Dream Team Trade Talk – Ablett/Beams injured

Teams are up and the D day is here for Dream Team this week. Gary Ablett, Matthew Richardson, Dayne Beams are all out with injury. This leaves many big questions for coaches. We have some answers.

• The Gary Ablett/Dayne Beams injury concern:

As every man and his dog, and Brownlow punter, and DT coach, and SC, and Cat fan, and even my mum knows, Gary Ablet Jnr ran into some groin trouble on the weekend and is now facing 2-3 weeks on the sidelines.  This is as big as news can get in the world of Dream Team, with a whopping 132,194 coaches with the GABLETT in their squads (and using him as their captain each week).

Now we all know the rules about premiums, keepers and conserving trades, so I am going to make this real simple to start with:

If your aim is to win your league – Keep Ablett on the bench (especially if you have cover and are not in any real danger of missing the finals)

This move saves you a trade and leaves you with GABLETT already in your team down the stretch.

If your focus is your league ranking  then this is where the dilemma really begins

The first option is to keep Ablett; if you have cover – now remember Beams and Hartlett are out – so if you are covering with the likes of Zaharakis, Otten, Barham you are looking at around 50 points of cover.  Also consider who you will have to find another captain choice – do you have one?  Swan/Bartel and possibly Cox/Chapman are some of the more consistent options available, if you are lacking these blokes though consider your could be losing points as Ablett has been good for the double 120 per game.

In short, keeping Ablett is likely to cost you 70 points per week if you have cover (maybe 100 if you are without a captain) – if he is out 3 weeks that is up to 300 points.

The second option is the straight swap, depending on who you already have, the no brainer here is Jimmy Bartel ($489k).  He makes you $20k, brings in an Ablett like 120 per, might be the best captain option in the league and is likely to pick up the slack even more with GABLETT out.  If you had the dynamic duo to start like myself then the only other gun I’d be straight swapping for without intentions to make money is Dane Swan ($449k).  Swanny is also a top captain option and brings in 115 per this year.

If you want make some coin from a straight swap then Madge ($419k – and a BE the size of Mandingo’s cock), Joel Corey ($426k – BE 117 and a lot more of the ball to go around), Adam Simpson ($402k – BE 82), Bernie Vince ($369k – BE 29), Marc Murph ($385k – BE 95), Joel Selwood ($389k – BE 98 all consistency), Sam Mitchell ($380k – BE 22), and Lenny Hayes ($399k – BE 70).

Some picks there are proven performers Sammy Mitchell and Lenny Hayes who are bargain basement prices right now and just starting to hit their form.  Or one of the Cats who will be looking to pick up the slack of their fallen star.

Do the double, by making the Ablett trade to one of the cheap keepers I’ve listed above you are set to do a double here and not let the GABLETT trade go to waste.  Whether it is time to upgrade Cheney/Petrenko up back, or Skippy/Walker/MBrown up frw is up for you to decide.

Upgrade Beams (insert other rookie, ie Mitch) to get some GABLETT cover, plenty are breaking things with their backup for Ablett going down the same week in Dayne Beams.  But there is a solution that many are jumping to, Mark Coughlan.  At $176k he is a bit of a straight swap for a rookie whose price has made a bit of an increase, but with solid outings to start (71, 95) he has a BE of -33 and also brings in a history of good performances averaging a massive 95 in 2003, 89 in 2005 and 77 in 2006.  Injuries have gutted him over the last 2 yrs so you will be running the gautlet that he is back and ready, but if he stays on the feild this guy could be a steal keeper this year.