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The Dossy Curse Has Been Broken!!!! | 2025 AFL Fantasy Season in Review #PODPOD
1.2k Plays1 day ago
Here at the PODPOD we would like to take one last opportunity to thank all of our amazing listeners for the 2025 season. From The Holmes Files, to the pre-season content and then all the way throughout season 2025, this show does not happen without the listeners and we are truly grateful for each and everyone of you. We have had an absolute blast and hope you have enjoyed coming along the journey with us!
Follow us on X:
The PODPOD: @podpodAFL
Holmesy: @Holmesyheroes
Lewy: @LewyAF
Harmey: @jonharmey
Dos: @HKdos
Sam: @grillis03
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Transcript
Season Reflection and Future Plans
00:00:18
Holmesy
G'day and welcome to the Pod Pod. It's Holmesy here talking all things AFL Fantasy Classic for the last time in 2025. It's Tuesday the 26th of August.
00:00:29
Holmesy
The AFL Fantasy season has wrapped up and far out. It's been one hell of a year and we're here to review it. We have a full panel on deck this week for the last episode, which is really good to see.
00:00:40
Holmesy
will start with our two-time top 10 finisher and runner-up in 2019, John Harmy. Been here all year. You've been the stalwart of the pod pod, mate. How are we?
00:00:51
Jon Harmey
Good, Holmesy, and bowing down, of course, to the three-time top ten um ranked coach in the comp. And obviously taking out the competition this year in first place, just amazed at what you have done, mate. of really I'm really, really happy for you.
00:01:11
Holmesy
Yeah, we fell just short, Harmy. We'll we'll take third. We'll take third, mate.
00:01:14
Jon Harmey
oh
00:01:14
Holmesy
Whatever will be, whatever will be, will be. But yeah, stoked to finish in third. But we will we'll get to that a little bit later on.
00:01:22
Jon Harmey
I haven't opened the app yet.
00:01:23
Holmesy
We have
00:01:23
Jon Harmey
I'll just, oh, I'll cut them. Oh, third. That's a bit deflating, isn't it?
00:01:27
Holmesy
we'll go to our... ah We'll go to our perennial 1K finisher. And for what? The 10th year in a row, Lou, another top 1K finish for you. Good to have you back, mate. It's been a while. How are we?
00:01:39
Lew
No, thanks for having me back, mate. And it's good to have you on the show. top three, allegedly top two finisher. It would have been nice to get the exclusive out of your homesy, actually.
00:01:52
Lew
But we're just going to have to pick up the straps. Hopefully there's some juice in this podcast for the listeners.
00:02:01
Holmesy
Yeah, I haven't told you boys yet, but now that I'm three-time top 10, I've actually signed a contract with Bales. um I've signed on for four podcasts a week um with some pretty cool incentives there. So I'm actually jumping over onto the Fanatics. So I had to had to get ahead of it. But yeah, no we were going to report record yesterday, Lou, but you bailed on us. So what what did you want me to do?
00:02:25
Lew
Yes, true, true. Yeah, you've got me there. um Yeah, it was a pretty favorable deal that I saw. I ran over the contract with Bales there. So I think you you're probably best off jumping ship, mate.
00:02:37
Holmesy
Yeah, well, Sam's on and I do have my lawyer present, so I will get him to go through it with a fine couth, fine, whatever the saying is. i don't even care anymore. Sam, mate, how are you?
00:02:47
Sam
Yeah, pretty good, Holmesy. I'm surprised Bales was only able to get you on half of his shows a week. Doesn't he make eight videos normally?
00:02:52
Jon Harmey
you
00:02:55
Sam
um Look, honoured to be here in the just basking in the presence of one of Mount Rushmore's AFL fantasy gods. You know, it's whatever scraps I can pick up before you retire next year, it'll be fantastic.
00:03:09
Sam
I'm also keen to... um you know Watch how you host, um being obviously the host of PodPod in 2026. Very excited to take that mantle
00:03:21
Holmesy
Yeah, mate, look, if you want it, you can have it. If you can figure out how to get your levels right for next year, I think we'll be half a chance. so Fingers crossed they all they all come through. Well, as you can tell, bit a bit off the cuff, bit unscripted today. We're just going to sort of let this show
Final Round Performances and Strategies
00:03:35
Holmesy
happen. But before we get into sort of reviewing the season and and going over, let's just let's just check in with how that final round went and and where we all kind of stand. So, Harmi, I'll go to you.
00:03:46
Holmesy
ah haven't actually checked scores and ranks and anything like that, but I'm just assuming you're the lowest ranked coach on the pod. So let's let's just go there first, day
00:03:53
Jon Harmey
Yeah, thanks, Hamesy. And I also haven't checked scores and ranks and that sort of thing.
00:03:57
Lew
so
00:03:59
Jon Harmey
Look, it was a an interesting week.
00:03:59
Sam
Thank you.
00:04:02
Jon Harmey
Let's have a look. 2-2-2-9. I dropped 1,000 ranks this week um because... Like, understandably, i was throwing all my positive energy and motivation towards Holmes' heroes.
00:04:17
Jon Harmey
um Let's have a look at how things fared, though. too Yeah, that's a pretty bad score, isn't it? think, look, it started off pretty well um because I went Sicily to Zach Merritt, 115 in the the first game there.
00:04:30
Holmesy
Thank you.
00:04:31
Jon Harmey
So I was pretty pumped with that, pretty happy with Zach. Then I saved my other trade for moving on Jack McRae, predicting the Saints to put him as the sub. So I picked that one too. that was pretty good until I got to Sunday lunchtime when I was out for lunch and remembered that the Saints played the first game.
00:04:51
Jon Harmey
And when I checked it it, was halfway through the second quarter and he was on zero. And I'm like, shit, he must be the sub. Yeah. Which probably sums up the end to my um season. But I'll leave it at that. as But it wasn't about me, Kyle, was it? So that was the week.
00:05:07
Holmesy
Our old host would tell you, Harmi, that he did score 60 supercoach points in his 20 minutes of game time. But alas, we played the wrong game. Yeah, that rolling lockout will get you.
00:05:16
Lew
And speaking of which, that that would be a career high finishing for old Dossman as well, Harmi.
00:05:22
Jon Harmey
I would too.
00:05:24
Sam
I was going to say, harmy it's actually impressive you made the top 5K given you deleted the app during the buy rounds.
00:05:24
Holmesy
We...
00:05:24
Holmesy
um
00:05:31
Sam
That's actually pretty well done.
00:05:32
Jon Harmey
I should have done. I still held Sarong and Brayshaw the entire second half of the season. effectively did delete it, didn't
00:05:38
Holmesy
it's yeah lo Lou, it's funny you say that because the theme of the show today is that the Dossie curse is officially broken. ah haven't I haven't had a good season since I came onto the Pod Pod officially and and got involved with old Dossie, but he was actually going to come on yesterday and today to announce that the Dossie curse is really broken now that I've gone well, but he's finished inside the top 10K for the first time.
00:06:01
Holmesy
So, you know, congratulations, Dossie boy.
00:06:03
Jon Harmey
yeah all you In which game?
00:06:05
Lew
Oh, wow.
00:06:05
Jon Harmey
In what game? In fantasy?
00:06:08
Lew
NAF.
00:06:08
Holmesy
In fantasy, yeah.
00:06:09
Jon Harmey
Mate.
00:06:10
Lew
Oh, that's massive.
00:06:10
Jon Harmey
I need to see evidence.
00:06:12
Holmesy
Yeah, unreal.
00:06:12
Lew
So who was the, what was the problem, Rosie?
00:06:14
Jon Harmey
I need to see evidence of that.
00:06:15
Holmesy
Yeah, we do actually need to see evidence.
00:06:15
Lew
You were bringing each other down.
00:06:16
Holmesy
we'll we'll get we'll We'll make sure he's not pulling the piss there. Lou, how'd you end up for the year?
00:06:21
Lew
Yes, not too bad. i scored the 24-97 on the weekend, which is my highest score for the season. So it was a nice way to go out. ah It was probably a couple hundred shy, though, of whatever you scored back in round 16 or 17 or whatever it was, Holmesy. But...
00:06:39
Lew
Comfortable with that, that brought my rank into 420. So I was wondering ah whether or not I would sneak into that top 500 after falling away um just after the buys. And thankfully, i had my best week of the season and was able to secure that spot. So yeah, top 500, I'll take it.
00:06:59
Lew
um I'm pretty happy with it overall.
00:07:01
Jon Harmey
but on
00:07:02
Holmesy
Yeah, mate, that's ah that's an unreal finish from you considering you slid out after the Whitfield captain and then you had a bit of, you know, F this, I'll just do some fruity stuff to have some fun to finish the year.
00:07:13
Holmesy
So, yeah, really, really good to get back into 420, Blaze, and um yeah, looking for...
00:07:20
Lew
I was sitting there in the 800s for a couple of weeks, so no, was very happy.
00:07:25
Holmesy
Yeah, very good from you. ah Just talk us through quickly your stator on your dossie picks from this week. Who got you up there?
00:07:31
Lew
ah So for my target this week, I needed to pick a midfielder that would score you know north of 120. I needed to nail it and decided I would land on Josh Dunkley.
00:07:43
Lew
obviously played on the Sunday night and brought it home with the 1.36. So was really happy with that. it's been ah It's been an interesting season for Josh Dunkley. He's still so super consistent, but I think there was probably six weeks during the year where um every coach and his dog wanted to trade him out. But he has come good. That's what averages are for. So thankful for that.
