as what some of these other rookies are. But I think what he carries is firstly a good fixture, as I mentioned to begin with. But I think his job security is really rock solid. And he's going to be a guy that builds into the game. You know, he's taken as a high draft pick. He's been highly rated.
00:26:34
Lew
we're sitting here saying that the Suns are a premiership favourite. He's walked straight into it round one or round zero rather. So I'm really bullish on him. And just the eye test told me that this kid's going to have a real future as a footballer and a fantasy scorer for us. So yeah, I really have to say probably it's just been other rookies that have maybe edged in front of him based on that performance.
00:26:58
Lew
But I'm really bullish on him.
00:27:01
Holmesy
Don't mind that take at all, Louis. Jordy, I'll throw you two players. And if listeners want to go back into our Defender podcast that we recorded all the way back in January, we were all very big on these two players. And for one reason or another, they have now found themselves out of a lot of sides. so Colby McKercher before these games was 62% owned. He's now down to owned.
00:27:25
Holmesy
And Myles Bergman was 29% owned and has now found himself at just 9% owned Geordie. So two of these underpriced premiums that we were looking to lock away early in the preseason now find themselves far more unique, albeit Colby still relatively popular. But what do we think about, you know, not having seen these guys in in any of the practice matches and and their roles moving forward?
00:27:50
JORDAN DSENA
Yeah, for sure. I've actually got both these guys still in my team. So a little bit of a reveal, but I'm still keen on the guys. I know they have the injury. It's probably just the injury that is the concern. I saw there was a tweet today about Colby maybe going into the midfield and we touched on it earlier.
00:28:07
JORDAN DSENA
I actually read into one of those tweets last year about him changing role and I actually traded out of him and it actually hurt me because he didn't actually change role. He was behind the balls and he I think he had a lot of score and guys probably remember, but he he actually went on a bit of a run there at the end in our teams as 24th primo.
00:28:29
JORDAN DSENA
I'm happy to to lock it in. like we're We're looking at McKercha as hopefully a 9,500 guy that's pushing that top six. He's priced at 78, is it, or 79? um I think I'm happy to just put him in there. If we see something else, perhaps I could trade out of it.
00:28:46
JORDAN DSENA
It looks like he's fit. So I'm going to keep him in there for now unless things change the next few days. Myles Bergman, I'm keeping in there probably because just because I've been down at Port training and actually watched him.
Myles Bergman and Dan Houston Discussion
00:29:00
JORDAN DSENA
And he's definitely going play midfield. Like, he's going to be a 50% plus midfielder. Horn Francis is forward. In the practice games, they played Jack Watkins, and he played about 50% CBA. So I feel like Bergman and him are just a straight swap.
00:29:15
JORDAN DSENA
Yes, his foot's a bit of a concern, but I'm just going to back him in just from what I've seen out at training. I think if he's got that role, 50% CBAs, he should score 90 plus for us.
00:29:28
Holmesy
Louis, we kind of had this discussion pre-pod, so we'll bring it to the podcast now. So Dan Houston's a bit of a talking point after his 120 on the weekend, going, what, 55, 60 points above what his break-even is.
00:29:42
Holmesy
A little bit different to the Sam Taylor example last year as we've seen multiple years of 90-plus scoring and not being a top-six defender but, you know, being being ah around the edge priced at 67. Would you, like if we still are kind of considering a Colby McEacher a Myles Bergman, but we are a little bit nervous about what their roles are going to be in round one.
00:30:02
Holmesy
do you Do you kind of like the idea of starting a Dan Houston for that instant cash rise and then making a call on his buy in round two, whether you hold him or whether you you have a bit more information about these two and maybe jumping across?
00:30:14
Lew
Yeah, actually do. I think comes he comes in at a really interesting price point. So seven hundred and one k to select, I think if he goes $70K, he'll be about $780K coming out of round one, which is an interesting price point because it allows you an opportunity to either jump off immediately based on what you see,
00:30:35
Lew
and you could go down to a rookie and move something else around with all that change and really create some flexibility in your side to be able to move around and maybe jump on a guy that you missed.
00:30:47
Lew
Or it allows you the flexibility to go up. So it could be a Bergman, it could be a McKerch, or it could be ah one of these premiums if you've got a DPP link somewhere else. So firstly, I really like that. Secondly, think coming in priced at, what, $66,000. This is a guy that, as you said, Holmes, he's gone 90 across multiple years, two-time All-Australian.
00:31:08
Lew
ah The risk here is that if the Pies have changed their game style, and there's been murmurs about that the whole off-season, and if the Pies are going to play this you know very happy, share it around sort of style of football, Dan Houston is going to be a large part of that. They've said they want to give him the ball. I know there's an element of trust that you have there, but you know this isn't a speculative guy. This is a guy that's proven that he can do it before. And I think even if he goes you know if it goes at 86, I'll say right away, it's a massive miss for a lot of coaches. You lose that cash gen, first of all, to start with, but that cash is going to keep on being generated. And, you know, 86, 90, you're sort of clipping at the heels of a top 10 defender, which I think is generally a pretty good starting pick.
00:31:55
Lew
um So a little bit of trust in the role there, I think. I was listening to the traders today and Warnie, mentioned something really interesting to me, which was on the podcast, which was that Tyson Goldsack has come across from Port Adelaide, who was obviously the defensive coach for Port, um over to the Pies. So I think that could play a large role in being able to unlock the potential of a Dan Houston as well. So yeah this was one i immediately sort of thought, oh, this is a trap. And look, the fixture's not great, but I think where the risk lies is that
00:32:29
Lew
you know If this guy is going to fall back into this role and and find his you know his ceiling again or at least his you know rediscover a consistent floor, it could be a really big miss as as a starting pick. And when I think of the worst case scenario being that we make 70, 80K off of this guy and jump in or onto um somebody who's a little bit more advantageous to us after round one with some data,
00:32:57
Lew
You know, I'm seeing this as a really low risk pick now.
