Footy Tragic

Friday:

Geelong vs Carlton: 

This game didn’t only cost everyone a lot of valuble DT points, but it also cost me a lot of money on the punt – Damn you Joel Corey and Shannon Byrnes! Carlton came out swinging and decimated Geelong’s usual disposal numbers, resulting in only three Cats reaching the magical ton! And while many of the Cats flopped, many Blues rose to great heights, especially Fev, who towelled up Tom Lonergan on his way to booting 4.6! There were some worrying signs for the Cats – Steve Johnson looked very poor and out of touch, and Gary Ablett butchered the ball on several occasions. Their run and spread game which they have played so well for so long simply fell apart. Their only saving grace was Joel Selwood, who again looked all class through the midfield. Kade Simpson was the best Blue on the field, especially in the second half when he was one of the main architects for the win! It was also great to see Bryce Gibbs continue on his hot recent form, again reaching the ton with a game oozing with class!

Get on: Kade Simpson – due to the fact he is not even in Carton’s top three mids, he will never be tagged, even though he can play some great footy – if he continues to step up like he did on Friday night, he could be a bargain for the DT finals series!

Get off: Steve Johnson - I do not mean to trade him out, but simply to keep away from trading him in if his new low price is tempting you! His past two weeks have been super poor due to a lack of fitness and game time. I can’t seem him regaining his spark in time for round 21 or 22.

Injury: Three more cats went down, including Milburn and Wojcinski to ankle injuries, which should see them miss a week or two. Also Mooney got concussion from headbutting the ground – may miss a game.   

Saturday:

Western Bulldogs vs West Coast: 

When you think you’ve seen the biggest upset of the week, it always seems to be quickly shown up by the biggest upset of the year! What was expected to be a walk in the park for the Doggies became a hard-fought win for the Eagles. The game saw some of West Coast’s stars begin to shine after some pretty ordinary footy early in the year. Top of the list was Andrew Embley, who looked back to his Norm-Smith winning best with a best on ground, 32 possession game. If he can keep this up, he could be a DT star come finals time! Shannon Hurn is another Eagle whose star has shined a bit brighter in recent weeks – he is still a young player and has promised a lot for a few years now, and it looks like this could be his break out season if this form continues! For the Dogs, it was not only their inaccuracy that cost them the game, but also their lack of consistency throughout the team, with several players having less that average games. The Dogs best was skipper, Brad Johnson and Adam Cooney – yet their form was nothing to get too excited about! 

Get on: Andrew Embley – Can be picked up for reasonably cheap in the backline, and has the potential to score very big when in form, as proven in this game. Could be a fantastic wildcard through the finals campaign if this great form can continue!

Get off: Andrejs Everitt – He will be a great player one day, but isn’t progressing as expected after a great debut season last year.

Injury: None 

St.Kilda vs Hawthorn: 

If you weren’t affected by the incredible amount of stars missing from St.Kilda’s team, you have either cheated, or have somehow missed out on some great talent through the 2009 dream team year! With all these players out, it was expected that the Saints (just like our dream teams) would struggle – but they weren’t about to lie down and take a thumping, instead they took charge of the match early and never let go. This match epitomised pressure, with the Saints throwing their bodies on every loose ball and on every Hawk with it in their hands. It is worth noting that the Saints broke the record for the number of tackles in an AFL game – 115 – that’s an incredible 460 DT points worth!! It was great to see some of the Saints’ younger stars stepping up, such as David Armitage, Jack Steven and Ben McEvoy – all of whom had great games. It will be interesting to see whether any of these three can keep their spots over the remaining rounds – personally I wouldn’t risk trading any in (except Steven if you are in need of cash). For the Hawks, they were simply savaged, with Buddy and Roughy only kicking one goal between them! From a Dreamteam perspective, the worry is that now their finals ambition is shot, they might start booking their stars in for surgery.

Get on: Raphael Clarke - Started the season poorly after a fantastic finals series in 2008. But he is back into some great form, running with the flight of the ball and tackling hard. Won’t score consistent tons, but is great mid-priced value at under $300,000.

Get off: Thomas Murphy - Alistair Clarkson must have been so angry as he watched Zac Dawson down one end keep Buddy Goalless, only to have Murphy up the other end getting carved up by Schneider.

