Player of the week: Luke Hodge (149). Hodge racked up his fairly massive score two Fridays ago, in the first match of round 12 against the Blues, and it ended up being the highest of the round. From memory, he scored something like 60 points in the last quarter, showing a dead-rubber dedication that Ricky Ponting would be proud of.
Honourable mentions: Brad Sewell (143), Gary Ablett (139), Domenic Cassissi (133)
Biggest disappointment: Brendan Fevola (38). The biggest dud also came in the first game of the round, as Fev struggled against a smooth Hawks midfield machine. He’s now down to $237k, and will drop further since his breakeven is 102.
Other points of interest:
Barry Hall was very lucky not to end up with a Fev-like score this week; his total of 66 included around 40 points in the last quarter. It’s hard to judge where Hall is at - I can’t question his endeavour, but he’s spilling easy marks… all the time… Then again, the Swans midfield wasn’t in great touch on Saturday night.
- The good news is that if you’re willing to jump, there are several good replacements for Hall. Scott Lucas is cheap, Jonathan Brown is cheap, and Nathan G Brown looks in sharp nick, scoring a classy 88 in his first game back from injury.
- Other Tigers also had a good night in the win over Melbourne - Jake King scored his sixth +80 in a row, while Matthew Richardson top-scored with 128 (a great effort considering he kicked twice as many behinds as goals). Graeme Polak scored 117 - his second ton in a row, and third in the past four games - but Kane Johnson had a dud match, scoring just 60.
- For the Dees, it wasn’t as pretty. Jeff White knocked up 124 - nudging out Cox as the highest-scoring ruck for the round - but Cameron Bruce scored just 79, and James McDonald only 73. Brad Green registered 62, while hard nuts Brock McLean and Nathan Jones fared worst of all, scoring 50 and 48 respectively. Byron Pickett had a lowly 40 on his return to AFL, and Adem Yze had 17, which was affected by an injury that should keep him sidelined for a few weeks. One bright spark was Paul Johnson, who looked ok in gathering 74, his highest score ever. Johnson has good agility for a big bloke, and is one I’m thinking about for Dream Team 2008.
- Surprisingly, the Magpies’ midfield had a bad night (similar to the Demons) but ended up winning… Dane Swan scored 65, which means his price will slump and he’ll be in hot demand, while Scott Burns scored 66 and Tarkyn Lockyer scored 72. Josh Fraser scored 40, while Brett Kirk cleaned up with 116 and Adam Goodes ran back into some form, scoring 93 - his second-best score this season.
- The rumble in the West produced some big scores - Justin Koschitzke registered 113, his highest since round 17, 2005. Another to score well (relatively…) was Raphael Clarke, who racked up 77 - his highest since round 5, 2005. His brother Xavier scored just 38. Daniel Kerr and Matt Priddis both enjoyed more opportunity through Judd’
- Other points of interest were highlighted last week
I think you would have to all agree that Nathan G Brown proved all of his doubters wrong on Friday night with a stunning performance from limited game time.
Given his current dreamteam price, you would be crazy not to get him…
Macca
You are an inexperienced peanut. His fitness was questionable and picking him up after one game following ‘that’ injury is nothing short of lunacy in this game.
I was at the game, he was gifted two goals and had the ball fall onto his head a few times. He needs time to prove himself before any serious DT coach should look at him. He may come, but the odds are stacked against him at this point.
Macca, I agree with Peter. It will take a bit of consistency for me to want Brown - I’ll try and watch him closely next week - but I don’t want to risk a precious trade at this point in the year.
Nathan Brown is a class player and ill be looking to pick him up 4 fevola who is the biggest DT let down this year
Sorry Macca
I am with Peter Gill too, wait and see if he backs it up / improves in fitness
Steve
yeh i agree with peter to, at the very least give him the next week before he changes price. in any case i think its unlikely his price will balloon anyway what with him getting limited gametime and against better oposition in the coming weeks
well i’ll go against the grain and also that that i too agree with peter! NGB is cheap in DT but can you rely on consistent 90s? there have been precious few on the forward line this year who can…
wat do u lads think bout franklin for NGB if he puts in another good performance this week?
If you seriously think that Brown is going to consistantly score more than Franklin’s 78 and rising average, then go for it, but it’s a big risk that is probably a waste of a trade at best.
Does anyone know what chance Franklin is to play this week? I need a centre trade and are contemplating trading for Marty Clarke. Do you guys think he’ll play, considering the pies have got Clement, Presty, O’Brien and Shaw to come back in?
i would expect buddy to play, on fri the commentators reported it was more of a cautionary move than anything. if they werent playing carlton he would’ve played i think
Simon, best thing to do is to wait until teams are named.
hey I need some help with a trade im seriously thinking of. I want to down grade Grant Birchall to Andrew Mcloed and then upgrade Luke Jericho ( a starter!) to an up and coming Warren Tredre. Is this a good idea or should i look to other players?
Simon - Pies also have Ryan Lonie and Sean Rusling to come back later this year. Lonie could even return next week. Not to mention Medhurst having a good game in the VFL. There are also a group of untried players going well so it’s a risk going for Clarke. A lot will ride on his next game. I’m thinking of trading in Clarke only because I feel I don’t need 2 midfield emergencies and I need the cash.
And like what Ken said, Franklin is a pretty big chance of playing.
