This or that? - Dane Swan vs Gary Ablett Jnr

[Toga]

Two of the most expensive players in the game next year, Gary Ablett Jnr are the two players we can rely on almost week in week out for a massive score, and we need to have at least one of these big guns to use as captain in the starting rounds before we upgrade to the other one. Some of us will try and start the expensive combo of having both of them in our starting line-ups, which is ideal, but for those of us only starting with one.... which should we choose?

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Dane Swan (Collingwood Magpies)

Age: 28

Price: $687,400

2011 average: 121.0

2012 average: 133.5

2012 lowest score: 95 (vs GEE)

2012 highest score: 187 (vs ESS)

Probability 100+ score: 94%

Standard deviation: 27.3

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Gary Ablett Jnr (Gold Coast Suns)

Age: 28

Price: $641,600

2011 average: 112.1

2012 average: 124.8

2012 lowest score: 61 (vs STK)

2012 highest score: 190 (vs COL)

Probability 100+ score: 82%

Standard deviation: 31.5

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The judgement:

Price: GAJ. At close to 50K cheaper than Swanny, Gary gets the points here.

Scoring ability: Swan. Swan averaged 9 ppg higher than GAJ this year, however Gaz had the higher maximum score of 190 compared to Swan's 187 - very similar numbers, so Swanny takes the cake here just because of his higher average.

Consistency: Swan. Swan scored tons in all but one of his games (which was a 95), or in other words, scored tons in 94% of his games compared to GAJ's still respectable 82%. Both players score reasonably consistently massive scores (apart from GAJ's uncharacteristic 61), but Swan had a slightly lower deviation, rendering him more consistent.

Durability: Even. Can't really fault the consistency of either player - both missed games mid season this year due to minor injuries. GAJ played out the rest of the year after coming back form injury, while Swan would miss a few more due to off-field indiscretion. Still, don't think they can really be distinguished in this category.

Current injuries:n/a.

Susceptibility to sub: n/a

Susceptibility to tagging: Even. Don't even bother :P

Verdict: Another close contest between two absolute DT legends. Very hard to choose one or the other of these two, and ideally i'll look to start both, as their stats are simply amazing. If i were to choose a single one though... it would be Gary Ablett Jnr!. My reasoning is that, even though I judged that Swan had the upper hand in the 'scoring' and 'consistency' ratings, Gazza was very close behind him in these categories, and would've been even closer should he not have had that one uncharacteristic game early in the season. This being the case, the extra 50K we'll pocket from getting GAJ over Swan might come in handy elsewhere when picking our initial team. Another reason is that I see gold coast becoming a lot more competitive next season, and think that the skipper will continue to lead from the front. Like I said, start with both if you can, but if you can't, upgrade to Swanny later in the season as these players are must haves come DT finals.

[jabroni]

always start the season with both - just good to have a go to captain or 2 every week

[tbagrocks]

I would say this is a question of Dream Team v Super Coach! Swan for DT and GAJ for SC, in saying that both are the two best in DT but believe it or not, I may not start either :o Both will be upgraded when I make some money 8) Ball being one of the upgrades

[Football Factory]

Dont really want to start with both but its too hard to pick just one of them... cant really split them, Swan for some reason rarely gets tagged and runs all over the ground picking up marks and possies which is worth the extra dosh. GAJ gets tagged but just blows them away with his amazing skill. Starting with both not gonna try and save 50-70k farting around. Found it really hard getting Swan in last year cos he went up in value not down  :o  Fixtures and byes will determine my final decision

[Mailman the 2nd]

Flip da coin

[Adamant]

Awesome write up Toga! :)

I will definitely be starting with both, but If I had to choose, I would go with Swanny. I just feel more safer to have him over GAJ.

Just one thing, Swanny averaged 133, not 126 ;) that may change your decision to Swanny over Ablett? he averaged an extra 9 points :o

[henry]

Another good write-up mate, thanks for all your effort  :). I will being going with both, they are easily the best 2 scorers so it's worth paying the extra to have them, and you have the safety of them as captain.

[Holz]

I would prefer Swan but the 50k is helpful. What I will do is pick ablett and make my sqaud, if im left with some spare cash i will go to swanny.

I just think Ablett represents better value, it will come down alot to the byes though. Pendles is locked for me so it depends who has the bye with collingwood.

[Ricochet]

The the two best scorers in the comp... have to start both

[stew42]

Dont really want to start with both but its too hard to pick just one of them... cant really split them, Swan for some reason rarely gets tagged and runs all over the ground picking up marks and possies which is worth the extra dosh. GAJ gets tagged but just blows them away with his amazing skill. Starting with both not gonna try and save 50-70k farting around. Found it really hard getting Swan in last year cos he went up in value not down  :o  Fixtures and byes will determine my final decision

Of course when you say farting around, 70k is the difference between getting Birchall over Bugg for example...

[Justin Bieber]

Yeah Swan averaged 133.5 ???

[Toga]

Just one thing, Swanny averaged 133, not 126 ;) that may change your decision to Swanny over Ablett? he averaged an extra 9 points :o

Yeah Swan averaged 133.5 ???

oops, I have no idea where that came from lol. will fix it now.

regardless of that, I still think I'd probably choose GAJ over Swanny if it came down to it, but hopefully i'll fit both into my team ::)

[Capper]

Great write up and i tend to agree with yo. If you had to choose between the 2, it would be GAJ for sure (if he is $50k cheaper)

Some people may start both though, as both should be your team by week 10

[Hagebear]

Can't bring myself to spend the coin on both so will be taking GAJ over Swanny to start.

[quinny88]

Gazza, just to save a bit of coin