Backline

Goddard – He’s a DT lock in anyones team. If you don’t have him you have some sort of crystal ball. IE You’re a freak!

Gibbs – Yet another DT lock. Dual Position Player (DPP). Legend. If you’re a clever ducky you would have had him as your vice captain and used the dream team partial lock out loop hole.

Deledio – Deledio is in the top 25 paid players in the AFL for real. He’s priced in DT as a $371k DPP back/mid. He has a rubbish game on the weekend yet still managed 74 odd points. He’s primed for a big year, as are the Tiges.

Broughton – I’ll admit a lot of research didn’t go into him and maybe I’m paying the price for a lower than average score this week. He was a cheap defender that I know a lot of people were getting so I was a sheep with this pick.

Grimes – Cheap as chips defender for the value he will implement into Sarge’s Heroes this year. Started on the right foot at 100+ score this weekend.

Lower – You don’t get promoted off the rookie list and not play. He played and played a blinder. Near 100 one of the best defender rookies if not the best out there.

Duigan – mature age rookie gun. Didn’t blow the house down with 51 but you’d think he’ll play a few more games. A handy bench player.

Coad, Stanley, Toy – These guys I feel are the most promising GC defenders to have at basement prices. Some may feel it’s the wrong move having 3xGC on the bench but as long as everyone is playing on field, why does it matter? Save a lot of money and build up to a big team come finals time.

Midfield

Montagna – He’s full of run, flair and he seems young. Gets a lot of kicks and can kick goals. I chose him over people like Boyd, Selwood etc as I think he kicks it a lot more and kicks more goals than them.

Bartel – A tackling machine and doesn’t attract a hard tag. Can kick a goal and is a magnificent mark.

K.Cornes – The most consistent midfielder going around. A score of 96 this weekend he didn’t disappoint. If he gets this every week I’ll take it.

Foley – I think he’s crucial for the Tigers this year after coming off injury. He had the worst game this weekend but I think if I keep my patience he’ll come good. If he has a bad game next week I may be looking for a downgrade to someone like Curnow who got over 100+ his first game.

Krakouer – Every man and his dog will have him. Mistake that he’s in my midfield? Only time will tell. A lovely 96 to open his account with AND he was subbed late in the game.

Bewick – Another mature age rookie. Not the most convincing game (to hold his spot) but feel he played some smart footy. Scored ok and will be a worthy bench player if he keeps his spot in the team, and given lions injuries I’m sure he will.

Swallow – DT lock as pick no1 in the draft. People say he’s the new Selwood, if that’s the case he could be a DT keeper by the end.

Conca – A late pick given the team announcements on Wednesday night. He came in for Harris who has a supposed injury cloud.

Heppell – I struggled justifying keeping Heppell in. I didn’t have a good feeling. I’m glad he got an 80 today but Essendon just dominated today. I can’t see this happening every week so I’m still not 100% convinced but he stays for now.

Rucks

Ryder – 50k less than Sandilands and got a respectable score today. Was on track for higher but didn’t quite get there. Happy to have the money in the bank but given that Essendon have the bye Grand Final week it could bite me on the ass. Having said that, predicting that I’ll make Grand Final week of DT is probably big headed of me so I like having 50k to play with while still generating good scores from Ryder. I’m not 100% convinced he’ll maintain good scores though so I hope he keeps it up.

Cox – Best preseason of his life just about. Cheap as chips for the quality you get. Tonights game just proved that.

Tippet – Only have him as my DPP link with Petrie.

Keeffe – Keep hearing a lot of good things about him. Disappointed he didn’t play on the weekend and maybe could have picked a better bench ruck but for 92k who else would I pick?

Forwards

Franklin – He’s a DT lock pretty much. Had a great preseason. Didn’t go well against the crows – the only game I didn’t really get a look at this weekend. Hopefully bounces back next week I’m sure he will.

Sylvia – DPP was maybe the main reason I went for him in the end. I liked Stevie J but I’m glad I didn’t touch him. I’m still nervous about Sylvia so hopefully he can remain consistent.

