Final say: Round 6, trade plans + tactics

Another round down, and we’re starting to hit the pointy end of the season!

It’s a perfect opportunity to begin upgrading, with plenty of rookies ripe for the picking, and a heap of solid premo options who are about to hit rock bottom.

Round 5 begun with yet another solid performance from Dayne Zorko who, after gaining DEF status, is now looming as a serious option down back after his 133 against the Pies.

However, on the other end of the spectrum, Brodie Grundy could only muster up a 58 and now definitely leaves his owners with something to think about.

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Jack Macrae rewarded those who chucked the VC on him with a MASSIVE 153; while early candidate for my teams’ MVP, Tim English, continued his #1 ruck AND forward form with a 138.

Tristan Xerri also proved that he’s one of this season’s best cash cows with another 100+ score, but unfortunately Aaron Hall sustained what looked like a pretty serious hammy injury and is a must-trade.

Tom Mitchell turned back the clock to his ultimate piggy days with a huge 2^nd half where he collected 25 touches, 18 contested, 8 clearances, 1 goal assist, 1 goal, and 116 SuperCoach points. He’s as cheap as you’ll ever see him, so don’t hesitate to pounce.

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GAME PLAN

This week I scored 2,211 which moved me up 3,500 spots to 18,030^th.

A much better week from the boys! I needed them to step up with Cripps sidelined and boy did they deliver!

I followed through with my proposed trades, and for the most part they paid off well!

O’Driscoll scored 103 and rose by a massive $71.2k, while Dixon scored an underwhelming 54.

The particularly annoying thing about Dixon’s score is that I chose to field him over Hayes who scored a huge 105. I won’t make the same mistake twice!

Aside from Brodie Grundy and Jayden Short, all my premiums (and some rookies) put up some phenomenal scores.

My midfield in particular consisted of Macrae (153), Steele (131), Neale (117), Brayshaw (132), and even Brodie (94) chimed in with a top-notch score.

Turning my attention to this week, there is only one man on my radar and that is the Big Boy, Brayden Preuss. So, is he a must-have? Well… Yes and no.

Admittedly, I think a breakeven of -93 is too high to pass up on, and he’s shown that he can be a very solid option at R2.

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However, he has also shown his ridiculous unreliability, and that alone shall not warrant selection at R2, especially at the cost of downgrading one of your other premo rucks.

The other downside to him is that if you plan to bring him in at R3, there’s a possibility that he continues in his red-hot form and then you’ll just be watching these 90+ scores waste away on your bench.

Not only that, but trading in Preuss at R3 also means you can’t get Sam Hayes in the week after. I know, it’s a lot to take in; but wait…

There are some exceptions: For instance, I believe that bringing in Preuss is entirely dependent on the structure of your team.

Take me for example: I started with English at R2, so I can actually bring Preuss in at R2, and move English to F1 thanks to his FWD status.

Because of that flexibility, it allows me to still be able to trade in Hayes next week at R3 and BANG, I’ve got English, Preuss, and Hayes all in the same side! It’s a mouth-watering prospect if you ask me.

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Now… The question is: who to trade out? Looking at my team, the only player that I really want out is Gibcus; he’s out of the Richmond 22 and doesn’t look like he’ll be getting back in any time soon.

Unfortunately though, it is literally impossible for me to trade Gibcus for Preuss this week and then ALSO do the trades I want to do next week.

(This will all make a bit more sense when I go through my trades next week) What I know will work for sure is putting McCartin to F7, swinging Daicos back to D5, and then moving Martin up to M8… But more on that next week 😉

So, in saying all that, I’ve locked in one trade for this week:

Lachlan Gollant -> Brayden Preuss (29 Trades Left / $157,500k Rem. Salary)

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PODs & SUPER PODs

Generally, PODs are anyone who is owned by less than 10% of the competition, and Super PODs are anyone owned by less than 2%. Here’s my top 3 for each (based on who I think is the best to take a punt on).