00:33:01
Holmesy
Yeah, to to me, it's got more Lockie Ash vibes than Sam Taylor vibes from last year, just having having done it before. Now, I'm not saying he's going to be 100 averaging player and be a top six defender, but you are right.
00:33:13
Holmesy
I i actually think it's quite low risk. And for the Marrera's Magic Season guide holders or even the in-season members now, if you go over to the round zero page, which we're going to talk about in a second, it's got the hidden price and what their hidden break even is.
00:33:26
JORDAN DSENA
Thank
00:33:27
Holmesy
So Dan Houston has already gone up 43K, there they're thereab about. So, He's already priced at around probably 70, 71, and he has a a new break even of 36. So if we get a an 80-odd score out of him, he's going to go up another 40 to 50K.
00:33:44
Holmesy
That's 90K that we've made. And then you're right. We've then got more information to decide, hey, do we trade off him at his buy? do we hold him a little bit long more long-term because we believe he might be able to you know push the top 10 defenders for a little bit more long-term and and get closer to the buy? So...
00:33:59
Holmesy
I really like it at the moment. Yes, he's got the round two buy, but I think that's kind of being a little bit and advantageous for us as well because it will give us an excuse to trade off him if that one game is an outlier and it goes back to seeing the scores that we did last year. But let's go into this now. So let's talk about some of these players that have had these hidden price changes.
00:34:21
Holmesy
We're not going to really look at the rookies too much as, you know, when we talk Jagger, we talk Jakes, we talk Lombard, Sarong, Carroll, Selwood. even at Gallup, I want to talk about Gallup a little bit more. They're all roughly the same where they've made that 30 to 50K already, depending on how they scored, Jagger being the highest and Carroll being the lowest in those examples.
00:34:42
Holmesy
They've all got the really low break evens, which means their price is already moving. So if you like their role, that's free cash for us and and away we go. But Louis, I did want to talk about Ty Gallup because he's someone that you've actually liked throughout the, at least last year. And,
00:34:58
Holmesy
He made the side, even in that stacked Brisbane Lions side from round one. He came in late last year, held his spot in the finals, played really well in that semi and that prelim final before being quiet in the granny. He's come out with a 60.
00:35:12
Holmesy
We're short of rookie options in the forward line. Is he someone that you might consider?
00:35:18
Lew
Yeah, definitely. ah As you said, I was pretty keen on him, as certainly early in the preseason. I think he's a guy that Brisbane have shown that they have a lot of faith in, you know as sort of seen by his final series last year.
00:35:31
Lew
he is a key forward, so the scoring can be up or down, but you know he's sort of proven that in what he's done in opening round that um you know that break even is already moving. So he doesn't need to score a whole heap to make a bit of cash from here.
00:35:46
Lew
We've seen that the Lions have a couple of injuries to their tools as well, which is certainly going to help his job security. I think it was already there anyway, but if anything, it's going to add to a little bit of responsibility.
00:35:58
Lew
um you know Potentially, that that ZZ is going to move a little bit back with the absence of a Harris Andrews and a Was it Gardner as well down back? So maybe that means that he gets a little bit of ruck time. We saw him chop out a little bit in the ruck last season.
00:36:18
Lew
I really like this as a pick. I think um all of a sudden we've got a nice couple of bench options in the forward line, to be honest.
00:36:28
Holmesy
Jordi, we've already spoken about Buderich and Bruin, so we won't we won't do that. But Joe Fonte is a bit of ah a name that's on people's minds at the moment. we've always thought you know We've always liked him as a player from the moment he came in. he was He was quite raw, but he managed to hold his spot for for large parts of last season.
00:36:46
Holmesy
The scoring wasn't there, but we always knew he was going to be a player. We've still got Whitfield and we've still got Ash in that defensive line. And and you made the comment in the group chat that you thought GWS were making an effort to play faster football transitioning from defence rather than chipping it around. And that was kind of evident whether it was match-up based against Hawthorne. But note none of the GWS players or Hawthorne players scored a ton, which we are accustomed to for for GWS. So...
00:37:13
Holmesy
Fonty scores a 90, has 89% time on ground. He's gone up 32K with a break even of 26 now. What are your thoughts on him? my My initial concerns are that, you know, this is a bit of an outlier game at the moment. And if if he was to go back to scoring his 50s and 60s from last year is a bit of a nothing pick. But can you see a world where he elevates to be ah a decent starting pick for us?
00:37:39
JORDAN DSENA
it' such a tough It's such a tough one because, yeah, I do agree. Watching that game, I think the only time I saw Whitfield and Ash chip it to each other was late in the game. So i think it was three or minutes to go and they just were killing a bit of time. So they didn't really do that um at all. And Fonty actually outscored them. So I think he's a good player. Like he's...
00:37:59
JORDAN DSENA
he does have everything that he in this game to be able to be a pretty good defender. Could he go 75, 80? Could he be a good pick? I think he, there's a, there's a world where he could. um For me, it's just like, can you wait another week?
00:38:15
JORDAN DSENA
And if he definitely has that, can you trade into him or is that too late? I think for me, it's just, I'm just, I'm leaving it at the moment, but yeah, I'm not going to not say he could potentially be a better pick than Windsor, who's about the same price range. I know Windsor's got an inside role, but I wouldn't be surprised if he scores more or they're on the same level as a lot of people that picking Windsor in their teams.
00:38:40
Holmesy
Louis, I'll throw you two premiums. And one, we just keep writing off because he's 37 years old and we keep thinking other players are going to come in, take more responsibility, take the role away from him.
00:38:53
Holmesy
But Dane Zorko, 140 on the weekend or there abouts,
00:38:57
JORDAN DSENA
Thank you.
