Ben Johnson has been slotted into the Magpies team to replace Paul Medhurst, which surprises nobody. In more important fantasy news, Joel Selwood was dropped by the Cats, although Nathan Ablett is every chance to drop out late again with his groin-related-back-related-surfboard-related injury. None of the other selection questions were answered, which will leave fantasy coaches nervously biting their fingernails before each game.

So, if you have Selwood, should you sell? If you’re under pressure elsewhere in your centres with short-term injuries, yes. If you can afford not to, don’t. He’ll play again.

A fan writes:

Hey mate, great site

Im wondering if i could have your advice on a trade i need to make?

With Nick Stevens injury i am looking for constitant 90+ Dream teamer. I have narrowed my options down to Daniel Kerr or Paul Hasleby. Considering if i choose Hasleby i wil have 109 grand in the bank while with Kerr i only have 79 grand.

Which player would you consider the best or is there someone else im overlooking?

Cheers

Paul Hasleby has spent the last two years sucking for fantasy purposes. Yes, I know he has been struggling with injury, and yes, I know that he has enjoyed his first uninterrupted preseason since his years averaging 90+. I still can’t trust him to carve it up, especially compared to a proven star like Daniel Kerr. Kerr has been the main beneficiary of the absence of Ben Cousins this year in fantasy pointscoring terms, and he’s far more reliable than Hasleby. I have heard it said that Hasleby scores more than usual when Fremantle is losing, though I don’t have firm figures on that. I don’t think Freo is going to lose a whole lot more this season, so take the Haze at your peril.

For around about Nick Stevens‘ price, I’d also look at Andrew Carrazzo, Steven Salopek, Adam Simpson and Jordan Lewis.

Every so often when someone emails me for advice - email m0nty aaat fanfooty dooot com dooot au (that’s m0nty with a zero instead of an o) - I’ll post my opinion for all to see. Today, the_insid3r writes:

hi mate

I’m wondering if I could have your opinion please?

I have $342k in the bank and I need a “gun” defender.
I am looking at players like McLeod, Carrazzo or Jacobs. They all avg roughly around the 95-100 DT point per game.

Which player would you consider to be the best option?

thanks for your input. Greatly appreciated

A lot of backs at the top end of your price range are worth the money: Andrew McLeod, Adam McPhee, Lindsay Gilbee, Andrew Carrazzo and Tarkyn Lockyer are all backing up their price tag. Of those, I would go youth every time so that puts McLeod and Lockyer out. Either Carrots or McPhee would be excellent. I’d be wary of Danny Jacobs, his form has been highly erratic so I’d hold off on him.

If you want to take more of a chance, you could try Joel Bowden, if you think his worst weeks are behind him, or punt on whether Tadgh Kennelly can back up his early form. And of course, if you haven’t got Jed Adcock or Nathan Bock, you need to get on those trains before they’ve left the station entirely.

Justin Koschitzke is battling “general soreness” to be right for Friday night’s game, according to a couple of threads on Saintsational. He’s in the vast majority of good teams. so this is a blow… though not unexpected, given his very poor record in staying fit over the past couple of years. Tens of thousands of coaches will be hoping he can last another three or four weeks so they can trade him up.

Elsewhere at the fan forums:
- BomberBlitz is not fooled by Kevin Sheedy’s games, identifying the obviously bogus pick of injured Jason Winderlich to be replaced by Courtney Johns. Still no sign of Kepler Bradley coming back into form… wait, was he ever in form?
- The denizens of Demonology are incredulous that Brent Moloney was named, with the consensus being that he won’t play a full game.
- Daniel Gilmore is reported to be fighting both a groin problem and a lack of skill over at Dockerland.
- Ben Rutten is the injury worry over as As The Crows Fly, which is not so much of an issue for owners of Rutten who number very few, but it does mean opposing full forward Barry Hall is firming up as fantasy captaincy material.
- Over at EaglesFlyingHigh the conversation centres around Ashley Hansen’s fitness - fair dinkum, if he was a horse he would have been shot long ago - and whether Jaymie Graham will replace Mark Seaby.
- Josh J. Kennedy is the topic of conversation at TalkingCarlton, with the fans agreed that the wide open spaces of Subiaco will suit his gamestyle. Ah, I love Blue fans’ arrogance.
- The boys at The Lulie St Dash discuss Ben Johnson being named as an emergency for the Magpies, a very suspicious selection that leads me to believe he is a big chance to be a late in for James Clement.
- A completely unsubstantiated injury rumour about Michael Rischitelli and Simon Black over at The Searching Kangaroo. Say it ain’t so!