00:08:05
Lew
um And then my dossie pick of the week, I've got to give it to Gryan Myers, who... I think most coaches were circling that Richmond matchup in round 24 as a bit of a fantasy feast for a lot of the cats there. And Grian Myers would have been you know near the top of the list, really, just being a forward where it's a little bit desolate in terms of the options and was expecting something north 100 But...
00:08:30
Lew
Wasn't able to get the result. Sort of feel better about it. The fact that Manor also wasn't able to get the result. But I think that's going to be a bit of a sore spot for some coaches too.
00:08:43
Holmesy
Yeah, Lou, I know you you haven't been watching much footy lately, but he did go off for a HIA at the end of the first quarter and sat off for that 20 minutes before coming back on. So you combine that loss of game time with probably still not feeling 100%. Yeah, that 69 wasn't great, but ah it was explained. Yeah.
00:09:00
Holmesy
Yeah, look, thankfully, I know a lot of coaches went manor this week. So avoiding that was was good for me. And Geelong do this from time to time, don't they they? They look like they've got a tasty
Season Strategies and Insights
00:09:10
Holmesy
matchup and and they just kind of spread the load and and don't get it done. And then they have some tough matchups where they absolutely explode. So yeah, they're they're a tricky one to read.
00:09:18
Holmesy
Sam, finish us off, mate. Lockie Ash killed it. So no doubt you're in a happy mood this week.
00:09:24
Sam
Yeah, that's right, Holmesy. I think I also had my highest score for the year this round with 2, 4, 7, 9. So just a little bit behind Lou.
00:09:36
Sam
um And yeah, very nicely that brought me into rank 264. So having um risen in rank for the last round of the season, that means you will get me back for 2026. Fantasy will have me back. So that's pleasing And Stato pick of the week, I'm going to give it to Errol Goulden, traded in just for this round.
00:09:58
Sam
Shout out my boy Blake Rookledge for convincing me to do that against his woeful Eagles.
00:10:00
Holmesy
Thank
00:10:05
Sam
But my dossier pick of the week will also go to another Swan, Mr. Callum Mills. I was double checking the matchups about who to trade out. i was tossing up between Bray Shore and Tom Green and Millsy and I thought red matchup, defenders against the Eagles. See you later. You've been behind McKercher pretty much since I traded you in. and Then he goes 116 in the pool for me. So, look, could have earned myself another 30, 40 points, but wouldn't have been enough to get me a hat anyway. So we we sleep well. We sleep soundly.
00:10:37
Holmesy
Now, Sam, you are you are new to this whole podcasting stuff and you know your fantasy ah IQ is is still developing, but how could you not hey how could you not pick that the Eagles would dominate the Sydney Swans in that first quarter of that game and Sydney would be forced to chip around in the back half and Mills would have 48 points? how How could you not see that?
00:10:58
Sam
ah Look, mate, as you point out, I'm still learning the game. um And, you know, other coaches obviously would have would have known that, that the Eagles would turn up in the last round of the season. um And, you look, I'll take that into the next year.
00:11:12
Sam
I'll take that into next year.
00:11:14
Holmesy
Yeah, as long as we learn, mate, as long as we learn, it is it is all good. um All right, let's let's go through my last round. um As Sam and Louis have already pointed out, I've already so kind of spoken about it, but...
00:11:28
Holmesy
So let's let's let's just go through a bit of a timeline. So Thursday night, Harmy, I didn't have any anyone in Thursday night and having a look at the teams around me, no one really sort of traded into them either. I think one coach in the 10 went George Hewitt as a bit of a Hail Mary, but um everyone sort of stayeded stayed away from that game. So friday was the Friday was the big sort of moving point for me and A lot of what I wanted to do over the weekend really rested on Christian Petrarca getting the job done as a loop in my forward line. If I knew that would that would happen, then I had you know room to pivot my trades. And thankfully, that happened. So that was that was a positive.
00:12:04
Holmesy
But on the flip side, I had the four players in the Gold Coast Port game. So Rosie and Butters going 142 and 152.
00:12:11
Jon Harmey
Thank you.
00:12:13
Holmesy
combined with Anderson and Raoul going 48 and 50. So at that point, I knew i was in a bit of trouble, but at the same time, um looking at the teams around me, I i knew that you know most coaches had either one of Raoul and Anderson and the had one of Butters and Rosie. There wasn't many that had both those two.
00:12:32
Holmesy
So it meant that I was still sort of in the hunt to hang around, but the car was pretty much gone at that point. So ah went into a bit of sort of game theory. I had a sort of look of... what ways I could make up the most amount of points, knowing that I so i still needed to chase a little bit. So that meant on Saturday, i locked in Jeremy Cameron.
00:12:51
Holmesy
I went Luke Jackson to Jeremy Cameron because I i needed to match that trade with the matchup. you know That should have been bigger than what it was as well. So the 106 was... was fine.
00:13:02
Holmesy
i'd already I'd already taken a punt on Dawson as my vice captain, knowing that everyone around me didn't want to go there. And it was looking good early, but he kind of faded away to a not so good score. And at at that point, I just thought, I'm going to have to match everyone around me and just go captaincy on Baz, because if he goes massive and I don't have it, then everyone's going to have that score and I'm in a bit of trouble. So Baz got 108. Wasn't the worst, um but a lot a lot of coaches went there anyway. So um that wasn't the issue. But the Saturday night game was where I made my move.
00:13:36
Holmesy
I decided to take a punt and trade out Andrew Brayshaw, which was highly owned. And I brought in Sam, your boy, Errol Goulden. So those trades made me 80-odd points. which was in the end, that was the difference of of getting me up to third place. So yeah, that was that was some good trading. I was, you know, Sunday was rolling around and the the GWS Saints game was happening and I didn't really pay too much attention to what was going on in the rankings because there still was...
00:14:03
Holmesy
really a lot to play out and it's really hard to sort of track all the teams around you but by the time the Frio game rolled around I was relatively confident that I could hold on to fourth place there was two teams coming from behind that could come over the top of me but outside of that it was very likely that I would stay in fourth but if those teams got on top of me then ah could have slid down to maybe fifth or sixth and it was It was Luke Jackson and Andrew Brayshaw for one of the teams. And then ah I think it was Tim English versus Luke Jackson in that other team. So I ended up getting the job done there over those two coaches, thanks to Brayshaw and Jackson not going very well. And I think Sam Darcy might have had something to do with that as well. But it wasn't until towards the end of the Freer game, I think in the last quarter, I had a look.
00:14:47
Holmesy
And I realized that the third place coach didn't have Josh Dunkley. Now he was he was creeping up towards my score and he still had, I think, one quarter of Brayshaw, Jackson and Darcy to play.
00:14:59
Holmesy
But I just thought to myself, if if those guys don't have a big last quarter, um Dunkley, you know, he probably just needs a ah regular Dunkley score and I can slide into third. And It ended up being that Dunkley just needed 73 points and I was going to slide into third place and he ends up having 136 and that gets done quite early. So yeah, finishing in third place, absolutely unreal.
00:15:22
Holmesy
it It means the most to me out of all of my hats, to be honest. The fact that I've been able to do it this year while ah being on a podcast, I made it very clear and made it a mission myself to No matter where I got to this year, I wanted to still just continue giving out advice, not being deceiving or anything like that. And I can hold my head high that that's what happened all year and I've come out with a third place. So, Army, I know you were cheering me on to get the Hilux and once again, I've fallen just short like you ah you have, mate. But I think we should be pretty proud of what the Pod Pod's done this year and and how it's so all come out for us. I know you didn't finish as highly as you normally do, but three coaches inside the top 500 is a pretty unreal feat, I think.
00:16:03
Jon Harmey
Yeah, awesome, mate. You did very well, all you guys. It's incredible, really, Holmes, to finish in third when you look at the amount of bloody teams in the comp. I guess ah ah an obvious question for me, do you regret not trading out Noah Anderson to Tristan Cherry and capping him this weekend?
00:16:23
Holmesy
No, nah. The Tristan Cherry move was unreal, to be fair. But we felt with everything we'd seen, we can understand why some coaches were hesitant and and why some coaches did go there.
00:16:33
Holmesy
You know, that would have been a difference maker going him over English. I do regret... So a bit of a backstory here. All week, I was actually looping Noel Randerson instead of Nick Dacos.
00:16:44
Jon Harmey
That's right.
00:16:45
Holmesy
But then the little the little birdies came to me and and said that, you know, Dacos is going to get tagged.
00:16:45
Lew
Whoa.
00:16:47
Jon Harmey
Yep.
00:16:51
Holmesy
and And he did to his credit, but he he got there late. um But i've I've done the maths as I do. It wouldn't have changed. I actually still came out ahead because if I if i had of Luke Nick Dacos, I would have been looking for a midfielder from Jack McRae and I didn't have the money to get Errol.
00:17:08
Holmesy
So I probably would have settled on it on a Lockie Ash and just swung someone else into the into the midfield and the points difference was still less anyway because I ended up just benching Jack McRae Harmy instead of having him on my field as ah as a sub. So yeah, Sam?
00:17:23
Holmesy
Sam?
