Carlton midfielder Marc MURPHY had been struggling with the close tag the last few weeks, but that became the least of his worries when he collided with raging-bull Patrick DANGERFIELD and came off second best with a serious shoulder injury. This rules MURPH out for probably somewhere around 10 weeks, and is a massive blow to both Carlton and the SC world, of which he is picked in 24.5% of teams. At least your decision is made for you though – he simply has to be traded, and at his price, the replacements can play a bit!
Possibilities - Matt PRIDDIS (WCE) - $503,500 Av 91
Shaun GRIGG (Rich) - $495,200 Av 103
Callan WARD (GWS) - $492,00 Av 106
Jimmy BARTEL (Geel) - $489,800 Av 102
Nick Dal SANTO (St.K) - $481,900 Av 103 My Choice – Very cheap
Dane SWAN (Collingwood. Value - $634,500. Av 119. Hamstring injury – 2,3 or more wks?)
One of the gods of the fantasy footy world, they don’t come much bigger than SWAN. Averaging a tidy 119 pts per game, the Collingwood midfielder had been chugging along nicely before straining his hammy in the last quarter of last weekend’s match. Selected in 23% of teams, the dilemma now becomes whether you trade him or not – it’s the Gary ABLETT Jnr saga all over again. Some reports say he will be back in two weeks time against the Demons (Rd 11 – chance at a huge score), while others say he won’t be back until Rd 13, after the Pies bye. The decision is yours…
Possibilities : Scott THOMPSON (Adel) - $633,400 Av 128 My Choice – Absolute Gun
Joel SELWOOD (Geel) - $619,200 Av 126
Brett DELEDIO (Rich) - $609,200 Av 123
Josh KENNEDY (Syd) - $605,600 Av 127
Jobe WATSON (Ess) - $604,000 Av 122
Rhys STANLEY (St.Kilda. Value - $287,800. Av 67. Hamstring injury – 4 to 6 weeks)
2012 had been a year of significance for St Kilda youngster STANLEY, who had finally started to reach some of his potential with some breakout games. Unfortunately it all turned sour last weekend when he pinged a hamstring against the Eagles, seeing him miss at least a month of footy. Somewhat surprisingly selected in 13.5% of teams, the quandary for those coaches now becomes whether you downgrade or side trade the big fella.
Possibilities : Terry MILERA (St.K) - $277,100 Av 64
Adam TRELOAR (GWS) - $266,000 Av 76
Taylor ADAMS (GWS) - $255,900 Av 78
Dayne ZORKO (Bris) - $113,200 Av 58 My Choice – Take the cash!
Tommy WALSH (Syd) - $113,200 Av 84
Dylan GRIMES (Richmond. Value - $367,500. Av 73. Hamstring strain, out 3 weeks)
One of the lynchpins of the ever-improving Richmond backline, GRIMES had been progressing well throughout season 2012, becoming an integral part of the Tigers improvement. However, round 8 proved a curse for him as well, as he also went down with a hamstring injury that will see him miss around 3 weeks of footy. Selected in 1.8% of teams, the GRIMES injury is yet another to fall into the “will I or won’t I” category, and drive SC owners around the twist.
Possibilities - Jared RIVERS (Melb) - $367,400 Av 74
Daniel MERRETT (Bris) - $366,500 Av 78
Chris YARRAN (Carl) - $366,100 Av 65
Marty MATTNER (Syd) - $358,200 Av 70
Jake BATCHELOR (Rich) - $352,700 Av 78 My Choice–This Guy Can Play
Ben REID (Collingwood. Value - $354,700. Av 66. Quad injury – 3 to 4 weeks)
Seemingly a little cursed of late, steady Collingwood defender Ben REID last week strained a quad muscle, rendering him out of action for at least the next three weeks. Without setting the world on fire, REID always does his job (apart from in the GF last year!) and has been a consistent performer for the Pies this year. Not really a SC star, REID was nevertheless in 1.5% of teams, who should now be looking to move him on.
Possibilities - Jake BATCHELOR (Rich) - $352,700 Av 78 My Choice – Goes Hard At It
Reece CONCA (Rich) - $346,500 Av 69
Paul BOWER (Carl) - $344,800 Av 75
Mitch GOLBY (Bris) - $340,700 Av 73
Sam DARLEY (GWS) - $113,200 Av 82 ($$$$$$$)
That’s it for this week. If you are anything like me you have a big dilemma on your hands with some of these trades – to trade or not, upgrade or downgrade, decisions, decisions, decisions. In the end it comes down to how many trades you have left and whether you think it is worth sacrificing one of them to secure a star.Sure, you might win this week but will it benefit you come finals time? Or will you be wishing you still had another trade up your sleeve?