Footy Tragic

The Team:

Melbourne finished the 2009 season struggling to stop from winning games and only just managed to scrape through with four wins to allow them the first two picks in the draft. With the new talent now secured, Melbourne will be pushing as hard as they can in 2010 and anything less than eight wins would likely be considered a failure. The trick will be developing the youth as quickly as possible – many will start very raw, but coach Dean Bailey must persist with this policy as have plenty of coaches before him. Due to this, Melbourne is a playing ground for many DT coaches with their plethora of young talent close to guaranteed to get a game this year. The only issue is the secrecy behind Dean Bailey – he refuses to give anything away, such as when kids will debut and how many games he expects them to play. As DT coaches, we want round one to be a lock and for him to spend all season spruiking a ‘youth polity.’ Unfortunately though, Bailey enjoys resting his younger players every few weeks – not a bad idea by development standards, but the game we are talking about is DT, one where we want 22 games from a player regardless if it is good for their health or not! But still, fill your interchange with cheap Melbourne players – hopefully they will be this year’s Fremantle!

Who’s Hot?:

Colin Sylvia ($418,700): Looks a strong chance to build on a very strong 2009 season. He has trained very well and showed he is in good touch with a  good performance in Sunday’s NAB cup game.

Jack Grimes ($392,300): Although 2009 was riddled with injury for Grimes, he showed what he is capable of. Has trained as a midfielder all pre-season and is currently injury free.

Jack Trengove ($153,500): Has fitted into the pace of training with ease. Although he had a mediocre showing on the weekend, I expect he will catch up to the pace of AFL over the next few weeks, ready for round one.

Who’s Not?:

Sam Blease: Is still recovering from the broken leg he suffered mid-2009. I would be surprised if he played many games this year.

Luke Tapscott: Has broken down with a hip injury he sustained at training. Will miss four months of football.

Jack Watts: Has bulked up a fair amount, but recently had an injury set back which will delay his start to the season.

Colin Garland: Further injury setbacks will see him miss the first chunk of the season.

The Bargain:

Jamie Strauss ($94,500): James Strauss was selected by Melbourne with pick 19 in the 2008 National Draft. Strauss was recruited from the Oakleigh Chargers and is listed as 185cms, 82kgs. Strauss represented Vic Metro in the 2008 Under 18 National Championships, where he averaged 14 possessions over his 5 games in the carnival. Strauss is a very athletic, fast (4^th overall in the 2008 Draft Camp for the 30 metre repeat sprints) and hard running midfielder, with elite endurance. Strauss also reads the play very well and is an excellent kick of the football on both sides of his body. Unfortunately for Melbourne, Strauss was cruelled by a series of ankle and leg injuries which saw him play no senior football in 2009 – although, this is a great thing for fantasy coaches as he will start the year at bottom price. He is a hard-bodied midfielder, which should see him given more opportunities than some of his other teammates, especially as he has had a full pre-season. He is also very versatile, as shown on Sunday night when he was thrown between the midfield and defense. Now that he has the fitness and there are spots in the team for him, I am confident that Strauss would be a great value pick in your 2010 team. He is both great value as well as being a more uncommon selection – a huge DT positive!

The Kid:

Jack Trengove ($153,500): I would be very surprised if you have not already put Trengove in your 2010 squad – he will likely be the most popular selection for most of the year. And there is very good reason behind this – he came to Melbourne in last year’s draft as the number 2 pick overall. He is a strong-bodied, ball winning midfielder, already with experience at playing against men. We got to see our first glimpse at the kid on Sunday night against Fremantle – unfortunately, he played a rather average game, suggesting that he may take a bit of time to get used to the pace of AFL. My first thoughts after the game were that he was out of my team, but on further thought I am going to keep him, but with much more of an eye on his next few games. I believe he has both the tools and potential to make a mark in 2010, but I want to at least see some signs in the pre-season before I confirm him as a lock. There is every chance that come round 1 he will be flying – but I want to be 100% sure before handing him a Guernsey for my team – especially with plenty of other top-notch kids fighting for a place!

The Premium:

Colin Sylvia ($418,700): It was a long time coming, but Colin Sylvia finally had his break out year in 2009, averaging 95 points whilst playing through the midfield and with stints up forward. Although coming into the 2010 season with a high average and in a bottom-eight team, I believe there is still huge potential in Sylvia and I reckon he will get even better and more consistent. The first concern about Sylvia is his discipline – twice in 2009 he was suspended by Melbourne for breaches of their rules, however I believe with a renewed sense of belief in what he can achieve in 2010, Sylvia will come out swinging in 2010, whilst also keeping his distracting antics at bay. Sylvia is a great Dream Teamer in that he is capable of huge games – some players who average 100 will never score more than 110 – he scored over 120 on four occasions, top scoring in round nine with 159 points. It is also worth noting that Sylvia’s great form did not actually kick in until about round 8 (he averaged 73 until then and 107 from then until the end of the season), meaning that his early average form has pulled his 2010 starting price down well below what is deserved for his talent. He is a lock for me in 2010 – he scores huge numbers, won’t regularly get a tag with Davey in the team and is also a relatively unique pick. Highly consider him for your team too!

The Smokey:

Joel Macdonald ($299,800): Macdonald was the biggest surprise delisting at the end of 2009 and subsequently was picked up by Melbourne with the first pick in the pre-season draft. Macdonald had his breakout season in 2008 with his run from half-back alongside the ever-injured Drummond, but in 2009 was relegated to a much more negating role in the backline as Ash McGrath was preferred ahead of him in the rebounding role. To compare his seasons, in 2008 his average was 75 and in 2009, 68. Whilst these numbers aren’t poles apart, I always thought he had a lot of improvement to come from his 2008 season, and I believe we will begin to see this in 2010. As was evident in the hit-out against Freo, Macdonald is getting trusted with more responsibility, often the go-to man off half-back. He was asked to defend Mayne, the third tall-target in the Freo forward line, breaking away from him at every opportunity. I think the worst case scenario with Macdonald is that there is no improvement, just flatline. However, I do believe there is potential in his new surrounds to add at least another 10 points to his 2009 average.