The Phantom’s Final Word: Patrick Cripps, Tom Rockliff, Patrick Naish, Round 15 captains and my trades

Carlton star Patrick Cripps has denied the suggestion he will miss more than two weeks with a foot injury while the hope of Tom Rockliff being a late inclusion is fading. Get all the latest team news plus captain analysis in The Phantom’s Final Word.

• The Phantom’s captains: Is there Danger ahead for Gawn, Grundy?
• Trade Talk: Logue playing more than supporting role
• Forget Sicily and Clarko, it’s time to focus on Sloane
• SuperCoach late mail: All the lastest scores and news

Carlton star Patrick Cripps will miss this weekend’s clash with the Dockers, leaving more than 129,000 SuperCoaches with a big hole in their side.

“He hurt his foot against the Bulldogs — he finished the game but he hasn’t pulled up, even with the bye,” interim Carlton coach David Teague said on Friday.

While the Blues have said Cripps “is expected to miss one to two weeks” there has been some suggestion it may be longer.

But the man himself “isn’t too concerned”.

“I think two will be max,” Cripps told Channel 9 News Melbourne on Friday afternoon.

It’s a definite hold - for now.

Tom Rockliff training at Alberton Oval. Picture SARAH REED

Elsewhere, it looks as if Power midfielder Tom Rockliff, who has been named as an emergency for Saturday night’s clash with the Bulldogs will play in the SANFL, despite some talk he might be a late inclusion.

Assistant coach Nathan Bassett confirmed there is no doubt surrounding defender-turned-midfielder Dan Houston.

“Dan is ready to go. He will be lining up tomorrow night,” Bassett said on Friday morning.

And even if there was late withdrawal ahead of the Adelaide Oval clash, it might not even be Rockliff who would get the call-up with mid-season draft recruit Cam Sutcliffe taking part in the Port’s captain’s run at Alberton on Friday.

Sigh.

If you still own him – like The Phantom – you have to persist now, given it’s unlikely Rockliff spends long with the Magpies, especially with a huge Showdown 47 on the horizon in Round 16.

And there’s more bad news for SuperCoaches with young Tiger Patrick Naish, who is on the bubble this week, omitted from Richmond’s side to take on the Saints.

With the return of playmaking defender Jayden Short – along with stars Trent Cotchin, David Astbury and Kame Lambert – it was on the cards all week.

Young Tiger Patrick Naish has been omitted. Picture: Michael Klein

But it’s a cruel blow to the many SuperCoaches who went early on Naish after an impressive first two matches over the bye-rounds.

It’s an even bigger blow to those teams – and there are plenty – which are already struggling for bench cover.

It makes young Fremantle defender Griffin Logue, who has won five more intercept possessions than any other player in the game in the past two rounds, even more of a lock as the best downgrade option this week.

Other popular rookie-price Tigers Liam Baker and Noah Balta have also been dropped.

In positive team news, however, Melbourne defender Marty Hore has kept his spot in Simon Goodwin’s side, despite being named on an extended bench on Thursday.

THE PHANTOM’S TRADES

If you didn’t see the live edition of The Phantom’s Lair on Thursday night, you would’ve missed the big announcement.

Reluctantly, I’ll be trading out long-time favourite Brodie Smith, in order to bring in Logue.

It means Nic Newman remains at D6 and Logue moves into D7.

And this week, I’ll be starting with Hawk James Sicily on the bench as an emergency, just in case coach Alastair Clarkson starts him forward again.

If he does and Sicily posts another sub-par score on Saturday afternoon, I’ll be playing Logue on Sunday.

The money allows me to trade in Adelaide co-captain Rory Sloane, at the bargain price of $511k, for Friday night’s clash at Geelong.

Crow Rory Sloane is the midfield bargain of the week. Picture SARAH REED

CAPTAINS

Patrick Dangerfield (Geel)

V Adelaide, Friday night

There’s not much to put you off Dangerfield as VC on Friday night, though. With scores of 141, 149 and 130 in his past three matches, the superstar midfielder is starting to hit his straps, boasting the second-highest three-round average in the game. And he’s posted scores 126, 111, 149, 142, 119, 158 and 128 against his old side after leaving Adelaide at the end of 2015.

Jake Lloyd (Syd)

V Gold Coast, Saturday

If you’re after something a little different, consider the Sydney ball magnet. The Suns continue to leak SuperCoach points to the opposition and you know Lloyd, who has scored 100 points or more in 12 of his 13 matches this season, will be the first to cash in.

Luke Parker (Syd)

v Gold Coast, Saturday

If want something even more left-field and you own Parker as a midfield point-of-difference, seriously consider him as VC. After all, the fourth-ranked midfielder in the game has posted six SuperCoach tons on-the-trot, four of them in excess of 130. And midfielders have gone big against the Suns all year with Saint Jack Billings (169) the most-recent example before the bye.

Brodie Grundy, left, dominated last week but he’s failed to do so in his past three matches against North Melbourne.

Brodie Grundy (Coll)

V North Melbourne, Saturday night

Just when Max Gawn looked like he might’ve been getting away, the Collingwood big man comes up with career-high 174-point performance against the Bulldogs. But, while he’s reached three figures, in his past three meetings with North Melbourne big man Todd Goldstein, Grundy’s highest score is 114. If you can’t find a way to make a Saturday night VC work, I wouldn’t sweat on it too much this week.

Jack Macrae (WB)

v Port Adelaide, Saturday night

In his past three matches against the Power, Macrae has posted scores of 147, 51 and 145. The big scores were in Melbourne, while the 51-point performance was at Adelaide Oval — the venue of this weekend’s fixture. But that night in Round 13 last season, Macrae injured a hamstring and took no part in the second-half. And after a season-low 84 points in Round 11 against the Eagles, the ball magnet has responded with scores of 150 and 148 after the bye.

Max Gawn (Melb)

v Brisbane, Sunday

Like Grundy, Gawn has struggled in his past three matches against this week’s opponent — Stefan Martin and the Brisbane Lions — with the two big men cancelling each other out in each meeting. But with a lowest score of 144 in the past five weeks, should we really doubt him, even though it’s in Brisbane? I won’t say yes but I’ll say there might be better options.

Fremantle skipper Nat Fyfe looks set to go head-to-head with Carlton’s Patrick Cripps on Sunday.

Nat Fyfe (Freo)

V Carlton, Sunday

The Docker skipper against the Blues on Sunday is one of them. While Fyfe’s eight-week streak of SuperCoach tons came to an end after a 91-point performance against the Demons last week, the star midfielder scored 154 in his last meeting with the Blues. Expect another big score from Fyfe, who has passed the 125-point mark in every non-injury-affected match at home this season, as he goes head-to-head with fellow contested-ball beast Patrick Cripps.

THE PHANTOM’S CALL

I am going to let the big men go this week. It’s Dangerfield into Macrae for The Phantom