My starting team was actually pretty decent. I had Dyson Heppell and a host of other successful cash cows to start the season, and I’d sprinkled a dusting a Gold Coast rookies in each line, as well as the usual suspects. The problem was, my team was more decimated by injuries than Fremantle was, and my trade finger got an itch.

I started out with a pretty good list. Jobe Watson, David Mundy, Aaron Sandilands, Jonathon Brown, Mark LeCras, Lenny Hayes, Nick Suban, Beau Waters… I think you see where I’m going with this. I can’t help but feel partially responsible for the downfall of those players last season.

And to top it off, I traded out Goddard, Zaharakis and Nahas after awful starts to the season. Goddard, Zaharakis and Nahas were back in my team by the end of the season. Beautiful isn’t it, burning six trades for players I started with and should’ve just kept for a couple more weeks?

It should be noted that I traded LeCras as soon as he got injured, and elected to have Sandilands ride the pine for his initial injury. This lead me to the realisation that football clubs are liars. The beret-wearing baguette-eating pervy-mustache-rocking LeCras’s 9 week injury lasted 4 weeks or some ridiculous shit like that, and Sandilands 2-4 week injury (the prescription of choice for the Fremantle medicos, and has been known to last up to 12 weeks) had him out for 10 weeks. When he re-injured the toe I turfed him (shit pun).

This year I go in with the same confidence as last year, except for a few players I’ve missed out on that I think are destined for big things.

• Rhys Palmer – I initially had him in the squad but he has been cut. It was a toss-up between him and Lenny Hayes for comeback of the year, and I went with Lenny (one good season v a bajillion went in Lenny’s favour). I’m still agonising over this one though and I would love to find him a spot before his price rises by a hundy.
• Gary Rohan – Love this little ranga. Had him as a dead cert when I started drafting my team, but somehow he finds himself on the outside looking in. Would probably get too sunburnt in the starting lineup anyway.
• Patty Dangerfield – Burnt me last year, but maybe my expectations were too high. Still reckon he’s good value, and I know I will come to regret it at some stage but I’m not going near this guy at the moment.
• Jobe Watson – I think he’ll build on last season’s efforts and put himself right up there in the Brownlow voting by the end of the season. But there is only so many spots in the midfield and at this stage he’s not filling one of them.

At the end of the season I will update this post with photos of my cash prizes and my new car. Hopefully it’s not one of those ugly-as-fuck Hummer-meets-Beetle Toyota accidents. They should have aborted that bitch. I’ll have one of those 86s thanks (for lack of a better option).