00:38:59
Holmesy
Did that without even having the market share of kick-ins. I noticed that they were sharing it between him, ah Levi, ah sorry, Jasper Fletcher took some, Wilmot took some.
00:39:09
Holmesy
I'm not sure if Coleman had one, but he's obviously around as well. 140 odd. Man, he's so good, right? He's gone up 31K. His new break-even's low at eighty Is there any chance you do it? Because if he gets off to a heater, like we know he can, he could find that himself away from a lot of us very quickly.
00:39:31
Lew
Oh, look, yeah, I mean, I guess he could. um But can he? I mean, he's coming in priced at such a high price point that it's only going to take one down game where he comes plummeting.
00:39:42
Lew
So I think that's a game where you're
00:39:44
Holmesy
is it Is it hot? Like priced at 100 after 110 the year before, like far out.
00:39:50
Lew
Yeah, I think it's a tip of the cap, to be honest with you, Holmesy. I don't know how many 37-year-olds are going from 100 back to 110, think. You know, he certainly took advantage of the game. Certainly the opposition in the Western Bulldogs, obviously,
00:40:06
Lew
Yeah, I just don't think that they're going to want Zorko necessarily doing that every single week when they've got a couple of guys like ah like a Fletcher, like a um Coleman in that side, which they maybe want to get the hands the ball in the hands of. So, yes, ah I can see why coaches would be a little bit interested there. But, yeah, I just don't think it's somebody that I could do.
00:40:31
Holmesy
All right, I'll stay with you then. I'll throw you two teammates in defence. Well, one played defence but a midfielder. So Jack Sinclair, 122. we we were wondering how it's going to look without Nassaya back there and and he rested forward when he wasn't in the midfield. So that's opened up a mountain of opportunity for not only him but Marcus Windhager, who is mid-only but priced around the 80 mark, scored that 116, break-even super low,
Marcus Windhager Analysis
00:40:59
Holmesy
Yeah, talk me through these two players because they're super interesting and the round four buys is quite handy as we we get that four weeks to to assess how it all looks.
00:41:08
Lew
Yeah, well, it's interesting because, you know, you you compare Zorko to Sinclair and you sort of say, well, they're priced at the same point. But what I'm sort of looking at is what's actually changed from the year previous. And I think with Sinclair, the big hole there is is going to be that Messiah Wanganin-Miller is not going to be taking his chips down back. He looks like he's going to be the general back there.
00:41:29
Lew
He's been made the vice captain as well. It might've even been the captain actually. So he's going to be the guy sort of directing the troops. And we know that the saints like to play a little bit of a, ah a fantasy game. ah He's got a great ceiling. He's got quarters where he can, he can bang out sixties quite comfortably and,
00:41:48
Lew
um i just think with a little bit more market share back there that that's a guy that can potentially elevate from his 99 up to 104 105 you know so i'm looking at five to six points upside that's not too far off what we're sort of banking on an errol golden to actually do and um on top of this he's he's potentially a nice little captain option for us so I've got big reps on Jack Sinclair. It's unfortunate that he's got the bye, but I still think there's enough upside that you can still take a look at it.
00:42:20
Lew
And then ah on that other halfback flank, rotating a little bit, Marcus Windhager. Certainly want to get your thoughts on this man, Holmesy. But could he be the guy that that just comes out of left field as a fantasy option? We know that he's shown his chops before. He's been thrown around the ground.
00:42:39
Lew
a little bit by Ross. He has played halfback, scored well. He has played midfield, scored well. He was sort of put in that box of a tagger for a little bit. ah But since then, it seems like the Saints really want to to sort of get him, um you know, playing a big role in this team. They've signed him up to a big deal. And he's had two massive games in terms of fantasy scoring, and he's looked good doing it. So,
00:43:03
Lew
Mid only kind of sucks. I think if he was a defender only, this would be a guy that skyrockets into relevance for a lot of fantasy coaches. But Holmes, I'm keen to hear your thoughts on this one.
00:43:15
Holmesy
Yeah, look, I i think if he if he if you're going to predict him to outdo his price quite significantly in that halfback role, I i think the mid-only status is actually irrelevant as I'm not actually seeing a lot of value in the midfield outside of some of these rookies and a couple of mid-prices and then some of the top-end guys. So,
00:43:33
Holmesy
I'll throw it to Geordie as well, but I mean, it's hard not to take note, right? he we He had that big game in the Amy. I can't remember exactly what it was, but I think it was 120 plus and and now he's backed it up with a 116. Now, I'm not saying he's going to average 116 and we know I'm a big market share guy, but...
00:43:51
Holmesy
You know, his market share for that was was quite high, I think, in the mid-sevens. Yeah, 7.4, which is clearly not sustainable. But we don't need him to be a 116 guy. If he can go from an 80 price point up to a 95, that's going to be someone that we can hold in defense pretty much up until the buy. And if he can nudge 100, then that's still... That's a that's a knockout pick. So...
00:44:12
Holmesy
Jordy, my concern is that Hugo Garcia, if he's dropped from the team, then Windy could potentially be that guy that comes in to play those jobs in the midfield. We didn't have Stocker was out of the side and Hunter Clark's still not there anyway, ah although I think they're probably moving past Hunter a little bit now.
00:44:32
Holmesy
Does Windy interest you?
00:44:34
JORDAN DSENA
You know what this reminds me of? It's a Josh Dacos last year. He had the midfield status. He went at 95. Everyone traded him in. I think they even traded him in when he had midfield status to get the DPP.
00:44:46
JORDAN DSENA
I think Windy can do 95 and I think he can get defender status. round six And if that's close to the top six, which it should should be, as a lot of teams had like a Josh Dacos last year and basically had him all year. So I think it's a good pick as long as he's in that role.