00:17:25
Sam
Holmesy, you've always been real big on this whole, like, you know, two midfielders in the same team can't average 100-plus or 105-plus. Was there any part of you when you brought in Rao that thought about fading Anderson? Because I know a lot of people jumped on Noah Anderson at some point post his buy. Yeah.
00:17:46
Holmesy
Yeah, ah look, i i as you know, Sam, I've had Anderson for for a large part of the year. And this is where the match-ups are so tricky and you can get yourself in a bit of trouble. So i Carlton and Port Adelaide, as Lou know, they over the last sort of five, six weeks, they have been very, very good match-ups for midfielders and even just teams in general.
00:18:05
Sam
Yeah.
00:18:07
Holmesy
And I brought Rowling, I think, not for the Carlton game, but the game before. And I brought him in already having Anderson because I thought those two games to finish Carlton and Port Adelaide, they are they are juicy.
00:18:20
Holmesy
Carlton, sorry, Gold Coast are flying. They need to win and win big to consolidate for finals. Rouse, you know, nine straight tons and some big tons. I just thought those two games were going to be good for those two players. But...
00:18:33
Holmesy
yeah In hindsight, Port Adelaide were always going to get up for that. you know Ken's last game, Carlton can be restrictive at the best of times. and and yet I was just fortunate enough to loop Anderson in that Carlton game, so I didn't get that stinker score.
00:18:47
Holmesy
But you are right, it's something i I preach. I don't like having multiple midfielders from the same side, so maybe that's something I need to get better at.
00:18:56
Lew
Yeah, Holmes, you're an unbelievable effort, mate. you've You've worked really hard to get where you have this season. ah It's been an absolute pleasure talking strategy with you every week.
00:19:07
Lew
ah Brings a smile to my face getting a message from you, freaking out on a Saturday or a Sunday as well um about some of the results. ah If I was a shitter bloke, I might get some receipts out and just read them for fun, but I'll leave that be.
00:19:22
Lew
um can Can you confirm?
00:19:23
Holmesy
ah Just on that, Lou, sorry.
00:19:24
Lew
yeah
00:19:24
Holmesy
that the One of the first things I did Monday morning, so I i got into Vam's DMs because we we chat quite a bit and there's a bit of a backstory, but all I did was apologize for, I think it was round 11 or round 12.
00:19:38
Holmesy
um You'll remember it well. was when Cherry had 150 against Richmond and I had i had Marshall. And yeah, Cherry goes 150, 90% of the comp owns him. And I've said to Vams in the DMs, yeah, my season's over.
00:19:52
Holmesy
My season's done. And then two hours later, Marshall has 150 and he goes, just shut up.
00:19:58
Jon Harmey
That would have been one but one of the 50 times that you said your season was over throughout the course sort of...
00:20:03
Sam
I was going say, yeah.
00:20:03
Jon Harmey
Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:04
Lew
Yeah, hit control F on that one and and see what you find, Holmesy. But what I was going to go on to say is, can you confirm that in round five, trading in ah Christian Petrarca and captaining Max Gorn while you were away camping set the bedrock for for the hat that you've you've won and the and the top three finish?
00:20:09
Holmesy
Look...
00:20:22
Lew
Yeah.
00:20:23
Jon Harmey
yeah
00:20:24
Holmesy
Yeah, look, what what's the difference there? If that difference got me over the line from fourthly, then maybe maybe I should swing you a bit of cash. But you know you're you're right. there was That's up there with one of the better feelings, driving from the campsite into town to have a check, just to see how the games went the night before and then opening my phone and going, hang on, ah I didn't ah didn't Captain Max Gorn. What's going on here? Yeah.
00:20:46
Jon Harmey
pregnant
00:20:48
Sam
Hang on, Holmesie. Have you done the maths to work out whether trading what trading in Cain Farrell did to you? Louis Boy.
00:20:58
Lew
yeah well i didn't recommend that but um
00:20:58
Holmesy
Yeah, look.
00:20:59
Sam
surely Surely if you'd gone Lockie Ash that week, Holmesie, you'd be picking out the colour of the Luxe.
00:21:06
Lew
and Well, it's funny you should say that, Sam.
00:21:06
Holmesy
Nah, well, I didn't have the cash, mate.
00:21:10
Lew
i've um I've actually just, and as my lawyer as well, um I'd like to ah like to get your feedback on this. I've just gone through the terms and conditions and it's it says here that Holmesy is disqualified because he's actually shared fantasy accounts this season. So,
00:21:26
Sam
Oh, no. Oh, no.
00:21:29
Lew
yeah, so potentially...
00:21:29
Holmesy
ah you get that on the You get that on the big jobs.
00:21:31
Sam
Damn.
00:21:31
Lew
um
00:21:32
Holmesy
You get that on the big jobs.
00:21:33
Sam
so so So fourth place is going to win the Lux. Wow, that's incredible.
00:21:36
Lew
Potentially, yeah. And the grand final tickets.
00:21:40
Sam
is there is it a
00:21:41
Holmesy
Lou, you can prop...
00:21:42
Sam
Is there any chance the first 263 teams are also disqualified?
00:21:47
Lew
Well, Sam, that I'm rooting for it. Yeah, I'm going up, you know, one rank a day at this rate. Yeah.
00:21:54
Sam
you
00:21:56
Holmesy
Nah, Lou, if um if I am truly, in fact, disqualified for sharing and letting you do that one sort of thing for me, you can probably let Splash Brothers out of your basement then. if We can just let him.
00:22:11
Jon Harmey
Be free.
00:22:13
Lew
Yes, I did suggest a bit of ah a kidnapping escapade to ah to force the result we wanted this morning, but I'll plead the fifth on that one.
00:22:23
Sam
ah Oh dear. Yeah.
00:22:26
Holmesy
Oh, geez. All right. Let's a bit of housekeeping before we start to review the season. So the Pod Pod Challenge is officially over. And as I said to you a couple of weeks ago, Harmi, if I was to win the Pod Pod Challenge, it would go to the second place coach. And that this year is Clary's counsellor. So Ryan's team,
00:22:48
Holmesy
unfortunately finished 11th. I know he was 10th going into the last round, I believe, and and just managed to slide to 11, but still an unreal year. So Ryan, if you're listening, which let's be honest, you're probably not. I think we'll have about four people listen to this, but if you can get into...
00:23:04
Holmesy
um one of our DMs so we can get you details so I can send that um custom AFL fantasy ring over to you as ah as the prize for winning the ProdPod challenge. That would be appreciated. But awesome season from you, mate. And also 21 coaches from the ProdPod challenge ended up finishing inside the top 100. I think that's a PB for us. So,
00:23:26
Holmesy
Yeah, amazing to see that um finish off so strongly and to have so many of the PodPod community getting hats this year, Sam. It's really good to see.
00:23:35
Sam
It is great to see, especially because we only have 21 listeners. So that means we have 100% strike rate of finishing in the top 100.
00:23:43
Jon Harmey
um may Me, me, Sam.
00:23:43
Lew
Is that inclusive of you too, Holmesy?
00:23:48
Lew
The 21?
00:23:48
Holmesy
ah That's some good maths from you, Sam. Well done.
00:23:51
Sam
Yeah, thanks, mate. I actually just want to give a quick shout-out to Ryan as well because I feel like I'd seen his team name in the top 50 for a very long time this season. So to be there from – feel like it was maybe midway through we saw him creep into the top 50, maybe even a bit earlier.
00:24:08
Sam
um Congratulations, mate. Great season.
00:24:12
Lew
Yeah, I think Clary's counsellor could use a wimp
00:24:12
Holmesy
Yeah, look, I think you'll find it's even higher than that, Sam. I think he was one of the names I i was reading out in the top 10 for large parts of the year. So yeah, unreal, unreal finishing shows how hard it is to stay up there with those teams. it's yeah It's really, really hard to do.
00:24:27
Holmesy
All right, boys, um before we get into sort of starting squads and and sort of review the the season, I just want some general key takeaways of of what we've learned from the season.
Challenges and Lessons Learned
00:24:37
Holmesy
I know we've all sort of taken away a lot. So Sam, considering you did the entire run sheet today, I'm going to kick it off with you.
00:24:43
Holmesy
but's your What's your big learning for the year?
00:24:47
Sam
Mine is it's a long season and um you've got to hold the good rooks sometimes. um This is probably the thing that hurt me the most this year.
00:24:58
Sam
Traded out um ah Zach Reid, Ashcroft, and Davidson probably earlier than most coaches. um And I was taking a peek at my fantasy-wrapped team ah earlier today and one of the regret trades that popped up was Levi Ashcroft, 115 the week I traded him out and between him and Reid I probably missed out on, I don't know, 400k or something and and that's probably been the difference in the end and why I started to to drop away, particularly across the buy rounds where I was hunting for a bit of cash.
00:25:21
Jon Harmey
Mm-hmm.
00:25:34
Sam
So um to be honest, it's not This is the first time I've kind of been in the hunt around the buy rounds, so it's a bit different for me this year. And that's definitely a lesson I've learned is it it is a long season. Don't don't chase that building that team too early and because your your cash generators are so critical.
00:25:55
Holmesy
Yep, I'd agree with that. That ties in with mine, um which i'll I'll speak about in a little bit. But you're right. At um at the same token, though, like, you know, Selby preaches as well that, you know, you can go early on these rookies at times. Like he famously traded out Tim Kelly early, but because he went up to Zach Merritt, um that paid off.
