Get Off The Bench: Round 6

So we finally get to the last of these Multi Bye weeks for a while and thank god for that!  I must say that the bye is really giving us DT coaches the shits as it means we have to put some of our chumps on the ground who we really only drafted to make us some quick cash!  So this week firstly check that you have all of your Fremantle, Hawthorn and Geelong players onto the bench and see what choices you have left.

We are now seeing some of our more favoured fringe players now start to get rested with “General Soreness” so we are starting to have to scrape the barrel a bit more in terms of who we are going to put out on the park.  We are also now starting to look at downgrade targets so make sure you are checking Chook’s Rooks to see who you should be picking up but then the hard part comes in weeks like this in terms of who do you really trust to get you a score.  As has been widely commented on at this website over the last few days we were really let down by some of our guys this week in terms of C Rich, Jesse O’Brien, Jayden Pitt and Rohan Bewick. So some weeks it just isn’t going to happen, then throw in the uncertainty of the vests and all hell breaks loose.  So lets just have a look at what we have to work with this week!

Defenders

We seem to have an abundance of defenders at the moment who are in this fringe category to choose from so you should be able to find some value here.  The most obvious guy is Dyson Heppell he has been on fire lately and should return a fantastic score against the Gold Coast and continue his march to the Rising Star.  I would expect a nice ton out of him if he doesn’t suffer with a vest, also check the team on Friday night as he may be out, rumors are around that he may be rested this week and he is on the extended bench.  His buddy Michael Hibberd finally makes his appearance this week.  I am not going to include him in my ratings since we don’t know how he will go with the big boys, but Roy thinks we should get him on the park, so if you have him and are feeling lucky, put him out there and see what happens.    Nick Duigan is another guy that has continued to deliver for us, but did struggle with a 53 last week against Adelaide.  I am a little concerned with him this week given he is playing the Swans at the SCG and a lot of visiting teams to the SCG can struggle for points particularly on their first visit.  DT Talk’s Brodie Smith has been a star over the last 3 weeks and I see no reason why he will stop this run, they are playing the Saints at home and I expect that given the Saints poor form of late he should be ok to run and collect stats.  Teammate Luke Thompson has also been ok in his first two outings with a 45 and a 59 and for the 2,956 of you that have him, he wouldn’t be the worst to play this week.

Brisbane ‘s Jesse O’Brien was one that I expected big things of last week but he didn’t perform only racking up 48 pts in the Lions narrow loss.  This week they have the Tigers in Melbourne and I am unsure of what he will do given he seemed to play well last time he was at the MCG against the Dees where he had 78.  Play him but with caution.  Andy Otten is another that has disappointed of late, he had a breakthrough the other week with an 87 against the Power but then dropped back to the 50’s last week.  However, the clown has gone and gotten himself dropped!   Stefan Martin from the Dees has put in a good run of late with an average of 73 and he has avoided any vest action too which makes him a good bet to get it now!

Cameron O’Shea from Port Adelaide has been putting together a tidy run of scores with 70 in each of his last two outings, he has started to step up and win his own ball of late and I can’t see him getting dropped in a hurry either as there aren’t a great deal of options at Alberton currently.  Once again though he could be a victim of the Green Vest this week as he is yet to wear one in his first 5 outings.

The Gold Coast go to Etihad to play the Bombers this week and trying to pick the form of their youngsters is a bit like trying to pick a winner at the dishlickers, just pick one and hope like hell they know what they are doing!  Danny Stanley was the backline standout for the Suns last week with his 75 with all of the other guys doing stuff all.  Toy and Tape both scored a 37 and K Hunt got himself a 26 (to give him an average now of 27).  So there isn’t really a form line to go on here apart from playing the more experienced Stanley.

Midfielders

The mids are certainly an area where we see a hell of a lot more vest action than any other with these fringe guys, particularly because of their more versatile nature.  The Coaches have worked out that a ruckman isn’t the way to go for a starting sub (Mark Seaby…  what was Longmire thinking) but it is a smaller running guy that can have an immediate impact on a game.

