I don’t mind this game and I’m ok with what it stands for. Somewhat of an improvement on last week. Overall it was a fairly uneventful week Fantasy wise, but I’m ok with that. I made no monumentally bad trades, had only a few squibs, not many disastrous performances and just the one vest! Records being set left right and centre. Don’t worry, during the one week my Fantasy team proved they actually have brain cells, my Eagles did a good job of making sure I stayed frustrated. Monday mornings, gotta love them. Let’s wash-up the weekend!

Legends

Selwood (146) – It may have come 5 weeks late for some, but let me introduce you to the end of season Joel Selwood. Get used to him pumping out these ridiculous scores for another 5 weeks. That is a kiss of death if I’ve ever seen one, you should probably abandon ship immediately.

Caddy (131) – Caddy has been a legend for those who backed him in to produce a breakout season classified as a midfielder. Would I recommend him at $539k? No… No.

Martin (134) – Having to sell Martin after backing him in all formats caused me all sorts of pain. Watching Jacobs run around while Stef does this only compounds that pain. Here’s a thought. Is Goldy’s form sustainable? Probably not, as we’ve started to see. An average of 105-110 seems more reasonable from here on. Is $666k an accurate price? Not really. Can you make 90k by trading him to Stef as a POD capable of averaging 110? Yes. Just saying…

Lumumba (42) – Cracking score from Heritier (I’ve even learnt how to spell his name) this week, he has almost broken through the $300k barrier! It may be going the wrong way, but we shouldn’t get bogged down in specifics…

Hannebery (153) – How does one come back from 2 poor scores? 40 disposals, 10 marks and 153 fantasy points is how. What an awesome POD! I shart (Hope you don’t have to look it up) a little every time I see him as a unique.

Mitchell (132) – Tommy gave Horse the big F U this week. He was let free and guess what, Sydney dominate in midfield as he racks up 37 touches! Legend.

McVeigh (132) – McVeigh is an awesome sideways trade for any of your underperforming defenders. He is priced nicely and will average a safe 95-100. Reliability in defence going into finals will be key.

Bennell (130) – Good Harley Bennell has rocked up just in time for finals. Those who backed him in at the start of the season may be nervous, however he has pumped out 124 and 130 since returning from exile. Great POD up forward.

Stanton (143) – Yes, Stanton has deserved a spot in the ‘legends’. His last 4 weeks have been mighty impressive, from a fantasy perspective at least. Lets be honest, that’s all we really care about! You always feel like incapable Brent is just around the corner, but you need to consider that 150+ Brent is there as well! Talk about a game changer during finals, you’ll either love him or hate him!

Hunter (127) – HOLD THE PHONE. I’d like to call him my little secret, but any avid fantasy player will have seen his scores the past 2 weeks. In 4 of his previous 5 games he wore the vest, dragging his average well down. Beveridge has released him from those shackles, and BOOM! 122 followed by this weeks 127 from 36 touches! He is a 350k forward, you’d be silly not to look at getting him this week. He’s in for me.

Dahlhaus (121) – He’s back! His 3 round average of 116 is the third best of any forward, making him a perfect target as your final forward line upgrade. If you still have a guy like Bontempelli lying around, now is the time to cash him in.

Neale (147) – When he activates the beast mode button there’s no stopping him. I believe he had 17 disposals in the final quarter, going so close to hitting his third 150 of the season. Huge numbers. I’ve been in no position to trade my best performing selection over the course of the season, so this was a nice reward. Fyfe’s rest was key to him racking up the disposals. Definitely a POD worth considering for finals, he can win you games.

Shaw (147) – I have always been a huge admirer of Shaw’s work, as can be seen throughout the year. My constant praise will hopefully have lead to some of you following my awesome advice and trading him in. Wait what, I called him a nightmare and said I’d never trade him in? Not sure what you’re all on about. Perfect dream teamer is Heath Shaw!!! That’s what I meant. Honestly.

Robbie Gray has a serious case of the Dylan Shiel’s. I need to see more Robert.

Losers

Roughead (43) – ‘That guy’ hasn’t had much luck recently. Beware, if he’s made it into the top 8 you’ll be sorry he did. A 140+ is on the way…

Zorko (59) – Welcome back Dorko, it’s been too long. I’d be taking the cash you’ve made and running for the hills…

Beams (68) – Some first round draft pick he has turned out to be this season! Just as it looked like Beams had turned things around, his season looks to be over. Injury problems have plagued his career and a shoulder problem may have ended his 2015 campaign. He’ll be decent value next year! Not that it helps his owners get an extra trade to deal with this problem… Just one of those years.

Leuenberger (9) – Too much of a good thing is never a good thing! Always quit while you’re ahead, case and point. I didn’t see the game so I can’t tell whether his score at half time was due to him having a knee concern or just lacking general use of his limbs. Either way his run was over the moment Martin returned, watch Stef go huge now!

Duncan (57) – Is he being eased back through the forward line? I have no explanation for his scores since returning from his injury, only that he will be a ridiculous bargain next year.

Franklin (62) – He is clearly being affected by a back complaint that forced him to miss out last week. I’m not sure how cheap he’d have to be next year for me to consider him, talk about carrying baggage. Our relationship (That sounds sad) has gone from bad to worse, just dump him ASAP.

Smith (62) – As some famous bloke once said, “When I see a bird that walks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.” That is all.

