Redirected, man

You've not heard from me in nearly a week, and I apologise.

From now on, I've joined forces with a blog over at FanFooty. The URL is this: http://www.fanfooty.com.au/blog/

With multiple writers (and possibly more on the way), there'll be more regular updates and a far broader look at everything Dream Team.

Trust me; put it in your favourites. It could prove very handy for tips and hints.

See youse at FanFooty!

Stevens out: who'll step up?

Holy shit. Carlton's gun Nick Stevens is out for the rest of the year. This throws up a few more dilemmas for Carlton, of course... but it's also a golden opportunity for Dream Teamers to get their hands on a player who moves up in the ladder of opportunity.

So who's likely? See below:

Marc Murphy (301k): Scary to think Daniel Kerr was this cheap three weeks ago. If Murphy steps up and starts winning even more ball for the Blues, that price will go up. But for me, his 19-year-old body won't be able to hack the flat-out pace all season, and any spike couldn't last. Don't get me wrong - Murphy is a smart buy. The odds are on a price rise. Just beware of his relative junior status.

Bryce Gibbs (141k): Everyone's got him anyway, so why bother? Actually, no. I don't, for one. But I don't think Gibbs is the answer to the Stevens dilemma. He may get more midfield time, but once again the lightweight frame is causing me worries about his durability. No thanks.

Jordan Bannister (223k): Jordan who? Avoid.

Andrew Carrazzo (320k): If you take this bait, it's about an even money trade - it won't free up much cash (just 14k). With that in mind, Carrazzo is ready for a step up in responsibility. He's one of those bull-at-a-gate types who tend to be excellent DTers, consistent and with a desire to succeed which pleases coaches very muchly (Nathan Foley, Daniel Cross). I reckon Carrazzo could start scoring regular 80s. Okay, maybe 75s. When you think about it, that's not the best deal - there's better options if you're doing an even-money trade for Stevens (ie Brett Kirk).

Andrew Walker (288k): Walker ("call me Tex") is a Back, but let's not rule him out. He was a midfielder as a junior - I know that for a fact. I played against him. And at only 288k, he's relatively cheap considering his talent, in part due to Pagan's continuous desire to play him as a tagger. However, that may be changed by force after Stevo's injury. Yep folks, Walker is my tip to get on board to make the most of a poor situation. He's already climbed this year, but thankfully only by 10k. Get him this week.

Image courtesy of stuandgravy on Flickr.

Ball set to miss this week

Here's trouble. Saints coach Ross Lyon has said that Luke Ball is "unlikely" to play in this week's game - his third miss in a row, a highly significant number in Dream Team terms.

"Functionally, he's perfect but there's still an element of risk," Lyon said. "Until that disappears he won't play."

This is worrying news. Let's not forget the troubles that Koschitzke had last year with head injuries... and the more Ball misses, the more tempting it is to offload him. 350k should be scoring you 90 points each week.

On the other hand, every single week is (hopefully) another week closer to his return, and with trades an all-important commodity, you don't want to waste them on a player whose successful return may yet even be this weekend.

Thoughts? (Advice?)

Hodgey says

If you read to the bottom of this article from the AFL website, you'll see this, regarding Luke Hodge and Hawthorn's weekend win over the Roos:

- Hodge admitted to a personal interest in Mitchell's best-afield performance. Mitchell was outstanding with 34 disposals, including 14 touches during the pivotal third term.

"I had him captain of my Dream Team, so I was absolutely rapt ... especially when he kicked that goal in the last quarter," Hodge said.

Hodge's enthusiasm about his AFL Dream Team prompted a few raised eyebrows among the media in the wake of the betting controversy earlier this year.

An AFL official confirmed that players are allowed to have fantasy teams as these are known before games." -

Who'd have thought it? Incidentally, notice it's assumed to be an "AFL Dream Team", despite Hodge not specifying whether it's Supercoach, or FanFooty, or Dreamteam.com.au, or any other competition... That's the way the cookie crumbles, I suppose.

