Dear Footy Tragics,

Nick Riewoldt’s serious hamstring injury has hit dreamteam coaches around the country right between the eyes. The inspirational St. Kilda skipper is not only the focal point in the Saints forward line, he is also the focal point of 148,449 dreamteam forward lines. With an expected recovery time ranging from 8 - 16 weeks, the one thing we can be certain of is the need to use one of our 20 valuable trades to take Riewoldt out.

Many dreamteam coaches have taken advantage of price freezes prior to Round 3 to “fix up” their initial squad of 30 players. While these trades are a necessity for many teams, the reality is that these coaches are now left with 17 or 18 trades and they are competing with teams who still have 20 trades up their sleeve.

The most valuable dreamteam player is one that you originally pick up as a cash cow or value pick, who subsequently turns into a keeper. Mitch Clark, Jack Grimes and Greg Broughton were the perfect examples in 2009.

I’ve spoken previously about Clark, the Brisbane ruckman who started the 2009 season priced at $217,800 after averaging 49 points per game in 2008. History tells us that Clark went on to average 94 points per game in 2009, thus becoming a valuable keeper rather than the value selection he was at the beginning of the year.

I’m using Clark as the perfect example of the player we need to find in 2010. We cannot afford 22 premiums in the early part of the season, so we need to uncover those mid priced bargains that have the potential to become valuable keepers (thus saving us valuable trades in the process)!

I’ve set myself the task of selecting two unique (thus ruling out Nick Malceski) mid priced bargains who have the potential to become valuable keepers. I’ve also kept away from midfielders, because everyone already knows about Jack Trengove and Dustin Martin. The two players I have chosen are:

    AFL Rd 2 - Crows v Swans

  • Heath Grundy - Sydney - Defender / Forward, currently in 10,317 teams
    Current average 96 points per game - Starting price $287,400, Current price $316,500;
  • James Gwilt - St. Kilda - Defender / Forward, currently in 8,550 teams
    Current average 87 points per game - Starting price $249,600, Current price $278,800.

I talked up Grundy in one of my pre season articles and he has been super impressive in the first three rounds. Grundy is now a key member of the Swans defence and he is fast establishing himself as one of the most improved players in the competition. Grundy seems to be playing in a similar mould to Nathan Bock, who has been a premium dreamteam defender for many years now. Like Bock, Grundy not only shuts down opposition key forwards, he also racks up plenty of disposals and marks in the process, which is perfect for dreamteam!

Gwilt has been a big surprise in 2010 and I still have my doubts as to whether he can continue his impressive early season form. Having said that, Gwilt has always been a talented player, with a lack of consistency being his biggest problem. The absence of Nick Riewoldt may help Gwilt, as the Saints midfielders will need to become less predictable and look to other targets in their forward line. While Sam Fisher appears likely to fill the now vacant Centre Half Forward position, Gwilt has strong hands and is a more than useful second or third forward marking option.

Gwilt would have been stung after playing 15 games in 2009 and being left out of all three of the Saints finals. Now in his 6th season of AFL footy, maybe the penny has finally dropped. It seems like Gwilt has been around forever, but he is still only 23. With 44 AFL games under his belt, he could be set for a break out season in 2010!

I must warn you here that selecting mid priced players can be fraught with danger, as often there are more misses than hits. However, if you do your homework and have a good basis for choosing a particular player, don’t be afraid to take a risk and pull the trigger. If you do, you may find yourself an expected keeper, which allows you to use that saved trade to pick up another premium.

Good luck!