Yeo (69) – He is used up forward, down back, occasionally through the middle and my sources tell me he is set to give Naitinui a chop out in the ruck. They’re safely 97.8% accurate. Point is, he is a vital player for the Eagles, however this will translate into inconsistency from a fantasy perspective. If you have a trade spare I’d move him on.

Malceski (53) – Well, that streak ended abruptly. Surely not a player you’d want to own at this stage of the season…

Armitage (77) – The rumour mill must’ve been up and running because I heard somewhere that he was rumoured to be a possible late out. Maybe this was just a conclusion based on recent scores that he’s carrying something, it sure seems that way. It would be a tough call, but trading him has to be considered.

Boyd (76) – Not quite a loser, hopefully this red vest counts as Boydy’s ‘rest’. It sure looks that way, I see him as a must have for finals as the Bulldogs push for a top 4 spot!

Browne (12) – Browne avoids the vest was the call from many before the start of the game. Yikes…

Steele (36) – 100 to 0 real quick. What looked a genius selection after 4 weeks has turned into a disaster. He has to go this week after picking up an overdue vest. He even came on at the start of the second quarter!

The Mark Stevens

Journalism has had a great week in the midst of the Goodes debate, so I will turn my ire towards the umpires. Having refereed before (Yes, Football… I mean soccer terminology), I know how hard a job they have. I should instead say I will turn my ire towards an umpire. Ray Chamberlain needs to learn the game is about the footballers, not about him. It has been said before, but it just keeps happening. The umpires job is to control the game, make sure it’s played in a fair spirit and implement the rules. The first 2 points are up to the individual umpires, the third point is instructed to them by their coaches. Unfortunately Ray misunderstands the point of controlling a game. Against Sydney I had the displeasure of seeing him make one of the worst deliberate out of bounds calls I’ve seen live. This week he stepped in on multiple occasions when it wasn’t necessary. He takes controlling the game too far, I can be left with no conclusion other than he loves seeing himself on the big screen.

There’s a great twitter account @getinthesea. It basically tells people below the banter form line to get in the… sea. Razor Ray, drop the umpiring gear for a wetsuit because you need to… Screw it. Get in the f**king sea Ray.

 

Nominations time! Here are your options for Round 18…

Selwood – Trade him in this week? Then this becomes a no brainer! He went beast mode with 11 tackles and 146 points.

Hannebery – That’s how you bounce back from a poor showing, a lazy 40 touches, 10 marks and 3 sausage rolls. His owners are laughing at us… Just how many of you are there?

Stanton – Is Warnie the only Stanton owner in the country? Get behind Stants if you’re on the rollercoaster with him, this was his 4th consecutive 110+ score. If you had the balls to get Brent in, stand up and vote for change! Perhaps Stants is just misunderstood, he can be a fantasy machine on his day.

Neale – This kid is surely going to be a fantasy mainstay for years to come. 38 touches (17 in the last quarter) including 10 marks? Thanks for coming! If you held the faith he has earned a well deserved vote.

Shaw – I’m not even sure I’ve included Shaw in a golden stubby poll yet, even if he has I haven’t treated him with the respect he now deserves. 25 kicks and 13 marks is fantasy perfection. This should be a clear winner considering what he has done over the past 2 months, secret Heater admirers this is you’re chance to vote!

Who will get your vote?

This Game Sh*ts Me

Let’s see, what happened this week… Vests shit me but hell, we’ve been there too many times. No what shits me this year is the lack of my bench rookies being half capable. I’ve tried to make trading in the best looking rookies during the season my highest priority, and I’m not kidding when I say not ONE has made me over $100k. Steele looked as though he was a stroke of genius, that’s gone out the window. Glenn is being gifted games of AFL footy, I must be missing what he contributes. Kolodjashnij has redefined the meaning of a slow burner, whilst Byrne is going to sit on my pine for a full season. Might as well have given that spot to Dick. Riley Knight was my latest addition, that’s going well. Amon still sits on my bench, heaven forbid there to be an actual playing rookie come through in midfield!

So yes, the rookies haven’t been too flash this season. What does that mean? I have no way of upgrading Kane Lambert on my field. Talk about a ticking time bomb. At least I’m not relying on someone like Browne though… This game sh*ts me.

The Other Bits and Pieces

*Walking into the office when you’ve nailed your Fantasy Trades…*

We are heading into the penultimate round in our league competitions, meaning it’s time to start preparing for finals. Whether that be for the premiership or the tit-ed cup, I’m not going to judge! Of course there’s a few lucky enough to be high enough in the overall rankings to be concerned about that, but that’s not what we’re about here. Well, I am if it’s convenient… So yes, the less said about overall rankings the better. 2288 for me this week, the corner has certainly been turned. Shame it was 4 months late. How did you guys fare? Let me know in the comments!

With one week to go until the Premier League season is underway, I wouldn’t be much of a salesman if I didn’t plug our website. If you’re interested in getting your fantasy fix over the off-season, there’s no better way to do that than getting involved in fpl! I think it’s the best run fantasy comp there is, and there’s been a great turnout from DTTALK readers in the past. Every year we are getting more passionate AFL fans to try their hand at a global fantasy game, and everyone seems to love it! We have a DTTALK league if you’re playing, the code is 68260-274774. If you’re interested in taking part, make sure you come check us out at FPLaddicts.com. We’ll make the transition easy!