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Fantasy Football
theTRADeRStheTRADeRS
FANTASY PIG OF THE WEEK
u Bailey Smith is never hard on the eye, but imagine what it looks like if he is running around in your Fantasy team each week. Only Bruce McAvaney could do that justice … ‘delicious’. The Bulldogs star is on fire, averaging 137 after a whopping score of 147 against the Roos. His huge time-on-ground is beyond impressive for a player who appears to never stop running to get his hands on the ball. In his past three games, he hasn’t dropped under 94 per cent and his scoring is reflecting that. He should be high on the radar to upgrade from popular starting choices such as Matt Rowell and Matt Crouch.
TOP ROUND 5 SCORERS
PLAYER SCORE
Bailey Smith WB Max Gawn MELB
147 132 Jack Crisp COLL 125 Andrew Brayshaw FREM 123 Luke Parker SYD 123 Jack Macrae WB 119 Lachie Neale BL 119 Christian Petracca MELB 115 Callan Ward GWS 115 Ben Keays ADEL 114
*Does not include the final game of round five.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
u Max Gawn has shown no mercy to coaches who traded him out to Braydon Preuss last week, backing up his massive performance against the Power with another thumping score of 132 at the hands of the Giants. Jack Crisp continued his impressive season with a handy 125, while Andrew Brayshaw confirmed his status among the big dogs this year with another dominant outing, finishing with 123
CASH COWS OF THE WEEK
MICHAEL BARLOW MEDAL VOTES
The best player with a starting price under $300K will be awarded the MICHAEL BARLOW MEDAL as the best cash cow of the year. The votes for round five were:
5TRISTAN XERRI
NM, FWD/RUC – 86 u Another great outing for the Roos big man who had 26 hit-outs and 20 possessions against the in-form Tim English. He remains one of the year’s best cash cows and now has the added flexibility of ruck status.
4NICK DAICOS
COLL, MID – 80 u The talented son of a gun just kept doing his thing – finding the ball. In another impressive outing, Daicos was busy collecting 27 possessions across half-back.
3MALCOLM ROSAS
GCS, FWD – 73 u Although he didn’t kick a major from his two shots at goal last week, the 20-year-old made up for it with seven tackles.
2BEN HOBBS
ESS, MID – 72 u It’s a mystery why it took him so long to get a game and it would be an even bigger mystery if he is left out of the team again this year.
1JACK HAYES
STK, FWD/RUC – 70 u Once again stepped up to fill the boots of Paddy Ryder in fine fashion. Had 16 possessions and took five marks.
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BUY HOLD SELL
BAILEY SMITH
WESTERN BULLDOGS
MID
u The hard-running Dog is enjoying a record-breaking start to the year. He is spending an extraordinary amount of time on the ground for a player who works so hard and his 154, 109, 131 and 147 reflect that.
SAM WALSH
CARLTON
MID
u After a miraculously fast recovery from syndesmosis, the Blues star now has four games under his belt and looks ready to explode. He had a huge first quarter against the Power, amassing more than 50 points, before finishing with a season-high 113 from 38 possessions.
CALEB SERONG
FREMANTLE
MID
u If you are brave and cash-starved, the Dockers hard nut could be in play. It would be a high risk move, but could come with high rewards. He has been disappointing after a hyped pre-season, but looked great upon return from injury with 107.
ALSO CONSIDER:
Ben Hobbs, Sam Hayes, Max Gawn.
WARNIE
WARNE DAWGS
u Despite varying opinions regarding the ‘success’ of downgrading Max Gawn to Braydon Preuss last week, I can tell you now, it’s a fail. Big Max is the form player of the comp. u It’s upgrade season, which means no rookie is safe. Personally, I like to fatten them as much as I can while the break-evens remain low, but it is OK to trade out early. u Keep getting the big dogs in as soon as you can reach them. Last week I traded Touk Miller in with a high BE and it didn’t pay off instantly, but it will. Chase the ceilings.
BRODIE GRUNDY
COLLINGWOOD
RUC
u The Ruck Pig has come under heavy scrutiny in the media during the week after a sub-par performance against the Lions where he didn’t take a mark or lay a tackle on his way to 54. He will bounce back.
TOUK MILLER
GOLD COAST SUNS
MID
u While his owners remain frustrated, the rest of the competition are licking their lips as the Suns star continues to plummet in price. The $1m man has failed to reach triple figures for three weeks in a row and it all comes down to the mystery of his tackles drying up.
JAYDEN SHORT
RICHMOND
DEF
u The Tigers’ defensive ball magnet was on track for another triple-figure score after massive scores of 131, 118 and 125 and reaching 72 by three-quarter time last week. In uncharacteristic fashion, Short didn’t get his hands on the ball in the last quarter.
ALSO CONSIDER:
Matt Kennedy, Will Brodie, Sam Docherty.
ROY
DESTROY
AARON HALL
NORTH MELBOURNE
DEF
u The Roos defensive ball magnet was at it again against the Dogs, scoring 50 points in just 43 per cent game-time. Unfortunately, the risk of hamstring injury always lingers for the popular accumulator and it has happened again, forcing his owners to trade.
MATT ROWELL
GOLD COAST SUNS
MID
u After five rounds, there is enough evidence to suggest the 2019 No. 1 draft pick is not going to score like we saw early in his career. He came into round five with a BE of 65 and scored 66 from 18 possessions and a season-high three marks.
JYE CALDWELL
ESSENDON
MID
u After an impressive opening-round 100, the 21-year-old has failed to fire. It was expected he would benefit in the absence of Zach Merrett, but it hasn’t been the case with scores of just 69 and 67 in his past two outings.
ALSO CONSIDER:
Paddy McCartin, Matt Crouch, Jeremy Howe.
