Get Off The Bench: Round 18

So this week we have pretty much all our premiums available for play as well as the majority of our bench guys.  The only players that should be in your side from Port Adelaide are Ben Jacobs and Matthew Lobbe and they can safely be placed on the bench to let your premium come out to play.  However, I do know some teams who have Kane Cornes, Robbie Gray or Travis Boak in them.  So those teams will need to bring someone in, but unless your favourite player is one of those guys (like my son who has #18 on the back of his guernsey) you probably won’t have them in your side.  This should be a time for us to rejoice as we don’t have to make the tough decisions…. or is it?  With so many options will probably come even more choices that need to be made unless your team has 22 ultra premiums in it (like Roy’s).

Given the number of guys available this week, I am mainly going to focus on the key ones that the majority of players will have.  If you have the lesser lights then feel free to discuss them in the comments.

Matt Suckling is our only real surprising out that will cause problems this week.  Luckily he is in the backs where we have plenty of options.

I’d bet on these guys… (just not you players that read this ok!)

Andy Otten has returned well.  He had one lower scoring game and that was against Geelong, so we can let him off for that.  His 76 last week showed he is still playing well and I expect him to do a good job against St Kilda.   Just watch out to see if Johncock is a late withdrawal, if so, he should increase his scoring by about 25 I reckon.  Matthew Wright bounced back from his Red22 with an 86 last week which included a couple of goals I believe.  He is certainly one of the young Crows that is taking his chance, he scored 60 against them last time in his 2nd game. 

Patrick Karnezis has now put together 3 solid games in the 60’s so you would hope that this form should continue.  This will be his first trip to Etihad and to Melbourne so be wary, but I think he should still do ok.  (He scored a red54 in Perth).  Sam Sheldon (son of the great Ken apparently) has had one bad score in his last 4 with the regular ones being 60’s.  I like his form, but I think this week you will all have strong enough midfields not to worry about him, but he would be a worthy emergency.

Nick Duigan has tailed off a bit lately and it doesn’t get any easier with them up against the Bombers this week.  He has had 65 and 50 since his return from injury which worries me a bit.  I would be prepared to give him one more go.  He scored 93 in their drawn game back in round 4.  Also in that game was Ed Curnow and a nice 90 points.  Now he only scored 40 last week in his first game back after having 3 off.  So I would be hesitant normally, but given that was against Collingwood (even though he raised the bat last time against them) I might let him off, it was a tough game to come back to.  Play Ed if you need to but I think you should have better options to allow him another week to find his form.

Many people thought Andrew Krakouer was done and wouldn’t score well anymore, but his last two have been 79 and 83, and with them playing Gaz and the boys up at Metricon, I reckon he should go nuts.

Crameri and Heppell are two guys that held up their end of the bargain with 81 and 83 last week.  Both of these guys are worthy of a spot on the field, but if you have both, go Heppell, he got 90 in this game last time to Crameri’s 55.  Whilst on guys that we can’t get enough of at the moment, Nick Lower come on down!  After being traded out of many teams over the last few weeks (Roy, you wouldn’t do that would you?) with scores in the 60’s and 70’s and being told in the comments to this article last week that he won’t score well against Sydney, he proved everyone wrong with a brilliant 130 which got a lot of those teams that held him over the line for a league win last week.  In the Derby in round 8 he racked up a redvested 42 which doesn’t hold out much for this week, but he hadn’t been as consistent nor playing in the midfield at the time so a much better score is on the cards this time against the Eagles.

On the Dockers, The Gu kept his solid form line just afloat with 61pts.  Not what we are used to from him, but a good game in poor second half conditions at the SCG.  He didn’t play against the Eagles last time but I think he will be back to his normal 70’s + in this game.  Allen Christensen is about the only guy from Geelong that should be considered.  He has had 109, 56, 73 and 120 in the last 4 and is really showing some solid form.  With the Cats up against the Tigers I can’t see him slipping below 80 this week.

