Brendan Whitecross

[Praetorian]

Since he seems to be the favourite in for the favourite out, I thought a discussion on the pros and cons of the Cross might generate a bit of discussion.

Pros:
- 22 years old and entering his fourth season in the AFL, this could be a simple case of natural development leading to a breakout year
- Has a history of being able to break out the big scores. In just his third game (round 3, 2009) he amassed an impressive 29 disposals and 10 marks for 110 DT points. Not too shabby!
- Looks to currently be playing a lot more midfield time
- Surrounded by the likes of Mitchell, Hodge, Shiels, Suckling and Rioli, it's going to take something pretty special for the opposition to pay him too much attention. He's never going to cop a tag!
- The Hawks are absolutely dominating and remain the favourites for the flag. Given Hawthorn's ad absurdum tendency to fart around with the uncontested ball, if he continues in his current role he'll surely keep racking it up.

Cons:
- Luke Hodge is yet to return, and it's not clear what role Whitecross might play when he does. Someone's going to have to make way, and as far as Hawthorn's current midfield line-up goes, Whitecross is perhaps the most obvious choice. Throughout his career he's been used off the halfback line and even floating forward to provide another option. Needless to say, this will be less than conducive to brilliant DT scores
- The majority of his points come from disposals and marks. While this is fantastic while he remains unattended, it depends heavily on winning uncontested ball. The second the opposition pays him any attention or the Hawks hit a form slump, so will he.
- Be honest: you're picking him on the basis of three games. While his current form is hard to ignore, you probably hadn't given him any thought until this week. Considering that most of you will be losing Fyfe for him, considering who else you might be passing up - you might not be able to afford proven superstars like Chapman (473.7) and Goodes (462.4), but then you've got other tantalising prospects like Robinson ( 459.8 ), Cloke (446), Sidebottom (429.3), Zaharakis (420.9) or, depending on DPP availability, Carrazzo (452), Hayes (404) and Barlow (399.4) - the last two even save you money and have had seasons averaging 100+!

Whitecross' scores 2011:

Round 1 - 27
Round 7 - 74
Round 8 - 100
Round 9 - 70
Round 10 - 98
Round 11 - 53
Round 12 - 67
Round 13 - 78
Round 14 - 60
Round 15 - 84
Round 16 - 109
Round 18 - 61
Round 19 - 60
Round 20 - 72
Round 21 - 106
Round 22 - 74
Round 23 - 53

[Ricochet]

nice writeup mate! he's my number 1 replacement at the moment.
Do you think he's the first in line to be dropped when Hodge comes in??

[The F.A.R.K.]

when hodge is back whitex will be sub

thats this week

[Praetorian]

Thanks mate! I don't think he'll be dropped by any stretch of the imagination, but a role change wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. Might affect his scoring, might not, but uncertainty worries me when you're paying that sort of dosh!

[chaosAD]

Great write up mate thanks

[Plastic Boy]

Don't buy into the hype, Hodge coming back is a massive concern.

I'm benching Fyfe and waiting for premo's to fall further

[Ricochet]

who has been getting the sub for the hawks mainly this year?

[Praetorian]

who has been getting the sub for the hawks mainly this year?

Jack Gunston rounds 1 and 2, Shane Savage last week. If I'm honest, Savage is a lot more likely than Whitecross to get dropped if someone has to make way, but I still worry that Whitecross won't play his usual free role.

[Windigo]

Cross won't get dropped!

I'm looking at Boomer as a replacement as I don't want a player in the round 13 bye.

[The F.A.R.K.]

its a difficult week for trading, everyone wants to ditch fyfe and martin but most good fwds people dont have have very high be, people who wanted to ditch broughton and shaw are now stuck coz they are back in form but there are a heap of good defensive options like hargrave, conca, waters ect.

what im gonna do is just sit back keep fyfe on bench and wait to see what happens next week. Mids like scotty T, Swan ect all have high be and could be 100k cheaper in 2-3 weeks

fwds like chappy and stevie j or even pav are the same. I can either get one of these fallen premos or look at someone like treloar a downgrade and the get cash in the bank to upgrade guys like smith, magner ect. People are rushing into trades but they will regret it in 2-5 weeks when all the good guys are cheap and they have no money and little trades to use

[Windigo]

It's what I'd do as well, but I cannot risk starting 4 rookies in the FWD's and I haven't got a DPP link to the mids.

So, I'll get Goodes to keep the bye structure..

[The F.A.R.K.]

hope tom couch and dickson are named

i would be happy to start couch for one week

[Justin Bieber]

when hodge is back whitex will be sub

thats this week

Are you flowering joking? haha

I'll just go do the toss while wearing the Green vest lol.

[Jukes]

Top rightup Praetorian. Cheer for that.

I've traded in Whitecross for Dustin Martin, in addition to my other trade of Fyfe->Robinson. Think he can at least hold a 95+ average this season and with a BE this low it's now or never.

[cdcanman]

who has been getting the sub for the hawks mainly this year?

Jack Gunston rounds 1 and 2, Shane Savage last week. If I'm honest, Savage is a lot more likely than Whitecross to get dropped if someone has to make way, but I still worry that Whitecross won't play his usual free role.

Last year Whitecross actually played a similar role to what Gunston is playing this year. He may be our new recruit, but Gunston wiould make way long before Whitecross. It would be either Gunston or Savage who are left out, although this week Breust may have a to miss due to concussion.
I much preferred Hawthorn's structure in the Adelaide match. One less tall meant a much better team balance, greater running power. Key Defence still a massive concern. Other than that, they look pretty good.