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Team Announce
AFLX teams are locked and loaded
The stage (and teams) are set for AFLX, with the draft now finalised.
With the AFLX draft taking place last night, the teams are now locked in, and don’t we have some stars.
With the captains announced several weeks ago, and the vice-captains recently secured, all that was left was for the captains to select their teams. And we definitely haven’t been disappointed, with some serious quality making themselves available. AFLX will take place at Marvel Stadium with the four teams battling it out for glory on Friday 22 February.
Teams
Nat Fyfe’s led Flyers look to be the early pick of the bunch, deputised by Marcus Bontempelli. Fyfe took Pies skipper Scott Pendlebury with his first pick, followed by star Tigers full-back Alex Rance.
Jack Riewoldt put together the Rampage side, Patrick Cripps alongside him, taking rising GWS star Lachie Whitfield with his first pick, followed by Crows midfielder Rory Sloane. Neither Riewoldt nor Fyfe drafted any players from their own clubs, Richmond and Fremantle respectively.
Eddie Bett’s all-Indigenous side looks extremely potent, with Shaun Burgoyne his assistant. Betts took Fremantle’s Bradley Hill with his first pick, followed by Gold Coast stalwart Jarrod Harbrow.
Patrick Dangerfield leading the Bolts took a different approach into the draft, taking fellow Cats Tom Hawkins and Mark Blicavs inside his first three picks, with Steele Sidebottom also taken with his second pick. Dangerfield will be deputised by Luke Hodge.
Best eight
So, the next question is who are the best eight for each side? With only eight players on field, and six on the bench, it poses a difficult question. With one ruck, one midfielder, two wingers, two defenders and two forwards available, we have put together ours below – an interesting task considering no out-and-out ruckmen were drafted.
Flyers
Def: Rory Laird
Def: Alex Rance
Mid: Nat Fyfe
Wing: Stephen Coniglio
Wing: Scott Pendlebury
Ruck: Marcus Bontempelli
Fwd: Jeremy Cameron
Fwd: Isaac Heeney
Rampage
Def: Phil Davis
Def: Lachie Whitfield
Mid: Patrick Cripps
Wing: Rory Sloane
Wing: Isaac Smith
Ruck: Tom McDonald
Fwd: Shaun Higgins
Fwd: Jack Riewoldt
Deadly
Def: Steven May
Def: Jarrod Harbrow
Mid: Tim Kelly
Wing: Lewis Jetta
Wing: Bradley Hill
Ruck: Sam Powell-Pepper
Fwd: Eddie Betts
Fwd: Chad Wingard
Bolts
Def: Robbie Tarrant
Def: Andrew McGrath
Mid: Patrick Dangerfield
Wing: Andrew Gaff
Wing: Steele Sidebottom
Ruck: Mark Blicavs
Fwd: Robbie Gray
Fwd: Tom Hawkins
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Tickets to AFLX at Marvel Stadium on 22 February can be found now at Ticketmaster.com.au.
