What have I missed this DT pre-season?

There are quite a few of us out there who leave things to the last minute… I know I do! I have our first set of school reports due today and I’ve still got one class left to get done before the deadline (I’ll make it I swear). That’s because I’ve spent a fair bit of my spare time at home on Dream Team related matters… (I’m still doing my day job very well, thank you!).

Anyway… while a lot of us here have been having a fair crack before 2012 even started, there are a few who need to play a bit of catch up! So this is a post with information to help you get sorted for this week!

THE CHEAT SHEETS

First of all, you could download our Cheat Sheets. The first lockout edition is probably a little redundant now, but it might be worth a look. More relevant is the Premium Edition that we released this week which includes Roy, Calvin and Warnie’s teams plus a whole heap of other things that can help you get a leg up over your mates but in doing it, you can ‘buy us a beer’ thanking us for all of the awesome content that we have provided on this site for 6 years and pay for the servers… plus you can win a TV! All a pretty good deal, hey? (If you don’t think so… don’t buy it and don’t comment).

http://dreamteamtalk.com/2012/03/25/dt-talk-cheat-sheet-premium-edition-on-sale-now/

DECK OF DREAM TEAM

This is what really starts the AFL Dream Team pre-season… the Deck of Dream Team. With thanks to Calvin, Roy, Tbetta, Tee Tee, Dunny and myself, we looked at 52 players over 52 days (well, 53 over 53… someone couldn’t count properly).

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/pre-season-2011/deck-of-dream-team/

MY TEAM

The evolution of teams over the pre-season is something that forever will interest me. We put up the first My Team post in November and thousands of teams have gone into that and subsequent posts leading up to now. Check out the archive and look at the most recent to see what other coaches within the DT TALK Community are thinking.

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/pre-season-2011/my-team/

CHOOK’S ROOKS

One of the most popular series of posts are Chook’s Rooks. He looked at some of the rookies on his radar (three parts: defenders and forwards, midfielders, and DPPs and rucks). These were followed by the mid-NAB update and then the holy grail… Chook’s look at players post-NAB which will help you massively!

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/team-selection/chooks-rooks/

CLUB PREVIEWS

Plenty of contributors have pitched in with their 2 cents on the site and one of the best forums for them to do so was through the Club Preview series. Here different coaches and well known contributors to our site named up their 5 players on their radar (and in most cases a few others) for their respective club… or club that they were looking at. Sometimes these were quite controversial – just check some of the comments!

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/pre-season-2011/club-previews/

SAMPLE TEAMS

We got a couple of sample teams up including the infamous ‘PRE-NAB CUP’ one that I put together each year. I followed up with the hype team after the first round of the NAB Cup. I didn’t do another as my DT ability was being questioned because others didn’t get the idea of the article… haha! Oh – better not mention the ‘Real DT Studs’ team… it might make some people unhappy!

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/pre-season-2011/sample-teams/

FANTASY FREAKO RAVES

If you aren’t signed up for the Fantasy Freako’s Rave, then do so at championdata.com.au. But if you missed the pre-season ones, get them all now… but most importantly, read the final one!

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/stat-attack/fantasy-freako/

THE BYES

A fair bit of thought has gone into the byes that we are faced with in Round 11, 12 and 13 this year. If you have been living under a rock, we play our league games through these weeks… so you will need to consider them if a win is important to you! There are some ripper articles within the category… but make sure you take time to read Tbetta’s fabulous look at the strength of fixture. Don’t forget about the recently released Footynerd! Bookmarklet that will help you alter your team around the byes.

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/pre-season-2011/fixture/

NAB CUP

It’s worth checking out the NAB Cup stuff with some handy reports from coaches who went to various games. Also, the chat/discussion comments are great for people’s unique opinions on players.

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/pre-season-2011/nab-cupchallenge/

PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER

Our boy up on the Gold Coast, McRath, started a sensational series called ‘Versus’ when he looked at Dustin Martin and Mitch Robinson.Robdog also had a crack at a couple… thanks heaps boys! My personal favourite was the Swan v Pendles one… those who bought the Cheat Sheet know what I ended up with!

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/team-selection/player-vs-player/

TEAM SELECTION

Alright, this is pretty broad… but a couple of articles that you MUST have a look out are the all important ruck ones (Who will bring the Ruckus and Totally Rucked) and some great defender ones (Awkward and On the Rebound). There are a truckload… so jump into the team selection category for lots of different articles from a variety of minds.

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/team-selection/

THE FRIDAY SCRAMBLE

Dunny has a new Friday article happening (following on from the ‘almost’ redundant ‘Get off the Bench’ last season). Check out his first few NAB Cup installments and be ready for the big one on Friday before final lockout!

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/team-selection/the-friday-scramble/

TBETTA’S BULLETS

Possibly the most read series of articles during the season.. why? Because everyone loves a Monday DT fix and what better way than with the awesome work of WA’s Tbetta. The Bullets were awesome last year and this year, they have been something else. Check out the whole series from this pre-season, but for some special stuff this week… read this week’s edition to get you all excited. We love our Vinnie Chase look-a-like!

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/the-game/tbettas-bullets/

THE NUMBERS

McRath has contributed some brilliant pieces this pre-season and we are very lucky to have him running through ‘The Numbers’ every Tuesday. Be ready for next week’s edition. In the meantime, you will pick up some of his great thoughts from the pre-season here.

http://dreamteamtalk.com/category/the-game/the-numbers/

OUR DT TALK VIDEOS

How could we leave these out? We interviewed some top blokes (Nathan Buckley, Andrew Swallow, Jordan Lewis, Tim Mohr, Stephen Coniglio) and hear from some of the rookies that will take places in your Dream Teams this year! Watch them all below!

That’s about it… well, it isn’t really… make sure you scour the website through all of the categories at the top of the page under the header for a hell of a lot of DT relevant information that can help you pick your side.

We’d like to thank EVERYONE who has made this site what it is today. This is our 6th season running it and we appreciate everyone’s input… from the awesome writers through to everyone who writes comments on the site (except the ones who say ‘first’) through to the silent people who just sit back and take it all in! It wouldn’t be the place it is without everyone playing their part!

Cheers!

Roy, Calvin and Warnie.