Toby discusses the player many are hyping as the next Brendon Goddard. Does he live up to the hype?

 

So now with some AFL matches finally underway, it’s time we can start telling you exactly who you want to pick in your teams! My series of articles is basically going to run you through mid-priced or value options for Fantasy football this year. I will look at some rookies too, however I feel in 2013 the mid-priced player will become as popular as ever. With two trades a week, the game lends itself to ‘taking a punt’ a little more often than we might have been able to in the past. We know mid-priced players can typically go one of two ways; coaches who do their research may find themselves picking a breakout star who averages over 100, whilst another coach (who may have done just as much research) lands themself a dud, who is in and out of the side all year. These extra trades make the latter scenario much easier to deal with, hence reducing the risks involved.

Another factor that may influence our decision is the depth we are now able to create in our midfields. With an extra two players, it allows coaches to play with many more options for what is easily the most lucrative position in fantasy football. Also, if you are keen to stock up on premium talent in the midfield, mid-pricers suddenly become more important in the forwards and backs.

Now, who to look at first… Honestly, I’m pretty tired after a long day at work, so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to launch into a topic I know quite a bit about… Arryn Siposs of the St.Kilda Saints, or ‘the new Brendon Goddard’ as some have been calling him.

 

So, why has this nickname been getting flung around on social media for Sippa? The ‘Brendon Goddard’ role has become quite famous at the Saints over the past number of years – whilst we have seen some inconsistencies from the ex-Saint, overall he has been one of the best rebounding defenders and playmakers over the past several years, unrivalled through the competition for his ball-winning ability, coupled with his ball use. He has been the Saints’ go-to man just about every time they try and move the ball forward. Therefore, losing him to Essendon over the off-season will likely be felt pretty significantly down at Seaford.

Throughout the pre-season to date, many eyes have been cast over the Saints list to find out who may be moving into this lucrative fantasy role for 2013. It now appears that Arryn Siposs is that man. He has trained with the defenders all pre-season, played almost the entire intra-club across half-back and through the midfield and then lined up in the same position for the Saints NAB games on Sunday afternoon. His kicking is absolutely exquisite – he already has huge confidence to hit his targets (and does go for some near-impossible passes as a result) and appears to work hard to get into good ball-receiving areas.

I will however mention a few slights on him. Firstly, just like Goddard before him, he doesn’t do too much of the dirty work himself. I’ve already seen a number of situations this pre-season where he has just stood outside a contest waiting for the ball, rather than diving in to help his teammates. His confidence is good, but we don’t want him to become over-confident. Scott Watters has made similar remarks over the past few weeks, stating he is not guaranteed a game and does still have areas to work on. Whilst this is likely just a coach putting the acid on a player whom he knows has a lot of potential, it may also mean Sippa won’t be gifted games in 2013 if he begins to coast. The other query on him (or at least this role) is that he is not the only one capable of playing this role. We’ve seen Sam Gilbert play a similar role in the intra-club, and James Gwilt looked fantastic rebounding off half-back in the NAB Cup. Nick Dal Santo is another senior name trialled in this role, whilst fellow youngster Jack Newnes is another who may get some time in the role. Essentially, if Siposs doesn’t impress quickly, he’s not the only man for the job.

That all said, 2013 is very much a year of development for the Saints. That’s not to say they won’t still be hoping for a finals berth, but I believe above everything else in 2013, the Saints desperately need to unearth some exciting young talent. And Siposs is one of the standouts from the crop, meaning we should really see him play most games this year, and as Watters has said in the past, he doesn’t want to shield the youngsters from big roles in the side.

In the first NAB Cup game, Siposs managed 7 disposals and 4 marks (35 DT points), which isn’t too bad for this form of the game. However in the second game he managed just the one handball, albeit after already playing one game in 38-degree heat. He also had pretty limited time on ground. I guess it’s fortunate will have a few more opportunities to see him play before round one.

Having a look at stats from 2012, his numbers are a bit all over the place. He played 11 games in total, including four as a sub (three subbed on, one subbed off), three of which came over his first four games of the year. He had two scores over 100 DT points and two in SC. He also played the majority of the year as a forward, with only a couple of games late in the year with a role in defence, scoring 100 and 58 DT points in these outings. These stats are somewhat hard to base future improvement on, however, as we are definitely expecting higher numbers from him this year, based on greater experience and responsibility.

Overall, I believe Siposs will be one of the significant improvers in 2013. Even is he only gets tastes of the half-back role, I can’t see him fitting back into the forward line this year considering there is already a back-log of players for this area of the ground, meaning at worst he may be stationed on a wing or a little deeper in defence. The Saints desperately need a good user of the football in the backline and I believe Siposs will be given first crack of this in 2013. Whilst I would be tempering your expectations if you believe he will average Goddard-like numbers, but I do believe we can see a significant improvement from him in a role that will lend itself well to plenty of marks and kicks – two stats crucial to both fantasy football and SuperCoach.

 

You can pick Arryn Siposs as a forward only in 2013.

Fantasy Football: $325,000

Super Coach: $316,600