Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Round 3 Preview

So, this is one really annoying week for DT. With the Easter Weekend, the AFL refuses to play games on Good Friday and with the first game on a Thursday, we will enter lock-out without knowing the full team sheets of 8 teams, some of which are important. As the season goes on, there will become less and less rookies, so I will summarise game-by-game for now on.

Geelong v Collingwood

The beginning of a big weekend of football, with a highly anticipated match in front of a packed MCG. But for fantasy purposes, we get to see the four most expensive mids, as well as two up-and-comers in the first match. I’m tipping that 70% of the competition will have ABC or Swan as captain this weekend, as all look to smash the tonne. It is some of the younger players that will be of more interest to us though, with Joel Selwood and Scott Pendlebury looking to become elite, and Dayne Beams becoming one of the must-have rookies after his stunning debut. The loss of Brad Ottens will hurt, for both Geelong and fantasy purposes, as an inform Josh Fraser comes up against Mark Blake and a young Trent West. Fraser would be very unique captain choice, but it could pay off.

Pick-Up: Dayne Beams: after his very impressive debut, he looks set to get games and could pay a handsome price increase. If you’re not sold, wait a week, because unlike most other rookies available he did not play round 1 and will have an extra week before a price rise.

Drop: Brad Ottens: Despite his excellent first game, the big guy is out for at least two weeks, likely longer. Also with a meager 7 points in his last game, he is likely to suffer an even greater price fall in the next few games. Get off for now.

St.Kilda v West Coast

A very average looking game for Fantasy purposes. A probable St.Kilda win but nothing of two much interest here. For many viewers it will be important, for Brendan Goddard to get back in form, after failing miserably last week, as well as the Volt who is not performing to value at the moment. I, personally, would love to see Riewodlt stink it up for a couple of weeks, and hopefully get on a straight Skipworth to Volt swap. Cox is the only Eagles player of interest, and up against both King and Gardiner, it could be tough for our big Cox, but his added durability should allow him to dominate around the ground.

Pick-Up: Farren Ray: Seems to have found his niche as a half-backer at the saints, following a torrid time at the dogs. Hit exactly 100 two weeks in a row.

Drop: Daniel Kerr: This may seem odd after his blinding third quarter last week, but the WC midfield is not as it was and Kerr is S.T.Ruggling. Trade for Bernie Vince, Adam Selwood or Ray.

Carlton v Essendon

Gee, the Blues have really started the season on fir, especially in DT perspective. Bryce Gibbs, Chris Judd and Marc Murphy, as well as Jarrad Waite, Matthew Kreuzer and a relative unknown, Richard Hadley, have all the started the season in a blaze of glory and appear to be too strong for Essendon. David Hille seems to be disappointing many supporters so far this year as many predicted him to be the second highest scoring ruckman this year. Doesn’t look likely at this point but still not worth a trade. The rookies available in this game are coming out of our ears, Mitch Robinson, Sam Jacobs, Aaron Jospeh and Jeff Garlett, and David Zaharakis and Michael Quinn for Essendon. Perhaps wait a week for the Bombers pair, as both have only played one week.

Pick-Up: Robinson, Hadley, Ryan Houlihan, Kreuzer (take your pick): all of these boys have started the season very well and for people looking to trade Anthony, Kerr, Raines, or Ottens, these are your boys.

Drop: Brendan Fevola, perhaps a bit harsh but Carlton have been scoring at will and Fev hasn’t. Perhaps times to move on.

Brisbane v Sydney

Only one things about this game. Be prepared to get Rich! That’s if you have him.

Pick-Up: Daniel Rich: The kid’s been on fire, averaging 86.5 through his first few games. Everyone get on.

Drop: The entire Sydney Team: They’re terrible for DT, sure they beat an undermanned Hawthorn but that doesn’t show anything. Fine! You can keep Jarad McVeigh.

Port Adelaide v Melbourne

It appears that the Cornes’ brothers are back, with both of them scoring a triple in their last outing and against Melbourne this weekend you can expect their form to continue. It might be this week that we finally get to see Wade Thompson lighting up the wing as well, as the calls are becoming too loud to ignore. From a Melbourne POV. Kyle Cheney has the hopes of many resting on his shoulders as people look jump off Hill, Raines and Hurley. Can the young kid handle it? Who cares, we only need him for 4 weeks. It could be a blood-bath, with all of the older Power boys capable of scoring 100’s, except for maybe Tredrea who is a log.

Pick-Up: Kyle Cheney: one of the few back rookies capable of scoring points, and with the backs going down like flies (again), could be an important pick-up.

Drop: Warren Tredrea: put simply, he’s too old. Also he’s crap for DT.

North Melbourne v Hawthorn

Their Premiership defence is under threat, and it doesn’t get any easier this week. The Kangaroos seem to have the wood over Hawthorn, and it could be harder for the Hawks with their current injury woes. With the 0-2 start, the Hawks season has to improve and over the next few weeks as players return, we could see them become better. After Buddy pulled out a shocker last week, he could turn it around this week against an indifferent Kangaroos backline. The Kangaroos on the other hand, desperately need a big game from Brent Harvey. Boomer has been shocking first two weeks, burning many, myself included. Otherwise, players like H-Mac and Daniel Wells have been good and will look to step-up further

Pick-Up: Jack Ziebell: JZ, has now played the opening two games, and as he goes he’ll get better. As a more expensive rookie, it may be hard to trade from someone like Gumbleton, but he is an easy replacement for anyone with Trent Hentschell.

Drop: Luke Hodge: a very poor start to the season from the Quarterback. Downgrade him to a Sam Fisher or Chad Cornes, at least until the Hawks start winning.

Fremantle v Adelaide

So, the Crows are playing the kids which is great news for DT. Taylor Walker, Jared Petrenko, Myke Cook, Andy Otten and Pat Dangerfield have all been given a run in the first two weeks, with many looking at a nice price-rise this Monday. In the same way, Freo have been playing Kids but not to the same success, Stephen Hill has been a disappointment and may become the first rookie to decrease in price, while Nick Suban has been solid but nothing special. As for the old hands, many are hoping for an improvement from Pavlich, who is in the same boat as Riewoldt. Keep stinking Pav!

Pick-Up: Taylor Walker: with Trent Hentschell going down, Taylor becomes the main forward. As was seen in the third quarter last week, he has the potential to score well but he won’t be cheap for long.

Hold: Stephen Hill: unless you’re really struggling with the Backopalypse, hold onto Hill while he plays. Even if you have to withstand an early price fall, he could come good. But wait and see.

Western Bulldogs v Richmond

A much improved by the Tiges last week and the early form of the Bullies makes this an interesting match. Richo again proved his like a good red wine, and dominated the Cats, one of the few forwards who could possibly increase in price. Likewise, N Brown also got his season started with a dominating 135. For the Dogs, back-to-back good games from Brian Lake makes him enticing, especially for those who remember his Brisbane game a few years ago, but the most important Dogs player is Shaun Higgins. Slightly quieter last week than Round One, but a nice rise is still predicted.

Pick-Up: Shaun Higgins; predicted to be one of the better mid-price cash cows this year and he seem to be doing his best to confirm this. Will make you cash.

Drop: Adam Cooney: While it hurts to say this about a fellow Ranga, Cooney has been appalling this year. Was never really a DT player anyway and goes to show that the Brownlow Medal has nothing to do with DT.

Captain Choices

1. Gary Ablett

2. Josh Fraser

3. Chad Cornes

4. Bryce Gibbs

5. Dean Cox

No comments:

Post a Comment