Goodes – F$%K YOU! He was on about 70 at half time and managed 74 by games end. This is why Melbourne came back, they managed to shut out Goodes. This worries me greatly. The great debate over whether to have Goodes or Pavlich in your team, well the answer may be none of them. They both fail to deliver a monster score too often.

Riewodlt – He’s a DT lock. My only concern about him, well 2 now is A – his minor injury he got during the game and B – the way St Kilda play doesn’t allow him to get a plethora of goals. Everyone will have him for his price but he didn’t score well on the weekend. Let’s just hope that’s because Harry Taylor is a superstar.

Yarran – My DT hate right now. I didn’t want to pick mid priced players but I read too much into it, people were picking him and I’ve seen footage of him playing when he first started last year or year before dominating from half back getting a lot of possessions. He just didn’t do this on Thursday night. If he has another poor game he’s done and dusted in the Sarge’s Heroes team (or awaits a downgrade later in the year)

Tapscott – Most people should have him. A monster of a lad with a deadly kick. Was great today in the game against Sydney.

Richardson – Yet another mature age rookie. Had a reasonable game tonight. Will play mainly as a bench player.

Petrie – He’s a guy that will play 20+ games for the year. At 200k you can’t go past him. Yes he’ll mis rounds 1 and 3 but get over that hurdle you save yourself a trade and have your 7th placed forward and backup ruckman when one of your rucks has a bye. I think this is a smart move given the deep benches this year but time will tell.

Matera – One of the GC prime basement price picks. Probably the best forward prospect for the price.

Darling – Huge boy was in everything tonight. Think he’s got a lot of footy in him.

That’s my Dream Team selections as my starting team. Noticeable absentees would be Swan and Harris. I plan to get them at a later stage, definitely Swan anyway. Some guys I tossed and turned about but didn’t end up getting were Higgins (over Foley) Dale Thomas (over K. Cornes) Pendlebury (over Bartel) Knights (over Yarran) Palmer (over Higgins/Foley) Pavlich (over Goodes/Sylvia) Sandilands (over Ryder) and probably a few more but I can’t find my other notepad where I wrote notes.

Overall I’m ok with what I have. I have $185k left i the bank so I’ve got a lot to work with. This year I think we’re going to see higher scores than ever given the amount of rookie priced players that will potentially play a lot of games.

How is your Dream Team shaping up for 2011?

Most of the pointers from my post last year still apply, but the game as a whole has changed quite a bit with the introduction of GC, byes, more trades and more bench players, so I’ll tell you how I think these modifications will change the way the game is played. Obviously I’ve never seen the new rules in action, so it’s a bit of speculation on my part, but I have a track record of success – you can count on me.

Like last year, I’m not going to give advice on specific players, do your own research!

Nick Riewoldt

"Why didn't Beno pick me in his Dream Team again?"

OK, I’ll give advice on one player. The Saints skipper is a must have. He’s proven over the long term to be one of only two forwards who can average over 100 and he’s one of the most durable guys in the comp. Last year was a freak injury and he proved he’s still up to it by getting some big scores when he came back. Also, this season we’ve all seen his junk. Not sure if that’s a pro or a con for his Dream Team scores, but it is something.

Trading wins the game

Last year I stressed the importance of  being conservative when you’re trading and things are no different this year. The number of trades has increased from 20 to 24, but you’ve got to remember the season is also two weeks longer now. It’s 1 trade per week this year versus 0.91 previously – not a big difference, so don’t go crazy like you’re Vossy at the end of 2009.

A good way to control your trading is to have a plan for the guys you pick in your starting lineup. So decide now if that player will score enough points to be in your team for 24 weeks (I would say you’d want them to average at least 80 per week), and if they’re not, are they going increase in value enough so that you will be able to trade them to a player worthy of keeping in your team for the finals? If you can pick 12 keepers in your team at the start of the season, that only leaves you with 10 guys in the starting lineup you need to upgrade. If that’s the case you should have change from your 24 trades come round 20.

