Deck of Dream Team 2012: Bryce Gibbs

Name: Bryce Gibbs
Club: Carlton
Position: Midfield
Assistant Coach Price: $529,000
Bye Round: 13
2011 Average: 107
2011 Games Played: 22
Predicted Average: 115

Why should I pick him? Bryce Gibbs is a gun who is on the verge of becoming a weapon of mass destruction. Last year the selection of Gibbsy was easy due to his DPP eligibility as a def/mid but this year it is not so straight forward as his defender status has been stripped. It is important that we ignore the bonus of last year and now just put him in the category of developing midfield stars looking to take their game to a new level. Throughout the early stages of last year, Gibbs was given a variety of roles which lead to some inconsistent scores. After starting the year brilliantly with 147 and 144 in his first 2 hit outs, he let coaches down by not producing another triple figure score for 5 weeks. On the back of this, he doesn’t look like a very tempting prospect, however the second half of the year presented him with a far more attacking midfield/forward role where he managed to kick multiple goals in 6 of his last 7 games and was far more consistent and damaging from a DT perspective. The killer stat that must throw him into contention is the fact that between the rounds of 16 and 24 he never dropped under the 100 point mark and only twice dropped below 110. Infact, over this period he was on par with the elite averaging 121. This should be a sign of things to come from the young star who will play predominantly throughout the midfield and should avoid the tags that tend to follow Judd and Murphy. Although Bryce missed the all important final for the Blues last year, you won’t find many more durable players in the league. Throughout the home and away season, Gibbsy has only missed 1 game in his 5 year career.

Why shouldn’t I pick him? The fact that Bryce is such a team player, can hurt his scores, especially given the fact that he is more than capable of shutting down superstars and could be called upon from time to time to fill this role. The only other negative is there is a lot of competition from young stars looking to take their game to a new level who are priced in a similar bracket to Gibbs.

Deck of DT Rating: King- It’s only a matter of time until Bryce reaches the level of All Australian and DT Ace. His average over the last 9 weeks of the season clearly showed his potential and given the right role within the team next year, Gibbsy with be right up there with the stars who elevate their game to greater heights. It is also reassuring to hear coach Brett Ratten claiming that Bryce is ready to put his hand up and challenge for the title of the clubs best midfielder, surpassing that of Judd and Murphy. Having said this, and with my complete confidence he will improve on last years average, his awkward price leaves him only a 30% chance to line up for destROY in round 1.

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