Footy Tragic

Brisbane vs Carlton:

Looking Good:

• Matthew Leuenberger: Played a super game as the dominant ruckman on the ground. He is beginning to prove his worth as a top draft pick, displaying his strong footy brain and a willingness to put his big body in dangerous spots to win the ball. He won’t clock up too many more tons this year, but this game was of a super standard.
• Chris Judd: Juddy seemed to win every centre clearance and looked to enjoy the freedom allowed to him by Brisbane – Simon Black played on him. Whilst he didn’t quite hit the ton (he was on track before going off late with the blood rule), he was the most dominant player on the ground.
• Sam Jacobs: Stepped up in Kruezer’s place and looked very comfortable and confident in this role. Is a bit of a crash-and-bash ruckman who likes to lay tackles, whilst also picking up a bit of the ball around the ground.

Disappointing:

• Shaun Hampson: Hampson played the game which all Warnock owners were wishing for – he had very little effect on the contest as a ruck/forward. He finished with just 4 disposals and 10 hitouts.
• Ash McGrath: Every time he got the ball he seemed to turn straight into oncoming track – clearly his hamstring injury effected his cognitive ability! Was really poor and turned it over constantly. Voss does have a habit of bringing players back a week too early from injury, so perhaps McGrath will come good soon.
• Luke Power: Played the majority of the game as a forward and struggled to have any effect on the contest.

Blip on the Radar:

• Andrew Walker: Walker has had a reasonable season this year, but this game (and also his past few) could prove costly to his position in the team – his current role is as a playmaker off the half-back line, but his ability to keep turning the ball over was a major issue on Thursday night, a problem which may see him given a different role, such as tagging, in the coming weeks. I would avoid him for this reason alone.

Hawthorn vs Western Bulldogs:

Looking Delicious:

• Sam Mitchell: Really led his team well at the clearances with 28 well-earned disposals, plus one of the late goals that eventually got Hawthorn across the line. His 8 tackles were also a highlight.
• Brian Lake: Ran off Franklin all night, and as usual collected plenty of cheap ball in the backline. What originally looked like a blip on the radar for Lake has turned into a consistent event – he can almost be counted on for a good regular score nowadays, thanks especially to his huge amount of marks – he finished this game with a whopping 18 marks!
• Luke Hodge: Continues on his great season after a bit of a dip last week – he played this game purely as a midfielder and finished with 28 touches and 6 tackles. Playing in a winning team is certainly helping!

Disappointing:

• Barry Hall: Kicked just two goals and did very little else, thanks to a good defensive game by Gilham.
• Michael Osborne: Was hardly sighted for much of the match as he stayed fixed to the forward line for most of the game. Finished with just 9 disposals.
• Ryan Hargrave: The trend continues – a good game last week and a shocker again this week. Was given the role as a defender on Peterson and was given little opportunity to zone off. I think it is safe to say he will likely finish off the year in similar up-and-down fashion.

Blip on the Radar:

• Liam Picken: Picken has played his year as a tagger (as he did last year), but more often than not he is taking a smaller forward, rather than a midfielder. This week though, he landed the job on Mitchell and therefore spent much more time in the midfield, allowing him to more disposals. Don’t be expecting any sort of regularity to this scoring, even if the midfield move does continue. He is a tagger first and foremost.

Fremantle vs Port Adelaide:

Looking Good:

• Rhys Palmer: Was great in the midfield all day, but especially late in the match as Freo ripped the game from Port’s grasping claws. Unfortunately though, his day was soured when he shattered Barlow’s leg when going for a low mark.
• Mitch Banner: Was Port’s main architect in the second quarter as they came back strongly. He finished the game as Port’s best midfielder with 23 disposals.
• Aaron Sandliands: Carried on his great form with another dominant display. He continues to be a great go-to option for Freo, and as I have said time and time again, his contested marking is a highlight, and one that will help prevent him from getting many sub-100 scores this season.

Disappointing:

• Michael Barlow: Such a sad story to come out of this game – the injury to Michael Barlow. Those who saw it will attest to it being something they wouldn’t want to see again – the injury was graphic and clearly painful – some TV shows won’t even show the footage of him standing up afterwards, with his leg collapsing below him. A very sad story indeed after such a brave and awe-inspiring debut year from the kid… He will now miss the remainder of the season (stay tuned to www.footytragic.com to find out what to do next!)
• Daniel Motlop: He spends his time either pleading for free kicks or for his teammates to give him a cheapie out the back of packs. He needs to step back and look at how far his game has deteriorated and start learning about working hard for his disposals.
• Kepler Bradley: With Johnson’s return from club suspension, Bradley’s role was stripped back significantly and he ended up spending less time on the ball. Still played OK, but I wouldn’t be considering him now with the ambiguities Johnson’s return brings.