Injury: None, although Kosi did look a little proppy – my guess is that it may be related to a ligament he pulled in his knee earlier in the season.  

Essendon vs Brisbane: 

Now I am not allowed to do the write-up on this game without mentioning one little Irishman running around for the Bombers - Michael Quinn. Us at Footy Tragic have been poking fun at panellist Ben all year for his bizarre choice to trade him into his squad before round 9. Therefore, we would like to offer you our apologies Ben, as it seems that young Quinn may have been the reason you did so well this week. Anyway, back to the match at hand – another draw drew very little interest for out dream teams, beside a sublime game from young Brisbane ruckman, Mitch Clark – he is in outstanding form, averaging 117 points over the past five weeks. Those who traded out Big Cox for Big Clarke will be very, very happy with their decision! Brennan and Power were also great for the Lions, each reaching the ton through some great games! For the Dons, Jobe Watson was again their best, proving his worth as a cheap midfield option – he is still unlikely to be tagged due to most of his work coming from under the packs, rather from outside the contests. Adam McPhee also had a brilliant game up until half time before a quiet second half.

Get on: Mitch Clark – With Cox confirmed out for the year, if you have the trade available, get Mitch Clark into your squad! He’s in dominating form and is still not in stacks of dream teams!

Get off: Jay Neagle – Is the type of player who will take quite a while to develop fully. Is also very much a goalsquare player due to his lack of fitness.

Injury: None 

Adelaide vs Collinwood: 

If Collingwood hadn’t already cemented themselves as a flag contender, this match certainly did! With Alan Didak back into some great form and Cameron Wood playing the best game of his career, the Pies look like a team who will play deep into September! But it’s not September we care about in DT land, it’s August! Luckily, the Pies have a reasonable run home, meaning their stars should continue to shine! Swan was heavily tagged for only the second or third time this year, yet still broke the ton due to him being moved to the half-back line. This was a great sign to me – Malthouse wants the ball in his hands and will put him anywhere on the field that will allow him to get it! Whilst the Crows didn’t come out on top, they did put in a great effort – six players broke the ton, most notably Simon Goodwin, who has been averaging around 115 over the past three weeks – he is a great forward option to consider. Taylor Walker returned to the side, but unfortunately didn’t do much cement work with a poor showing that included no goals – the only thing which may save him is the injury to Brett Burton.

Get on: Alan Didak – Two poor matches in a row has sunk his price, but after this blinder he is back on the way up. Teams are learning that he is not the only threat in the Pies lineup, meaning he will avoid the hard tag some weeks.

Get off: Dale Thomas - It seems he is never going to be the DT scorer everyone has longed him to be - too inconsistent to be relied upon come finals.

Injury: Brett Burton left the field part way through the second quarter with back soreness. Will need assessment, but is likely to miss a couple. 

Sunday:

North Melbourne vs Melbourne: 

As it often tends to be, the big men dominated against Melbourne, with Todd Goldstein the biggest benefactor, scoring an unlikely 5 goals on his way to 121 points - clearly the best game of his career! Thoughts could start drifting to NAB rising star nominations when thinking of Goldstein’s game - although the main man who could prevent his nomination this week was playing for the opposition - Shane Valenti. Valenti is on Melbourne’s rookie list and has struggled to get many games this year despite Melbourne trying to play as many kids as possible. The main mozz on him has been his disposal and clear lack of pace, but the former seemed a bit better in this game (although he is more an inside player, so most of his possessions will come from under packs). Unfortunately there was not a lot of other DT news to come out of this game – although Melbourne had two debutants, Rohan Bail (who injured himself early) and Tom McNamara who played as a defender – neither would be great options for this time of year.

Get on: Todd Goldstein - played well closer to goal, and whilst these scores should be far from relied upon, he has at least shown his scoring potential.

Get off: Lindsay Thomas - Way too erratic scoring for Dream Team.

Injury: Rohan Bail – injured his thigh in the warm-up, played a few minutes, then was taken off… Gotta feel sorry for the poor kid in his debut! 

