Last chance for the U18 All Australian championships.

Registration closes tonight I think. (or maybe tomorrow… depends if it’s inclusive of the 1st I guess!)

So get your entries in!

And if your feeling sporting, post your entries into the comments here!

It’s an easy $1000 bucks on research you should already be doing! So get in there!

And good luck!

Alright, I promised myself I would avoid the unlucky 13 cliche’, but it’s been a big big round!

Firstly, Ablett. You legend! 206 points worth of legend!

The top 5 were rounded out by Dane swan (who’s making a run in the TS best and fairest) with a 167,
Diddles with a 163 (raising 130k over the last 2 weeks!),
Mattner, with a 161 who is in massive form at the moment, and
Sam Mitchell who did great in a losing side for a 160.

My boys finally put in a decent effort with a 2374. (Not having cox might actually pay off! )

Buster Gonad jumped the woodyman up into 4th position with a mighty 2355. Funnily, a Cox – Sandi trade would have had him a single point behind the lead…

But, if if’s and but’s were candy and nuts… how does that go again?.

The legends once again pulled away from their rivals outscoring every other league down to 9th… But even my 2374 (up into 2000th), could I top score this round with those honors going to The Zappers, with a might 2465 jumping them up to 269th! and second overall in the league. Just 50 points behind the Windy Hill Wizards and 1st place!

Was a far cry from the top score for the round which again topped 2700, 2741 to be exact.

Anyways, we’re in the home stretch for the finals now. Hopefully we’ve spent all the trades we need, and can cruise through reletivily unharmed up until the finals.

Good luck all.

Go you good things!!!

Ryder and Lucas continue their good form, but the big scores went to a couple of blues – Murphy and Gibbs.

Anyways, this weekend is off to a great start! (At least if you’re a bomber fan, or you don’t have Judd as captain!)

How are you all going?

Another week, another lot of Best Buys. It’s a real shame Ballantyne is coming in now, as all trades from here on in should be reserved for upgrades or replacing injured players, like Ziebell. Still, there are some great options to look at.

Defenders

Rookies

1. C Pearce, 83400
2. M Hurley, 154200
3. M Maguire, 162900

Pearce the only option here, though you would have to think Maguire and Hurley are close to games.

Midrange

1. S Gilbert, 410300
2. L Hodge, 430200
3. T Thurstans, 410100

Hodge is a star, but still has some falling to do. I have a feeling I’ll be laughedat for Thurstans, but hes averaging 100 in the Chad Cornes role and may end up being similar to Nick Maxwell. If you missed out on Gilbert before, get on now.(look at the Saints run home!) Also look at Lake, Milburn, Ellis, Pratt and Broughton.

Premium

1. S Fisher, 453200
2. N Bock, 481300
3. B Goddard, 539800

Probably better looking at the midrangers. Fisher is cheap, but Gilbert is better, while Goddard and Bock are super defenders to own, although Hodge may end up scoring more in the next few weeks.

Midfielders

Rookies

1. T Swift, 107400
2. J Davenport, 94200
3. L Anthony, 94200

Stay away until Anthony gets a game. At least Swift is getting a game, though e should be dropped.

Midrangers

1. B Stanton 422300
2. D Kerr 329300
3. B Muston, 206600

Surprisingly few options. Kerr is a smokey, while Muston has a lot of upside to him still.

Premiums

1. N Dal Santo, 552200
2. D Cross, 470800
3. L Davis, 550000

Guns! How did Cross get so cheap, while Dal Santo and Davis could be options for replacing Pendlebury (should probably hold onto him though). Also look at Crossy’s partner in crime Matthew Boyd at 456000, and Luke Power at 480900 is another good bet.

Rucks

Rookies

1. N Naitanui, 169200
2. B McEvoy, 148700
3. M Pyke, 83400

Nic Nats the perfect reserve for Dean Cox- and he looks like a great player too! Ignore the other two unless you are really strapped for cash.

Midrangers

1. D Jolly, 438600
2. J Fraser, 436000
3. M Kreuzer, 393800

Nobody in their right mind should trade Cox, so these should really be ignored too…

Premiums

1. A Sandilands, 536200
2. H McIntosh, 454800
3. D Petrie, 489700

Jolly’s your man.

