Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, time for another edition of Best Buys.

This week, we have had the unfortunate injuries to Jack Grimes (season ending) and Ed Curnow (shoulder likely to be 4-6 out).   Considering Curnow was possibly on the verge of sewing up a spot in the competitive Carlton midfield, and Grimes was showing his clear captain qualities, both injuries are going to cause pain to their owners.   Indeed this week was move week for all teams that did not have them in their mix - and I must say its not many who would have not had Curnow in the mids given his form.   The injury really did come one week too early.

For the Best Buys, Im going to keep it real simple this week by focusing on players who have averaged 100+ this season.   This means that I might be avoiding players such as Selwood, the Riewoldt brothers, and a few other likely types.   I will make a small note at the bottom of players who Ive missed that might be worth a look.

That, and what to do if you can only direct-swap Curnow/Grimes after the break...

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OK.  So you have only one of Grimes and Curnow, and all you can do is direct swap.   Thats a sad place to be in, but heres a few options:

Grimes sideways to:  Milburn and Duffield who have bottomed out.   Gilbee, Kennelly and Grundy have fans, as does Rob Murphy.   All are about the range, and wouldnt lose you too much in the direct swap.   You might even get a boost.   For me, Duffield looks one that could be a sly pickup.

Curnow sideways to: (I generally would advise against this!)  Harris to pick up some more value that Curnow has left behind.   Daniel Kerr is up with a bullet about the same price.   Other than that I dont have much love for players as a sideways move.

To be honest, youre probably better working out whether to put Curnow down or up this week.   Id generally suggest up, but if you want a midfield option there are a few to consider going down to from last weekends matches.   For Grimes, I advocate either a direct swap, or a small upgrade to a premium to be mentioned below.

Best Buys by position - simply put, these players have averaged 100+ and are sorted in value order (points per $)

DEF: Newman, Adcock, Enright, Shaw, Deledio, Fisher, Scotland, Goddard

My thoughts - Watch out for Newman/Deledio with 2 byes to come.   Adcock in great form and a midfield role seems to be a great option.

MID: (110+): Embley, Mundy, Watson, Moloney, Griffen, Bartel, Pendlebury, Mitchell, Swan, Dal Santo, Priddis, Murphy, Judd, Boyd

My thoughts - Mundy is showing why the Bombers were after him.  Not convinced about the early form of Embley, Moloney and Griffen, though Griffens is more attractive given the Dogs upside.   Bartel, Pendlebury, Mitchell, Swan are safe bets.   The rest are probably overpriced.   Yes, thats right, Judd and Boyd are probably too much to pay at this weeks prices.   Though I can understand the logic of getting Judd next week after the bye with a BE of <100.   Boyd however, a 144 BE.   Thats the reason Im not advocating getting him this week in the forums, even though some are incredulous at people not putting him up in lights.

RUC: Cox, Ottens, Sandilands, Mumford, Jamar

My thoughts - Does anyone not have Sandilands and Cox?  Id suggest given Ottens previous frailties, the big two from the West are once again the best to get.  I wouldnt risk anything else.

FWD: OKeefe, Sylvia, Higgins, Fyfe, Pavlich, Rioli, Harvey, Franklin, Chapman.

My thoughts - This is an area littered with fools gold.   ROK is very cheap, but I think hes too flighty for mine.   Not the worst POD you could have, but if you already have Goodes, the risk of him coming unstuck in Round 19 with Brisbane/Richmond/Sydney bye (yes that means Jackeroo and JB) could be a donut or trade muncher.   Higgins and Rioli have shown their lack of durability.  Fyfe is under an injury cloud also.   Sylvia, well I think hes a flat track bully.  He has a few flat tracks to come, so is an interesting POD, but not for me, a player who needs to solidify a flighty forward division.

So thats why I continue to say the Best Buy this week is the Pav.   And Im hoping above hope that he doesnt do a 2010, and tank for the rest of the year after a golden start.   Hes gone up 40k since the start of the year, but his average has risen 16.   Thats significant, and could easily improve with more support at the Dockers.   I think when the Dockers get a full strength side in, it will actually make the Sandi-Pav combination even stronger.   Not sure how that would affect Mundy though.

I think  you can afford to wait on Boyd and Chapman, as well as Franklin if you dont have him.

Downgrade targets.   These are fraught with danger.

DEF: Pedersen has a wonderful BE as expected this week, but lives on the Kangas knife edge.   Hibberd is an honest trier, but wont get a run at Essendon unless injuries prevail.  Watson is behind Thornton for a game, sadly for Carltons future (because I think playing him now will give them greater options in future years).

Id suggest Puopolo is in the drivers seat.   If you want to put a bit more coin down, then Johnson is worth a look from Sydney again this week at 140k and FD MPP.   Cripps will play his 3rd game at St Kilda and probably wont go up too much if you miss him.

MID: Theres Wright at 140k still, Wallis at 118 (!) though security an issue.   All in all outside these two, and the MPPs this is a disaster zone.  Id suggest looking at the MPP players from the forwards here.

RUC: McCauley no one else.

FWD: Lynch looked a future star against the Lions, and has a game to come so worth a look.   Patrick is on the bubble this week, and should get some game time given his class around goals.  Might keep Prestia out for a while.   Keep a close watch on the NM selection sheets for Harper.   Didnt do well last week, but who would against Geelong?   I think hes the one to put a downgrade towards if he can prove to be a steady selection.   North have a fairly soft run to come in the next 8 I reckon.

Siposs showed enough to warrant future selection at St Kilda but probably given their SaintsFooty style not worth a run.

Theres the Mid MPPs as well floating around.  Smith made an immediate impact, and I think Hawks who dont think he should stay might be underrating his influence in their slow ploddy midfield.  Him and Rioli would really speed it up and neutralise a Hawk weakness.

And then theres Mzungu.   Hes been whispered about in hushed tones on these forums but hasnt played an AFL match at the highest level yet.   One to watch but on that one game, Smith has to be ahead of him.

Finally those in hot form in their last 3 but outside the premium average of 100:

Brennan, Nahas, J Riewoldt, Selwood, Crameri, Foley, Hartlett, Sidebottom, Fletcher, Petrie and Goldstein.

And thats that for another week.   Happy trading and hope to see a few interesting comments in the forums.   Did I miss too many?