Richmond vs Sydney: 

For the second week in a row, Sydney clamped the brakes on their opposition, totally shutting down disposal, causing an extremely low scoring match for DT purposes. For the Swans, the story was similar, except for Adam Goodes, who scored a whopping 158 – the highest for the round. But this was not the exceptional score – he pulled in a massive 223 supercoach points – clearly one of the biggest scores in a very long time! No-one from Richmond seemed to be able to stop him – Rawlings even went as far as to put Jack Riewoldt on him in the fourth quarter – I don’t know whether that says more about Goodes or Riewoldt! Again, this was a terrible DT match with not a lot more to talk about.

Get on: Adam Goodes – No-one else on the ground came close to matching it with him. If in form, he can become unstoppable – although, to put a dampener on it, he plays Geelong, Collingwood and Brisbane over the next three rounds – teams who won’t leak so many points to good players.

Get off: Ed Barlow - Sydney called this kid their ‘Goodes Clone’ when he first arrived, and whilst he has shown some ‘good’ signs, he is capable of playing some absolute shockers like he did in this match… Jury is still out.

Injury: Jarrad McVeigh – Has done his hamstring… again! Probably season ending (2-3 weeks). 

Fremantle vs Port Adelaide: 

It must be said, Greg Broughton is a star… a freak… He is dream-team royalty! Another game finishing well over 100 points has locked him in as the DT buy of the season - may it continue for another three weeks! He was great off half-back, combining with Duffield to set up the win for the Dockers – one which was hard-fought and well deserved. Many of the Dockers forwards chipped in, with Headland and Mayne being the unlikely heroes! From Port, Shaun Burgoyne’s class was about their only saving grace after such a great win last week! They missed Cassissi’s input (he was severely limited due to his injury), and although other barometers seemed to be playing well (Pearce and Gray), they lacked a forward option, obviously limiting their final score. The question will be, can they bounce back next week at home? I suspect they can, but they need to prove that they can win on the road before I stick any Port players in my team next year!

Get on: Shaun Burgoyne - has been fantastic since returning and is so so cheap! If you need a mid priced under $350,000, he is well and truly your man! Oozes class!!

Get off: Marcus Drum - Probably was his last chance before the list management meeting at the end of the year… my guess: he’s in trouble…

Injury: Jacon Surjan – Injured his hand early and will need scans to determine the damage.

Expert: Dan
Team: Hank Scorpio EDT
Round 19 Score: 1,444
Overall Ranking: 5,230
Trades Remaining: 0
Remaining Salary Cap: $4,500
Team Changes This Week: None

Expert: Toby
Team: Fiora’s Hardnuts
Round 19 Score: 1,604  
Overall Ranking: 231
Trades Remaining: 0
Remaining Salary Cap: $1,300
Team Changes This Week:
In: Simon Goodwin
Out: Shaun Higgins

Expert: Ben
Team: The Redbacks
Round 19 Score: 2,137
Overall Ranking: 2,652
Trades Remaining: 0
Remaining Salary Cap: $34,800
Team Changes This Week:
In: Jonathan Brown
Out: Robert Murphy

For those of you who have saved a few trades for the finals you’ll probably be looking at making your last upgrades this week. Depending on your salary cap situation you might not be able to afford the Swan’s or Ablett’s of this world (well, maybe Luke Ablett) so if your hands are tied financially you don’t have to scroll too far down the highest averages in the midfield to get a gun for under $400K. 

I’m going to have a look at Corey this week, however Pendlebury, Gibbs and Sewell are all in the Top 10 midfield averages and are under $400K. With that said, Sewell hasn’t scored a ton for three in a row and is playing DT killers St.Kilda this week – I would be advising against him this week). 

OK, I got Joel Corey in mid season and apart from three games at a very crucial point in the season he’s been absolutely fantastic. In fact, in 10 of his last 11 games he’s scored a ton (oddly his one sub 100 was against Melbourne). His DT form has been electric and the beauty of Corey is that the opposition just don’t give a stuff about him. 

It’s no slur on Corey’s name that when an opposition coach is shuffling magnets around the attention goes to Ablett, Bartel, Selwood, Johnson and Chappy (if he was playing). By sheer weight of quality at Geelong you just can’t sit someone tight on Joel Corey and DT coaches love it! 

