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Welcome to the AFL Fantasy Fanatics Draft Doctors | Strategy Round Table | Players of Interest | #PODPOD image

Welcome to the AFL Fantasy Fanatics Draft Doctors | Strategy Round Table | Players of Interest | #PODPOD

E117 · The PODPOD - AFL Fantasy Podcast
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4k Plays5 months ago

Round 8…. What…was….that!!!??? Carnage, carnage, carnage! Beginning with a Connor Rozee sub on Thursday night, coaches thought things couldn’t get any worse and boy were they wrong! Tom Green, Zac Williams, Elliot Yeo and Jye Caldwell all headline a number of popular premiums that found themselves injured, with Jordon Sweet adding himself to that list on Wednesday. There were bullets everywhere and it has left coaches wishing they were playing other formats that have access to trade boosts. Never fear, the PODPOD lads are here to dissect a round from hell and to help set you up in a position to improve your team despite ideal circumstances!

The panel is a bit different this week, with Holmesy joined by Steve Fizz from the Draft Doctors and Bails from the AFL Fantasy Fanatics as they help you navigate the strategy required for round 9. They review the round that was, discuss key strategy now and leading into the byes, discuss a bunch up trade targets and answer all of your listener questions. With many coaches wondering where to go from here, this episode is not to be missed!

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Fizz: @StevieFizz

Bails: @BailsDT

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Transcript

Introduction and Panel Changes

00:00:19
Speaker
G'day and welcome to the Pod Pod. It's Holmsey here talking all things AFL fantasy classic for you on this Wednesday 8th of May. And boy, do we have a lot to chat about today with some of the news that's come out.
00:00:32
Speaker
bit of a different crew this week. Uh, a few of the regular panel members, not available, but we've put together a bit of a, bit of a different team, which is good. First, I'll start with you bows. You're, you missed a fix it. Mr. Contractor himself. When one of the podcasts needs someone to come fill in, you're always put your hand up to help out. So I appreciate it, mate. How are you going?
00:00:53
Speaker
Yeah, good mate. I like that intro. Yeah, no, it's good to make the Pod Pod debut, which is nice. And yeah, always happy to be the late substitution in if anyone needs me. So yeah, and I look forward to get stuck into it. Plenty to discuss. Yeah,

Merger Rumors and Podcast Dynamics

00:01:06
Speaker
that's it, mate. And the rumors are true. The Pod Pod's dead. The draft doctors are dead. So we've done a bit of a merger. We've got him on back to back. Mr. Steve Classic Fizz himself, mate. Thanks again for jumping on. How was your week?
00:01:20
Speaker
Ah, mixed bag, mixed bag, HomeZee. So no, happy to be back, really enjoy it. The only problem with being on is I tend not to listen to it. So, and I've been, it'll be two weeks in a row where I won't have wanted to listen to the pod pod. So your downloads are going to be down a little bit again, unfortunately. Yeah, we actually do like new listeners on this show, Steve. So we need to keep those numbers up. And look, if you ever do need someone to make a guest appearance on The Draft Doctors, I'm more than happy to.
00:01:50
Speaker
You know, I rank by seasonal average from last year. That's what you're supposed to do. And that's about all I can really offer from a draft sense. But if you do need someone to chat ideas off, I'll more than happy jump on there, mate. But thanks for jumping on. Let's get stuck into our rounds from last

Fantasy Rankings and Results

00:02:05
Speaker
week. We'll, we'll quickly gloss over it because it's Wednesday, but we do need to touch on it. So Bails, why don't you just let the listeners know how you're tracking what you're scoring and where are you ranking at the moment?
00:02:15
Speaker
Yeah, so 2041, not too bad. Escaped some of the bullets, but still copped a couple like everyone else did. Dropped 140 spots to 1135, so going okay. It's good to be inside top thousand for a week. We'll back out, so hopefully we can get back in there this week with a few maneuvers with trades.
00:02:38
Speaker
Yeah, nah, very good spot for you, Bao's very, very jealous from where I'm at at the moment. But Steve, how'd you go with a bit of a bounce back week, I believe? Yeah, 2098 got me up a couple thousand to 3148, so happy.
00:02:56
Speaker
Yep. Anytime the ranking is moving in the right direction, I think you have to be pretty happy, especially with all those bullets, which we're going to get to. I myself had a little bit of a bounce back week, not huge, but a 20-56, which saw me rise about 800 spots into three, six, four, four. So after the back of a two week period where I went seriously backwards, I've started moving up again, which is pretty positive, but with a few bullets this week, it's going to get pretty creative to continue moving

Stado Picks of the Week

00:03:23
Speaker
in the right direction. But Bails, why don't you kick us off?
00:03:25
Speaker
We'll start with our Stado pick of the week. Where do you want to get positive? Yeah, so my pick of the week, Caleb Sarong on debut with a 141. I was actually saying to you boys off air that normally I bring these primo mids in and they normally break when I bring them in and they put up a dud score or their worst score in like 10 years or whatever it was. So it's nice to actually see someone on debut get a very, very nice score. So very happy to own one of your boys at home in Sarongi.
00:03:54
Speaker
Yeah, very happy as a freer man with what he's doing at the moment. He's a big target this week, Bayless, do you think? I think he still is. He's got the good buy, the round 30 buy, which I think we might discuss a bit later, but with a few of the, I think we've got what, nine trades or something before buy. So if you're looking at planning now, Sorong, I think is a good target if you're willing to pay up a little bit more for him.
00:04:18
Speaker
Yep. Like it. And someone I will, will wanted to look at this week, which we'll get to. Steve, what's your stato pick for the week? Hayden Young. So I, I had the VC on Brody Grundy all week. Uh, and for some unknown reason moved it to Shesil at the last minute, didn't put out a great score. So I ended up putting the C on Hayden Young with that tasty matchup. And then obviously five got the subvest and Hayden Young put out a pretty nice captain score for me.
00:04:49
Speaker
Yeah, I did notice actually that you, you captain Hayden Young, bit of a, bit of a master stroke there. Can't say that the sheasel move wasn't a good one in hindsight. I mean, defenders against St. Kilda, we've been waiting for him to go into the midfield all season and it hasn't happened. And then I think it's the first time I've VC'd him all year as well and he, and he has gone into the midfield. So that was a bit of a hard pill to swallow, but yeah, I don't think it's

