Final say: Round 21 tactics, trades, skippers


<p>A 2,564 for Explosive Duryea in Round 20; good enough for 16,000th for the round and a slight dip in overall ranking down to 4,600th for the season.</p>



<p>Unfortunately I’ve left my run too late and my team isn’t quite good enough to do any serious damage this season. Back-to-back top 1000 finishes ain’t going to happen.&nbsp;</p>



<p>There have been a litany of errors that have characterised my season. I thought it might be educational to go back through the worst of them! Enjoy my top 3 heinous decisions of 2023:</p>



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<p><strong>3. Round 10 &#8211;</strong><em><strong> </strong>Out: Alex Cincotta. In: Blake Drury</em></p>



<p>A little bit rough on Blake Drury, I’ll admit, but this trade typified my awful judgment in rookie trading this season. It’s cost me points, money and part of my sanity.</p>



<p>Cincotta has played 8 games since I got rid of him. Drury has played 1. Other contenders for this spot would’ve been pulling the pin early on Will Ashcroft, pulling the pin early on Darcy Wilmot, and bringing in Sam Sturt in Round 7.</p>



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<p><strong>2. Round 4 &#8211; </strong><em>Out: Jordan Ridley. In: Mason Redman</em></p>



<p>Jordan Ridley felt like a trade-out at this point of the season. He’d managed just one ton in his first 5 games, had a nasty role and couldn’t have been more disappointing.</p>



<p>Mason Redman, meanwhile, had 3 110+ scores in three games and was roaming freely around the Essendon backline, in a contract year no less. This felt like a no-brainer to me.</p>



<p>Redman didn’t manage another ton until Round 9 and is currently murdering my end of season push. Ridley (until his unfortunate injury) and had 6 tons in 9 games until his season was ended prematurely.</p>



<p>This one continues to hurt.</p>



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<p><strong>1. Round 14 &#8211; </strong><em>Out: Harry Sheezel. In: Nat Fyfe</em></p>



<p>Nat Fyfe might be the worst trade-in I’ve ever made in my SuperCoach history.</p>



<p>His 96 points in Round 13, in limited gametime, was just the carrot that stupid old me needed. He then went 47, 75, 45 and was ruled out for the rest of the season.</p>



<p>Meanwhile, the Sheez currently has a three-round average of 114 and looks every bit a season-keeper at D6 or D7. With Jack Ziebell and Aaron Hall officially retiring, there is a stack of footy to win across the North backline and he’s chomping up every bit of it. </p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Strategy</strong></h2>



<p>1 trade left, $197,700 in the bank.</p>



<p>Still sitting tight with one trade remaining. The temptation to go Briggs -&gt; Gawn is nearly overwhelming, but I need to keep reminding myself that the Giants have Sydney, Port and Essendon in their next three games.</p>



<p>The minute I get a sniff of Matt Flynn in the side, though, the pin will be pulled and Briggsy will be gorn.&nbsp;</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Watchlist</strong></h2>



<p>A few guys taking my eye this week! With every trade essential on the run home, the importance of nailing your last upgrade/sideways trades is only getting higher.</p>



<p><strong>Elijah Tsatas ($189k, Mid)</strong></p>



<p>Essendon’s next midfield superstar. Mark it down.</p>



<p>Since his VFL debut in Round 11, he hasn’t dropped below 18 disposals and is averaging 27.5 touches in his last month of reserves footy.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Needs to work on his disposal efficiency, but that’s the one knock on this kid.&nbsp;</p>



<p>If you’re in need of a bit of cash and/or want to jump on the Tsatas train early with me, don’t be surprised if this kid racks up a couple of big scores in his first fortnight of footy against the Eagles and Kangaroos. </p>



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<p><strong>Lachie Whitfield ($539k, Def)</strong></p>



<p>I know, I know. I’m sure Whitfield has burnt all of you just as many times as he’s burnt me.</p>



<p>Maybe this time it’s different though?&#8230;</p>



<p>The Silky Giant now has back-to-back 130+ scores, and has just one sub-80 score since Round 6, with six tons in that span.</p>



<p>Caution: may just be sucking everyone for another burn job to start 2024.</p>



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<p><strong>Matt Crouch ($488k, Mid)</strong></p>