As far as premiums go, he’s probably less likely to bust out a 120+ score. He’s only topped that mark three times this season. However, he’s only had three sub 100 scores all year as well, so obviously he’s good for a safe 100-120 pretty much every week. 

Currently he is as cheap as he’s been all season having dropped $95K this year. The reason for his current dip in price is that 75 he scored against Melbourne. That score is about to go out of his three week rolling average, which prices are based on, so he’s very likely to start moving up in price from this game. 

Furthermore, his run home isn’t too bad. A team’s fixture is always something to have a look at whenever you’re making a trade, but it’s especially relevant this late in the year. In his last four games he’s up against Carlton, Sydney, Bulldogs and Freo. I’m not going to pull any punches. His worst team over his career is Carlton, BUT he has scored 100 and 120 in his last two games against them, so it looks like he’s learning to play them better. 

Even though Sydney have traditionally been the DT devils to play against Corey has never really had huge worries against them. He’s scored four tons in his last five games against them. He generally fares pretty well against the Bulldogs and significantly he murders Freo, along with most other midfielders in the league. The reason this is so significant is that will be GF week in DT. NOTE: Geelong play Freo and St.Kilda play Melbourne in the last round – many DT Grand Finals will be won by the amount of these guys you have beating up on minnows. 

Given the security that he brings to the table and the fact his price has been below $430K on six separate occasions this year I can’t believe he’s still only in 27,000 teams.

NEW TO FOOTY TRAGIC

The “Submit Your Team” section is now broken up into two parts:

• PART 1 – The “Submit Your Team” section as per normal;
• PART 2 -The NEW section where I unearth a hidden gem who I expect to make an impact in 2010. These players are under priced because they have been in the AFL system for 3 years or less (this week I have extended it to 5 years) and are still trying to establish themselves as AFL footballers. I’m looking for the next Andy Otten, Patrick Dangerfield, Mitchell Brown or Taylor Walker.

PART 1:

Let’s get ready to rumble!!! The finals are upon us and it’s time to sort the men from the boys. Hours upon hours of research, studying the pre season form, monitoring club injury lists and identifying talented young rookies has hopefully got you into the top 8 of your private leagues. It’s now time to use those trades you have been saving up, to crush your mates in Week 1 of the finals.

View AH YEP’s Team
Round 18 Score: 2,142
Current Overall Ranking: 489
Trades Left: 4
Remaining Salary Cap: $12,200

Dear Ah Yep,

Thank you for submitting your team.

I have identified three problem areas that need attention:

PROBLEM 1 – Your 7^th defender – Nick Suban has done a great job averaging 52 points per game this year, but you can’t carry any passengers during the finals. On the other hand, Peter Burgoyne has been pathetic this season and has not played since Port Adelaide’s Round 15 loss to Melbourne. I don’t see Burgoyne returning this week either after the Power’s impressive win against Hawthorn last week.

PROBLEM 2 – Your 6^th midfielder – Paul Hasleby has been solid in 2009 with an average of 85 points per game, but he seems to be running on fumes at the moment, with an average of just 73 points over the last 4 weeks.

PROBLEM 3 – Your 8^th forward – Hayden Ballantyne is a great 8^th forward, but why didn’t he just cop the 1 week penalty from the match review panel? He challenged the ruling, was found guilty at the tribunal and is now out for 2 weeks, so frustrating!

I can’t rectify all three of these problems this week, so I’ve focused on the area where I think you can pick up the most points this week, problem 2, the midfield. I’m hoping to get you an additional 50 – 60 points this week, as well as freeing up some more cash for your last two trades.

Dane Swan has been in magnificent form this season and is my tip for the 2009 Brownlow Medal. Swan has played all 18 games this season and has averaged an amazing 123 points per game. Every time I watch Collingwood play, I ask myself the same question: Who is on Dane Swan? The answer is usually nobody. The reason why is because Swan is the hardest running midfielder in the AFL. Swan will gut run for 7 minutes flat out, running from the back pocket to the forward pocket and back again, before sprinting to the bench for a 2 minute spell. When the 2 minutes is up, Swan sprints back onto the field and does the same thing again.

