by Tom N

Player of the week: Nick Malceski. I must admit a slight bias towards players who score their points in style, with great effect on a game. It’s not just the aesthetics – I reckon if a bloke is crucial to his team, he’s less likely to get dropped or shunted into the forward-pocket points vacuum. Nick Malceski fits the bill perfectly; classy wingman, with a very potent kick. Watching Saturday night’s game through a haze of a purple-themed birthday in Burwood (don’t ask), one thing was clear; Malceski (who scored 138) and Brent Moloney are obvious kicking players for their teams. Other players seek them out as a kicking weapon. Take note, Dream Teamers. Both are cheap, and I get the gut feeling Malceski is set to rise into the competition’s elite this year.

Honourable mentions: Scott West (148), Jon Brown (136), Joel Bowden (122), Peter Burgoyne (120), Jordan Lewis (128)

Biggest disappointment: Many will nominate Malceski’s team-mate Adam Goodes, who scored a paltry 28, but I’m going with Ben Dixon, due to the weeks of effort he’s clearly putting into this field. For a bloke who started the year at over $250k, it’s scary to think that 32 wasn’t his lowest score so far, and the highest is just 50. That’s absolutely woeful – especially this week, considering Williams’ injury.

Other points of interest:
• Some of the guns barely turned up for work this weekend. Riewoldt’s facial injury was to blame for his awful 36, while Adam Cooney matched that (with no excuses) playing for the Dogs against Hawthorn. Pavlich mustered 60, Fev scrapped together 64, while Scott Lucas shattered many coaches last Wednesday with a 72. (Lucas is a popular choice for captain.) It happens, people. Don’t let it get you down.
• Compensation comes in the form of some bottom-price bargains punching well above their weight. First in mind is Joel Selwood, who scored an amazing 119 today – brilliant for a first-year player in a losing midfield. Selwood laid nine tackles, and tacklers always gain good DT numbers. With the Cats’ star-studded midfield, Selwood could be a handy player to grab the points without being heavily tagged.
• Travis Cloke also broke out of the box, again with 119. We all know that with Tarrant leaving, the Pies need a CHF, and Cloke looks to have nailed it on the head. He’s still relatively cheap, and isn’t a popular selection.
• Richard Hadley played well for his 77 points on Saturday night. He could be a very sly selection as a back-up midfielder, and his price won’t rise too much after two underwhelming games recently.
• Hamish McIntosh racked up 118 for the Roos, and boy, isn’t he looking great. Plenty of possies as well as the hit-outs. Macca is a good buy if you have him. If you don’t, Tom says save your trades.
• Keeping it in the ruck family, for the second consecutive week Darren Jolly thrashed Peter Everitt in the points stakes, 96-52. Everitt has had one good week so far and the rest has been pathetic. I haven’t heard a good explanation for his poor form yet.
• Graeme Polak bobbed up with 102 – his second 100+ in a row. But when thinking Polak, beware; his three most recent scores are 102, 100, 23. That says it all.
• Warren Tredrea’s brave efforts in the wet gave him 81 points, and just bear in mind his price won’t change until after next weekend, when he plays a scratchy Melbourne defence…
• I’ll end on exactly the same note as last week; Nigel Lappin. Oh boy, where do we start. As this story points out, he’s yet to regain full kicking power in his leg. Well, shucks. Thanks, Leigh Matthews, for trying to play the bloke for the last four weeks while he can’t actually kick the thing. As every DT coach knows, kicks are far better than handballs.

The new address for the Coaches Box podcast is now www.coachesbox.com.au. I think the blog theme might change a bit and we’ll add a few more features, but for now you’ll find the all-important Coaches Box RSS feed there to plug into your iPod, Zune or podcast reader.

