AFL Fantasy News – 18 FEB

A quick round-up of the happenings in the footy world, with a fantasy spin.

ACL Postpones Petracca’s Big Time Debut

The 2nd pick in the 2014 AFL Draft, Christian Petracca, will miss the entire 2015 season after suffering a rupture of the ACL in his left knee on Monday. Demons football manager Josh Mahoney, delivered the news to the clubs website (LINK HERE).

“Christian had an incident today (Monday) at training, which involved twisting his knee. Unfortunately scans today confirmed a rupture of the ACL in his left knee. This is devastating news for Christian and the club, as he was preparing for the season ahead.”

Ben Says: Priced at $297,000 in AFL Fantasy and $217,900 in Real DreamTeam, Christian was shaping up as a solid rookie option in the forward line for many a side, particularly in the latter competition. Unfortunately the worst of injuries occurred to this up and coming talent, but hopefully Petracca can overcome then and come back bigger and better than ever. Whilst this will lead to a lot of changes within teams forward structures, players such as Ben Reid, Christian Salem and Jack Martin should offer similar value for a similar price in each of the two competitions.

Kreuzer’s Foot Pain

Carlton’s head of football, Andrew McKay, spoke to the waiting media on Tuesday after former #1 draft pick Matthew Kreuzer sustained an injury to the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, with early predictions suggesting a six week lay off (LINK HERE).

“Best-case scenario will be four weeks, and we wouldn’t scan it until after four weeks. We’re hoping worst-case scenario will be six (weeks). It’s not in the same spot that his previous fracture was. It’s along the bone a little bit and it’s a very stable fracture. We’re still very confident. He’s had a really, really good pre-season and is probably the fittest he’s been in a long, long time. It will just depend on how long it takes for that bone to heal.”

Ben Says: Carlton’s #8, Matthew Kreuzer, was shaping up to be one of the bargain buys in all forms of Fantasy competitions, but again his right foot has gotten the better of him. This is another disastrous injury, really putting grave doubts on whether Matthew will ever be able to realise his full potential. Given the large percentage of ownership numbers, this will again lead to large changes in squads. Clearly Leunberger or the similarly priced Bellchambers are straight forward options, but if you’re already an owner, you may be looking towards the top line ruck options. Regardless, avoid Kreuzer until we see a sustained run of training. He may still prove to be a worthy early season acquisition, especially in the 44 trade AFL Fantasy competition.

More Injury News as Birchall Bites the Dust

Last Monday, Grant Birchall injured the medial ligament of his knee whilst training. Surprisingly Birchall has now suffered two knee injuries in back to back years. Hawks football manager, Chris Fagan, spoke to the media to shed some further light on the incident (LINK HERE).

“He did it in training on Monday last week and he should return to running again next Monday, so that should be two weeks. He will be available for round one, but he won’t play in the NAB Challenge. He might play in the practice game. Until that injury he had done every session, so his fitness level is high. It is just a matter of getting over this injury setback. It was just a bit of an accident in a tackling drill and it has set him back a bit.”

Ben Says: Hawthorn’s triple premiership player, Grant Birchall, was shaping up as the ever reliable fantasy back in 2015, and given the slim pickings of the position, he would’ve been a worthy acquisition for any side. Whilst Fagan does confirm that Grant won’t miss any of the AFL season, the lack of preseason game time coupled with the loss of conditioning which will occur over the next month or so, means selecting Birchall from the start comes with a certain level of risk. There are a number of defenders who should produce at a similar rate, including the likes of Houli, Hurn, Docherty and Duffield. All four of these options should be closely looked at if you don’t want to change your structure too much and avoid the risk now associated with selecting the Hawks #14.

Reid Still in Contention

Collingwood’s 2011 All-Australian, is on the comeback trail from various injury problems over the last 18 months. After a trip to Germany to seek advice on the injuries, Buckley told the AFL website what the plan for Reid is in 2015 (LINK HERE).

Waters Waiting for Dust to Settle

In a week full of injuries, Beau Waters was yet another name to add to the list. A knock to his reconstructed shoulder last week has now put his season in doubt. Eagles coach Adam Simpson spoke to the media for the latest update (LINK HERE).

“He was testing it out, and he copped a bit of a knock on it. We’re still waiting to see how it settles down to be honest. It’s how you recover from these knocks you’re going to get at training and games (that’s crucial). Worried is probably not the word. We just have to make sure we do the right thing by him and the club. We’ll have a crystal clear (indication) by the end of the week about all the things we’ve put in place.”

Ben Says: This is yet another disappointing story to come out from the weeks events, after Waters again suffered a shoulder injury. Whilst there are strong rumours that this injury casts grave doubts on his future playing career, it’s clear that Waters is still waiting on the final prognosis. Staggeringly, when you consider the injury difficulties, Beau was looking like one of the simpler picks of the fantasy season as he has previously averaged premium type numbers, such as his herculean 91.6 in 2012 from 19 games. Priced at $344,000 in AFL Fantasy and $269,700 in Real DreamTeam, Beau was roughly priced 20-30 points below his expected average. As we await news of the prognosis, it may be time to consider other structures for your sides or making a sideways move to the likes of Ibbotson or Whitecross.

Ward Confirms Steele Hype

Callan Ward spoke to the clubs website today, outlining just how well the Giants 24th pick in the draft, Jack Steele, has been going this preseason (LINK HERE).

“He’s been so good this pre-season. For an 18-year-old, he’s been training the house down. He’s really, really strong. Around stoppages he’s really good and he has really clean hands.”

Ben Gogos

A supporter of the mighty Hawks, Ben provides some great insight into the game on DT Talk as well as live blogging on Fan Footy and running Fantasy FM on Friday nights. Follow him on Twitter: @b_gogos.