Blip on the Radar:

• Michael Johnson: Played his first game in a couple of months after his club suspension for drug possession. He played well as a defender-cum-ruckman, and got more than his fair share of disposals, plenty of which came from chipping around. He is not the type of player you want at this stage of the year – inconsistent and unreliable.

Collingwood vs West Coast:

Looking Good:

• Dane Swan: He just didn’t stop – and you can probably thank John Worsfold for that – after racking up 47 points by quarter time, Swan pushed on to score 161 points thanks to his 38 touches and 14 marks. He was simply prolific – in fact, it looked like there were five of him out there. He just keeps bobbing up for kick after kick, and knows exactly where to run to find the pill. He is the perfect captain.
• Darren Jolly: He proved that last week’s best on ground display was no fluke, following it up with a four goal, 20 possession game. He is clunking marks strongly and looking really good across the ground. If I had my time again, I’d trade Hille to Jolly, rather than my poor option of Cox.
• Scott Pendlebury: Despite the tag, Pendles still came to the party, racking up 27 disposals with a bonus two goals. Finally, 2010 is presenting itself as a good DT season for Pendlebury – not just Supercoach!

Disappointing:

• Chris Masten: Yes, it was his first game back from injury, but he was poor. Now averages 45 DT points over the past three games – stay well away – he is the DT antichrist!
• Beau Waters: Was given the hard forward tag by Lockyer, and it worked. He was out of the match until given the chance to junk some stats late in the fourth quarter.
• Dean Cox: He just looks to be going through the motions without really pushing himself to his full form. He doesn’t look half the player he once was and my guess is he may be rested as the season comes to an end. Don’t be as stupid as me – stay well away from this DT booby-trap!

Blip on the Radar:

• Jack Anthony: Played the game in defence and wasn’t too bad. But with the imminent inclusion of players such as Maxwell, Anthony will find himself back in the VFL very soon.

Adelaide vs Essendon:

Looking Good:

• Scott Thompson: Thompson continued his great recent form with another best on ground performance. He racked up 34 touches and 8 tackles for the game, and looks to be invigorated by Adelaide’s good recent form.
• Kurt Tippett: Is he back? Well… it certainly looked like it! After being starved of anything resembling form all year, Tippett finally looks to be the same player who finished off 2009 so strongly. He finished this game with six goals, his best for the year, whilst also picking up 16 disposals from his time in the ruck.
• Patrick Ryder: Paddy once again just fell short of the ton, but he was still impressive. He is still carrying the sole ruckman mantle at Essendon and doing it well, finishing the game as the best ruckman on the ground with a game-high 29 hitouts.

Disappointing:

• Bernie Vince: Was tagged out of the game by Welsh and couldn’t join in the party. As I said last week, he is going to struggle to break tags with his lingering injury, so is one to stay away from.
• Michael Quinn: The young Irishman was a somewhat surprise inclusion (especially for owners of Howlett and Prismall who have had to put up with zeros due to their ‘poor disposal’), however he won’t be a surprise dropping for next weeks teams after an ordinary display.
• Michael Hurley: Played at full-forward but was kept scoreless by Rutten. 2010 has proven not to be his year, so I think it’s time we stopped holding our breath, waiting for him to come good.

Blip on the Radar:

• Andrew Welsh: Welsh has proven in previous seasons, and even in this one, that he is capable of the odd DT ton, but he has also proven (much more frequently) that he is capable of very low scoring in the 30-50 range. He may have scored well this week, but as a tagger, this is not what his game is based around.

Geelong vs North Melbourne:

Looking Good:

• Paul Chapman: Straight back from injury and into the action was Chappy. Many coaches breathed a sigh of relief when he wasn’t a late withdrawal, then proceeded to jump for joy as he was the top scorer on-field. He finished with 37 disposals – most of which were by foot.
• James Podsiadly: After a shocker in the wet last week, Pods bounced back with his obligatory five goals at Skilled stadium. But what stood out about his game was not his goal kicking, but his forward pressure. He tackled and harassed all day, which would certainly have impressed the coach.
• Joel Corey: Corey has spent many weeks on the sidelines, so the expectation was that he would come back slowly. But, amazingly he didn’t, not only finishing with 27 disposals, but also an amazing 10 tackles. What is also worth noting is that his game percentage was a very low 75%, intimating that he is back to his ball-winning best.

