The forgiving first fortnight is over. Round 3 will be your last to really create wholesale change in your side and fire off corrective trades. Beyond this point the name of the game is keeping your cash generation fresh and rushing to full premo. Can’t be playing catch up. To that end, who are you forging ahead with?
defenders
Baked In: No reason you shouldn’t have started Harry Sheezel and then jumped on Massimo D’Ambrosio. Great prices, great roles and seeing a metric ton of it in under siege backlines. True must haves.
Iced Tea: With Reid, Coffield and Gibcus all gone, refreshments in Toby Pink, Marty Hore, Tom Brown and Joshua Draper will be in order over this week and the next. Key to have your bench fresh and CG set to max.
Season Shaper: Not a season shaper in the sense of whether you chop him – which seems to be the conclusion – but certainly one in who you go to and how you go about it. Are you kicking up the a clear big dog? Are you getting a little dicey dropping into the 400s? Swinging some DPP? Going down to a rookie and beefing up elsewhere? It’s big stuff and one that’ll really create some differences in what were largely similar starting teams. Exciting!
Midfielders
Required By Law: You absolutely need at least three of: Marcus Bontempelli, Zak Butters, Tom Green and Caleb Serong. If you can swing all four, tremendous. They’re the pack leaders right now and will become unassailable on price with some hefty scores in their cycle. Meta.
Cliffside: Jordon Dawson presents as a real problem for those who started. He’s opened with an 82 and a 96, the Crows midfield is terribly one way and cheap and his BE sits at 189. Certainly not the output you’d have wanted for a $650k starting price. Perfectly acceptable to swap to any of four Required By Law picks.
Chopping Block: Dawson’s young compatriot Sam Berry has been nothing short of a blunder after a subbed 50 last week and nowhere near the MID role that was flagged in the pre-season. His 80 the week before was generous as well. Easy source of funds going down to Jack Carroll or Jeremy Sharp or, if you’re going the other away, to get him up.
Holster: Not sure he was ultra-popular here but Riley Bonner in in 10.4% of teams and posted half his Round 1 score last week with Sinclair back and a commanding Wanganeen-Milera performance. Does look like he’s going to be dislodged from that HB role and Sinclair will reclaim his HB economy birthright. If that’s the case this weekend, he’ll have to go. Can wait though.
Curtains Closed: Yeah, that’s a wrap. Nic Martin and Ollie Wines haven’t panned out. Sorry, fam. Scoring and roles not that disastrous, sure, but their potency and longevity with respect to the Top 6/8 lines is. For Martin, it’s an ill fit to a defensive orientation and Wines just had to have done better against West Coast and Richmond – any self respecting MID is ripping 120s. Definitely wanted for more for the structural repercussions they wrought to your starting side. Easy case to merge them and move on.
rucks
Tsunami Warning: Against West Coast this Sunday, Tim English is set to remind everyone why he’ll end up a must have ruck. With the diverse ruck landscape it was not essential to start him but do not be incredulous when he starts to cook. Other than Tingles, Max Gawn and Rowan Marshall look right as rain. I like some upside for Maxxy with May and Lever gone as he sinks back to intercept and then RoMo was absolutely dynamic against the Pies but criminally underscored. Big ups for them but all shall bow before L’Anglais – points if anyone besides Jeannot gets that.
Question Mark: If he didn’t have West Coast after Tingles there’d probably be a case that Brodie Grundy hasn’t panned out. He’s overcompensating by mistaking physicality with contribution and it’s murdering his scoring. Honestly got bodied by Draper of all people. Close to 20 FAs given away at this point and not hyper-involved around the ground. Really tricky and a conundrum that will really shake up the rankings.
forwards
Must Haves: Isaac Heeney is the one you really need to have jumped on. In 34.1% teams and fired off scores of 144, 136 and 128 in his little midfield/high SI role. Looks like active coaches are all on him.
It’s Not You, It’s Me: This pair avoid express “must have” status owing to their stripes . So Luke Jackson is not doubt off tap and relishing solo ruck life but is one you needed to have started and ridden the rails with until Darcy comes back – not point scrambling to bring him and then Darcy demotes him to 85~. Sam Flanders has been lit but, again, it was permissible to pass given that bye. Unless you’re planning to unload the clip next week, the ship has sailed as far as corrective/restructuring trades go; so you’ll have to wait and bring him in straight up at some stage.
