A heap of coaches will be looking at trading Clayton Oliver this week. Cripps Walk has commented that he was looking forward to Rare Gems as he was looking at a lowly owned replacement as a way of rising the ranks. As I usually only post every fortnight, and this was an off week, I thought I would throw something together to try to address this issue. For this post I will focus on players with MID status and slightly expand my scope to include players under 10% ownership.
Zach Merrett (ESS, $582 100, 121.0, 9%)
Not one to go off script, Zac started the year with some consistent scores, but hadn’t really set the world on fire. Then, as he has most other years around mid season, he pulled his finger out and starts scoring like the Uber Premium he is. With all of Parish, Setterfield and Sheil missing last week, Merrett decided to put on his Superman cape and play like a man possessed. There is a slight flag that West Coast might tag him this week. Even if this eventuates I can’t really see Merrett being too restricted with his ability to run and find space on the outside. If he fits into your bye structure, he’s probably my top target as a lowly owned Oliver replacement.
Net: 76k.
Chad Warner (SYD, $530 900, 113.0, 6%) & Luke Parker (SYD, $539 700,113.3, 1%)
I thought I would group these Sydney fellas together. Warner is huge talent with plenty of upside if Sydney can start to play good footy. Luke Parker has been the model of consistency over the last few years. A pretty disappointing start to the year has been followed by a month of good scoring. Both these guys have the good bye (R12), are priced very fairly and are capable of being a handy M8 at years end. Pick Parker for reliability and Warner for his potential upside.
Net: 128k.
Net: 119k.
Sam Walsh (CARL, $594 700, 105.0, 10%) & Adam Cerra (CARL, $588 300, 106.3, 2%)
I’ve also grouped these Carlton boys together. Both are highly talented players that have had their roles messed with at times this year. It’s really hard to trust Voss and his midfield rotations, but both Cerra and Walsh saw plenty of MIDtime last week. Their Round 15 and large BEs may put a few off trading them in this week. I would probably just keep them in your planning for post their byes. Keep a close eye on Walsh as he was considered a certainty to get Forward status until last week. If he does manage to sneak in, he could be a great get as a point of difference in your forward line.
Net: 64k.
Net: 82k.
Zac Butters ( PORT, M/F, $620 700, 149.3, 9%)
While technically not a mid only player I couldn’t resist including Zac in this post. That 3 round average is simply incredible. Anyone that managed to get him a month ago for $516K would be laughing. Getting up there in price now, and with that annoying round 15 bye, he maybe hard to fit into your side. That being said, his form in the wet last week tells me he maybe relishing the winter months ahead. Certainly one to consider.
Net: 38k.
Well thats it for my Oliver replacement edition of Rare Gems. I hope it can be of some help if you’re thinking of trading Oliver this week.
Thanks for reading
Cheers FT.
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Thanks FT! Sorry for inspiring you to do more work, hopefully it helps a few.
Another in my thoughts is Bailey Smith from the Doggies, good 3 round average, gets lots of the ball, fwd eligible too. Risk is the magnets moving and his awful DE%, but not bad for $528k (especially if he can use the ball better).
Yeah don’t mind it CW.
Price is good, I don’t like his Bye for my side.
Bailey has burnt me in the past as well. His role can change from week to week and who knows where he plays when Treloar gets back ? If he gets pushed to wing his scoring can quickly dry up. He is also pretty injury prone, so keep that in mind when selecting him.
My plans have changed somewhat with all the rookie carnage this week. Looks like Oliver has to go as theres no way I can cover him with my current bench. I’m looking at Merrett as I want to replace him with someone that I can at least have in my Captains plans going forward.
Expected to see Ollie wines here tbh, FT.
Very limited pre season after surgery, CBAs and TOG trending up and named onball this week (although it’s only team sheets) has a nice fixture on the run home though and should be competitiveif they want too play finals or even push for a top 4 spot.ollie has History of going 105 and 110 averages over seasons at 450k he looks to be nice value and 1% owned maybe too much of a rare gem and too much risk involed? haha
Yeah I can’t trust him Mav.
I see the appeal at his price though. It seems they prefer Butters , JHF and Rozee over Wines in the midfield this year. I’m sure he will see some Mid time , although I can’t really see him getting back to that 110 type average with these new guys taking over.They also tend to use Dew in there when they need a defensive presence. My guess after his very slow start is he can maybe average close to 100 if everything goes well. This is still good for his price, I’m not sure I want that at M8 at the back end of the year though.
Yeah it’s one for the faint hearted..
I’m still on the fence but banking the $$ from Kelly is very tempting . I thjnk he can get back too 100 avg minimum.
But the safety of a Laird will keep me sleeping well at night. Great article though FT.
Agreed FT. I got burnt by Bailey last year, all your points are why I’m leaning away. I’ve also checked my bye structure again this morning and rd 15 bye players can’t be considered for me now (which I suspect is common in the community).
Thanks for putting in the extra shift FT.
Can someone post the b/e for Laird and Merrett this week please?
Laird 99
Merrett 76
Thanks Stewy
I’m a Satan owner and am looking at Libba as my POD replacement.
I looked at Libba too, but awful for rd 15 bye which makes him hard to pick for me (same as Bailey Smith above, I’ve just checked byes properly and rd 15 bye players are hard to justify now).
Hey Simo.
I love Libba as a pick, he featured in my first Rare Gems post this year. Since then he has gone from strength to strength. If you can fit him in your Bye structure I think he would be an amazing POD going forward.