Round 17 already?  And Collingwood on top of the ladder?  I cant think how unbelievable both sound!
Sorry this didnt come up yesterday, had a very full-on day at work.

Best Buys advice for the week: If you are out of the finals and by trading you can make the finals with zero trades, then do it, rather than missing out because you saved them.  So yeah, most of us have 4 trades, but useless these are if you cant make the finals.

Ill try some different tips over the break

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This week I dont think I will need to bother with assessing downgrade trades (I havent been brilliant with that analysis all year if you take my stances on Rockliff and Podsiadly - though I think I have got Farmer, Davis and Henderson right).  If you need to get cash, get the most you can and dont rely on the player you downgrade to play too many matches.

So that leaves pretty much upgrades that we will need to make, or sideways trades, at two different levels.

One is Premium.  The absolute best you can get, regardless of cost.
The second is Value.  The best you can get for the price.  I will try to put some levels in there 400-500, 500+.

OK, all sounds good so lets get into it.

DEFENCE
Premium options: I think most here would have Goddard and Hodge, and probably Malceski.  Lake is clearly the option to improve into, even though hes a touch more costly than Id like.
Value option 400-500k: In form youd have to say Stiffy Johncock, with maybe some Ben love for Scotland.  Enright and Gilbert are really cheap after a few average games.  Are teams now targeting them?
Value option 500+: Lake

MIDFIELD:
Premium Options: Thinking we all have Ablett, Goddard, Hodge and Chapman, the next line of 4 on average PPG I think would make for good entry into any team: Judd, Swan, Montagna and Selwood.
Value 400-500: For MPP alone, Gilbee and Pavlich are interesting swing options.  Most would have these two here, and though I do stress midfield is not an area for skimping on, the other options worth considering are: Cooney, Gibbs and Hayes on class alone.
Value 500+: Judd and Murphy shading Cross and Boyd.  Bartel could be an interesting one to have with SuperCoach finals coming up and teams he generally does OK against.

FORWARDS:
Premium options: Franklin...but hes already missed 5 games.  Maybe will miss another.  Chapman is one who most would already have and the hamstring issue seems more unlikely to keep him out this year (but weve said that before and been wrong...).  Its a nightmare really outside these two.  Rioli has smoked recently.  Please consider.

Value 400-500: Youre probably best with Brown (under 400k), Pavlich or Didak
Value 500+: Id stick with Franklin just over Chapman, but both are reliant on a good F8 (or M7 in Chappys case).  Rioli is an option Id consider.

RUCKS
Premium option: Sandilands, no question.
Value 400-500: Mumford is scoring well and is the best option for an R2 but not the best value.  This is equally shared between Cox, Ryder and Jamar.  They are rucking fairly well, but their teams are performing badly so that smashes their scores.  For a POD, Jolly is also starting to hit his straps, though with Fraser likely to get game 200 soon, you might find Jolly gets a rest before September.

All in all much to think about and a difficult job finding the right upgrades for you.  Best of luck and happy trading.