Welcome to another edition of Rare Gems. Can you believe it’s already just over a third of the way through the season. Blink and you miss it. Now is surely a good time to find some low owned players, as a few good PODs can really help you make up ground, or continue your march up the rankings. Once again I have added the Bye rounds as it’s definitely the time of year to start planning if you haven’t already. Site regular Macca has an awesome tool to help plan your bye structure here.
Legend: Name (Club, Price, 3 Rd avg, Ownership %, Bye)
DEFENDERS:
Wing please
Jordan Dawson (ADEL, MID/DEF, $519 900, 103, 5% , R13) Dawson was penciled in to my Round 1 team, and would of made it, if it wasn’t for a late calf complaint. So far this year he’s been solid with out being spectacular. He has certainly been better than some more fancied picks like Whitfield and Ridley. The main knock on Dawson, has been his role as a deep defender, which has seen him gone missing for entire quarters. Last week he seemed to relish being moved up the ground and scored a 134. He definitely gets his best scores when he can play that wing role, where he can link up and get involved in scoring chains. If you think he can keep this more SC friendly role going forward, he could be a great discounted defensive pick this year. His R13 Bye should suit quite a few teams as well.
Dayne Zorko (BRIS, MID/DEF, $522 900, 105.3, 1.8%, R14) I had mixed feelings about Zorko when he was given DEF status at R6. Sure he can score, but he was battling a lower leg complaint that derailed his preseason and was obviously affecting him earlier in the year. The last few week he seems to moving a bit more freely. Add to this the addition of Coleman playing back and it seems The Magician is back to his free wheeling best, where he seems to score almost at will. For me the value in this pick somewhat outweighs the risk. If your flush on trades, maybe Zorko could fill a defensive spot at a very reasonable price.
MIDFIELDERS:
Mac Luggage.
Hugh McCluggage (BRIS, $575.800, 125, 1.6%, R14) The Scottish suitcase has always been a bit of a tease when it comes to SuperCoach. Mainly used as a wingman, his outside, mostly uncontested game has never really reached the heights required to average enough to be truly considered. This year, more CBA’s and the ability to hit the score board has Hugh looking like he might have finally arrived. With so many tried and true midfielders it would take a brave soul to take a punt on someone like McCluggage. But he is playing midfield for one of the best teams in the comp. So if you’re feeling lucky, he could be the “breakout” you’ve been searching for.
Oliver Wines (PTA, $512 900, 102.3, 2.2%, R12) I’ve never been a huge fan of Ollie as he’s burnt me in the past, so I will try and keep this short and sweet. Wines is cheap, he could be a serviceable M8 at worst. If Port manage to get going again he has upside to average 110+ . The main flags are his disposal efficiency and his heart murmur. If you’re short on cash and willing to take a punt, you could do way worse than the reining Brownlow medalist.
RUCK:
My tap work is amazing.
Sean Darcy (FREO, $595.600, 131, 2.3% R14) Rucking for the hottest team in the comp at the moment, yep the lids off! Shrek went beast mode last week against an ageing Goldy and scored 178. We all know this could be the beginning of some monster scores, or just another tease before he falls prey to another injury. The ultimate risk verses reward selection. If you like to play the game on the edge, get on the Darcy train and hang on for dear life. If he’s still fit after his bye I will be moving heaven and earth to get Preuss up to him.
FORWARDS:
Old Gold-y
Todd Goldstein (NTH, RUC/FWD, $456 500, 111.7, 1.3% R14) Okay, here we have a first ruck with scoring history and DPP for $450K. It should really be a no brainer. When you look deeper there’s some definite red flags. Will he keep the main ruck role when Xerri returns? Will they persist with Coleman Jones and rotate Goldy and Xerri ? One thing I know is Goldy loves playing first ruck and seems to be playing for another contract (most likely at another club). Short term this should be a great selection. What happens longer term, well your guess is as good as mine. Either way he’s surely worth considering at this price.
Darcy Cameron (COLL, $368 400, 92.7, 0.7%, R14) Grundy going down seems like a life time ago, yet it has only been two weeks since Cameron took over the first ruck role at Collingwood. Sharing more a 60/40 split with a young Begg, Darcy has topped the 100 for the last fortnight with scores of 115 and 108. Not really known for his tap work, Cameron has mainly scored from his around the ground stuff, including marks and tackles. He goes into Round 9 with a very attractive price, and a break even of -8 . If he keeps up this form, Cameron could be the buy of the year. If you’re fed up with “soft as” Butters and you need some cash to get you to your desired upgrade maybe Zak to Darcy can help you achieve your goals. The added bonus of R/F DPP pre-byes may come in handy as well. The only downside I see is he may require a trade when Grundy comes back closer to SC finals, even then he maybe worth keeping as a sneaky F7 and ruck cover.
Well that’s it for this weeks Rare Gems post. As always let me know in the comments if there’s anyone I’ve missed that you maybe considering for your side. Just a reminder that due to work commitments, I may not be able to respond to comments until after midday. I will endeavor to get back to you after that.
Thanks for reading.
Cheers, FT.
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Zorko – Rioli – Cameron in for me this week.