Rumours on BigFooty that it was reported on radio SEN that Daniel Cross is in doubt for the weekend with a corked thigh. Cross had started off the season with some fabulous fantasy performances. A late Cross double-cross would ruin a lot of good coaches’ teams, particularly if you started the week with any two or three of Ball, Lappin, Winderlich, Stevens, Browne, Joel Selwood or Lindsay Thomas. The first five of those are all injured but Selwood and Thomas are under the selection gun this week. Today’s teamsheets will make for fascinating reading.

UPDATE: Rodney Eade told Sportal that Cross would be fit to take his place. Thankfully it’s a Friday night game so fantasy coaches will get plenty of prior warning either way.

Jason Winderlich, one of the mid-tiers who has really stepped it up so far this year and was looking like a gun, will miss at least the next two games with a hamstring strain, according to the Age. Big bummer for Winder-quick’s owners, who must have thought they were pretty hot shizen when he started the season off so well. Oh well, at least he didn’t do it in a game and give you a lousy 2 points.

In other brief injury news:

- Time to get off Nick Stevens, who is giving all of his owners a pain in the neck.
- The Herald-Sun reports “Robert Shirley and Matthew Bode out — Ben Rutten, Nathan van Berlo and Jason Porplyzia in doubt”. Bode was moderately popular and van Berlo is in a fair few squads so that might hurt.
- All signs point to Nigel Lappin missing out again. Cue thousands of owners grinding their teeth to splinters.
- Steven King will be back for the Cats so Geelong is starting to look a tad top-heavy on paper… which means that even if Nathan Ablett passes a fitness test Bomber might leave him out. Come on Thommo, the kid’s on the bubble, we’re dying here!

Boys On The Bubble will be 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 New Pluggers

Tom HAWKINS, GEE FWD: $82300, -75 B/E, 70.5 average.
Aaron EDWARDS, KAN FWD: $82300, -38 B/E, 52 average.
Matt CAMPBELL, KAN FWD: $69600, -24 B/E, 40 average.
Well, I suppose it was only Hawkins whom the Herald-Sun had a poll this week about whether he’d be better than Tony Lockett, but big things are also expected of A-Ron and The Other Matthew Campbell, No Not The One From The Telly. Hawkins looks great but Bomber Thompson did say he’d only play 10-11 games this year, and he’s ornery like that so be warned. The two Roo boys might end up earning you more money when you need it.

The New God

Travis VARCOE, GEE CTR: $82300, 10 B/E, 28 average.
Hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, but I guess that’s in keeping with the number on his back. Slightly disappointing cash cow for your bench, at best, and not a good choice to trade for all you crying Andrew Browne owners. Maybe Not-Son Of God move will to Hawthorn and start starring there? One can only hope.

The Replacement Demons

Simon GODFREY, MEL CTR: $218900, 5 B/E, 85.5 average.
Paul WHEATLEY, MEL BAC: $226100, 32 B/E, 75 average.
Ben HOLLAND, MEL BAC: $182600, 23 B/E, 62 average.
Nathan D. BROWN, MEL BAC: $296500, 48 B/E, 95 average.
I suppose there would have to be some flow-on effect if you take out McLean, Johnstone, Sylvia, Neitz and Robertson from the Melbourne line-up… and it has mostly meant more work for the backline. Of these four, Godfrey looks like the best value-for-money bet though they are all pricey. Endee might be considered as a sneaky trade for Joel Bowden if you’re really feeling adventurous.

Plodders’ Purple Patches

Daniel GILMORE, FRE BAC, CTR: $216000, 16 B/E, 79 average.
Michael OSBORNE, HAW BAC: $210100, 27 B/E, 71 average.
Gilmore’s history is littered with injury and Osborne only played this week as a late call-up for Chance Bateman, so neither of these are smart punts. The Freo backline has been a bit of a disappointment fantasy wise since Michael Johnson got suspended, truth be told.

