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tbetta’s Bullets: Round 11

Round 11 was your typical week – tragic injury tales, big Captain scores, and Dr Dreamteam underachieved. It’s only fitting then, that i deliver the standard Makers and Breakers, while I also take a look at the Big Men of the competition, a quick peak into my Crystal Ball, and a squiz at what’s on the menu at tbetta’s Tuckshop!

  • Hand Down, Man Down.

Firstly, welcome back to the Bullets for another week. As the NBA-themed title suggests, there were a few key players down this week, which affected a lot of totals. Sylvia and Montagna got hurt, Franklin didn’t even turn up and Chapman, Rockliff, Sandilands and Watson weren’t in calculations.

Roughly 20,000 coaches scored above 2k this week, so a par score was around high 1900s. It was a highly unpredictable weekend, and depending on your Captain choice and how many of the players mentioned above you own, you could have blitzed it or blown it.

  • Land of the Giants

With Sandi nursing a sore toe, more than half the coaches nationwide were stressing about what to do with him. Hold, trade – if so, who to? From the outset, it didn’t look like a great position to be in. But was it a blessing in disguise?

This week the big men went huge, with Cox, Goldstein (144) and McEvoy (139) in the top 5 for the week! Not to mention Sandilands’ replacement, Griffin, scoring 115 in his second game of the year, or his DT replacements in Zach Smith and Petrie scoring 107 and 101 respectively.
I personally chose to hang on to the 211, but with Zmith filling the void so well, is it worth relegating him to the bench when Sandi returns, or should I cash him in now? It’s a question I’m sure myself and many other fantasy coaches will be asking ourselves for weeks to come.

  • tbetta’s Tuckshop

Have I got some tasty bargains for you this week…

First off is Broughton, who is dirt cheap, even as a defender and despite his 30k price hike this week. But more about him soon.

Corey Enright is another underachieving premium back who has reached bottom bottom dollar. He’s at $313,200 this week, and with a BE of 78, it’s about time to get him in if it’s part of your grand plan. With some solid scores in his last couple, he will have a favourable BE for the next few weeks, so this will be close to as cheap as he gets.

Jimmy Bartel’s price has finally plateaued, and it’s lower than we hoped – a tiny $357,400! Get him in either this week or next week, because with a BE of 89 on the back of some great scores, he won’t be cheaper, I promise you.

Get on Cyril! He is now going at $306,800, which is light years below what he is worth given his early season form. His game on the weekend suggests he’s back at full fitness, and with a BE of 65, he will not be cheaper – buy!

Didak… Do we want him? Do we think he can turn his form around, and become fantasy-relevant again? Watching the game on the weekend, he looked to be moving a lot more freely, and I think he will come good. For those with a serious set of balls, he is going at $271,000 with a BE of 44.

Unfortunately, some of the stock I bought earlier is starting to go off…

I was keen on keeping Daniel Harris as my 7th mid all season given he lack of byes, but McKenzie (102 on the weekend, 73 avg) has overtaken him in that role, so he’s up for sale. He has a BE of 95 this week, and is likely to go down 10k, given the recent scores he’s been serving up. He’s passed his use-by date, it’s time to go.

Duigan is like a long-life milk, or canned beans or something – he’s good to eat now, or you can save him for much later. He’s averaging a handy 68, so he’s great bench cover if you need it – but his BE is 75 this week and he will probably shed a few grand. Given his peaked price and his bye in DT finals, he’s ripe for the picking this week.

  • Makers and Breakers

In a week of such varied scores, it was more important that ever that your premiums held up. Hopefully you had a few of the following:

MAKERS

1. Dean Cox 145

2. Gary Ablett 132

3. Steve Johnson 143

4. Greg Broughton 117

5. Andrew Swallow 138

I went to the Eagles-Suns match at Patersons Playground on Saturday, so you could excuse me for being a little bias with my selections this week, but I think I’m pretty much spot-on when I say that Dean Cox won his respective coaches more than a few matchups this week! He started down forward on Hine, dwarfing the first gamer, and proceeded to smash him with 64 first quarter points, and 103 to half time. Needless to say, Hine was substituted out of the game. He was a very popular Captain option, and the 145 points he delivered was due to him doing everything we predicted he would.