Trade Strategies and Player Holdings

00:05:12
Speaker
a bad, it was a bad choice in hindsight.
00:05:14
Speaker
my state of pick for the week and there's a bit of a story here. So Josh Dunkley, 151.
00:05:21
Speaker
little bit kissed, mainly because he was going to be Tom Green for a lot of the week. But unfortunately, there was a, well, fortunately there was a bit of doubt around LDU and there was a little bit of talk about Bonner being the sub and I just didn't want to lock that trade in too early. So I, I, I faded green, which was, you know, it's turned out to be the right move, but it was, it was pretty nerve wracking at the time and I was going to go to Bon, but
00:05:46
Speaker
had a little bit of a look at the numbers and he's been playing a little bit more forward, but still I thought he was a good option against Hawthorne. But funnily enough, I'd looked at Dunkley. I liked his numbers against Gold Coast and thought he was ready to pop in. I was playing warning in the content creators cup bows and I actually looked at the matchup and he has Bont and I was losing and I needed something to kind of get a little bit of an edge there. So I decided to go Dunkley instead and boy, that paid off with a 151. So we definitely get a little bit lucky at times, but
00:06:16
Speaker
Yeah, very happy with that pick. Bails, why don't you give us your dossy pick for the week?
00:06:23
Speaker
Yes, I think it's got to go locky Whitfield for me. I know that he got tagged. I know that the conditions weren't great, but at the end of the day, like, come on, man, you've got to get a bit of the ball. Takes like, normally we've seen Daikos in the past get tagged, and when he was playing defensive, rushed to get the kick-ins. I wasn't seeing any of that from Whitfield. He took some kick-ins, but there were some times where he's just like, no, you take it. So, Whitfield, mate, he's been pretty good all year. I'm expecting a bounce back, but yeah, it was a very, very poor score. 48, come on.
00:06:50
Speaker
Yeah, look, as a non-owner, I was actually pretty happy watching that. But I would maybe a little bit nervous this week. Essendon have actually been putting a little bit of time into those running half backs. I know, I think they tagged Nassiah to a pretty low score earlier on. And I think there was one other that they tagged as well. Not saying there's going to be a hard tag, but maybe they put someone on him. Defenders against Essendon have been a pretty poor matchup too. But yeah, no doubt Whitfield will jump back. He's a very quality player. Steve, what is your Dossie pick for the week?
00:07:20
Speaker
Probably Liam Baker, I think. Playing full-time mid, only the 18 touches, 74. Is it the worst score? No, but I didn't really have that many bad scores, to be honest. I just felt a bit let down by Liam Baker. Did you watch that game very closely, Steve, or? No, no, no, no. I didn't see a skeric of that one. Bowles, did you see that game at all?
00:07:48
Speaker
I only got to catch really a bit of the last quarter. So I didn't get to really watch it too much in depth, unfortunately.
00:07:57
Speaker
Yeah, it seemed like he had the role. I just think those Richmond mids are a little bit up and down. And if they do get, if they have those games where teams just get on the top, I think you might find it hard to score, but let's be honest with the forward options that we have, he's still someone that we have to consider if he's playing that full-time inside mid-roll. So don't hate that pick there, Steve. My dossy pick for the week, kind of hurts, but kind of rosy.
00:08:18
Speaker
All these hindsight warriors saying, you know, there's never a one-week hammy, you should have traded him, but at some point you just have to back in the coaching staff. And if they've named him up to play, you can't trade that out. Hayden Young sat the last quarter for Freo only two weeks ago with that hammy and he got up and played and he was fine. So it hurts in hindsight, but yeah, I wish they had have named him out. So I would have got the same score with a rookie and I wouldn't have lost 80K or whatever it was on the other end. But Connor Rosie, yeah, we'll get into that a little bit later on.
00:08:47
Speaker
Quick update on the Doss

Handling Injuries in Fantasy League

00:08:49
Speaker
watch first. Dossie wants me to put this in, being the Pod Pod's biggest fan at $2,169 and into a rank of $7,550. So first time he's ever been inside the top 10K. I imagine he's pretty happy about that, but Dossie watch, I'm sure we'll watch that ranking start to slide back out to 20K where it normally is. I'm sure he won't stay up that high for too much longer.
00:09:13
Speaker
Onto the Pod Pod Challenge quickly and we have a new leader. Bandits of Barbados come into number one with get out of the queue and slip into number nine but still in the top 10 alongside the Perculators sitting at 10th but 11 coaches in the top 100 so dropped off a little bit but no doubt hopefully over the next couple of weeks we can start to get those numbers jump back up because we have a lot of quality listeners listening into this pod who are good coaches.
00:09:40
Speaker
All right, lads, let's get stuck into our hot topics. Well, where do we start? We've got a few premium bullets that we need to talk about first. So Bails, I'm going to throw to you. We've got Green, Rosie, Yo, Williams, and now Jordan Sweet. First off, how many of these bullets do you have and where do you think we should be prioritizing our trades this week?
00:10:03
Speaker
Yeah, so I've currently got the three. I got Yo, Williams and Sweet. And yeah, it's even a tough spot. And even with coaches that have got more than that, it's going to be really, really hard to try and navigate this. I think that looking at a bit of news today, like I'll sort of go from sort of the ones Alyssi. So Tom Green, like in talking on his pod, like the quote that he said was, he'll be touching go for this weekend. Thankfully, the scans came back pretty clear. So I didn't tear major ligaments or anything. If not this weekend, I'll be playing next weekend.
00:10:33
Speaker
but I'll be doing absolutely everything I can to play this week. But that sounds to me. Normally, players go, oh, I'll be playing this week. I'm pretty confident to get through training. But the fact that he's even said that if it's not this week, that's a bit of doubt. So I'm not sure that he plays or not. But one week, you might look at keeping him. Rosie's probably an interesting one. Michael Angel, I read you also said that sweets in doubt as well, said that Rosie's looking more like two weeks.
00:11:00
Speaker
that's probably the one where you might look at a trade. I think Yo is probably the top priority out of all of them. I think he needs to go. He's been a great pick this year, averaging near 90. And yeah, so I think he just, it's a good time. It's almost a little bit of a blessing in a way in terms of just having to trade him. Obviously, if you've got bullets, it's not a blessing. It's just another one to get rid of.
00:11:20
Speaker
And then Williams as well, if you can get rid of him, great. I think a lot of people, if they still got him, like myself, he's probably D7, so he's not a must trade. But if you can get him to someone and it works in your trades, I think that he can go.
00:11:33
Speaker
Yeah, Williams is interesting. Obviously, Ben named out this week due to injury. So he was a test for this week. So you would assume that he'd get up for next week. So he's not necessarily a trade out, but you absolutely don't want him anywhere near your field.