The Recovering Gun

Peter BURGOYNE, PTA CTR: $265100, 45 B/E, 84 average.
Nummy nummy num! That Port midfield is looking like it’s on another good thing this season, and instead of the likes of Symes and Pearce mopping up the cheapies it’s the old firm of the Burger Brothers and the Kornes Boys who are profiting. Unfortunately it’s a little too early to be upgrading the mid-tier centres but if you have to get rid of a Travis Johnstone or a Luke Ball then you could do a lot worse.

The Over-Achieving Mid-Tiers

Adam SCHNEIDER, SYD CTR: $248500, 45 B/E, 77.5 average.
Shannon BYRNES, GEE CTR: $274500, 47 B/E, 86.5 average.
I’m not sold on either of these. Byrnes played in two games where pretty much the whole match was garbage time. Schneider is a flukey player who tends to go missing for long periods for fantasy purposes. I’d keep an eye on Byrnes when Geelong loses

The Token Ruckman

Jason LAYCOCK, ESS RUC: $193100, 56 B/E, 49.5 average.
Only listed here because he’s the only ruckman on the bubble this week. He’d need to do better than his average to break even, which is not a good sign. Avoid like the plague, or at least a severe headcold.

Bubble Boy of the Week
Tim Schmidt, SYD CTR: $98200, -48 B/E, 63.5 average.
Ooh baby. Did you know Schmidt once racked up 52 possessions in a game as a junior? All good fantasy coaches do, and they’ve got their eye on him this week. His first week wasn’t much chop but a starring 88 DT points and two goals in round 3 has him top of the hit parade. Sydney need a new goalkicking midfielder and they might have one in the Schmidthouse. It seems like once you get picked for Sydney you never get dropped again, it’s the AFL version of Hotel California. Assuming that Paul Roos names his customary unchanged line-up this week, Schmidt is going to be in a lot of top 1000 teams.

Team: Shermangetti
Coach: Hodges
Competition: Dream Team
As at round: 4
Ranking: 5921
Money Left: $42800

Backs: Heath SHAW, Jed ADCOCK, Lindsay GILBEE, Brendan GODDARD, Grant BIRCHALL, Justin KOSCHITZKE, Xavier ELLIS, Matt RIGGIO

Centres: Daniel KERR, Chris JUDD (C), Nick DAL SANTO, Marc MURPHY, Luke HODGE, Ryan GRIFFEN, Bryce GIBBS, Joel SELWOOD

Rucks: Aaron SANDILANDS, Ben HUDSON, Luke DARCY, Jonathon GRIFFEN

Forwards: Brad JOHNSON, Matthew PAVLICH, Nathan BOCK, Brendan FEVOLA, Lance FRANKLIN, Alwyn DAVEY, Tom HAWKINS, Aaron EDWARDS, Matt CAMPBELL

This is a pretty strong team, as it ought to be if it was decent to start with and has had up to 6 trades to make it flawless. The lack of Joel Bowden and Chad Cornes is good because they have had very slow starts to the year, though Luke Hodge must be giving him the irrits. However, given his ranking of almost 6000 I get the distinct impression that he probably had The Chad and/or J-Bo and has traded them away already.

The only structural flaw I can see is that he is going to have to make up a lot of ground in the forwards to get enough guns. My personal preference is to take your chances on rookies and mid-tier players in the centres, because the depth in all price tiers is far greater there. Are there going to be enough decent rookies to trade Franklin, Davey, Hawkins, Edwards and Campbell down for in weeks 6-12 to get your guns and still leave you with bench cover? I am impressed with Gibbs on the bench, but he really should be in the 22 so that tells me the centres are too top-heavy and short cuts have been taken elsewhere.

I’m going to give this team 8.5/10, with -1 for starting two rookie forwards and -0.5 because that ranking indicates that this team probably sucked pretty hard in rounds 1 and 2. There is a good solid base for growth in the future, so if Hodges can hold off on the trades for a while he should see some good results.

Team: Molly’s No Stars
Coach: Mollyfud.
Competition: Dream Team
As at round: 3.
Ranking: 5349.

