The Friday Scramble: Round 8

Another round, more injuries, but on the flip side at least this week we have a few guys coming back into our sides that might just freshen the place up a bit.  It also seems that we need to start moving on some of our rookie players, however, as Jeppa told us on Wednesday there isn’t too much talent that we can move these guys on for!  So once again it just makes things harder for us.  But hey, we are kind of getting used to this aren’t we?

Selection Table

A huge week at selection this week with a number of big Ins and Outs.  There seems to be more and more each week which is making it harder for us to keep a solid team on the park.  This is where making sure that you have good bench cover is the key.  Let’s look at the ins for this week:

• James Kelly has recovered from his ruptured testicle and hopefully has no issues.
• Andrew Mackie has returned to the Cats lineup, I am sure he is in a lot of draft leagues around the place.
• Patrick Cripps seems to have recovered from that calf injury that saw him a late withdrawal last week.
• Kade Simpson also returns to the Blues line up after a couple of weeks out.
• Scooter Selwood is back! Tbetta will be rejoicing! However, just beware, I wouldn’t be rushing him back into your team just yet.
• Cam Ellis-Yolmen is back for the Crows just as we thought he would be this week. If you held him you should be happy as he can continue the money making for you.
• Adam Saad is another rookie that has cash yet to make who has returned to the team this week.
• Steele Sidebottom is probably the biggest name that is back this week.  He has been out for a while so I doubt you held him, but in draft leagues his return won’t go unnoticed.  In the salary cap games, I wouldn’t jump on him just yet, perhaps give him a week to get some form back.
• Jesse Hogan is back if you held him.
• Ollie Wines returns to the side as does Paul Stewart and with these two guys back in the 25 along with Carlisle I think Amon may be lucky to keep his spot and even if he does he would be a vest chance.
• Jordan Lewis is back after his brain fade.
• Brian Lake returns to the Hawks side and this should free up Josh Gibson so that he can be a free floater racking up the touches again.
• Isaac Smith is also back and he has been on fire for the Hawks averaging 112.3 per game.

So a very healthy list of guys back in your side this week.  However, with every up, there is a down … and here they are!

• Mitch Duncan out for 10-12 with a foot injury, trade him.
• Nick Riewoldt is out with the concussion injury from last week, we expected this though.
• Dom Sheed has a hand injury.
• Brodie Smith is being rested as expected after his second concussion in 6 weeks.  I won’t be surprised if he misses next week too.
• Jaensch is out with the ACL for the season.
• Rookie Alex Pearce from the Dockers is out with Back Bruising just as he was on the bubble for RDT and SC.
• Andrew Swallow is going to miss with a thumb injury, they are listing him as 1-3 weeks so I say hold in RDT and SC.
• Christian Salem is out with his Hammy injury.

So there you have it, a HEAP of Fantasy Relevance in the ins and outs this week, there is plenty to think about with your teams as there should be plenty of options for you.

Rocky – My 2c worth

Well we all know that Rocky has been back for two weeks now and has basically bottomed out in price.  My thoughts are that if you don’t have massive forward or defence issues that you need to deal with you should be looking to bring in Rocky this week in your midfield.  However, if you are unable to I don’t know that he will skyrocket in price as his BE is still at a reasonable level around the 100 mark in all formats of the game.  So you should still be able to get him next week.  I did hear one little thing today and that was that you may actually make your side more unique if you don’t bring Rocky in as nearly every side will be getting him.  It is quite a risk though if he goes on a run like he did last year, but if you don’t think that his current form is going to be huge then you may just want to take the risk that he isn’t going massive and not pick him up.

Lewis In

The other player that you should be getting back in if you traded him out is Jordan Lewis.  He is the highest averaging player this year and in AFL Fantasy you could be forgiven for trading him out, but you should do everything you can do to get him back in your lineup.  In RDT and SC I would hope that you just popped him on your bench and you can just swing him back on your field.

#AskDunny

Yes everyone’s favourite segment of the Friday Scramble has returned and I will endeavour to provide a bit of advice to a few punters who responded to my Twitter callout.

https://twitter.com/Shadzstaa/status/601262227207753728

Excellent question this one. I guess if cash is your issue then we need to look at BE’s.  Jordan’s is 130AF / 142RDT   whilst Yeo’s is 9AF / 21RDT.  So yes Yeo is going to jump this week quite a bit in both forms whilst Lewis won’t change much.  Lewis’ BE’s are achievable, but he won’t smash them (I think) whereas Yeo should.  If it is flat out points that you are talking about then Lewis will outscore Yeo in my opinion (and Calvin’s as he has Lewis as his #1 choice for captain).  So it really depends on your motives.  I like that you are thinking longer term with your team beyond just the one week.  The risk though of course is that you may have other issues next week that stop you from getting Lewis due to injuries etc, these are just the decisions that we have to make!

