Dream Team builder: Hamish McIntosh

2012 position: ruck
2012 price: $273,500
Bye: round 11

Last year's average: 79
Last year's high score: 79

Four reasons to have him in your team

1) Buying McIntosh at $334,300 last year would have been like hiring Meatloaf to sing at your 21st: an expensive mistake. Achilles heel problems on both feet and two bouts of surgery restricted the North Melbourne big man to a single AFL game in the final week of the home and away season. This year McIntosh is back, with a full pre-season under his belt and a long-term injury discount.

2) This year's increased salary cap makes McIntosh one of the best value ruckmen going around. To put his 2012 price in context, Paddy Ryder, a millstone for many Toyota Dream Team coaches in 2011, will set you back $394,400 this year. Swan Shame Mumford, who averaged 91.5 last season, will cost you $452,400, considerably more than the $406,500 you would have had to shell out for last year's top-priced ruck, Aaron Sandilands. Even Nic Naitanui costs $371,500 and he averaged 75.1 last season, well below what McIntosh can be expected to deliver.

3) Like Drew Petrie, another Kangaroo who returned from injury to make an impact in Toyota Dream Team, McIntosh should provide return on investment. In 2009, he averaged 90 points in 22 games, including eight tons. In 2010, he played 20 games and scored at a touch over 80. More time up forward this year and a few more goals should see him comfortably deliver scores in the 80-90 range.

4) Speculation linked the big man with a trade away from Arden Street last October, and he's keen to repay the club's faith by nailing down a spot in North's best 22. Pre-season reports have him back at full strength and spending plenty of time training as a forward, with a view to adding to the 52 goals he has kicked for the Roos in 100 career games.

The downside?

The downside to picking McIntosh in your Dream Team stands 201cm, topped the league for hit-outs last season and answers to Todd Goldstein. In 2011 the Kangaroos' No.22 developed into one of the game's most formidable rucks. Of Goldstein's 35.2 taps per game, a league-high average of nine were to advantage. His form suggests McIntosh has already been overtaken as North Melbourne's No.1 ruckman, leaving the question of where and how often McIntosh will be played. A rotation between the ruck and the forward line is the likeliest option – something plenty of other clubs have employed with success. But it remains to be seen whether coach Brad Scott will want to persist with a Goldstein-McIntosh partnership.

Risk rating: Goldstein himself expects the Roos to accommodate McIntosh, citing the success when the pair joined forces in North's final match of season 2011, a 13-point win over Richmond. However, talk is cheap and should Scott decide a lone ruckman is the best way forward for the Roos, Goldstein is likely to be first in the queue. Three Alan Didaks.

Sign up for Toyota AFL Dream Team Assistant Coach and get the full player list, including positions, prices and the 2012 Team Picker. Register your interest here: dreamteam.afl.com.au.

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