who hates the split round?

ME!! Not only does it take too long to finish it resulted in my getting knocked out of the eliminator (76 pt loss - thanks for the donut chad / peter....)

Anyway, like any good AFL coach i have decided that i will "draw some positives" from the loss. Namely it eases any pressure and allows a shift in focus from the eliminator and national rank to solely league glory (and the cash on the line....).

But, much like everybody my backline is struggling. Without the likes of some sort of consistency (ie Bock, Fisher and / or Mackie) it is very ordinary. This is a sad breakdown of the average scores from each line for my team last week:

FWDS: 101.57
RUCKS: 113
MIDS: 99.5
BACKS: 63.5 (which ignores Chad's zero - include it and we have a 54 average.....)

However with 6 consecutive scores over 2000, a national rank holding steady at around 500, a league position of 2nd, 5 trades left, 200k in the bank and a final month with games against teams ranked 7th, 14th, 11th and 10th in the league we are sitting nicely.

Sure the injured Power triplets are a concern (Chad, Burgoyne, Salopek) but with the defenders hopefully returning and Cothcin filling the midfield gap nicely i can live with that. However, as usual there are a few players that i am keeping an eye on.

So, if your sitting fighting for a top 8 spot and looking for a gun here are a few players that i would be looking at:

This week or never:

Heath Shaw: $301,000 - BE at 26 and a backline necessity at this price, wont get any cheaper.
Brent Guerra: $320,100 - i think there are better defenders but if you want him its probably now or never, another with a low BE.

Jimmy Bartel: $396,700 - after racking up 41 possies in the Cats demolition of the Crows his BE is back to 53 so grab him now.
Daniel "Mr Handball" Cross: $379,600 - sure he should kick it more but with an average of 101.5 and a BE of 61 he is cheep cheep.

Aaron Sandilands: $346,900 - one of about 2 upgrade options if your second ruck isn't Simmonds. Better than Hille and a BE of 59, jump on.

Alan Didak: $358,100 - BE of 72 but an average of 98, all for only 358k? BARGAIN!
Paul Chapman: $375,700 - really Didak is a better option but Chappy at the cats is a good option too, BE of 79

Keep an eye on over the next month:

If your in a position to save some trades for closer to finals (less chance of trading in that star who gets injured on you...) well here are a few i would keep in mind for a months time.

Gary Ablett: $489,900 - the little master put in a 78 whilst the cats dominated without him. BE up to 152. Another quiet one and he will crash back to earth with a big, big thud.
Simon Black: $372,700 - Mr Consistency has fallen from grace with a couple of consecutive shockers. Might be carrying an injury but at this price and a 163 BE he could be $50k cheaper and a good option in a few weeks.
Scott Thompson: $436,800 - after recapturing last years form Thompson has gone back to struggling a bit. Still averaging 104 but with a BE of 197(!!!) his fall in price next week is like death and taxes....
Lance Franklin: $374,800 - Buddy is set to drop even more with a BE of 141.

Other notables are Johnno Brown (if you were stupid enough not to get him 3 months ago...), Aker, Cooney, Robert Murphy, Swan, all with BE of 125++.

Comments

[Walesy]

hey, it's the backline that knock me out too!! Damn backlines. :D

Simon Black did the same thing last year I believe. Started the year (first 9 rounds) averaging 97, yet finished the year on an average of 81.

Ouch to anyone who jumped on him last year, and maybe that lesson should have been learn for this year? 101 average over the first 11 rounds...

[Chris]

Split round was very good to me. Still in the eliminator (i can almost smell that new car smell), up into top 300 overall, all with some relatively ordinary scores (granted i had Jimmy as skipper)