TEAM Flyers captain Nat Fyfe has assembled a mind-boggling midfield, making that his priority in the realestate.com.au AFLX draft.
With Bulldogs young star Marcus Bontempelli already installed as vice-captain, Scott Pendlebury, Isaac Heeney, Stephen Coniglio, Travis Boak, Lachie Hunter and Josh Kennedy will all be part of a midfield rotation the envy of any team in the competition.
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A feature of the night were the steal cards that were in operation from round seven onwards, with Hunter joining Team Flyers after Fyfe decided to steal him away from Jack Riewoldt's Team Rampage.
Riewoldt used his steal card in the ninth round by plucking Essendon's Dylan Shiel away from Patrick Dangerfield's Team Bolts, while the Geelong superstar used his card to pinch Daniel Rich in the 10th round.
Eddie Betts did not have a steal card as he was the only captain (Team Deadly) who had access to indigenous players.
Betts' team is stocked with some of the game's most exciting players, with the speed of Team Deadly sure to cause some problems for the opposition teams.
No.1 overall selection Bradley Hill, Jarrod Harbrow, Lewis Jetta, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Willie Rioli are all set to thrive in this area, although notably Betts does not have a standout ruck option in his side.
Dangerfield's loyalty to his Geelong teammates (Tom Hawkins and Mark Blicavs) was endearing, but he also balanced his side nicely with Robbie Gray, Steele Sidebottom and Andrew Gaff all at the top echelon of midfielders in the competition.
The Cats superstar has also backed in young guns Jaidyn Stephenson, Andrew McGrath and Jack Billings to stand up.
Riewoldt's Team Rampage also has a suitable mix of inside and outside ball winners, with vice-captain Patrick Cripps to ride shotgun with Rory Sloane, Dayne Zorko and Isaac Smith in the midfield.
Geelong was the first team to reach the four-player limit per club (Dangerfield, Hawkins, Tim Kelly and Blicavs) in the third round of drafting, while the Giants (Lachie Whitfield, Jeremy Cameron, Phil Davis and Coniglio) reached the restriction in the fifth round.
Hawthorn (Shaun Burgoyne, Chad Wingard, Luke Breust and Isaac Smith), Collingwood (Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Stephenson, Travis Varcoe) and Essendon (Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Michael Hurley, Shiel and McGrath) were the other teams to reach the limit of four players per club.
The AFLX tournament will take place at Marvel Stadium on Friday February 22 from 7pm AEDT.
A highlight of the night is sure to be the Gatorade game changer role which sees one nominated player from each side's points worth double in the last five minutes of each match.
The four teams are competing for a prize pool of $50,000, with $30,000 given to the nominated charity of the winner, $10,000 to the runner-up and $5,000 each to the other two teams.
Team Deadly are playing for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Team Bolts for Variety SA, Team Rampage for Maddie’s Vision and Team Flyers for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Information and ticket sales via X.afl
STARTING LINE-UPS
DEADLYS
Defender: Joel Hamling
Defender: Jarrod Harbrow
Midfielder: Tim Kelly
Wing: Bradley Hill
Wing: Lewis Jetta
Ruck: Cameron Ellis-Yolmen
Forward: Chad Wingard
Forward: Steven May
BOLTS
Defender: Robbie Tarrant
Defender: Luke Hodge
Midfielder: Patrick Dangerfield
Wing: Andrew Gaff
Wing: Steele Sidebottom
Ruck: Mark Blicavs
Forward: Tom Hawkins
Forward: Robbie Gray
FLYERS
Defender: Rory Laird
Defender: Alex Rance
Midfielder: Josh Kennedy
Wing: Stephen Coniglio
Wing: Scott Pendlebury
Ruck: Marcus Bontempelli
Forward: Isaac Heeney
Forward: Jeremy Cameron
RAMPAGE
Defender: Phil Davis
Defender: Lachie Whitfield
Midfielder: Patrick Cripps
Wing: Dayne Zorko
Wing: Isaac Smith
Ruck: Tom McDonald
Forward: Jack Riewoldt
Forward: Luke Breust
CLUB | PLAYERS REPRESENTED | |||
Adelaide | Eddie Betts | Rory Sloane | Rory Laird | Cameron Ellis-Yolmen |
Brisbane | Luke Hodge | Dayne Zorko | Daniel Rich | |
Carlton | Patrick Cripps | Zac Fisher | ||
Collingwood | Scott Pendlebury | Steele Sidebottom | Travis Varcoe | Jaidyn Stephenson |
Essendon | Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti | Andrew McGrath | Dylan Shiel | Michael Hurley |
Fremantle | Nat Fyfe | Bradley Hill | Joel Hamling | |
Geelong | Patrick Dangerfield | Tom Hawkins | Tim Kelly | Mark Blicavs |
Gold Coast | Jarrod Harbrow | |||
Greater Western Sydney | Lachie Whitfield | Jeremy Cameron | Phil Davis | Stephen Coniglio |
Hawthorn | Shaun Burgoyne | Chad Wingard | Isaac Smith | Luke Breust |
Melbourne | Steven May | Tom McDonald | ||
North Melbourne | Shaun Higgins | Robbie Tarrant | ||
Port Adelaide | Robbie Gray | Travis Boak | Sam Powell-Pepper | |
Richmond | Jack Riewoldt | Alex Rance | Jack Higgins | |
St Kilda | Jack Billings | Tim Membrey | Jack Steele | |
Sydney | Isaac Heeney | Luke Parker | Aliir Aliir | Josh Kennedy |
West Coast | Andrew Gaff | Lewis Jetta | Willie Rioli | |
Western Bulldogs | Marcus Bontempelli | Easton Wood | Lachie Hunter |