Boys On The Bubble is a weekly feature looking at players who played their second game on the weekend and thus are eligible to change in price this week if they’re picked again. The B/E number below stands for Break Even, referring to the Dream Team score that the player must make to have his price rise after his third game.
The Baby Magpies
Alan TOOVEY, COL BAC: $82300, -54 BE, 60 avg
Shannon COX, COL FWD: $82300, -49 BE, 57.5 avg
Brad DICK, COL FWD: $82300, -17 BE, 41.5 avg
Toovey leapt out of the blocks two weeks ago with a stellar first quarter against the Tigers, but his subsequent seven quarters haven’t been so good. Cox and Dick took a while longer to stiffen up, but they’re full of juice and ready to burst over their break-even lines in an orgasm of price movement. Is that enough penis jokes? Okay, good. The good thing about these three is that you’ll know if they’re playing this week due to the Wednesday Anzac game… and they are all likely to play because the Pies have too many injury worries elsewhere in their lineup to worry about resting their rookies.
Cheap But Nasty
Bernie VINCE, ADE FWD: $110000, -16 BE, 52.5 avg
Paul JOHNSON, MEL RUC: $113900, 5 BE, 43.5 avg
These two are in a tricky position for fantasy coaches: a nice price and a fabulous break-even number, but their actual scores are not up to standard of someone who you want in your 22, so if you were going to pick them up you would have to stow them away on your bench. I could see some coaches taking a punt on Johnson getting more game time in the injury-ravaged Demons 22… maybe even cashing in Ben Hudson in the process. More on that later.
The Also-Rans
Dylan ADDISON, WBD CTR: $172800, 36 BE, 51.5 avg
Ricky DYSON, ESS CTR: $197300, 51 BE, 54 avg
James KELLY, GEE CTR: $253200, 56 BE, 73.5 avg
Greg BENTLEY, PTA CTR: $207100, 56 BE, 55 avg
Luke WEBSTER, FRE CTR: $225000, 67 BE, 57 avg
Chance BATEMAN, HAW CTR: $297000, 79 BE, 79.5 avg
All of these mid-tier centres are scoring at about their 2006 average. They’ll be solid at best, but none of them look like busting out. Look elsewhere.
#%^$(^ING LUKE #!&@_$& BALL, THE _)(&*#@)&#%
Luke BALL, STK CTR: $353000, 168 BE, 57.5 avg
Or so would have gone the laments of thousands of coaches in rounds 2 and 3 as they tried to recreate Ball’s round 1 injury by banging their heads against the nearest blunt object. Ball managed to take the park last week but didn’t do anything special. That humungous break-even score of 168 means that his owners are going to have to look forward to weeks of dropping prices, to add insult to injury. Unfortunately they will just have to grin and bear it, because trading him this week is stupid and they’ll have to hope he repays them later in the season.
The Dodgy Brothers
Brian HARRIS, WBD BAC: $204400, 37 BE, 63.5 avg
Josh GIBSON, KAN BAC: $188500, 59 BE, 46.5 avg
Kasey GREEN, KAN BAC: $219400, 80 BE, 48 avg
Jason PORPLYZIA, ADE FWD: $233400, 87 BE, 50.5 avg
Matthew ROBBINS, WBD FWD: $191200, 89 BE, 32.5 avg
Can’t say I’m too enamoured with any of these forwards or backs. Harris is the only one who looks remotely interesting, though by this stage you should have locked in some cash cows in the backs who should be left alone for another two to four weeks to maximise in price. Josh Gibson is a big disappointment, he was looking like a potential gun last year but he has tailed away with some injuries and poor form.
Do Not Approach Without 40-Foot Barge Pole In Hand
Ashley HANSEN, WCE FWD: $256000, 91 BE, 57.5 avg
One of those players who tantalises with efforts of skill and talent, as in his contender for goal of the year against the hapless Blues. Stay well away from Hansen, he’s fantasy poison. He’s a Bruce Reid type, he’d snap in half like a twig under a gentle zephyr.
The Fragile Gun Forwards
Warren TREDREA, PTA FWD: $278800, 141 BE, 41.5 avg
Nick RIEWOLDT, STK FWD: $379800, 142 BE, 81.5 avg
I heard Dermie on SEN saying Tredders looks like he’s operating at about 25% efficiency, and others were wondering why he was even playing at all. The reason he’s playing is that he needs the gallop, and the SANFL just doesn’t cut it. His price will drop substantially over the next month or so. Do NOT get him now. The same goes to a lesser extent for Roo, who will not take as long to get back to his ton-spanking ways but his price will also dip for at least the next two weeks because his 2006 average was so high. These two will make fabulous upgrade targets for a Franklin, Monfries, Ablett or Davey in three to six weeks’ time.
The Fragile Gun Rucks
Dean COX, WCE RUC: $387400, 120 BE, 95.5 avg
Troy SIMMONDS, RIC RUC: $369300, 140 BE, 78 avg
Big Cox, what a gun. He had managed an even Dream Team hundred against Carlton on Sunday and went and sat on the bench in the last quarter, with the crowd clapping him off for a job well done… but then he came back on and piled on another 23 valuable points in garbage time. That’s the sort of commitment that fantasy coaches love to see! Simmonds, on the other hand, is not very popular this season due to his early injuries, and his price will drop for at least a fortnight. He’s not going to get picked up by many with Cox, 211 and Lade all ripping it up.
The No-Brainer
Richard HADLEY, BRL CTR: $82300, -19 BE, 42.5 avg
Now you might think that Hadley would be a lock for Bubble Boy of the Week, but no, I’m not sold. The recent history of double knee reconstruction players, who are normally dirt cheap for fantasy coaches, is not good: Josh Francou and Nigel Lappin did not cover themselves with glory. There is such a good crop of rookies coming through that personally, I wouldn’t chance it on Hadley’s buggered knees to hold up for long enough to get you a big wad of cash. You have a squawking nest full of baby Pies this week, use them.
Bubble Boy of the Week
Super Bubble Mario Monkey Ball Boy
Jason ROE, BRL BAC: $261800, 94 BE, 58 avg
Roe’s Dream Team numbers don’t look that flash but his Super Coach figures are excellent. He’s an awesome pickup in Super Coach leagues this week due to the amount of contested balls he wins after opposition possessions. What, you didn’t think this was just a Dream Team blog did you?
