Chad Cornes. Broken finger – three-four weeks. Doc, my backline is in crisis without this guy. What’s worse, he’s my captain. What do I do?
- Geoff
Geoffrey, there’s no easy way to say this, but your predicament sucks. But you are not alone. Some 73,286 dream team players have selected the champion Power defender in their side – and many of them, like you, would have the big © next to his name. Capable of pulling in some of the biggest scores in the competition on a regular basis, Cornes is nearly impossible to replace. He is the superstar of virtually everyone’s backline, and why not? He is a scoring freak when on song. As a captain, he’s capable of scoring 300 points. Jackpot!
It’s an interesting problem, because with the AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match offering him a week off, some dream teamers will feel capable of absorbing his absence for a fortnight. I reckon it’s not a bad idea. It’s not a soft tissue injury, so it’s unlikely to happen again and it shouldn’t affect his ability to win the footy. It may cost you some points over the next few weeks, but I’m confident he’ll make those points back against any potential replacement down the track.

Evening Doc, what’s the go with Daniel Kerr. Suspended, falling in value and – if the talk is correct – still restricted by injury. Buy, sell or stall?
- Jon
Seeing Kerr in 2008 without Chris Judd and Ben Cousins by his side...well it’s like Mo without Larry and Curly, Bush without Cheney and Rumsfeld, Peter without Wally and Phil...you get the picture. At the start of the season, he cost over $400,000 – a bargain buy in the eyes of many, but he can now be bought for a snip over $300,000. Amazing.
I’m going to roll the dice here and say sell if you need an instant boost to your scores, because not only is he out of form, but he’s suspended for three weeks (in case you’ve been living under a rock).
If you can hold onto him and have a solid replacement ready to go, then that’s great, keep him and wait for his return. But who really has that calibre of replacement? Lucky you if you do.
For those who don’t have him, maybe the rest will enable him to get his body right and come out swinging later in the year. He could be your mid-year bargain. Wait perhaps for his first game back – if he shakes his hips like the Kerr of old, you might have a steal.

Doc, Aaron Sandilands was just brilliant last week. With the Eagles down on form, could he be better than Dean Cox?
– Albert
Better than big Cox? Well, that’s a stretch Alby.
But there was something about the giant Docker last week that suggested he’s ready to take the competition by storm. Cox has been good without being great this year, although he rarely has a bad day at the office. There are definite claims for both – it probably depends on whether Cox really is at full fitness.
If you’re willing to take the punt on Sandilands, and it pays off, you’ll find yourself one up over just about everyone in the competition. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll find yourself struggling to make up ground elsewhere, and that’s something you don’t want to be doing. Save the risks for later.

I had Darren Jolly in my dream team, Doc. Did that ‘possession’ count? I won a match in our private competition by one point and my opponent says that you couldn’t count Jolly’s touch if he wasn’t allowed to be on the ground
- Tracy
And what a crucial handball it was. Not only has it secured two points for the Swans, but it’s gifted you a crunch victory and quite possibly delivered one of the great dream teams ‘wins’ of the season.
Your opponent has a case, kind of, but the unless the stat is retrospectively rescinded from Jolly and the two points get taken away from the Swans, I strongly suggest you bask in the glory of your win.
Don’t hesitate to rub it in either – if you haven’t been already.