The Man Named Bud

This'll take sometime adjusting too...

So it's as good as a done deal. Buddy to Sydney. Taking my Hawthorn bias out of the equation, what a major coup this is for the Bloods. Probably the biggest move since Lockett I'd suspect, and it has taken a whale of a deal to get it done. 10 million over 9 years... 

Stadium Fantasy Preview

Stadium Fantasy Sport! This is a game which has only been brought out for the beginning of 2013. Already I have grabbed a cool $600 from a win earlier in the year and to be completely honest, if you want to win money in the Fantasy caper, this game is your best bet! It plans to branch out into other codes later down the track, so go on and check it out! Stadium has a unique scoring system which is best explained as Supercoach type scoring without the 3300 cap. If you're like me, and like everything about Supercoach bar that cap, then this is your game from a scoring sense. They create a game for each match in the home and away season, and you can either enter into the free game (with a chance to pocket $100 to $600 depending on the game) or the betting side of it where you go against your mates and places a wager with winner taking all! Without further ado, I'll give you a lowdown on the best paying game of the week!

Sydney v Collingwood

(ANZ Stadium, Saturday Night)

Predictions?

Predictions are important because they usually determine where majority of the fantasy points are heading for the fixture. With that in the forefront of our minds, we can make a better call on how our squads can be structured. Thus Collingwood travel to Sydney to take on the second placed outfit. Collingwood dismantled the Bombers, providing the type of pressure football that they were renowned for in their premiership year of 2010. Sydney has been executing win after win in their quest to go back to back. I think given Sydney are playing at home, they've been in consistent continuous form, and the Pies have only produced one week of real quality football suggests the Swans should win. There was a long standing hoodoo that the Pies were on the positive end on against the Bloods, but that has recently been overcome and shouldn't have too much bearing on the result. 

Players...

Backs

• Shaw- Heath's numbers have been a little down in recent weeks, averaging 109 in his last 3 as opposed to his monstrous 140 season average. Shaw's had average games by his lofty Stadium standards in his past 2 v Sydney. Given his ridiculous price and given this is a game that is determined by calculated risks, Shaw may be one to leave out this week.
• Reid- Ben Reid has gone forward and shown all of the football world what a promising player he is at either end of the park. He's been dominating in his new role averaging 120 in his last 5, although he can be quite hit and miss. Pick him if you see the Pies having a good day and thus Reid receiving good delivery. Has the potential to deliver big time up against his brothers side!
• Keefe- Lachlan is one of the types of players whose defensive role is actually very fantasy productive in this new scoring format. Priced at a cheap 355k, I think a hundred plus is certainly in the offering given it's likely to be a tough, tight contest. This often equates to poor delivery into the forward line, which allows for a greater chance to spoil. Dismiss at your peril!

Mids

• Pendleburry- Scott dropped 66k last week, a positive when selecting our sides for this week. His scores have been down the past few weeks, but make no mistake that when he's in any sort of form, only Ablett rivals him on the fantasy scoring front. He's been relatively consistent in his last few against the Swans, but I suspect he's in for a big day to turn his form right around. 
• Jack- Kieren is in career best form and expect that to continue on Saturday night. He scored a massive 194 on the weekend, showing exactly what he can produce. Not too mention back to back 190+'s! Plus an average of 161 from his last 5. Jump on now!

Rucks

• Grundy- I wrote it last week, but I'll reiterate it this week, you must have Grundy. Given the lack of value options in this game, a 50 type score is completely and utterly fine. Lock in!

Forwards

• Mumford- Mumford has started to lead the ruck again in this last few weeks, with Pyke spending more time forward. As a consequence, in the last 3 weeks he has averaged over 150! Major, major numbers. Given Collingwood's lack of depth in the ruck, expect Shane to have a big day!
• O'Keefe- Some players like playing opposing sides, some like playing in a certain part of the year. For the most part, Ryan belongs in the second category, he traditionally comes home like a steam train! Up against Collingwood, a side he scored 185 on earlier this year, at home, big game and less than a month out from September, expect ROK to produce!
• Hannebery- Dan Hannebery's season has been so good that many are stating he's a fair chance to be runner up in the Brownlow (lets face it, if Ablett hasn't won something is wrong)! He is the type of player that can have a few average ones but backs it up every now and again with a best on ground (Last 3- 118, 92, 191). He smashed the Pies in Round 9 this year, producing a 171 in the demolition! I'm predicting similar results this time around, he's a big player who now has a big stage!