Don’t Let The Byes Get To You

This rule probably won’t apply if you’re trying to get the highest possible overall score, but for someone who’s just trying to win their league I think the best thing to do about the byes is just not worry about them (at least when you’re picking your initial squad). The  byes were always going to be a tricky issue for dream team, but I think the few changes they’ve made will make it easy to manage, we’ve got extra trades, an extended interchange bench and more dual position players so there should be plenty of cover.

Something Stupid

The big issue is the multi-bye rounds. In rounds 4, 5, 6, 16 and 19, three teams have the week off, which could decimate Dream Teams. Thankfully the wise heads in charge of the comp have declared no league games are to take place. Now thinking about this a strategy people might consider is loading up on players who feature in these multi-bye rounds twice (ie Lions, Swans, Dees, Dockers), but I think this could be problematic. Your priority when picking players has got to be picking the highest scorers and the best value – worrying about who’s playing when could cloud your judgement and you’ll end up doing something stupid (pictured, left).

Just follow the golden rules from last year – don’t load up on players from one team, and make sure your bench rookies are going to get games. This should let you see off the byes with no issues.

Don’t sacrifice quality for dual position

Last year I didn’t really consider a player’s DP status when picking them – there wasn’t too many of them going around and I backed the guys I was picking to stay injury free. This year we know everyone is going to miss at least two games, and there’s a few more DP guys floating around, so I think it’s a viable option to look at getting some links between positions.

I do think it could be a bit of a trap though. It’d be easy to try and force DP players into your squad at the cost of better options. If you’ve got a rookie and you’re not sure if he’s going to get games, then don’t pick him because of the extra position. He’s not going to cover anything with a zero next to his name.

Ignore my advice

Well don’t completely ignore my advice. But I should point out that there are exceptions to every rule (except the ‘get Nick Riewoldt’ one). There will always be certain players every team has or a certain trade everyone will be looking to make at the same time. What wins this game is the points of difference between teams. To really get ahead of the pack you have to take risks and make a couple of picks that differ from popular opinion. This is generally where I fall down. I always try and grab a couple of players from leftfield and it generally works out being a spectacular mistake (pictured, below).

To the other guys in my league, I hope you read this.. soak it in. I hope you can challenge me this year, I really do. If anyone else takes my advice and wins the car, you owe me a share. If you take my advice and fail miserably, then you obviously misread it. Happy Dream Teaming.

Mistake

Outside of my team’s performance it was a cracker of a season. We saw the rise of Collingwood, the fall of Essendon, the continued middle-of-the-road blandness of the Kangaroos. Some young guns came through, and some old dogs went out. So many great moments, but I’ve boiled it down to a top five best moments, be warned there’s a bit a Brisbane slant:

5. Browny blowing Carlton away - To see the contrast between Carlton fans huffing and puffing about Fev before the game then crying about Browny tearing them a new one (again) in round 2 was beautiful. 21 touches, 12 marks and 7 goals. The man is a legend.

4. Melbourne Collingwood draw - I will always remember this game. One of the greats. Collingwood play an entertaining, free-running style of footy and they were so close to being beaten by a young Melbourne side at their own game. There’s no neutral supporter’s when Collingwood’s involved and this one was heart-breaking for 90%  of fans.

3. Goddard in the drawn grand final - Tough, gutsy and brutal, but also pure class in probably the most intense game I have ever seen. How he did not win Normie I have no idea. Not that I’m complaining – I made a pretty penny on Lenny.

2. Sydney getting their pants pulled down by Melbourne - I’m just happy I could be a part of this one. Could not have asked for a better game to sit by my good friend Beno. Watching Sydney suffer their biggest defeat under Paul Roos and Benson’s reaction was priceless.

1. Fev’s 4 second half goals to sink the Pies - Home and away games do not get better than this one. A packed house at the Gabba, our star recruit kicks a bunch of assy goals to steal victory from the bad guys, snapping a five game losing streak in the process. All I could think after this game was ‘this is why I love footy’.

