Footy Tragic

Welcome to the Round 3 Wrap-Up people – a week where we were lucky to see very few injuries, but unfortunately, we saw reports to key players Heath Shaw, Justin Koschitzke, David Hille and a few others… as well as news from Adelaide that Bock will not be back this week, despite how clearly the Crows struggled without him! We see the Saints fly to the top of the ladder, with the Cats and Dogs not far behind… and finally, last year’s premiers notch their first win. We also ask ourselves the question, ‘Are Carlton just posers?’ And of course, this is the first week where player’s prices fall and rise, so we hold our breath that the player stinking up our 8^th back position doesn’t drop too much, as we hope to trade him in the coming week!

Thursday:

Geelong vs. Collingwood:

The rematch of what has been one of the better rivalries of recent years ended the way that it should have – with a Geelong win… as shaky as they looked early in the match. Unfortunately, (especially for all those who made him captain ahead of Gablett) Joel Selwood did not replicate his NAB cup final form against Collingwood again. However, we at Footy Tragic still promise, HE IS COMING! Chappy was the star of the show, and those of us trusting enough in his paper-thin hamstrings were rewarded for our love of the bald hard nut, on his way to a scorching 152. Again, Josh Fraser rucked against a kid, and his score reflected this… however, I am still very tempted to jump on board.

Get on: Paul Chapman – he is a star player and will do anything for the ball – I love him, and he is perfect captain material in your forward line. But beware of his hammys!

Get off: Heath Shaw – He’s looked poor since coming back, and looks likely to be suspended for ‘touching’ an umpire… he has played two games, so get rid of him before his price drops.

Injury: Ben Johnson – finally won his spot back after being out of favour all last year. Broke his ankle, and will spend a fair time on the sidelines. Trade.

Saturday:

St.Kilda vs. West Coast:

Saints pumped the Eagles, and as I warned last week, they forced them to handball STACKS whilst racking up the four pointers (tackles) themselves. Unfortunately for the Eagles, players such as Dean Cox did little else than act as a ball receiver… So get on Coxy! This is great news for Dream Team fans! Nick Riewoldt looks like he is getting back to fitness, so I hope you didn’t trade him! And Brendon Goddard showed why he was number one pick several years ago. The kid’s a gun and will give you these sorts of scores consistently through the year.

Get on: Brendon Goddard – Ross Lyon threw him forward as a decoy target for the first quarter… and he kicked four goals! He can play any position and you can get him as a back. Added to this, his price has barely risen due to an average 2^nd week!

Get off: Andrew Embley – The Norm Smith Medallist looks too slow and is not nearly worth his price.

Injury: Fortunately, there were no injuries for the game, but Kosi and King each will be looked at by the MRP

Brisbane vs. Sydney:

It’s always nice when a game is played, and all the popular Dream Team players score well… Coaches would have been happy with Lions Rich, Adcock and Drummond, and Sydney’s ruckman, Darren Jolly. Jolly, again competed against a kid for half the match (the other half was against no-one as Leuenberger was injured), so his score was relatively flattering. It was nice to see Brisbane continue their high scoring ways, and like the Saints skipper, the Lions skipper is looking like he is back to some better fitness after a limited pre-season.

Get on: Daniel Rich – He will go up about $50,000 this week, but there is still lots more money in him! If you are silly enough not to have him, you still have time.

Get off: Barry Hall – too old and tired for Dream Team now.

Injuries: Matthew Leuenberger – Hurt his knee, and didn’t look great… he could be out for up to a month.

Carlton vs. Essendon:

Everybody get Matthew Lloyd in your team!!! No, just kidding… but it was nice to see the Bombers captain hit back after two weeks of media criticism, and in the process, sink the Blues. Unfortunately though, a lot of the Blues rookies didn’t perform as hoped, and in a losing team may have their positions questioned come next week. So we can only sit and cross our fingers that Ratten doesn’t want to make an example. Also a disappointment for coaches was the significant drop in score for players such as Bryce Gibbs, Richard Hadley and Kreuzer. I think we should all blame Nick Stevens! For Essendon it was their top tier players that carried them to the win, however it remains questionable how frequently they will be able to do this. Skippy was quiet… hopefully just an aberration.

Get on: Chris Judd – I’ve never rated Judd too highly as far as Dream Team is concerned – he is more of a supercoach man. But three scores above 100 makes you look. He’s in super form and is well worth considering.

Get off: Dustin Fletcher – I take great shame in saying this, as I really rate Fletch, but his Dream Team days are over. Trade him for a young gun, just as Matthew Knights should do!

Injury: No injuries! Hooray!