00:26:15
Holmesy
But you are right. you know That was one of your big regrets, losing all that money. And it meant that you you felt like you were sort of a premium behind because everyone else had this extra cash to spend that you'd unfortunately used early.
00:26:28
Sam
Yeah, absolutely. And I was lucky in some respects because the players I went to were guys like Ned Long and Ryan Marich, who obviously helped me a lot. But what it meant was when I was coming into those buy rounds, I had all of a sudden had all these guys out to move on, like Shy Bolton, Marich, Long. um There's probably another mid-pricer in my defensive line. And it just meant that I had almost too many trades to make and I couldn't get in all the all the other guys that that others were getting in.
00:27:00
Holmesy
Yep, yep. Agree with all of that. Lou, I'm going to go to you next because you had a very successful season. The 420 probably doesn't reflect just how well your team was going for three quarters of the year, at least, you know, barring the Whitfield captain um incident and whatnot. So what did you learn about, you know, getting pretty much to that top 100 as early as you did and and being up there for most of the year?
00:27:25
Lew
Yeah, look, for me, um and probably reflective, like how my season went and what unfolded, I think it really highlighted the importance of the vice captain and captaincy in fantasy. And look, that's no secret to anybody listening, but um it's just such a massive give me, ah gimme in terms of points on field each and every single week. And if you can nail that more often than not,
00:27:51
Lew
um you're off to the races and i think vams is actually one that really champions this and he came second in the um in the captain's challenge so shout out to him as well is that it's probably the most underrated way of genuinely gaining ranks um is the captaincy so had a few poor ones this year and that has really let me down so um The lesson, probably not really learned. It's something that I think we all acknowledge, but something that um is going to serve as a bit of a reminder that it's not just you know something you can throw away. it It is very important in terms of how your season goes, but also the timing of loops. um
00:28:31
Lew
I've been playing this game for well over a decade now. And even I get caught out every now and then in the timing of loops, whether it's a planned loop on the bench that plays before your VC, you know, there's plenty of ways to to sort of fall out of step with that.
00:28:49
Lew
And I think that's something that even now I still need to to work on just being ever present in how that actually works um week in, week out, every single season. and
00:29:02
Holmesy
Yeah, man, the loop game is seriously tough. Like, you know, put a bit of context on this. I reckon for the last four rounds this year, and admittedly, because I was up there, i was having to put a lot of time into trades. And, you know, with the loop game, it's, you know, what happens if this player scores this and then this player scores this. And we know that the AFL Fantasy app isn't the best app at the best of times with being able to edit and move and,
00:29:27
Holmesy
and whatnot. So you do have to, you you really do have to be across it if you want to be competitive. And, you know, even some good coaches get caught out as we saw Harmy have Jack McRae on the bench for the final round as the sub, but like it it does happen.
00:29:39
Holmesy
You do have to be on top of it. And, and, you know, sometimes the app won't let you do what you want to do, but,
00:29:42
Jon Harmey
Mm-hmm.
00:29:44
Holmesy
I agree. I think looking at the fantasy wrapped as well, I think I had a captaincy average of 124.5 this year, which was easily one of my best averages in a while. I think I looked at it and i only had the two captains under 100, that sort of random TDK game, Lou, that we straight captained him because we didn't have any loop options. And I think one other, Baz Smith, 94. But outside of that, all tons and some really big tons. So you are right. you If you want to compete, you've got to be nailing your captains.
00:30:14
Lew
Yeah, no, you pretty much covered exactly what I was going to follow up with, mate. Yeah, so important.
00:30:21
Holmesy
Harmi, what did we learn from the dossie ranks this year?
00:30:25
Jon Harmey
of Yeah, and don't think I quite made out to Dossie's ranks. But yeah, look, ah I think for me, as you boys know, I've been doing a house renovation. I haven't actually been able to see that much footy. So I think that that is actually a key part of it. You've got to be, you have to be um watching the games.
00:30:45
Jon Harmey
Because there's been many times throughout the course of this season where I have just brought in players on the back of um what should be you know so um statistics or trends and that sort of thing. um and it's backfired quite quickly.
00:31:01
Holmesy
Thank you.
00:31:02
Jon Harmey
significantly like I'll give you an example. Picking up um Caleb Sorong, where I felt he was at a fairly rock-bottom price, but the way that Freo were playing and his role within that team certainly wasn't conducive to him getting back um to your 105, 110 averaging player. So I guess that's just an example, but you really do need to put in some time to to watch what's happening on the field and that's got to influence your trades each week.
00:31:34
Holmesy
Can you confirm or deny that your season derailed when you randomly brought in Colby McEacher about round four? You didn't talk to us about anything.
00:31:47
Holmesy
You just went rogue and thought, here we go.
00:31:50
Jon Harmey
Yeah, I did bring him in. It was about three weeks before he started to play well. So I think the first week I got ah sixty there are forty um yeah its a it a fair bit of gut feeling at home.
00:32:05
Sam
You were just ahead of Clarkson, Harmy.
00:32:05
Holmesy
Yeah, sorry. So, yeah, you were ahead of it.
00:32:07
Sam
You were playing...
00:32:07
Jon Harmey
No, it wasn't round four.
00:32:09
Jon Harmey
wasn't round four.
00:32:09
Holmesy
Yeah, I was just being facetious, honey.
00:32:10
Sam
You playing...
00:32:10
Jon Harmey
He was about 200 grand down or something like
00:32:13
Holmesy
Yeah, yeah,
00:32:13
Lew
there's like There's a couple of Tadwijans that were on that one quite early, the old McKircher.
00:32:19
Holmesy
I know. You did go rogue this year, right? Like, you you randomly brought in Lockie Neal, I think. um
00:32:25
Jon Harmey
Yeah, I did do that.
00:32:28
Holmesy
Yeah.
00:32:28
Jon Harmey
Yeah, don't There's a few others. I brought in Jeremy Cameron.
00:32:31
Holmesy
That's right. You've got to be...
00:32:33
Jon Harmey
brought in Jeremy Cameron before that was like a cool thing to do. and
00:32:38
Holmesy
Still got PTSD from 2019, I guess you thought.
00:32:40
Jon Harmey
Yeah, well.
00:32:41
Holmesy
Yeah.
00:32:42
Lew
ah Don't sweat it, Harmy. You finished runner-up while it was still cool too, mate. So...
00:32:46
Jon Harmey
Exactly, exactly.
00:32:51
Holmesy
Yeah. So do do you feel like there was a particular, like, you know, you didn't have your best year, but can you pinpoint as to what happened early that didn't quite set you up as you needed to, to, so you know, finish strong and and be competitive later on?
00:33:06
Jon Harmey
I haven't gone through it. um I probably stayed true to a few players from a starting squad that I should have jumped off earlier than what I did.
00:33:17
Jon Harmey
And I think Sam's some highlighted one for me in an upcoming segment.
00:33:22
Holmesy
Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, no, that's fair enough. ah I forgot how he started the year, actually. Yeah.
00:33:27
Sam
Does anyone remember the last minute scramble before bounce down?
00:33:27
Holmesy
ah
00:33:31
Sam
Us deciding whether or not to bring in Tom Stewart.
00:33:32
Jon Harmey
Oh yeah.
00:33:35
Sam
and we Louis was tagging us saying, he's in the midfield, he's starting at the centre bounce.
00:33:39
Holmesy
He's walking, he's walking to the midfield. He's walking to the... Yeah.
00:33:43
Jon Harmey
ah go I blame you, Luke.
00:33:43
Lew
yeah I think that was you, Sam. I wasn't starting Tom Stewart. I reckon that was you with the Hawkeye.
00:33:44
Jon Harmey
I can blame you for this.
00:33:48
Sam
No, no, no, don't even go there.
00:33:52
Holmesy
I do. I vividly remember that, actually. I had Max Holmes and, yeah, I saw him walking to the midfield. i was like, what have I done? He's so cheap.
00:34:00
Sam
We'll have to check receipts. We'll have to check the receipts.
00:34:03
Jon Harmey
And I was laughing because I had Tom Stewart all along.
00:34:04
Lew
Yeah, we might have to.
00:34:07
Holmesy
yeah
00:34:10
Holmesy
ah So my biggest my biggest learning and and takeaway is that the early part of the year is just cashgenn cash gen, cash gen, cash gen. Like you've got to get the right rookies and it seems so simple.
00:34:24
Holmesy
You've got to get the right rookies and you've got to get the right mid prices, but equally you've just got to get off the mid prices that aren't getting the job done. And it's hard to have that fantasy ah IQ because so much of what we're taught is you know, if you pick a player, you've got to back them in because you picked them for a reason and they might come good. But at the same time, you know, I found this year, I made plenty of bad, bad trades.
00:34:47
Holmesy
Kane Farrell, um Riley Hardiman, there was, there was a number of, you know, poor trades, but, you know, sucking it up and getting off them once you've made that, that bad trade is, is super, super important. And,
00:35:00
Holmesy
And i i I nailed all the rookies to start the year. Some of it was was luck, but you know starting all of Max Hall, Xavier Lindsay, Ashcroft, Finn O'Sullivan, which I got off. But you know all of the rookies were there. And then all I had to do was just garden and chop off the rookies that weren't getting it done, chop off the mid prices and get onto the right ones.
