Z. Smith and C. Knights...

[lasonjin]

Does anyone else still have both of these two? At the moment, I'm considering keeping these two even though they'll lose me money, but save me trades.

Smith would act as my second ruck now that Sandilands is "questionable", and Knights would act as my 8th forward (and possibly trading him out next week to Callinan for moneys). For my third ruckman, I was thinking of trading in Lobbe (for Sandliands), and then if that doesn't work out I can always swing Petrie from my forward line into my rucks.

[Chopps]

i am keeping smith as i have cox. smith/bailey and can swing petrie to ruck
i got rid of Knights last week with Crows being average was able to upgrade him but as an 8th forward he would be ok

[Sleeken]

Kept Smith as my 2nd ruck and traded Knights to Sylvia last week.

[bjay2308]

i dont have smith as iv been using petrie when needed in the ruck but iv kept with knights. his scores have definitely been reflective of his teams form but im planning on keeping him as an 7th/8th forward because as we saw yesterday when he gets moved into the midfield in junk time he can rack it up. he just scores bad when hes stuck in a forward line thts getting no ball.

[LEV]

i was bad and traded out smith to avoid a zero when he was rested the other week. shame on me. in saying that though, my team is still alive in eliminator and it made the difference.

I dont have knights, traded him for sylvia i think.

[m_zulian]

I was thinking of trading in Lobbe (for Sandliands), and then if that doesn't work out I can always swing Petrie from my forward line into my rucks.

My rucks are Cox, Sandilands, Z. Smith, Keefe.
I don't have Petrie.

The obvious trade would be Sandilands to Goldstein, but I am concerned about the Kangaroos bye in the finals.

I am considering downgrading Sandilands to Lobbe (if named). This would mean I have Cox and Smith my starting ruckman for the remainder of the year. No byes after this week for Cox and Smith. I am happy with Smith being on the field, rather than sitting on my bench. Smith has the 14th best ruckman average, but ruckman with a higher average than Smith not playing this week are cox, sandilands, Graham, Mumford. There are only limited choices for a second ruckman.

I see downgrading Sandilands to someone at rookie price and using the extra cash to upgrade somewhere else the best option.
If Lobbe does not get named, does anyone think any rookie priced ruckman that will get a game soon?

[Bluke]

I have both.

Smith is indespenable now that Sandi is injured again. And to think I was about to trade him out last week if it wernt for Duigan's injury. One of the first things to go my way this season.

Knights I'm using as 7th/8th forward. Its nice to have someone of his quality able to come on during bye weeks. Gives me the flexibility to run Sylvia in the mids when I am missing one as well.

Franklin, Sylvia, Pavlich, Goodes, Riewoldt, Petrie, Chapman (res. Knights, Mzungu, Richardson)

[HTL]

I have both, at this stage I'll be keeping smith for the rest of the season. As for knights I'm not sure, I've only got $50 000 in the bank and cant see a trade option (already have Silvia).

[Andrew]

I don't have Smith but I ditched Knights last week for Callinan. With Callinan scoring more than Knights on debut, I recommend ditching Knights for him now unless you've got someone else who needs moving on. Keeping Knights as an 8th forward when you can raise $180k for a bloke who's dual position but score just as well is silly. Move Knights on unless your down to like 3 trades.

[Bluke]

Actually its far from silly IMO.

Rd 15. Knights will be playing for me this week because of the WCE bye (Cox Out, Petrie into the Mids)

Rd 16. Knights Bye

Rd 17. Will cover Franklin

Rd 18. Knights wont play unless of injury/suspension

Rd 19. Knights will cover Goodes

Rd 20. Knights will play while Sylvia switches to mids to cover Boyd

Rd 21. Knights will cover for Petrie

Rd 22. Knights will cover for Chapman

Rd 23. Knights wont play unless of injury/suspension

Rd 24. Knights wont play unless of injury/suspension

Thats 6 games he will definately play out of the next 9.

Not bad for a cover player and I'd much rather him on field than Darling or Mzungu. Having good cover is the most important thing this season, the teams that finish in the top 100 will have good bench cover.

BTW. I already have Callinan and he is going to be mid cover with Jacobs and Bewick as a last resort. Also remember that Callinan has only played 1 game, dont judge a player on one game. He may retear his bicep, pull a hammy or just get stuck in the forward pocket playing a role. Knights has had two horrible games this year. A few mediocre and a number of good games, which is more than I can say for most other Fwd bench keepers.

[Andrew]

I still think Mzungu/Callinan wouldn't cost you any points compared to Knights, but seeing as you've already got Callinan fair enough then that's different to the point I was making. My forward line was a bit more stacked with Smith/Howe playing so well but also I traded Knights out thinking Sandi was fit (now Petrie is a ruckman for the foreseeable future). From what you're saying, "Better than Mzungu" and "Jacobs last resort" I think you're underestimating the rookies you have got, they're still good value. Jacobs can score 90s (more than 1 game!) and Mzungu is a proven scorer at home. I bet we see more 80+ scores from Callinan also as he's an accomplished player for a debutant.

Anyway good luck to you but Knights v Sydney ain't looking the greatest with Sydney desperately needing a win.

[Bluke]

Mzungu is under an injury cloud and has turned in bad scores away from home

Jacobs has tasted the bye and has cost me an important league match which has left a bitter taste. Still, I have been impressed with him when he has had a full game.

I hope Callinan keeps up 80+ scores because he would be the perfect mid/fwd cover but I'm not taking the risk.

Knights has a 96 avg versus Sydney at home. I'm pretty happy with that. Yes sydney are desperate for a win but so should Adelaide. The fact that knights was on 22 at 3qtr time and ended up with 73 encourages me. I like junk time players.