Sunday:

Port Adelaide vs. Melbourne:

I don’t think Melbourne are as bad as everyone seems to think – watch one of their games, and they do some good things… but its hard not to feel sorry for them as they finally get it into their forward line after some really impressive play, only to turn it over and have it shoot back over their heads. Port looked ok, but not like a top 4 team. That aside, they got a lot of the ball (7 players over 100), so that’s good in my books! The Cornes boys looked great – especially Chad in his swinging role, and also Nathan Krakouer – they did everything they could to get it in his hands off half back. For Melbourne, Bate impressed me, but not enough to put into your team, until he has sufficient support around him.

Get on: Matt Thomas – this is a left field one, I know, but he looks very good – he is not going to get you 100s, but at just over $200,000, he will make you some money. He plays midfield, tackles hard, and works for the ball. He is very highly rated so should definitely get games.

Get off: Colin Sylvia – a very, very selfish player on and off the field. Wont play well in a struggling team, and acts like he doesn’t care. Should be rubbed out with suspension too.

Injury: Shaun Burgoyne – hurt his knee, and currently the club has not given a real prognosis. Also likely suspensions to Cassisi and Sylvia were other lowlights.

North Melbourne vs. Hawthorn:

The biggest news of this game is that Dean Laidley again stuck his finger up at fantasy coaches across the nation by playing Leigh Harding in the forward line. The Hawks are dropping like flies after another game filled with aggression and injuries, with David Hale and Xavier Ellis coming out of it the worst. Another story from this match was the point-getting potential of Brendan Whitecross, scoring 110! Unfortunately he is a mid, so will be hard to fit in, plus he will go up in price this week. For coaches looking for some new talent in their side over the next few weeks, look no further than the Hawks list – after a few low point scoring games in a row, many of their stars prices are about to fall in price, including the likes of Buddy Franklin and Luke Hodge. Keep an eye on these two over the next few weeks!

Get on: Sam Mitchell – his price will drop after his Round 2 score, but his effort in this game showed that he wont let it happen twice.

Get off: Leigh Harding – Dean Laidley was clearly having a laugh putting him into the midfield the past few weeks… get your money out of him, and then trade him out.

Injury: David Hale and Xavier Ellis the main two. Sound like neither should miss more than a couple of matches.

Fremantle vs. Adelaide:

Do you just laugh at them? Or feel sorry? Fremantle kicked in front of Adelaide in the final quarter, only to lose the match by four goals. Funny enough, the man who inspired the comeback was my whipping boy of the first two rounds, Stephen Hill! I do stick by my word however, he is not ready for AFL! Greg Broughton was the one who impressed me – although beaten by part-time whipping boy Richard Douglas, Broughton racked up the possies himself, showing the scoring potential he promised in the NAB cup. A great option to trade in for anyone looking to make some money. It was also great to see the continued form of the four young Adelaide boys – Walker, Petrenko, Dangerfield and Otten. All four look really good and deserve their spots in the team.

Get on: Greg Broughton: A ball winner as a junior, he will definitely make you some money! Great buy at a rookie price!

Get off: Kurt Tippett: I still don’t think he knows about the hands in the back rule!

Injury: Scott Stevens – was polaxed by McPharlin – apparently he should be back this week.

Monday:

Western Bulldogs vs. Richmond:

Poor old Richmond… Not much Dream Team point scoring in the mark department, as they seem to kick it over each other’s heads… Besides that, it is looks like the same old players will score well for them, the best priced of which is Foley. For the Dogs, Gilbee and Higgins both impressed again – when watching the match, I was surprised Higgins’ scores wasn’t higher – he seemed to be everywhere! He almost looks like he could be a keeper, which is great news for coaches who haven’t missed the boat. Again, Cooney was given limited TOG, but this means he will be a great trade target in a few weeks when his price has really dropped.

Get on: Alex Rance – looks quite good off halfback. Definitely a good moneymaker, but whether he keeps the scoring up when Raines is back is another question.

Get off: Richard Tambling – he looked terrible, lost and uninspiring. Could well be dropped him next week.

Injury: Fortunately we end the week with an injury free game!

Expert: Dan
Team: Hank Scorpio EDT
Round 3 Score: 2,124
Overall Ranking: 8,717
Trades Remaining: 18
Remaining Salary Cap: $116,900

Expert: Toby
Team: Fiora’s Hardnuts
Round 3 Score: 2,187
Overall Ranking: 1,260
Trades Remaining: 18
Remaining Salary Cap: $68,400

Expert: Ben
Team: The Redbacks
Round 3 Score: 1,961
Overall Ranking: 3,050
Trades Remaining: 18
Remaining Salary Cap: $15,300

OK, so this week the ‘Player of the Week’ column is a bit redundant because we’re already locked out for Round 3. Once again, I want to stray away from the obvious options, because there’s enough information about those guys, so as I was watching Thursday Night Football I was getting a little frustrated that a guy I wanted all pre season but didn’t have the stones to pull the trigger on scored a neat 78.