Captaincy Options

• Pendleburry- very much suited to this format and up against a premiership contender, Scott will come out willing to put everything on the line this week. Hasn't been in the best of form, but expect that to change and a 200+ is not out of question!
• O'Keefe- unique as they come on the captaincy front. Reasonable form, opponent he likes and a big game player. O'Keefe is worth the punt!
• Hannebery- much like O'Keefe, can go bonkers on his day and Saturday looks a likely striking time!

Anyway some food for thought when going for the big prize this weekend! $600 on offer for 1st, $300 for 2nd and even a $100 for third. If you nail it, you'll be ecstatic all weekend! Sign up is easy, so enjoy the game, just leave the big prize for me!

Thanks for reading everyone! Do you guys agree with this consensus? Comment below! If you guys enjoyed the post like our page HERE and follow me on twitter HERE! Once again thank you fantasy fellows, good luck for Round 20!

The Unique Men

Kieren Jack

Bye- R12
Run (till the bye)- COLL, ESS, ADE.

By the Stats...
AFL DT- 106.12 ppg, $512,800, High (138), Low (57), Break Even (77), Last 5- 112.4 (In just 3.73%)
SC- 112.5, $517,400, High (130 twice), Low (65), Break Even (127), Last 5- 117.2
Centrebet- 141.8, $571,200, High (183), Low (75), Break Even (86), Last 5- 148.6
Sportal- 141, $509,000, High (182), Low (87), Break Even (106), Last 5- 148






Kieren Jack has always shown promise in the fantasy caper. As I will detail later, he has had the ability to go on sustained fantasy runs for long periods of time. During these runs he has averaged as if he is a premium, showing that ultimately when he is free of his tagging duties he is a bonafide midfield premium in all formats of the game.

In 2010, Jack showed his ability to become a fantasy star. His last 5 games of season 2010, his fourth season were as follows (DT/SC);
105/178 V Hawks
105/113 V Fremantle
111/148 V Dogs
128/148 V Lions
102/120 V Blues (EF, historically finals have been lower scoring)

Now this averages out to 112.2/141.4. Let me just reiterate, Jack (from rugby heritage), averaged Gary Ablett Jnr types numbers for a little over a month in just his fourth season. There is blatant potential for him to shine in both formats.
Then from round 8-21 last year his numbers were;
128/152 V Dees
105/123 V Saints
131/143 V Dogs
91/121 V Bombers
100/117 V Cats
127/147 V GWS
80/102 V Lions
118/158 V Eagles
93/97 V Saints
125/158 V GC
97/113 V Blues
99/108 V Pies
110/120 V Dogs

Look at that RUN! Wow, that's elite if I've ever seen it. That's an average of 108/127.6! Over that long of a period, we certainly get the notion that Jack has fantasy capabilities beyond most. In some of his bigger games, such as the round 10 match against the Dogs, he was in fact tagging. So he has the potential to be a two way player, similar to a Kornes type. He is developing and is starting to reach his peak as an AFL player, something which historically occurs in the sixth to seventh year of an AFL players career. Consistency, bar one of his games this year, has been ever prevalent. Getting use to the week in, week out bruises and knocks that an AFL player receives is one of the main reasons we're beginning to see consistency in Kieren's scores. My personal opinion is that we haven't even seen his BIG run this year, and when it occurs the top players of all fantasy codes will be on and riding high score after high score. He has the round 12 bye, another big plus with most fantasy coaches having an excess of round 13 byes due to the players within this bracket. Ultimately I consider him a top 8 midfielder in all formats by the end of the year, within this year that all fantasy premium midfielders dropping, in all formats by the end of the year.

Anyway comments would be appreciated, let me know what your thoughts on Kieren are!