Disappointing:

• Jack Ziebell: Unfortunately broke his leg very early in the game, ending his season. More sad injury news to another young rising star.
• Travis Varcoe: Maybe I have my sights set too high for Varcoe, but again he did much less than I expected of him. Only the one goal and 13 disposals whilst playing on the much slower Rawlings was a loss for Varcoe – perhaps don’t be taking my advice of a couple of weeks ago to trade him in.
• Lindsay Thomas: It seems that one amazing performance of a few weeks ago will be a once-off for Thomas. He spends too much time going for the freakish, rather than concentrating on the basics. He was penalised with a free against on a couple of occasions for going for speckies when he had no chance of marking the ball… This is proof why you don’t trade in a player after just one game!

Blip on the Radar:

• Matthew Scarlett: Scarlett is a reasonable rebounder, but is typically Geelong’s last line of defence, meaning he plays very deep. Occasionally he will rack up largish scores, as he did in this match, but it is not the norm. This score was thanks to him manning up on the resting ruckman – players very easy to run off, allowing him to pick up more ball across the half-back line.

Richmond vs Sydney:

Looking Good:

• Daniel Connors: Played up the ground and continues to push his game to new heights every time he steps on the football field. He racked up 26 touches and 10 marks whilst playing on O’Keefe and looks to have a lot of confidence in his own ability, which is great to see in such a young player.
• Ryan O’Keefe: O’Keefe is back in the good books after being seemingly out of form for a little while . He was back running through the midfield, clocking up 29 disposals, although it was his huge 11 tackles that really stood out on the stats sheet!
• Jude Bolton: Bolton played a fantastic game, especially in the first half as he really pushed Sydney to their strong lead. He is a great unheralded midfielder, although may be a little inconsistent to be pushing the elite category.

Disappointing:

• Tadhg Kennelly: Was shocking in his first game back from injury. He must be experiencing déjà-vu from when he played his last season of AFL – a year marred with injury and poor form after such a strong start. Now priced under $200k, all his owners will be baffled by their decision to stick with him!
• Ben Cousins: Ben is/was a great player, but at Richmond there are two issues – firstly, he is always the first tagged, and being in a young team he rarely gets support. Secondly, he simply loves to handball – his kick to handball ratio is so poor that even a 30 disposal game will likely see him fall short of the ton.
• Heath Grundy: ‘Reg’ had such a strong start to the year as an attacking defender, however this past month has seen him move back into a more defensive role, killing his DT ability in the process. Averaging just 66 points across the last five weeks, now may be the time to count your losses with him.

Blip on the Radar:

• Will Thursfield: In Thursfield’s 63 game career as a defender, his 96 DT points beat his previous best DT score by more than 30 points! He is strictly a dour defender, and games like this only happen every… well… 63 games I guess.

St.Kilda vs Melbourne:

Looking Good:

• Clinton Jones: Was best on ground by my opinion – spent the first half tagging Davey out of the game, then was freed up to be a midfielder in his own right. He then proceeded to get his hands on just about every clearance and looked to get a whole new lease on his game. This won’t happen very often, however it was good for him to show Ross Lyon what he is capable of.
• Leigh Montagna: Joey just keeps running and running and presenting and presenting. He is such a hard worker and it is no surprise he is constantly racking up the dream team points. Even when the game is done and buried he is still working hard to win the ball.
• Brendon Goddard: Started forward and was the focal point of most of St.Kilda’s attacks. And although he cracked it that he wasn’t kicking enough goals of his own, he was still able to rack up plenty of the pill, finishing with 31 touches.

Disappointing:

• Tom Scully: Played all game on a HFF, which was strange and St.Kilda’s strong defence was able to shut him out of the game. I doubt this is a new role, but rather a way of resting him.
• James Gwilt: Played the best game of his career last week, and whilst again very good against the Dees, Jimmy didn’t rack up nearly the same amount of ball as his did then.
• Nathan Jones: Played the whole game as a tagger, as he has been all year, and it is obviously effecting his scoring.

Blip on the Radar:

• Kyle Cheney: This was his first game for the year, and whilst serviceable to a degree, his strength was his defensive work, not his rebounding. So if he does get another game, don’t be expecting too many dashing runs from defence to accompany it.