I’ll be up front, I don’t rate Shannon Cox a whole heap as a footy player. I reckon he runs himself into trouble, has suspect disposal and he can be shown up defensively. He could also use a bit of intensity out there…but right now I’m starting to review the player, not the Dream Teamer. The beauty of it is, so long as Mick Malthouse keeps picking him, none of this matters for Dream Team!

I do rate him as a Dream Teamer. He plays pretty loose and knows where to go to be a link in the play. When Collingwood chip the ball around to find the right avenue to attack I find that Cox is invariably one of the guys getting involved. For this reason, he’ll generally have a pretty solid ratio of marks : possessions. 4-5 marks per game is a handy 12-15 points for a guy you can generally depend on for 20 possessions.

Given that he’s been showing a bit of consistency in hovering around that 20 touch game, you’ve got a solid base for a 75 point game for a guy priced as a 60 point player. Bear in mind that he received a 20% discount this year, so he actually averaged 73.2 last year, but is priced much cheaper than that.

His average across the first three games this season is 79.7, so he is on the way. He won’t end up being a keeper, so the plan would be to trade him out later, but his current price is cheap enough when you combine it with the sort of points you can project from him to help you get another premium. If he can keep up that pace he would get you within about $50K of upgrading to an under performing premium by mid way through the season.

The risk with Cox isn’t in his scoring ability as far as I’m concerned. It’s his job security. I dare say that he’d be somewhere in the vicinity of the 18^th-22^nd player picked for the Pies side each week. The situation I most worry about Cox losing his spot in the team is if the Pies ever get smashed off the park and Malthouse cites intensity as an issue. He could easily be made a scapegoat in a situation like that.

We’ve now had three weeks to look at Cox and his price hasn’t gone up drastically so far, so you haven’t missed the boat with him. Personally, I’m pretty happy with my pre season prediction regarding his scoring ability (and equally unhappy with not actually taking him). If he can keep his spot in the side until at least Round 10-12, he’ll have scored you some solid points in that time and made enough cash. The bonus is that he’s eligible as a forward and a defender, so consider him at either end of the ground if your structure can fit a mid priced player.

View Watts The Score’s Team
Round 2 Score: 1,871
Current Overall Ranking: 11,787
Trades Left: 20
Remaining Salary Cap: $21,200

Dear Watts The Score,

Thank you for submitting your team.

There is no doubt that the nucleus of your side is very strong with a bunch of proven Dream Team performers. However, I have identified some fundamental mistakes:

1.
When selecting your midfielders, always select 8 players who are midfield only players. Matthew Richardson, Brett Deledio & Jack Ziebell do not fit into this category. While all three players are good selections in your squad of 30, all three players should have been chosen as forwards, rather than midfielders.

The reason for this is that there a plethora of midfield options to choose from, whereas the forward line options are very thin by comparison. This is shown by your 8^th & 9^th forward choices, Mitch Brown & Jarrad Grant. Brown is not a strong Dream Team scorer, while Grant will struggle to play more than 5 AFL games in 2009. Had you selected Ziebell as a forward, rather than a midfielder, you could have selected Mitch Robinson from Carlton as a midfielder & dumped Grant.

While this may seem like knit picking, these are the structures you need in place if you want to climb into the top 1,000 teams. The unfortunate thing here is that the damage is done. However, when selecting your Dream Team next season, follow this rule.

2.
The selection of Nick Naitanui is a poor one. Naitanui was injured during the pre-season & is on the injury list until at least Round 5. Given that West Coast has identified big Nick as a 12 year player & the successor to Dean Cox, when he is ready to play, he will be nursed through the WAFL. At a cost of $146,600, Naitanui is too expensive to hold onto indefinitely. Now is the ideal time to replace Naitanui with Sam Jacobs from Carlton. Jacobs has been a revelation for the Blues in the first two rounds & his price is about to soar!

PROPOSED ACTION:

OUT: Nick Naitanui $146,600

IN: Sam Jacobs $75,300

I would hold off from making any further trades this week. While Grant is a passenger in your forward line, given the fact he is reasonably cheap ($86,600), I wouldn’t waste a trade on him at this point in time. Good luck!

Thank you to all those people who submitted their teams this week.

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