Player of the week: Lance Franklin. Apologies to Nick Dal Santo, who equalled Franklin’s very nice score of 136, but for the unexpected factor and sheer surprise, Lance takes the cake. His price has just got over the $300k mark, a jump of over $80k this season, and last weekend’s performance looked terrific. Will it keep up? Who knows. Those coaches who own him will be happy with 90 a week, let alone 130+. Interesting, though, that while Buddy has all guns blazing this season, his partner in crime Jarryd Roughead has had a shithouse start. He’s averaging less than 40, and has actually dropped $45k on the start of the year. Oh dear.
Biggest disappointment: Brett Deledio. Paul Hasleby, consider yourself lucky. The Haze had a shocker, scoring just 29 against Brisbane, but Lids was nowhere to be seen as the Tigers were smashed by the Cats. His crapness wasn’t a good sign for the future, and with his price sinking below $260k, he’s not one you want right now.
Other points of interest:
– Aaron Edwards had a nice 95 against the Swans on Saturday night; Edwards is looking better with every game. Pretty soon, as Alwyn Davey’s blistering form starts to fade, Edwards may become the pin-up boy (man? He’s 23…) of this year’s cash-cow draftees
– The Shaw brothers topped 100, each, for the second week in a row. They’re in mental form, racking up stats at will across the half-back line. Kudos to anyone who has them both
– Justin Koschitzke had a day out against Carlton, with the 103 being easily his best game for the year. He’s in a lot of teams, is old Kosi, and some will be considering a trade to free up cash. Don’t do it – it’s a wasted trade. He’s got far more improvement to come, yet. Let’s hope Gardiner stays injured for a while
– Another lad who’s owned by a heap of coaches, Chris Judd, had a brilliant match against the Bulldogs, scoring 127 with some fine numbers; 34 possessions, and six tackles. Despite this, his price has actually fallen 14k this year
– Adam Cooney followed up last week’s shocker with a mediocre 66. Could be a handy trade acquisition if his poor form continues for a third week in a row, and his price falls away
– The biggest mystery in DT this year, Nigel Lappin, scored a great 101 against Fremantle. His price is going to riiiise up this week, so if you’re going to plunge, now’s no time to hesitate
– In the Cats – Tigers massacre, Geelong had a massive six players score over 100; Gabbo (Gary Ablett) starred with 129, but Mr Mackie, Milburn, Joel Corey, Ottens and Enright all backed up. Stunning stuff. Surprisingly, Jim Bartel, one of the top scorers this year, didn’t crack 100, while Paul Chapman scored 70, with about 69 of those coming in a huge first quarter
– Finally, I could have given the BD (biggest disappointment) tag to Nick Davis, who scored merely three (yep, you read it right). That’s awful for a guy who was worth $280k (it’s now $250). But I felt like a Tiger deserved it this week
Before I go: I’ll be doing some analysis over the next few weeks, position-by-position, around the best cash cow options; downgrading and upgrading. Watch this space
– Tom