Forwards

Rookies

1. L Jurrah, 144200
2. J Watts, 174200
3. H Balllantyne, 94200

Imagine Melbourne’s foward line in a few years; Watts, Jurrah and Butcher (possibly). Jurrah looks better than Watts at the moment, though Watts may explode yet. Both should get games at least. We should all wait a couple of weeks on Ballantyne, although I’ll be jumping on if he scores 100 on debut

Midrangers

1. J Brown, 440400
2. J Akermanis, 391200
3. T Cloke,  269300

Get on Brown while you still can. Aker is averaging the most for his price, while Cloke is a risky option if you want to do a straight swap with Ziebell. Keep an eye on how Patrick Veszpremi performs on the weekend too. Franklin should be avoided for a couple more weeks(wait until he looks like a player again).

Premiums

1. Aaron Davey, 466500
2. Steve Johnson, 487700
3. M Pavlich, 507300

All 3 of these are averaging over 100, and are great options. Pavlich is at an extremely low price, while Davey and Johnson are simply awesome in Supercoach and to watch.

Good luck everyone!

Hi all.

I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to get the Best Buys out this week (though there could be some real beauties in weeks to come that aren’t ripe now – read Hodge, Drummond, Pendlebury and Harvey).  If I get an update out, great, if not, put down some of your bargains in the comments.   Will help each of us out.

What I thought would be pertinent to do was look at the teams playing each other in the Supercoach finals weeks of Round 19-20-21-22.   Because it could be curtains for some of your teams if you don’t do the analysis now.   My team has a Buddy-Roughy front end which could come home like a freight train….but in what is very likely to be a knockout final I will have the Hawks v Saints down at Aurora.   After the Lions belting still making me shiver, I am not looking forward to this.

Also I’ve done the sheet having say the Collingwood-Dogs match in Rd 22 as effectively a Dogs home game.   Because the AFL was stupid enough to have us playing Dogs in 2 matches at the Dome within 10 weeks.   Other games have been treated similarly.

So take a look at the draw, and let’s do some group think about the key matches that will go into crowing each other as Supercoach League winners in 2009!

Just a quick update.

Ablett. Fail.
O’keefe. Win.

Franklin. Fail.
TooSeriousLegends. Win. (extended our lead!)

woodyman. Win. (Up to 2nd!!)
Pendlebury. Fail. (Sorry Woodyman! Hopefully he’ll only be gone for 2!)

And Broughton! What a superstar!!

Chris, we’re keeping an eye on you as well. Sitting in 12th! Nice show. 

I hope we all survived the split round and can move forward in high spirits to the second half of the year!

Yes, we are only at the mid point of the season, but I’ve got to say, without some kind of injury/severe form drop off… I think it’s done and dusted.

Gary Ablett (19). He’s an utter Supercoach legend. Six points clear of his closest rival, Leigh Montagna (13).

19 Gary Ablett
13 Leigh Montagna
12 Leon Davis
10 Adam Goodes
10 Nick Dal Santo
9 Brad Sewell
9 Brendon Goddard
9 Lenny Hayes
9 Paul Duffield
8 Chris Judd

Leigh Montagna on the other hand, is leading the DT board with a score of 16. Leading Gary Ablett by 3 points (13).

16 Leigh Montagna
13 Gary Ablett
12 Dane Swan
11 Nick Riewoldt
10 Brent Stanton
10 Lenny Hayes
10 Steve Johnson
9 Jimmy Bartel
9 Joel Bowden
9 Kade Simpson

So at the mid-point of the season, the Ablett/Montagna combination is still holding up strong. Though we are seeing some potential challengers coming up on Montagna in the DT side.

Particularly with Montagna playing in the same teams as other high scorers such as Riewoldt (11), Hayes (10), Dal Santo (8), Goddard (6).

And a big challenge from DT favorite, Dane Swan, who’s hit back into form with 8 of his 12 points coming from the last 3 weeks!

So. If you’ve got any spare cash, put it on Ablett for the Brownlow. Heck, get Montagna in there on the each way if you can.

And multi it with Rich for the rising star!

Good luck all… and let’s get on with the FOOTY!

So, without a full week to review, my time (and yours) might be better spent having a look at the next generation of youngsters.

Particulary with the AFL running this ripper of a comp.

$1000 to the person who can predict the 22 players you think will recieve all Australian honours after the championships.

Get up to date with your rookies for next year and at the same time, put yourself in for the chance for $1000.

Can it get any better?

So, who do we expect to get in?

