Young Hawks Garry Moss and Brendan Whitecross and Roo Jack Ziebell remain at the top of the most improved players, while Chris Tarrant, Travis Johnstone and James Kelly are still prominent among those who have lost the most value.
But that doesn’t mean that there still aren’t some canny moves to be made by coaches looking to squeeze every last drop of productivity from their squads.
Rather than looking at the overall changes in value of player, coaches are well advised to cast their eyes over the weekly variations.
It’s there that the nuggets of Dream Team gold will be uncovered – like Magpie Jaxson Barham, Richmond’s Andrew Collins and Kangaroo Ben Warren.
Those three played their third games on the weekend and their values have shot up accordingly. Barham and Collins both leapt almost $60,000 in value and Warren rose a healthy $38,600.
Happily for Dream Team coaches, all three will still cost you less than $150,000 if you’re looking to add a dose of youth with some serious upside to your squad.
Just as you come to the conclusion that the list of biggest movers is the exclusive domain of the shiny, new, young things, along comes Leon Davis.
The Collingwood forward-midfielder enjoyed a healthy rise of more than $36,000 this week after his 137-point game against North Melbourne on Friday night.
It’s the third week in a row that Davis has racked up more than 100 points and he’s fallen just short on two more occasions. Regardless of his price, that’s the sort of consistency you’re looking with a price tag of $419,000.
St Kilda’s Sam Gilbert is another who’s gradually crept up the DT rankings this year.
Sunday’s outing against the Western Bulldogs was his first game in excess of 100 points but the mobile defender has still managed an average of 90 points a game.
At $312,000, his value has jumped by more than $100,000 since round one but he’s still a viable option for a trade if you need to get rid of some dead DT wood.
Speaking of those who are struggling, there might be a few coaches looking to cut their losses with Melbourne’s Matthew Bate.
The bloodnut has been employed up forward for the Dees this year and Bate – who spent plenty of time in the midfield in previous years – has found it tough going.
His value dropped another $36,200 after a 44-point game against Geelong, taking his overall price to $256,800 – a loss of almost $100,000.
But if Bate’s struggling for points, he should spare a thought for Tarrant - the only player whose drop in value has cracked the ton.
Yes, big Taz is now worth a whopping $111,800 less than the amount that almost 2000 coaches paid for him at the season’s start.
Other big names struggling to reproduce their form from last year include the Western Bulldogs’ Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney (down $81,100) and Hawk Coleman Medallist Lance Franklin (down $81,600).
The likes of Coondog and Buddy are worth big money but at some stage, a coach has to make the tough calls and for many DT mentors, that time is rapidly approaching.
Toyota AFL Dream Team Round 6
Top 10 movers
1. Garry Moss (Haw) $210,200 (+$134,900)
2. Brendan Whitecross (Haw) $233,500 (+$146,900)
3. Jack Ziebell (NM) $228,300 (+$109,700)
4. Shaun Higgins (WB) $316,100 (+$104,200)
5. Nathan Krakouer (PA) $294,300 (+$105,000)
6. Liam Picken (WB) $166,100 (+$90,800)
7. Andy Otten (Adel) $226,400 (+$99,900)
8. Alex Rance (Rich) $184,000 (+$97,400)
9. Daniel Rich (BL) $233,300 (+$106,700)
10. Sam Gilbert (StK) $324,000 (+$102,000)
Top 10 losers
1. Chris Tarrant (Freo) $200,200 (-$111,800)
2. Matthew Bate (Melb) $256,800 (-$97,300)
3. Travis Johnstone (BL) $276,500 (-$93,700)
4. James Kelly (Geel) $308,300 (-$86,800)
5. Daniel Giansiracusa (WB) $328,200 (-$86,100)
6. Lance Franklin (Haw) $346,400 (-$81,600)
7. Adam Cooney (WB) $328,900 (-$81,100)
8. Luke Hodge (Haw) $352,700 (-$76,100)
9. Mitch Hahn (WB) $220,500 (-$74,200)
10. Chris A. Johnson (Carl) $265,200 (-$0)
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
