Footy Tragic

Friday:

Carlton vs Essendon: 

Essendon pumped Carlton in a scrappy match, but unfortunately did not come out with the DT scores to compliment it! The star for Essendon was Andrew Welsh, who not only shut down Judd, but also racked up 30 disposals of his own. This was his second week back from injury, therefore his price is yet to change this season, meaning that he can be picked up for a low $330,000! I think he is a great option, not only judging by his figures so far this year, but also from the latter half of last year, where he really became an attacking tagger, similar to Brad Sewell this year, and Kane Cornes in years gone by. Also asserting his dominance this year was Paddy Ryder, winning the much-anticipated ruck duel with Matt Kruezer! Finally it looks like our DT Ruck positions in the future won’t be as boring as the past couple of years! These young ruckmen are ultra exciting! For Carlton, Gibbs was the only one to notch over 100, and unfortunately, their sub-par performance led to many dismal scores throughout the team, with players such as Fevola and Stevens having absolute stinkers. Hopefully this is not too much of a trend for Carlton, as now Gibbs’ 103 is the highest Carlton score in a fortnight! Hold off on trading in Blues until we know where their form is headed!

Get on: Scott Welsh – He is a somewhat risky pick, but one that could pay massive dividends come finals time! He will be a great point of difference, and seems to be coming back into a team in winning form, meaning his scoring potential will be greater! I am temped myself!

Get off: Jordan Banniser – Played poorly and will miss selection next week.

Injury: Jobe Watson owners had him cruelly taken whilst in great form – 53 points after just over a quarter of footy! Will miss 2 – 3 weeks. Paul Bower also injured his groin. 

Saturday:

Collingwood vs Fremantle: 

Alan Didak scored 156 points! Gotta be the highest score on the ground, right? Wrong… amazingly, the scintillating form of his teammate, Dane Swan beat him by two points, amassing a total of 158 DT points, rubbing into me my own point about changing captains at the last minute (I had Swan as Captain until I changed to Bartel with 5mins until lockout!). Both Swan and Didak played great games, and those who traded them in a few weeks ago after they bottomed out will be singing their praises! I know I am! Also for Collingwood, Dayne Beams popped back into the side and scored an easy ton, greatly pleasing those owners who saw potential left in the tattooed lad! In the Freo camp, Sandilands led the way, thrashing Fraser in the ruck and around the ground – the man mountain is in supurb, All-Australian form. For those who can afford him, or need a second ruckman, Sandi could be your man! Debuting in this game was Zac Clarke and Hayden Ballantyne – neither did too much, although I thought Clarke looked nimble for a big man, and Balla had a couple of nice passages. Hopefully they will score better as they grow with confidence – more so Ballantyne however.

Get on: Aaron Sandilands – Played another great game, and amazing to think he is still quite young for a ruckman, so is still going to get better! Even if he gets no possessions, you are guaranteed 40 points worth of hitouts!

Get off: Shannon Cox – if anyone ever tells you to pick up this guy, they’re a loony! (See Player Of The Week article… Round 3 if you’re wondering! ;-) ) He is not in good form since getting dropped a few weeks ago – may be worth trading.

Injury: Matthew Pavlich – a massive injury blow to a lot of teams, made worse by the fact he only scored 16 points before he left the field! Sounds like he may miss 2 – 3 weeks. Brace yourselves Freo! 

Adelaide vs Sydney: 

Once again, Sydney showed themselves as a good dream team side, regardless of whether they are winning or losing! This time it was 2008 hero, Marty Mattner who led the way, playing more through the midfield (maybe worth looking at!), and Rhyce Shaw. Although for Sydney, it was the fact that they had three reports by the end of the match that should concern them the most – most notably from Barry Hall, whose open handed punch to Ben Rutten may see him miss a few weeks. For Adelaide, Jason Porplyzia impressed me the most, especially for those seeking a seventh forward – he is a fair price, and whilst not being overly consistent, he can come out with some decent scores. It will also be interesting to see if he is moved back to the midfield like last year – although this would most likely mean the return of Brett ‘Birdman’ Burton from his knee injury.

Get on: Martin Mattner – last year he could be relied upon to score well almost every week, although with a relatively low ceiling. This year, he has stayed closer to goals, except for this week where he played more up field. If it is a sign of things to come, get on!

