OK ... I'll admit it. I got carried away with his NAB Cup form and when Max Bailey got hurt I thought more ruck time for Hale plus resting up forward meant he could lift his average up to 100+ so he got in as a last minute change. At $406k what a bargain! Its not turning out that way, but am I judging him harshly and too hastily? There are a couple of tasty cash-making sideways trades in the forward line this week - the original Chad at GWS and Whitecross now he has gotten off at the tribunal. What do you all reckon ... will Hale lift his game, or will he remain an 80 point plodder I dont want or need?
He'll lift against lesser teams, Hawks did play the top sides from last year. Back your pre-season instinct~!
I'm with jibba, does it get any harder than the Hawks' first 2 games ?. Hale will surely hit bigger scores. I dont know if he'll be better long tem value than those you mention, but you did pick him for a reason.
Plus the weather did not suit at all on the weekend. Given the first two rounds his scores have been ok. I'm very pleased that I resisted putting him in my side, but definitley keeping a close eye on him and will pull the trigger if he starts to pump out a couple of NAB cup like perfomances.
He's also a DPP with the obvious added bonus from that. My only issue with him is that McCauley was outstanding for a discard on the weekend. Having said that Hale held his own and will likely score more in better conditions against lesser teams than those faced by the Hawks in the first two rounds.
i picked him as a forward was hoping to get 90s out of him small profit and hoping of no huge downside like jumpin jack last week ... i was hoping he would have more ruck duties for extra points ,,, i dont know how this will turn out now roughhead is back and mcauly doing ok .
Forgot about Roughhead - he did play very well as did McCauley - Hale is their no 1 though - you can't send a Roughhead/McCauley combo up against the Cox/Sandi/Mumfords/Leuenberger/Ryder etc of the competition in the ruck. Geelong don't have the best ruck division going around. Can't see why you'd axe Hale now unless you desperately want to get a cow in, but even then I think if you have him in his DPP, the fact he's played two great teams - one in bad conditions, his NAB Cup form, the fact he has goal-scoring potential and also the fact he has the biggest forehead in the competition should seal the deal that he stays. Especially that last fact as you could land aeroplanes on that thing and surely that is worth a few extra Supercoach points. Joking aside - pretty sure he had more hitouts on the weekend than anyone else in that game and that for him better scoring lies ahead, and at the very least will hold his value through the season.
@dadrulz & @VanderHaar, I am having exactly the same thoughts. Roughhead back in the side and McCauley doing reasonably well has Hale under a cloud (har har). I took him purely as a punt in Bailey's absence, with the hope of quickly upgrading him to Franklin or another elite forward early in the season. I traded Hale out for Milera on Sunday but have since reversed it (one of Dickson or Hall will now get that honour). Hale will likely stay for another few weeks, though should he score well below his breakeven over the next two weeks, it'll be time to go.
lol @astro and thunder good advice bar the puns ;-) yer hes not going to lose a tonne of cash , hes played 2 tough games , hasnt had a complete stinker
I've got him too, he scored pretty well for having 4 kick against Geelong and like Moblets said i couldnt think of worse conditions for him to play in. He's going for why i picked him, the only player that would have been better so far to pick for the price is Chad Cornes, but who woulda thought of doing that 8D. I'm sticking with him.
Thanks for the advice guys .... His DPP was extra insurance but my 2-0-2 rucks are strong thus far so that's not a reason to keep him, but I think he has done enough to persist with.
Geez dadrulz with 202 I wouldn't have even bothered with insurance - Giles and Redden would have been more than sufficient. 103 is still winning the day, but if Brogan impacts on Giles TOG, and similarly with Lobbe/Redden, people will be scrambling for ruck upgrades.
I'm sticking with him, was insurance on Giles/Redden. Two of the tougher games you could pull first up, one in bad conditions for him (he isn't a Mummy type who will win the hard ball and tackle in the wet). Should only get better and is worth keeping at least until Bailey comes back.