The Dizzying Highs

On a personal level, 2010 has been a huge success for Matty P. Dream Team was a huge focus for us Footy High boys this year, although I’m not sure why. It was and always has been a foregone conclusion that I would be the premier. I paced myself in the lower half of the eight all season, just biding my time – building the ultimate team of Septemer (or August) specialists. The mighty Mashers pulled an Adelaide ’98 effort winning the flag from 5th, bundling Sarge’s zeros and Beno’s Wangstaz out of the finals in the process. How sweet it is.

But that’s not my only huge success. The final tally in the $100 betting challenge looks a little something like this:

Matty P – $195.41

Sarge – <$1

Beno – DNF

I am truly a legendary punter and I’m going to pull a Joe Namath and guarantee victory in this same contest next year.

The Crushing Lows

It wasn’t all roses though. If we look back in time my start of season predictions were not so super.

Premiers: WRONG

Brownlow: WRONG

Coleman: WRONG

Rising Star: WRONG

Norm Smith: WRONG

AA Captain: WRONG

Well if there’s one thing a Lions supporter has learned from 2010 is that you can’t win them all.

I’ll admit I have an asschin the footyhigh experiment, while a bunch of fun has been a bit inconsistent. I’ll make a few posts in the off-season, just to keep my fitness up, but next year it’ll be back and I promise better than ever. More impassioned opinions, biased rants, putting shit on Beno and most of all, more footy!

One of those winnable games is Saturday night against North. The Roos have at times looked pretty good this year, but other times they’ve been dismal, particularly against the Saints and last week at Freo. A huge factor in this game is the Roos coming off a six day break flying back from Perth – if Brisbane are around the mark at three quarter time, expect them to run away with it. Brownvola still looks a long way off fit, but 8 goals between them last week will boost their confidence, and I don’t think North have the defence to contain them. Look for them to dominate – I’m tipping 10 between them.

So with that in mind I’m placing the first of a few bets for the week on this game:

$10 on the Lions over North by 24+ @$2.65. Was tempted to go over 40, but that might be getting a bit carried away considering the month or so of footy we played preceeding the Collingwood game. If my team is to go anywhere this year then this is a must win game, and it should be a percentage booster.

$10 on Carlton over Dees by 1-39 @ $2.20. I like these odds. Carlton are looking good, and should get up over the Dees, but I don’t think they have the forward line to really kick away from Melbourne, whose defence has proven to be quality this season.

$5 on Collingwood over the Dogs by 1-24 @ $3.40. Collingwood tend to lift for big games, and I think they’ll be stung into action after a humiliating loss to the eventual premiers last week. Dogs were woeful last week, and seem to have some issues getting it together this season. The way they’re playing at the moment, I think they’ll struggle to crack top 4. Having said that, they are a decent side, and they shouldn’t let the Pies get away too much.

I also need to mention a bet made between me and Beno last week. These things need to be put in the public domain. On Saturday night, my dreamteam sat on about 1300 with 9 players left to play, Beno about 1100 with 11 to come. I made the call and the bet was on – the lower scoring coach would buy a couple of beers for the victor. I’m pleased to say it was not even close. My boys smacked Beno’s Gangstaz by 100+ points. I’m looking forward to a couple of domestic brews on Beno’s wallet this weekend.

The official match between Beno’s Gangstaz and Matty P’s Mashville Mashers takes place in round 12, and the smack talk has begun already. I’m quite confident the Gangstaz are going the way of the Swans and I will get over them easy.

Hawks VS Swans 1.10 MCG

For me the most anticipated match of the round and will have lots of questions answered such as – How much strife are the Swans really in? Was last weeks belting of the Blues a sign of things to come for the Hawks? Can the Hawks make the finals? Will those stupid Kokoda camouflage jerseys work in the Hawks favour? Can Henry Playfair actually string a few games together and make my Dream Team investment worthwhile? Are Sydney really shit?

I’m rooting hard for a Hawks win. Might seem strange from a Cats supporter but seeing the Hawks rise up and back playing their best footy is good for the competition. I’ll never forget 2008 for the rest of my life and there’s nothing I’d love more than to get some revenge and beat them in the finals.

