So we did a lot better than last year.
Two people picked the Chiefs for the flag. Two people picked the Grand Final matchup. One coach picked Feelin Dusty for the spoon.
Nobody got any of those right the year before.
But there weren’t any obvious answers that prove true either. Jake Lloyd as highest averaging defender is the closest thing we have to a consensus pick that proved true, having been backed by five coaches.
Some fun things that jumped out to me.
- I was somewhat surprised with the variation in selections for the four missing finalists. Thought there might be more who picked the four who did ultimately miss.
- Nobody had Merrett for the Dangergawn.
- Coach Bridge was the only one to back themselves for the flag.
- The Soldiers were only backed by one coach for the flag.
- Coach Bridge’s self-backing didn’t end there, also nominating his own players for breakout (Gresham) and highest scoring defender (C. Daniel)
- In fairness to Alex, he wasn’t the only coach backing his own players when it came to the breakout – three others did it.
- Andrew Brayshaw the only player to get more than one shout out for breakout player.
- All but two coaches said the Soldiers were best placed to win a flag in four years. Several coaches also nominated them for the list they’d choose to take on. A testament to their rebuilding effort (also, no pressure…)
- Brodie Grundy was a close to consensus pick for number 1 selection if a start-up was held today (or, March 2020). Will be interesting to compare this with answers in 2021.