Another important aspect to Swan’s game is his pace. Swan has an ungainly running style, to go with an awkward kick. However, do not be fooled as Swan is one of the five quickest players over 20 metres at Collingwood. One last point on Swan, he’s been clearly the number 1 Dreamteam player at the moment and you need to get him into your side immediately.

Keep Liam Anthony as your midfield emergency.

      PROPOSED ACTION THIS WEEK (WEEK 1 OF FINALS):

      OUT: Peter Burgoyne ($283,000) and Paul Hasleby ($325,800);

      IN: Callum Wilson ($75,300) and Dane Swan ($499,400).

I’ve chosen Callum Wilson simply because he is cheap and likely to play the remaining 4 games for West Coast in 2009. With a score of 55 points in his first game, he is more than adequate as a 9^th defender.

PROPOSED ACTION NEXT WEEK (WEEK 2 OF FINALS): 

I’m assuming you are gunning for private league glory (you are too far behind the leaders to win the car). If you win your final this week and earn one weeks break (if you finished between 1^st and 4^th), do not trade next week. 

PROPOSED ACTION THE FOLLOWING WEEK (WEEK 3 OF FINALS): 

Upgrade Nick Suban to the best defender you can afford, using surplus cash freed up from my recommendation above, this will rectify problem 1. 

Hayden Ballantyne will have served his 2 week suspension by now and should return, thus rectifying problem 3. 

Finally, hold your final trade for Round 22, in case of injury. 

Good luck! 
 
 

PART 2 (NEW):

Hidden gem Week 3: Max Bailey – Hawthorn – Ruck – $86,600

This week I set myself a challenge to select a potential 3^rd or 4^th ruck option. My first two hidden gems have been a forward (Tom Lynch) and a midfielder (Luke Shuey). I could have easily written about yet another $86,000 midfielder who could step up in 2010, but as we all know, midfielders are a dime a dozen in Dreamteam.

Max Bailey was drafted by the Hawks with pick 18 in the 2005 National Draft. Bailey was recruited from West Perth and is now listed as a 206cm, 107kg ruckman. While 2010 will be Bailey’s 5^th season at AFL level, given the amount of time he has spent out injured and the fact that ruckman take longer to develop, I still see Bailey as a young talent on the rise.

Bailey made his AFL debut in his first season, playing 4 games towards the end of 2006. Hawthorn were delighted with Bailey’s progress in his first 12 months at the club and started grooming him for the number 1 ruck position. Unfortunately, Bailey has not played an AFL match since, due to rupturing his right ACL twice. The first happened in the 2007 pre season, the second during a match for Box Hill reserves in June 2008.

It gives me great pleasure to say that Bailey has played 4 of the last 5 games for Box Hill seniors. The fact that Bailey is back out on the park again playing footy is great news for both the man himself and the Hawthorn Football club.

While I’ll openly admit that Bailey is the most speculative of my three hidden gems thus far, consider the following in relation to Hawthorn’s current ruck options:

• Robert Campbell is an honest toiler, but at 199cms he is undersized against the likes of Aaron Sandilands and Dean Cox. He also struggles to keep up with the new breed of ruckman like Matt Kruezer, Mitch Clark and Patrick Ryder;
• Simon Taylor is a clumsy, bungling dinosaur. I’d like to see a ruck combination of Brent Renouf and Max Bailey for Hawthorn in 2010. Renouf has impressed me in his short AFL career and he is well worth persisting with. Just look at how much Clark and Ryder have improved this year, after being given opportunities due to injuries to more noted ruckmen in their respective sides.

With many dreamteams burnt in 2009 with injuries to dreamteam favourites in Dean Cox, David Hille and Josh Fraser, the need to have solid 3^rd and 4^th ruck options in 2010 is crucial.

While Bailey is an obvious risk given his knee injuries, make no mistake of the fact that he has all the attributes needed to become a successful AFL player. If he can put together a full pre season and show some good form in the practice matches, he could be a very nice fit for your dreamteam in 2010. Good luck Max!

Please feel free to post a comment, we welcome all feedback.

Please also advise if you’ll be considering Max Bailey for your dreamteam in 2010.