To start with Buddy or not?
Lance 'Buddy' Franklin - Forward - $618,000 - Hawthorn
Every year when we select our SuperCoach side, we go to the forward line and lock Lance 'Buddy' Franklin in straight away. He's undoubtedly in the top three players in the AFL, if not number one. But this year I think you should have a think, before you lock him in and I'll give you some reasons why you should and shouldn't put Buddy Franklin in your starting SuperCoach side.
Yes
• He's a proven gun - Buddy is the best SuperCoach forward and is at a hefty price of $618,000, but no wonder he is so expensive. He averaged 115 last year and is a proven SuperCoach gun averaging over 105 SuperCoach points, in 4 out of the last 5 years and is worth every cent.
Every year when we select our SuperCoach side, we go to the forward line and lock Lance 'Buddy' Franklin in straight away. He's undoubtedly in the top three players in the AFL, if not number one. But this year I think you should have a think, before you lock him in and I'll give you some reasons why you should and shouldn't put Buddy Franklin in your starting SuperCoach side.
Yes
• He's a proven gun - Buddy is the best SuperCoach forward and is at a hefty price of $618,000, but no wonder he is so expensive. He averaged 115 last year and is a proven SuperCoach gun averaging over 105 SuperCoach points, in 4 out of the last 5 years and is worth every cent.
Buddy's a proven premium
• He's one of the best players in the competition - Without a doubt, Buddy is in the top three players in the AFL and arguably even number one. He's a freakish player who can win a game off his own boot for the Hawks. Buddy normally has a huge influence on games, which can result in some huge SuperCoach scores, as the SuperCoach scoring system rewards players for their influence on games. Leave him out of your SuperCoach side at your peril.
• He has an unbelievably high ceiling - Buddy has the ability to have a massive game and produce a huge SuperCoach score, as he showed last year scoring a massive 236 SuperCoach points against North Melbourne. If you don't have Buddy in your team when he has a massive week like that, you'll be in trouble.
• Reliable for a good score every game - You can count on Buddy each game to give you a decent score. In 10 out of his 16 games last year, Buddy scored over 100 SuperCoach points and didn't dip below 72, so even when he has a bad day, it's not horrific. Plus nearly every other SuperCoach team will have Buddy, so when he has a bad day, it's cancelled out by your opponent.
• He has an unbelievably high ceiling - Buddy has the ability to have a massive game and produce a huge SuperCoach score, as he showed last year scoring a massive 236 SuperCoach points against North Melbourne. If you don't have Buddy in your team when he has a massive week like that, you'll be in trouble.
• Reliable for a good score every game - You can count on Buddy each game to give you a decent score. In 10 out of his 16 games last year, Buddy scored over 100 SuperCoach points and didn't dip below 72, so even when he has a bad day, it's not horrific. Plus nearly every other SuperCoach team will have Buddy, so when he has a bad day, it's cancelled out by your opponent.
Contract sagas have affected other stars before, how about Buddy?
No
• How will his contract saga affect him? - We've seen SuperCoach guns in Ablett, Goddard and Cloke suffer in the year, which they put their contract talks on hold until the end of the year. How will it affect Buddy?
• Tough draw - The Hawks have an incredibly hard start to the year, playing every one of last year's finalists before round 8. They play Geelong, West Coast, Collingwood, Fremantle, North Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney all in a row. Buddy is destined to have a bad game or two against these quality opponents and you could consider trading him in at round 8 after playing the hardest teams. If he goes down in price, his next three matches are; GWS, Gold Coast and Melbourne, and he'll definitely score well.
• Point of Difference - Nearly every SuperCoach team will have Buddy, so when he has a bad week you will get an advantage over your opponent (if they don't have Buddy) and everyone else who doesn't. Plus you will have extra money to spend elsewhere on your team to improve it, unlike everyone else with Buddy.
•Not great durability and misses games - You can lock Buddy in to give you a decent SuperCoach score each week, but you can't lock him into play every game. Every year he misses games through injury and suspension, which is frustrating for SuperCoaches. Buddy has only had one season were he played every game, back in 2008 and we all know what happened that year.
Verdict
It's up to you, to whether you select Buddy or not in your SuperCoach side, but as they say, you have to risk it to for the biscuit and with Buddy's hard start to the year playing every finalist from last year in a row, he'll surely drop in price and be ready to be upgraded to, in round 8 as they have GWS, Gold Coast and then Melbourne.
But leaving out Buddy could backfire on you, as he's a big game player and if he produces one of his freakish games, he'll make you pay for not selecting him, leaving you behind the eight ball.
• How will his contract saga affect him? - We've seen SuperCoach guns in Ablett, Goddard and Cloke suffer in the year, which they put their contract talks on hold until the end of the year. How will it affect Buddy?
• Tough draw - The Hawks have an incredibly hard start to the year, playing every one of last year's finalists before round 8. They play Geelong, West Coast, Collingwood, Fremantle, North Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney all in a row. Buddy is destined to have a bad game or two against these quality opponents and you could consider trading him in at round 8 after playing the hardest teams. If he goes down in price, his next three matches are; GWS, Gold Coast and Melbourne, and he'll definitely score well.
• Point of Difference - Nearly every SuperCoach team will have Buddy, so when he has a bad week you will get an advantage over your opponent (if they don't have Buddy) and everyone else who doesn't. Plus you will have extra money to spend elsewhere on your team to improve it, unlike everyone else with Buddy.
•Not great durability and misses games - You can lock Buddy in to give you a decent SuperCoach score each week, but you can't lock him into play every game. Every year he misses games through injury and suspension, which is frustrating for SuperCoaches. Buddy has only had one season were he played every game, back in 2008 and we all know what happened that year.
Verdict
It's up to you, to whether you select Buddy or not in your SuperCoach side, but as they say, you have to risk it to for the biscuit and with Buddy's hard start to the year playing every finalist from last year in a row, he'll surely drop in price and be ready to be upgraded to, in round 8 as they have GWS, Gold Coast and then Melbourne.
But leaving out Buddy could backfire on you, as he's a big game player and if he produces one of his freakish games, he'll make you pay for not selecting him, leaving you behind the eight ball.