Hey Doc, I'm thinking that I need to upgrade to a real gun in my
midfield but I don't know who I should get or who to trade out. I've already got Judd, Priddis, Deledio, Leon Davis, Simon Black and Bernie Vince. Beau Muston and Ashley Arrowsmith are on my bench. Cheers, Callum. ($16,300, four trades)
No offence to these chaps, or indeed their fine coach, Callum, but this is a consistent yet average midfield – there is no star or the obvious captain choice that most sides can depend on.
In short, you need to get one of Dane Swan, Gary Ablett or Jimmy
Bartel into your side, and pronto! The time is right for Jimmy, so let's attack it that way.
Out of your midfield six, I reckon Deledio and Black are the two guys most vulnerable. Their numbers are even, with Deledio (97.21) boasting a slightly higher average than Black (87.54). The Tiger has also scored four 100s this season to Black's three.
However, Black's Lions are still in finals contention and this affects how a player scores and, of course, whether he gets shipped away for early surgery.
It's a tough one, but I'd take the cautious approach and keep Black.
The other weakness in your side is midfield bench cover. With only a handful of trades left you want to make sure you have a reliable young fella on the bench to step in come August.
Luckily Liam Anthony has played just two games and can slot into your side for Beau Muston, making you a handy wad of cash and bringing Jimmy into range.
Deledio out, Jimmy in – instant star power and a skipper for this week.
Hey Doc, I'm debating a blockbuster trade that will bring in Nick Riewoldt for Jack Ziebell and Zac Clarke for John Meesen. This allows me to put Mitch Brown back on the bench where he belongs, but with only five trades remaining I don't want to have nothing left come finals time when the real stuff starts to happen. Do I go for it? Cheers, Dave ($170,300, five trades)
In an instant, Dave. This is exactly the sort of trade you should be looking to do as the finals approach – but I'm going to pull you up on one point.
Maybe it's the money-grubbing doctor in me, but the Meesen side of this doesn’t sit well with me – I reckon you can squeeze a few more dollars out of this deal.
Now you're clearly no fan of Brown, so why not bone him? If you bring in Hayden Ballantyne for the young Eagle you're $89,300 better off than if you bring in Clarke for Meesen.
It might cheat you out of ruck cover, but ruck cover doesn't win you premierships – truth is nobody's got it!!
Hey Doc. I have Shane O'Bree in my side and he isn’t doing so well. I was thinking of trading him out for Joel Selwood, Salopek, Gibbs or Marc Murphy. I could go even higher up but these guys are rather cheap at the moment. Who should I choose out of them? – Nick ($201,400, seven trades)
You sure could go higher with that handy bag of cash, but I see your point here, Nick. You've rightly identified Selwood ($353,100) and Gibbs ($391,900) as two guys to weigh up in this trade. But, if you don't already have him, consider Bartel – you can certainly afford him.
The star Cat has bottomed out at $435,400 and after a stunning 137 last week, and four 100s in his last five matches, he's clearly on the verge of a price hike.
Gibbs has also bottomed out and should be your second choice here. The emerging Blue peaked at $446,600 this season and with scores like last week's 140 against Freo he'll soon be back there. Get him now if you want him.
Unfortunately, I'm not seeing the point in picking up Selwood when these two guys are in your price range. He's scored seven 100s this season (compared to Bartel's 12 and Gibbs' nine) and has averaged 97. With a score of 63 in round 13 he still has one week until he bottoms out, so if you're set on Selwood, I'd wait until next week.
Dear Doc, I'm planning to trade out Daniel Rich for Liam Anthony, and either Aaron Davey or Leon Davis for Paul Chapman or Alan Didak. Who should I choose to get rid of and who should come into my side? I'm already safely through to the finals, but I want to make a top-four finish. – Jemaine ($12,000, eight trades)
As much as a cop-out as it may seem, Jermaine, I'm going to say off the top that any combination here would be an excellent trade.
Davey and Davis are both priced similarly, they're both averaging in the 90s and they both scored terribly last week for the standards they've set for periods this season. You're right to want to upgrade one of them for the finals.
The two chaps you've earmarked to come in are also hard to split, but I'm going to go with Didak for, admittedly, quite a petty reason.
I'm sure I'm not the only coach that was stung at the end of last season, but I clearly haven't recovered enough to trust Chappy and, more specifically, his hammies.
It pinged on the eve of the (dream team) finals last season and the Cat went on to miss rounds 18, 19 and 20 – those last two being the first two weeks of the finals.
Geelong is notorious for putting its stars in cotton-wool and taking no risk as the finals approach and that was the approach last season. There haven’t been any warning signs so far, but forced to decide between two geniuses, I choose Didak – with Davey the player to make way.
Captains
As always, our favourite Cats are in ripping touch and they're traveling to a venue they enjoy (insert venue here) against a side they score well against (insert side here).
With five straight 100s against the Brisbane Lions, and a most recent score of 137 against Michael Voss' men, Jimmy is the pick.
The Little Master doesn’t fare much worse, with a recent effort of 140 against the Lions in round five.
Swanny rules himself out this week for coaches with a penchant for the numbers, with an average of 68 against the Bulldogs. The usually reliable Magpie hasn't faced the Doggies this season, but recent scores of 85, 76 and 56 suggest he should be avoided this week.
As is becoming customary, a look out west reveals plenty of solid captain options. Bryce Gibbs came through with 140 on Subiaco Oval last week and Chris Judd (132) enjoyed his old hunting ground as well.
Nick Riewoldt has scored three straight 100s against the Eagles, while Lenny Hayes has scored 10 straight 100s this season and averages 97 against West Coast.
Leigh Montagna notched 144 against the young Eagles side earlier this season, but all three would be reliable skippers this week.
This week's top three:
Bartel (137 last week)
Ablett (115)
Hayes (127)
Best of luck to you all dream-teamers!
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
