‘Twas the night before Dreamteam, when all through the house
Not a creature was clicking, not even a mouse;
The excel spread sheets were researched with care,
In hopes that Dream team would soon be there;

The coaches were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of 100’s danced in their heads;
And donuts in bye weeks, and the salary cap,
And big Sandi’s just racked up his 100^th tap.

Dreaming of watching the fan footy scores,
seeing plus 3’s and plus 6’s and golden plus 4’s.
When suddenly outside a noise could be heard
I jumped up to peer out at what was that stirred.

The moon shone through on the new-fallen snow
gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
when, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
I saw visions; my car winning team did appear.

With a forgotten key forward, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than Juddythe rest they did come,
and he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now, Cyril! Now, Jelwood! Now, Swanny and Barlow!
On, Luey! On Martin! On, Zaka and Trengove!
To the top of the list! To the top of the league!
Now dash away! Dash away! Take home that car!”

And then, in a twinkling, I saw my future again
my captain got injured, my cash cow got banned.
As I drew in my breath, and was turning around,
Saw the same old story, as last year coming around.

Petrie was layed up, something up with his arm,
andbuddy was rubbed out, he refused to disarm
A bundle of mid pricers stunk up my team,
Will I learn this time, From this foretold night dream?

Guns and rookies must be the only way,
Mid pricers will come at you don’t hear what they say.
If you think you can find the guy ripe to break out,
He’ll stink up and stuff you beginning the rout.

I woke that morning and Dream team was here,
I sat there all eager and cracked open a beer;
This time will be different, I’ll learn mistakes made
Who am I kidding, I already want to trade……..

HAPPY DREAMTEAM TO ALL, BRING IT ON!

Click here to read full article.

The main points:

• Major prize is once again the FJ Cruiser.
• $500 weekly prize.
• Highest weekly score of season wins $2000.
• $2000 eliminator prize.
• 10 x $1000 early league creation prizes.
• There will be 4 themed round prizes – trips for 2 to a corporate box. Anzac Day Round, Indigenous Round, Multicultural Round and Women’s Round (for top female scorers only).
• School prizes total almost $20,000.

Bring on February 1.

After going through some of the comments throughout the posts, we thought it was about time we threw this up for a couple of reasons. The first is to answer some FAQ’s and correct some popular misconceptions we’ve seen so far, and to keep it all in one easy-to-find place.

The second reason is so that you guys can throw us (and other readers) any DT-related questions that you might have at this early point in the season. Any common or important queries will be added to the main post.

Don’t forget that you can start picking your Dream Team now if you subscribed to the Assistant Coach by logging into your Dream Team (dreamteam.afl.com.au) and clicking on “Team Picker“. Alternatively, m0nty over at FanFooty.com.au has his “Fanplanner” to start picking your team on. Otherwise, the real competition will be open on February 1st.

“I’ve been living under a rock. What changes are there to Dream Team in 2012?”

Information on all the changes were posted here - if you missed it, follow the link and get up to date.

“Do we have League matches over the Multi Bye Rounds?”

Yes we do. The first two rounds are matchup-free, with the first head-to-head coming in Round 3.

“But I don’t understand. 15 Leagues matches + 4 Finals matches + 3 MBR’s off easily fits into 23 Rounds?”

That’s because of another change to DT in 2012 – Leagues have extended to 18 teams, to fall in line with the current AFL system. That makes 17 + 4 + 3 = 24 Rounds, which doesn’t fit. So instead, the 2 weeks off come in Rounds 1 and 2.

“I’m a bit confused, how does the new DPP trading rules work?”

This has been mentioned a couple of times before, but here’s a recap. We can now trade a player out from one position and using Dual Position Players (DPP), can trade a player into a totally different position with only one trade.

Let’s look at an example using a 2011 scenario. I trade out a DEFENDER (eg. Jack Grimes) and am left with an empty slot. I substitute a DEF/MID who is currently in my midfield (eg. Dyson Heppell) into Grimes’ empty slot and how trade in a new MIDFIELDER (eg. Dane Swan) into Heppell’s empty slot. So basically I have been able to trade Grimes (DEF) out for Swan (MID) using only the one trade.

“It says we get 3 trades for each of the Multi Bye Rounds… Is that included in the 24 we have for the year, or are they extra? And do we have to use all three?”

It is included in the 24 you have for the year, and no, you don’t have to use all 3 if you don’t want to. How you deal with the MBR’s are up to you, but Virtual Sports have given us that extra flexibility to us those trades if we need them.

“I don’t want to pick Player X because I already have his teammate, Player Y”

That doesn’t make any sense – you must have a 2011 hangover. While we couldn’t pick too many players from the same team due to weekly byes, this year we have a bit more freedom, as all the byes occur over the three weeks from Round 11 to 13. Remember the days of a Geelong ABC midfield? It’s now possible again!

What you mean to say, and what you should be thinking is, “I don’t want to pick Player X because I already have too many players that share Player X’s bye”. Whether or not they are from the same team is irrelevant. For instance, having a midfield containing Swan, Pendlebury and Thomas is identical to a midfield containing Selwood, Barlow and Watson in terms of the bye.

“It is mathematically impossible to avoid donuts in the Multi Bye Rounds this year!”

Not true. Dream Team pioneer m0nty demonstrated very early in the pre-season how it is possible to avoid a donut. Never did he say it was easy, or even very likely.

Basically, for those too lazy to follow the link, it involves trading between byes and selecting players with R/F eligibility.

“Has anyone figured out a way to avoid donuts over the Multi Bye Rounds without using DPP?”

No they haven’t, because it’s not possible.

Here’s the math. You have 30 players in your side. Say you start with 8/11/11 in the format of R11 bye/R12 Bye/R13 Bye. That means that you have 8 players with the bye in Round 11, just enough to fill the 8 bench positions. Obviously, after Round 11 you want to trade 3 of your players who have a R12B to players who already experienced their bye, in this case those from R11B.

So for R12, you have a structure of 11/8/11. Again, 8 players and 8 bench positions, awesome. After R12, then you do the same thing – trade three of your R13B players to R11B or R12B players, leaving you with a structure of (for instance) 11/11/8. Hooray, right? And I only used 6 trades? Not quite.

If you don’t utilise DPP you can’t fill the two Ruck bench positions over the 3 weeks. Without at least two Ruck DPP’s you’re looking at at least 2 donuts across the ground. Not to mention that it is a best case scenario, given injuries, form and uncertainty with your rookies.

This leads to another misconception:

“It is only possible to avoid a donut over the MBR’s by picking Lycett”

Again, not technically true. The idea here is that Lycett is the only R/F with a R11B, so in order to avoid a donut, you’ll need him (using to the method m0nty penned). But there is another way to do it.

