Dream Team Extra: Round 6

 

More #FMDT

Holy crap, the hits just keep on coming in season 2012! Dunno about you, but the approach of the Friday night game now brings me as much fear and trepidation as it does excitement when it comes to my DT prospects. Anyone got any fingernails left?!? Just when we thought we’d be over the major carnage of Rounds 3-4, last weekend brought some nasty surprises in the form of late withdrawls. Hargrave, Porps and Birchall caused a bit of pain. It was Dev Smith’s turn to wear the green vest for GWS, which hit his output pretty hard. At least we knew that Ablett would be out, if that’s some sort of morbid consolation. Many a team would have been tested for depth with a few coaches copping a back line or forward donut. Got a #fmdt story? Share it with us in the comments below!

 

Fare Thee Well Fyfe

Normally we’d cover injured players in the section below, but fantasy favourite Nathan Fyfe is more than deserving of his own chop out. He has become a stalwart in many a FWD line for the past two seasons, second-picked only to Lance Franklin. Fyfe has a fluid all-round game that is a joy to watch and translates so well into Dream Team points. We’ll miss the Freo dynamo as he spends the next three months recovering from shoulder surgery and I’m sure you’ll all join me in raising a glass and wishing Fyfey the best of health and a speedy recovery!

Oh yeah, if you’ve still got him, trade him now…

 

Ablett Absent?

There’s been a mass of twatter (is that the right lingo to describe Twitter chatter?!?) around the current status of one Gary Ablett Jr. He’s missed one with that bung knee and the man himself has been a little coy on whether or not he’ll front up against Freo this weekend, but the vibe has been pretty negative. Then Perth sports journo @Atkinson_Tom tweets this last night…

So… What are we to believe? Well, all I can say is that we’ll have to wait until the lists come out tonight to be sure. Then again, as @RLGriffin85 has pointed out in his latest Open Letter, team lists are not 100% trustworthy! The recent twatter alluded to anywhere between 2-4 weeks on the sidelines for GAJ; the Suns have him down for a return in 1-2 weeks on the AFL injury list.

DT-wise, his 120-140 points per week will not be matched by any of your rooks if you decide to hold Ablett, so you’ll likely slide down the rankings if he does miss a few weeks. If you want to trade him, this is the week for it, so have a look at who you could replace him with and set that backup plan in case he doesn’t get up. However, if you’re focussed on league wins, then benching him is the only option.

 

Injury Update

Porps is listed as ‘test’ and may potentially return this week from his deltoid complaint. Heath Shaw is 1-2 weeks away, so if you’ve held on to the Lego man for this long, it’s not really worth trading him out now. Dempsey is a good chance to return, having been taken off the Bomber’s injury list. Although Sandi is down for a ‘test’, Lyons has indicated that he may miss again this week. Birch is a ‘test’ and a likely in, so too Malceski. On a side note, Nick Lower may be back in a few weeks and I’m curious to see how he’ll fit into Freo’s game plan after a big debut last season under a different coach and how it will affect the likes of Broughton and Pearce.

 

Pick Me! Pick Me!

Tomas Bugg, come on down! He’s clearly the Number One rookie defender, so play him without hesitation. After him it’s really down to how lucky you’re feeling between Hombsch, Ellis and Morris. We’ve got decent pickings in the midfield, with not much separating Magner, Shiel, Greene and old McDonald, so you’d be happy with two of those four on the park. It’s all Giles again in the ruck with no other rookie talls getting a run last weekend. Off his last performance, Jezza Cameron looks to be hitting his straps, followed by Treloar, Dev Smith, Milera and Tomlinson; Kennedy and Hall should also be considered if named, particularly Hall in an under-manned Suns side.

 

Anyways, that’s the rub for this week. Minimal carnage please, with lots of big scores all ’round! Feel free to add any news bits, rants, raves, etc below to spin the wheel. See ya next Thursday for another bout of media trawling and good luck this weekend!

 

Any questions, suggestions, general chit-chat or requests for next week’s Extra?
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