A rather underwhelming trade week is over for 2008, with only six trades made. Let’s go through each of them and look for value in the manner of Jordan McMahon, Martin Mattner and Brad Symes from this year. (more…)

The Eagles are one of the teams I expect to see using the cluster to great advantage, especially in playing against it. Subiaco is not all that suited to the cluster due to the wide wings, and the Eagles historically have had no problem playing that chip-chip game spotting up leading targets along the wings in home games so it shouldn’t hold that many fears for them. I was disappointed that the Eagles couldn’t continue their 400-possession-per-game style this year but I expect them to get somewhere near that again next year - not necessarily winning a lot of those games, but certainly embracing the new high-possession norm with open arms. (more…)

This has to be the most disappointing team of 2008 for me. Flying at 15 and 1 or something ridiculous when they played the Cats, then copped one bad quarter in that game and didn’t give a yelp for the rest of the season. Serious issues in their leadership group, I think. All that crap with rebuking Aker for being Aker, that didn’t sit right with me. It was amazing how they all dropped their heads after that one quarter and gave up on the season, just about. (more…)

It’s easy to predict a big slide for the Swans, everybody’s doing it. I’m not so bearish on them though, because even if their flooding gamestyle is anathema to the new cluster paradigm, what is the ultimate goal of the cluster? To force turnovers, or at least stoppages. The Swans still have a distinct advantage over most teams when it comes to stoppages - their big loss to the Hawks was about losing the clearances, for instance, not the cluster per se - so I think they’ll do fine, especially at home and against bottom eight teams. (more…)

It’s no secret why the Saints couldn’t compete at the pointy end of the season: the bottom third of their best 22 is poor compared to most other top 8 teams. Their top-up players mostly haven’t worked out, or more to the point they won’t last until the Saints have another serious shot at the flag. (more…)

I’m bullish on the Tigers next year, at least from a fantasy perspective. A lot of teams are going to play zone defence - with differing levels of competency - and Richmond’s game style is suited beautifully to playing against it, as evidenced by their performances against Hawthorn this year. They are in their element when their halfback flankers can ignore their men and drift up the ground. (more…)

Chad Cornes (86/13) has to be a lock. Has to be. Come on. It’s Chad. (more…)

Now this is another situation I really do not like. (more…)

I think we fantasy coaches should be banding together at this point, locked as one, into boycotting Kangaroo players next year. Dean Laidley is the fantasy football Antichrist. Those of you who play NFL fantasy games know what I’m talking about when I say that he’s the Australian version of Mike Shanahan. (more…)

Pelchen’s blueprint is almost complete. Despite his statement in the media that he’s six short of his perfect team, operationally one more KP back is all that is missing, and Mitch Thorp (0/0) and/or Beau Dowler (0/0) is apparently it. Whoever it is they go with early next year is probably going to be more of an SC pickup than DT, but they’ll be serviceable in the Taylor mold. Given that both of them will be bargain basement based on low 2007 averages from a handful of games, if either of them gets classified as a back, get on it. Even as forwards they would merit strong inspection. (more…)