You pick Hamling (R/F, R12B), Roughead (R/F, R13B), Sellar (B/R, R12B) and Lever (B/R, R13B), along with 2 R11B ruckmen, say Cox and Giles.

Not recommended.

“I’m not going to pick Swan because he’ll just be cheaper halfway through the year even if he does maintain his average, so it’s better value to upgrade to him then”

Yes, he will be cheaper halfway through the year even if he does maintain his average, that’s true. But if he does maintain his average, he won’t be better value. In fact, he will be equivalent in value.

This is because of the Magic Number and its behaviour over the course of a year. Generally speaking, it will decrease as the year goes on. This is because rookies and underpriced players experience price increases, and to protect against inflation, the Magic Number is lowered accordingly. This affects everyone’s price, so even if Swan averages 121 over the course of the first 10 rounds, his price will decrease.

So yes, you can pick him up cheaper. But his value is relative, so consider this; You pick up Swan at the beginning of the year for $598,300 priced at 120.95, and after 10 rounds, Swan maintains his average of 120.95 which now equates to (for example) $520,000. Has he dropped in value? No. He is exactly the same value. His price is just a number, relative to the rest of the competition.

And just to clarify, this is not to say that it’s a poor strategy to start without Swan and wait until the middle of the year to pick him up, just that it’s only worthwhile if his average drops, not his price.

“How come there are no Rookies in the Deck of DT?

The Deck focuses more on players who have played before because it gives us something concrete to talk about, in terms of past stats, team role, job security, etc. It’s all a big unknown with the recent draftees.

There will be plenty of coverage on the up-and-coming rookies throughout the nab cup campaign, I assure you. For most, this is the first chance that we, as DT coaches, get to see the newbies in action, so there will be plenty to talk about!

“It lists Player X with this price/position on the Team Picker, but it says differently on the Fanplanner. Which is right?”

By definition, the Team Picker. It is produced and released by Virtual Sports in conjunction with Champion Data, the people who actually decide these things.

The Fanplanner is a great resource for those who didn’t purchase the Assistant Coach, and it is something that m0nty has put a lot of time into to get as accurate as possible. Unfortunately, there will always be small things that sneak through, so ask those with the Team Picker for clarification.

“Why wasn’t Player X given more of a discount? Player Y played the same amount of games and got this discount – why aren’t they following their own rules?”

First things first – they (Virtual Sports) never made any ‘rules’ for discounting players. But to their credit, they’ve tried to keep it as uniform as possible, which probably creates the appearance that they are working with some kind of formula that determines a discount. Not so.

Virtual Sports’ first priority is the integrity of the game. If some logic applied to some player in the past means that a player in the present will be impossible to ignore, then they have to alter that logic.

For instance, Porplyzia finished 2011 with one game at an average of 16. Using normal pricing techniques, he’d end up priced well below that of a rookie, meaning he’d be locked into most teams! Instead, VS took the step of pricing him at a discount on his 2010 average, which has to be said, is much more reflective of his ability and potential than the former option.

Same thing goes with mature-age recruits this year. Due to the pattern of success of older players such as Mzungu, Barlow and Podsiadly, mature-age draftees have had a range of premiums placed on them to keep selection competitive and to promote variety between teams. Remember, no one wants to see identical teams come Round 1.

“Which mature-age draftees/concessions had a premium added to their price in 2012?”

There are a handful who ended up getting a small bump up in price by VS, ranging from just a couple of thousand extra to around $36k for one unlucky player (Sam Frost).

In order of most to least expensive: Clifton, Frost, Cooyou, Horsely, Giles, Pfeiffer, Folau, Milera, Mohr, Saad and Spurr.

 That’s it so far – hopefully we’re all a bit clearer on some of the finer points of DT 2012. Remember, if you have any other queries, send us a comment and someone will clear it up for you!

For those of you who have enjoyed the series Breaking Bad, you would know that Walter White was a devious fellow who also dabbled in chemistry (keeping this PG rated). When it comes to DT, the winning formula is sometimes right in front of your face, but you just can’t see it. Not unlike Walter White, we are all striving for the perfect recipe, and that recipe over the years has included the need to find those “Break Out” players. If you have not seen Breaking Bad, do yourself a favour and watch it, one of the best TV Series of all time!

With the update of the 2012 Fan Planner released to all purchasers of the 2011 Assistant coach, it has become very obvious that 2012 could in fact be the hardest year on record to put together a decent team in DT. All of our favourite premiums are priced accordingly, and with GWS seemingly taking up all of the low range pricers worth their salt, all of us in the DT universe need to ensure we are getting our hands on the best break out players available. In this article, I take a look at the top ten draftees from the 2009 National draft, and try to find who would be the best bets for a break out season. This is after all from which we get our 3^rd year players for season 2012. History tells us that this is the time that boys really begin to become men from a DT perspective… Lets Go!

Pick 1 – Tom Scully (GWS) – $379,400 – Mid

The money man of the moment. Melbourne burnt their tanked priority pick on this bloke thinking they would be able to hold onto him for the next decade. Oh how wrong they were! From a DT perspective, 2011 was not one of his better years, under immense media scrutiny as well as injuries allowing him only 10 games, Tom did average 76.7 points per game. Not a bad return by any stretch considering, but I do wonder how he will go with so many kids around him. This bloke is not Gary Ablett, so I don’t expect him to have a real break out year this year.

Prediction – To average 70-80 points per game.

Pick 2 – Jack Trengove (MEL) – $443,600 Mid

The heir apparent according to Melbourne supporters and some areas of the media. Jack is an extremely hard young man that bats above his age in a lot of aspects of his game. He was a popular pick for the 2010 season and didn’t let anyone down. Last year saw him step things up to average 89.68 points per game. This shows a nice growth curve and I would expect him to step things up even further without Scully there. He is durable as well only missing matches due to suspension. Provided he stays on the park and does not sling tackle anyone, I suspect that Jack will step up into the elite category this year.

Prediction – To average 90-100 points per game

Pick 3 – Dustin Martin (RICH) – $442,500 MID/FWD

Dont argue is an apt nickname for this kid (Kid, you gotta be kidding me!) and his average of 89.45 points per game in 2011 does not reflect I feel where Dusty was at in his development last year. His biggest upside is the fact that he has the capacity to rip out massive scores (Round 5 V Nth Melb – 141 points) and the fact that the midfield brigade at the Tigers is looking very potent this year with Cotchin, Foley, Deledio  (rumoured to be preparing for more of a run in the midfield this year) etc likely to help negate the tag that could be applied to him. The fact that he is dual position locks him in as a no brainer now as well. Im sure you were already planning on putting him in your team anyway, so Ill just finish of right here!

