Brendon Goddard – Deck of DT 2015

Name: Brendon Goddard
Club: Essendon
Position: Forward/Midfielder
AFL Fantasy: $550,000
AFL Dream Team: $548,400
Bye Round: 12
2014 Average: 97.16
2014 Games Played: 19
Predicted Average: 103

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Why should I pick him?

Over the course of his 12 year career, Brendon Goddard has been a staple in our Fantasy sides. A DEF/MID for the last few seasons, in 2014 he was classified solely as a midfielder but due to 13 points thanks to a first quarter injury in round 4 he found his way into many teams as his price dropped. Up until round 14, and taking out that injury/red vest affected 13, Goddard averaged 116.4 points. As good as any Fantasy midfielder in the competition.

In just his third season, Goddard enjoyed a breakout season pumping out a 97 point average from his 21 games. In 2009 he broke the 100 point barrier for his seasons effort hitting his peak in 2010 when the Saints made the Grand Final averaging 113.43; the best season average of any available defender we’ve seen.

Moving to Essendon in 2013, Goddard spent the majority of the year in the midfield averaging 105.41 and ultimately losing his DEF status. This year he played 19 games (missed two from injury and one due to suspension) for a solid 97.16 average.

For the 2015 season, Champion Data have given us Fantasy coaches a gift. The 29-year-old is a FWD/MID and slightly under-priced for the numbers he is capable of pumping out. If he was purely a midfielder, I wouldn’t have given him a thought but according to CalBet (Calvin’s fictional betting agency), Goddard is paying $1.02 to be one of the top 6 forwards next year. His final average would have seen him second behind Luke Parker – who is no longer a forward.

With eight 110+ scores in 2014 – including 137, 147 and 157 – Goddard is a gun and there’s no real reason for him to not score freely, even if he does spend some time forward.

Basically, you need to have him in your team!

Why shouldn’t I pick him?

With all of that said, this is probably more about why you shouldn’t start with him.

Essendon has a tough start to the year playing away to Sydney in round one and then backing it up against Hawthorn the week after. Historically his toughest opponent, Goddard scored just 68 on the Swans in round 19 last year but he did fare much better in round 9 when he racked up 117 points from his 34 touches. He scored 95 on the Hawks in round 2 last year. The Bombers follow up with Carlton (79 points in round 23) and Collingwood in the blockbuster start to the year.

We may potentially see a couple of price drops early on.

Goddard’s finish to 2014 was less than spectacular. After that great figure posted above up until round 14, the FWD/MID averaged just 83.78 points, going over 100 just once in the final 9 games of the season.

The other factor is that we have a plethora of premium forward options this year with Dane Swan and Brett Deledio also adding FWD status and likely to be in the top six forward come season end. Swan shares the same bye – so that is another thing to consider when selecting your initial squad. I’ll still be backing in Goddard to be up there, but it might be better to go with some of the other options initially. There is plenty of value in the forwardline this year and rather than loading up on premiums, we might use our $10M salary cap getting the out and out value guys in to start with and wait for a price fluctuation before settling the keeper into the side.

Deck of DT Rating.

ACE – As BJ is going to be one of the best forwards available in 2015, he has to be an ‘ace’ for the Deck of DT. At this stage he’s in my initial squad as I’ll be looking to spend some decent money up forward and bank the points early. He’ll sit alongside 3-4 other premiums in my round one team. The end of season dropoff worries me slightly, but even with the tough early draw, Goddard is a proud fantasy player and will consistently be producing premium-like scores. He’ll be back to a 100+ average as the Bombers will (hopefully) improve again. A lock for me!

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