It would also be excellent to see the Swans lose their 4th straight to keep the likes of Beno silent after putting up with his nonsense for at the start of the season. Do I have to remind you about my amazing prediction, Beno?

My honest thoughts about this game? I think we’ll get a definite answer after the first quarter. The Swans are desperate for a win and like the lions last night I believe they are capable of turning the tables around and getting back on track. What they have going against them are some key injuries to Kennelly, Bradshaw and Seaby and the fact that it’s the Kokoda game (for both sides I believe) but the whole event seems heavily in the Hawks favour wearing those camouflage jerseys, which I actually like the look of, it’s much better than the poo and wee stripes.

On a side note, it’s annoyed me for the last couple of years how the Hawks injury list has seemed to be accepted as an excuse for them not winning. Well I’m pretty sure they have the smallest injury list in the league now. So if they don’t win, they are indeed shit.

My Tip – Hawks by 22+. Unfortunately the odds just aren’t juicy enough for me to have a punt @ 2.20 under 39 points.

Dreamteam – you’re a smart man if you have Hodge as your captain this week. An easy 100+ game coming up for him. O’Keefe – LIFT! I expect Mitchell to have a cracking game too after all the talks this week questioning if he is the true captain of the team. Goodes is due for a cracking game too.

It’s a shame Barry Hall isn’t playing after last years game where he gave away a 150m penalty. Going to be a cracker of a game. I can’t wait!

Firstly the Lions got up over the Dogs. Our start to the season so far had been pretty good, 3 and zip before I left was impressive, and although we had not played anyone considered a real contender, we can only beat who we come up against. The Dogs game was our first real test, and getting up over them was surely going to shut the critics up. Surely we’re now considered top 4 chances. No! Because then we go and get pantsed by Melbourne! Bloody Melbourne! Another loss to the Swans last week and we’ve gone from being top 4 guns to middle of the road.

Sydney have apparently impressed – I do rate the Swans, although I do hate to admit it because it’s so much fun to rag on Beno and his team. After the expected loss to the Saints in the first week and a couple of ok wins, by round 3 I don’t think the majority of punters had changed their opinion that the Swans were probably not a top 8 side. Not so anymore. Although they’ll never be real contenders with the caveman Lewis Roberts-Thomson in their side.

When I left Hawthorn were looking good – 1-2 but with the narrow losses to the Cats and the Dogs I think everyone agreed they were back. Now I’m not fully caught up but I can only guess Buddy killed a hooker, injuries have forced Cyril to play in the ruck and Fat Hodge is back out to 150kg because it looks as though the wheels have completely fallen off.

I guess today’s lesson is don’t get complacent, and don’t go jumping off a bridge, because when it comes to footy, in three weeks it can all turn around.

The next order of business is to respond to Beno’s rubbish post he made while I was away.

I like this Beno – the only time you’re willing to lay down a challenge is when I’m on the other side of the world without a computer. Way to show your true colours.

For those unaware it’s true that Beno is on top of our dream team league, but it is only because of the grace of a good draw. He had the lowest against score of anyone in the league, and only sits atop me because in the first three weeks I have played 2 of the top 3 teams in our league (the third team is me).

So my ass-chinned friend, I will consider your bet, but only when it comes closer to the date. It would be ludicrous to commit so early. However, if you do have such faith in your team, why not agree to my ongoing offer to double our season long bet? The higher team end of season gets two cartons rather than one. Surely the top of the table Gangstarz are not threatened by the lowly Mashers?

Port to beat the Bombers by under 39 points @ $2.60 – Yes it’s in Melbourne, the only reason I can see why the bombers would be favourites. They beat a pathetic hawthorn the week before and the dees still have a lot of trouble with their defense. To be honest it wouldn’t surprise me if the Power got up by over 39 but because the bombers are favs I’m tipping Port by under 39. P.S. I need new recruit C.Cornes to really kick ass this week in my Dream Team.

