Brad Ebert – Deck of DT 2015

Name: Brad Ebert
Club: Port Adelaide
Position: Midfield
AFL Fantasy: $560,000
AFL Dream Team: $558,300
Bye Round: 13
2014 Average: 98.9
2014 Games Played: 22
Predicted Average: 102

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Why should I pick him?

Ever since he came back home from West Coast, Brad Ebert has been fantastic.  He has only missed one game in the last 5 seasons which was in 2011 whilst at West Coast.  In 2010 and 2011 at West Coast he averaged 81 and 62, the following 3 seasons at Port Adelaide he has averaged 99.3, 99.1 and 98.9.  Now if that isn’t consistency that you can take to the bank then I don’t know what is!  At mid 500’s and to have a consistent year on year average a touch under 100 I think you can’t argue with that.

Despite averaging 22 possessions per game Brad doesn’t get tagged all that often.  That honour tends to fall to Travis Boak, Robbie Gray or Hamish Hartlett.  So what this means is that Brad can tend to run around loose!  And run he does, he gets to a lot of contests, but he also finds a lot of space.  But when he isn’t in space, the man knows how to put pressure on.  6 tackles per game is fantastic.  That is a walk up 24 points per game, without even touching the ball!  With the growth of the Port Adelaide team and the increased presence in the midfield of players like Ollie Wines and Jared Polec there are more options on both the inside and outside for other teams to worry about.

He had 4 games under 80 last year, but they can be fairly easily explained, one was due to injury, another was that horifficly wet Metricon Stadium game where they won 56-47 with the other two coming in games where the entire team played poorly (v Melb in Alice Springs and v Richmond at Etihad).  Offsetting those poor games were a couple of big scores of 152, 136 and then a couple of games in the 120’s.  The rest are in the 80 to 119 range, which once agains brings me back to consistent but not superstar scores.

As I have said for all of the Power guys I have reviewed, they do have a tough run to start the year with Fremantle, Sydney, North, Hawthorn and Adelaide in their first 5 weeks.  This does hint to potentially some tough games.  I don’t see Brad having shockers, but he won’t be a monster either.  In those contests at those grounds last year he scored 108, 100, 91, 115 and 112.5.  Given his consistency too he isn’t a guy that you would look at to buy low and sell high, if anything he would be a late year upgrade from a mid pricer/rookie when you are seriously strapped for cash.

Why shouldn’t I pick him?

Just as having so many options for Port in the midfield for opposition to worry about is a good thing for Brad, it also means that there are a lot of points that need to be shared around.  With these younger guys now starting to demand the ball this means that Brad may not be the first option.  He may see his possessions drop by a couple per game due to this.

If you are looking for Brad to take the next step and really boost his average, that simply isn’t going to happen.  I see him staying in the range of 97 to 103, there is nothing wrong with this average, but he won’t be within the top 8 scorers for the midfield for the season.  The other side is that I don’t see him as a stepping stone either.  He is simply a solid worker and if you start with him you pretty much have to end with him.

Deck of DT Rating.

King – I give Brad the King card simply because of his consistency.  You know exactly what you are going to get with him.  I think that he is a very safe bet.  He won’t win you a game, but he certanly won’t burn you either.  Over the course of the season he should bring you home a score of 90+ most weeks.  Whilst not ideal, if you are struggling for cash for that last midfield spot, you could do alot worse than Brad Ebert.

(I think you know which of these poll options I will be choosing!)

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