00:45:02
JORDAN DSENA
um Garcia, there's been a bit of talk with Ross about not tagging Dacos, but then I've heard that I didn't really catch a heap of the game, and but Garcia was on him at certain points.
00:45:14
JORDAN DSENA
So I feel like Garcia will stay there. So I guess you have to check the team sheets, but um I don't see why he would move in unless I think Ross is going to stick to this game plan for at least another couple of weeks, unless something, you know, they're getting pumped again and he has to change it. But I think Garcia will be there. It's just my thoughts.
00:45:35
Lew
ah Jack McRae, he played really low time on ground on the weekend, but still was pretty much in all the centre bounces where he was able to be there. Is is that factoring in at all as well, Holmesy, or is it mostly Garcia, who who was just a a nudge higher than some of the other guys in there?
00:45:52
Holmesy
I think it's just that Garcia is playing that role that Windy has done when he's been a midfielder, right? When Windy's had big CBAs in the past, there's been a few games where they let him loose, but really it's in there so he can be that sort of defensive-minded midfielder and and tag at times. And I see that from Garcia. McRae,
00:46:11
Holmesy
He still plays a role for that side. Yes, he's older and slower now and his time on ground's low, but he's that pure impact, go in for 50% of the time, win the ball on the inside, and then they hate when he gets it on the outside with his marks because he doesn't use it terribly well at all and slows it up.
00:46:12
Lew
Thank
00:46:26
Holmesy
But I see that role different to what a windhager would do if he goes into that side. Look, i yeah, I'm interested. I like it. I'm not willing to lock it in right now. Two years ago, three years ago, whenever it was, I can't remember, but we all started Nick Martin at an 85 price point when he had that that defender role. Yes, he went I think he went 108 and turned out to be an absolute smash, which I don't i don't think Windhager will be, Lou, but you know just because he's got midfield status, I don't think that should deter coaches if if they believe he's got that upside.
00:46:58
Lew
No, I agree. I'm with you there. Just one comment. I started Carl Amon that year for for the same reason and and it went the complete other direction too.
00:47:09
Holmesy
yeah well, that's on you, man. You press the button. So I can't help you with that one.
00:47:11
JORDAN DSENA
Haha.
00:47:13
Holmesy
Jordy, I'll throw you two players to finish now before we get on to our listener questions. So two players that had the role on the weekend, didn't score that well,
00:47:25
Holmesy
I'm going to throw you Filippo and he had the role, but it wasn't that 60% centre bounces we were hoping for. it was more that sort of 45% behind your Nassaias, behind your McCrays, behind your Garcias.
00:47:37
Holmesy
And then Kitty Coleman, who scored his 70-odd, played in defence, Didn't set the world on fire, sat a large part of the game in that last quarter, probably when he was spent, but 74% time on ground was probably more than I thought he would get anyway. And that's only going to increase over the next few weeks when he gets fitter.
00:47:55
Holmesy
Talk to me about those two players and, you know, are we writing them off or are we still kind of interested?
00:48:04
JORDAN DSENA
Yeah, I feel like that they're fine. that They're sort of just like, they'll do that 70, 80 job. twenty Maybe they've got 20 points plus, but is that a comp winning pick or is it enough? Could you get that out of a rookie? I think that's where I'm sort of leaning. I think Philippe, he actually did pretty good the first half. I think he would do better this week against Melbourne. I wouldn't be surprised if he...
00:48:24
JORDAN DSENA
you know, i scores at 80 or 90 this week. But now with that 66 in his price, I think I'm just happy to wait. And if his midfield does go up higher and he gets on a bit of a run, maybe we could, you know, look at it after the buy. But I think for me, I've just sort of gone a rookie instead. And that's given me cash to go somewhere else.
00:48:43
JORDAN DSENA
As we, you know, at the top of the show, we sort of, I've gone six rookies, probably a bit more premiums. And that's just where I've gone. But, I think Kitty's going to be, they're going to be good. They're going to make money. I just don't know if it's going to be enough is basically where I'm leaning. And with Kitty, I just, there's obviously a lot of ball back there, a lot of um ah Brisbane defenders. He was playing, I think wing as well. So he's not in the one role. So I'm happy to fade both of those, but they're also going to outdo their price.
00:49:13
Lew
Yeah, just with that transitional game for the Saints and Pies and and such a low amount of stoppages, I did notice that Philippou had the the most contested possessions for the Saints.
00:49:14
Holmesy
Yep.
00:49:24
Lew
so when that flips, which it will, I do think that Philippou will be able to get a little bit more involved. and I do sort of lean on the past a little bit in here, and I know it's a small sample size, but he's an absolute pig in the VFL. He's shown that he can be a really elite scorer in the AFL.
00:49:43
Lew
And I think in terms of the role, it's pretty much there. It's at that 50% CBA mark, which... If we get serious with ourselves, that's exactly what we're looking for in terms of a C-Mac or Josh Rochelle, all these guys that we've shown an interest in and are still in our teams or in a lot of coaches' teams. So priced at 58, I think you can go i think it can go somewhere between 78 and 85, which as a forward, I think is an absolute smash pick.
00:50:12
Lew
I think we can get a little bit blinded by the opening round score. I'm certainly looking at the role ah with Philippou. And I think being in the Saints where they can feed on fantasy points, and we've seen that in both games that they've played so far, that he's won, that that can definitely get off the hook.
00:50:29
Lew
um I'm keen to hear your thoughts on Philippou as well, Holmesy, just because you know he's a guy that's probably fallen out of a lot of coaches' teams in the last week or so.
00:50:40
Holmesy
Yeah, look, he's he's interesting. we were We were kind of hoping that he would have that sort of 60% centre bounce role. I don't think we expected Garcia to have as much as he did.
