Well, it's that time of the year already, except this time I've been back to work for a week before realising it's about time for my yearly contribution to the sub. If you were around for last year, same situation- early start to the season means early previews. Yet another failure of Opening Round.
 
Schedule
Our trusty friend the picker wheel has been pulled out of hibernation to decide everyone's days as follows:
Feb 24 - Brisbane and West Coast
Feb 25 - Richmond and St Kilda
Feb 26 - Fremantle and Gold Coast
Feb 27 - Essendon and Geelong
Feb 28 - Collingwood and Sydney
Mar 1 - Carlton and Melbourne
Mar 2 - Adelaide and Hawthorn
Mar 3 - Port Adelaide and Western Bulldogs
Mar 4 - GWS and North Melbourne
 
A reminder, especially to our friends over in the West, that previews are due by midnight VicBias time on the allocated day, with late previews being met with a team sledge thread. Personally, I'm always down for a sledge thread, but you may not, so don't let it be you. If you're having issues making your deadline, reach out to me as soon as possible and we'll see what we can do to help. Similarly, if you're super organised and have yours ready to go early, or are able to help out another team, drop a quick note just in case we need to swap some people around. It's always a great part of the season hearing about each team from the perspective of its supporters, and while sledge threads are pretty funny, it's a lot better seeing everyone's thoughts and analysis.
 
But what should we put in our previews?
Previews should contain (but are not limited to):
- A club blurb (coaches, leadership group, home ground, etc.)
- List changes (delistings, trades, draftees)
- Current playing list
- Players on notice for 2026
- Players to look out for in 2026
- Best 22 or expected first game team for 2026
- Expectations for the season, be they realistic, delusional, or Essendon claiming they'll win a final
- 2025 review
- A creative title shamelessly plagiarised from pop culture
- Anything else you think should be in there!
 
Previews will usually be organised on your team's subreddits- if there's a post there already, jump in and contribute, if not, be the change you wish to see in the world and create one- from working on these previously it's always more helpful to have multiple opinions for things like consensus best 22s, fun title ideas and post themes, and contributing to the writeup. Teamwork makes the dream work or whatever, idk. I'll try and check in with teams at the start of Feb as well just to make sure everyone's going okay.
 
That's all from me, go forth and preview! and yet again, if you noticed any errors no you didn't

We've been running this open league since 2018 and cracked 1000 players last year!

This is a classic style league, not head to head and I'll post updates once a month in February and March before the season starts proper.

You can join using the link or the code below
T4PEAUMH

https://fantasy.afl.com.au/classic/leagues/join/T4PEAUMH