Neale Daniher must have had a good cry at the Demons selection table this week if you listen to the fans, because all he had to pick from was a bunch of kids and wounded no-hopers. A bit like the Victorian Liberal Party selecting a new leader, in fact. Over at Demonology the wailing and moaning is long and loud, with only a few fans choosing to concentrate on the positives of playing youngsters Ricky Petterd and Colin Garland. Like last week, pessimism abounds about the fitness of Brent Moloney, with the additional worry this week about Nathan D. Brown’s loosely-defined injury. Clint Bizzell and Daniel Ward sound like they’re decent chances to be late ins. Elsewhere:

- Dean Cox is under an injury cloud and Mark LeCras is the man who would replace him as he’s the only Eagle emergency who made the flight to Melbourne, according to EaglesFlyingHigh. This is despite Chad Fletcher being named as first emergency.
- Some Power fans at The Power From Port go so far as to guarantee that Dean Brogan won’t play, which is fabulous news for Brendon Lade owners. Daniel Motlop and Shane Wakelin are also very iffy, with Danyle Pearce and Steven Salopek rated as 50/50 chances.
- Amon Buchanan is generally thought to be a certain late scratching for the Swans according to Red & White Online, to be replaced by Jarred Moore.
- The fine fellows at Dockerland think Cook, Collard and Warnock won’t make the cut for the Dockers. Michael Johnson will be the player that fantasy coaches will be eying off at centre half back.
- The Searching Kangaroo thinks Leigh Adams will win the 22nd spot for the Roos, which will leave Brad Moran, David Trotter and Jesse W. Smith out.
- Tiger fans are known for eating their own and with an 0-4 record, 16th position and facing the Eagles this week, the heat is on. Punt Road End turns the blowtorch on Daniel Jackson and Cleve Hughes, with many fans savaging the decision to drop Patrick Bowden and Dean Polo… and not Andrew Krakouer or Kayne Pettifer. Perennial VFL standout Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls is another name getting mentioned a lot, both in the media and by the fans.
- Over at Saintsational the expected late change for St Kilda is Barry Brooks out, Michael Rix in.
- Blues fans at TalkingCarlton are happy that Ryan Jackson was picked after showing good form in the VFL for Coburg. Other Carlton fringe players are not looking as likely to force their way in.

Hawthorn really packed on the fantasy pain today in round 5 selection by not only announcing that Mark Williams would miss 4-6 weeks to undergo knee surgery, but also that Danny Jacobs would miss this weekend with hamstring tightness. If you had Willo in your side then you’re either jumping for joy - if you had Alwyn Davey on your bench with a DT 73 or SC 110 already in the bag - or gnashing your teeth because you’re a man down. Either way it’s going to be necessary to drop him this week if you have him. As for Jacobs, if this blog had been running after round 1 I would have warned you all off him. He’s unreliable due to exactly this sort of sudden injury news.

Nigel Lappin owners will feel like they need their own day of mourning. Lappin wasn’t even named in the emergencies for the Lions, so there’s no hope of a late call-up. On the bright side, if you suffered last week with the Lappin/Cross/Thomas/Selwood disaster, at least Daniel Cross has been named in the Bulldogs’ 22, and Joel Selwood is on the Cats’ extended bench. Lower your expectations of Selwood making the team, though.

Also on the Bulldogs, Jason Akermanis and Sam Power have been named, two players who are worth keeping an eye on as upgrade targets if they (a) manage to take the park and (b) fulfil their potential for scoring increases. And owners of Patrick Bowden will be ropeable after he was dropped again by the Tigers.

Over at the Kangaroos, their extended bench makes for interesting reading.

Int: (from) C. Jones, B. Grima, J. Sinclair, D. Trotter, B. Moran, K. Green, J. Smith

David Trotter has touched a lot of fantasy sides this year so his inclusion is important, as is Jesse W. Smith who looms as a possible trade target. However, coach Dean Laidley has seen fit to consign Jones and Sinclair to the pine so you’d think neither of those would be dropped. Brad Moran will probably also be picked to support Hamish McIntosh in the ruck because David Hale is still missing, so you’d think that last bench spot would be between the other four… barring some late late injury news on Jones and/or Sinclair. Plenty of coaches will be watching the Sunday teams to see who makes the cut.