Top-3 PODs

1. Ben Keays ($590,700, 121.2, 2.8%) – Catapulting himself out of the Super PODs list and straight into #1 spot on the PODs list is the extremely underrated Ben Keays. Week in, week out, Keays just keeps on putting up elite scores, and he should be considered as a serious upgrade target now.

• Bailey Smith ($522,000, 121.6, 4.3%) – The super-sexy-stallion, Bailey Smith, is in the form of his life and continued his incredible SuperCoach year with a 135 on the weekend. Just quietly, in the four games he’s played this year, he’s put-up scores of 139, 122, and 135… What a gun!

• Travis Boak ($624,900, 128.6, 5%) – Despite his incredible 128.6 average, Boaky finds himself down the pecking order just because I feel like the cracks of his longevity are starting to show. He scored his first score under 100 this year with an 88 on the weekend, and it’ll be interesting to see how he goes again this week.

Top-3 Super PODs

1. Rory Laird ($628,000, 118.7, 0.6%) – Still owned by just 0.6%, Laird has now scored 143 and 120 in his last two games. Especially with Sloane out for the rest of the season, he should see a hell of a lot more footy and looks like a seriously attractive option.

• Callum Mills ($586,100, 107.8, 1%) – Mills retains his spot in #2 place thanks to his 117 against the Eagles. It looks as if he’s put his pre-season injury behind him, and as I said last week, I don’t think there’s anything stopping him from averaging 120 for the rest of the year.

• Alex Witherden ($520,000, 107.5, 0.2%) – This may come as a surprise, but Alex Witherden has a 3-round-average of 122.3, including scores 106, 127, 134… He is absolutely flying under the radar, and with a breakeven of just 40, he could be the perfect Super POD for your team.

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KEEP AN EYE ON THEM

Here’s my top 3 players that you shouldn’t be buying JUST yet, but should definitely have an eye on for the weeks to come:

1. Sam Hayes ($123,900, 75, 4.9%) – With Lycett out for a fair while, Port literally do not have any other options in the ruck department so it’s really Hayes or nothing. Because of that, he looks like an incredible option at R3 when he starts to make some money in a couple weeks.

• Ben Hobbs ($153,300, 65, 4%) – Hobbs made his long-awaited debut on the weekend and finally showed a bit of grunt in the Essendon midfield. Like Hayes, he’ll be a great downgrade pick in a couple weeks.

• Dayne Zorko ($519,800, 86.4, 0.3%) – Zorko’s new DEF status makes him entirely more relevant now. I wouldn’t jump on him just yet because I’d rather wait another few weeks to see if he can find some consistency. He’s looking really tasty though

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CHARLIE’S ANGELS – CAPTAINS

Once again, my captains list was pretty spot on last week! This week, I absolutely love Macrae and Bailey Smith against the Crows on Saturday arvo, as well as Steele against his former side (GWS).

Andy Brayshaw has a hotly contested matchup with the Blues where he should find plenty of the footy yet again.

Touk Miller and Lachie Neale may find it tough against each other, but Max Gawn should have a field day against the Tigers. The other matchup I love is Brodie Grundy against the Bombers, who has three 150+ scores in the last five games he’s played against them.

Top-3 Vice Captains

1. Jack Macrae
2. Jack Steele
3. Bailey Smith

Top-3 Captains

1. Max Gawn
2. Andy Brayshaw
3. Brodie Grundy

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TOPSPORT BETS of the WEEK

*Gamble Responsibly*

Lock Bet:

• Bulldogs WIN @1.29
• Melbourne WIN @1.23
• Collingwood WIN @1.45

Multi @2.30

Disposals Multi:

• Jack Macrae 35 or more Disposals @2.40
• Andrew Brayshaw 30 or more Disposals @1.67
• Brodie Grundy 20 or more touches @2.75

Multi @11.02

MEGA Multi:

• West Coast 1-39 @3.50
• Carlton 1-39 @2.55
• Hawthorn 1-39 @2.90
• Collingwoond -13.5 @1.90

Multi @49.17