Round 6 Preview

As you may have noticed I missed last week and I apologise. But I felt that it was my duty as an Australian, to stumble around the streets of Melbourne and rock up at the dawn service at 6 in the morning, slightly inebriated, to commemorate our fallen fore-fathers. As they would have wanted. So with my apologies aside, I'm going to put this weeks out a bit early to make up for it.

After the week that has past, I somehow managed to pull out an alright score of 2017. Not a bad effort without N G Brown, Simmonds, Skipworth, Boomer and 6 rookies on the field. But who's counting?

Anyway, onto the games.

North Melbourne v Collingwood
What a weekend for these two teams. The Kangas pitiful against Richmond, and the Pies letting slip a ANZAC Day blockbuster. But from a DT point of view, there will be a lot of pressure on some of these guys to perform. After his performance last weekend, all eyes will be on Josh Fraser. There's a lot of talk about the lack of contact he put on Paddy Ryder, and he ended up being destroyed. But which DT coach cares? I'd much prefer he'd hang around picking up the cheap possesions, as he has done against Brisbane and Geelong. But avoid him this week, H-Mac & Co will have the better of him. The fortunes of two rookies in this game seem to have followed completely different trends. Ziebell started slowly but is scoring well now, while Beams is slowing down. Despite this, both still have a bit of growth left, unless Beams is dropped for either Didak or Shaw, which I think is unlikely.

Pick-Up: Jaxson Barham; even though I'm not completely sold on his abilities as a footballer, he has proved he can score well. The big IF is the amount of games he gets but if named this week, he has a breakeven of -109.

Drop: Brent Harvey; kinda obvious, isn't it? With Boomer out for at least 8 weeks, more likely longer, theres no point holding onto him. If you don't mind holding on for a week; Buddy, Gia and J. Brown will all likely drop in price this week.

Hawthorn v Carlton
Of my friends, there is two in particular, one Carlton, one Hawthorn. If Iw as to listen to them, then this week I would be buying Brendan Fevola and Jarryd Roughead. But I don't listen to them, because I think there's better options in this game. I went to watch these teams play in the pre-season, where I noticed this little fella running around. Not knowing who he was, I checked the record and he became my new favourite player thinking that he would never go anywhere. If you haven't guessed, this kid was Garry Moss. And boy was I wrong. With back-to-back hundreds, he certainly has put me in my place. I'd still wait a couple of weeks for the Hawks backline to return, maybe coinciding with a boost in DT scores for the Hawks, mainly Hodge, Buddy and Tuck. For the Blues, continuing good form from Jarrad Waite has left him with a BE of 55. He is a very enticing option. And if you're not one of the 40606 people who already have Bryce Gibbs, it's not too late. He is having his break-out year.

Pick-Up: Garry Moss; Yes, he has already gone up by $134,900, but he still has a BE of -86. And with last weeks score of 125 still in his system, he will go up further still.

Watch: Marc Murphy; After starting the season in a blaze of glory, Marc has tapered away in the last few weeks, resulting in a plummeting price. Could bottom out at a good time for a Beams upgrade.

West Coast v Fremantle
Look, if it wasn't for Fantasy Football, nobody would care about this game. Two of the bottom four sides in the league and on the other side of the country for us Victorians. But there is a few interesting characters in this one. Cox v Sandilands will be interesting, especially after Sandilands' game last weekend, but it's still safe to expect a century from Cox. The only other real players of interest are the rookies, Mitch Brown, Nick Suban, Stephen Hill and Greg Broughton if named. The first three seem to have at least one week left before the culling, and the naming of Broughton could be vital to many coaches looking to trade out Petrenko. And finally, Pavlich pulled out a good score last week. He has an achieveable BE, so now might be the time.

Watch: Matthew Pavlich; as I mentioned before, he has an achieveable BE, although he might get a hard match-up on Glass. I can't see a massive score this week, so maybe wait a week to buy. It can go either way.

Watch: Michael Johnson; I've never really been convinced by this guy. Looking at his last three weeks, he looks like a good prospect. But on his bad days, he couldn't score in a brothel. He is tempting though.

Port Adelaide v Adelaide
Speaking of bi-polar, here's the Power. After humbling the Hawks one week, they get decimated by the Saints the next and their scores where similarly affected. I'm still regretting not picking up Nathan Krakouer, as he continues to score well, and is one of the many mid-price boomers. For those in the market for a mid rookie, then Hamish Hartlett looks set for a good run. The only downside is his higher price, meaning only a $20,000 profit from a Mitch Robinson trade. It is the other team that is where the support will be. The Crows have been good to us coaches this year, playing many kids, but it appears that players like Petrenko, Dangerfield and Walker are ready for milking. I'd personally like Petrenko to be dropped this week, so to have another week to watch Levi Greenwood.