00:50:51
Holmesy
um And obviously, McRae is still floating around there as well. And like we mentioned, does Windy go back in there? So... I am actually still interested. He's a little bit more inside than I thought he was going to be. Even in the Amy series, he was he he racked up the ball, but it was very much contested possessions, getting it on the inside out with his hands. on I thought he'd be a bit more of ah a big body mark around the ground and and get involved a little bit more in that sense. But...
00:51:16
Holmesy
i'm I'm still interested. I'm not willing to write him off after one game sample size, as you mentioned, was so low stoppage and was just controlled by the defenders. So yeah, Lou, he's someone I'm still interested in.
00:51:29
Lew
do Do you think Garcia you know obviously gave Dacos a little bit of attention if that doesn't continue? And we saw that Jack McRae's time on ground was just so low. I can really see a world where he skyrockets up into that M3 range, to be honest with you.
00:51:45
Holmesy
Yeah, and what what do we know about Filippo? He's always been a confidence player, right? So he just needs to build that confidence and build into
Listener Questions Segment
00:51:52
Holmesy
the season. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But I think priced at what he's priced at it, that 58 mark, and then it's obviously gone up a little bit after the weekend, not March,
00:52:02
Holmesy
there's shades of Riley Sanders where you might just get a small little cash rise over the first few weeks. But if he gets that ceiling score into his price cycle, then away he goes. And he's, he's someone I'm picking not to get a real quick cash hit. He's someone that I'm hoping goes that 85 and can be someone that we hold longer term towards the buyers when we, we get a better idea of who the top six forwards are and, and whatnot. But,
00:52:26
Holmesy
Let's get stuck into the listener questions to to finish here. We'll try and 20 minutes and and really get stuck in. But as always, just a reminder that Podpod has once again starteded partnered sorry with Q Platforms in 2026 to help answer all of your AFL fantasy questions.
00:52:43
Holmesy
During the season for Morera's Magic, members Selby and myself will be recording a Thursday night podcast where we talk about all the general questions and themes of the week. But if you'd like a guaranteed answer, like i said, we'll try and get to as many questions as possible on the pod. But if you'd like a guaranteed answer, head over to askmeonq.com forward slash pod pod AFL. The link is in the show description below.
00:53:07
Holmesy
We can do full team reviews and analysis. We can answer questions on individual players, all that kind of stuff. As I said, link is in the show description below.
00:53:18
Holmesy
Apologies to that one listener, which I didn't make to the question last week. Time got away from me, but if you resubmit that, I'm more than happy to do that for you. Boys, let's get stuck in. Our first question is from Bontsville Wizard, good friend of the show and actually sponsor of the show.
00:53:34
Holmesy
If you need any flooring and you're in Perth, head over to Solomon's Flooring in Balcata and he will sort you out. Absolute great bloke. Our first question from him is, can we start an LDU, run him through as a non-buy player, which gives you time to look at the guys coming off their buy like a Walsh type Louis.
00:53:54
Holmesy
Do we like that?
00:53:56
Lew
Yeah, look, I don't mind it. um ah I'm not big on LDU. I think that he's a little bit more impact than than quantity. You know, what's he coming in priced at, 93? That's kind of what he's done for the last couple of years. But that's one where...
00:54:12
Lew
I would say trust your gut and what you're actually seeing in the player because it's pretty easy to poo-poo a guy like that who you know has shown a little bit of consistency and in being that 93 guy, but he's also shown glimpses where it looks like he can break through into that 100-105 range. you know ah He's done it for six, seven, eight games at a time. It's just that sometimes that back end lets him down a bit. So sitting on the fence, certainly a little bit, but I wouldn't talk anybody out of that for sure. you
00:54:43
Holmesy
One thing I will say, Lou, is that we can't talk about this amazing run that North Melbourne has for Sheezal without indicating that it's also probably going to be good for LDU as well. So I can absolutely see him getting away to a flyer and and has actually been that 97 averaging player for multiple seasons. Jordy, this one's from Gusto.
00:55:03
Holmesy
How many early buy players is too many to start? So structure-wise, he's only looking at having one premium per position per buy. He does say that he has 16 round zero players of which eight have the round three buy.
00:55:17
Holmesy
Do you think that's too many? Or do you think that if they're the right players, you know, a lot of the competition are doing it. You just wear it for that particular week.
00:55:27
JORDAN DSENA
So I'm assuming one of them would be an English or a Grundy, which would be in the ruck line. I think eight. I'm probably looking at seven max, but you probably could go eight if it's one away in the ruck.
00:55:40
JORDAN DSENA
I guess for me, every week I'm trying to get 20. want 22 every week. And I wouldn't mind looping a 23rd just with the blue dot that we have. So I'm going to go with seven. But if you've got a ruck, you probably could do eight because that's Well, that's every single line.
00:55:59
JORDAN DSENA
So yeah, that would make sure that that you have to make sure every rookie is playing. So um ah look, I think it could, I'm going to go with seven, but yeah, it could be one ah one, maybe more than I think, but if it's in the ruck and you've got like a Vicentini or someone playing there, maybe that could alleviate that.
00:56:22
JORDAN DSENA
What are your thoughts on that?
00:56:24
Holmesy
Yeah, i've I've changed my tune a little bit. I think early in the preseason, I was on record saying that I wanted 22 playing each week just to kind of give yourself a bit of a safety net and and hopefully get some pop pop scores from some rookies. But with all of these players emerging from round three now, If they are all good picks and they are all the guys we need, I'd be more than happy to just wear it for that round three. Yeah, you might only have 20 players playing if you you know you can't can't fix it in the ruck or maybe you've got three in one line like the forward line, for example, if you start...
00:56:57
Holmesy
Petrarca, you start Buderich and you've got Lombard. You've got no way to to get those three players on if you don't have that mid-forward link. So um I'm okay with it. We're all trying to learn how to play the opening round buys, but at the same time, it's that value game and having a lower score for one week isn't going to kill your season, as I've i've demonstrated over the years. So, yeah, I'd back that in.