Prediction – To average 100-110

Pick 4 – Anthony Morabito (FREO) – $168,000 – Mid

Here is a guy who could not catch a break. Season 2012 will literally be Morabitos 2^nd season, not third, but when your priced at $168,000, He should be considered as a potential bench player for any side in season 2012. He was amongst Freos best players for the 2010 season averaging 56.67 points per game in his first season which included a 98 point game against the cats, and an 83 point game against Port Adelaide. I have never been one to want to bring in kids who have had knee issues in the past, but with a full 15 – 16 months to recover, to have him as a bench player could not hurt. Couple this with the fact that he has been doing everything Ross Lyon has asked of him since becoming coach (including not going on an overseas trip with his mates) and I think you have your first bench player potentially locked.

Prediction – To Average 70-80 points per game

Pick 5 – Ben Cunnington (NTH) – $260,000 – Mid

I have a feeling that there will not be much love for Ben from a DT perspective. Averaging 54.78 in 18 games in his first year, Cunnington then only played 16 games and averaged 52.56 in his second year. His starting price was $227,500 in 2011, but finished the year priced at $212,600. Players priced in the $200k range should really be increasing, not decreasing, and I cant see him breaking out in 2012 as a massive fantasy option……NEXT!

Prediction – To Average 50-60 points per game

Pick 6 – Gary Rohan (SYD) – $226,800 – Fwd

This tough as nails Sydney Ranga has been a good, but not great player for the swans over his past 2 seasons. He only averaged 45.8 points per game last year, and only played in 7 games in 2011 due to having injury issues. I believe he could be a break out player in 2012 provided he stays fit, but I don’t know if I could take the chance on him. There are rumours that he may have a role on the wing for the swans this year, which could generate more points than he has had in the past.

Prediction – To Average 60-70 points per game.

Pick 7 – Bradley Sheppard (WCE) – $253,700 – Def

Supposedly West Coast were torn between taking Sheppard or Lewis Jetta. Going by the numbers, I know which one I would have taken. Sheppard struggled to get a game with a resurgent West Coast last year, playing only 6 games and averaging only 57 points per game in his appearances. He only averaged 12 disposals in the WAFL when he did play last year back there, and was given negating roles by John Worsfold when he did get a senior call up. He was supposedly destined to become a midfielder for the Eagles, but cant see him breaking into that group next year. Suggest you search else where.

Prediction – To Average 40-50 points if he gets a game.

Pick 8 – John Butcher – (PTA) – $243,400 – Fwd

This bloke is an interesting one. Originally touted as a potential top 2 draft pick, Butcher didn’t make his debut for Port Adelaide until late 2011, but did so with a bang kicking 6 goals in only his second game. Injuries hampered him for his first 2 years, but with the last 4 games of the 2011 season to his name and already averaging 61.5 points per game, he defiantly will be staying on my radar for the pre season as a potential bench starter for my forward line. He could be a break out player in 2012 provided his body stays in 1 piece.

Prediction – To Average 70 – 80 points per game.

Pick 9 – Andrew Moore – (PTA) – $153,300 – Def

This Half back flanker has been another draftee hampered by injuries over his 2 years with Port. A tallish half back flanker, he has only averaged 31 points per game and not likely to get much better. Consistant game time is what he needs to mature into a potentially good player, but for DT purposes, defiantly one to avoid.

Prediction – To Average 40-50 points per game

Pick 10 – Jake Melksham – (Ess) – $344,400

Jake is a solid contributor for the Bombers. After averaging 59 points per game in his first season, he played all 22 last year for an average of 69.64. His upward trend is a good one, and is probably from a value aspect, the best potential break out player for 2012. Keep a close eye on him during the pre season, and if he looks to have improved, expect some decent scoring from this Essendon youngster.

Prediction – To Average 80-90 points per game.

Other notables outside the top 10 picks I feel who could have break out years from a DT relevance perspective are the following:

• Daniel Menzel (Gee)
• Luke Tapscott ( Mel)
• Ryan Bastinac (Nth)
• Jack Gunston (Adl)
• David Astbury (Rich)
• Sam Reid (Syd)

I have left off the likes of Suckling and Nath Fyfe as I think they have already broken out! I hope this info helps you all out in putting together your team for 2012!

Cheers

Douthteez.

Feel free to throw me a follow on Twitter @douthteez

HOT OFF THE PRESS: AFL Dream Team rules for 2012

We have been lucky enough to find out the rules for AFL Dream Team in 2012. For us to plan for the new season, we need to understand what the playing field is like. How many trades, how we’ll deal with the byes and any new features that will change the way we think.

- Squad of 30 players.
- 24 trades.
- Maximum 2 trades per week, except for Rounds 11, 12 and 13 where you can use up to 3.
- Salary cap of $8.78 million.
- 18 teams leagues.
- League matches will run from Round 3-19, finals from Round 20-23.
- Reversible trades up until lockout.
- Ability to trade out a player from one position to get in a player in a different position with DPP.

Multi-bye rounds

The biggest news is that we play through the multi-bye rounds ‘as normal’. In each of the weeks (Rounds 11, 12 and 13) there will be 6 teams with the bye, meaning a third of the players in the competition will be unavailable. The ‘solition’ to this has been to increase available trades for those weeks to 3. There is also some added trading flexibility that we will touch on later to help us during these rounds.

Simple strategy is to avoid too many players from teams who share the same bye week. This is very important across individual positions, as well as the spread across your team. The teams with the byes in the respecitve rounds are as follows:

ROUND 11: Adelaide, Brisbane, GWS, North Melbourne, West Coast, Western Bulldogs
ROUND 12: Collingwood, Essendon, Fremantle, Geelong, Melbourne, Sydney
ROUND 13: Carlton, Gold Coast, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide, Richmond, St Kilda

We will focus on some different ways to work through these multi-bye rounds over the pre-season but it will need to be in all of our thinking in regards to team selection. For example, a ruck combo that includes a couple of Mathew Leuenberger / Dean Cox / Todd Goldstein / Sam Jacobs would take a huge hit in Round 11. Oh, and we won’t get started on Round 13 and the backline.

Stay tuned to dreamteamtalk.com for more on strategy during the multi-bye rounds. A series of posts will be forthcoming looking at each round and the related positions.

Leagues

Leagues will include 18 teams in 2012 with the inclusion of GWS (and GC from this year). The first two rounds will be non-league game rounds. We will play 17 head-to-head roster matches starting Round 3, through to Round 19. Finals will be played over the final four rounds – Round 20-23.