00:35:22
Holmesy
And if you've got the cash, that means that you can launch throughout the buys and and moving into upgrade season. And if you don't, you find yourself like you did, Sam, just with not as much money as you want to. And then you find yourself taking a haircut here because you can't get to the player you want. You take a haircut here and then all of a sudden you're at the end of the buys. You've got maybe 17 players you like and five on field that you don't. And you just don't have enough trades to to get out of it, Lou.
00:35:48
Lew
Yeah, Holmesy, something that stood out to me there, um obviously you want to bring in the best rookies and the best players available to us early on in the season, but about trading out the failed mid-prices nice and early when you can identify something, I think...
00:36:04
Lew
um You know obviously, ah think we've spoken about Tom Phillips about 6 million times since 2019, but identifying these things really early on is probably more of an advantage now than actually jumping on to these rookies that everybody else is going to jump on anyway.
00:36:12
Holmesy
you
00:36:21
Lew
um So there's no secrets anymore. Everybody knows where the break-evens are and who's going to generate the cash. But I think where there's still room to move is is trading out these guys that we think are good picks early on. And it might be a yeah ah Sam Deconing, a Joel Frazier. I know for me, getting rid of Ollie Hollands after round one was massive.
00:36:42
Jon Harmey
Amen.
00:36:43
Lew
Just getting ahead of the rest of the competition – ah pulling that trigger that maybe some others don't want to just because they're a little bit afraid that the following week they're wrong. And that's fair enough. And I think that, um you know, holds its merit as well. But in a competition where there's so much content out there and there's so many good fantasy minds and everybody's, you know, conversing on Twitter and sharing their strategies, I think,
00:37:10
Lew
And maybe, and I'd love to hear your thoughts here, Holmes, yeah I think I know what they will be, is you know, do you think we've jumped the shark in that it's not just about who we're trading in when the competition is so aware of it, but actually who we've got, um I suppose, the balls to put on the line to actually cull nice and early and find the advantage through, you know, a mission, I suppose.
00:37:32
Holmesy
Yeah, mate, you've you've you've hit the nail on the head and and somewhere where I've gone wrong over the last few years at least, and you go back to the Tom Phillips example, we've we've done it to death, but that that year I was so successful because everyone held him and I jumped off.
00:37:47
Holmesy
But part of that was jumping off onto another player and I've tried to emulate that over the last couple of years, which has you know resulted in me trading out an Errol Goulden early, trading out a Marshall early, trading out a Stephen Cornelio early and and going to the top and we We do get focused on points early in the year and and rightly so because you know at the end of the day, it's the team that scores the most points, but cash gen is just so, so, so important and you need to make sure you have the right cash generators to lift the team value up as a whole so that you can get to the gun players later on down the line.
00:38:22
Holmesy
if you If you use your cash early and go all the way up and and you have nowhere to go, that's when you just get into trouble later on. and You know, Selby talks, Selby used to have the rule, he he wanted his mid prices to average 85. That was his blanket rule back in the day.
00:38:39
Holmesy
we here We hear certain numbers being floated around that, you know, a player must score 20 above their starting price or 25 above their starting price, whatever it is. But if you can find the players, and it's easier said than done, if you can find the players that you get at a discount but can score at premium levels, that's how you really compete in this game. So this year it was a Ned Long.
00:39:01
Holmesy
He, me and Sam both went there in the same week. It was risky because he'd been sub a few times. He'd had one sort of good score and his role was up and down. But we got onto Ned Long earlier than everyone else and he ends up averaging 90, 95 for the stretch that we have him.
00:39:16
Holmesy
Gets all the way up to 880K and then is a sideways to a Zach Merritt. Those are the types of players you need. The Colby McCurture in the back half of the year. Coaches didn't want to go there because he was 600K and at that time of year, you want the gun premiums.
00:39:31
Holmesy
But you get him and he ends up being essentially a top six defender pretty much to finish out the rest of the year. It's these type of moves that you need to make. it's It's not getting on, like don't get me wrong, the same week I got on Ned Long, I got on Nick Dacos who went 130. But there's going to be lots of premiums that you pay 100, 105 for that There's not many mid prices that you pay 50 or 60 for that go 85, 90, 95. They're the ones you need to get.
00:40:00
Lew
Yeah, they're the comp winners.
00:40:03
Holmesy
Yeah, and that that was ah that was a big learning point, Sam.
00:40:06
Sam
was just going ask, maybe we'll cover it a bit later anyway, but um sam the Sam Taylor pick at the start, what do you do you feel like he just broke ah even on it in the end?
00:40:14
Holmesy
I'd do it again. Yeah, I'd do it again.
00:40:14
Jon Harmey
Yeah.
00:40:18
Holmesy
He made 80K worth of quick cash and then you were able to get off. What made it awkward is if you held him again and again and again.
00:40:26
Sam
Yeah.
00:40:26
Holmesy
Shout out Bales. But making cash early is the name of the game. And, you know, he only made 80K, but he had potential to make more than that. All it it would have taken was ah an 80 or a 90 instead of the 55 that he scored.
00:40:40
Holmesy
and he makes an extra 20, 30K. So he's a rare case, but I don't regret that trade at all.
00:40:45
Sam
Yep. yep
00:40:45
Holmesy
I do regret um bringing in Sam De Koning after round one. So I didn't get the 123 and then brought him in.
00:40:51
Lew
Thank you.
00:40:53
Holmesy
And then I think he made 60 or 70K, which isn't the worst, but that's that's the type of trade I do regret. But you've got to make the cash early. And you can see like even Xavier Lindsay, his first three games are incredible. He jumps up to 400 odd k you know If you miss him round one and then you you brought him in when he was 300k and then he only ends up getting to 450, yeah, you've made 150k, but it's not as not as good as the guys that made you sort of 220 to 250, well, the guys that got on him for for round one, Lou.
00:41:25
Lew
So, you know, Sam started Lockie Ash, for example, and we've, for the last two seasons, we we've sort of been saying maybe stay away from those upper price, mid prices, premiums, because you're going to lose a game out of them.
00:41:39
Lew
But if we're also agreeing that cash is king early, and we've seen that, you know, someone like Lockie Ash as a starting pick has been an absolute success,
00:41:39
Sam
Thank you.
00:41:49
Lew
um Sam Taylor, we're going to put that down as a tick. I think Sam Wicks is another one we can throw in that basket. That was probably a tick. Do we think that next season with opening round looking like it's it's going to happen, are we more open to picking some of these more awkwardly priced guys, knowing that they're going to lose ah game, but also that other coaches, they're not going to have access to that cash. You're going to be able to start them and hold them and not use a trade and sort of ride a you know ah ah way of making money that other coaches aren't up to doing.
00:42:30
Holmesy
i think and I think we've got to be a little bit wary of of taking into account what happened this year with opening round because we lost that Gold Coast-Essendon game and then the Geelong-Brisbane game that also got moved.
00:42:43
Lew
Yeah, a good point.
00:42:43
Holmesy
So we only ended up having the two teams in opening round, which meant it was you know a little bit easier to kind of get through.
00:42:44
Lew
Yep.
00:42:50
Holmesy
I know the other scores didn't necessarily count, but did the Geelong game count actually? I can't remember in the end, Lou.
00:42:56
Lew
No.
00:42:57
Holmesy
It did, didn't it?
00:42:58
Lew
No, don't think so. I think Essendon, Geelong, Brisbane and another team. GWS didn't count in round zero.
00:43:09
Holmesy
Yeah, well, the one that got cancelled, the Essendon-Gold Coast game that's being played on Wednesday, that's clearly not counting for us.
00:43:11
Lew
Oh, not GWS.
00:43:19
Holmesy
I can't remember what ended up happening with the, I'm pretty sure it was Geelong-Brisbane.
00:43:24
Sam
Yeah, I think that one did get counted in the end, Holmesy, because I think it got moved.
00:43:24
Holmesy
I might be wrong.
00:43:27
Holmesy
Yeah.
00:43:28
Sam
Yep.
00:43:28
Lew
Right, yes.
00:43:29
Holmesy
Yeah. so but yeah
00:43:30
Lew
Sorry, yes.
00:43:31
Holmesy
So because we had those extra two teams in there that were counting for us, it made the buy rounds a little bit easier to navigate. But that is a learning from this year, especially in that five-week um mid-season buy round.
00:43:43
Holmesy
You've got so much, as long as you've done the right thing in terms of building your cash, you've got so much scope to trade sideways on your premiums throughout the buys and bring in other players that, you know, let's use the Jai Caldwell, for example.
00:43:58
Holmesy
He was such a good underpriced premium at the start of the buys and then all the way up to the end of his buy. None of us went there because you know he had a buy and you're not supposed to bring players in that still have their buy. But if he didn't get injured in that round 17 game, he was ah he was a knockout pick from that price.
00:44:16
Holmesy
And Lemon, who did it early in the buys, he paid dividends because he got all that money and all those points when other coaches were scared to go there. So I don't i don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to trade in a player now that still has their buy to come.
00:44:29
Holmesy
Albeit, I probably wouldn't do it if they have a buy the next week. I think it's more of a case of At the start of the buys, if they have a buy at the end, it doesn't matter, Luke.
00:44:37
Lew
Yeah, I think come next year, any player... but let's let's get What was Sam Taylor priced at this year? About 550K, thereabouts.
00:44:44
Jon Harmey
for a bit less.
00:44:47
Lew
I think any player priced there and below, that absolutely kills it in opening round and gets that cash moving. I'd be super open to starting. um If anything, the start of this season has given me more motivation to do so. And I think...