00:57:21
Holmesy
Lou, this one here is from Simon Stacks. How do we assess the Melbourne boys when we haven't seen barely any pre-season from them? So we didn't see them in round zero, obviously. And then that game, the official game got cut short with the lightning. So we haven't really had a full picture yet. So are you a little bit more nervous on the Melbourne players?
00:57:39
Lew
Oh, yeah, certainly am. You know, it's it's a brand new coach. He has come out and said that they want to play a quicker game style. That's all good, you know, all said, but we don't really know how that comes out in the wash. So which players are going to be the ones that are moving the football?
00:57:56
Lew
I think you know what we probably saw in the practice game is that Windsor and Rivers are going to play a big role there. ah They look like they're going to be playing midfield, but you know how much can you read into that? So, ah yeah, I don't really have any advice in terms of how to predict the Melbourne um team and and how that sort of comes out in terms of fantasy scoring. And I don't think Melbourne fans would really have it either, I think.
00:58:22
Lew
um you know, a lot is going to be found out and learnt as a lot does with a first year coach ah coming into a team that, you know, he's largely adopted. There's still a lot of the old sort of crew there, despite some of their stars moving on.
00:58:36
Lew
ah if i If I had to take a guess, if they want to move the ball a whole lot faster, then, you know, maybe there's, A couple of fantasy points up for grabs for for those quicker players. And as I mentioned, that might be a Windsor who, you know, I know it's easy to say based on what we saw in that, mostly that first quarter in the practice game. But, you know, he looked a million bucks there, to be honest with you.
00:59:00
Holmesy
Yeah, no, you've nailed it, right? that There's always an element of risk when we when we pick our starting squads and unfortunately, we haven't got a lot of data on this Melbourne side with the practice game getting cut short, new coach, new personnel, all that kind of stuff. But The one thing we can do and the good thing about a Windsor or a Lindsay Rivers not so much is that they are still relatively cheap priced in the 50s, right? So we've learned a lot from DT Lemon and I think we're all on board here that there's nothing wrong with carrying over a bit of cash into round two for your fix up trades and all that kind of stuff. So
00:59:35
Holmesy
If you like a Windsor or you like a Lindsay, there's nothing wrong with fading them for round one against St Kilda and then jumping on in round two if you really like the role and they've got a score and and you're happy with that. they're They're not going to shoot up in price that much. They're still going to be value if they're the picks that we need them to be. Rivers, not so much. you're going to be paying up you know sort of mid-80s and it's ah always a bit tricky in that spot. But yeah, I don't hate the idea of just...
01:00:00
Holmesy
potentially fading one or two of them. Maybe you start a Coleman instead of a a Windsor. he's He's got the round two buy. He's going to get that little bit more extra cash if he goes well. and And then maybe you decide if you pivot across to Coleman or you have some cash to to tinker elsewhere. So that's the advice I'd give there.
01:00:17
Holmesy
Jordy, this one's from Sean. We spoke about Filippo. We didn't touch on Connor Mack. So... If firstly, talk me through whether you still think Connor Mac's an option. And then secondly, if they do want to remove Connor Mac from their side, do they, do they try and play a bit of mid price stuff and go either like a Murphy Reed Marshall type, or do you think they bring in a rookie in Doverston and play ah a rookie like Dev Robert at F6 instead?
01:00:46
JORDAN DSENA
Yeah, so I actually actually actually didn't think C-Mac looked that bad. It was just that third quarter, he didn't really accumulate it, but it wasn't a high-scoring game. So he got 79, was it, or 76? No one tonned.
01:00:58
JORDAN DSENA
he had a He was actually going all right until halftime. i wouldn't be surprised if he tons this week against Essendon. Like, he's playing Essendon. he comes up stoppage. I think he was floating around, was it a 33% CBA? So it might not be ah as what we wanted. We probably wanted a little bit more, but you know, if, if he got an extra tackle or two he got an 85, would he be in our sides? I think just having that 70, it's just like, we've sort of taken him out. I don't think he looked that bad. I know you guys might have a different opinion on it, but
01:01:33
JORDAN DSENA
I think that he could potentially do a good score this week against the Bombers and his price is going to go in the right direction. Whether or not he's a good pick over the season, likes I think he's going to improve on his price again.
01:01:45
JORDAN DSENA
um I've faded him only because of the buy and the other guys that have presented. So your Petrarchas, your Buderiks and the like just because of his score. But I think if you like him, I think he's going to do a good score this week.
01:02:03
Holmesy
Yep, don't mind that at all. Louis, I'll go to you for this one. So Johnny's asked thoughts on Caleb Sorong. So I know there's a lot of mouths to feed in that midfield, but we expect Freo to push top four.
01:02:15
Holmesy
Could we see Caleb Sorong, you know, winding back the clock a little bit, having that 10 points upside and pushing the top eight mids? there's There's rumors going around about Hayden Young not being cherry ripe.
01:02:27
Holmesy
The thing that makes it nervous for me about Caleb Sorong is playing Geelong in that O'Shean Mullen tag to start. Now they didn't really run a tag on the weekend against Noah Anderson. I think they tried to do it at times, but they just they just couldn't couldn't do it getting getting smashed. But Caleb Sorong, a bit of a forgotten man. What do you think?
01:02:46
Lew
Yeah, you know, Caleb Sorong's a gun and I think he can play really effective football not being a 100 plus guy. I think where my question mark sort of lies is how the new rules are going to suit him. So there's not going to be as many repeat stoppages. And I think that's where Caleb Sorong really sort of makes his gravy a little bit. You mentioned that, you know, there's going to be quite a few mouths in there to feed.
