<blockquote>GARY Ablett will miss up to three weeks for Geelong following scans on his injured groin.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25426395-19742,00.html?from=public_rss" target="_blank">http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25426395-19742,00.html?from=public_rss[/url]

Everyone PANIC! With Beams and Hartlett also injured and other benchwarmers in Liam Anthony and Mitch Robinson still warming the pine, this is a big problem.

If you are in serious contention for the overall, (Im talking top 200 or so here), well you probably dont need my help because youre doing so well. Seriously, though, Im going to propose the unthinkable and say that I would trade out Jesus. With over 100 thousand on offer as well as the benefits of proven performers Neon Leon, Chris Judd , Jimmy Bartel, or Nick Dal Santo (who are all options for the captaincy as well, which we have to think about now )

However for the rest of us mortals who just want a league win, you cant trade out of Gary Ablett. Instead, you just have to find a way to get a playing substitute for 2/3 weeks. Unfortunately, there arent that many playing cheap midfielders, so a straight swap with another of your non-playing rookies may be impossible. Andrew Collins (153,100), David Zaharakis (205,700) or Matt De Boer/Adam Cockie if they are selected (83,400/94,200) are your best options. Tom Swift (94,200) is another rookie who impressed in the preseason who is likely to make his <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/76249/default.aspx" target="_blank">debut[/url] this week, though Cockie is probably ahead of him (he made his debut first didn’t he?)  The advantage here is you get money and only need one trade, but you lose a lot of points and have to worry about them playing each week. This is probably the best option if you are low on trades.

If you dont want to get rid of Gazza or get one of these rookies, a clever upgrade of one of your non playing rookies is the only other option. Some stars at bargain prices include:

Luke Power, BL, avg 96, BE 108, $448,800
Adam Selwood, WCE, avg 106, BE 83, $441,000 *
Adam Goodes, SYD, avg 100, BE 131, $490,900
Kane Cornes, PA, avg 92, BE 92, $450,100
Farren Ray, STK, avg 103 BE 42, $447,400 *
Luke Hodge, HAW, avg 88, BE 120, $518,000

*I’m still not convinced about either of these, but their numbers are hard to ignore.

If you can afford them, Power and Goodes are the best options here, (Hodge should really be in defense).

Some riskier options at even cheaper prices (for those on a budget) are:

Andrew Swallow, NM, avg 93, BE 43, $400,500
Troy Selwood, BL, avg 80, BE 62, $368,100
Travis Tuck, Haw, avg 80, BE 68, $341,800
Heath Hocking, ESS, avg 86 BE 43, $340,100
Garry Moss, HAW, avg 80, BE -6, $292,500
Mark Coughlan, RICH, avg 84, BE -19, $246,600

Of these, I like Coughlan the most, but you would have to hope for a raise in output if you want to keep them for the rest of the year. The advantage of these though is that you dont need a huge amont to get there.

To get the cash, consider downgrading to Levi Greenwood (Def, NM, 94,200 avg 55) or one of your forwards to Brent Macaffer (Fwd, COLL, 94,200, avg 65).

There are plenty of players around, so hold off getting Buddy for another week (hell probably drop again this week anyway ) and fix up your midfield (unless you have Richo or Scott Lucas, in which case start reading <a href="http://tooserious.net/?p=440" target="_blank">Walesy’s[/url] article.)