00:45:01
Lew
Part of that is that it gives you a scapegoat post round one or you know post round two, three. Early on in the season when you've got this team that you've selected for a reason um and you've almost got this you know pick that's been chosen for you that you can essentially go sideways or trade down on while also generating the cash from round zero performance that you know you weren't there to...
00:45:26
Lew
to own So I think I would do that again in a heartbeat. So Sam Wicks, if there was more of them to come next season, I think I would start most of them.
00:45:35
Holmesy
Yeah, even even the Lockie Ash example though, Lou. Like Lockie Ash, we talk about competition winning picks. Sam didn't win the competition, but Lockie Ash was was a big reason that he was up near the 100 towards the buyers because you get a player at discount that's scoring as a top six.
00:45:52
Holmesy
I don't care if he's got a buy. Like he was he was incredible and he was unique because of that fact that coaches didn't want to go there or they did, but then he had the 60 in round one and they traded off him. so ah just I think ah still fully priced players or players that only have a little bit of upside, you probably stay away from if they've got a buy. But anyone that's presenting serious value, whether it's a rookie mid-pricer or in this case, Lockie Asher is an underpriced premium.
00:46:19
Holmesy
Look, I think it's all good. Sam, would you agree?
00:46:23
Sam
Yeah, I mean, I can't not agree because of how well he went this year. um i was, like you, I was tossing up between Sam Taylor and Lockie Ash myself. And the reason I went Lockie Ash in the end was because I felt like he gave me options because I was always intending to hold him if he went like,
00:46:41
Sam
75 plus in that round one game um because I figured maybe he actually gets close to the top six and I'm getting a really cheap guy. Whereas I knew Sam Taylor obviously wasn't going to be, wasn't going to score consistently.
00:46:55
Sam
He scored 63. I was always going to trade him out. And then I think ah Hugo Garcia was a laid out or something and I ended up pivoting there. So it's funny how those things happen. But yes, I felt like Ash gave me more flexibility than Taylor, which is why I went there.
00:47:09
Sam
um And yeah, it worked. But in another world, it it may not have.
00:47:14
Holmesy
Yep. Yeah, I agree. And that's why, yeah, every season's different. Boys, what I want you to do, open up your app, Harmi, quickly re-download it if you haven't and go to your starting
Best and Worst Picks of the Season
00:47:25
Holmesy
squads.
00:47:25
Holmesy
And we're just going to talk over our best and worst starting pick.
00:47:27
Jon Harmey
Thank you.
00:47:29
Holmesy
So we'll go worst first. um And I'm opening my team. I'm looking at it and I'm just thinking to myself, why is James Peatling in my starting squad?
00:47:40
Holmesy
I was never never big on him, but for some reason, he sort of snuck in there late. um So yeah, that was an example, Lou, of fixing that mid-pricer. I traded out of him straight away and got onto... can't remember who I got onto, but jumped off him and got onto mid-pricer that was going to pop. So James Peatling's probably my worst pick.
00:47:59
Holmesy
Special shout-out to to Riley Sanders, who I was never big on either, but a bit of groupthink there. And I mean, we all went Harry Perryman, so... that's That's another one that didn't work out, but the process was there with that midfield role playing at Collingwood.
00:48:13
Lew
That was an opening round special, that one, in the end, I think.
00:48:15
Sam
Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:17
Holmesy
Yep. Lou, you got it open?
00:48:20
Lew
Yes, for me, easily Oli Hollins. That was one that ah in the pre-season, I didn't love it. um Did eventually come around to it, but honestly, in hindsight, I think had he not played Richmond in round one, I just wouldn't have gone there. I didn't rate him particularly as a player. I wasn't sure what the role was going to be, and...
00:48:42
Lew
I probably just went there for weight of numbers as well as that easy Richmond matchup. And as soon as he didn't perform there, it was, you know, see you later. I'm not going to hang on to that one. But I think in hindsight, probably I wish I backed myself in there.
00:48:57
Holmesy
Stan?
00:48:59
Sam
Yes, I had a few of the guys that have already been mentioned. So Ollie Hollands, Harry Perryman, obviously. like I think Harry Perryman would be my one that i I'd put down and say that was the worst pick. The one I'm actually going to say, and it's kind of ah another lesson that I've learned this year, going to say Joel Frazier. So even though he went 103 for me, what I have learned this year is stay away from these guys who have role uncertainty.
00:49:25
Sam
And I'll throw De Koning into that basket. I faded him for that exact reason because I thought, you know, Chris Scott openly said, i could do anything in the ruck, basically. And lo and behold, he did.
00:49:38
Sam
um Two rounds in, De Koning was out and Blitzars was back in. so But yeah, ah there's a few other guys he put in that basket. Harry Perryman would ended up being a Mr. Fix-It. um Joel Frazier obviously was spinning between midfield and halfback, so...
00:49:52
Sam
Yeah, I'll say him, even though it wasn't a shocking pick, he made me a bit of cash, but um my takeaway is stay away from these guys if they've got any role uncertainty. You want those guys locked into a halfback role or locked into a centre-bounce midfield role.
00:50:07
Holmesy
Yeah, and i'll I'll throw on that as well, just the speculative second-year player. In pre-season, it's so easy for us all to say, oh, you know, this player had a had a stretch of six games in the 80s in their first year, natural progression.
00:50:22
Holmesy
They can do 85, like a Riley Sanders falls into that mix. Yeah. We don't really see the speculative second-year player really, really break out. There have been exceptions, obviously, but Selby's been bigger in the past of you know jumping on them after you've seen a week just to know that the role and the scoring is going to be real. So in the preseason, just not getting tricked into those players. In preseason, everyone has value. Everyone's going up, as Stevie Fizz likes to say, but...
00:50:49
Holmesy
um It's not typically the case. The season rolls around and 90% of the roles are the same that they were the year previous and the same players are still scoring. Harmi?
00:50:59
Jon Harmey
um The player that I probably regret most in this starting line-up is actually Jason Horne-Francis. Somebody that I wasn't that keen on. I didn't think that there was a big upside and that proved to be the case. So picked him because he was a forward. I think I must have flicked some things around and had the money too, so I just took him in.
00:51:22
Jon Harmey
But um if you look at what he did, he came in averaging at least 10 points for the season below what he was priced at. He lost $172,000. was a constant headache.
00:51:35
Jon Harmey
um And he didn't play a full-time midfield role either. So that's probably one that stands out for me when I look at my squad.
00:51:46
Holmesy
Yep, I agree with that.
00:51:48
Jon Harmey
And I blame Louis for that as well.
00:51:48
Holmesy
I think, yeah, Louis said louis said he was exploding.
00:51:51
Lew
Do you know what? I think if he... Yeah, I think if ah the injuries didn't happen, that would be one we wouldn't be complaining about, just given what we had available to us as forwards.
00:52:03
Jon Harmey
but You had your pick. You didn't pick him. It's all right.
00:52:04
Lew
ah Hey, look, listen, I look forward to next year. you are turning your nose up at him all season while he's under Josh Carr and you know averaging maybe close to 100 at a discount. So we'll see how stubborn Harmi can get.
00:52:18
Sam
I think I'll take some of the flack for that pick. I think I was JHF's number one fan after that preseason. i was I was singing from the rooftops about him. So, yeah, I'll take some of the punishment there.
00:52:29
Lew
He looked good early, didn't he?
00:52:30
Holmesy
All right.
00:52:32
Holmesy
let's get Let's get positive now.
00:52:32
Jon Harmey
The indigenous all-stars, the indigenous guy.
00:52:35
Lew
Yeah.
00:52:36
Holmesy
Yeah, he did.
00:52:36
Sam
Yeah, that's what bloody got me.
00:52:37
Holmesy
He killed it.
00:52:37
Sam
I don't know why I paid any attention to a stupid exhibition game.
00:52:39
Lew
I think that got everybody. That got everybody.
00:52:42
Sam
Like, my, my God.
00:52:45
Holmesy
Which we should have known because you had Liam Reedy looking like the next coming of Aaron Sandlands against Cohen Livingston. we We knew there was no pressure in that game. Simpkin ran around for a 130. Yeah, look, let's just not watch it next year.
00:52:59
Holmesy
Let's talk some positives now. So I'll highlight a few players here and and why they were such successful starting picks for me. So I'm going to give two. you know, we all started the Bailey Smiths and and all those players. So we'll like we'll ignore those because they were gimme picks. But Jordan Dawson, so paying up 104 for Jordan Dawson, second highest averaging midfielder in the comp, you know, average 110. So you look at that and you only go, oh, six points of value. Wasn't huge, but...
00:53:27
Holmesy
you know He started the year going at 115, maybe even 118 over the first 8 to 10 rounds. If you didn't start him, it meant you were finding ways to get him into your side.
