POD Squad - Round 19

Welcome to POD Squad!

This blog follows my journey using a special Gameday Squad side built entirely around Point of Difference (POD) players - those unique picks most coaches overlook. My mission? To see if I can crack into the top 100 without relying on the same popular stars everyone else has. Each week, I’ll break down my squad decisions, highlight big hits (and inevitable misses), and share insights on finding those hidden gems. Join me as I embrace the risk, chase the upside, and try to prove that playing different can pay off big!

Round 18 review: 2203 points - Rank 520

Winners: Archie Roberts 141, Karl Amon 142, Tim Taranto 151, Josh Daicos 154, Nick Vlastuin 118.

Losers: Clayton Oliver 87, Jordon Sweet 76, Jy Simpkin 78, Jack Graham 0.

Overall: What could have been an incredible start to the challenge was crushed by a Jack Graham suspension that went unnoticed. Although I was way off the mark in making it into the top 100, I'm hopeful that a full scoring squad will get me there.

Round 19 preview:

Round 19 POD Squad prior to lineup release.

Defenders: Again, mostly chasing the match ups here but there are a few stand outs.

Rioli looks like he's finally finding his place at Gold Coast with scores of 76, 86, 93 and 112 in his last 4. I'm taking a punt on those numbers continuing to creep up.

Stewart comes off a massive 139 points last week and has a reasonably favourable matchup against the saints at home this week. This could end up being a huge score.

Midfielders: Its come to a point where I think its pushing it to call Callaghan a point of difference so I've had to drop him from the squad. In saying that, he will go huge this week so play him if you have him.

Harley Reid had a stand out game against a tricky opponent in Port. I'm hoping he will take that confidence into the next round against a much more favourable fantasy side. Its a risky one but you'll look like a legend if it pays off!

Tim Taranto is back to his fantasy best and will likely be able to do whatever he wants this week against West Coast. I'm so confident in this one, I'll be starting him in my competitive squads.

Ruck: Nank holds his place based on his match up. I suspect he'll be a standard pick in this side based on his high GDS floor, only scoring less than 90 on 3 occasions. Meek is in cracking form and has a neutral matchup so he gets the call up.

Forwards: I'm currently on the fence about Greene with reports suggesting he could be rested this week. If he plays, I play him.

Luke Parker hasn't scored under 110 in the last 5 games he's played which will have gone unnoticed by a lot of GDS coaches. I'm not expecting a blowout score like we could expect from some of his team mates, but a score around that 110 mark is more than we would hope for most weeks in a forward.

The rest are purely chasing the matchup.

Thanks for following along with this POD Squad experiment. I’m excited to see how far this unique squad can climb and to share all the highs and lows along the way. Stay tuned for updates each week, and let’s see if we can break into that top 100 together!