With the short week due to Anzac Day the AFL injury news will necessarily be of a more speculative nature, but let’s get it out anyway. A rumour aired on radio 3AW during the week that Gary Ablett jnr’s leg injury in Round 4, which looked bad on first glance, was indeed bad enough that he was seen on crutches after the game in the rooms. Ablett managed to play out the game and is listed on the official injury sheet as “test” for his calf. Elsewhere:

• Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade, who raised fantasy coaches’ ire last week by saying Daniel Cross would play last week, has said it again this week, though there is a test listed for him also for what the Bulldogs have admitted is a groin injury. Whispers have been heard about the dreaded osteitis pubis, and even if it’s not that particular curse, a groin injury is nevertheless a serious problem for a running midfielder. Rocket also indicated that Jason Akermanis would return, but even if you did believe him, Aker is not a viable trade target this week. Sam Power, who had been looming as a mid-tier bolter in the backs, may not miss a game. It’s all ifs and maybes this week at the Western Oval.

• Nathan G. Brown will miss another week, and an Internet rumour strongly doing the rounds is that he’ll retire on Thursday’s Footy Show. In other Tiger news, Kane Johnson has been playing with a broken hand. Neither player should be touching your fantasy team this year.

• Both Scott Burns and Dale Thomas are in doubt for today’s Anzac Day game with knee and ankle injuries respectively. While you’d expect both to play, this takes the pressure off the three Magpie rookies Toovey, Dick and Cox for late selection changes.

• Over at the Dons, it just wouldn’t be Windy Hill if Sheeds wasn’t looking distinctly likely to make late changes. James Hird and Nathan Lovett-Murray are the players in the gun.

• Lindsay Thomas, a staple of countless fantasy benches, is battling a bruised chest and/or lung. Leave him on your bench if at all possible, he is no chance to play.

• And finally, if Leigh Matthews has no bloody idea what the hell is wrong with Nigel Lappin, how is anyone else supposed to have any confidence that he’ll play any time soon? I got rid of him in both DT and SC last week and I’m very happy with that decision. I suggest you do the same.

Phillip Molly Malone and me, Paul Montgomery, are teaming up to produce an AFL fantasy football podcast called The Coaches Box. It will get its own site in due time but here’s a direct link to the pilot episode.

After yakking for a bit about the recent server issue on FanFooty and then remembering to introduce ourselves, Molly and I lay out our Dream Team lineups, muse about how many trades that DT/SC coaches should be burning right now, discuss whether the AFL will have to adopt NFL-style policies to force teams to give more injury information about their players and stop them making late teamsheet changes, mention grimlock’s excellent FFGenie program for calculating price fluctuations, chew over how to choose your captain, talk a bit about the horror that is AFL.com.au, go through the Boys On The Bubble for round 4 one by one, and disclose that we’re both Hawk supporters. Sprinkled in the discussion are opinions on over 50 AFL players, including Justin Koschitzke, Warren Tredrea, Luke Ball, Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs, Robert Campbell, Simon Taylor, Nigel Lappin and Richard Hadley.

We hope to get listeners involved and do live shows in future, as well as get some more guests involved… including some secrets from some EliteDre@mTe@mers!

Boys On The Bubble is a weekly feature looking at players who played their second game on the weekend and thus are eligible to change in price this week if they’re picked again. The B/E number below stands for Break Even, referring to the Dream Team score that the player must make to have his price rise after his third game.

The Baby Magpies

Alan TOOVEY, COL BAC: $82300, -54 BE, 60 avg
Shannon COX, COL FWD: $82300, -49 BE, 57.5 avg
Brad DICK, COL FWD: $82300, -17 BE, 41.5 avg
Toovey leapt out of the blocks two weeks ago with a stellar first quarter against the Tigers, but his subsequent seven quarters haven’t been so good. Cox and Dick took a while longer to stiffen up, but they’re full of juice and ready to burst over their break-even lines in an orgasm of price movement. Is that enough penis jokes? Okay, good. The good thing about these three is that you’ll know if they’re playing this week due to the Wednesday Anzac game… and they are all likely to play because the Pies have too many injury worries elsewhere in their lineup to worry about resting their rookies.

Cheap But Nasty

Bernie VINCE, ADE FWD: $110000, -16 BE, 52.5 avg
Paul JOHNSON, MEL RUC: $113900, 5 BE, 43.5 avg
These two are in a tricky position for fantasy coaches: a nice price and a fabulous break-even number, but their actual scores are not up to standard of someone who you want in your 22, so if you were going to pick them up you would have to stow them away on your bench. I could see some coaches taking a punt on Johnson getting more game time in the injury-ravaged Demons 22… maybe even cashing in Ben Hudson in the process. More on that later.