Jared Polec has had himself a nice a nice 83 and 67 so far and this kid is a gun in the making, I would play this guy with some confidence, now that he is in the side I can’t see him dropping out in a hurry.  Ed Curnow is dominating still and this guy is the new Barlow for mine, I haven’t seen any weaknesses in his game.  He is in and under and is getting his own ball at stoppages and is all over the ground.  Play this guy each and every week at the moment.  The other gun Dyson Heppell we spoke about above.

One of the surprises for me has been Stewart Crameri this guy has been smashing out some scores over the last few weeks and doesn’t really look like slowing down, so get this guy on the park if you have him, particularly against the Suns.  Speaking of the Suns, I saw them last week (although I would rather forget the game) and I was impressed with what I saw of some of them.  Harley Bennell played a tidy game and is averaging 70 currently so he is a reasonable choice.  But the two guns in their side are a must on the field this week are David Swallow and Dan Harris.  Swallow has really started to show some of the promise  that we all knew he had in him, his 80’s over the last two weeks have shown us this.  Harris have been no slouch eaither with 60’s over the last few weeks too.  Another guy that has done well from the Suns is Trent McKenzie who has an 82 and a 76 to his name, so if you have him I would put him out there if you need to.  To answer the question I got from @adamwaringrider on Twitter this week I would go with Swallow over Harris this week as I think he is really starting to dominate the middle with GAJ for the Suns.

Shaun Atley has lifted by scoring two 60’s now after two 40’s, I am still not sure about this guy so if you have a better option I would play them instead.  He is playing against Jasper Pittard who has scored 77, 87 and 79 so far, so he is another decent choice.  Libba is another that is doing well and I wouldn’t hesitate to play after his 82 last week bringing his average to 86.  His teamate Mitch Wallis only scored 10 after wearing Warnie’s green vest for 3 quarters last week.  I think we can’t judge him on this score, I would like to see a full game out of this guy first though before putting him on the park.  Just beware though as I reckon Libba is due for a vest or a rest, so be careful.  Lastly, Reece Conca has started to come into a bit of form, but he is still a little incosistent for mine.

Forwards

After listening to DT Talk Live whilst putting this together tonight I hear that a lot of people are looking to go to Shaun McKernan for C Rich and I don’t mind that one, I think this kid has some potential and has a couple of 58’s to his name, but I think that he will score a lot better when either Taylor Walker or Kurt Tippett aren’t in the team and he can be the main target up forward.  Jesse O’Brien has been mentioned up above and I am a little concerned about this guy after last weeks performance.

The Suns have a couple of options here for us are Charlie Dixon who is starting to look ok, he had a 65 last week and is hitting some form I reckon, but if you have a better option use it, and speaking of better options, there is Brandon Matera.  Last week’s Rising Star nominee scored a nice 84 and is on fire!  I like his play and I think he is only going to get better.

An interesting one is Brennan Stack from the Doggies, he has had 47, 48 and 69 to go along with a sub affected 20.  I don’t know if too many people have him, but I don’t know that I would trust him, but hey, if he is all you have then go for it.

In last nights game I would have gone for Jack Darling over Luke Tapscott as I think JD is only on the way up and LT is starting to wane a bit.

So the stocks are a little thin in the forward line this week, so hopefully you have enough guys to play.

Here are my picks for the week

Defenders

1. Heppell (if he plays)
2. Brodie Smith
3. Duigan
4. Stanley
5. Jesse O’Brien
6. O’Shea
7. Toy



Midfielders

1. Curnow (every day of the week!)
2. Heppell (see above)
3. Crameri
4. Swallow
5. Polec
6. Harris
7. Libba
8. Pittard



Forwards

1. Darling
2. Matera
3. Tapscott
4. Jesse O’Brien
5. McKernan

Thankfully next week we will have a full compliment of players to pick from which will mean these decisions are a lot easier!  You will note that I haven’t included A Krak in the analysis this week, that is basically because I don’t think he will play and if he does he will be the sub, so play him if you have to, but I would avoid it at all costs.

Hit me up on Twitter @pkd73 for any questions and matchups you want me to look at in this article next week.