00:53:37
Holmesy
um And he was just good to lock away all year. So Dawson was a ah good starting pick. But the two mid-pricers that I'll talk about, and louis Louis spoke about Ollie Hollands, but how it was a debate in the pre-seasons, Ollie Hollands versus Adam Chera,
00:53:54
Holmesy
um'll never I'll never understand. Now, admittedly, in hindsight, Chera had his injury issues and we hadn't seen too much consistent football from him over the last couple of years. But when you look back in hindsight, midfielder for Carlton, yes, he has low time on ground, but he's always been a scorer whenever he's fit. And he, I think at his peak, got up over a million dollars averaged close to 100 until we all traded him out. So Adam Chera was one of those knockout starting picks. And as I said, being able to sideways him to a ah genuine top eight mid around the buy was good. And the other one that was sort of speculative and admittedly, I'll put my hand up. I wasn't that big on him in the preseason, but ended up starting him was Nathan O'Driscoll. And
00:54:35
Holmesy
He did end up getting injured, but he made some good cash quickly, put some scores on field, and then was able, when he got injured, he was you know within a stone's throw of getting to ah a good underpriced player. So I'll throw Nathan O'Driscoll in there as well, but just highlighting that, yeah, all the all the rookies I started, which was which was why I was so successful.
00:54:54
Holmesy
Lou?
00:54:55
Lew
Yeah, no, I can't argue with any of those. I think, yeah, Cher has probably been an underrated pick for most of the competition. He's one that just pretty much got us towards the end when it was luxury trade season. And yeah, his body held up, which is a little bit of a miracle, I suppose. If I were to...
00:55:16
Lew
Throw another name into that mix. I think Matt Roberts is one that ah was valuable to us all early on.
00:55:20
Jon Harmey
Oh yeah.
00:55:22
Lew
you know, was priced at that sort of awkward 80 mark and could have easily just performed at that after his initial first season, but was able to go on with it. I know he didn't have the greatest finish to the season, but the beginning sort of pre-buy period, I think he was a a massive cog in our teams and a trade sort of in the pocket that we didn't have to address later on.
00:55:44
Jon Harmey
It's amazing, isn't it? You look back over the 24 rounds ago and Matty Roberts finishes the year outside of the 23 as an emergency. Can't get into the team.
00:55:57
Jon Harmey
Riley Sanders, same, finishes the season outside of his his starting line-up as an emergency. So two guys that i had in my score that I thought was going to really get a bump this year and didn't get anywhere close to it.
00:56:14
Lew
and Another one I ah just want to mention too, one that I reckon I flagged about this time last year was Jackson Pryor. i was I was pretty happy that that one came to fruition. It looked a bit shaky for a bit there, but those coaches that held the faith there, I think you rewarded them.
00:56:32
Holmesy
Yeah, except the fact that I couldn't pick between him and Reid on field each week for the first six rounds and lost points every single week.
00:56:37
Jon Harmey
ah
00:56:41
Lew
Oh, that was ah that was a testy period, that one.
00:56:44
Holmesy
Yeah, man, rookie roulette. If I can get better at rookie roulette, the sky's the limit. But until that, we just keep moving forward. Harmi, did you give us your your best starting pick? I can't remember whether I heard it from you.
00:56:55
Jon Harmey
Best? I don't think I did. Oh, look, I'm going to go Tom Stewart. um He got 95 points in the first round. So obviously very good start to the season.
00:57:08
Holmesy
Fair enough. Fair enough. All right. we We won't go for too much longer, but before we wrap up, yeah, sorry.
00:57:12
Lew
Connor Rosey too, by the way. our Adding that defender status was just massive.
00:57:15
Holmesy
Rosie was, yeah. Yep. And he was he was highly owned, but he wasn't he wasn't very highly owned. um he was Yeah, he was good for us as well, Lou.
00:57:26
Holmesy
I'll agree with that. There's some, you know, your Clayton Olivers and Will Days that didn't do what we thought they were going to do, but were serviceable. Yeah. Even a Jaden Short wasn't the knockout pick that we thought he was going to be.
00:57:38
Holmesy
But um just quickly, boys, who out of your squad did you end up holding for the entire year?
00:57:39
Jon Harmey
No.
00:57:43
Holmesy
So outside of Harry Boyd, I had Max Holmes, Jordan Dawson and Bailey Smith. What's it for you, Luke?
00:57:52
Lew
ah For me, Bailey Smith, Gorn, Connor Rosey, Jordan Dawson are the four.
00:58:03
Lew
Yep, those four there.
00:58:03
Holmesy
Sorry, that's that's the other one that we forgot to mention, Lou. Max Gorn. um Look, yes, English got close to him in terms of an average towards the end of the year with a couple of lower games in there from Gorn towards the back end. But really, he was the knockout pick for us that set us off you know to the races when half the comp went cherry and we went Gorn.
00:58:26
Holmesy
Like that, that was a big reason that we were able to climb him going 120 to start the year, pretty much up to his buy and then dropping off a little bit towards the end. Like that was, that was risky in hindsight priced at 112.
00:58:38
Holmesy
You know, we knew that he had the GWS game in round one against who Keith, Harmi, your boy. We knew that one, but then he, then he went to what, I think he went to 60 and 80 and a 70 against some pretty tough opposition. And,
00:58:52
Holmesy
I'm not going to lie, I considered trading him, which is crazy in hindsight, but that that was one that easily could have gone the other way. But you know credit to Gorn, he got us up there.
00:59:03
Jon Harmey
Yeah, look, we um we had some similar players there in starting lineups, touching on the same guys that you guys already did, Baz Smith, Max Gorn, Connor Rose, Jordan Dawson. So, um yeah, if i only had more players like that in my squad.
00:59:22
Holmesy
All right right, we're coming up to the hour mark. So let's just, what I want to do to finish, just quickly go through what was your yeah best trades for the year? So best week of trading for the year and then your worst week of trading for the year.
00:59:35
Holmesy
ah You know what? No, let's skip the worst. Let's just go best. Best week of trading for the year. Mine is easily um coming out of the buys. I think I did speak about it on the Fanatics, but being ranked 119 coming out of the buys, you know the flavor of the week was um Harry Roston for some cash. So most of the comp went there and and did a one up, one down.
00:59:57
Holmesy
sort of maneuver and I decided to go sideways on Chera and Long to bring in Merritt and Butters and that was the week that Merritt went 145. Sam can we just actually bring this up because it's an interesting talking point you you came into the group chat on Saturday morning and couldn't believe that I'd gone Zach Merritt so can you just talk us through you know what you were thinking at that point
01:00:19
Sam
Which week are we talking, Holmesy? Sorry.
01:00:22
Holmesy
So this this was the week after the buy. So I traded out Zach Merritt at his buy when he had the 57.
01:00:25
Sam
Yep.
01:00:28
Holmesy
And then you just couldn't comprehend why I went back to Zach Merritt for the 145.
01:00:34
Sam
Yeah, I mean, we we talk about, um I guess we do, we have our processes in place, right, to try and make the best possible decisions. And I just felt it was, Such a brave decision to go there. Yes, the matchup was great. I think it was the Suns. But going into that game, he'd had role uncertainty. There'd been, you know, the chat about he'd been making his way for the, you know, the younger brigade in the midfield. He'd scored, don't know, 70, 60, 90 the three weeks before. So, I mean, I couldn't do it because it's one of those things where you kick yourself if he then runs around on the wing for a 70 that week and you just go, how stupid am I?
01:01:13
Sam
um But, you know, full credit to you, it absolutely worked. He went bang, 130. He was in the midfield the whole time and obviously he didn't get tagged because Suns don't. So, yep, that was the that was my thinking there.
01:01:26
Holmesy
yeah Yeah, fair enough. you know i That was the week that Vams, I think the week after Vams put out that meme about you know not wanting to pay or wanting to pay $1.1 million dollars for a player because they're killing it, but then not wanting to pay $920K for that same player because they're out of form, but then wanting them back once they're back up to $1.1 million.
01:01:42
Sam
yeah
01:01:45
Holmesy
So that was that was literally a case. I had three players to pick from that week and admittedly, none of them would have gone wrong. But Dunkley, Butters and Merritt were all between 920k and 940k.
01:01:58
Holmesy
And they're all just absolute guns. so sometimes just taking the price out of it when they're when they've had a bit of a form slump and going there when other coaches won't is a way to propel you up. And I went from 119 to 29th. I think I was ranked eighth overall for that particular week. And the rest was history. That was the big jump that I needed. So yeah, that was easily my best week of trading. Lou, can you remember any?
01:02:20
Lew
Yeah, mine was probably identifying the writing on the wall with Tom DeConning. I jumped off him very, very early. I think it may have even been the week after that 75, Holmesy, and jumped onto a Tristan Sherry who had a very tough matchup. And I think the same week, Tom DeConning had an extremely easy matchup in Geelong.
01:02:41
Lew
I bit the bullet. Tom DeConning went 117, Tristan Sherry against Adelaide from memory went, uh, the, oh no, Port Adelaide went the one 26. And even though I got the small advantage there, of course, coaches after that didn't want to trade out Tom Deconning and, uh, being able to get those scores from Sherry as coaches were almost handcuffed to to keeping Tom Deconning until the buy at that point, uh, was a massive advantage for me.
01:03:10
Lew
And I think that same week I may have traded into Ned Long on the other end from Sam Davidson too.
01:03:16
Holmesy
Yep. No, i remember that well because we both traded out TDK that week. I mean, I went Marshall because I didn't have the money to get Cherry and there still was that sort of injury risk. But that, once again, Lou, that highlights we both did something that is a bit taboo in the AFL fantasy community. ah In round six,
01:03:34
Holmesy
trading sideways on a ruckman instead of you know trying to get a rookie off the field or get to a mid-pricer. But you know that paid off for us both. and yeah He did ton up that week. It was a low ton, but I remember you got Cherry, that which was higher.