The Also-Rans

Dylan ADDISON, WBD CTR: $172800, 36 BE, 51.5 avg
Ricky DYSON, ESS CTR: $197300, 51 BE, 54 avg
James KELLY, GEE CTR: $253200, 56 BE, 73.5 avg
Greg BENTLEY, PTA CTR: $207100, 56 BE, 55 avg
Luke WEBSTER, FRE CTR: $225000, 67 BE, 57 avg
Chance BATEMAN, HAW CTR: $297000, 79 BE, 79.5 avg
All of these mid-tier centres are scoring at about their 2006 average. They’ll be solid at best, but none of them look like busting out. Look elsewhere.

#%^$(^ING LUKE #!&@_$& BALL, THE _)(&*#@)&#%

Luke BALL, STK CTR: $353000, 168 BE, 57.5 avg
Or so would have gone the laments of thousands of coaches in rounds 2 and 3 as they tried to recreate Ball’s round 1 injury by banging their heads against the nearest blunt object. Ball managed to take the park last week but didn’t do anything special. That humungous break-even score of 168 means that his owners are going to have to look forward to weeks of dropping prices, to add insult to injury. Unfortunately they will just have to grin and bear it, because trading him this week is stupid and they’ll have to hope he repays them later in the season.

The Dodgy Brothers

Brian HARRIS, WBD BAC: $204400, 37 BE, 63.5 avg
Josh GIBSON, KAN BAC: $188500, 59 BE, 46.5 avg
Kasey GREEN, KAN BAC: $219400, 80 BE, 48 avg
Jason PORPLYZIA, ADE FWD: $233400, 87 BE, 50.5 avg
Matthew ROBBINS, WBD FWD: $191200, 89 BE, 32.5 avg
Can’t say I’m too enamoured with any of these forwards or backs. Harris is the only one who looks remotely interesting, though by this stage you should have locked in some cash cows in the backs who should be left alone for another two to four weeks to maximise in price. Josh Gibson is a big disappointment, he was looking like a potential gun last year but he has tailed away with some injuries and poor form.

Do Not Approach Without 40-Foot Barge Pole In Hand

Ashley HANSEN, WCE FWD: $256000, 91 BE, 57.5 avg
One of those players who tantalises with efforts of skill and talent, as in his contender for goal of the year against the hapless Blues. Stay well away from Hansen, he’s fantasy poison. He’s a Bruce Reid type, he’d snap in half like a twig under a gentle zephyr.

The Fragile Gun Forwards

Warren TREDREA, PTA FWD: $278800, 141 BE, 41.5 avg
Nick RIEWOLDT, STK FWD: $379800, 142 BE, 81.5 avg
I heard Dermie on SEN saying Tredders looks like he’s operating at about 25% efficiency, and others were wondering why he was even playing at all. The reason he’s playing is that he needs the gallop, and the SANFL just doesn’t cut it. His price will drop substantially over the next month or so. Do NOT get him now. The same goes to a lesser extent for Roo, who will not take as long to get back to his ton-spanking ways but his price will also dip for at least the next two weeks because his 2006 average was so high. These two will make fabulous upgrade targets for a Franklin, Monfries, Ablett or Davey in three to six weeks’ time.

The Fragile Gun Rucks

Dean COX, WCE RUC: $387400, 120 BE, 95.5 avg
Troy SIMMONDS, RIC RUC: $369300, 140 BE, 78 avg
Big Cox, what a gun. He had managed an even Dream Team hundred against Carlton on Sunday and went and sat on the bench in the last quarter, with the crowd clapping him off for a job well done… but then he came back on and piled on another 23 valuable points in garbage time. That’s the sort of commitment that fantasy coaches love to see! Simmonds, on the other hand, is not very popular this season due to his early injuries, and his price will drop for at least a fortnight. He’s not going to get picked up by many with Cox, 211 and Lade all ripping it up.