@pkd73 #AskDunny. Salem to Yeo and Duncan to Rocky OR Duncan to Lewis Salem to rookie?

— Bernd Meyer (@Burnt1961) May 21, 2015

Personally I like the first option that you have there as it really strengthens your side in two places.  However, the second option brings in Lewis.  The biggest issue with the second option though is that the rookie pool is fairly thin at the moment.  As Calvin says, you don’t get one Lewis, you get two!  If I had to make a choice here though and thinking of the last question, I think I go Yeo and Rocky.  However, it is a line ball call for me.

@pkd73 vandenburg or cripps on field this week?

— Bertie (@shadzinator) May 21, 2015

Cripps.  Whilst both are playing against teams that should beat them, Vandenberg seems to have dropped off more than Cripps has recently, but Cripps does have the dodgy calf from last week.  But overall Cripps gets the votes from me here.

@pkd73 what to do with salem ? Downgrade to gray ?

— Shae Armstrong (@shaearmstrong3) May 21, 2015

Port have named Sam Gray in their side after elevating him from the rookie list and I have gotten a number of questions about him.  Firstly, he is priced at $308k in RDT and $281k in AFL Fantasy so Gray will actually cost you more in RDT and you would make a couple of grand in AFL Fantasy.  So no, don’t downgrade Salem to Gray, also I don’t believe that Gray has any sort of Job Security at all even if he makes the cut this week, and if he plays this week he would be odds on for a green vest.  The other question I got was the following one….

@pkd73 So if Gray is playing, is Amon unlikely to play?

— Nick McKinnon (@njmckinnon) May 21, 2015

I think that Amon may have done enough last week to hold his spot, but the Ins for Port may suggest otherwise with Carlisle and Wines among the ins with Gray.  For me the three that will be omitted would be Stewart, Impey and Gray or Amon.  And personally I believe that whoever out of Gray and Amon gets a game will get the vest.  It is a tough call.  There is no SANFL games this week due to the state game v WAFL so we won’t be able to get a read on things based on who plays there if there would be any late inclusions etc.
So I know that may be confusing, but it is just the way that I see it.  Amon may hold his spot, but don’t bet on it just yet.

Eliminator and SC Cup

Just a heads up that these two competitions are both well underway now, so check out how you are going in RDT Eliminator and the Supercoach Cup.  They are both knockout competitions so once you lose you are out.  Also be aware that the SC Cup is ONLY for subscribers to the full Herald Sun (or local equivalent) packages with the newspapers, not just having SC Gold.

Things to Remember

•  Have Bench Cover! – Last week showed us just how important that is with a heap of late outs, a lot of them Fantasy Relevant!
• Check the final teams tomorrow – As many are thinking of bringing in Amon, just make sure he holds his spot first!
• Don’t Panic if you can’t get Rocky or Lewis this week – Both have BE’s that mean even if they have big games, they won’t skyrocket in price, but next week they probably will.
• Check Late Outs on Fri night before trading if you can – Cripps and that calf does worry me but since Carlton are playing on Friday night (again!) we will know before lockout if he is still in or not.

There you have it, it has been a HUGE week in Fantasy with heaps happening and I hope you have gotten something out of my ramblings this week. Best of luck to your teams (unless you are playing against me of course) and keep glued to Twitter to find out what is happening.  I will relay what I can @pkd73 but of course you follow all the usual suspects and between us we should be able to get things to you as we hear them.

LATE BREAKING QUESTION!

This one came in and I thought the end of the Scramble was the right place for it!

@pkd73 was last weeks 87 point second half by Toby Greene a sign of things to come? #dontworryaboutthefirsthalf

— Chrisso ??‍♂️ (@CruttonHutton) May 21, 2015

It is a sign Chrisso, a sign you stalk Toby FAR too much! Yes an 87 point half is great, but a 17 point first half is no good.  Certainly not the sort of consistency we like, but just like in golf, it doesn’t matter how or when, just how many.