League matches will be played over the multi-bye rounds next season meaning our teams will take a huge hit. If you’re just playing for a league premiership and you’re sitting pretty in your leagues, take the hit with the losses and save those trades! They will come in very handy in the last 10 rounds of the season!

New trading rules

As mentioned, we will have 24 trades again this season with a maximum of 2 per week, except for Rounds 11, 12, and 13  where we can use two. But this isn’t new. We have two new trading rules that will add flexibility and some new strategy to our Dream Teaming in 2012.

Firstly, we can now reverse our trades up until lockout. Dubbed the “Heath Shaw Rule” after his Friday afternoon gambling suspension, we can lock trades in but they aren’t final until lockout. You will be able to ‘undo’ whatever you’ve done up until that final lockout – except for players locked because of partial lockouts.

FROM VIRTUAL SPORTS: “There is a full team/trade reversal system in place, available right up until lockout. This will reverse ALL changes made to your team during the week, and return it to what it was at the start of the week, at the completion of the prior round lockout.”

Next we have an exciting trading innovation. Here we can trade a player out from one position and using Dual Position Players (DPP), can trade a player into a totally different position with only one trade.

FROM VIRTUAL SPORTS: “New trading system allows up to 2 trades to be completed at a time, up to 3 in the bye weeks. It’ll also allow you to move dual position players, without having to have a ‘matching’ dual position player in the other position, from the new trade page. For example, you can elect to trade out a MID. If you have a DPP in your FWDs who is also a MID, he can be moved in that empty MID slot, so you then trade in a FWD.”

Let’s look at an example using a 2011 scenario. I trade out a DEFENDER (eg. Jack Grimes) and am left with an empty slot. I substitute a DEF/MID who is currently in my midfield (eg. Dyson Heppell) into Grimes’ empty slot and how trade in a new MIDFIELDER (eg. Dane Swan) into Heppell’s empty slot. So basically I have been able to trade Grimes (DEF) out for Swan (MID) using only the one trade.

This new trading rule adds more value to getting Dual Position Players into your team and across positions. The flexibility with this new rule will allow for some pretty awesome strategy during the season. There will be a lot more on this one over the pre-season to see how best we can use it. Fingers crossed there are quite a few DPPs for us to pick!

Stay tuned to dreamteamtalk.com for everything you need to get picking your AFL Dream Team in 2012. It’s going to be a fantastic season and we’ll be there for you right through the season.

Follow Warnie on Twitter: @WarnieDT

This is the solution for when the 6 teams have the bye in each of those rounds, however don’t expect to have 22 players playing in each of those rounds.

Come back here tomorrow as we will look at the new rules and strategy for AFL Dream Team 2012. They are exciting changes, so stay tuned!

While this isn’t a huge issue for Dream Team, it will be on the rounds where there is a Thursday night game. Rounds 1, 2 and 12 there are Thursday fixtures which will make team selection interesting. In both of these cases we will have a partial lockout. So we’ll know teams approximately an hour before the initial lockout.

It is unclear at this stage whether this will also be the case for final Sunday team announcements on Friday evening. That may stay at 5pm.

Watch this space.

SOURCE: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tv-deal-to-delay-team-selections-20111206-1oh70.html

Hill Helps Replenish Eagle List

The Eagles have completed what is being lauded as a successful trading coup by obtaining Josh Hill from the Western Bulldogs for pick 49 in the upcoming draft. Eagles CEO Trevor Nisbett declared the club “very satisfied” with the result, especially because Hill “fills a hole in the list”.

West Coast was chasing a player capable of replacing the recently delisted Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, and Hill is believed to be a perfect fit.

“Jarrad has been a very important member of the club since his recruitment in 2009” said Nisbett.

“What he brought to West Coast in terms of team balance was unparalleled. You can have as many dead-eye-dicks as you like, but there needs to be balance, and no-one topped Jarrad in terms of turnovers”

“Unfortunately, his disposal was showing too much improvement at WAFL level for East Perth, and with tight list restrictions put in place by the AFL, we had to let him go.”

West Coast also lost another turnover king in Brad Ebert in trade week, who sought a move home to Port Adelaide. Nisbett said the club was perplexed with the decision, not by Ebert, but by Port to accept him.

“This is exactly what we meant about team balance. Port already has more than enough ball butchers”

Nisbett was also quick to reiterate that Hill would be given time to develop into his role, and that the Eagles had enough depth in that position to cover Hill until he became settled.

“We have guys like Masten, Swift and even Dalzeill running around for us at the moment, so Hill is in good company”.

Meanwhile, the Western Bulldogs couldn’t believe their luck.

“We would have been happy with $20 and a bag of new footies” said amazed Bulldogs CEO Simon Garlick.

Fremantle Devastated with Clark Loss

The Fremantle Dockers lost Mitch Clark before they ever had him.

Testament to the harsh reality of Trade Week was the blunt loss of Clark to Melbourne, after he publically stated he wanted to become a Docker. Melbourne secured the rights to the West Australian with not only a better trade offer for the Lions (Pick 12 ), but a greater financial package.

Fremantle Football Manager Chris Bond called a press conference early yesterday morning to ease the minds of the Dockers faithful.

“The Fremantle Football Club would like to assure our loyal supporters that we did everything in our power to get Mitch to our club” said Bond, very, very slowly, keeping his target audience in mind.

“Unfortunately, Melbourne’s contract offer was far greater than we could match. We held a cake sale and even did a car wash, but it still wasn’t enough”

Bond said that Fremantle were still reeling from that result, especially given the great success that the club has had recruiting players in the past.

“It’s even more disappointing knowing that we missed out on a great opportunity to keep this club on track. We can’t dodge the finals for ever, you know.”

“Our trade history shows that Clark would have really helped this club do that”.

Bond reiterated that Fremantle has a history of pulling off great trade week deals. He went on to specify Trent Croad, who “starred for the Dockers for two years” after being recruited from Hawthorn, while Des Headland was “obviously worth every penny” Fremantle gave up for him.

In other news, Fremantle are now considering modifying Pavlich’s role. Again.

AFL Delighted with Trade Week Spectacle

The AFL have released a statement lauding the ‘obvious success’ of Trade Week, and hinted plans for it to be extended to Trade Fortnight in the coming years.

Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou argued “Why not increase the drama and entertainment?” in a short press conference in the lobby of the Hilton on Monday afternoon.

“We have seen an unprecedented level of interest in trading between clubs and the players involved, adding to the general spectacle that is Trade Week” spluttered Demetriou in between spoonfuls of caviar.