Get off: Ivan Maric – has gone backwards this year. Adelaide are trying to play with three ruckmen, but it’s not working. To make matters worse, Moran played well, meaning Maric’s game-time was down.

Injury: None 

Brisbane vs Melbourne: 

May I once again take some time to talk about Jared Brennan? Thankyou… because this guy is a freak! An absolute freak! He had another fantastic game, taking the first quarter by the scruff of the neck, helping himself to an abundance of possessions from all over the ground, before having someone sit on him the rest of the match. He is still cheap, so can be bought at great value! Jonathon Brown played his second consecutive big game up forward, booting five goals. The rest of the competition can just hope that Melbourne and Hawthorn haven’t played the big guy into form! For Melbourne, I was impressed with Aaron Davey’s DT game – for once he wasn’t shut down completely, allowing him to rack up the possessions. He played well of half-back – one of the best DT positions, and once again, can be picked up for a fraction of the price that he is worth! Clinton Jones from St.Kilda can be thanked for that! Also, amazingly, Jack Watts price has gone down after his third game – a very rare feat for a first year player, clearly proving the point of avoiding first year key-position players! Especially those who weigh 83kgs! Get on his mate Liam Jurrah instead!

Get on: Brad Green – he is generally a DT star, but has had a couple of off weeks, allowing for a significant price drop. Being a Melbourne player, he will go under the radar of most coaches, but for those savvy of you out there, he should be one to highly consider bringing in!

Get off: Justin Sherman – back to the Sherman of 2007/2008, after some fantastic early season form. Hopefully he can recapture it, but this is why no-one has Sherman in their Dream Teams!

Injury: None, although Mitch Clark is looking a bit proppy in his quad – he has been suffering from this for the past two weeks. 

Hawthorn vs West Coast: 

This seemed to be the game of the gifted goal – both Buddy Franklin and Nick Naitanui scoring most of their goals from ‘right-place, right-time’ philosophy. However, Dream Team does not discriminate – 6 points is 6 points after all! It was amazing the amount of ball the Hawthorn midfield was able to get, yet resulting in little effect – Sam Mitchell finished with 40 possessions, and Brad Sewell with 32. From this match, there were only three players I would look at – Brad Sewell, Luke Hodge and Matt Priddis. Brad Sewell again looked dominating in the midfield, tackling really well and getting plenty of the ball, asserting himself as a real A-grade midfielder of 2009. Hodge owners finally breathed a sigh of relief as his price finally stopped falling and in fact went up a few thousand dollars! This is a sign to all those who don’t have him – he has bottomed out, and will hopefully start his rise (none of this can be guaranteed, however!). And once again for West Coast, Matt Priddis, the ‘Paddlepop Lion’, led the way with 35 touches and 7 tackles – he gets the ball inside and outside the contest and tries his heart out for the whole match!

Get on: Luke Hodge – There are so many positives to Hodge, but the negative is that we may never get to see them! He has so much potential, but the form is what’s lacking! Hopefully his 31 possies can kick him into some form and help some of those coaches burnt by him get some faith back!

Get off: Daniel Kerr – he deserves to be dropped – I expected him to step up in this game, especially as he was part of the winning team. However, he did not, lacking effort and determination. You have lost a lot of money on him, but right now, a rookie such as Liam Anthony would be much better for you!

Injury: We all knew Dean Cox wouldn’t play, but news from the Eagles was not good when they suggested he would also miss the trip to Melbourne next week! 

Sunday:

Geelong vs Port Adelaide: 

The margin should have been much larger for the Cats with them dominating Port for the majority of the game. Again, it was usual suspects Ablett, Chapman and Corey leading the points tally, however, disappointingly there has been a drop off with some player’s consistency over the past few weeks – all of Stevie J, Selwood and Bartel had down days, burning many coaches. It will be interesting to see the points scored in next week’s encounter with the Saints! Will even the mighty Geelong be sucked dry by this year’s DT antichrist? For Port Adelaide, it was ironically an Ex-Cat who was one of their best – Jason Davenport, playing his third game for his new club. He kicked a couple of nice goals, and importantly, got lots of possessions! His price has now risen, but there is still plenty of time to get on board for those who are interested! If he can keep his spot, he may well be a great pick-up!

Get on: Gary Ablett – Strangely cheap after his encounter with Freo (Ablett’s Kryptonite) last week. However, clearly not out of form!