01:03:09
Lew
If Sean Darcy's playing, then you know Jackson's potentially playing as a midfielder as well. Young's under an injury cloud, but it sounds like he's going to play around one. We sort of said it earlier on in the preseason. I think a lot of these guys may be just closer to 95, and that's okay. It's sort of what we see at Brisbane as well, um where none of them really excel outside the norm. and They all just score really well instead. So,
01:03:36
Lew
yeah for For me, just being the type of player that he is, i think I would probably just a avoid. I would like a little bit more upside from 93. I sort of think he'll land in that 98 range if he has a really good season, maybe 100. I'd still like a few more points on top of that.
01:03:54
Holmesy
Jordy, all the talk has been about a Caleb Windsor midfield role, Kitty Coleman at halfback. Could we start Finno Sullivan, 4.86% owned,
01:04:08
Holmesy
priced at 54, as I mentioned, midfield role reported for North Melbourne with that good run. Is there any interest there?
01:04:17
JORDAN DSENA
I just think he's a draft guy. like Is he second year now? like like there's always It's always hard in your second year of A4 football. that You've really got to break out. and be ah up Only the top, top guns do it.
01:04:29
JORDAN DSENA
Like the Crips and your Bonts, et cetera, have jumped in their second year. I think you just trade into Fino Salvin if you see something incredible. I think he's going to be a good draft pick in draft, but I just wouldn't go there for classic, I think.
01:04:47
JORDAN DSENA
to start.
01:04:48
Holmesy
Yeah. Yep. I don't mind that. Still a bit of an impact player. He's the type that I actually would trade into if I liked the role in the scorings there, similar to the years gone by of, of Selby trading into Clary Oliver once they've seen it for a game, Tim Taranto, that type. So he's the one I'd, I'd much rather trade into.
01:05:06
Holmesy
But we talk, we preach all preseason, look at role, look at how they go. And and he had the role and and looked good at times. So As always, back your gut there, Lou. I'll go to you for this one.
01:05:19
Holmesy
Where are we? So actually, I'm going to get both of you, Lou and Jordy, and I'll do it myself as well. So this one's from Gentoman. Which rookie to field at F6 and D6 this week?
01:05:30
Holmesy
So Louie, give me your F6 and D6.
01:05:33
Lew
I think F6 will be Leo Lombard for me against West Coast. He looked real lively. High half forward can be a tough role to play, but I think West Coast is just about the best opposition you'll get.
01:05:47
Lew
ah That being said, I think you can interchange with a Dev Rob if that role is going to be a CBA mid.
01:05:53
JORDAN DSENA
Thank
01:05:53
Lew
I just like that we've seen what we've seen out of a Lombard. And then at D6, that one's a little bit trickier. think you'll throw a blanket over a few, to be honest. I wouldn't be discounting Sam Grill tomorrow night. I think he's one that has shown that he can score.
01:06:10
Lew
ah Lockie Jakes, another. We've seen that he could score in the opening round, played off half-back wing, took a few kick-ins. And i also like Jai Sorong, mature age, played up on that wing. He's put up back-to-back 75s in the opening round and the Pracky game.
01:06:28
Lew
And we'll
01:06:28
Holmesy
Louis Louis Louis stop sitting on the fence, mate who's your who's your day six.
01:06:32
Lew
My D6 is Sarong and Lombard.
01:06:36
Holmesy
There we go, thank you, i love I love you I love that in depth that let's get off the fence Geordie who's your day six and f six.
01:06:44
JORDAN DSENA
Well, looking at the team, I've got Jax there and I've got Robertson. um As we said, rookie roulette. It could be... Yeah, that's who I've got. ah There's actually a question I've got. Is Todd Marshall?
01:06:59
JORDAN DSENA
I kind of want to get him in my team, but I'm 50-50 on it. Is he an F6? I know we haven't sort of an I know.
01:07:04
Holmesy
You're the port man. You tell us. You're the port man.
01:07:06
JORDAN DSENA
know.
01:07:06
Holmesy
What's he going to do?
01:07:07
JORDAN DSENA
I don't know. i'll just...
01:07:10
Lew
Get off the fence!
01:07:12
Holmesy
Get off the fence, Jordy.
01:07:12
JORDAN DSENA
Like, I'm so 50-50. Like, could he get dropped? Could he actually be good? Chip around. Might have to re-watch that game. Go down training tomorrow.
01:07:22
Holmesy
ah wouldn't but i wouldn't i wouldn't read I wouldn't bother re-watching that game against the Eagles side that they put out. Look for teams. The role's good, but we don't know how that's going to become the real stuff. So I'm 50-50 on him as well. I haven't i haven't ruled him out.
01:07:37
Holmesy
For myself, I'm like you, Lou. I've got Lombard at F6 at the moment. That has been interchanged with Dev Rob, but I think the matchup against the Eagles, I think probably backed that in. And then I'm Jai Sarong at D6 at the moment.
01:07:50
Holmesy
Really like Lockie Jarks, but playing against the Giants, I think that's going to be a far tougher matchup than Sarong getting to play the Lions. The Lions seem to allow a bit of outside ball on that wing on the weekend, so I don't hate that matchup.
01:08:05
Holmesy
there jordie this one is from blake fletcher i'm not going to ask you all of it but i just want a quick answer murphy reed or josh rochelle
01:08:17
JORDAN DSENA
I'm going Josh Rochelle, just from what we're seeing in the preseason. I'm hoping he's going to come out round one and have this role with Pete Ling and these guys coming back. I just think Murphy Reid is a fourth or fifth guy. is's getting a bit that He's getting a bit of hype, but I'm going with Rochelle.
01:08:34
JORDAN DSENA
You could always pivot off him to Reid if you need to as a parachute. But for me, I'm going safety and numbers, and that's Josh Rochelle. Rochelle.
