THE MARSH Community Series is right on our doorstep and it's an exciting time for all AFL Fantasy fans.
This series will guide us through the coming weeks as we place the final pieces of our teams together. In team Calvinator, only a handful of players are safely locked away. As for the others, show me what you've got!
Structure
The key here is, once you are happy with the mix of premiums, mid-priced players and rookies you have on your field, then all their positions are interchangeable.
In defence, I'm not completely sold on the top-line players such as Jake Lloyd, Bachar Houli and Rory Laird so therefore I'm chasing value. All players in defence are best-22 players at their respective clubs and unlike last year, I aim to have just one rookie on the field to eliminate the stress on a Thursday night when teams are announced.
My midfield will stay strong with four elite premiums, while Joel Selwood's position will be determined by his involvement in the Marsh Community Series.
Brad Ebert is a player of difference sitting forward as he appears in just two per cent of completed teams. Around him I have some familiar names with just one rookie. As for the rookies, they are just holding down spots, keeping the position warm before the next rookie who is hyped up by their club takes their spot.
Calvin's tip: Don't fill up your bench with $170,000 rookies at this stage of the year. This will make things tight when teams are finally announced. Pay a little extra now, so you don't need a full restructure of your team when your $170k hopeful, isn't named.
Mid-price marvels
This year I am going into the season with the approach of 'value is value'.
There is always a negative vibe around selecting mid-priced players, but in some cases, the value is just too good to ignore. Players such has Dan Houston, Hunter Clark and Chayce Jones all offer tremendous upside and could even outscore some of the bigger names with higher price tags.
However, I may not stop there. After an ankle reconstruction in the off-season, Lachie Whitfield will need to prove he is fit and firing in the coming weeks. Yes, he'll be the best forward over the course of the season, but when you are forking out $844,000 for the fourth-most expensive player in the game, you want him 100 per cent.
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Questions to be answered
The Marsh Community Series will answer a lot of questions that are keeping me awake at the night.
Is Sam Jacobs going to be rucking solo? Is Joel Selwood fit and ready for round one? Will Chayce Jones play more up the ground than last year? Will Brad Ebert get injured and ruin my season for the second year running?
Over the series, clubs will experiment and trial rookies and players in new roles. Week three is the most important though. This is where the main questions will be answered as clubs play their best available teams in a final hitout before the season starts a fortnight later.
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