Hinge-odriscoll-butters out
Nice Bomber.
If going Butters down to Cameron allows you to get in Zorko I think Its worth it.
Best of luck and thanks for reading.
Perfectly said, FT. Given myself neck damage nodding in agreement.
Think the Cameron move is shrewd as long as you know you’ll have a backend trade when Grundy returns. Also need him to put in the hard yards around the ground each week. HO work alone isn’t getting him tons, like you said.
It’s the indeterminacy of Xerri that makes Goldy tricky. I actually think they were set to drop Xerri and bring Goldy back as #1 before Xerri was injured – just needed to stem the bleeding. Not sure what happens now.
My plan is to get Tingles when he’s back to finish FWDs, so don’t have to mess with either Cameron or Goldy.
Bringing in Darcy for SLOB this week, so should be fun, a disaster or epic lol.
Great stuff, FT.
The fact that both Cameron and Goldy have the last bye means you can more-or-less have a free swing, knowing you’ll likely trade them in 5 weeks regardless for $50k-$125k more than you paid, plus points.
The main downside is it puts you a week behind in upgrades, not counting the money you have tied up in them, which may slow upgrades further.
The fact that the Doggies may be without both English and Martin this week feels like the risk/reward is tipping in Cameron’s favour.
Good point Chips.
I would probably have a go at Cameron but My Forward line looks ok with out him atm. If Butters spuds again I may look at Cameron or Goldy next week.
Thanks Gunboat.
I would love to bring in Darcy but I have the Gawn, Pruess , S Mayes Ruck line so I will wait until they are ripe before attempting a move.
I’m really wanting another Mid this week, I can only really afford Petracca, I would need to boost and it messes with my DPP as well. I think I will just use two trades and ” finish” my backline with Dawson.
I like Zorko’s scoring but I feel Dawson will be the safer option. I don’t mind the Cameron pick but feel my Forward line is ok for now with Martin at F6. Butters gets another week as he’s playing North. I also have Baz in the mids who is looking at getting Forward status in R12 so I may swing him forward and get another Mid around the Byes.
Thanks for dropping that link in for Macca’s Bye planner.
Looking forward to Captains this week.
Cheers FT.
yeah and I must give apologies lads … I had intended updating the Bye Planner after round 8 with the current prices, BE’s etc … but work just been too busy for me this week … I’ll get another version out next week and hopefully not too late for everyone …
No need to apologize Macca – half of us would be cooked at the byes if it weren’t for the hard work you put into the bye planner. If we have to wait a week, so be it!
Great stuff FT.
Brought in Wines in my Tech League Team last weekend, he should average 105 at least from here which would be a very cheap and decent M8
Good get Alza.
Yeah Wines should be fine. He so cheap it’s hard to think it could go wrong.
I already have B Smith as my M8 so not to keen on Wines this year.
Interested on your thoughts on the Rookies this week.
I actually got Carroll early as I had planned on Clark.
I can’t really split Rioli and Hamilton. Are you going either of these guys ?
Butters to Cameron for me.
I’m giving Butters one more week against North.
If he spuds I will sideways him to Cameron next week. It may cost me a few extra dollars but I want to get a few rookies and a defender this week.
I hope it works out for you.
If Cameron scores 105 against the virtually ruckless dogs he will jump by around 60k.
If Butters scores 65 (half his scores below that mark this year) he will drop around 15k so that’s a conservative 75k that you might be doing a Frydenberg with if you wait until next week for the swap.
I wouldn’t be suprised to see Farrell getting 80+ and having more CBA’s than Butters
Good on ya FT. With all the rookie carnage this week I’ll be looking closely at Dawso and the Magician.
I also have a POD prospect I wanted to bring up: Mark Blicavs is going at 112 in his past five games, mostly off the back of increased responsibility in the ruck (17 hitouts/game in that time). Must be a decent shot at grabbing DEF/RUC status in Round 12, which would normally not be a big deal….except that you can get the super loophole option Domanic Akuei at R3 later on after SHayes maxs out and set up that nice swing. Currently in 0.9% of teams!
Thanks Chillo I never really considered Blicavs . He’s had a few purple patches when given that ruck role in the past. I see him a bit like Goldy , short term he could go off. Longer term he may let you down when he returns to defence. Its always risky picking guys that get moved around a lot. Also later in the year when the carnage sets in theres rarely luxury trades to deal with under performers.
That DDP does make things interesting.
I think I’m going Dawson now NOD is out. I like Zorko too , he probably has more upside, but I’m already burning through the trades so would rather go the safer option.
Thanks for the comments and good luck this week.
Zorko is worth the risk – POD
I love the way Blicavs plays – just a non-stop relentless footballer. I’m not sure I’d take him in SC though, as he does tend to have patches where he looks ready to become a premium, then he gets a role change due to his versatility and his scores drop precipitously for a few weeks.
Luke mcdonald @ $441k might be a good value pick
Avging 99.4 if you take out his 28pt game
I like it Dacer.
It does come with some risk , He’s still playing a pretty accountable role and who knows where they play him when Hall comes back. I would of liked a few more bigger scores before I am willing to commit.
He could certainly work at that price though. Good luck..