Friday Fantasy Fill Up – Rd. 19

Welcome to a Friday arvo column that hopefully helps you get set for the weekend ahead. I’ll be looking at the key points/questions that have popped up during the week with some quick fire opinions, plus a look at how the mighty Warne Dawgs are looking ahead of the coming round.

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Sorry about last week…

Unfortunately it was too hectic last week to get an edition that was worth reading (or a video that was worth watching) as we were in Perth. It was a busy time – plus we pretty much stretched our bodies to the max in our three days away.

The shows were bloody fun and it was great to meet a heap of people – especially our Patreon members and those who engage with us on social media. A highlight was catching up with Will Schofield for the Back Chat podcast. We had a fun chat – not a lot of Fantasy in it – on the Friday arvo. Watch the video below or check it out on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

What to do with Rory Laird

Lairdy was in 45% of Fantasy Classic teams at the time of the news that he would be out. He’s in 95 of the top 100 teams, all of the top 10, and around 94% of the top 1000.

Do we hold or trade?

It’s an easy one for me – it’s a trade. One weekers are a trade at this stage of the season. You might have bigger priorities (I don’t necessarily think so this week unless you have a Tom Green/Sean Darcy combo?), but moving on a guy where your cover might be limited – Windhager is the best, but there’s no one else you could go with.

I think it is every change to be two weeks for his banged up shoulder. Here’s a quote from Adam Kelly, the Crows’ general manager of football on SEN yesterday.

“We’re hoping it might only be a week and hopefully that is the case. He’s been such a warrior for us across his career but so important to our midfield. We’ll certainly miss him, but at this stage he could be back as early as next week.”

That doesn’t scream that he’s definitely back next week. We move.

So where do we go? A big dog for a big dog would be nice. Roy suggests going all the way to the top to Marcus Bontempelli or Zach Merrett. It might be the shit team that I have that’s dictating the thoughts, but saving cash is still important to me as I have other issues I would like to fix next week (ie. weakest links like Himmelberg, Ashcroft, Mills, etc).

A straight swap to the likes of a Darcy Parish is on my radar.

The value plays of Jack Steele, Luke Davies-Uniacke and Touk Miller (that’s my order) may help with something on the otherside … or, if you’re brave and could really do with a big rookie upgrade, George Hewett has a lot going for him at under $500k with Cripps and Cerra out.

I should mention Josh Kelly here, but man, having him twice has nearly got him erased from my mind.

Of course there’s DPP to think about, and while it is ok to have a DEF or FWD in the midfield, I would prefer to be going to a MID. But that’s just me. Good luck with your decision making! The Laird injury may shake things up a fair bit!

Bringing in Max Gawn

I love it! I would like to be in the position to do this … or to at least explore it, but not this week for me.

Grabbing Gawn is a great play. Obviously he smashed it with 162 last week in the first week that Grundy was sent to the magoos to work on his forward craft. This isn’t going to take a week, so I expect Max to go solo for a little while yet. Realistically, Grundy is likely to be there for a month. Maybe they bring him in if the Hawks go with the Reeves/Meek combo in R23 but that’s a little while away.

I’m not concerned that Grundy is back in the short term.

If you’ve got the injured Sean Darcy, that trade is an easy one. Just go to Max. Nothing else to do and have Kieren Briggs, just do it. Stuck on Tristan Xerri island? (Again)…  No-brainer.

The interesting move is grabbing $200k from Tim English or Rowan Marshall. I think it’s the latter due to issues with talls at the Saints (King) and that they could bring in Campbell or Hayes to get extra ruck minutes. The cash banked could help you on the otherside but also gives you a POD considering 99% of the top 1000 have Marshall.

It’s bold. It’s brave… but it could be a move that makes for an exciting finish to the season.

Warne Dawgs – Round 19

I’ve got the Laird issue and the Johnson still on ground (I was moving him last week, but Tom Green happened … so I edited trade and have $336k to bring into this week).

My move is a simple on. Laird to Parish (my pick of the guys around that price considering the Dons have North and WCE coming up shortly)… and then getting Johnson up. I can afford Steele, who I may still go, but I like the idea of LDU for the value due to me having a few spuds left on ground. I’d like to move Himmelberg next week – a look at Luke Jackson from him if the rumours are true that Darcy will miss the rest of the season … but I also have Ashcroft who should really be moved yesterday.

There is a part of me that would like to grab the Bont and Hewett combo… but that won’t happen! Pre-Laird, I was looking at Hewett (with Sicily – who I think is a great target, despite what happened last week). That would’ve been fun!

ROUND 19 TRADES

Rory Laird > Darcy Parish
Matthew Johnson > Luke Davies-Uniacke
Cash left: $112k

ROUND 19 CAPTAINS

Zach Merrett VC
Tim Taranto C

PLEASE NOTE: My YouTube video will hopefully be recorded later this arvo… I’m stuck doing too many jobs today! School holidays and the better half loads me up with things to do… fingers crossed I’ll get to it mid-late arvo – maybe around 5pm when the teams come out. Stay tuned!

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Lockout times

Friday, July 21	STADIUM (NETWORK)	EST	LOCAL
Essendon vs. Western Bulldogs	Marvel Stadium (SEVEN)	7:50pm	7:50pm
Saturday, July 22	STADIUM (NETWORK)	EST	LOCAL
Richmond vs. Hawthorn	MCG (FOX)	1:45pm	1:45pm
Carlton vs. West Coast Eagles	Marvel Stadium (FOX)	2:10pm	2:10pm
Brisbane Lions vs. Geelong Cats	The Gabba (FOX)	4:35pm	4:35pm
Port Adelaide vs. Collingwood	Adelaide Oval (SEVEN)	7:40pm	7:10pm
Fremantle vs. Sydney Swans	Optus Stadium (FOX)	7:40pm	5:40pm
Sunday, July 23	STADIUM (NETWORK)	EST	LOCAL
GWS GIANTS vs. Gold Coast SUNS	Manuka Oval (FOX)	1:10pm	1:10pm
Melbourne vs. Adelaide Crows	MCG (SEVEN)	3:20pm	3:20pm
St Kilda vs. North Melbourne	Marvel Stadium (FOX)	4:40pm	4:40pm

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