Expert: Dan
Team: Hank Scorpio EDT
Current Ranking: 4,847
Round 14 Score: 2,214
Trades Remaining: 5
Team Changes This Week:
In: Gary Ablett, Eddie Prato
Out: Brodie Moles, Jackson Trengove

Expert: Toby
Team: Fiora’s Hardnuts
Current Ranking: 2,339
Round 14 Score: 2,267
Trades Remaining: 5
Team Changes This Week:
In: Dean Cox
Out: David Hille

Expert: Ben
Team: The Redbacks
Current Ranking: 1,204
Round 14 Score: 2,251
Trades Remaining: 8
Team Changes This Week: None

View Darwin Jabiru’s Team
Round 13 Score: 2,182
Current Overall Ranking: 8,054
Trades Left: 6
Remaining Salary Cap: $77,600

Dear Darwin Jabiru’s,

Thank you for submitting your team. With only six trades remaining up your sleeve and the inevitable injuries and “restings” over the final nine rounds of the season, you must use your remaining trades wisely.

My main concern with your team is Paul Bower from Carlton, the biggest DT tease in 2010. I rate Bower as a quality AFL player and I enjoy watching him play. His ability to shut down his opponent and then provide attacking run when the Blues get hold of the footy is brilliant and I believe he is one of Carlton’s most important players when fully fit. I also think he could be a very handy DT selection in 2011, as he has shown his scoring capacity in the few games he has played this year with an average of 95 points per game. The problem is Bower’s chronic quad injuries (both left and right quads) which have restricted him to just three AFL games thus far this year, in Rounds 1, 6 and 13. Bower will be missing once again in tonight’s match against the Brisbane Lions due to “soreness”. The term “soreness” concerns me greatly, particularly after a week’s break due to the split round. His body has let him down badly this year and many DT’s have shared his pain. I believe that it is now time to bite the bullet and cut your losses with Bower.

I also believe the timing is right to offload Ben Howlett from Essendon. Howlett has risen in price by $171,000 this year, but he has poor job security. Coach Matthew Knights obviously doesn’t have Howlett in his DT, because he has dropped him twice this year after solid scores (63 points in Round 2 and 61 points in Round 11). Check the teams at 5pm tonight before pulling the trigger.

MY RECOMMENDATIONS THIS WEEK:

OUT: Paul Bower $330,500 and Ben Howlett $249,100

IN: Brendon Goddard $479,000 and Koby Stevens $89,500.

Goddard is a must have defender, along with Luke Hodge so I won’t waste time explaining my reasons for recommending Goddard.

Koby Stevens was selected by the West Coast Eagles with selection number 23 in the 2009 National Draft. Stevens is a tough inside midfielder and he was captain of the Gippsland Power in the TAC cup last year. Stevens is a very good size for a first year player (187cms, 83kgs) and he is a strong tackler. Stevens made his debut for the Eagles in Round 13, scoring 46 points against the Western Bulldogs. I expect Stevens to be given plenty of opportunities over the remaining nine rounds, as the Eagles start preparing for 2011 and beyond.

In answer to your previous questions about Eddie Betts and Cyril Rioli, my recommendation is to keep them. Your remaining four trades should be used to cover injuries.

Good luck!

First of all, there are no rookies about to rise in price this week. Easton Wood from the Bulldogs is the cheapest option about to rise in price, as a $160K defender. Mind you, Ben Griffiths from Richmond actually went DOWN in price this week after his third game and is now priced at $84,000. With a break even of 31, he could actually go down again if he is picked to play.

Aaron Sandilands – Fremantle ($390,200, RUC, Break even: 63)

With the news that David Hille is out for a couple more weeks, it’s worth looking at replacements for the 38,000 teams that have him. If you went budget in the rucks this year, then you’ve probably been ruing not having 211.

Hille owners would have to be considering bringing him in now, especially since Sandilands is in rare sub $400K territory. It only costs $30K to upgrade Hille to him. The one thing you will need to be careful of with 211 is that he could be some risk of getting rested late in the season. If they’ve got a soft game or if he’s feeling a bit sore, Freo could look to freshen him up, because let’s face it, he’s put in a MAMMOTH effort so far this season. It was about this time last year that he missed two games.

Given their reliance on him it’s a tough call, because they’re pretty much conceding the ruck if they don’t play him, but the benefits of getting him fresh for a serious finals tilt (sounds weird when talking about Freo) are quite obvious.

He had three down weeks in a row with 67, 87 and 85, but just before the break he posted back to back tons and hopefully the split round will be sufficient rest for him to come home strong.

