Rage Trades: who to boot and who to buy after Round 14

THE last week of the byes is finally over. No more scrambling to try and get 18 on the field. Here are some of the best buys to take you to league premiership glory. Who are you targeting?

Josh Kelly at GWS training. Picture: Phil Hillyard

THE last week of the byes is finally over.

No more scrambling to try and get 18 on the field and having to rely on the fringe rookie players to get us over the line.

Now we can concentrate on finishing off our sides for the run home and hopefully on the way to a league premiership.

THE TACKLE: ROBBO’S ROUND 14 LIKES AND DISLIKES

SUPERLADDER: MIDFIELDERS LETTING DEMONS DOWN

SPECCIES: HOW TOOK THE BEST MARK IN ROUND 14?

BOOT HIM

JESSE HOGAN

Two sub 60 games in a row from Hogan and he was up against what is considered a very young backline at Port Adelaide. He has had some good patches this season having had back to back 120-plus games twice but he now has a 36, 47 and 59 to his score line also. We know that key forwards can be up and down, but when we see two down like this in a row it does ring some alarm bells. If you can upgrade him to someone that has just come off the final bye with a luxury trade then it might be a wise move to make.

Jesse Hogan at Melbourne training. Picture: Michael Klein

JARRYD LYONS

Many held Lyons or got him back in when the made a return to the side in Round 13 given he was bye free. Well after this week’s score of 90 he should be a bench player for you at best and while he did rack up 22 contested possessions and 10 clearances he didn’t use the ball well with his effectiveness down at 55 per cent which won’t please coach Stuart Dew at all. Given Lyons has already been dropped from the team once he is in danger of having that happen again. Move him out of your side before Dewy does.

JEREMY CAMERON

Cameron will be in a lot of trouble for his hit on Harris Andrews in the first quarter of the game on Saturday. This is expected to be referred straight to the tribunal which can only spell trouble. Given we are expecting that he will miss at least three games you can’t afford to carry him on your bench with that level of time out. If he gets more games during the week he is a must trade out.

MATTHEW KREUZER

Sadly, injury has again struck the Carlton big man and while a rolled ankle may not keep him out of Round 15, we simply can’t afford scores of 39 at the business end of the season. The most expensive ruckman at the start of the season is a liability right now.

Matthew Kreuzer at Carlton training.

BUY HIM

ANDREW GAFF

After two scores under 100 Gaff really showed us what we expect from him with 122 from 32 touches. Prior to his poor scores in Rounds 11 and 13 he had nine scores of 100 or more in a row. He is pretty well priced at the moment and with the Eagles looking now to cement a spot in the top four there should be plenty of possessions and points for him in the run home.

JAMES SICILY

Sicily continues to impress us with his ability to score. He had only the 23 touches on the weekend yet he took intercept marks and used the ball very well. But it is the fact he is consistently scoring over 100 and he can be swung between your forward and defender positions that make him so valuable. It gives you plenty of flexibility when you are trading someone out and for that reason he is well worth a spot in your line up.

JOSH KELLY

After his first two games back from injury we were worried about how it would affect Josh for the rest of the season and many stayed away from him for that very reason but he has now had a 146 in Round 12 and backed that up with a 149 this week showing us that he is well and truly over that sore groin. If you still have Jack Macrae as you were waiting to see who to bring in, your search could be over right here. Kelly will be at the top of a lot of shopping lists this week.

Shaun Higgins at North Melbourne training.

SHAUN HIGGINS

Higgins has been on a nice little run of late with his last three scores all being 123 or better. While his average is under 105 he has gone over 120 in half of the games he has played in. He is heavily used in the North line-up and the often look for him. Given that North have their tails up and are looking to cement a place in the top eight he could be a very handy unique option for you on the run home.

JACK VINEY

This is a bit of a speculative pick as we don’t have a lot of top end form from him but his game on Friday night was exactly what SuperCoaches would have wanted to see, 20 contested possessions and 14 clearances to go with seven tackles. This is the in-and-under player that we are all used to seeing in Viney. Perhaps this was the game that sparks the rest of his year, if you think it was then this would be the time to get him before he rises in value quickly.

JACK CRISP

Looking to finish off your backline with a unique option? Look no further. Crisp is quietly putting together a sensational SuperCoach season, averaging 98 on the year but 110 in the last five rounds after 117 in Round 14. The Magpies onballer is available in defence and is owned by just 4 per cent of teams.

Patrick Cripps at Carlton training.

CAPTAIN’S CALL

A+: Max Gawn, Josh Kelly, Patrick Cripps, Scott Pendlebury

A: Todd Goldstein, James Sicily, Andrew Gaff

B+: Dayne Beams, Tom Mitchell, Brodie Grundy, Elliot Yeo, Zac Merrett

B: Dayne Zorko, Robbie Gray, Clayton Oliver

C+: Marcus Bontempelli, Toby McLean, Stefan Martin, Stephen Coniglio

F: Tom Rockliff

ROOKIE WATCH

I just want to preface this section by saying that in a bye round we obviously started all of these guys, but below are the thoughts with a view to what you may need to do next week. However, we are getting to the point where you should have very few rookies on your field so you may be looking at who to put your emergency on.

Should have started him: Aaron Naughton 70, Bayley Fritsch 76, Tim Smith 68, Mason Redman 72, Jaidyn Stephenson 70, Paddy Dow 70

Should have sat him: Tom Murphy 58, Paul Ahern 49, Roarke Smith 29, Jeremy Finlayson 50, Zac Langdon 64, Cam Rayner 25, Nick Holman 45, Jacob Dawson 51, Joel Smith 34, Matt Guelfi 63, Liam Ryan 31, Tom Cole 50, Willie Rioli 41, Jake Waterman 33, Flynn Appleby 46, Brody Mihocek 63, Cam O’Shea 8, Jarrod Garlett 32

HiPAGES NAILED/FAILED IT

Ben Higgins: predicted Paul Ahern would get to triple figures and have 25 touches. I think most SuperCoaches were hoping you were right here, Ben, as that would be very handy in a bye round.

Verdict: Failed It

Unfortunately Ahern only managed the 16 touches and scored 49 SuperCoach points.

Chris Vernuccio: also went with a rookie for his selection as he predicted that Bayley Fritsch would score three or four goals for at least 90 points. Another prediction that we all hoped would pay off as a lot of coaches were relying on him.

Verdict: Failed It

Fritsch managed just the one behind on Friday night and finished the night on 76 points.

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