Rookie Picks and Strategy

00:11:46
Speaker
Potentially, maybe you can loop him and potentially get a ceiling score at some stage before he drops too much. But yeah, I don't think he's as urgent a trade out. Steve, how many of these bullets do you have and where are you potentially looking to pivot this week?
00:12:02
Speaker
Yes, I've got Yo and Sweet. I'm one of the people who went sweet to R2 at the last minute. Where would I go on my trades in terms of those players? We were talking about that with Bales just before you popped on and the donut is being considered. We were sort of talking about a few guys like Toby Conway, Lloyd Meek,
00:12:27
Speaker
The problem I have with doing something like that is you're spending more and more trades on the one position. So I think unless you're going to do the full upgrade to a Tim English, Max Gorn, whatever premium rock you were planning to get to eventually during the buy rounds, I think the donuts in play. It's something I was sort of talking about last week is trying to improve my process
00:12:57
Speaker
And I think if you do one of these sideways moves or whatever, you're just wasting time. You're not actually improving your team. You're setting yourself back further and further because no doubt there'll be another injury next week and there'll be an injury the week after. It will happen. So those are the two options on the table for me.
00:13:18
Speaker
You're not considering a one down, one up, swinging some DPP and moving sweet to R3 and going all the way up to an English or a Marshall? Yeah, we were talking about that as well. And I think a move I'm considering is she's all down to English. And then doing something in terms of in that sort of area.
00:13:44
Speaker
I actually really like that. I think that's probably a play over a donut, Steve. I know you love donuts and Simpsons references, but it's just, I'm trying to process it all because we just got the sweet thing this afternoon and it's like, what is, what is going to improve my team in the long run? Not set me back and what, what can I justify and live with going forward?
00:14:08
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, look, it's interesting. I myself, I have the four, so I have Rosie, Yeo, Williams, and now Jordan Sweet, unconfirmed, but confirmed. I am looking at holding Williams. I think I looked at some trades with Williams and Williams down at Peatling to get Yeo up to an English. I was 2K short there, but I could do that with Marshall, but after trading him out last week, I'm not sure I want to go back there. I think English is the
00:14:35
Speaker
the ruckman that I want to pair with Max Gorn. And now that Williams has been named out and he's not going to drop any cash, I think I'm happy to just sit in it at D8 or D7, whatever it is for the week. And hopefully that week off does him some good. I am looking for ways to potentially hold Rosie and go dead rookie down to get Yo up to English and swing some stuff around, which would move Sweet to R3. I think that's potentially a play
00:15:00
Speaker
but I think I'm just gonna fall back on trading Yo and trading Rosie, knowing that Rosie might potentially be two and Yo's gonna be two and getting English in a Clary Oliver. I think that's probably a pretty good play there, trying to get two potential keepers out of a bad situation.
00:15:16
Speaker
Yes, it's probably a little bit early on, Clary, but at some point you are going to have to take a risk. And with these bullets, I think it's probably the time to do it. And if he does pop, it's good. And maybe there's some carnage next week and other coaches can't get there, which would put me a step ahead. But just some things I'm thinking about, Bowers, what do you think there? Yeah, I don't mind it. I haven't really considered the Shiesel play, but thinking of it like
00:15:41
Speaker
with the Jordan Sweet out, I can't get day costs in my team this week. And I'm very nervous that he's going to put up a massive score. So there is a play to consider that as well, like what Fizz is talking about. And then obviously with you as well, I don't mind that, grabbing a couple of those premiums and swapping it like that. At this stage, I think I'm looking at, yeah, English for
00:16:01
Speaker
for Yo and flicking some DP pen and getting peatling in my forward line at this stage, but I don't know if I could quite roll out that that sheasel plays. I feel like if I don't get Dacos this week, he could be a player that I just might not be able to get for two, three weeks if carnage just keeps on building up. So yeah, I think you're going a lot of different ways with this one, I think.
00:16:26
Speaker
I've got one other little squirrely one. I'm not putting it on the table, but I think it's, this is the pod pot. We're going to talk about some pods. Four percent orange. Tom de Koning. He's actually been playing very, very well, averaging pretty nicely. And he will roll into that forward status after the next batch of DPPs, which is only, you know, it's a few weeks off. It'll be in the middle of the buys.
00:16:57
Speaker
It'd be, he's got a reasonably achievable break even this week. Don't love ruck forwards, but he's been pretty good. I got him in draft, so he's just absolutely killing it. Um, but he, his average at the moment is actually knocking on the door of the top six forwards the way they stand.
00:17:15
Speaker
Well, what can you see him going from here, Steve, in terms of he's the second ruck with Pitnett and then you've obviously got Mackay and Kurnow as being the main forwards. Is it just a hot patch of form or do you think it's something that's sustainable? Well, it just depends. Like it's like Luke Jackson in a lot of ways, but he's actually scoring pretty well in this role. Right. So I don't expect him to go at an 85, but if he went at
00:17:41
Speaker
high 70s, around 80, that's okay. And you've always got the chance, like a Luke Jackson, that they shift pitting it out and he assumes the main rock roll, in which case it's, you know, it's a really good thing.

Defensive Targets Analysis

00:17:55
Speaker
Just throwing it out there is a little bit of a pod pod option. No, fair enough. We heard the feedback from a listener that will remain unnamed that there wasn't enough pods on the pod pod, Steve. So fair enough to get you on here to raise them. Fair enough. Bails, let's just go back to Pete Ling as someone you're looking to bring in.
00:18:15
Speaker
probably deserves a little bit more discussion because the Stars did align last week with Tom Green going down early. Canelio's coming back. Tom Green will be back either this week or next week. Realistically, what do you think he can do as someone that's been the sub four times this year and probably won't have that midfield role when all of the soldiers come back? Yeah, this is a really tough one.
00:18:40
Speaker
I think if, if Tom Green's out this way, I think it's a good pick because you're probably going to get a decent score this week and you're just sort of hoping that he can get you maybe a couple of seventies, then the round 12 by hitching trade amount is made maybe 150 K and, and, and you'd be happy days. If Tom Green played this week, that'd make it a little bit trickier. You've still got negative break even to hide behind negative 11. I think it is. So he can still make cash. You can still have a good score. But as you mentioned, if green and Canadian are back,
00:19:09
Speaker
They've got Josh Kelly, Callum Ward, Finn Callahan, I might be forgetting one or two others, but Toby Bedford runs through there as well occasionally, and then Peatling himself.
00:19:21
Speaker
where is he going to get this midfield role? And it could be, like, giants are a strong side. I was a bit nervous about Darcy Jones and even Harvey Thomas, who was sub last week, and these guys, and Pete Ling was one of those guys I was nervous about as well, but he smashed it last week with the 115. So I'm sort of keen to see what you guys think, because I think if Green's out, it's a good play still. You can get a player that can come on field for you, but if Green's playing, then it makes it a little bit maybe iffy and maybe you save some cash and get a Darcy Jones or a Dan Curtin or
00:19:51
Speaker
a bruise revel on your bench and just make some cash and play one of those other rookies that you go on your bench. Yeah, Steve, what do you think about peeling? He's definitely, should hopefully be on your radar a little bit more in sort of that draft realm, but is he someone we can look at in classic?
00:20:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's an interesting one. I haven't had a great deal of interest, to be honest. I expect, like you said, mentioned things went his way this week and probably last week. I expect Canelio's back at the very least. So there's someone who's going to chop into the time he got last week, possibly Tom Green plays, chops in again. Look, he scored.
00:20:30
Speaker
pretty well. He has quite a little bit of midfield time. I don't think, like they're not going to make Kellan Ward the sub in his 300th game. So, so he's going to be featured. I imagine Josh Kelly's obviously having a great season as well. I'm probably not super hot. I haven't really been looking at him from a draft point of view. I think he's kind of pricey at this point. So he's probably not someone I'm considering, but maybe it's a good option. I don't know. Mate, like Bail said, if if Tom Green misses, it's better than if he, if he played.
00:21:00
Speaker
Yeah, I think you'd really be banking on almost a ceiling score this week against Essendon with Tom Green being out. I think if you don't get that.
00:21:08
Speaker
the pick can get dicey pretty quickly. So for that reason, I'm not too keen. I think if we had have done it last week at 380K, it's a lot different than paying up 440K this week. But at the same time, we see coaches pull off these kinds of moves every year. And when it comes off, you're definitely ahead of the comp. So I don't hate it. What about someone else in this price bracket? A little bit more expensive, someone that we've had before. I know I have and traded out.
00:21:33
Speaker
Colby McCurcher now has the defensive role for the North Melbourne machines are going into the midfield. What can we realistically see him doing from here abouts? Yeah, well, it's frustrating that he's doing so well now and all of us trade him out. And I was one of those that traded him out. He's been great 109, 99. The only thing I worry with McCurcher is that
00:21:59
Speaker
Realistically, how much do you think he's going to go up in price? Because he's got the round 12 buy. He got a 1-0 against the Crows with like 12 kick-ins or 11 kick-ins or something like that. So that's a lot. And then he got a 9-0 against the easiest matchup for defenders against Saints. I'm not doubting his ability.
00:22:16
Speaker
if you've got him, you keep it. It's about bringing him in. He's got a Gold Coast up in Darwin. I know that he doesn't really cry a lot of marks, but it's still, it's Gold Coast, a restrictive. It's obviously not a great ground to be scoring at. And then he's got the Bombers who you mentioned before, Holmes, he had a bit tougher for defenders as well. And then he's got Port Adelaide at Blunstone, which is a terrible matchup. Then he's got his bye. So it's that run after bye, where he's got like West Coast, Collingwood, Melbourne, and Bulldogs, which is a bit better.
00:22:45
Speaker
I don't know, I don't like the match up so for that reason I'm probably not, I was keen not to start the week but now I've called on it looking a bit more into it so I'd be keen again to see if you guys agree with that but I'm a bit nervous, definitely if you've got him you're holding and it's a great hold and enjoy hopefully some good scores but yeah.
00:23:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think you summed that up pretty well, Bails, bringing the run there and talking about that, I think highlights just how much of a sort of a risky play it would be to bring him in back right now, especially with his buy coming up.