Just read on the AFL site that Judd has been ruled out for next round against the Crows…
Now it SAYS one week, but could it maybe be osteitis pubis like some suspect??? Plus SOO many people have him, his score barely matters anyway…
So im tempted for a trade…
Wat do u all reckon???
alike ‘azz’ i am sick of jericho as i thouhgt he had a definent spot in the side every week. Im trading him for sure and am thinking tredre or Ablett (nathan) whats a better choice?
Was thinking of doing an injury wrap tonight, so that may yet happen.
Back to trade talk - Ben, don’t trade Jericho unless you absolutely need a better reserve forward (ie a gun is out for multiple weeks). Until then, he’s probably not worth offloading until he makes you more money.
If you do need him (or you’re really, really keen) then Tredrea is about the best bet going, I would suggest.
(Jericho will have to contend with Burton and possibly Perrie for a spot in the coming weeks)
I really enjoy reading all the comments posted on this site. Very entertaining stuff for a DT addict like myself. *Thumbs up*
I imagine everyone who picked either Gray or Westhoff last week is laughing?
I went Gray. They both did well.
I’m also very interested to see if Rocca pleads guilty and takes the one week. He should’ve gotten off. =P
Thought i might just jump in on the NG Brown debate and say that your a retard if you picked up brown this week. He obviously needs to prove that he can pull up the next week without soreness. as for ne1 who had fevola in the first place your obviously a dud dream team coach, considering for fev to score a remotely good score he has to kick a bag considering he ONLY marks and kicks goals. therefore not making fevola ‘the biggest dream team let down this year’
I vote for Barry Hall to be the biggest let down of the year! He is having his worst season since starting with the Swans!
Plus I hear BH may be rested next week?? Gray will probably pick up more points for me, so I’d be OK with that if he came back with a few 100s at the end of the season…
Peter Gill,
I having a feeling that after Nathan Brown’s next 10 rounds, you will be the one feeling like the inexperienced peanut.
I didnt get my top 300 competition ranking, taking advice from people like you…
Macca
hey guys
i have several weaknesses (boyle/JWS)/potential injuries(judd/franklin) in my team but only 5 trades left any recommendations.
Cheers
Grant Birchall. Was an exciting pick up when i bought him but he has really, really let me down. I am going to downgrade him to either a very cheap heath shaw and then with the remaining money upgrade lloyd, or downgrade him to Andrew Mcloed and keep the rest in my bank. Any suggestions which choice?
Tom N. The thing is Jericho is not a reserve he has a spot on my field as my reserve Nathan Krakour is my reserve and does not play every week. This is why i need to trade him.
Birchall has been disappointing the last three weeks, but I’m not sure there is much to gain in trading him for Shaw or McLeod. Being young, he might have needed the mid-season break to recharge. Saying that, McLeod is more consistent than Shaw, but Shaw is more capable of the huge score.
Simon, birchall has a big breakeven and could seriously go down in price. Should i take the risk for another week and see how he does against the pies? Or should i dump him this weekend?
I have three trades left. My team is pretty good, with 1 reasonably high scoring bench player in each position. Only problem is I have Judd and Goodwin. Should I trade Judd for Bartel?? Or hold out being down 1 midfielder for a while?
Phill Bartel is at an awsome price of $455 000 and may be a bit risky buying him at this price. It could happen next week where his form drops and then your in strife. His B/E is huge and might be a tad risky at his huge price. Especially with only 3 trades left i think you should hang on to Judd. Hoo is your emergency to fill in for him?
P.S Goodwin may play this weekend.
I’m personally hanging on to him and looking at other positions in my team to upgrade. If you have plenty of trades, it might worth looking at trading him, but otherwise I’d hang on to him. He will definitely dive in price so i guess it comes down to how much you value your trades
Im not to concerned about his dive as whether he can help me get the win every week. I am second in my league and looking to maintain it and am playing the top side this weekend. I have 11 trades left and it will the match will come down to the wire and am hoping to get 80 from Birchall. Against the pies is there any chance of it?
West Coast don’t really tag, so Mcleod probably your man.
Whats the GO with Nathan BRown of Melbourne. He is having a pretty good year and the coach seems to not play him. I cant find any info on injuries. Is it better i just trade him if he is not a regular player (Jesse Smith is the emergency). only 4 trades left.
Phil, I agree with James Hird - keep Judd. News tonight is promising at one week for “minor” tear.
Is Heath Shaw right to play this week? and does anyone have any suggestions for a centre within 340k to 350k. Cheers
Stanton is on around 340k and is still going down
Very specific price range WILL i’d take Scott Thompson because he has been fairly consistent and can get great scores. Or maybe Hayes as a roughie because he seems to be hitting some sort of form about now
a tip, try picking up jaks king for $270k, as has been said he has 80 ’s for 6 weeks now - great consistancy.. i can’t see why not many ppl r ocnsidering =him for a starting place in the midfield, especailly when u consider he is avergaing better then players worth 100k more then him… get on the kingy bandwagon
Cant go wrong with Scott Tompson. Has worked all year for me.
Ok…
Im downgrading Aaron Edwards and then upgrading Judd…
Should i:
A) Trade Edwards for one of Westoff or Gray, and then trade Judd for K Cornes?
or
B) Trade Edwards for one of F Watts or B Reid, and then trade Judd for Bartel??
Cheers
Btw, Edwards (and whoever i trade for) will be an emergency - and my other fwd emergency is Harbrow…
Peter Gill-
N g Brown, Many people did not pick him because he was out of the conpetition for to long. He is a must have player and has shown you this with his average if 100. He us a supestar and thats wat superstars do.