01:08:45
Holmesy
Yeah, no, i'm I'm in that camp as well. I always have a few picks that are a little bit dicey, but you know we we say this game's a trading game and that we start with these relatively vanilla sides and then we sort of trade our way to the top. So you're definitely going to have safety in numbers with Rochelle.
01:09:01
Holmesy
Yes, we don't know 100% what that role is going to be.
01:09:03
Lew
Thank
01:09:04
Holmesy
Word out of today is that Saligo and Archie trained with the B side, but the A side only had 21 players. So clearly there's going to have to be two more that that come in there. But if Rochelle's got that 40, 50% centre bounce role, I think that's going to be more sustainable scoring-wise than a Murphy read off that half-forward flank a half forward flank sorry as much as I love him for free.
01:09:26
Holmesy
Although, Lou, I'll go to you here is Ed Richards, this is from Gary Wilson, is Ed Richards the dog midfielder to own? He looked unreal on the weekend.
01:09:37
Lew
Yep, certainly could be. Yeah, I could definitely see a world where Bontempele plays a little bit more forward and and Ed Richard sort of begins to take over that role in the midfield.
01:09:48
Lew
He looks really good. he's He's been one that I was actually thinking about him today when I was looking through dogs, midfielders, and... can remember him as a halfback looking a little bit shaky, not even sure if the guy was going to make it as a footballer.
01:10:01
Lew
And, you know, that was probably about four years ago.
01:10:02
Holmesy
Whoa.
01:10:03
JORDAN DSENA
Mm-hmm.
01:10:03
Lew
Yeah. And moved into that midfield, looked shaky in the midfield at first.
01:10:04
Holmesy
yes
01:10:08
Lew
And now it's sort of talking about him as potentially a a top 10 midfielder in the AFL quite comfortably. So, yep, I love him.
01:10:17
Holmesy
Yeah, he's good. And, mate, they've got Bontempele, who's still one of the best players in the comp, but there's every chance that Ed Richards takes over this year as that number one tag target, as that real impact forward of centre midfielder. He was just dominant on the weekend. Loved everything about his game.
01:10:34
Holmesy
Not sure I can do it at 97 with the round three bye if we're looking at ah an Errol type as well, but, mate, trust your gut if you want to go there. Jordy, I'm going to finish with you on this last one.
01:10:45
Holmesy
This one's from Brenton. Why is everyone fading Caldwell now? What am I missing?
01:10:51
JORDAN DSENA
I even said this in the group chat two weeks ago, I think, to your boys. I said, why is everyone off Caldwell? It just has to do with ah the knee, right? And the options perish in there now in Durham. And I think that's the the reason. But look, i if you're hot on Caldwell, I think he can still be a top eight mid.
01:11:13
JORDAN DSENA
And all the numbers suggest he could do it. So, yeah, I sort of put that out there. I think it was just that that injury, your right?
Midfield Dynamics Discussion
01:11:21
JORDAN DSENA
and a bit Because i think in the preseason, we're talking about Merritt and his role.
01:11:27
JORDAN DSENA
And I think we've found that he's actually going to be out of the midfield a little bit more. So that should help Caldwell.
01:11:35
Holmesy
Yeah, it's it's interesting. i just For me, it's that 104 price tag, right? it's It's a lot of money to pay. You really need him to be a genuine top four midfielder going that sort of 108 plus to be a an okay pick and 110 to be a smash.
01:11:50
Holmesy
It's just a bit of unknown for me with Parrish coming back and you know how does look with Durham? How does it look with Merritt? We don't really believe Merritt's going to be a 30% centre-bounce midfielder like he was in the pre-season game.
01:12:00
Holmesy
So for me, there's just a little bit little bit to play out, but he did have a 140 on Hawks in in round one last year and no doubt he will be a scorer again, just not for me at this stage. But boys, that has been a monster episode. We'll wrap it up there.
01:12:16
Holmesy
I hope the listeners got a lot out of that on the eve of round one. Always love this chat so close to to round
Podcast Conclusion and Social Media Share
01:12:22
Holmesy
one. It is super exciting. Before we sign off, we know that there's this new foes section on AFL Fantasy and hopefully it's up and running a little bit better soon so that we can we can get involved with it. But Geordie, can you just let everyone know where the listeners can find you on X and then can you give us your team name so that they're able to to chuck you in there as a foe and follow along with with how your team's tracking?
01:12:44
JORDAN DSENA
Yep, so it's just Jordan De Sena on X. My team name at the moment is just Air Jordan. It's very vanilla. It's not sort of Louis' creative name. but I don't think I'll change that. I'll just have sort of have that all year so or every year.
01:12:56
JORDAN DSENA
So Air Jordan, that's where you can find it
01:12:58
Holmesy
Yeah, and i I will throw these in the show description below as well so that you can go there and and get it done exactly. Lou, are we still rolling with our same our same team name from last week?
01:13:10
Lew
Yeah, look, I think I'm going to be too busy and and too stressed as we roll into round one. So, yep, we're going to be running with Hawk Tour pit net thing. um Yeah, it's it's probably a bit of a belated meme, but I wouldn't have been able to do it last year because it happened in about August. So, it's all right. We'll run with that. Hopefully, we can um win the car and maybe that gets shouted out on the on the Traders podcast and the AFL website and all that jazz.
01:13:39
Holmesy
You say it's a bladed meme, but she's actually made a bit of a comeback in the in the in the social media space trying to push her OnlyFans. So it's it's it's still still relevant, Lou, and I'm sure you've you've checked that one out. I'm at HolmesiesHeroes. As I mentioned, we'll chuck those team names in the show description below.
01:13:58
Holmesy
We will be back this time or earlier next week to review a massive round one. We'll all be ranked 20, 30K. Wondering why we do this each and every year, but I wouldn't have it any other way. So we'll catch you then.
01:14:13
Lew
Good luck