Buy Planning and Trade Management

00:23:18
Speaker
But yeah, absolutely. If you've still got him, hold that and potentially loop him off the bench is, I think, going to be a very, very good play.
00:23:26
Speaker
Lastly, before we get into some like or dislike for some targets, you put this in here by planning. Only nine trades to go before we hit round 12. We don't have our buy round expert on us at the moment, Stado, but how long have you been looking at your buyers? Are you just starting to look at it now and should coaches really start to look at it? Do you have any sort of flags that they might need to look at?
00:23:49
Speaker
Yeah, I've been looking at it for a few weeks now, not sort of too in depth. It's sort of been like, for example, like last week I was looking at, it was a Tom Green and a Caleb Sarong and I already had a golden in my midfield. So that split the decision and went, I went Sarong with a better buy. And it's, yeah, definitely got to come into coaches planning. It's like nine trades to go, not very many, and probably people are dealing with issues this week. So it might only really be seven for a lot of coaches. So like,
00:24:19
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's definitely got to be something that you split. I know a lot of us in our forward lines have got a lot of those round 12 players, whether it be a Heaney or a Zorko, or if you're bringing a peatling this week, you've got Darcy Jones, if you've still got a Cadman, Harvey Thomas.
00:24:36
Speaker
Tom Powell yet another one if you've got like a Blake Drew as well on the bench. Zach Fisher if you've looked at him where you've still got him. There's a lot of those forwards in round 12 so think about that. There are a couple of those mid premiums. I've got three on the round 15 buy in Jack Steele, Jordan Dorsey, Marcus Bonnipelli. So that's another one. We've got to keep money. Even some people in defense got sheets when Whitfield. So just I guess
00:25:00
Speaker
making sure those premiums are not sort of too heavy in one line and making sure you've got an even balance across your side I think is definitely something you've got to be looking at at this point.
00:25:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think the one that sticks out for me at the moment is that round 14 by so Carlton, Essendon, Geelong, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Essendon. Not a lot of relevant players that at least I have in my side from a lot of those teams like, you know, Essendon, you might look at a Darcy Parrish this week and you definitely want Zach Merritt, but whether you can pay up for that at this time of year is a bit interesting. Colton, Sam Walsh, but outside of that, there's not too many. Maybe you look at a Nick Newman, which we'll get to.
00:25:38
Speaker
Geelong, Geelong's pretty tough for fantasy as it is. Gold Coast, everyone has Flanders, but do you really want to be going in Anderson or Tookmiller at the moment? That's part of the reason why I'm potentially looking at Clary this week, going from Yo because it's West Coast to Melbourne on that same bite. It helps the structure.
00:25:56
Speaker
But yeah, it's pretty tough. But yeah, good insights there, Bao. It's definitely something to look at moving forward. And if it does split hairs with your trades, maybe that's something we look at this week. What we're going to get into now, knowing that a lot of coaches have these bullets, we're going to go a like or dislike for a lot of these targets. So we're going to start with defenders. This one's pretty obvious, Steve, but Nick Daikos priced at 101 down 97K.
00:26:20
Speaker
Do coaches need to target Dacos this week, given the West Coast matchup and knowing his price is now starting to rise? Yeah, 100%. If you don't have him, you should be trying to find a way to get him in if you don't have other problems.
00:26:35
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. He, he was back on the weekend, that full-time midfield role with, uh, to go in Mitchell out. That's going to be there again this weekend. Uh, he could absolutely feast on the West coast Eagles on that Sunday. So if you can find a way to, to get creative, to get day costs in, I think that's probably a play considering years pretty highly owned already as it is.
00:26:54
Speaker
Bales, Jack Sinclair priced at 96 down 76 K for the year, had the monster score on the weekend, uh, was only against North Melbourne, but he went into the midfield and it's been stated that they liked him in there and they want to get a little bit more certainty in his role. Definitely one to target now.
00:27:12
Speaker
I think so. Price of 96, he looked fantastic on the weekend, obviously 156 points. I think obviously the one Coach Roy got to keep in the back of their mind is Brad Crouch is a couple of weeks away, so he'll probably play VFL maybe a week or two, but he'll come in. Does that mean Sinclair has an even split between defence and midfield, but he looked great on the weekend and gave them something different, I thought, in that midfield. So I think that he's definitely going to be in that midfield.
00:27:37
Speaker
long-term. He's got a pretty good run as well coming up. This week he's got the Hawks. I think he's got the Eagles coming up as well. He's got Melbourne. He's got Freo next week, which sometimes could be good, sometimes bad, especially for defenders if Freo are chipping the ball around. But those other matchups are after a good matchup. So yeah, I think I'd rather day cost if you're in between two. But if you've got day cost, like a few coaches do, I think Sinclair's probably the next best defender to look at.
00:28:03
Speaker
Steve, this one's a little bit looser. Nick Newman priced at 91, so down 91K for the year. We know he had a monster finish to last year, which actually got his price up there. No, Zach Williams now. Adam Saad's still a little bit away, but they are getting McGovern and one more back, I think, off the top of my head. Could you be interested in a Nick Newman with that goodbye?
00:28:25
Speaker
Yeah, it's an interesting one. I like Nick Newman, the player. If you're bringing him in, you're obviously bringing him in as a keeper. I find it hard to believe you don't have better priorities, but it would be a point of difference. So I guess that's okay. That's the podcast. You got to say yes. Yeah. Yeah. The problem is when these guys come back, if you're buying these guys as a keeper and you go, your situation's good now, whilst they're missing, but it's going to be the same as it was.
00:28:54
Speaker
It's probably not for my flavor, but I could understand why people would do it. Yep, fair enough. Bales, I'm not too interested here, but Tom Stewart priced at 88. He's still got that 47 baked into his price. Has been close enough to a top six defender for probably the last five years now, but like or dislike, do you think Max Holmes is kind of eating into that pie a little bit and he's probably not going to be a top six defender for us this year?
00:29:19
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, no, dislike for me. He's only had two scores at 85 this year, and he was around two when he was Adelaide's 23rd player that night, and Hawthorne, where they do give up plenty of points. So yeah, for me, yeah, Holmes looking really good back there as well. So for me, again, he might get to a point where he gets near 700k and maybe look at it, but at the moment, yeah, no, not for me. Could you trade into a Max Holmes?
00:29:47
Speaker
Could I train to a Max Hones? What's his price? Let's get up here. 8.17. Probably not because you probably don't have Sinclair, so I'd rather go him. And Holmes has only had one score over 100 this year. He's been very consistent. A lot of 80s and 90s and a great draft pick. I got him in a couple of leagues this year, so very happy with that. But yeah, for me, I'd probably rather a couple of other options. But if you've got him, he's been a pretty solid pick.
00:30:14
Speaker
Steve, this player down 224K for the year. Fantasy stud, but being out of form. Bit injured on the weekend, but still got to a decent score. James Sicily priced at 82. What are your thoughts with the sick dog? Uh, not with the dislocated shoulder. Not for my taste, man. No way. I was off, I was off the sick dog at the start of the year. It only went worse. No chance.
00:30:40
Speaker
Yeah, probably the wrong person to ask, but had to throw him in there. He's very, very cheap. If we can see that form turnaround, you never know. But yeah, he's not playing the same filthy fantasy role that we had for last year. And yeah, definitely a pass.
00:30:54
Speaker
All right, let's get into some midfield targets. Now we're going to start right at the top. Zach Merritt bails, priced at 116. The only player in the comp that's still on the ton run just gets it done week in, week out, whether it's through tackles, whether it's through goals, whether it's through bulk disposals. Is it not the time of year to be paying up for Zach Merritt or do you think we just go straight to the top and lock away him? What do you think?
00:31:16
Speaker
