Punching above their weight – Round 2

This new weekly article will look at which players are playing better than their average. Those that are outperforming their price, those that are punching above their weight.

As the banner suggests, Shaun Hampson is the perfect example of somebody punching above their weight, currently grinding the sublime Megan Gale…clearly punching above his weight.

From a DT perspective, I look at anyone that is averaging +20 over their priced average.

Let’s take Rory Sloane for example. Priced @$429k (divide this by $5k, generally accepted rule for determining price based on LY ave) therefore he is priced at around 86 (429/5) and his current ave115. So is currently at +29 and clearly punching well above his weight.

I am not looking at anyone under 200k as this is Chook’s domain and he knows it better than anyone.

So based on the first 2 rounds and before the all important round 3 which guys are currently punching as heavyweights? and who is the first winner of the inaugural Shaun Hampson Medal?

Defenders

Let’s start with defenders, surely the area that is causing most pain for coaches.

1. Shannon Hurn +41 , priced @ 69, ave 110. Obviously his 140 against Magner, I mean Melbourne has him inflated, but with a BE of 5, a 31k price rise and a game against GWS on the way, the 5% of coaches that currently own him wont be complaining, and am sure a few more will jump on. Not for me though, he will soon get tagged and bring his average back to around the 65 we are used to.

2. Ryan Hargrave +40, priced @ 46, ave 86. Golden haired boy at the moment and with good reason, looks the goods. BE -20 and nearly 40k price rise means get aboard the Hargrave train this week if you don’t already have him.

3. Jarryn Geary +36, priced @ 42, ave 78. Looks to have a spot in the Saints best 22 and has certainly surprised me. BE -18 and around 32k price rise. Not the worst option.

Other notables in defence are:

• Alex Rance +33, priced @ 71, ave 104
• Courtenay Dempsey +30, priced @ 49, ave 79
• Alex Johnson +33, priced @ 55, ave 88

Midfielders

Who are the midfielders that are punching it out for the Sean Hampson Medal

1. Brad Ebert (Runner up for the SHM) +43, priced @ 62, ave 105. The former eagle has hit the ground running at Alberton and put some impressive numbers on the board. BE -10 and $35k price rise coming, can he keep it up?

2. Lewis Jetta +41, priced @ 44, ave 85. Little Lewis certainly punching well above his featherweight guns. BE -28 and $32k coming up, not sure that many will jump on board though.

3. Chris Masten +40, priced @55, ave 95. Yep Bloody Chris Masten, the early season tease, owner of the worst salad in the AFL. you get the idea, is playing very well and GWS this week means that he will more than likely go 100+. Current BE -9 and $40k price rise coming up. The question remains, who has the aggots to pick him? Not I.

Other notables who are currently smoking

• Liam Anthony +31, priced @ 75, ave 106
• Jack Stevens +30, priced @ 79, ave 109
• Scott Selwood +29, priced @ 86, ave 115
• Rory Sloane +29, priced @ 86, ave 115
• Josh Kennedy +27, priced @ 86, ave 113

I really like the bottom 3 and think that they could be very good uniques this year. Selwood is no longer a run with player, Sloane, well everybody knows I love Sloane Ranger and Kennedy in particular, he will ton up every time they play at the SCG as loves it in close. It is worth noting that all of the 5 above have played either GWS, Suns or Demons, so that needs to be taken into account.

Rucks

So much debate about the right ruck strategy this year, Giles is certainly smashing it and justifying the 1/3 ruck set up. There are only 2 big guys that are notably punching above their weight (apart from Hampson…bastard)

1. Paddy Ryder +41, priced @79, ave 120. I talked so many people out of Ryder this year…oops! Can he keep up the momentum? Against Gold Coast this week, he should definitely keep up the momentum. Is he the bargain ruck of the year?

2. Matty Kreuzer +30, priced @ 65, ave 95. Plays like a tall midfielder and is a gun..(slight Carlton bias being shown ;)) stemmed not to do much last week and still racked up 90 odd.

Forwards

Off to the forward line, where we find the inaugural winner of the Shaun Hampson Medal…drum roll please….

1. Chad Cornes (yep..who’d a thunk it) +48, priced @ 66, ave 114. WOW, big Chad, is he turning back the clock to when he was fantasy relevant? Given the role he is playing at GWS, he may just be the big surprise packet this year, they use him a lot and he knows how to find the pill. Owned by 2.45% of coaches (did they know something?) BE of -13 and $45k price rise coming up…can we really be talking about him?
Big Congrats Chad…wear the Medal with pride.

2. Tom Hawkins +40, priced @ 60, ave 100. The man with the eyes too close together has shown a bit in the first 2 games. Can he live up to the potential? May come back to earth this week as only averages 48 against North.

3. Tex Walker +37, priced @59, ave 96. The second best mullet in the AFL is certainly playing well at the moment. Crows favorable draw make him not the worst pick.

Other notables up front:

• Jack Darling +34, priced @ 66, ave 100.
• Brendan Whitecross +31, priced @ 75, ave 106.
• Jason Porplyzia +30, priced at 40, ave 70.

So there you have it, the current crop that are punching well above their weight. Over the next few weeks we will see some major changes to the list as some of these come back to the pack through playing tougher teams.

Big congrats to Chad Cornes for being the first Hampson of the season! I wonder if Hampson can win the Hampson…doubt it, other things on his mind me thinks ;)

Next weeks edition may be a bit thinner with junior Rainman coming into the world this coming Friday, just in time to watch the Blues smash the Pies!

As always welcome any comments and follow me in the twitter sphere @RainmanDT and remember stats can be your friend.