Image courtesy of Bluphobia on Flickr.

Impulse trading

A really excellent thread on BigFooty details the many perspectives involved in trading players this early in the season - when you should, when you shouldn't. There's some very well thought out opinions being expressed - it's well worth a read: Click here.

My personal view: trade at the beginning of the season to miss the guns you left out of your initial squad (Brennan/Sandilands/etc). But only do it if you can see a long-term benefit coming - ie, you plan on playing Brennan or Sandilands for a fair chunk of the year. It's not a good move to use a trade just to get a player you plan on offloading quickly, even if it does net you some serious coin.

As for the underperforming guns (damn you, Luke Hodge), I'm keeping them. I am confident the three players (they know who they are) will get back to top form through the year, scoring 90s and 100s, and that's why they're there. I'm not going to hit the dump button, except for serious injuries.

Watch the extended interchange benches!

Here's an email I got from a mate, highlighting the importance of carefully watching those extended interchange benches:

"I scored ok - 1698 - but that was really, really lucky. I got screwed over twice this week. First, James Clement was a late withdrawal, and then Nigel Lappin didn't come up for the Swans game.

Ordinarily the damage from this would have been limited by the emergencies. But it wasn't to be - for the Backs, my emergency in Chris Johnson was left out of Melbourne's final squad. If I'd gone with Xavier Ellis, I would have at least got a score, even if Johnson would usually score far higher.

In the Centres, it could have been even worse if Selwood hadn't played. Luckily, Nathan Ablett withdrew and I escaped a certain 0 score. But in having Selwood instead of Lindsay Thomas as my emergency, I really should have lost out big-time when Lappin didn't play.

I am thanking my lucky stars that Fevola was my captain!"

Image courtesy of whoops vision on Flickr.

Talking Points: round three wrap

Well, what an interesting round in football. Plenty of things to note – and from now on, this will be a regular feature every Monday morning.

• The Tomahawk stepped up into gear again, scoring 70-odd points. The only worry here is that Thompson will give him limited game time to douse the hype – but surely he’ll continue to play while he’s in this sort of form.


• I watched Luke Hodge (at the game) very closely, and I reckon he’s carrying an injury. Very ginger, didn’t look to have any explosive pace. I get the feeling he may still be hurting from that collision with Nigel Lappin in round 1.


• Those Dream Teamers with Andrew Browne deserve to feel very unlucky, as he did his hamstring and will miss three weeks. Browne was scoring solidly and getting a good run in the midfield after being a very cheap pick. Hope he recovers ok. Also for the Dockers, Paul Hasleby scored very well, while Tarrant and Pavlich both flopped.


• Nigel Lappin and Jamie Charman both missed Brisbane’s game against the Swans – frustrating quite a few coaches who have been waiting for the pair to play. On a brighter note, Richard Hadley returned, and although he only scored 31 points, it’s better than anything else he’s scored in the past two seasons. For the Swans, Barry Hall shook off injury concerns to score a mammoth 113. This highlights the value of sticking with a gun player when he has a couple of slow weeks. On another note, Jared Brennan scored a measly 26, after beginning the year in stunning form.


• Another player quick out of the blocks was Aaron Fiora, who slipped back a bit with 63. If you’re going to get on board a player who’s started well, make sure they can keep it up.


• Those with Chris Knights must be barely able to contain themselves. After scoring 105 on the weekend his average is 98 this year – fantastic form.


• Nathan Foley pleased many with a score of 91 against the Pies. Brett Deledio, on the other hand, has started the year unspectacularly. Will he jump up a level as the season progresses? Don’t rule it out yet.


• Three big blokes played their first or second game, and pleasingly, none scored too well. This is good, because I am considering drafting each in weeks to come, and I don’t want to pay too much. (I’m talking about Tredrea, Paul Johnson, and Jason Laycock.