“Never before have we seen such big stars attract the headlines over such a period of time. The more the fans are captivated, the better it is for the game of AFL”

When queried about which stars he was referring to, Demetriou didn’t miss a beat.

“Mitch Clark was great for us. The interest in him was huge, I mean, he nearly made the All-Australian team a few years ago. I think. And Josh Caddy – the intense speculation about a two-game player in the final minutes of trade week was incredible!

“And, of course, household names like Ebert and one of those skinny Morton kids found new homes too.”

The AFL suggested the Trade Fortnight proposal would only gain momentum given this year’s raging success. With 18 clubs up and running and an uncompromised Draft on the horizon, even more activity is expected in future trade periods.

However, Demetriou responded hastily to a reporter’s suggestion that the AFL was only ‘worried about revenue’, and that ‘a longer trade period is not what the fans really want’ as the AFL has previously claimed.

“That is completely untrue” scorned Demetriou as his assistant polished one of his many gold rings.

No Love for Dawson at Trade Table

St. Kilda will be forced to negotiate a deal for Zac Dawson after the defender failed to attract interest from other clubs during Trade Week.

The Saints are currently under salary cap pressure which they sought to release during the trading period, with Dawson’s contract one of a handful that has not yet been negotiated.

St. Kilda List Manager Ameet Bains was dumbfounded as to why Dawson was snubbed so completely.

“Dawson has been great for us, especially over the last few of years. He’s played a key role in 3 Grand Finals over that period, he’s young and fit and ready to go. I don’t understand how there isn’t any interest in him?”

DT Squawk can reveal that it has nothing to do with Dawson’s football ability – it’s his lack of commitment.

The Brisbane Lions are one club that have been in the market for a key defender, but List Manager Rob Kerr said his club is “not interested”.

“Don’t get me wrong, Dawson’s a solid player. But our research indicates he is a bit hesitant with his commitment to a club, and that’s not what we’re looking for”

When asked about specifics, Kerr opted not to comment. Melbourne official Tim Harrington was much more open about the Demons lack of interest.

“He’s a pussy, plain and simple. We’ve already got Cale Morton, we can’t handle another.

“What am I basing that on? Well, we all saw that photo with him and Riewoldt about a year ago right? There’s his Captain, fully committed to whipping out his waxed little fella, and then you have that weak Dawson prick holding some pretty box or something – talk about selling your teammate into trouble. He didn’t even have his pants off! There is absolutely no more room for players who sit on the fence at this club.”

Newly appointed St. Kilda Coach Scott Watters said he would have “none of this half-in, half-out business” and assured the media that it was the first thing he dealt with as Senior Coach.

“I got him in a room and we had a frank chat about commitment. I pulled out mine, and after a while, he pulled out his. It was a great moment for this proud club”.

Welcome to The Dream Team Hangover! The real DTs (delirium tremens) are starting to hit hard now that the fantasy season is over and there is still AFL Finals footy on the go. You are probably still poring over the stats, trawling through all the news and your trade finger is twitching but alas, Dream Team is gone.

Now that the dust has settled on a long and taxing year, let’s review the stock market for one final time before we close the book on season 2011. We’ll analyse the Top 10 investments and a few under-achievers and potential under-priced premiums as we head into the off-season.

Top 10 Stock Performers

Here are the top ten stock performers of 2011, based on the very simple ratio of price increase to starting price to determine return-on-investment and ranked accordingly.

Tendai Mzungu $333,800 ($97,600) UP$236,200 ROI+242%. The year’s most-anticipated rookie provided fantastic late-season cover for 33% of DT coaches, averaging 80ppg. While not Barlow-esque, the Gu’s output was certainly welcome across plenty of FWD lines with the plethora of outs in the past few weeks. Next year’s Nathan Fyfe?

Isaac Smith $302,200 ($92,500) UP$209,700 ROI+226%. In the same vein as Mzungu, Isaac Smith pumped out some massive numbers in the second half of the season and delivered 111 in the DT Grand Final, which would have contributed to many a victory last weekend.

Nick Lower $279,600 ($92,500) UP187,100 ROI+202%. With a points chart looking like a scattergram, Lower provided as many dips as he did peaks, but managed a decent average of 75 and played 19 games this year. He might not be a second-year contender, but he bows out of 2011 with the third-best ROI.

Danny Stanley $320,200 ($106,400) UP$213,800 ROI+200%. He proved himself to be a valuable keeper, with the only mark in Stanley’s end-of-season purple patch being a poor 57 in the DT GF. Playing every game for the Suns this year, his durability was second to none.

Paul Puopolo $275,500 ($92,500) UP$183,000 ROI+197%. Since debuting in R7 and playing every game since, Puopolo has been a steady bench/cover performer. Astute coaches hung on to the Poo for the Granny and it paid off with a handy 86 and a huge 129 the week prior – well played!

Allen Christensen $289,600 ($97,600) UP$192,000 ROI+196%. Another late-season bloomer, Christensen put up some awesome numbers for his coaches and his ROI reflects his output. Another to keep an eye on in the preseason as the Cats look to their young guns.

Matthew Wright $2247,700 ($92,500) UP$179,800 ROI+194%. Though not the most dependable scorer, Wright managed an average of 65 and the odd big number. As a somewhat unique rookie pick, he provided good cover, playing every game since R6.

Jack Darling $262,900 ($92,500) UP$170,400 ROI+184%. Big Darling bookended his season impressively, notching up 60-70s and 88 and 99 to finish off the year. A boon for coaches who hung on to him in the run home!

Shane Savage $274,400 ($97,600) UP$176,800 ROI+181%. Sneaky Savage played 17 games this year and carded big scores of 144, 164 and 128 in the mix. He certainly snuck under the radar and provided fairly steady cover for his coaches.

Luke Breust $255,300 ($92,500) UP$162,800 ROI+176%. Another sneaky rook, Bruest got a start in every Hawks game since R8 and had 90 and 114 in his last two. He would have been handy cover the likes of Buddy, Fyfe, Pavlich and Rioli in those last two rounds.

Under-Achieving Stocks

This list is made up of a select group of DT-relevant players who were among 2010′s high-performance stocks who tumbled this year. The circumstances surrounding the falls from grace for each of these guys are stories of their own, but there may be a few on this list who are likely to provide good value as starters in your 2012 squad, given a full preseason and a pocketful of confidence – your confidence, that is!

Nick Malceski $206,500 ($355,800) DOWN$149,300. From a big comeback in 2010 averaging 85 to an injury-riddled 2011 averaging 66, Eski has had a season to forget. He’s not quite in the fossil category yet and with a full preseason and no knee niggles, he may be a value pickup next season.