I was also treated to one of the greatest players of our era, Gary Ablett Jnr, doing what he does best. His game manufactured 132 points and probably a couple of Brownlow votes. This was despite being subjected to the ‘Selwood Tag’, which consisted of Scott following him around until he was spent, then subbing in Adam until he was run off his legs, then repeated. He looked super-fit and extremely motivated, and I will not be surprised in the least if we see the Ablett we became accustomed to – he was unstoppable.

Stevie J backed up last week’s performance with another huge score, this time 143 points from 2 goals and 27 disposals. What was encouraging was his ability to generate the huge score without kicking a bag, meaning his work rate around the ground is what it needs to be. He is fast becoming a must-have in successful teams, but unfortunately his price tag is huge – I suggest waiting a few rounds until his last two huge scores are out of his rotation if you can’t afford him now.

The Makers list has always rewarded game-winners, and Broughton would have been a great component of any backline this week. Harvey let him off the leash and he wandered into the midfield, racking up a team-high 29 touches. His BE is a tiny 16, and I suggest he will be rewarded with a berth in Tbetta Than You this week given his price and recent return to form.

Rounding out the list is unique midfielder Andrew Swallow, who notched a season-best 138. I’ve always been a huge fan of him as a player, but he has never quite had the consistency to justify picking him in the hotly-contested midfield position. But he’s finally put a few good games together, with scores of 116, 116 and 138 in his last three. Imagine if the Roos started playing well?

BREAKERS

1. Colin Sylvia 21

2. Leigh Montagna 51

3. Patrick Ryder 58

4. Chris Judd 69

5. Brent Guerra 49

Injuries cruelled everyone this week, but the most damaging was Sylvia’s and the 21 that went with it. He has been the pick of the forwards this year, averaging 103 before he went down with a knee issue on Friday night. The forwards were already stretched thin this week, so this was a huge blow for Sylvia owners. But for those who didn’t select him, he price will drop over the next few rounds, so watch closely.

It was only about 2 seconds into the match before Montagna withdrew from a pack proppy on his left leg. He tried (and failed, visibly) to stay out there, but eventually was escorted to the interchange, where St. Kilda was faced with the very real possibility of activating their sub – not even a minute into the fray. After some treatment he returned, but skulked around the pockets, looking tentative in contested situations at best. His 51 hurt, but it could have easily been 0. If he’s in your mids, I suggest you groom a worthy emergency to cover him this week.

Patty Ryder is continuing his harsh fall from DT grace, with his 58 further lowering his season-average to a slither under 73. With Hille and Bellchambers soaking up most of the ruck time he is usually exposed to, he hasn’t had as many opportunities, and hasn’t made the most of the few he has earned as a key forward. If you still have him, trade – his scoring can’t improve with all three big men coexisting in the side.

Chris Judd was Calvin’s hot tip as Captain this week, but he was let down as the dual Brownlow medallist was restricted to only 69 points in the Blues’ demolition of Port in the Sunday twilight game. It was his lowest score of the year in what is yet another scalp for tagger Matt Thomas.

Coaches who go chasing huge scores bewilder me, and here’s why. Guerra set a season-high with 180 last week, but was underwhelming in the Hawks encouraging win over the Dockers, and managed only 49. That’s the largest turn around from any player this year.

  • Crystal Ball

It’s been a slow week in DT, with not much to get excited about in Round 11. With all the injuries to some key personnel you have the right to feel slightly pessimistic… Like Roy, who’s been dropping some very emo tweets of late. But cheer up everyone, Port has the bye this week!

There should also be some good news at the selection table, and using my divine powers and foresight, I can see Cam Richardson pushing him claim, Watson and Rockliff getting up and Prestia escaping the vest. As for Sylvia, Franklin Chapman and Montagna… ‘Outlook not so good’.

That’s it for the Bullets this week, as always good luck, and make sure you sub who should be your only Port player in Jacobs.

And make sure you’re back next week for a very special edition of the Bullets….

 

Contact me on twitter @tbetta9

Oh, and please, wait until Trade Talk Tuesday to post the huge Rate-My-Team type comments – let’s focus on the weekend that’s gone and the issues that face us this week. Cheers.

 

 

Alex Trombetta has been with DT Talk since 2011 providing content in various forms. A lover of Classic, Draft and DFS, you can be sure to be getting top-notch advice from the Eagles man.




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