Right… The Gold Coast have Collingwood this week so we don’t know how their scoring will be affected as they haven’t played yet, but I would expect a dip from most of their guys.  The ones that are worthy of a place on the park include Sam Iles who had had a treat last 6 weeks, Trent McKenzie who is on fire since he was rested 4 weeks ago, Danny Stanley who is super consistent along with David Swallow whilst Zac Smith is getting back to some form, but may struggle against Jolly.  Dion Prestia seems to be getting it togetehr with74 and 92 in the last couple, but he is another that I expect to drop down by about 25 or so against Collingwood.

I don’t think I need to sell you guys on Savage, I Smith, Bailey, Hale, Breust  and Puopolo.  All of these guys are getting it done for us each week with their recent scores being in the high 60’s to mid 80’s.  Against the Demons who are coming off a trip to Darwin I expect all of these guys to bust out of the blocks for big scores.  For the Dee’s Stefan Martin is the only guy in this category that I would pay any attention to as he is been over 92 in his last 4 games now.

Simon Buckley returns for the Pies this week after a week or two off.  He is up at Metricon and should do really well, but I am very concerned that he will cop a vest this week.  Play him with caution!

Cam Pedersen is now a very solid option.  He has only had one poor game in his last 5 and up against the Lions without Browny up forward, he should do very nicely.  One bloke I wasn’t keen on recently was Jake Batchelor and I warned a few people off of him, but his last 4 have only produced one score under 70.  Not bad for a fill in guy which is what he should be for your team.

 

These guys are likey to come 3rd in those annoying No Third Dividend races!

Daniel Talia came in and has had his second game now and has a 59 and 76 to his name and appears to be solid, I want to see one more outing though before I would put any faith in him.  Note that Brodie Smith came back last week and copped the Green as suspected, he had 13pts.  

Roy’s boy Keeffe is another that I would stay away from at the moment, his 53 on debut was ok, but a red 33 last week spells trouble for me.

On the Gold Coast front the one  guy that has been giving some of us nightmares with his inconsistency and poor form is Tom Lynch.  Most of us picked this guy up after his two scores in the 90’s in his first tow games.  Since then he hasn’t looked like it apart from one outing of 86 where most of us had him on the bench after the red18 the week before.

A lot of people ask me about Jeremy Howe.  I just dn’t trust him at the moment, and the fact he copped the vest in Darwin makes me trust him even less.

C Rich has got another game, but be careful as he hasn’t played for a while.

Conca got himself a vest last week and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get another one this week.  I would not play him still until he gets a run of good games and stays unvested.  Ty Vickery had a poor one after his 95 the previous week, so his consistency is struggling again.

Alex Johnson is ok, but he has been hanging out in the 50’s over the last few weeks with a 66 last week.  There are better options out there.

Luke Parker is someone that a few people may have brought in as a downgrade.  He has had 107 and 73 in the last few weeks.  However, he is worth a mention, but that is it.

Andy Gaff  Wow, I put you all off him last week and I left him on the pine too (if you tell me you played him you are either lying or have a shit team), but he had a great game with a 104, I just wish Woosha let him play a lot more this year.  Jack Darling has really come to a screaming halt this year with his last game being a vest.  And the last two weeks have been 48 and 36.

Luke Dahlhaus has been good of late, but he is not scoring high enough to play.

 

Plenty of choices this week and plenty of ways to stuff up!  Trust me I will find a way to do it!!  Here are the rankings.  Things I have taken into account are Pies playing Gold Coast, Hawks playing Melbourne and Freo and West Coast are in the Derby.  Catch ya during the week on Twitter @pkd73

Defenders

1. Puopolo
2. Heppell
3. Stanley
4. Lower
5. Duigan
6. Martin
7. Batchelor
8. Pedersen
9. Buckley

 Midfielders

1. Krakouer
2. Savage
3. I Smith
4. Heppell
5. Swallow
6. Iles
7. Crameri
8. Mzungu
9. Curnow
10. McKenzie
11. Christensen
12. Wright
13. Sheldon
14. Prestia
15. Buckley

Rucks

1. Smith
2. Hale
3. Bailey
4. Vickery
5. Vardy

Forwards

1. Krakouer
2. I Smith
3. Mzungu
4. Breust
5. Hale
6. A Johnson
7. Karnezis
8. Lynch
9. Prestia
10. Howe
11. Talia

Now if you need to go more than about 2 positions down in my list, you are in trouble….. catch ya next week.