The No-Brainer

Richard HADLEY, BRL CTR: $82300, -19 BE, 42.5 avg
Now you might think that Hadley would be a lock for Bubble Boy of the Week, but no, I’m not sold. The recent history of double knee reconstruction players, who are normally dirt cheap for fantasy coaches, is not good: Josh Francou and Nigel Lappin did not cover themselves with glory. There is such a good crop of rookies coming through that personally, I wouldn’t chance it on Hadley’s buggered knees to hold up for long enough to get you a big wad of cash. You have a squawking nest full of baby Pies this week, use them.

Bubble Boy of the Week

Super Bubble Mario Monkey Ball Boy

Jason ROE, BRL BAC: $261800, 94 BE, 58 avg
Roe’s Dream Team numbers don’t look that flash but his Super Coach figures are excellent. He’s an awesome pickup in Super Coach leagues this week due to the amount of contested balls he wins after opposition possessions. What, you didn’t think this was just a Dream Team blog did you?

By Tom N

A brief introduction: each week, the FanFooty blog will analyse the hits and misses of the weekend, digging beneath the surface to find the trends and subtleties that make all the difference.

Player of the week: Adem Yze. Although he’s up and down like a yo-yo, you’ve got to give the man points for style. When he scores, he does so in highlight-reel mode. Yze wins out due to the relative strength of Freo’s backline; honourable mentions go to Scott West and Adam McPhee, but these other two fellas had less strong opponents to take care of.

Biggest disappointment: Tempting to give it to Tom Hawkins, who scored just 10 points after seemingly having the world at his fingertips last weekend. But I’m going to go for Jed Adcock, who has already been the subject of trade talk despite starting the year with three great games. Those with Adcock (and that’s most good players) would be well advised to keep him; this week with 38 points was an aberration.

Other points of interest:

• Cameron Wood scored a lousy 20, and didn’t play well. Two weeks ago, he scored a lousy 31, and played ok (and was nominated for the Rising Star). Get the picture? He doesn’t win stats. His price may rise a little, but it will start to plateau soon.

• Matthew Stokes did well in his return to AFL, with a fiery 93. Stokes is going fairly cheaply at $260k, and is worth watching closely next week.

• Another Cat, David Wojcinski, again didn’t hit the high numbers despite playing well. He scored 74, and I’ve come to the conclusion he simply doesn’t rack them up like other players do.

• After I anointed him the successor to Nick Stevens in the Blues’ midfield, Andrew Walker misfired with 66 points, most of which came in the last quarter. I’m holding out, however – I think Walker will slowly creep into the midfield without many people noticing. Meanwhile, Fev failed (43 - a drop of more than 100 - ouch!) while Whitnall had his best game for the year to date.

• Warren Tredrea was another failure, with just 39. Tredrea is not worth drafting in at the moment – there are injury and form worries. Until he starts to show something good, hold your cash.

• Jordan Lewis again played well, with 106. He’s really stepped up so far this year. If you were to draft him now, he’s a keeper for the rest of the year (barring injury), and those types are worth their weight in gold. Bear in mind that with Mitchell, Hodge, and Crawford around, Lewis is not likely to attract heavy tagging.

• Interestingly, Clint Bizzell was initially the designated loose man in defence for the Demons, but unfortunately he did very little. Nevertheless, if Neale Daniher wants to keep him in that role, then get Clint in your team. At $127k, he’s bound to go up, and could be (like Lewis) another good scorer for the rest of your season.

Finally, Nigel Lappin infuriated coaches across the country with his late withdrawal. When is this crap going to end? Lappin will be in many coach’s considerations for trading this week. He wasn’t the only one - Jason Winderlich and Brent Moloney were others to pull out. It’s not cool.

Daniel Cross is officially out of tonight’s game according to both SEN and MMM radio, replaced by Matthew Robbins. That is going to cause a huge wave of late activity before lockout this evening as coaches scramble to cover their centres. Tiffany Cherry on SEN said the problem was not just a corked thigh, as had been reported earlier, but a groin injury.

Tom N, creator of the AFL Dream blog, has decided to join this blog to continue his awesome work with breaking player news, position-by-position analysis and everything else a fantasy coach needs to know. I’m sure he’s going to make this blog a must-read for fans of Dream Team, Super Coach or any other Aussie rules fantasy comp. Welcome Tom!