Is Petrie served up on your dish?

One of the bargain picks of 2011 is set to be North Melbourne’s Drew Petrie. He is priced at $209,700 due to playing only 2 games at 50.5 last season. We can go into how he has been a high averaging player in the past, but you could just have a look at what Roy had to say about him in his Deck of Dream Team write up. In short, he averaged mid 80s in the two seasons prior to last year. Let’s couple this with his two NAB scores of 72 and 111. He is sure to be at least a fantastic cash cow, if not a ‘keeper’.

But the worry in selecting him comes with the fact he is suspended in Round 1 and follows up with a bye in Round 3.

So… Petrie can be selected as a FWD or a RUC. This is quite handy with some strategy. Roy argues that at his price he could be a ruck keeper. If he can average over 80, then you’d take that and leave him as your #2 for the season. As a forward, Calvin might see him as a bloke to upgrade… but if he does pump out an average of 80, then you could do much worse as your final 6th or 7th forward.

If you start with him in the rucks, then it’s going to be hard to cover him in those first few rounds. Our rookie rucks aren’t looking too promising. Everyone’s third ruck, Zac Smith ($106,400) hasn’t played a preseason game and may not start the season… and Gold Coast have a bye in Round 1 which doesn’t help anyway. Max Bailey ($97,600) is probably the best bet to play, but it might be a couple of weeks until we see him. Lachlan Keeffe ($92,500) might get some games early to slot in there to cover in the Magpies backline (and for your rucks).

Thinking outside the square here, Roy has suggested to play Tyrone Vickery ($172,000) as your third ruck who has had 95, 73 and 69 over the NAB series. These kind of scores would see him edge towards the $300K figure in the first half a dozen weeks and also offer great coverage for Petrie in Round 1 and 3… as well as your other ruckman (Dean Cox in Round 5 or Aaron Sandilands in Round 6). He could be a good cash cow. David Hale ($184,800) could be considered as a FWD/RUC to make a link with Petrie. His preseason numbers of 54, 82 and 48 aren’t as good as Vickery’s, but could be a handy DPP link.

Starting with Petrie in your forward line should be easier to cover. With three on the bench, and a few rookie options who SHOULD be playing round one, cover shouldn’t be too hard. A lot of people will have Brandon Matera and Dion Prestia (both have byes round one), but Cam Richardson, Jack Darling, Shaun McKernan and other forward options will be able to slide off the pine to cover the first and third games (bar Richardson as he is a North player too… sharing a bye of course). Also with the flexibility of DPP you should be right. It will be easier to cover players earlier in the season than later.

I am personally in two minds on whether to pick him or not. As I said in the latest video, I really don’t want to miss out of him. It will create some havoc with my team and structure… but, it should be worth it. Like Roy said, he could be a keeper… but if not, a nice earning cash cow.

What are your thoughts on the Petrie Dish?