Patrick Ryder – Essendon ($408,400, RUC, Break even: 122)

Ryder started the year remarkably slow. In the first five games his highest score was 84 and he had three scores below 70. The penny must have dropped in Round 6 because since then his lowest score has been 92 and he’s scored five tons to easily be the form DT ruckman in the league.

Once again, I’m coming from the perspective that if you’re trading Hille out you could do a lot worse than bringing in the other very lucrative Bombers ruckman. While my articles are meant to be more aimed at finding bargains, I felt compelled to recommend Ryder. He doesn’t exactly present value, but I think he’s the best DT ruckman in the league in the run home – yep, better than Sandilands.

One thing I would like to point out that could slightly detract from him, but since he’s hit this amazing forms he’s only scored three scores less than 100, but two of those have been the two weeks that Hille has missed. I wouldn’t say this is a huge concern since those have still been scores of 92 and 95. Knights has looked more than happy to rest Bellchambers forward, so Ryder has had a bit less time there than normal. Hille is only out for 2-3 though, it’s not like Ryder is posting bad scores without him and when Hille comes back Ryder will get his greater share of forward time again.

Brad Symes – Adelaide ($350,500, DEF, Break even: 68)

I thought I’d throw in a bit of an odd one this week. I’ve always liked Symes as a DT’er and he’s averaged pretty much bang on 80 in his two seasons since crossing from Port to the Crows. With injury having cruelled his season so far he hasn’t got going until two weeks ago, but he’s come in with a bang!

His two scores have been 98 and 99 and I’ve gotta say, I actually don’t mind Adelaide’s run over the next month and think they’re some shot at putting more wins on the board.

Symes knows how to get loose and he’s not damaging enough with his disposal for the opposition to put too much attention into. The other advantage with Symes as a DT’er is that he doesn’t need to rack up huge numbers to score that well, because he’s an aggressive tackler. He averages 3-4 tackles per game and because he can play loose across half back he averages 4-5 marks per game – very DT friendly numbers.

He struggled with his ceiling last year, only topping the ton once, but was very consistent in achieving his 80 average. One thing you will probably want to consider is that he obviously had a very limited pre-season this year, which is something I’m never keen on. The Crows seem to have managed him well though and he played about three games in the SANFL before getting a call up to the Crows. Given that he’s come in so late, it’s not like he’s in for a long slog, so he could provide some good points in the run home and being that he’s only in 1033 teams he could be quite unique.

There is always one position every year which simply stinks – whilst in 2009 it was impossible to find a good defender, 2010 has been a year where the forwards have stunk it up. Early season guns Riewoldt and Brown sustained long-term injuries; Gia, Higgins, O’Keefe and Sylvia couldn’t sustain their early form; Buddy keeps getting suspended; Barry Hall peaked in the pre-season, and Chapman’s hamstring has finally gone ping! They are some shocking stories for players featuring in plenty of Dream teams – unfortunately, inconsistency isn’t curable – a sideways trade looks to cause you just as much pain, but just with a different pain. There are some players now looking like spending a further four-or-so weeks on the sidelines, and at this time of year, this can be a very big problem. Jonathon Brown is now out until at least round 16, Stevie J has been given a four week ban, and Jarrad Waite three. Many coaches will debate what to do with these players, with similar worry surrounding the likes of Chapman, Higgins and Sylvia – all who should return this week (hopefully…). So I thought it may be time to propose two options hat could hopefully fill one of your empty spots for the remaining nine rounds – both are in good current form and priced under $400,000, making them somewhat gettable. I am talking about Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin and Alan Didak, two of the few forwards to be averaging over 100 points across the past three games.

Lance Franklin:

Like most other forwards, Buddy’s season has been an inconsistent one, although this has been little to do with form - through a series of separate high bumps, Buddy has spent a total of four games on the sideline through suspension, meaning he has played nine games out of a possible 13 - frustrating for any owner! Although, if looking for positives from his season, despite his time on the sidelines, he has still been consistent with his form, averaging an impressive 95.11, and only dropping below 80 points twice (a 67 and 74 in his first two games of the year). In fact, since these two games (where Hawthorn were convincingly beaten) he has averaged 102 points - second of all forwards to Paul Chapman.