Well, Merritt's an interesting one. They've got a good run coming up. You mentioned before about the buy, the Rand 14 buy. We probably don't have a lot of those players in there, so Rand 14 is good. Priced at 116, it is tough. I'm sort of keen to get your thoughts on that, Holmsey, being a coach that's finished high at the top and looking for value and stuff like that. I'm probably not paying up for him at this stage. I'd rather throw options, but what do you think?
00:31:45
Speaker
Oh, it's interesting because we generally don't, at this time of year, we say don't go up there because if you're going one down, one up and you're using all your money to get up there, then are you, you know, are you not going to be able to get up to the next guy and the next guy and then you're a little bit behind? But in a week like this where pretty much a lot of coaches are going to have to go sideways on their bullets,
00:32:05
Speaker
Maybe you do just bite the bullet and go straight up to a Zach Merritt. He's priced at 116. It's pretty tough, but at the form he's in, would it surprise us if he just went 116 plus for the rest of the year? We see players do this all the time and he just keeps getting it done. He's one of those players that I just feel sick not owning because you're hoping every week for a down game and whether he starts slow, whatever it is, he just always gets there because he's just so good at the moment. So I would actually tick it off.
00:32:32
Speaker
If you're in a position to get up there and I'm okay with just locking that away, I think he's been very, very good and you'd be a very happy owner, I would have thought. Steve? I was just, sorry, one more thing I was just going to say, it was just the scary thing with Merritt, he doesn't put a 140 scribe yet, which we know that he's good for a few, so that could come around the corner. So yeah, a bit nervous not owning him.
00:32:53
Speaker
Yeah, just a very, very good player. And if you're waiting for him to come down, very likely that it won't happen. Steve, I'll give you this one because we know Baoz already has him. Caleb Sorong priced at 111. Can we still go there? Or do you think we hold off a little bit? Was it a case of Nat 5 being out, which allowed him to really feast? We hadn't seen that ceiling score from him since round two. Or do you think he's just a really good player and we should look at it?
00:33:20
Speaker
I think, I mean, he's a really good player. You should look at it. I think it's the matchup. I captained him at home in my draft league. They're just, they've bled points for years. Through the midfield side, you know, he was a smash play this week. So I mean, he's a good player. You can have him. Absolutely. It's probably similar to merit. You're paying top dollar, but you're getting a top player.
00:33:43
Speaker
Yep. Yep. Agree there. Bails, my boy, Josh Dunkley. Pretty unique due to having that round to buy. Missed the ceiling score last week, but what do you think about targeting a Josh Dunkley this week?
00:33:56
Speaker
Yeah, I like it. Especially if you're looking for something different, a pod up around the top there that not many coaches have got him. Obviously, the one sort of flag with him is that round 12 buy. Again, I'm still fine to bring a round 12 player if it fits your buy structure, because every player is going to miss a game at the end of the day. So if it fits your buy structure, you don't have a golden or a green and you're looking for a round 12 buy mid. Yeah, he'll be my pick almost to have the three at the moment.
00:34:25
Speaker
Yeah, it's a great point you make. I'm exactly the same, Bales. If your buy structure allows it, there's absolutely nothing wrong. Yes, he's going to miss a game in three weeks, but every player's missing a game in the next seven. So, yeah, absolutely. If you can get there and you like him, don't let the round 12 buy scare you off too much as long as you're not too heavy in that round already. Steve, I'll give you this one just because I think Bales is going to be a little bit biased being an Adelaide Crows fan, but Jordan Dawson,
00:34:49
Speaker
doesn't have the midfield role that he had last year. He's still getting midfield time, but he's spending a little bit more time forward and playing these roles around the ground. He's still been scoring okay and he's still highly priced, showing that he's in form. Do we think he's going to be a top eight mid this year and you'd be happy to pay up for a 111 price tag? Or do you think we kind of wait on Dawson for a little bit and let everything else sort of come to fruition before he'd spend that money? Yeah, it's a funny one. If you've got him, you probably
00:35:18
Speaker
very happy, but he's probably not a player I'm keen to buy into. Just, I still think Adelaide are a bit of a funky team. Um, maybe he's in the same boat as Meredith Sarong and finishes, probably finishes a top eight mint, right? But there's just something about Adelaide. I don't know. Don't know what it is. Yeah. They're not, they're not scoring like they were last year. Ladd's a little bit off. Dawson's a little bit off. Selego's been unreal. Crouch still gets it done. So yeah, it's,
00:35:48
Speaker
It doesn't seem like they have that same market share that they had last year where it was Dawson, it was lead, and then there was no one else. It seems like they're playing a little bit more team orientated football at the moment, which means maybe the ceiling isn't there as much as it was last year. And maybe it's just a 100 to 105 guy, which in that case is overpriced. But I do like him still, and I'll be watching that pretty closely to see how that all plays out over the next month or so.
00:36:12
Speaker
Bails, Noah Anderson priced at 108, still keeps getting it done. Two games to come in Darwin and traditionally the Suns drop off in the second half of the year. Would you be happy to pay 108 for Noah Anderson at the moment?
00:36:27
Speaker
No, a bit dislike for me. I don't know. No, Anderson just probably never really got around in terms of fantasy pick yet. I just, there's Rao there. There's Tootmiller still there. Will Graham, obviously, he's playing as well, but not scoring a huge amount. But Anderson just seems like that player that
00:36:45
Speaker
can drop a 60 when you least expect it. Whereas the other guys are a lot more safer than him and he's priced at 108 and there's a lot of good options in that price range. And as you said, those Darwin gains for me, I wouldn't be looking at him at the moment. Does have that good buy, but yeah, it does seem that if teams are going to tag at Gold Coast, he's the one that attracts it these days, which doesn't make a lot of sense. He butches the footy at times, but he does get forward and kick goals. So maybe that's what they, they're trying to stop.
00:37:14
Speaker
Fizz, Sam Walsh, priced at $106. Do we think there's still value there or do we think that's essentially what he's going to go at for the rest of the year? Yeah, I don't think there is value. I think that's it. You either hopped on him straight away or you didn't. The marks, I can't have it. Can't have it. Catch the footy, mate. Catch the footy.
00:37:35
Speaker
Yeah, he's not getting enough cheap ball at the moment in terms of marks around the ground. 30 disposals plus a week, but we've seen plenty of players put up these numbers and not have the real elite fantasy game to go with it. So that 145 that he had in the first game still propping his score up quite nicely, but I think, yeah, you might be paying for what you get at the moment. And
00:37:53
Speaker
he might just be a little bit off those top eights, but he does have that good buy, so probably still consider it there. Bails, kind of rosy down. Zack Butters starting to hum. Do we think he's the beneficiary this week and moving forward? They have some nice match-ups in Geelong North and Hawthorne, I think, or there might not be North, but I know they've got three good match-ups to come. Do we jump across to Zack Butters, or do you think he's pretty much priced at what he's going to do too?
00:38:20
Speaker
I think he's priced at probably around what he's going to do, priced at 105. Obviously the positive with him, he's got that round 13 buy, which is great. And I think that probably alleviates the value. I wouldn't be doing it this week though. I know Geelong are a good matchup for midfielders. I just worry with no rosy.
00:38:37
Speaker
Geelong has shown in the past that they can throw an Atkins, a Blitzarves, or an O'Connor, or someone to tag. And with no Rosie there, I could just see, how is Geelong going to stop Port's Midfield? And I think, but is that guy they're going to stop? So I probably wouldn't do it this week, but I don't mind it next week, especially with those two match-ups to come.
00:38:55
Speaker
Yeah, look, I think Geelong will just stop the Port Adelaide midfield by playing football. There's not much to stop in that Port Adelaide midfield at the moment. They've been pretty disappointing for the last month, but yeah, I agree. It wouldn't shock me for Scott to do that. He's shown that in the past. Steve Bont, 104. Interesting. Only really the one year out of the box where he's been an elite fantasy scorer for us normally sits around that 100 to 105, which conveniently that's where he's sitting at the moment.
