A DOZEN DEALS – ROUND 15

 

EACH WEEK I’ll be bringing you my thoughts on which players to BUY, SELL, HOLD, ADD and DROP in AFL Draft Leagues.  The moves are based on a 10 team redraft league with 22 players per team, so if your league is shallower, deeper or keeper, use your best judgement as to what moves apply.  Remember no-one HAS to trade with you, but the least you can do is make offers to try improve your team.  Also consider your league set up and team structure before making a move.  This is a list about value and treating your team as something that is constantly evolving to try get it as solid as it can be.  As I always say, “if you ain’t trading, you ain’t trying!”  You can hear the rest of my thoughts each week as part of the Draft Doctors Podcast released each Monday.

 

Everyone, if I get a little testy in this article, it’s because I’m doing Dry July and I wanna go Jimmy Webster on my eyes. It’s fair to say I’m struggling and it’s a worry because I’m writing this on day 4. So bad times ahead. One thing that’s not going dry is the amount of deals and moves we can make this week to strengthen up our teams. Let’s get stuck in.

 

ADD – JAMES SICILY (F) – Listed as a forward but has been switched into a defensive role and two good scores have followed. His overhead marking has always been a strength, and his ability to read the play has resulted in good fantasy scoring. Mentioned as a pickup on the pod after the Adelaide game and only owned in 26% of leagues on Ultimate Footy, please get this man in your forward line.

 

SELL – JOEL SELWOOD (M) – It’s not often big names like this hit the trade table late in the season, but you should be able to get a big price if you’re selling Selwood. Number one – the concussion. If you’ve followed us for a while you’ll know we’re sketchy on players coming back, although if the player has a week off, it’s generally not as pronounced. Secondly, some of the matchups in fantasy finals don’t favour Selwood. Carlton (rd 19) and Collingwood (rd 22) have tagged Selwood in recent years with good success. This scares the hell out of me, much like going without booze for the next 27 days. Of course, selling studs is tough to do, so tread carefully!

 

DROP – JAMIE MACMILLAN (D) – A finger injury will keep MacMillan out for the foreseeable future and potentially even the rest of the year. Feel free to drop the up and down Kanga and free up a bench spot. Here’s a freebie – add the 36% owned Aaron Mullett in his place, who should, literally be in his place.

 

ADD – RYAN BASTINAC (M) – Only 57% owned on UF, Bastinac’s form has been great lately, and would expect it to continue, at least through Beams’ return and possibly beyond.

 

DROP – JARRAD WAITE (F) – Out for 3-4 with a calf injury, Waite can win you a matchup, no problems, of course he can also dish up a 40 just as fast. By the time he’s back fantasy finals are here and I don’t like the idea of rolling out a just-recovered Waite in that situation. Find some value on the wire.

 

BUY – JORDAN LEWIS (M) – Lewis has scored horribly lately, so yeah, we’re value shopping here, certainly throwing some lowball offers out there to a fed-up owner. Taking last week away where the Dees just got killed in contested ball, Lewis had 29 and 31 disposal games prior. The only thing is his kick to handball ratio was horrendous, killing his score and he’s still a low volume (ie bad) tackler. We’ve seen the midfield around him get injured (Jones, Viney) so there is opportunity to score well there. Very happy to stick him on my bench and see what happens, and, aside from round 20, Melbourne have a pretty good fantasy finals draw.

 

BUY – NAT FYFE (M) – The Statesman thinks he looks the goods, which is good enough for me. The scores are drier than my July though. No DT tons since round 3 and only one SC ton since round 5. Still, if the scores weren’t this low, you wouldn’t be able to trade low for him, now would you?

 

HOLD – BACHAR HOULI (D) – Okay, so if you’re desperate for wins to get into the finals, flip, but it makes sense to hold for me even if you do. If you trade, you’re most likely doing it at unders, then a finals bound team gets an upgrade and you need to get lucky once in. So I like holding Bachar, as we know his return date. It’s not an injury that might be delayed or reoccur. Premium defenders are at a premium, and this one has been in ripping form.

 

ADD – LUKE BREUST (F) – Right on the 65% ownership mark, Breust has had an up and down season. The Hawks have looked a bit better the last two weeks with an impressive win in Adelaide. They also beat the Pies. -cough- However, Breust is a proven forward who is worth a spot on your bench and used as cover or in plus matchups.

 

DROP – AARON SANDILANDS ( R ) – Big fellas done for the season, even in a keeper league I’m not sure I’d hold onto him. Seems like there’s a plethora of rucks these days, maybe in a situation like UF where there’s two designated ruck spots you could slot him in, but it’s not for me. I’d mention Sean Darcy as an add, but in the days since Monday’s pod his ownership has risen from 29% to 70%, beyond our ownership threshold.

 

ADD – SAM KERRIDGE (M) – Ed Curnow’s larynx injury is going to keep him out for a month, so grab Kerridge who seems to be Carlton favoured replacement in the run-with role. The role put Kerridge around the ball, and in Carlton’s ball control style, a lot of marks and disposals are there for the taking. A proven scorer to keep as cover/your last mid spot.

 

ADD – HARLEY BENNELL (F) – Owned in 63% of leagues, may as well throw him on your bench and see what happens. He’s close, apparently, though we’ve heard that before so I wouldn’t throw him on the field the first week he’s back.

 

Good luck this week and as always, good trading!