I need a DEF/MID...

[Andrew]

Needing a DEF/MID in midfield to swap premiums around, which keeps Lower starting in my defence - he's looking the goods - and to cover Swan. To be clear, here's my midfield & defence lines:

DEF: Gibbs, Goddard, Delideo, Adcock, H.Shaw, Enright, Suckling (Lower, Jacobs, Toy)

MID: Boyd, Jelwood, Thompson, Goodes, Heppell, D. Swallow (Iles, Bewick, SWAN)

Should I pick up the clearly performing Hibberd for $182k? Or downgrade to Nicholson who's $104k? The plan is to swap the D/M with Goddard so I've got a premium starting in mids. Also Collingwood's bye next week means H. Shaw needs cover and Goodes may well need to be swapped into the forward line to cover Dawes, so I could start Swallow that week but I feel he's peaked.

Is it worth hopping on Hibberd now who's averaging 75?  Does Nicholson have any job security anyway? I'm favouring Bewick -> Hibberd because I can afford it, but with 8 trades left after getting in Hibberd maybe I should make sure the trade raises cash by selling Swallow. I've only got $40k in the bank currently and obviously need Pendlebury soon (easy to get him for Iles when Iles peaks?). But got other downgrades I could do, such as Knights, Darling, and of course Lower. Your thoughts?

[Montag]

bewick to nicholson. the guy is good. he has scored two 40s in both games he has been sub. when he starts onfield he will be good. bewick has least scoring potential between swallow and bewick so trade bewick

[Fenno]

You can forget about Hibberd pointless getting him now. No point getting rid of Bewick your just not making enough from that trade only real option is Swallow to Nicholson

[Montag]

swallow is still scoring well. if you need a cover on field (such as for swan this week) i would prefer him over bewick. wait to upgrade swallow or for a better downgrade option. Swallow to nicholson is a loss, bewick gain. Swallow should pump out a good score this week anyways

[Andrew]

You can forget about Hibberd pointless getting him now. No point getting rid of Bewick your just not making enough from that trade only real option is Swallow to Nicholson

Thanks Fenno you've given me some good advice this year. I've been leaning more towards Nicholson today as I've been thinking about my cash situation. Also if Nicholson is going to keep his spot then he will be good enough for the 1-3 games he gets called upon. As much as I'm impressed by Hibberd's scoring, I guess he'd be emergency in defence most weeks - particularly if Lower keeps up his scoring.

[Ziplock]

You can forget about Hibberd pointless getting him now. No point getting rid of Bewick your just not making enough from that trade only real option is Swallow to Nicholson

^ I'm pretty much with you on that, he was a great pick up, but for his price now... no way. Swallow's peaked, if you're looking particularly for flexibility, Nicholson is your best option. I have no idea about his JS, but Melbourne is a pretty poor team, I doubt his JS is low, from memory Melb has suffered a couple of LTI's, such as Grimes, so it sounds like a good move imo.

[Andrew]

You can forget about Hibberd pointless getting him now. No point getting rid of Bewick your just not making enough from that trade only real option is Swallow to Nicholson

^ I'm pretty much with you on that, he was a great pick up, but for his price now... no way. Swallow's peaked, if you're looking particularly for flexibility, Nicholson is your best option. I have no idea about his JS, but Melbourne is a pretty poor team, I doubt his JS is low, from memory Melb has suffered a couple of LTI's, such as Grimes, so it sounds like a good move imo.

Yep, as long as he's named I'll be doing Swallow -> Nicholson. I'm really needing that $200k+ bank balance and I've got Iles to peak to sell for Pendlebury in 2-3 weeks. Nicholson or Jacobs will play during Collingwood's bye next week, and barring injuries shouldn't be required from there on.

Disappointed I've made so many trades and didn't get Hibberd, but Watson & Hurley to come back for Essendon this week so who knows what could end up happening to him.

[Prospector_1]

http://www.footytragic.com/blog/2011-state-league-all-stars/state-league-all-stars-round-12/

[Andrew]

http://www.footytragic.com/blog/2011-state-league-all-stars/state-league-all-stars-round-12/

So what you're pointing out are the players to come back into the Melbourne side? Sam Blease, Matthew Warnock, Bate & Pettard, all performing well... throw in the injured players (Jamar, Tapscott, Davey) and it doesn't look too good for Nicholson... For 78k more why not correct my mistake and grab Hibberd? I'll need him next week for the Collingwood bye and any injuries in defence or a drop-off in form from Lower and Hibberd would be starting for me also.

I could be starting Ben Jacobs instead but Hibberd is clearly a 20ppg better player??

[Andrew]

How about this for a strategy?

Get Hibberd this week as clearly the safer job security and better DT scoring potential than Nicholson, and sell whoever is the most expensive out of Hibberd & Heppell come round 24 (Essendon's bye). I've got Jacobs more of a cash cow by doing this also.

Your thoughts on that?

Hibberd only $78.5k more expensive than Nicholson...

[Ziplock]

78.5k is quite a lot dude.

[Red Pig]

78.5k is quite a lot dude.

+1

[Fenno]

78.5k is quite a lot dude.

+1

+2

[thanme]

78.5k is quite a lot dude.

+1

+2

+78.5

[Andrew]

78.5k is quite a lot dude.

Not when it's a contest between a bloke who's been a substitute twice in a team with a host of players likely to return in both the short & long-term, and a bloke who's averaging 75 in a team who'll nearly be full strength this week? As long as Hibberd gets named this week, does anyone still think he'll end up being dropped?