00:39:25
Speaker
It's one because he could take the season away from us if it all clicks and they say, all right, you're back in 80%. We just need a lift for you. But is the price right for Bont or are you a little bit sort of wary with the role that he's playing at the moment and everything that's going on at the dogs? Yeah, I had a look at him last week and I just think he's going to be one of those guys probably similar to Noah Anderson who falls out of the, you know, there are teens midfielder. They're an 11 to 20 midfielder rather than a
00:39:53
Speaker
Um, top 10 midfielder, maybe we, you know, he won the Brown low last year, or at least the moral moral Brown low. So bit of regression was due. The old state PhD on the Brown low regression. Yeah, look, and you would be going in the preseason. You say you look for these players that regress because they were doing things so far out of the Norman, his tackles on top of everything that he was doing meant that he had an elite fantasy season, but with that role playing a little bit more forward and not being around the ball as much.
00:40:21
Speaker
uh his tackle numbers and and marks have been down as well so yeah maybe he's not the the m1 to m4 that we sort of projected at the start of the year but just got to be aware keep watching it because if it does change he can get away from us very quickly
00:40:36
Speaker
I'm going to finish with you. I'm just going to give you two value options this week and I want to get your thoughts and whether or not we should consider bringing them in both with the round 14 by Darcy Parrish priced at 97 and now Clayton Oliver priced at 82 is the time to be jumping across to these two players who have shown to be very good fancy scorers in the past.
00:40:55
Speaker
I'll start with Parrish quickly. I think he looked really good on the weekend. The game time was up. That was the only concern for me was that Tom on ground. I think he was over 80%, which was great to see. Looked really good. Looked hungry for the ball. Took a lot of marks. Got some tackles as well. And Oliver looked good as well. Still not looking like the 110 Oliver that we've seen in the past, but certainly back to a little bit of that. Got a few of the marks around the ground. Some transition points. I think if you're picking one, you're probably going Parrish for this week.
00:41:25
Speaker
I really like the fact that if you can look at Oliver this weekend, Carlton on the Thursday night, do you want to lock in a trade on the Thursday night if we get some other stuff happening later in the weekend? Next week, he's got West Coast in the final game, the round does Oliver. So that would be a good time to pounce. You get an extra week. He's got a 97 break even. And Parrish has got, he's got Giants this week, tricky matchup, but after that, he's got a pretty nice run up to his bind than even after his buy. So I'd go Parrish this week, but I do like Oliver as well.
00:41:56
Speaker
Steve, do you have any counter thoughts on Clayton Oliver? No, like Oliver, he's at the right price. I think Jaden Papowski tweeted out that he had a good run of opposition who give up points at the stoppage, which obviously that's going to be his bread and butter.
00:42:18
Speaker
I don't mind it. Just circling back on Bont as well. The Bulldogs are way down in stoppages as well from last year. So that's obviously going to be where Bont does his damage as well. So just something to consider in terms of game style about the players. And Liria too as well. Yeah, very good from you, Steve. I knew we got you on this podcast for a reason, bringing those deep analysis stats of yours.
00:42:45
Speaker
All right, we're going to quickly touch on the forwards before we look at rookies and your questions quickly. Now, I want to preface this by saying there's a big three in the forward line in terms of Heaney Flanders and Zorko, and then it's daylight. And if you can, I'd actually be avoiding trading into any forward premiums
00:43:03
Speaker
for a while. I know Steve was sort of talking about this last week and trying to just get more information about these forwards and hopefully something else coming to light because there's not a good, there's not a lot of value. Let's put it this way. I think if you're trading into a forward premium this week, you're essentially gonna get what you pay for, if not a little bit less. But if you do need to actually trade into one because that's what your structure needs, then there's a few here that we'll sort of talk about. First one here bows, Brad Hill priced at 92.
00:43:32
Speaker
It makes me feel a little bit awkward and weird, but you can't knock what he's done. He's had a ceiling score. I think he's had one bad score, but outside that, he's been one of those players that they're more than happy to use off the halfback and through the midfield. Could you go at Brad Hill?
00:43:47
Speaker
uh if you're looking for a forward you could um it's just the fact that yeah he is just prone to those bad scores like he had in round one he scored a 41 against jalong in jalong and and then he's got a 59 against port adlade so you probably put that down to the bad matchups um so if you're looking for a forward he could be an option but i do worry that um he could put up a done score and as you guys said i think maybe just
00:44:09
Speaker
wait on these forwards and get some more information to see who's going to be top six and then maybe targeting because price of 92, you're not really going to get much value, I don't think. Yep. Love that bowels. Steve, Jai Caldwell, subbed out on the weekend on 61 with calf tightness. Sounds like he's good to go this week, which is a little bit of salt into the wound for owners, but priced at 88, could you still consider a Jai Caldwell? Absolutely not.
00:44:38
Speaker
Yeah, want to elaborate? I just think he's going to be one of those players who gets shifted around depending on role. He's out of the midfield. You got Setterfield due back soon, we think. Essendon's one to two keeps getting pushed back one to two. So I like the player. I really like him again. I think he's one of those players who falls into the 10 to 20 overall ranks at the end by average.
00:45:04
Speaker
So really nice draft pickup, but again, not someone you're probably picking up at this point in classic.
00:45:11
Speaker
Yeah. And, uh, Perkins back on the weekend was sort of managed his time on ground and roll as well. So you'd think that maybe he starts to get his minutes up as well. And Caldwell does seem to be the one that shifts around and historically has low time on ground as well, which means he can have a bit of a floor score too. But I actually like what he's been doing, but yeah, I'm not sure I'd be paying 88 for him at this stage. Bales, Dylan Moore priced at 86. His price has jumped off the back of two tons at a 90.
00:45:37
Speaker
Can you go to Dylan Moore? We've seen him average 90 in that half forward role in the past. Hawthorne aren't what they were. They've been worse this year, especially for scoring. Could you be confident in Dylan Moore? Do you think you needed to go last week or the week before and you've kind of missed the boat and you can get him later on for pretty much the same price if he is a top six forward?
00:45:58
Speaker
If you're looking for a premium forward and you're not looking at those top three, you've got the two and you're not going Zorko, I think more is probably your pick. He's looked really good the last couple of weeks and he's got another good matchup this week against the Saints. He does have Port Adelaide where he was at Port Adelaide next week or the following week or something. No, Port next week, Adelaide Oval.
00:46:18
Speaker
tough match up there, but he did have a couple of those 40s there in the year. I think there was more down to he missed the precess with glandular fever. So I think it's just him working his way back. He looks fit and sort of back to the Dylan more that we saw. It was a couple of weeks ago. Um, um, sort of really tear it up and be that top six forward. So I think he's probably the one that's likely to stay in there, but there are still a few little flags. Well, like you still like Hawthorne, you sort of don't know we're going to get weak to weaken and whatever. So
00:46:44
Speaker
If you're looking for one, you could go him. I'm probably still waiting on my forward side. Yep. No, I agree. I agree there, Bao. Steve, last one for you. And you've been someone that's been sort of championing this bloke over the preseason, wondering why he's not getting the role that we think he should. But Jack McCray priced at 84, had two good scores, but didn't look great. And on the weekend, he didn't look great at all. I think there was something in the presser saying that
00:47:08
Speaker