Season Shaper: Maybe that’s a dramatic lead in but Tom Powell is now that first big acquisition decision as we move out of the forgiving first fortnight – going to split the competition. He’s opened with a 95 and 129 against some real quality midfields in GWS and Freo on proper CBAs. The balance of him, LDU, Simpkin and Wardlaw looks really nice and definitely an area where North can look to perform at above a bottom four rating. FWD status is also great because while the rookies are rich they’re high variance (Cadman key forward, Berry small, Wilson outside, Buku key defender), so bringing him in ushers some stability into your forward line. A pretty positive perspective, so if you can’t tell I’m on board, but fair questions over sustainability and maneuverability if he whiffs.
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Backing Dawson to go big against Freo. Disposal numbers have been there, efficiency has not. He was touted as the cleanest kick in the comp at some point last year, so you have to back him if you selected him to begin with.
Grundy … sigh … that opening round against Gawn tricked us all. Leaning towards English this week.
Yep I am keeping dawson as we will fall behind if we sideways trade him as everyone will bring him in once he bottoms out
Young likely to tag him; gonzo for me.
I’m giving Grundy two more weeks to prove himself. He has had trouble with Draper in the past ( It was Draper that smashed his knee a few years back at Collingwood) and both Collingwood and Essendon double teamed him so will be interesting to see how he goes against the solo Ruck teams.
Been cutting and slashing like a madman. Will only end in tears.
Whiffed on starting Mckercher. Is a better trade to sideways a Lazzaro (kinda meh start to the season) or Sexton (had one price rise and is going into a bye)? Secondary option would be to bail on wines and pocket the cash.
TU Trade Lazzaro to Mckercher (via DPP)
TD Trade Sexton to Mckercher (via DPP)
Comment Trade wines to Mckercher
Thanks!
Trade Wines to Mckercher
Own Martin and Wines, trading Martin but holding Wines . He has the next 3 games at home and is ave just below 100. Only expected 100-105 b4 upgrade
Agree totally with this. Wines doing exactly what was expected, no bye to worry about and plays 5 of the next 6 at home.
Had 14 contested and only 2 clangers against the Tigers. If it wasn’t for Butters going god mode and hogging all the points, Ollie goes 110+.
Is Zac Williams a decent trade in for those that didn’t start him? On the bubble, -2 BE, decent scoring stream.
Any Blues supporters with thoughts?
Okay if you started with him, probably not worth a trade to bring in. Unless you see him scoring 75+, one of the cheaper guys will likely get you better cash generation. Maybe wait this week and see who goes better out of Hore / Brown / Draper (I realize Hore is on the bubble this week, but a sub-affected 12 means he won’t make much cash this week, around $15k based on his current average).
Have done gibcus and young to massimo and powell already
For a boost trade this week
Grundy to serong +120k (via dpp) OR
Jordan to M Crouch/Steele + 75k/45k
Steele over Crouch. Adelaide isn’t performing well and he’s a perfect candidate to be chopped.
Hi all
Interested why so many are keen to offload Martin. Sure he started poorly in Round 1 but was substantially better in Rd 2 albeit without Redman. Defence is already thin and it’s only a few weeks till Round 6 for the DPP Switch. If he averages 95 for the season is that enough for a D6? Keen to hear other opinions on why people are trading or holding 🙂
95 won’t get him into the Top 20 DEFs
Hmm by my quick calc (using FootyWire), 95 Ave for DEF would have been around top 10 in ’23. But I do take the point, currently not good enough.
I have Martin, but will hold as I have priorities elsewhere. That said, Martin has skills and the role is there, so hopefully will improve.
Yeh, fair call, and history backs that, though I think we’ll have an exceptional year for DEF, Martin not making top 10 is a safe bet.
Is Mckercher a must have? I feel like I have most of the key rookies in place and enough cash gen coming. I think I should preference fixing up injured defense rookies over side ways trading a sexton to mckercher.
Yeah, 100%.
Placing value on proven Premium Performance and CA$H-Gen
Out – Young, Short, Martin
IN – Ryan, D’Ambrosio, McKercher
Hoping the best-18 rounds are favourable to me as haven’t had the flgreatest stsrt
Have $575k for upgrades next week
Great article GD
I have Dawson well in my cross hairs as an upgrade target in 2-3 weeks once he shows a pulse and bottoms out . I owned him for majority of last season and it was a pleasure..
This week’s trades look like:
N.Martin -> Butters
Wines -> powell
Gibcus -> d’ambrosio
Only way this changes is if berry’s dropped or I feel he’s the sub when crows drop their team tonight.. then it’s a decision on Berry to which rookie of carroll or sharp.
Worth using a boost to trade bonner to carrol? I don’t think bonner is the player I thought he was
I think I would Dukes..
I have Bonner and would make that move but unfortunately I have to many other holes in my team to prioritise so he lives another week