| He's got the Goodes |
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| Written by Jonny Coping | ||||||
| Wednesday, 08 April 2009 00:00 | ||||||
 A below par week for the side, but still in the top 1000. For now. Adam Goodes saved the day almost single handedly with his 180 odd. But some worrying signs shot up elsewhere. They come in the form of Brent Harvey and Steven Hill. These problems will be discussed below when considering trades for the week. Despite the poor performance of Sam Mitchell, it is certain he can bounce back after copping a heavy tag from Brett Kirk. Withthe Thursday night clash looming, many of the teams will not be narrowed to a final 22 when released. This adds extra frustration and spice to one of the most important trade rounds in the SuperCoach season. The round 3 pre-price rise. Many gun forwards like Nick Riewoldt, Matthew Pavlich, Brent Harvey are set to drop $100k+ in the next two weeks due to their poor performances. Of course, it is Brent Harvey who is the headache to the side. Unfortunately, the decision needs to be made now for the whole season. It's either trade him now, or keep him on for the whole year. A big call just two rounds in. Will he lift? Will he keep getting a hard tag? Or is age and captaincy taking its toll. The ideal replacement based on this seasons form and positioning so far would be Matthew Richardson, Leon Davis, Steve Johnson. Firstly, to do the trade for Richo replaces one fossil for another, a risky option. Secondly, Leon Davis is showing great signs early and proving he can be a consistent SC scorer. A very tempting option, but he doesn't quite carry that star value that other players do. Finally, Steve Johnson has bolted out of the blocks. Scores of 119 and 138 have been annoyingly impressive. And his price tag is $50k cheaper than it was at the beggining of 08. His role seems to be more up the ground, with a lesser reliance on him to manufacture opportunistic goals. Yet he's still kicking them too! He also plays for a side likely to win 90% of their matches in the season. It all sounds pretty good. Except for one thing: he burnt us in 2008. Ironically, last season a similar decision to the Brent Harvey dilemma was made. The decision was to keep Steve Johnson, a $530k forward with two horrible scores to begin the year. As a result, he was kept for the season, and never really got going. A Thorough dissapointment. In hinesight, it would have been beneficial to cull him for one of the promising rookies firing early last year and put the money towards reinforcing the backline. So as you can see, a clutter of baggage exists in the coaches mindset. When linking this to the backline problems confronting many coaches in Steven Hill, a few obvious options stand out. Hill doesn't seem to be AFL ready just yet, and being a premium priced rookie, scoring 20 is not good enough. Particularly if he is your 7th forward. Therefore, the options considered will depend on your bank balance and other team holes or injuries. Obvious mid priced replacements include Ryan Houlihan, Sam Gilbert, or for those looking for a real punt, thunder thighs Shannon Hurn. As far as the rookies go, obvisouly those without Daniel Rich or Andy Otten should consider the trade. These two both look like being regular players for their sides, and will contribute solidly until they're ready to upgrade. Patrick Dangerfield also appears to have cracked to crows 22 and is performing well. Dayne Beams and David Zaharakis have played their first games and have been very impressive. This will come as relief to many who will need to offload Liam Anthony. The health of eligible midfield rookies in 2009 is once again good. In the forward department, keep an eye on selection at Port Adelaide. The injury to Justin Westoff should make way for young Wade Thompson to get a gig up forward. Many people say that trades shouldn't be used so early if they are sideways. But fixing mistakes before the major price rise is logical. A conservative approach will not win $55k. Alternatively, no trades could be used. And we sit back and watch some mistakes from 2008 haunt us all once again. The team as of Round 2 is unchanged. Depending on team selection, trades are likely before the commencement of Round 3:
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 01 November 2009 22:55 |