So with such an ability to find himself in front of the tribunal, why should you take the punt on Franklin? Well, whilst I can’t guarantee you anything surrounding the tribunal (especially since they proved themselves a farce with the Steven Baker decision!), what I can tell you is that both he and Alistair Clarkson have made public statements, commenting that Franklin will be working hard for the remaining rounds to avoid making any contact with the heads of his opponents. We can help by simply keeping our fingers crossed. Despite his recent suspension record, as I stated earlier, his form over the past month or so has been fantastic – in fact, dream team-wise he has been the third best forward across the past five rounds, behind only Chapman and Jack Riewoldt. And just in watching him, his form has been obvious – and those who saw his game against Essendon last week will agree – he didn’t just get 130 DT points and kick five goals, but it was the way he went about it that was impressive. Unlike last year, where he spent the whole year carrying injuries and therefore out of fitness and form, he is now running at full pace and finishing off games in good condition – essentially, he is back to his dominating best.

On his day, Franklin is close to impossible to stop, and as shown in the Essendon game, Hawthorn will go to great lengths to ensure he is kept in the game - they played Beau Muston in the forward line, giving him the job of keeping Fletcher away from Franklin, meaning the less superior Hocking was given the job on Buddy - I assume this will be a tactic used more this season due to how successful it proved to be. Franklin now also has the fitness base to be able to run far off his opponent - he has the tank to allow him to spend plenty of time up of the wings - a tactic that doesn’t just wear out his opponent, but also one which allows him to rack up even more disposals through the midfield.

It is strange, but due to Buddy’s suspension record this year, he has flown somewhat under the DT radar - almost every week where coaches may be looking to bring a forward in, he has been suspended. This has left him in just 23% of teams - still a large number, but not nearly as large as seasons past where he has easily cracked the 50% mark. If he can stay on the park he is an extremely consistent player, and as he has shown on several occasions this year, he can easily crack the ton. I really like him as an option - especially with the amount of poor form and inconsistencies in the forward line this year - it could be nice to have a player whom can actually be relied upon most weeks to perform.

Key Stats 2010:

Kick : handball ratio – 1.7 : 1

Average Marks per game: 5.1

Average Tackles per game: 3.4

Average Disposals per game: 17.9

Average Goals per game: 3.3

Breakeven: 59

Average Dream Team Points: 95.11

Price: $386,500(+$31,600)

Alan Didak:

In 2009, Didak was one of the most prolific DT scorers, with a five week stretch of games in which he averaged a huge 147.2 points (all five games netted over 120 points each). It was a series of games that showed how much DT potential Didak has – until that point he had been a very good dream teamer, but scores like that stamped him as elite. Unfortunately though, in 2010, just like most other forwards, Didak’s form (or at least his DT scoring) hasn’t been close to that he experienced last year – so far he has averaged 94.17 points a game, but has had only one game over 120 points (last week). 2010 has been more of a season of consistency for Didak, rather than sporadic mega-scoring like in 2009. Although only cracking 120 once, he has still made it to 100 on five occasions and only dropped below 80 twice (a 52 and 79).

I talked about Didak earlier in the year, blaming taggers for his form, and quite possibly, the same diagnosis can be blamed for his current scoring patterns – almost every week he gets the number one tagger, although as the season has gone on, he has proven an ability to work through the tag. This week for example, Didak was tagged by Nick Smith, Sydney’s number one tagger, but was still able to reach a respectable 89 points. Smith followed him all game very closely, but at each sign of congestion, Didak worked hard to get behind the packs and get his hand on the clearances, often losing Smith in the congestion. It is this sort of hard work that will see him continue his average for the remainder of the season.

Unlike Buddy, Didak is more a midfielder who spends occasions in the forward line, rather than the other way around. Obviously, this can’t be a bad thing – in fact, due to his duel roles he averages 1.75 goals and 23.5 disposals a game – both very good statistics. Collingwood isn’t a very bad team either – this time of year, the players you want are the ones residing in the teams atop of the ladder and Collingwood is only half a game off ladder-leaders Geelong and St.Kilda, meaning that their key playmakers (such as Didak) are the ones you want in your team.

As I said at the start of this article, I am chasing a player who is consistent. Too many forwards this year are producing scores from every end of the scale and personally I am sick of it. Didak therefore is a good choice – whilst it seems he will rarely produce the 140+ point games his 2009 season became known for, he is also rarely producing many games sub-eighty points. His form also appears to have been building lately, suggesting that he could come home with a bit of a flurry in the final rounds.

Key Stats 2010:

Kick : handball ratio – 1.7 : 1

Average Marks per game: 3.4

Average Tackles per game: 3.25

Average Disposals per game: 23.5

Average Goals per game: 1.75

Breakeven: 87

Average Dream Team Points: 95.11

Price: $393,300 (-$58,000)