Adelaide Crows: AFL Dream Team Picks

This series of ‘club preview’ posts are written by DT TALK regular contributors choosing their 5 players they have on their watchlist from the respective club. These aren’t who we think will be the top 5 highest scoring players… and are not necessarily in order. They are just our opinions of the 5 players who we have on our watchlist heading into the 2012 season.

Warnie’s five from the Crows.

1. Jason Porplyzia (FWD), $202,500.

Currently the most selected Crow, Porpz offers a heap of value to us as Dream Team coaches. After only playing one game last season, he has been heavily discounted off what he is capable of scoring. In 2008 he knocked out an average of 78 and then backed up in 2009, playing all games, for an average of 75. With a couple of very impressive NAB Cup games (53 points in a half against Brisbane and 80 points with 4 goals on the weekend against the Magpies), he is a value pick this year as your 6th or 7th forward.

2. Patrick Dangerfield (MID/FWD), $349,800.

Dangerfield has teased us for a couple of years now and plenty have been burnt and never wanting to go back again. Priced at 70.5 points, he has been very impressive this pre-season with 127 points a fortnight ago against Brisbane at Alice Springs. He managed 33 touches that night in a best on ground perfomance. On the weekend he had 22 disposals for 87 points – including 6 tackles.

3. Sam Kerridge (MID/FWD), $98,700.

Of all the rookies at the Crows, Kerridge is looking the most likely to be getting games. He was the one of the remaining draftees to pull on the boots for the Crows in NAB3, but started as sub. He did come on in the third quarter to score 40 points (10 touches and a goal). He did the same the week before against Brisbane but smashed out 58 points in a half. His scoring ability is definitely there – averaging 102 points in the TAC Cup last season – but we might see him as the substitute a lot this year.

4. Rory Sloane (MID), $429,500.

How about this guy for a NAB Cup hype pick?! 89 points on the weekend with his 21 possessions and 78 points the week before, Sloane is very well built heading into his 4th year. His size help with his tackling – he had six +4s against the Pies on the weekend. While priced pretty high, his last few rounds of 2011 showed a fair bit of promise – especially his thumping 137 point game against the Cats.

5. Sam Jacobs (RUC), $434,200.

Big Sauce Jacobs rounds out the five after his break out season last year taking his average to 87. I am a huge fan here for the simple reason that he is the number one ruck at the Crows with little competition. He’s capable of some big scores (146 vs Gold Coast, 118 vs Brisbane, 120 vs Sydney) and should improve more in his fourth AFL season and second year at the Crows. Sauce is another ruck that we add to the new breed of premium ruck options this season and is fairly unique at the moment – only appearing in 3.6 teams.

OTHERS ON THE WATCHLIST: A couple of rookies worth noting are Luke Brown (DEF/FWD, $98,700) and Tim McIntyre (MID/FWD, $85,800). They’re both dual position players and could be in line for games early in the season, or should at least be on our radar for downgrade options. Keep an eye on Sam Shaw ($104,200) and his potential place in the Crows best 22 as a key defender. Scott Thompson ($538,500) was hyped early on in the pre-season due to the Crows good early draw, but less than 5% of teams have him and his pre-season numbers have been less than impressive.

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