Yea BigHughie, I heard Bailey say Spencer was no chance too (not that it really helps the Fraser situation) but the cover would have been handy.

Once again cheers for the input guys

Which unfortunately means that after a few weeks of having a decent ruckman my Dees are forced to bring back that knobend Paul Johnson to lose the ruck, not contest the hard ball, make really stupid decisions with the ball and probably get run down from behind a couple of times.

sigh.

This makes things very interesting. Can you afford to carry his 0′s into the finals? Jake Spencer has played two games in a row for Casey and Jamar is out injured now, so maybe he’s not too far away.

That is a prick of a situation, but I suppose it’s the risk you take with Josh Fraser, who hasn’t been traditionally durable.

BTW, with Ablett under an injury cloud DO NOT name him vice captain. That goes for anyone under an injury cloud. If your captain misses imagine having your vice captain miss too!

I am the coach of Alligator Pav and I must admit this is some good discussion on my team. Thanks to all, I have a lot to think over in the coming weeks.

As we know too well and all too often DT can throw an unexpected curve ball, despite the best laid plans and strategies, so I think all suggestions for the next few rounds are extremely useful especially at this point in time, and looking forward to a couple of weeks down track.

I can definitely see Ben’s point on the downgrade trades through the midfield, bringing in a playing rookie and generating maximum cash within my scoring 22. Especially because at the end of the day if you think about it, if one of my premium mids goes down come finals, I will probably prefer to trade rather than take the emergency score anyway, especially if he is out for multiple games. Often DT does come down to having a roll of the dice, especially when trades are minimal.

However, having said this, at the same time I think you Sammy, and especially Dan, both have very valid arguments too. I like Dan’s thoughts about offloading one of my reserve backs to upgrade my seventh, and then the advantage that follows from holding on to Anthony/Rich on the bench in the middle. I can see I am going to have to crunch some numbers in the coming weeks.

Sammy, also before you get too critical of Clarkson, let’s not forget that his objectives are unknown but i think its safe to say they are probably not DT oriented. Having said that imo i agree that the Hawks are a better side with Muston in full flight (and not as a tagger)!

Thanks again and keep up the great work Ben! Cheers to all for the input

I must admit, as I read the article this morning I was thinking I’d be dead against downgrading Rich or Anthony at this stage of the year. Upgrade is certainly a viable option, but I don’t like the idea of downgrading excellent bench cover. Late in the year, a good sub is just as good as a trade.

From looking at Alligator Pav’s team I actually see all the money tied up in the back bench. Between the last three backs you’re not getting much scoring, but you are getting around $470K between two of them. Personally I’d downgrade one (Post or Broadbent?) which creates a little less than $400K to spend on a defender. Leaving a bit of cash to play with for your last trade would be pretty wise though.

I completely agree with Ben about forward options though. Unless something changes drastically, the cupboard looks very bare. But I am definitely more a fan of a defensive shuffle to get that seventh defender and then hopefully use that last trade down the track for a mid upgrade (leaving you with one of Rich/Anthony as bench cover).

Glad to hear your take on my article. It’s always great to get feedback, regardless of whether the feedback is positive, negative or in your case, critical.

The reason why I recommended selling Liam Anthony or Daniel Rich is quite simple. By Round 19, I expect both of these boys to be priced around the $280,000 – $300,000 mark.

On the other hand, I expect Mitch Brown to be priced around the $240,000 – $250,000 mark.

Come finals, I want as much cash as possible in my starting 22, rather than sitting idle on the sidelines. By selling Rich over Brown, you can make an extra $50,000, which can be used on a SCORING premium.

Why not bring in Matthew Broadbent ($86,000) for Daniel Rich ($292,000) & use the $206,000 you save on a SCORING premium? Broadbent is more than capable of scoring 60 – 70 points per game, which is more than adequate as a reserve.

In addition, I challenge you to find me a SUITABLE forward option, priced under $100,000 to replace Mitch Brown with.

As for Muston, my comment was that he could return to AFL action in 2009 if he maintains his current form. I stand by this comment & we’ll find out if I am correct in the fullness of time.

As for calling Alistair Clarkson a “knobend”, I find this offensive. I’m not sure if you are aware, but Clarko is the 2008 premiership coach. Please respect the great man & refrain from using such juvenile terms, as they have no place on our site.

Thank you & good luck to Alligator Pav!

We will consider breaking down our “hidden gems” further as per your advice.

I’ll also be keeping a very close eye on Rick Ladson (great choice) & Nick Heyne for 2010.

However, I’m lukewarm on Phil Davis as a viable dreamteam option. There is no doubt about his talent, I just wonder how an 18 year old (19 next month), 195cm, 85 kg key position player will score points consistently in 2010.

I quite like this site, and think you lads deserve more traffic, but quite frankly, this advice is amateurish.

Whilst I agree that he needs to hold his trades, improve his 7th back – which he has cash to do with one trade – and add a premium with the third (injuries allowing), your advice to sell one of Rich / Anthony makes no sense.

He has great coverage in backs and forwards, and only one in the centre. You tell him to downgrade one of Rich and Anthony to leave only an untried rookie in the mids for reserve? Madness.

He should sell one of his two bench players on the forwards or backs. Then, if injuries allows it, he can upgrade Rich / Anthony to a Swan / Hayes / Montagna and still have a gun reserve in the mids.

Do you think anyone wants to rely on Clarko to bring Muston back in and keep him? This is the same knobend that played him Muston a tagger AFTER two brilliant displays as a talented outside footballer. Suprise, suprise, not as good = dropped.

Madness, mate.