He was potentially doing a little bit of work on Nukem around the ground. So maybe that could explain why he was not really getting the ball on the outside as much. He looked good on the inside, but just wasn't on the ground enough. Could you trade into McRae with any kind of confidence? I couldn't. I couldn't. It's been a horrible pick. Need my head red. Bad process. I don't think it was bad for it. I can still justify it.
00:47:34
Speaker
You can't, I don't know that you can do it at this point. There's just so many red flags. Yeah. Yeah. And it's, it's a nervous watch each week to see him named on the bench and wondering whether Bevo, Bevo is going to make him sub or not. Well, it's probably going to happen this week. Let's be serious, but no, I wouldn't be trading into him this week. Um, unless Bevo gets sacked and then the magnets get switched around and he's back in the, in the midfield. But for now, I don't think I'd be trading into him as someone that's had him for the last two years and has been a hard watch.
00:48:04
Speaker
All right, Bales, before we get into the questions, let's just quickly touch on the rookie targets for people that might not have had these bullets and are looking for a traditional down up this week. Out of the rookies that we have available, Bruce Revel, Lachie Sullivan, Kelsha Deer, Hardman, Jones and Woe Woden, where do you think you'd be looking? Maybe sort of rank these rookies and talk about where you'd be going.
00:48:26
Speaker
Yeah, so at number one, I think I've actually probably got Bruce Revel. I think I've got him at number one. I think with all those injuries at Brisbane, I think that his job security, at least in the short term, is pretty good. And I've heard on a few podcasts like this week that trading in these rookies
00:48:44
Speaker
you probably want them in there for fits because if you start training in these red dots, then they're starting to get dropped, they're going to build up and then the buyers hit and then you haven't got a full squad of 30, you might have players missing, then all of a sudden you scrape in the 18 when you really want 22 or close to each week. So I think Bruce Revel is probably my top one. The Locky Sullivan one does worry me a little bit. Great matchup this week and he potentially a fieldable player if you can hold off and you know he's not the sub.
00:49:12
Speaker
and to go apparently back in next week, whether they do come back or not is obviously to be seen. But I'll worry with him, Kaushia Deere sort of playing that forward or key forward role. So I'm not as keen on him. Hardeman, he could be dropped this week. He got subbed out last week. I think he'll still hold, but didn't show the scoring. Darcy Jones, I just worry week to week about him being the sub or potentially out. He looks very, very good, but the Giants are a strong team.
00:49:38
Speaker
And why Woden, Bowie's back this week. So then he got a sailor back in a week or two. So I worry with him. The other one that's not actually on this, I don't actually mind is one of my boys, Dan Curtin. Not a great score on the weekend in the showdown, but he'd almost be my second fake run behind Revel just with the job security moving forward. I can't see him being dropped by the crows for the next month or so. So I'd probably go him next, but I think Revel's probably my pick being quite a good price and job security looks pretty good in the short term.
00:50:13
Speaker
in a perfect world. Locky Sullivan's definitely the one you want to go to. He has the best pedigree, mature age, looked good, had the role at least when he went on the ground. But you're dead right. You need to be picking a rookie at this time of year that has job security. You really want them playing through the buys if possible. There's no point trading in a Sullivan this week if he's going to be sub or out next week. And yeah, he might make 50K this week. But if he tops out at 300, 310, then you're in a bit of trouble. I'd love to go there myself. But I think there's too much doubt around
00:50:36
Speaker
Yeah, look, I agree with you. List their bows.
00:50:45
Speaker
Degoi and Mitchell coming back. But in saying that, if he plays this week and he's good, and then some of those players come back and he still holds, I think you can still target him at 280, 290K next week. I think that's probably the play there. But a ground revel looked good at times on the weekend. And with those injuries, I think he probably has the best job security of a lot of them.
00:51:04
Speaker
All right, lads, let's quickly bank through some of these questions. We've been going for a while here. I'll start with you, Steve. This one's from the Drew Jones, the one himself. Should he ruin it for everyone and finally trade in Zorko? Do you think we can pay $950K for a 35-year-old that has hammy issues? He's been absolutely unreal. $184K on the weekend. Do you do it? Sure. Why the hell not? Yeah.
00:51:29
Speaker
Yeah, look, he's got to do it right at some stages. He's the number one forward at the moment or right up there. Coaches that got the 180 on the weekend against some of the other premiums that we have in the forward line have got a big leg up and there's nothing to indicate that he won't just continue on. I'm not saying you're going to get the 180, but he's been fantastic. So we'll tick that off. And to be honest, if he if he pings a hammy or he has a rest, then you've just got to you've got to cop it. But it just is what it is at this stage is too dangerous to not at least consider.
00:51:58
Speaker
Bails, this one is from Forked Hawk. If Sweet was your R2 and is out this week, thoughts on a big downgrade upgrade to English or Stevie Fizz, run a donut at R2 and fix other issues like Yo Green, Rosie, Z Will. Are you on the donut train? We've heard Fizz's thoughts.
00:52:20
Speaker
I don't, I, my brain is wired in fantasy that I just can't bring myself to getting in a donut. I'll just almost bring in anyone just to not get a donut. So I would probably even just bring in a fiscentini almost if he gets named and just even take his maybe 20 points for the week. Um, but yeah, I guess it depends how really, I still think if you can get English and you can make that work, then I would be doing, I think the only way you'd ever really look at the donut as if you can't get English or
00:52:50
Speaker
or anything like that, but yeah, I can't get a donut personally.
00:52:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I think I'd be going the premium and just dealing with everything else as well. I'm not sure I'd be copying the donut there. Steve, this one's from Taser. He's copped a bunch of bullets like a lot of us have. Do you think it's a play and process to hold Rosie and Green and just keep upgrading the rookies around and then obviously get the triple upgrade next week? Or do you think with those two big boys, you kind of have to trade one of them. Otherwise, you're going to be giving away too many points.
00:53:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's an interesting one. I would find a way to hold green, I think. It doesn't sound as bad. I don't like strain, so maybe you trade rosy, but I still think it's a process. I think the two weeks is bad. What do you think, Holmes? I'm trying to improve my process on this. I think one week's injuries are easy to hold, but two weeks plus, especially a hamstring, that could, oh, he's not come up, you know? You don't want that two to turn into three.
00:53:52
Speaker
Yeah, well, that's my thought process for Rosie. Yeah, if he misses one and you hold, then you're probably in a decent spot. But if he misses two, you're in a world of hurt with Green and these type of players. I just think you need to think, if he comes back after one week, does he have the ability to hurt you? And Tom Green absolutely does. I traded him out last week for his one week suspension and he comes back with a 170. We know that Tom Green has that in him. And if you trade him out this week,
00:54:19
Speaker
and he comes back next week and he puts up a monster. Are you really gonna be any better off? I wouldn't have thought so. So I'm in the camp there with you, Steve. If you've got Tom Green, I'd be looking to hold. It sounds like he's more than likely to at least get up next week, whereas Rosie's a little bit different. I'd be looking to trade Rosie at this stage, knowing he's got a massive break even. Yeah, you're gonna have to suck it up and potentially trade him back in in three, four weeks' time when his price bottoms out. But yeah, that's where I'd be looking to go there. Bails.
00:54:48
Speaker
This one here from Henza, I love the work of the Pod Pod. Can you split Selego and Sinclair from me? So Selego is one we didn't mention. What do you think about Selego and Sinclair? One's obviously priced a little bit more. $8.50 for Sinclair, Selego $7.20. But do you think it's a play to sort of save that cash and go with Selego instead?
00:55:10
Speaker
Oh, I think it really depends what that cash is going to do for you next week. Celigo's been great, right? I actually went to the game with Jake, the Essendon game, when the crows were in Adelaide. And we both said on the night that he's a great player, and he's almost more of a better player in real often than fantasy. And he's so young, so again, that could happen down the track. But 1.15 with 10 tackles, I don't know if that's sustainable.