Well, the obvious names to look at would be out of the following:

Tom Scully and Kane Lucas, both should be first round midfield picks in the coming draft.
John Butcher, with his performance so far, is being touted as a #1 pick over Scully up there.

But after that, there’s a couple of stand up names, like Carey, Morabito, Matera… But I don’t know if I would *lock* them in just yet.

Anyways, I’ll submit the following team for your perusal.

B : Andrew Hooper, Sam Reid, Marcus Davies
HB: Josh Toy, Daniel Talia, David Swallow
C : Jack Trengove, Kane Lucas, Anthony Morabito
HF: Jesse Crichton , John Butcher, Alex Carey
F : Brandon Matera ,Ben Griffiths, Gary Rohan
Fo: Nathan Vardy, Tom Scully, Hayden Jolly

IC: Zac Smith, Jack Darling, Koby Stevens, Allen Christensen

Not a bad starting place, but with two more weeks remaining, I’m sure it will change a lot!

Anyways, good luck with this one! And keep an eye on those championships!

In the absence of anything up for the weekend, here’s as good a spot as any for celebrations and commiserations.

Should be an interesting game tonight – and it shapes as a huge game which can determine the entire matchup with clutch in/out of form players such as Nick Dal Santo, Bryce Gibbs, Brendan Fevola and Justin Koschitzke on the park.

Hope your teams go well, and may the comments begin.

Oh yeah for Captains, how about that Ablett fellow.

If you don’t have him simply pick your best average player for this week.  It’s as good a tip as any I can give.

Hi all

Nothing against Paddy and Walesy, but it’s time for more thinking reading over lunch.   Very happy for the Bombers that they get Ryder “back”, but even happier that at the moment their ladder position is in double digits again for what the fifth year running    It does appear the top 8 sides from last year and the sides that “are coming” got their act together on the weekend and it was interesting watching.   Now, onto some Best Buys as normal.

These are not always the most in-form players at the price, but they may provide you with ammunition for an assault at the main prize.   Just don’t burn your trades too soon.   With Boomer Harvey maybe back straight after the break, the Cho a possibility later in the year, and other great value options sure to appear, you don’t want to miss them by making a sideways interchange trade for $100k.

I’d reckon somewhere from 7-9 trades will be fine to get home with from here, particularly if your team is set.  Heck, even 6 is probably fine to just make injury/”I drove through Kew on a wet night drunk as a skunk and lied to my coach and my teammates” changes.

Without further ado, here’s the Best Buys for this week:

DEF

Rookie – Grima (156500), Hurley (154200), Pearce (83400)

No value here.  Grima could get games in weakened North outfit.

Midrange – Milburn (395600), Gilbee (404000), H Shaw (420000)

Three great old stagers of the SC game.  Inconsistent but good cheap keepers for those on a strict budget.   Hodge not yet but very soon.

Premium – Newman (502400), Enright (453900), Fisher (482100)

All great value picks.  Ignore at your peril, particularly with Chad out.

MID

Rookie – DeBoer (192100), Sheldon (199500), Muston (186800)

All can score, all fairly costly, but a handy 7 or 8 mid.

Midrange – Stanton (425500), Kerr (343400), Knights (446800)

All have big scores in the past, and are low-priced keepers for a run to finals.

(Only for the budget conscious mind you.)

Premium – Dal Santo (520600), Boyd (469800), Bruce (506600)

NDS – obvious reasons, Boyd still cheap and Bruce as no one else would have him and he is a consistent Demon scorer.

FWD

Rookie – Reid (136400), Watts (174200), Garlett (171100)

Reid a logical replacement for Nathan Brown if he is indeed injured, Watts as the Demons must play him a few games, Garlett a good prospect.

Midrange – J Brown (414300), Fevola (411100), Hawkins (335800)

This is the value zone.  Fev and JB starting to rock the casbar.

Premium – Davey (466200), Brennan (456000), Pavlich (509500)

Pavlich not greatest value until after playing Geelong.  Then giddy up.

RUC

Rookie – McEvoy (150700), Pyke (83400), Spencer (83400)

It’s all about game time and money.  McEvoy will give both.

Midrange – Jolly (427500), Fraser (418500), Koschitzke (427300)

Where the action is.  Good value in Jolly, Fraser and Kosi.

Premium – McIntosh (455000), Clark (450300), Sandilands (520300)

Only 5 in the 450+ range!

Happy trading all – just don’t go too hard – your trades will have to last you the rest of the season – remember that!