Get off: Peter Burgoyne – He has been rubbish the past few weeks, and Mark Williams said during the week that he had been temped to drop P Burger for this game, but wanted to give him another chance. After this game, I see that chance blown…

Injury: David Johnson – Hurt his leg – will need scans to determine the damage. 

North Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs: 

Finally, we got to see the debut of first-year Roo, Liam Anthony. And he didn’t disappoint – he racked up the most disposals of any Kangaroo with 28. He looked good, and if the pre-season is anything to go by, his score of 94 shouldn’t just be a blip – he should be able to do this consistently. Another player returning for the Roos was captain Brent Harvey who had a reasonable game despite being tagged by Liam Picken. Unfortunately though for those wanting to bring in Harvey, he has not dropped in price, despite his injury a number of weeks ago – due to him scoring zero in the game of his injury, his last recorded score is 130. Last week, I told everyone to keep their eyes on Daniel Cross, and for the second week in a row, he was one of the best of field and scored a respectable 111. He is a DT champ of years gone, and after an average start to the year, seems to be hitting his straps. Last year, he averaged nearly 100 points for the run home to the finals. The other player I said to watch was Robert Murphy, who has bounced back quicker than expected! He started in the backline, before moving to the forward line in the second half. He is now priced under $300,000, which is an absolute bargain for his ability! Get on him now, or even wait until next week, as it is rare to see a player of his calibre get this low in price!

Get on: Robert Murphy – he has bottomed out, so now is the time to pounce. He is cheap, AND in form – the best of combinations! This could be the time to upgrade a Sidebottom, Nahas or the now injured Ben Warran.

Get off: Daniel Harris – looked pretty happy when Laidley quit, but I’m still a bit unsure of his future at the Roos. Didn’t play a great game and may again see himself on the outer as the coach looks to next year and therefore the youth.

Injury: Ben Warran – Broke his ankle, which will put him out for the rest of the season. Fortunately for his owners, a score of zero will see his price stay the same. 

St.Kilda vs Richmond: 

Fortunately, the dour scrap that the Tigers instrumented in the first quarter was not kept up for the match, allowing the high possession game that the Saints have been enjoying this year to come into effect. Brendon Goddard was back at his best, winning the Ian Stewart medal for best on ground. He was played everywhere, yet mainly behind the ball, along with Gram, another Saints defender who is coming into some form after he was dropped a few weeks ago. Up forward, Kosi was again the shining light, marking everything thrown at him, proving himself worthwhile for that second ruck position or seventh forward. And once again, Dan’s ‘Player of the Week’ article continued to put players into poor form (Round 12 for those playing at home), with Sam Fisher having his second poor game in a row. Take note however, that Fisher has been heavily tagged in both these encounters, and it is unlikely that Geelong will tag him next week. For Richmond, there was no real standout, however, I thought Foley had some fantastic passages and Shane Tuck broke even in his head-to-head battle with Hayes. Also, debuting for the Tigers was Jarrod Silvester – he played well on both Kosi and Riewoldt, and got most his possessions from kick-to-kick in the backline. Be wary of this, as these sorts of stats can come and go – he is playing as a dour defender so will typically score relatively low. He isn’t the sort of pick-up you are after.

Get on: Brendon Goddard – he is the best ‘defender’ in the competition this year, yet not the most expensive! He is worth every cent, especially in a winning team and as finals get closer he will play better – he is the type that stands up when everyone else is down.

Get off: Trent Cotchin – We know from last year that he is a star, but no pre-season has made him lacking the form and energy this year. Hopefully he keeps these poor scores up so his price next year is uber-low!

Injury: Max Hudghton – Was stretchered off with what looked like a career-ending ankle injury, before coming back on in the third quarter. It swelled back up forcing him to leave the field again, so don’t be surprised if he misses this week.

