AFL Team Sheets – Round Nine

Welcome back for another week of AFL Team Sheets, where we discuss all the relevant INs and OUTs for the week of footy ahead of us. We finally see the Bombers swing the selection axe and bring in two debutants following their poor loss against the previously winless Carlton last week, whilst the Giants lose yet another key player to injury. Let’s get into it!

Who’s IN?

Fresh meat! Following a string of impressive performances, Essendon’s Dylan Clarke (Mid/Fwd $170,000) finally gets a debut. Clarke has been averaging 33 disposals and nine tackles in the VFL and looks primed to be one of our most profitable cash cows this season. The Dons have also announced the debut of Jordan Ridley (Def $170,000) who receives his call-up after being listed as an emergency for the past few weeks he suffered an interrupted 2017 and start to 2018 with injury. The Bombers further add Langford, Dea and Guelfi back into their team this week. Tom Hawkins makes his way back into the Geelong side and will be a huge forward target. The Crows have Darcy Fogarty on return and this round will see Sam Gibson (Mid $582,000) on his debut for Adelaide. The Giants have named Tim Mohr (Def $217,000) back in their side he’s had some great NEAFL games but his job security seems bleak, an exciting young player to keep an eye on but an unlikely option this week. The Suns have named Jacob Heron (Def $170,000) on debut an exciting prospect but is likely only an in because of Sam Day‘s suspension. The obvious INs from the Swans this week are Dan Hannebery and Lance Franklin, Buddy’s return is good news for coaches everywhere but his heel remains a concern and injuries woes will plague him this season. Hanners is a surprise given that he was considered long odds to be named this week due to his groin injury. The Dockers return Michael Walters this week after a speedy recovery from injury. Coaches will be happy to see Sonny Walters returning as he can be a stand-out POD player though often is high-risk high reward. The Saints are debuting Bailey Rice (Def $170,000) drafted back in 2015 he finally gets a call-up, he has been a solid player at Sandringham and is worth keeping an eye on. The Pies bring back Scott Pendlebury who remains a trustworthy premium this season if he stays injury free. Carlton have plenty of INs this week but importantly are blooding two newbies in Matt Shaw and  Pat Kerr. Kerr has averaged poorly in the VFL but has been a consistent goal kicker for the Blues reserves while Shaw is an expensive option, I’d steer clear of these two boys for now. The Demons return Pedersen, Viney, Hunt, Garlett and Tim Smith (Fwd $179,000) this week. The only truly interesting option being Tim Smith after having a huge week in the VFL he’s a potential downgrade target up forward but beware the Sunday bench. The Hawks have named Mitch Lewis (Fwd $170,000) as part of a massive line up of INs he’s been snagging plenty of goals in the VFL and has been pushing hard for his debut. The Eagles have Nic Naitanui on return from suspension this week and is likely to be a target for them around the ground. They have also named Sheed, McGovern, Mutimer and Jetta back in their side. While the Tiges have said Ellis, Soldo, Grigg and Stengle will make the trip to the west coast. This is shaping up to be an exciting week with plenty of fresh meat on debut which is good news as we head into bye rounds. 

 

Who’s OUT?

No major surprises on the losses this week. The Crows are forced to lose Brown, Crouch, McGovern and Walker this week due to injury. The team will suffer from these major loses this week as will any coaches who have been keeping high hopes for Big Tex this season and the loss of Mitch McGovern is big news for plenty of teams. The Dogs see Naughton (injury), Young and Honeychurch missing the game this week. Naughton is a sore loss for any coach after wearing a 3 point game with the ankle injury, he’s seen plenty of drops this week and this is a good time to move him on. Essendon has plenty of OUTs dropping Ben McNiece (omitted), Darcy Parish  (omitted), David Myers  (injured) Kobe Mutch (rested) and Michael Hurley (injured). Mutch is listed as being rested this week which is of some concern to any team hoping for cash generation from the rookie this week. Myers is set to miss one round with calf tightness while Hurley is dealing with a hamstring injury that’s set to see him sidelined for 2 weeks. Meanwhile at Geelong Esava Ratugolea is also named as an injury this week. The Hawks see Jaeger O’Meara as an OUT with injury this week with a corked calf last week, he’s likely to only miss the one week. Ed Curnow and Sam Day will both miss this because of the suspensions each of them copped. Sam Weideman has been named as an injury due to his calf. There were plenty of injuries at the Saints with Acres, Carlisle and Gilbert all missing this week. While Crocker (omitted), Brown (omitted) and Moore (injury) will miss for the Pies. Fremantle has once again dropped Danyle Pearce and Taylin Duman gets dropped after a lackluster week against the Saints. The Swans omit Towers and Robinson. De Boer and Davis have both suffered injuries at the Giants and won’t make the cut this week.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this slightly more timely version of Team Sheets this week. Feel free to kick off questions in the forum below or contact me on Twitter.