Where would the Western Bulldogs be this year without Matthew Boyd Where would many of our Toyota AFL Dream Teams be without him The mark of any DT champion is the ability to come back every single week and perform, and Boyd does that as well as anybody, illustrated by his 134 against the Sydney Swans last week. This induction has also been a long time coming after being one of the competition's finest DTers in recent seasons.
Hall of Shame
It pains me to say it because I am one of his biggest fans, but Brendon Goddard, having entered the season as one of the must-buys of the competition, is the latest addition to the Hall of Shame. Goddard's 73 points against Carlton last night was the final straw. Yes, he's averaging 87 points, but for his price that's at least 20 short of what we are all expecting. The fact he has only passed 100 on one occasion says it all.
Keep
While we're all unsure how long Carlton's Ed Curnow will be out with his shoulder injury sustained last night, I think the wise and sensible thing is to keep him in your side. Thankfully he barely lost any value for his 13-point effort last night - only $4,300 - and I think until we know exactly how long he'll miss, don't trade him yet, especially with the Blues having the bye next weekend.
Trade
If you have Adam Selwood in your side, please, please listen to me: cut your losses and get rid of him. Selwood's score of 49 on the weekend helped his average drop a little further back to 58.5 points per week. For someone of his experience and price - he started the season costing $302,400 - it's an output that is not good enough.
Invest
This round's NAB AFL Rising Star, the Gold Coast's Zac Smith, is also one to keep on your radar as a Dream Team option. Yes, he's gone up in price (he will now set you back $212,700, almost exactly double his price at the start of the year) but not enough to scare you off completely. Smith scored 103 last week against the Brisbane Lions, to push his average beyond 70. With a break even of eight points this week and a projected price rise of $21,500, if you're ever going to down grade your second ruck into Smith, do it now.
New kid on the block
One of the main things to look for when you're trying to find a down grade target is whether a cheap and young player steps into an AFL side and looks immediately comfortable. In his first game, Paul Puopolo - the walking and talking tongue twister - did just that for the Hawks, scoring 62 points and looking very solid. At $92,500, you should see how he goes in his second game before investing in him, but he's a handy down grade target as we move closer to the middle of the season.
That hurts
Undoubtedly the biggest injury of the round - particularly for Dream Team implications - was the season-ending foot injury to Melbourne defender Jack Grimes. And it's a big loss for us with him in our teams, too, as before his injury forced him off the ground against Adelaide on the weekend, Grimes had averaged almost 90 points per match. He's in more than 60,000 teams and now we all need a replacement. Jed Adcock, Heath Scotland and Daniel Pratt lead the way at this stage, depending on how much money you have in the bank.
Last word
An update on my team from the weekend: I had a shocker. I scored 1809 (Shaun Higgins was my only zero), but a number of low scores from Grimes, Curnow, Josh Toy, and Patrick Ryder hindered any chance I had of going past 2000 points. My ranking has slipped to 2312 overall, but with the Collingwood boys back this week I hope I'll make amends for that. With a midfield now boasting Boyd, Jobe Watson, Scott Pendlebury, Dane Swan and Nick Dal Santo, I've got a good basis for a big second half of the year. Hopefully.
Follow Dr Dream Team on Twitter: @DrDreamTeam
