Calvin’s Captains – Rd. 16 (UPDATED)

Yep – there are a few BIG changes in Calvin’s Captains due to some big news that has come in….

• Daniel Jackson is out suspended still and therefore Ablett will not be tagged by him.
• James McDonald (and Bugg) weren’t named either meaning Scottie T will run free.
• After speaking to Nick Maxwell, I gathered a few things from our chat on DT TALK Live (go watch). Swan did leave the track sore, but “will be ok,” but we at DT Talk are not 100% convinced. Add to that the fact that it will be pissing down with rain in Melbourne on the weekend meaning that under the roof at Etihad (Boyd) is the place to be for clean possession instead of slugging it out at the MCG in the cold rain. Plus, midfielders have scored pretty well on the Hawks recently.

Either way… for more information please read my old article below from Wednesday for more justification on why I have made these changes.

If I make anymore changes – I will update it on my twitter – @CalvinDT

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Last week, my predictions weren’t too far off the mark, despite the thoughts of the usual twittertwots I tend to attract. I said, Swan was a safe option… but probably not the best as I was a little worried, but he still was pretty solid. Ablett failed to make my top 5 last year and failed to slap me in the face for doing so as a 120+ would have made me look very silly.

I did like Matthew Boyd playing the Dockers, so hopefully a few jumped on him for his 133. I like Boyd again this week as he plays the Hawks in his 200th and has a great record against them with previous scores of 108 and 119 (2011) with 121, 154 and 128 prior to that. He has had 133 and 132 in his last 2 games and under the roof of Etihad, you’d think he can keep this roll going. Anyway, let’s get cracking and check out the other wicked advice I have for you this week.

Pick Us! We Play the Duds!

Last week, Hawthorn clocked up 11×100+ scores against the Giants last week and this week the Adelaide Crows will have their turn. Scott Thompson is at the top of the list here as he crushes dud teams and has averaged 140 on the Suns in his last 3 games against them since they have joined the league. He only had 90 last week against Port though and will most likely be tagged by veteran midfielder Old McDonald this week. This guy is a dangerous tagger and has held some big names this year and was quiet solid on Mitchell (106) last week.

So then we have the Bombers who play the much improved Port Power at AAMI. No disrespect to Port, but I have to mention Watson and Stanton at some point in this write up. Jobe Watson had his highest score for the season (139pts) against Port this year in Rd. 2 and should be pretty sharp at AAMI although he hasn’t played there since 2010. Stanton is another good option who has averaged 114 on Port in his last 4 games against them. He had 116 in Rd. 2 and might be due to pump out something big after being pretty dry over the last few weeks.

Then we have the Tigers who are playing the Suns. Trent Cotchin should be pretty good, as will Brett Deledio who had 119 on these guys last year when he met them at Cazaly’s Stadium where they play again this week. In that game last year Gary Ablett had just 101 and was tagged by Jackson. He was coming off a knee niggle from the week before and wasn’t 100%. He is now though but his recent scores suggest otherwise with 102 and 104 coming in his last 2 efforts. Very unpredictable at the moment, but I think he will have something pretty big this week. Another guy in this game to consider is the big mullet, Ivan Maric. He has never played against the Suns but has been on fire in recent weeks. He did have 88 last week though which was his lowest score in his last 10 games this year. Pretty solid if you ask me. Over the last few weeks, Ruckman have gone pretty well against the Suns where Cox (114, 27 h/o), Goldstein (104, 32 h/o) and even Jason Blake (131, 28h/o) clocked up good scores. I do like Maric this week but out of the guys I’ve mentioned in this section I’d be taking them in this order. Ablett, Thompson, Deledio, Watson, Stanton, Maric and Cotchin.

Cox Vs Mummy

Boom! After a massive 148 last week, Dean Cox is flying at the moment and even had 120 before that in Rd. 14. Last week though, Cox racked up a massive 15 marks, 21d and 24 h/o. Last year when Cox went head to head with Shane Mumford, Cox dominated him with 127 pts (38 h/o). In fact, he averages 119 on them in his last 3 and should get the better of him once again. Cox is playing a lot more up forward though, but he’s in smashing form and should be awesome on his home ground again this week.

Dane Dane Dane Oi Oi Oi

Arggg, just getting warmed-up for the Olympics! This week, Swanny goes against Geelong who he met in Rd. 8 of this year when the Pies got over the line by 12pts. In the past, Swanny has been owned by the Cats and hasn’t cracked 100+ against them in his last 3 games! Wow! This mainly can be accredited to Cameron Ling (aka The Pink Pig) but it was Taylor Hunt who went to Swan in their most recent encounter where Swan had just 95 (27d). Hunt is a good tagger and did well last week against Ablett. But in that Rd. 8 encounter, Swan was flying… before tweaking his hammy in the 4^th quarter. Swan had 90pts at the end of the 3^rd term and was well and truly on track for a good score. His form has been awesome as well… yeah he had 105 last week (which was ok and I did warn you on that) but let’s not forget what he did before that game against the Blues. He had scores of 172, 132 and 142 leading into that and will be back to his best at the MCG on Saturday night. So.. the reason I like Swan over Boyd this week is quite simple. Swan’s lowest score this year was that 95 (from 3 quarters) compared to Boyd’s of 70 (three games back), 94 and 84. Swan hasn’t failed us yet, don’t turn your back on him because he had a solid 105!

There is a chance though that Hunt may go to Beams who has been the #1 tagged played at Collingwood over the last two weeks attracting the tag of Carrazzo and Crowley in his last 2 games. He still scored 78 and 113 and did have 100 (28d) on the Cats in that Rd. 8 match and had 129 on them in 2011.

But we need to also mention, Joel Selwood. Collingwood are one of his favourite teams to score DT points on over the last 3 years and clocked up his best DT score of 2012 (136pts, 31d) in that game this year that I keep going on about. He was the 2^nd top scorer that day behind Steele who had 139, just pipping Pendles on 133. Leading up to his 2012 personal best, he has scored 119, 118 and 121 on them last year proving that he loves the big games on the MCG where he has had 136 and 104 there this year as he goes for his 7^th straight 100+ score on the G this week. My biggest issue with Joel though is that he hasn’t pumped out ‘huge’ numbers this year. He has only cracked the 120+ mark twice from his 13 games, but he might add another to the list this week.

It’s been a pleasure my DT captain hunters. Remember I can only have 5 players in my top 5. All the best for Round 16! Arggg.