01:03:47
Holmesy
And I think Marshall was a little bit higher, but it was the week after that paid dividends for us when he went that 65, I think, against Adelaide and and we got a bit of a jump there.
01:03:55
Lew
Yep.
01:03:55
Holmesy
So yeah, absolutely you know being brave in the middle part of the season or the early part of the season. you know It's not always get the rookies off the field. Yes, it's a good strategy, but when you've got Levi, when you've got Davidson and these players that are putting up scores at that particular point in time, there's nothing wrong with making some money off your your mid-price ruck that's starting to fail. So yeah, agree with that.
01:04:17
Holmesy
ah Sam?
01:04:20
Sam
um I'll shout out a couple. The first one is, i think, just a usual cut and dry one. It was the week I traded into Harry Shiesel for his 130, 140 against Essendon.
01:04:32
Sam
um Obviously, there had been whispers that he was returning to a halfback row, and we knew what he'd done in that position before, and I just thought, whatever, let's have a crack. He's come down a bit in price, and presented nicely and it worked out really well.
01:04:47
Sam
I should have done the same thing um with his partner in crime, Colby McKercher, later in the year, but went Mills instead. and And the other one I want to shout out, which is a bit more of an interesting thought experiment, is the Gorn to Marshall trade and when Gorn was on his buy.
01:05:02
Sam
I think, like, Holmesy, you and I did that and maybe Harmy and Louis did not. Correct me if I'm wrong, boys. um And it ended up being massive for us.
01:05:13
Sam
Like,
01:05:13
Holmesy
Yeah.
01:05:14
Sam
Gorn had three weeks there where he struggled um and then did come back into some form towards the end. But, I mean, Marshall was just massive in those three weeks and and it made a huge difference. So it was an interesting one because, you know, the the rule of thumb is um don't trade your premiums on their buyers.
01:05:30
Sam
um But that was one case where, you know, there was an exception to prove the rule. So, yeah.
01:05:35
Lew
Yeah, was just going to say, all I can say for that is thanks, Will Faulkner.
01:05:35
Sam
Yeah.
01:05:41
Lew
I think it was the the Saints journo reporting that.
01:05:45
Sam
That's right, the road and cool.
01:05:45
Lew
Rowan Marshall was a little bit sore. I think a lot of the competition were ready to jump on, but and look it's probably our fault.
01:05:49
Jon Harmey
Yeah.
01:05:53
Lew
we we We jumped at shadows there, but come on, really? Yeah.
01:05:57
Holmesy
lo Lou, Lou, if there's one thing I've learned about Rowan Marshall, you need to just drown out the noise with that guy. Like last year, do you remember my test case last year when I traded Grundy early to him when he was on his buy?
01:06:11
Holmesy
i think he had a 140 or something, but then he went 60-60. And then the journos during the week were like, yeah, Rowan Marshall, he's not training. He's probably not going to play.
01:06:21
Holmesy
And then I traded him out and then he went back to back 170. So Rowan Marshall, you just you just don't trade off him. But Sam, you're right. that That test case, that was just a slam dunk because of how expensive Gorn was.
01:06:34
Holmesy
We knew he was going to come good. you know We were praying that he was going to go 80, 80, 80 and it eventuated. It was a ah nervous sort of watch. But yeah, Harmi, I agree, mate. finish this off. What was your best trade for the year?
01:06:45
Jon Harmey
Best trade, look, I haven't gone back through it and I'm sorry, mate, there won't be too many best trades in there. I thought that I traded Levi Ashcroft to somebody and made a nice upgrade and I've just had a quick look and that was actually over the buys I traded him out and brought in Jack McRae who obviously came through with the goods in that last round for me.
01:07:04
Jon Harmey
ah But another one, like Colby McKercher, I brought him in pretty early. it looks like that was in round seven.
01:07:09
Sam
Thank you.
01:07:11
Jon Harmey
mean, look, I had been pissing around with one spot in my back line for ages and it ended up being Sam DeConi to Colby by the looks of things. And it was like Sam Taylor to Sam DeConi to Colby. So I wasted a bit of trades um early on in that space.
01:07:28
Holmesy
Yeah, just before we wrap up, Harmi, the McRae one is interesting because you know you got him on him earlier than I did, but i actually i i actually did okay from the Jack McRae trade-in because I got on him earlier than everyone else did. So he he fell off a cliff, admittedly, but getting on him early, I think I got a 90 and then a 120 and then everyone jumped to him and then he went 90, 70, 100, 90, 70, 60.
01:07:53
Holmesy
seventy a hundred ninety seventy sixty And that's a learning in that is that the comp will match if you go early. And just because, you know, McRae looks like a failed sort of trade towards the end because he dropped off. If you get him on the right time, then it might not necessarily be a failed trade in your team. So the McRae one wasn't wasn't horrendous.
01:08:11
Holmesy
Lou, finish this off.
01:08:13
Lew
For my worst trade.
01:08:15
Holmesy
Oh, just thought you had something to say.
01:08:17
Jon Harmey
Best trade.
01:08:17
Holmesy
No, we got to wrap up there.
01:08:18
Lew
Oh, sorry, mate.
01:08:18
Holmesy
Harmi...
01:08:19
Lew
I haven't haven't taken my hand down on this app.
01:08:22
Holmesy
Yeah, nah. All good boys.
Closing Reflections and Future Possibilities
01:08:25
Holmesy
Look, I just want to say thank you again. it's It's been unreal to to host the PodPod with you boys this year. Look, you know, people got stuck into us last year because we started off and then we had to candle in the middle of the year.
01:08:39
Holmesy
You know, it looked bad because we weren't going so well, but you know, people, you you you need to appreciate how hard it is to to get three blokes together, four blokes together who all live on different sides of the country, all with lives, all with jobs and everything.
01:08:52
Holmesy
So, you know, the fact that you guys were were here pretty much week on week for the whole year, I think we missed one podcast for the year.
01:08:52
Jon Harmey
Thank you.
01:08:59
Holmesy
um I really appreciate it. Sam, thank you so much for jumping on this year. You've been a great addition to the PodPod. um Do you have any sort of closing thoughts for the listeners?
01:09:08
Sam
No, it's been fun. um My closing thought is a closing question, Holmesy. Will PodBod be back in 2026?
01:09:17
Holmesy
Yeah, look, we yeah we haven't made any decisions yet. I'm going to go out limb and say if we are back next year, it's going to look a little bit different. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. it's It's been very tough for me to do this this year, you know working late Sunday night, going to school Monday, putting the pod together and in 20 minutes before we before we start and having listening to the kids in the background yelling and my wife getting upset. So it's it's been it's been really tough. um I've thoroughly enjoyed it and will never say never.
01:09:47
Holmesy
The, you know, the Holmes files is one of my favorite things. And I don't know, Sam, do i have to interview myself in the preseason this year? How's that going to work?
01:09:54
Sam
God, please don't. and The last thing we need is you rambling on about your neckbeard stories in your Discord chats and your Rowan Marshall eyeballing. I mean, that's nobody needs needs to hear that. Nobody needs to hear that. I will say, though, Holmesy...
01:10:08
Sam
Massive credit to you for for sticking the course, particularly towards the pointy end of the season.
01:10:12
Lew
Thank you.
01:10:13
Sam
um I certainly wouldn't have been giving everyone my two cents if I was ah in the top 20 with five rounds to go. i would have been ah going radio silent. So it's a massive credit. Selby talks about how he can't play anymore because he's putting out his guide and he'd feel conflicted.
01:10:30
Sam
um So congratulations on an amazing season and and a really good job hosting the pod pod.
01:10:36
Holmesy
Yeah, thanks thanks, mate. Appreciate that. And Louis and Harmy, you know, we've been doing this for a while now. It's it's it's been fun. You know, it it won't be the end. You'll you'll still hear from us, but I do just want to thank you guys, you know, Harmy, for for fronting up each week despite not having it the best season and, you know, with all your renos and stuff. You know, i really appreciate that. and Lou, we didn't we didn't get your your mid mid-year bushwalk this year where you go out and we don't hear from you for two weeks and you come back all enlightened. But yeah, I've really loved chatting fantasy with you this year. And yeah, it's it's good. So Lou, just give us here give us your final closing thoughts and we'll wrap this up.
01:11:15
Lew
yeah Yeah, first of all, thanks to you boys each and every week rocking up and and talking a bit of fantasy. Regardless, I think that's a credit to you, everyone there, and also to the listeners who who tune in. each and every week um we cannot thank you enough it's it's absolutely massive we we do this show for you guys um and yeah we're just so thankful that um you tune in each and every week and listen to us chat a bit of crap so um glad that uh we had some success this year i think three coaches in the top 500
01:11:53
Lew
is massive. that's ah That's an awesome result. And and of course, Holmesy coming in that top three is just unbelievable. So congratulations to you for that as well. But um yeah, hopefully we will see you in some form next season. What that looks like, we're not sure. But yeah, I think we've all got a little bit something left to give. So um we'll see what happens and stay tuned and we'll keep everybody updated.
01:12:21
Holmesy
Beautiful. That will wrap us up once again. Congratulations to all the coaches that you know had their PB rank, got their first hat, just enjoyed playing AFL Fantasy. Louis said it, the show doesn't happen without the listeners. So who knows when we'll check back in. But yeah, enjoy enjoy the time away from Fantasy Footy.
01:12:40
Holmesy
Actually talk to your families again and ah we'll ah we'll chat soon. Bye.