Arguably the most surprising selection for round 13 is Collingwood naming Harry O’Brien after a shoulder dislocation in round 11 that was listed as having him out for at least another two weeks. Over at Nick’s there are rumblings that the whole thing is a furphy, the lads at Lulie St Dash think it’s a case of Mick’s mind games, and the Pie fans also wonder if Alan Didak will recover emotionally from his recent brush with the constabulary.
– Over at Red & White Online there is some gnashing of teeth at the exclusion of Heath Grundy because there is a huge Barry Hall-sized hole at full forward that needs to be filled. Peter Everitt is the fan favourite to be the shag on a rock, which would not only mean better things in fantasy terms for Darren Jolly but would also hurt Spida’s numbers, remembering of course that Jonathan Brown had a dirty day in much the same role last round at Skilled Stadium.
– The naming of Michael Newton gave the long-suffering Demon supporters at Demonology something to cheer about, as he has become a fan darling since being picked in the 2004 draft despite not getting a senior game before now. Not a huge Gray/Westhoff fantasy buzz about the boy, though.
– Hawks fans are mostly in agreement on BigFooty that the final changes on Sunday will be Lance Franklin in for Xavier Ellis. Slight chance of Mitchell Thorp being selected for his first game with Michael Osborne being the other bench player likely to be sacrificed.
– Similarly, no one at BomberBlitz is fooled by the naming of Brent Stanton who is a monty to be replaced by either Ricky Dyson or Angus Monfries, though Andrew Lovett may also be a late withdrawal so both Dyson and Monfries may play.
– Debate at Saintsational centres on the ruck, which the Saints did not bolster despite the injury to Justin Koschitzke. Michael Rix and Jason Blake will go up against Adam Pattison and a returning Troy Simmonds who has had a very limited preparation after major injury. Plenty of fantasy coaches will have their beady eyes firmly fixed on Simmonds’ performance against such weak opposition: if he can’t beat this lot, he’s not going to be worth picking up.
– A “slight doubt” on Aaron Edwards may mean that Djaran Whyman will survive the cut to make his AFL debut according to some iffy speculation on The Searching Kangaroo.
– The poor buggers at TalkingCarlton are whinging about a number of selection issues, with the prospect of Cain Ackland and Setanta O’hAilpin going up against Aaron Sandilands not filling anyone with confidence. Some speculation about the omission of Luke Blackwell whose six games so far this season had actually been very impressive in fantasy currency compared to his cheap price, but scores of 32 and 17 sealed his fate. The opinions of the fans as to Blackwell’s skill and workrate cast doubt on his future as a fantasy prospect.
– And finally, all is sweetness and light at Cat’s Claw with no hint of injury concerns down at Geelong. One wonders how long that will last…