Sam Gilbert $251,800 ($387,100) DOWN$135,300. Whether or not Gilbert returns to DT premium greatness really depends on the role he plays next year. A mixed forward/defensive run this year killed his 2010 status as a DEF premo when he averaged 93 ppg, although his poor early season form and off-field shennanigans didn’t help either. He is one of the league’s best rebounding defenders, but will he be back in his favoured role in 2012?

Brad Green $251,100 ($409,000) DOWN$157,900. Green has been a solid FWD pick since 2006, averaging between 86 and 98 each year until this season. The Dees’ poor form can’t be blamed as those previous seasons prove his elite ability, so he’s one to pencil in the fossils list.

Paul Duffield $238,500 ($363,900) DOWN$125,400. Put simply, this has been a massively disappointing season for Duffield, who averaged 87 and 89 in 2010 and 2009, only to crash to a 70 ppg average in 2011. While we’ve come to expect a few random scores from him, he only returned two tons this season and looked lost for most of the time. He’ll need to put a huge preseason in to convince many coaches, so watch carefully…

Alan Didak $283,200 ($411,100) DOWN$127,900. It took almost the whole season for Dids to come up to full match fitness and to find his touch, but he finished off with 84, 92 and 109 in his last three games. Given a strong preseason, I’m backing him as one of 2012’s most popular FWD picks as he will be outstanding value.

Liam Anthony $263,400 ($355,600) DOWN$92,200. 2009’s uber-rookie followed up with a great start to 2010 before wrenching his shoulder. With a good preseason, 2011 looked to be a breakout year, but he struggled to make an impact. He’s a ball magnet and should be on your radar, but monitor his 2012 preseason closely.

Kane Cornes $267,300 ($418,300) DOWN$151,000. Has the game gone past Cornes the Younger? I’m not convinced. His strained relationship with coach Matty Primus was probably a major factor as until this year, Kane has not missed a single game since 2003!! His durability is unquestionable, but whether or not he returns to favour (and big DT scoring) at Alberton remains to be seen. Watch out for any developing news on Kornes over the off-season.

Brian Lake $276,800 ($414,300) DOWN137,500. Not getting his body sorted destroyed Lake’s season, playing just 5 poor games for the Doggies and struggling in the reserves. His average of 51 this year is an incredible drop from his 2010 average of 99. He may be fossilising, but it’s still worth keeping track of him in the off-season and preseason as the Dogs look to rebuild their backline.

Beau Waters $247,200 ($363,500) DOWN$116,300. Pesky, pesky, pesky elbows! If he gets a new pair of them in the off-season, Beau should bounce back in 2012 after a pretty poor showing this season. But seriously, he managed to average 87 in 2010 and if he comes back healthy, fit and firing, he should be on your watch list for next year.

Colin Sylvia $311,700 ($399,500) DOWN$87,800. Colon really went off the boil as the season drew to a close, shattering many coaches who picked him up after R12. We know he can hit the highs and he demonstrated un-Sylvia like consistency through to R12 this year. He has re-signed with the Dees and hopefully that rejuvenates him for next season. Let’s hope he pulls it all together and fulfils that potential in 2012 to cement himself as an elite DT FWD.

Bargain Blue Chips

These stocks are well worth keeping an eye on during preseason. While they haven’t had the best of it this year, they could prove to be bargain blue chips, or at least under-priced stock, in 2012.

Lenny Hayes $448,500. It was sad to see Lenny go down with an ACL injury, but the upside is that his determination and workrate are not likely to diminish during his rehab. He should be tastily discounted next year and, like Dids, will be one of the most-picked under-priced premos in 2012.

David Mundy $307,600. The Dockers rushed Mundy back for the last few games and paid the price, with their gun midfielder written off after his cameo appearance in R22. Until his injury in R12, he was averaging 105 and with his price crashing to the $307k mark this season, he shapes up to be an excellent under-priced unique next year.

Nick Riewoldt $325,100. NRoo’s average this year dipped under 94 for the first season since 2005. He recently rated his knee as a 7 out of 10, which is more realistically a 4 out of 10. Hopefully the knee gets cleaned up and he’s back to his barnstorming best next year, but his off-season and preseason will be telling. Oh, and no more candid camera tomfoolery on the end-of-season trip please Sammy…

Rhys Palmer $236,200. Palmer hasn’t shown much after averaging 87 in his debut year of 2008 and is now better know in DT circles as the man who cut Barlow’s stunning debut 2010 season short by breaking his leg. In the years after his rookie season he’s constantly been the subject of preseason discussions on breakout candidates, but injury and form have dogged him. A fresh start and weightier responsibility at GWS may be what he needs, which makes him a possible smokey unique in 2012.

Tom Scully $261,400. A troublesome knee has derailed Scully’s season and we know this kid is a gun-in-the-making. Look for him to get the body right and regardless of whether he’s a Demon or a Giant next season, at full fitness and with good preseason form, he could be an exciting breakout prospect.

In Review

Personally, I’m kinda happy to see the end of Dream Team 2011. The stop-start nature of the league season with the multi-bye rounds killed it a bit and I’m looking forward to loading up on whichever guns I want next year, without limiting myself to a maximum of two from each team! Like most of you, I’ve taken a valuable lesson or two from this year, the most important of which is to make sure I keep 8 trades (yes, eight!!) for DT Finals after holding 6 finals trades for two years running and being burnt in Grand Finals by teams resting their guns.

Ranting aside though, the 2012 season starts now. With GWS on the poach, tracking the off-season movements and progress of DT-relevant players has already started. Off-season and preseason chatter also provides valuable insight, so listen out for what the coaches have to say. Start drawing up the core of your starting squad now and follow the drafts closely. And of course, try to watch as many preseason games as you can so you can see how 2012’s rooks and 2011′s fallen stocks are shaping up.

It’s been a blast filling in for Aki for the past few weeks and hopefully the Stock Market analysis has been of some benefit to you. I appreciate you taking the time to peruse this information and thanks for all your feedback and criticism. Undoubtedly, the article will be back next year and Aki or myself look forward to bringing you the weekly dose of Stock Market movers, shakers, makers and breakers. Until then, have fun researching and planning – see you in preseason 2012!

On the tweetvine: @TeeTeeDT

I don’t really know how many people I’m writing to here – probably just a handful. The final edition of tbetta’s Bullets for 2011 is more for continuity’s sake and, if you’re anything like me, a bit of extra content to rifle through in the long wait until 2012’s AFL and Dream Team seasons!