<p>I’ll preface this by admitting that I’m a full-blown Matt Crouch truther. I really don’t care about the caveats here &#8211; there’s just no way a bloke who can rack up 40 touches consistently in a game of AFL football isn’t good enough to play AFL football.</p>



<p>Yeah, his disposal isn’t as good as it could be. And his defensive work is average. But this is a guy who averaged 33 disposals <em>per game</em> in 2019. Playing him in the SANFL is the definition of overthinking it.</p>



<p>Anyway, it looks like Matthew Nicks and the Crows have finally come back to planet earth, with Crouch inserted back in to the AFL midfield and thriving, with a 144 in the Showdown. The Crows play the Suns, Lions, Swans and Eagles to finish their season &#8211; a reasonably friendly draw. With finals an outside chance for the Crom I’d be surprised if Crouch didn’t continue being waved as trade bait for the remaining month of the year. And if he’s playing AFL, he’s scoring well in SuperCoach.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Eddie’s Captains</strong></h2>



<p>Tim English is (as he seems to often be these days) the standout VC pick of the round, boasting insane three and five-round averages of 156.7 and 145.5 respectively. Lock him in tonight if you’ve got him. Don’t overthink it.</p>



<p>Marcus Bontempelli was red hot early against GWS last week until Callan Ward blanketed him for most of the second half. The Tigers might attempt to do similar, but his record against them is handy, with scores of 122, 136, and 107 in their last three matchups. I prefer English but it’s never a bad thing to have Bont as a backup option.</p>



<p>Zach Merrett is set for a field day against the Eagles under the lid at the Dome, who are due for a letdown game after taking care of North last week. Zerrett has been averaging 123 in his last five games and, needless to say, will be keen to feast on an easy kill. Had 32 touches last time the Dons played the Eagles, but only 110 points &#8211; I expect 150+ with some relative ease here. Darcy Parish is also worth a look in the same game after not getting a chance against the Eagles last time they played in Round 11.</p>



<p>Rory Laird showed no signs of his lingering sore shoulder last week, scoring a tidy 129 against Port Adelaide. With no threat of a tag due to Touk Miller&#8217;s suspension, there’s no reason he can’t go large against the Suns.</p>



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<p>Jordan Dawson has been the epitome of consistency this year and (as I seem to say most weeks) he loves playing at the Crowval. Just doesn’t score below 90 (2 sub 92 scores for the year to date) so you could go a lot worse.</p>



<p>Nick Daicos will face the Finn Maginness tag this week &#8211; every chance he breaks it, but still worth staying away from this week I think.</p>



<p>James Sicily faced heavy defensive attention from the Saints (especially Caminiti) but has a good record against the Pies. Collingwood do have a plethora of defensive forward options to throw his way &#8211; Beau McCreery scares me as an owner &#8211; so proceed with a little bit of caution.</p>



<p>Tom Stewart loves taking on Port, and the Cats desperately need him to fire this week. He could be an interesting alternative for those must-win league finals. Zak Butters comes up against a fairly Cats&#8217; depleted midfield and is worth a look.</p>



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<p>Errol Gulden now has five scores of 140+ this season; the ceiling does not exist for young Errol. He looks like a great dark horse pick to me in a big rivalry game.</p>



<p>Max Gawn has an incredible three-round average of 169.7.&nbsp; No Grundy = Maximum Max. Despite a mediocre recent record against North Melbourne, he&#8217;s an impeccable captaincy option assuming Grundy doesn’t come in to the side.</p>



<p>Lachie Neale should bounce back after an ordinary game against Touk. Fremantle might adopt a similar approach to the Suns with the likes of James Aish but I reckon Neale is too good to have two stinkers in a row.</p>



<p>Josh Dunkley is always a great backup option if you don’t own English or want to fade Bontempelli and want a rogue Saturday VC choice. He will go 120+ without fail.</p>



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<p><strong>Vice Captains</strong></p>



<ol><li>Tim English</li><li>Marcus Bontempelli</li><li>Jordan Dawson</li></ol>



<p><strong>Captains</strong></p>



<ol><li>Max Gawn</li><li>Errol Gulden</li><li>Josh Dunkley</li></ol>


Final say: Round 21 tactics, trades, skippers

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