What did you take out of our round 21 match, Fantasy-wise?
Lotts: A nine-goal haul and a 71-point victory, what’s not to like? Well maybe a couple of injuries to some key players. Fortunately they’re all short-term and should all be back on the park shortly. Otherwise, it was a very strong performance by the team with a number of contributors on the day. Topping the Fantasy ladder last week was the likes of Lance Franklin (FWD $520,055) with 157 points, Jarrad McVeigh (DEF/MID $509,497) with 129, Jake Lloyd (MID $294,723) with 118 and Luke Parker (FWD/MID $518,329) with 112 points, plus a couple of others in the 90s.
Sub-elite Legends: Well considering you have had a fair hog of the major point-getters this week, I’d like to mention our youngsters doing well off the half-back line. I thought Shane Biggs (MID $264,774) was superb to come in for his first game of the year and notch up 24 touches and a very respectable 96 points. Gary Rohan (FWD $236,753) is another who has looked very comfortable in his new half-back role using his pace well and picking up some good scores.
Who’s your Swans player of the week?
Lotts: It’s hard to go past the Bud. In his 200th game, he scored 157 Fantasy points off the back of his bag of goals. The only thing that would have made it better was an even ten goals but it’s hard to complain when he kicks nine!
Sub-elite Legends: There is no point being contrary here, Buddy was the star of the show with his nine goals, relentless chase down tackles, and all round physical presence. Three votes, L. Franklin.
Which Swans player would you choose as your captain for the next game?
Lotts: I hope you all listened to me and chose Buddy as your captain last week. If you didn’t, you missed out on 314 Fantasy points. Pretty handy in a final! So, I’m going to stick with a winning formula and suggest everyone gets on Bud this week as captain. Potentially under the Etihad roof, conditions will be perfect and he’s clearly in good touch so anything could happen.
Sub-elite Legends: I hate to say it but after weeks of bagging you for your risky captain choices luck got the better of me and unfortunately I had Josh Kennedy who was subbed out for 16 points. Buddy is in rare form, but captaincy is a midfielder’s game in my books, so I’m going with Luke Parker (FWD/MID $518,329) this week.
Next up is the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium, who are the players to look out for from the Bulldogs?
Lotts: There’s no doubting the Bulldogs are a team on the rise. They’ve got some seriously good young kids in their side. The likes of Jackson Macrae (MID $545,542) who averages 105, Tom Liberatore with 100 (MID $473,862), Luke Dahlhaus (FWD/MID $409,141) with 88, are going to be absolute guns for years to come and are a few to keep an eye on during Sunday’s match.
Sub-elite Legends: Marcus Bontempelli (MID $374,115) is the favourite for the Rising Star for good reason. The rangy midfielder has had a fantastic season and will need to be monitored.
Any changes this week for your team?
Lotts: Sadly, I suspect there’s going to be multiple changes for every team this week with Nathan Fyfe (MID $524,878), Michael Barlow (MID $576,553), Dyson Heppell (MID $535,436), Dayne Beams (MID $532,492), Josh Kennedy (MID $510,766), among the guns in the competition who are either injured or suspended. Who to bring in this week is a very tough question. For me, I’m going to swap Fyfe for Matt Priddis (MID $581,782) and Barlow for Jordan Lewis (MID $577,010). Priddis has had another consistent season averaging 110 points a match, which has included two scores over 140 in the past month. Jordan Lewis on the other hand is also having an outstanding season averaging 107 a match, but 122 in his past five matches, including scores of 156 and 144 in his past two matches.
Sub-elite Legends: I’m with you there, throw in Brent Harvey (FWD/MID $479,091), Travis Cloke (FWD $374,572) and possibly Scott Pendlebury (MID $526,389) to that mix as well and it literally feels like we are back to the bye rounds all over again. I’m looking at trading out Fyfe and Beams to maximise my scoring potential but with absolutely no cover I’m going to wait until final teams are announced on Friday to decide who comes in.