Expert: Dan
Team: Hank Scorpio EDT
Round 13 Score: 1,792
Overall Ranking: 6,034
Trades Remaining: 5
Remaining Salary Cap: $123,900
Team Changes This Week:
In: Jimmy Bartel, Liam Anthony
Out: Daniel Rich, Andy Otten

Expert: Toby
Team: Fiora’s Hardnuts
Round 13 Score: 1,941
Overall Ranking: 572
Trades Remaining: 5
Remaining Salary Cap: $40,500
Team Changes This Week: None

Expert: Ben
Team: The Redbacks
Round 13 Score: 1,862
Overall Ranking: 3,663
Trades Remaining: 6
Remaining Salary Cap: $92,000

Sorry about the delay guys…

To me Stanton is the cheapest elite mid that doesn’t carry much risk at $369,000. You could probably make a case for Daniel Cross at $345,600, but I’d like to see a bit more of his Darwin form before making that call (his specialty in years past has been his amazing ability to pull 40-50 point last quarter to salvage lower scores, but that’s not been so common this year). The reason I preface this with the lack of risk, is that I know there was a bit of talk on our video last week about Steven Salopek, who I would classify as an elite but I worry a bit about his durability (only once has he made it past 16 games in a season).

Stanton will always have a place in my heart after his second half of the year last year. He was super cheap when I jumped on and he blitzed for most of the run home, including an insane 174 in Round 15 against Brisbane. Stanton has a bit of a habit of really chopping when he scores big. I find that if you get a ton from Stanton you’re looking more at a score around 120. He can get tagged out of games, so these monster scores he can post importantly make up for his down weeks.

Fortunately for those looking for a cheap mid, he had three down weeks in a row just recently. I wouldn’t be too concerned about this as a long term thing. In fact, he had a run last year in Round 7-9 where he scored 44, 58 and 64. This season it’s been Round 8-10 that has seen him end up in the bargain bin with scores of 56, 73 and 77. He responded with a 123 and 94 to follow up those average scores, so he does break out of these slumps pretty well.

The thing I like about Stanton as a DT’er is that he’s not really damaging with his disposal, so even though he’s the Bombers #1 midfielder, he’s not a huge priority to cop a heavy tag. Some teams will even allow him to kick the ball a fair bit, because it’s more his run that will hurt teams. As long as they can restrict his run some teams would even be happy for him to rack up some disposals, since he’s prone to the odd skill error.

You’ll get the highs and lows with him, but at that price I’d be happy to take that, especially feeling pretty confident that he can make up for a 60 with a 140. As an example, this year he’s already scored 120+ in four games, but sub 80 in five.

Another massive benefit you get with Stanton is that he’s quite durable. He’s only missed two games in the last four seasons and certainly durability is something I want out of my players as the trade numbers start to get uneasily low.

View Cash Cows’ Team
Round 12 Score: 2,025
Current Overall Ranking: 15,493
Trades Left: 5
Remaining Salary Cap: $56,100

Dear Cash Cows,

Thank you for submitting your team.

This week is difficult because you only have 5 trades up your sleeve, with 10 rounds remaining. As a result, each trade you have remaining is absolutely crucial. I’ve got no doubt that many other teams are in exactly the same boat, so you should also read below very carefully.

We can rule out any more 2 for 1 trades, because this will leave you with no room to move. My recommendation is to free up some much needed cash, by offloading a premium for a cash cow. This will allow you to trade sideways or up slightly if (or should I say when), you pick up an injury.

The man to make way is Chad Cornes. According to the latest injury list, Chadwick is likely to miss another 4 weeks with his knee injury. You simply cannot afford to carry Cornes for this long, particularly at a price of $347,400. What’s more, given the long term importance of Cornes to Port Adelaide, I can’t see any risks being taken with him, especially with Port Adelaide unlikely to make the finals in 2009 (sorry Port Adelaide fans).

My recommendation to replace Cornes is Clancee Pearce of Fremantle. Pearce has already played 2 games for the Dockers, with respectable scores of 68 (Round 11) & 43 (Round 12). What I like about Pearce is that he has a very solid body for an 18 year old (184cms, 93kgs). While Pearce was originally on Fremantle’s rookie list at the beginning of 2009, he did perform very well at the 2008 AFL under 18 championships, winning All Australian honours.

PROPSED ACTION

OUT: Chad Cornes – $347,400;

IN: Clancee Pearce – $75,300.

This trade will free up $272,100, which will leave you with $328,200 to complete your remaining 4 trades. With this much cash in your bank, you won’t need to do any more 2 for 1 trades.

Also, you’ll be delighted to hear that Liam Anthony looks set to debut against the Western Bulldogs this Sunday. Owners of Anthony (myself included), have been waiting very patiently for this moment to arrive. Let’s hope the young man from East Fremantle can repay our extreme faith!

Good luck!