THE biggest lock for the Saints is... Shane Savage [MID, $364,900]
After being traded from Hawthorn to St Kilda, Shane Savage will find himself with more on-field opportunities than ever before.
In 2013, Savage wore the dreaded subs vest on numerous occasions which drastically impacted his season average of 67 points per game.
Calvin's Captains: round one's best double-point options
Compare this to his average of 86 when he avoided the vest and you can clearly see that we have a bargain on our hands in 2014.
Savage got off to a great start with his new team scoring 75 and 94 points in two NAB Challenge games from only 75 per cent game time.
He won't be carrying the vest for the Saints this year and with midfield stars in Jack Steven (injured), Lenny Hayes and Leigh Montagna (suspended) missing early games, Savage will be more Fantasy relevant than ever before.
Review every club's Fantasy season preview
- Adelaide
- Brisbane Lions
- Carlton
- Collingwood
- Essendon
- Fremantle
- Geelong
- Gold Coast
- Greater Western Sydney
- Hawthorn
- Melbourne
- North Melbourne
- Port Adelaide
- Richmond
- St Kilda
- Sydney Swans
- West Coast
- Western Bulldogs
Some bargains on the radar include... Jack Billings [FWD/MID, $257,400]
Billings has talent to burn. He was selected at pick No. 3 in the 2013 NAB AFL Draft and has been likened to Geelong superstar Steve Johnson.
Although it might take him a while to 118 points like Johnson did last year, he can be selected as a forward, an area that is currently lacking cheap options.
A player of difference is... Jimmy Webster [DEF, $235,500]
Webster had an impressive NAB Challenge series and scored 56 points in his first game in just over a half.
He scored 83 in his second game against Greater Western Sydney and is a cheap option in your backline if he’s named for round one.
The pre-season has taught us... that it’s going to be a long year for St Kilda
Over the NAB Challenge, St Kilda scored the least amount of Fantasy points of the 18 teams. This is not a great sign for the Saints in 2014 as they brace themselves for a long year ahead.
Indeed the Saints are more a point of interest as a team to rack up scores against.
Western Bulldog midfielders Matthew Boyd and Tom Liberatore scored 120 and 101 against them but it was in the second NAB Challenge game when the real damage was done.
GWS players Adam Treloar and Rhys Palmer dominated the Saints with Fantasy scores of 131 and 128.
Tom Bugg (125) and Adam Kennedy (106) also scored over 100 and it made me question if St Kilda will be one of the teams we target in 2014, for selecting our captain or trading in players.
Twitter talk
@fish_brad asks "@CalvinDT: do Armitage/Savage become locks against Melbourne for a round one cameo given Hayes, Montagna and Steven are all out?"
As mentioned, Savage is a great pick for his price, particularly if you believe Melbourne will give up plenty of Fantasy points as they did in 2013.
Last year when St Kilda played Melbourne, Montagna scored a massive 146 points to be one of four Saints to score over 100 that day.
David Armitage [MID, $473,900] managed 83 but also 122 points against Melbourne in 2012.
Chasing players to score well against teams in a ‘cameo’ role is always risky. Leading into rounds three and four are when we need to be correcting our errors with our two weekly trades - picking up the rookies we missed or off-loading any under-performing premiums before they drop too much in price, rather than using luxury trades chasing points.
My advice, go with Shane Savage. He will at least make you money over the early rounds and once your team is set, he can be upgraded after he has made you some early cash.
Coach Calvin currently has his eye on...
Ummm, [Insert cricket sounds]… this is awkward.
At this stage I do not have any St Kilda players in my team. However, we do get unlimited trades leading into round two and the Saints play Melbourne in round one.
I can see Shane Savage playing in that round for me before the game gets serious when our teams are officially locked in at the start of round two.
To discuss #AFLFantasy on Twitter, follow @CalvinDT and the official account @AFLFantasy