00:55:40
Speaker
If you can and the cash doesn't matter I'd be going Sinclair at least you that he's gonna be in your team the one positive though with Selego is he does have that around 15 buy so you can hold him right the way through and you can offload him in round really round 13 14 15 if you want and you can offload into a to a fallen premium or even a fully fledged premium if you've got the cash you've upgraded so I don't mind it but Sinclair for me I think
00:56:05
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I agree with you 100% there, Bails. Steve, this one's an interesting one. This one's from DinoPigs. He's talking about which popular rookies are worth holding. So it's very easy to sort of cash out a
00:56:19
Speaker
a Roberts, a Closie, and some of these other, a Jeremy Sharp, for example. Do we think they're worth holding and taking a haircut on the premiums, knowing that we're potentially gonna need them to play over the buys? Or do you think, nah, let's just use the cash while we can and get up to the real Uber premiums and deal with it later on? What are you thinking here?
00:56:42
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it's a good question. I would probably just go as a needs basis. Like, um, Roberts is probably a prime one to move up. I would have thought like he's not going to make you any more money. You've got returning players from Sydney.
00:56:58
Speaker
I feel like he's a player who's going to get subbed off. He's always a chance to be subbed off. So he's a player I'm pretty happy to move on. Like a Sanders looks like he might come back this week after a pretty strong VFL performance. What's his name? Harvey Thomas. You can probably move him on.
00:57:15
Speaker
I think these guys, a lot of these guys will turn into red dots. Someone like a Combin, who I still have, he's probably going to play, but he's not going up anymore, is he? Like, that's going to be, but he will fill a score on those bi-weeks. So he's maybe someone whose job security is okay. But maybe some of those sub-risk players who might be out of the team, they're certainly the ones I'd look to move first.
00:57:44
Speaker
Yeah, you absolutely nailed that, mate. For someone that doesn't play classic at all and hates it, I think you've nailed the strategy quite well. We still need players playing around the buy, and I think these ones that are sub risks or players that aren't going to make your best 18, even in a buy round, I think you look to move off and you hold some of the safer ones. Bails, this one's for Mr. Egg. Who does he upgrade first? Williams, Dempsey, or Roberts? Ooh.
00:58:14
Speaker
I think it's Williams for me. With Dempsey, it's almost like you can even potentially loop him on a Friday night, see how he goes, might put on a good score. He's not gonna drop a heap of cash. He's breaking into the 70s and he's beginning 60s and it's that sort of forward line where he seems pretty safe in the best 22 at least at the moment. So Williams, he's only had one score over 75 this year and he got a 70 and the rest have been 60s. So if you can trade him and it works, I'd be happy to trade him.
00:58:43
Speaker
Roberts, I'm probably still happy enough to hold till he's by, but as Fizz said, I think he's a guy that could be subbed out at any moment as well. He's another one, so you could trade him out as well. It probably depends on the upgrade that you can get, but I'd go, is that Williams? But if not, you could go Roberts if he gets you to a day cost or a Sinclair. Steve, this one's from Ethan. Sarong and a rookie versus Clarion McCurcher. Where would you go there?
00:59:11
Speaker
I'd probably go Clary and McCurcher, I think, if those are the two options. Yeah, yeah, I think I agree there as well. You're getting two fieldable options versus one absolute gun premium, but then a rookie that you're not going to want anywhere near your field, unless it is Sullivan that you're potentially looking at this week. But yeah, I think I am Clary and McCurcher in that situation too.
00:59:33
Speaker
Bail's last one for you. This one's from Core, a player that gets no love despite the fact he is a genuine fantasy star year in, year out. I think it might have something to do with the fact that he tore both hamstrings at the same time. Adam Trelore as a pod. Again, a done averaging 107, another 115 last week.
00:59:54
Speaker
Since round three, he's only gone under the tunnel on one occasion, and that was that 3A game where he only got 83. That was a handball happy game where everyone was handballing, I think. He had 19 handballs to only 10 kicks. He's a good pod.
01:00:09
Speaker
I think it's going to be very interesting to see what that dog's mid-field looks like with Libba. We don't know how long he's out for. It sounds like it's going to be at least a prolonged period. I think Trillor is definitely one of those top two that's going to be in there. 9.58, there are a lot of good options in that price. But hey, it is the Pod Pod, and if you're looking for a pod, you could be the pod you go for. I couldn't talk you out of it if you go in there.
01:00:37
Speaker
Yeah, I think all of the same things ring true that Steve spoke about for Bont. Obviously Treloar plays for the same side, lower stoppages, less access to stoppage points. He's the type of player that I love to target late in the year, knowing that you only need to get four or five games out of him for a potential pod play. But he's someone that we see get injured year in, year out, whether it's a weird injury at the end of the game or you get subbed out.
01:01:04
Speaker
you're going to be wanting him for a long time. So I'm not sure I'd be looking to target there, especially with some of the players around his price range. But Fizz has his hand up. He's going to say he loves it.
01:01:14
Speaker
No, I love the player, but I reckon it's team dependent. And I'll tell you why is we often talk like when we're drafting about how much risk you want to introduce to your team. Like if I already had Sam Walsh, Dane Zorko, maybe a Ruckman who's on the fringe of getting injured like a Rohan Marshall, it seems like he is, then I probably wouldn't trade into a player like that. Like it gets injured every year. We kind of know that.
01:01:42
Speaker
But if I had a pretty clean bill of health sort of players, like Tom Green obviously got injured, but he's not the sort of player who repeatedly gets injured. So if I had a pretty clean looking team, he's the sort of player I would take a chance on. But if I didn't, you know, if I had, you know, like Josh Kelly and all these sort of guys, and I probably wouldn't
01:02:04
Speaker
That's a fantastic point, Steve. And Treloar is the type of player that can go on and run an average 130 over a month and really get you ahead of the comp. So yeah, don't hate it. I think we're all sort of ticking it off, but yeah, as you said, just make sure you have a look at your team and your risk profile.
01:02:20
Speaker
All right, lads, on that, we will wrap up. Thank you so much for jumping on. Really appreciate it. I wasn't really keen on doing a Steve Fizz solo pod this week, so you've really saved me. But Bails, where can the listeners find you? I'm sure they know considering you're on five days a week, but yeah, just let the listeners know.
01:02:38
Speaker
Yeah, you can find me at Bell's DT across all the socials and AFL fantasy fans on the Twitter sphere as well. And I guess I'll just quickly, Tim says I need to mention wherever I go. No, I'm joking. No, I'll just mention anyway.
01:02:52
Speaker
those people that do want to get a special package that Tim's got, obviously with the Content Craz Cup being sponsored by Infinite Wealth, where winning coaches get $5,000 off their charity, but every fantasy coach can get a sort of like a all in one sort of help with your financial goals from Tim. So make sure you head to infinitewealth.com.au forward slash AFL fantasy and help you achieve your financial goals faster. So yeah, make sure you guys get around that and shout out to Tim for
01:03:21
Speaker
for doing that again this year. Perfect. Love your work, Bails. And Fizz, probably keep this time slot free each week. Just saying, with the PodPod panel members at the moment, we might need you, but nah, really appreciate you jumping on back to back. You've really helped me out.
01:03:43
Speaker
Good luck. I hope you rise up. The classic ranks continues and you get away from the draft. Classic it is. Yeah, actually, Wednesday nights actually are date nights. It really works for me coming on the show. It just saves me a lot of stress.
01:03:58
Speaker
Look, I was really happy to come on after my massive win in the, the one league I played. So I don't know who the deadbeat I was who I played, but that's fine. Yeah. You beat me, mate. So cheers for that. Appreciate you. All right. As always, make sure you follow us at Pod Pod AFL on X. Uh, please leave a rating and review on Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts and who knows we might be back Monday. We might be back Wednesday. We might not be back at all, but until then farewell.