Pick-Up: Hamish Hartlett; looks guaranteed for decent run in the side and with two solid scores behind him, include 73 last week when Port got smashed, he will post a handy profit this week.

Drop: Josh Carr; he was once alright at DT, averaging 88 back in 207, but now in the twilight of his career. Will probably be dropped this week, and don't expect a recall.

Brisbane v Essendon
I think for many people watching this game, the most interesting component will be the ruck duel. With both teams without their main ruckmen, Mitch Clark and Paddy Ryder will have to lead the ruck. It is likely that both these players will have improved scores, and are very cheap right now. The teams have had very contrasting weeks and the Lions will be seeking much improvement this week. Their old hands, Simon Black, Luke Power and Danothan Brownshaw will need to lift their games in order to get over a Bombers side inspired by the previous match.

Pick-Up: Brent Stanton; I've never really watched him all that closely, but he has scored very well so far this season in all but one game. Has the ability to pull out big scores as well and scored 174(!!!) against Brisbane last season.

Drop: David Hille & Bradd Dalziell; both are out for extended periods and not worth holding onto. I'd pick up Kreuzer for Hille and Deledio for Dalziell.

Sydney v Richmond
The big question about this game is whether Richo will play. Personally, I'd love to watch Richo v Goodes, because I think whoever wins that duel will win the match. I feel obliged to write something here but the only important player is Richo and I've mentioned him. So... Does anyone know what the android's conundrum is? I was just listening to a song which said it and I don't know what it means. The song's Australia by The Shins if you're interested.

Pick-Up: Wincing the Night Away by The Shins; a bloody good album. Got nothing to do with DT but it's really catchy and has some great songs on it.

Watch: Arsenal v Manchester United; if your interested, kick-off's at 4.30am Thursday. Let's see if Man U can buy another trophy.

Melbourne v Geelong
Well. Lucky that it snowed this week, hey? At least now the Demons fans have an excuse not to watch their team get slaughtered. Being a Geelong supporter, as much as I'd love to beat that Richmond score in 2007, it's unethical to kick a man while he's down. But don't be afraid to pick Geelong players as captain. They will each score 300. But seriously, if Tom Harley returns then Andrew Mackie will be freed up. Without the captain, Mackie has had to take more serious defensive tasks but will soon return to his high-scoring role. There's not really much to talk about for the Demons. Meesen seems to have taken ruck spot over Spencer and unless Cheney gets named, it's a boring DT team. I might just set-up Ablett watch in this one.

Pick-Up: Andrew Mackie; with Harley back soon. Mackie's scoring will improve and he is probably at his lowest price for the season now.

Pick-Up: Shane Mumford; for the next few weeks, he will hold down the back-up ruck spot. After having a taste of the action last year, the amount of tackles this guy laids is great for DT.

Western Bulldogs v St Kilda
Looks to be a good game to finish the round. Once again Matthew Boyd is going to anchor me home here. How he is continually under-rated I will never know. He has averaged 90s last two years and has started this one in a blaze of glory. Up against the stingy Saints, things will be harder. With a higher BE, hopefully Gia can stink it up a bit longer, because he's my most likely Harvey trade next week. The biggest news for the Saints is the possible return of Matt Maguire, which is great news. Not that Maguire is any good at DT, his return will help to free up Sam Fisher from his defensive duties. Similar to Hodge and Mackie, injuries in the backline have forced a change of role, hampering their performances.

Pick-Up: Lenny Hayes; broke out with his first 100 last week and he now looks like he is getting back to his best following injury. Good trade for Dalziell.


Captains
1. Gary Ablett - For the remainder of the year, he will be at number 1. If you have him, then you don't have to worry about a captain for the year. It's the others that are interesting.

2. Paul Chapman - As I've mentioned before, you can have pretty much any Cat as Captain this week. I like Chappy though. Averages 101 against Melbourne and 110 this year.

3. Bryce Gibbs - Is capable of scoring well, as he's proven and averages 95 against the Hawks. Even in his pre-premium stage.

4. Jimmy Bartel - Outside DT circles, this guy really doesn't get mentioned enough. As good as Ablett is, Bartel is a gun as well. Don't you ever forget that!

5. Dean Cox - He will lose hit-outs this week against Sandi, but will make up for it in his movement.