• Weekly Wrap

To be completely honest, the final round of the 2011 season was quite horrible. I’ve finally made peace with the disappointment of my last round of the 2011 season, so I won’t bring up bad memories such as the Hawks resting 8 players, basically giving my opponents’ Suns valuable points… There were also season-lows from premiums and above average scoring from a few rookies, which meant many match-ups were tighter than expected and there were more than a few upsets.

But no point complaining – like the AFL, the premiership goes to the best team on that one given day.

It’s also worth acknowledging the overall winner JettaVendetta, who now owns a brand new though funny-looking SJ Cruiser. Our boy Shellers was great, but unfortunately couldn’t make up the 80 or so points he needed to snatch back the lead, although he did score higher than Vendetta in Round 24.

Always next year!

• Makers

If you went against the grain this week and had Boyd as Captain, you carried in a massive advantage to Round 24. With most captaining Swan, that’s 69 points you gained. The Bulldog Captain had an unsurprising 35 touches and 7 tackles to notch his 155. In retrospect, he was a sure thing against a reserves-strength Fremantle outfit.

Brent Harvey bounced back from an average showing against the Saints to score his 2^nd highest score for the year, a handy 129 against the Tigers. His career form against Richmond has been fantastic, and Round 24 was no exception. Recent form wasn’t convincing enough to trade him in this week, so long-time owners cashed in here.

Although he was one of the most popular forwards before Round 24, Adam Goodes was the most traded in player over the week. That’s not surprising given the carnage dealt, with Pavlich, Fyfe, Sylvia, Franklin and Rioli all popular premium outs over the DT finals. Like the two previously mentioned here, Goodes should poll maximum votes for his 4-goal, 29-possession domination of the Lions.

With half the Hawthorn side pathetically lounging around Box Hill while most of Box Hill went to the Gold Coast, Isaac Smith’s 111 was a welcome consolation prize to the coaches who strategically stocked up on Hawks. He always bobs up for a few goals does Izzy, but most importantly he bobbed up for a few sides in a tough final round.

Nick Duigan was one of those rookies who were reluctantly fielded this week, but amazed coaches with a great return. 110 was his only ton for the year, and it was delivered with great timing, given Birchall, Heppell and Lower were all popular defenders absent in the final round of the year.

Honourable mentions go to Captain Gablett (147), Matera (133), Kade Simpson (163) and Gilbert (116).

• Breakers 

1. Higgins 30
2. Cloke 54
3. Fisher 41
4. Riewoldt 43
5. Swan 86

It’s only fitting that Higgins is Round 24’s greatest Breaker, seeing as he’s been weak as piss all year. For a change. Devastatingly started as the sub and would have lost a few coaches their games this week.

He was always going to find it hard against the Cats, but Cloke convinced enough coaches he was good enough to be the 3^rd most traded in player this week, only to disappoint. 2 easy missed goals were crucial to not only his score, but also to his confidence.

Sam Fisher is probably this year’s version of Heath Shaw past – great when he’s on, but always susceptible to the forward tag. Due to his late season form he was still a unique for some, meaning his 41 could have easily cost you.

Riewoldt was another Saint who put in an average performance, and unfortunately the 2^nd successive unique Shellers had in this week’s Breakers. It’s hard to believe the Saints beat quality opposition in the Blues with Roo failing to kick a sausage roll.

The harshest Breaker, but probably the most universal, was Swan’s 86. The most popular captain heading into the final round for 2011 tainted his fantastic season with a lazy effort in a thrashing. His failure left the door open for underdog opponents who possibly went in with double points to Boyd or Ablett, and I’m willing to bet more than a few took the opportunity.

Honourable mentions go to Jolly (41), Barlow (47), Callinan (35) and Mumford (54).

• Tbetta Trophies

2011 was always going to be an interesting year, what with the dozen rule changes at AFL level and the modifying of the Dream Team competition to compensate. I think we can agree that this season has had its fair share of up and downs, excitement and drama, and here we are at the end of it.

To honour the players who made the year successful, interesting or notable, we have the Tbetta Trophies.

The Channing Tatum Medallion

This Trophy is awarded to the fantasy player who took the biggest Step Up this year.

While it’s probably no surprise, Nat Fyfe nonetheless deserves to be recognised for his fantastic and surprising year which has him in All-Australian calculations. He pushed his average up 30 points to 98.4 a game this year, an amazing return from a 2^nd year teenager.

Honourable mentions go to Liam Shiels, Tom Rockliff and Jack Redden.

The Lance Armstrong Memorial Trophy

This Trophy is awarded to the fantasy player who went on the biggest streak this year, in honour of Lance’s 7 straight Tour De France wins.

This was difficult to award. Sam Mitchell and Tom Rockliff both had 11 game streaks of 100+ scores, while Gary Ablett experienced a massive purple patch, scoring 118 or over 5 games in a row and averaging 141.2 in that time. But ultimately Scott Pendlebury’s 12 straight tons was a hot streak, ended with a ‘lowly’ 94. What a gun.

The Jekyll and Hyde Award

This Trophy is awarded to the fantasy player who changed personalities for long periods of time.

This honour goes to one of 2011’s most frustrating players, Greg Broughton. We all know the story – he started like a crab, was moved into the midfield and smashed out tons like they were nothing, then went back to his old ways for the remainder of the season. Here’s the proof:  Averaged 62 in his first 6 games, 106.5 in his next 10, then back to 66 for his last 5.

The Katy Perry Distinction

This Trophy is awarded to the fantasy player who is the most hot and cold, yes and no, in and then out, and most importantly, up and down.

This award belongs to none other than Roos colossus Drew Petrie. A man of both extremes, he has consistently been inconsistent this year. He’s posted 9 scores of 71 or less, and 9 scores of 100 or more, meaning he only scored in between those two figures on 3 occasions.

The Titanic Memorial Trophy

This Trophy is awarded to the fantasy player whose DT scoring sunk in the fashion of that famous ship.

It should come as no surprise that flasher Nick Riewoldt takes home the Titanic for 2011. His yearly average of 84.2 is his lowest since his 3^rd year in the league, despite playing 21 games this season. It might be time we reconsidered whether the big Saint is still a DT premium, or just a role-player.

The Simon Prestigiacomo Plate

This Trophy is awarded to the fantasy player who followed most closely in the steps of the Collingwood great, who averaged 27.6 DT points over his career.

The only player to play more than 5 games this season and come even close to Presti’s amazing career record was, you guessed it, Karmichael Hunt. The funniest thing is that he’s owned by over 11% of teams in the competition.

The Super Soft Sorbent Trophy

This Trophy is awarded to the player whose soft tissue more closely resembled toilet paper than human flesh.