Backs: Danny JACOBS, Andrew MCLEOD, Jared BRENNAN, Chad CORNES, Grant BIRCHALL, Joel BOWDEN, Tim BOYLE, Luke MCGUANE, Xavier ELLIS.

Centres: Daniel KERR, Clinton YOUNG, Chris JUDD, Sam MITCHELL, Brad SEWELL, Marc MURPHY, Bryce GIBBS, Chance BATEMAN.

Rucks: Aaron SANDILANDS, Adam PATTISON, Robert CAMPBELL, Brent RENOUF.

Forwards: Scott LUCAS, Matthew PAVLICH, Lance FRANKLIN, Justin KOSCHITZKE, Mark WILLIAMS, Nathan ABLETT, Alwyn DAVEY, Leroy JETTA, Josh KENNEDY.

Alright then. On Brennan, I don’t care whether you had him from the start or you traded him in after his stellar scores in rounds 1 and 2, he’s a dud: -0.5. Another -0.5 for having Boyle in your starting 22. +1 for Sewell though, he’s the sort of unique player who can make a difference. Molly, my friend, WTF were you thinking with your rucks? Campbell has been injured, Pattison is a dud, Renouf is years away from any sort of production. Where are the Crows rucks? -2 for that whole mess, it’s terrible. Your forwards are solid, although I have to give you -2 for your lack of Bock and Adcock.

Everyone, repeat after me: Bock and Adcock are locks. Bock and Adcock are locks. Bock and Adcock are locks. Don’t hock them until they shock you with Barry Crockers, or I’ll dock your flocks on the clock.

Sadly, the total after all of that is a sorry 6/10, one of my lowest scores. Having said that, it’s a long season, good luck mate!

First, let me set out the patent-pending M0nty Fantasy Team Rating System. Like gymnastics, we start with a perfect score of 10. Then, I award negative points for flaws I see in your team. Be warned: no one has yet got a perfect 10. The best anyone got at round 1 was 9.5, and that was one of my fellow EliteDre@mTe@mer league coaches… but more on them later. First, my team. A hint: if you can provide me with exactly the same layout for your team, you greatly improve your chances of me reviewing it.

Team: FanFooty EDT
FanFooty link: FanFooty
Competition: Dream Team
As at round: 1 - 3.
Money left: $87,300 (as at round 3)

Backs: Brendon Goddard, Jed Adcock, Heath Shaw, Joel Bowden, Lindsay Gilbee, Andrew Raines (traded after R1 for Xavier Clarke), Daniel Bell (R2 => Tim Boyle), Xavier Ellis.

Centres: Jordan Lewis, Nathan Foley, Michael Rischitelli, Matt Priddis (R1 => Bryce Gibbs), Shaun Higgins, Nigel Lappin, Beau Muston (R2 => Clinton Young), Lindsay Thomas.

Rucks: Brendon Lade, Dean Cox, Ben Hudson, Jonathan Griffin.

Forwards: Brad Johnson, Chad Cornes, Lance Franklin, Ryan O’Keefe, Justin Koschitzke, Matthew Pavlich, Nathan Bock, Alwyn Davey, Matt Campbell.

I have to bite the bullet and give myself -1 for both Raines and Bell. Raines was the last bloke I picked and I made the cardinal mistake of just getting the most expensive player possible. He’s a defensive stopper, which is usually the opposite of a fantasy stud. Bell is quietly coming good with 82 last week, but his start was woeful and Melbourne isn’t going to win many this year, so if he can’t score consistently when the ball is in the Demons backline then he’s tradebait. The only other iffy picks there are Franklin - who is also coming good, and his worse days are just okay instead of bloody awful like last year - and Lappin, who was risky even before Luke Hodge kicked him into a fantasy nightmare injury scenario. The Priddis trade might prove to have been premature, not because Gibbs isn’t the real deal, but because I could have picked someone else to trade for him… like Lappin. Actually, I’ll go ahead and give myself -0.5 for that, since that was a stupid move.

So 7.5/10 for me. I’m currently ranked far better than I was this time last year, and I’m mid-table in the EDT league, so I’m happy. Now if Lade can just do something about kicking Brogan in the ankle a few times to get more TOG…