Jack Grimes was a huge setback, Jason Porplyzia was disappointing, and even Knights was a let-down, but no-one can evoke the same amount of disdain and pure hatred that Higgins produces. He is easily the softest and most frustrating player to coach. The worst thing about it is that he has so much potential.

The AMI Nasal Delivery Medallion

This Trophy is awarded to the fantasy player who was considered to be the fastest finisher to the AFL season.

You can’t go past Nathan Van Berlo as a late-season bolter in 2011. He averaged 83 points a game with only 2 tons up until Round 19 this season. That’s when Neil Craig was replaced as head coach, and the Crows Captain was finally unshackled. He went on to average 121.7 in his last 6 games for the year, all of them tons.

Honourable mentions go to Tom Rockliff and Jordan Lewis.

The Brendan Fevola Memorial Trophy

This Tropy is awarded to the player who made the biggest off-field brainfade, resulting in pain for DT coaches.

Heath Shaw, you fool. One cheeky bet meant plenty of pain for unsuspecting coaches all around the country, forcing you to miss the last 8 games of the year. Runner-up is Essendon rookie and popular fantasy pick Michael Hibberd, who was left out of the side for the last few games of the season due to an assault charge.

The Shaquille O’Neal  Plaque

This Trophy is awarded to the player who moved clubs during the off-season and went on to have a big impact at his new club.

Gary Ablett is the first person we think of, and rightly so, with the Suns captain enjoying a stellar debut year in the expansion side. But he actually averaged 7 points less than last season. A more worthy recipient is Nathan Bock, who bumped up his seasonal average by a couple of points whilst anchoring a young side.

The Sherminator Memorial Trophy

This Trophy is awarded to the player who gained the coolest nickname this season, in memory of the hilarious American Pie character.

Hearing Garry Lyon and JB swoon over ‘Tip Rat’ – St. Kilda’s Stephen Milne is hilarious, while watching a Freo game punctuated by Brian Taylor’s unrelenting praise of Nat ‘The Knyfe’ Fyfe is amusing. But the genuine glee and awe all commentators and supporters alike experience when Trent McKenzie unleashes a booming left-foot kick is unparalleled, and has earned him the nickname ‘The Cannon’. What I would give for nickname like that.

The C Judd 3 Votes Medal

And finally, this Trophy is awarded to the player who was DT’s most valuable player over the course of the season.

After a lot of deliberation, I finally decided on who I think deserves to honour of DTer of the year. Many will disagree, but I have been totally amazed and impressed by Tom Rockliff’s year, and so he is my pick for the Most Valuable DT player of 2011. He averaged a huge 112.05 points per game this year (5^th in the league), and was the highest averaging player that increased in price over the season – just a lazy 101k mind you! He had it all – consistency, high ceiling, and durability.

Honourable mentions go to the big three – Swan, Pendlebury and Boyd.

• Sneak Peek to 2012

Whether we like it or not, the first thing that we will think of once the AFL season is over is what our team will look like next year. Yes, it’s going to be a long summer….

Luckily, next year the old format will (mostly) return, which means we only have to think about price, ability and return when selecting our players. None of this ‘bye’ crap. Here is a short preview on who has earned early contracts for Tbetta Than You in 2012, assuming no positional changes (like there will be).

DEFENDERS

• Bryce Gibbs

Assuming he still has his DPP (which I’m not convinced he will, think Hodge last year) the best defender of 2011 will be a walk-up start.

• Brett Deledio

A solid option that you don’t even need to think twice about.

• Brendon Goddard

His start to the year was underwhelming but he finished off the year well, and I’m more than convinced he is still a DT gun. His average was about 20 points of the pace from last year, which only means he’ll be cheaper for us in 2012.

• Beau Waters*

Remember 2010, when he started at rookie-price and tore the game apart? He’ll be nowhere near as cheap next year, but he has only played the 8 games this year, which last year was enough for a 10% discount. And his injuries have caused his average to stay low, meaning a lower price still. Still have the question marks over his durability, in particular those pesky elbows.

MIDFIELDERS

• Swan

Your Captain lock from day one.

• Rockliff

He’s taken real steps this year – leaps actually – to be a must-have in 2012. Brisbane’s midfield will get a year older and a year better, and the scoring can only increase. He is a statistical marvel, being the only player to average 25+ touches, 5+ marks and 5+ tackles a game, which means he gets his scoring from everywhere. And if he doesn’t touch the ball as much as usual, you can be sure he’ll still get enough tackles to tick over the ton, and vice versa.

• Barlow*

This pick will all depend on whether Freo can convince me in the pre-season that they’ll be competitive. They should be with a healthy list. He has played too many games to get a discount, but in his return from injury he has underperformed (as expected – you can’t just go back to normal coming off a snapped leg), averaging just over 90 for the season. That’s about 20 points less a game than his debut year – great things to come.

• Hayes*

Playing just two games in 2010 meant a 30% discount from the previous year’s average, and I expect the same will happen for 2012. Hayes only played the two games for an average of 86 – he’ll be massively underpriced. His age and St Kilda’s 2012 fortunes are the only concerns.

RUCKS

• Aaron Sandilands

Still in his prime, and injury this year hampered his progress and average.

• Matthew Leuenberger

An up-and-comer. Will be expensive thanks to his form this year, but I’m a big fan of the ‘Set and Forget’ ruck strategy, and with Cox getting on, Leuey is a likely starter.

• Billy Longer*

Touted to be the first ruckman picked in the 2012 draft – that’s enough for me!

FORWARDS

• Lance Franklin

Still coming into his prime, which is frightening.

• Nat Fyfe

A DT mainstay for years to come. It’s very hard to believe he is only a 2^nd year player…

• Travis Cloke

Collingwood should still dominate next year thanks to some amazing list management, and Cloke will continue to be a focus. He’ll throw up the odd 50, but being a key position player, that comes with the territory.

• Alan Didak

Massive disappointment this year, but it is our own fault. He should never have been in starting squads (I’m guilty myself) because of his lack of pre-season. DT guns don’t fade overnight, and Dids will be hugely underpriced thanks to a lean year.

• Big Thanks

Finally, I just want to give a big thanks to everyone for a highly enjoyable year of Dream Team. The majority of the posters in here provide good talking points and opinions, as well as a sharp sense of humour – I hope everyone stays on board for the post/pre-season through to 2012 and beyond!

Also, a big thanks to the DT boys Warnie, Roy and Calvin for taking a punt on me and helping me give birth to the Bullets. I’ve had an awesome year writing them, and hopefully made the most of the extra homework…

And a belated congratulations to Chook, who took out the All-Stars League over golden boy Roy, by a slim 31 points! Great effort.

Anyway, until (hopefully) next year!

For off-season twittering: @tbetta9