Hawks to beat the Eagles @ $2.35 – Yes, it’s at subie but the eagles have been pretty bad and there doesn’t seem to be any sign on or off field that they’re going to turn it around. Meanwhile this week all the heat has been on the hawks who I honestly believe will come out firing. Franklin playing fully fit is the worry and they’re still without their captain. Also the ruck is a worry too with big Nic Nat and Cox coming back to form (I sort of feel like I’m talking myself for a weagles win now but I’ll stick with it! ) However – they’re a proud club and can be nasty when they want to be. I predict a nasty hawks side to get one back and keep the media at bay. In all honesty though, if they lost again it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest

Freo to beat Lions by under 39 @ $3.25 – I can’t believe Lions are huge favourites here. Still without Merrett and now Maguire suspended their backline will struggle a bit. They’ll need a fully firing Browny and Fev to win this one but I just think the run of Freo will get them over the line. I hope Lions win but the dockers are just looking too good at the moment and at those odds they’re too good to refuse. Would be a great game to go to!

Swans to beat Cats by under 39 @ $4.25 – Delicious odds and again I’m doing my usual routine of betting against my beloved cats. I can’t see either team winning by over 40 and I give the Swans a chance on current form. I still go by my tip last week that from the head I think the cats at home will be too strong for the swans and the cats should take it out in a close one. Having said that, they are juicy odds and it will be devestating if we lost, especially against Sydney for certain reasons (ie putting up with Beno for the rest of the year over a H&A win against the cats) so a few dollars in my pocket will make up for it only very very very very slightly.

If I were going to put a multi on I’d slap it on port and freo double. Sorry Matty P. Lions need to do something to gain my respect back. Your return from the states may just help them!

You see – both his beloved swans and his DT Gangstarz are yet to beat any sizeable opponents. The Swans have only beaten teams in the bottom 8 of the ladder, the same goes for his DT. He and his swans have yet to come across any sizeable opponents – for instance Matty P or my good self in DT and the lions or the mighty cats.

In the AFL – this all changes starting tonight. Swans come up against the lions. Two weeks ago the lions were all the talk, after a loss to the lions and a few injury concerns (Browny and Merret for example) and a home ground advantage the Swans go in as favourites. I think their odds are a little too generous and people are forgetting the teams they’ve come up against. That’s not to say I don’t think Sydney are a terrible side, they just haven’t beaten anyone of significance yet.

If Beno can beat me and matty P in DT and the swans can beat the lions and cats then Beno can run his mouth all he wants. But for now – I’d be keeping a lid on it

I predict the swans could beat lions tonight in a close one – I can’t see vossy accepting another effort like last week against the dees. It’ll be a close match. I am putting a $10er on the swannies though. Either team I think will win by no more than 30.

I don’t think tonights result will really alter my thoughts for the cats/swans game the week after. If ablett plays I’m pretty confident. It’s at the cattery and that further boosts my confidence. It’ll be a pretty tight contest with theh cats getting away by about 10-35 points.

As for DT Beno plays me in round 18 (the last round of the home and away before finals start) and Matty P in round 12. Beno will lose both these matches quite considerably. DT is a marathon, not a sprint.

Round 1 is done and dusted and footy proved to be well worth the wait, with the exception of Blues vs. Tiges (Seriously AFL, no one wants to see this shit, hide it away on Sunday afternoon sometime in the middle of the season, and kick things off with a grand final rematch!).

Other than that piece of poo, it was great to have footy back, particularly watching my boys roll the Weagles in the last quarter on Saturday. If there was any doubt Brownvola couldn’t work together pre-season, that surely that was extinguished. Not only did Browny kick 5, but Fev got 3.7… ten shots at goal is a super effort, and once he figures out where the Gabba sticks are, he will dominate.  Another highlight for the Lions was Brennan’s game. Two years ago this guy made the leap from inconsistent, flashy freak to class midfielder. He still does the crazy one handed pick ups, early leaps and occasional miracle goal, but now he does the meat and potatoes stuff too – tackles like a machine and extracts the ball from the middle as good as anyone. This year people are going to wake up and realise how good he is. More on this later.

The Dogs Pies game on Sunday was an absolute epic. Pies  have thrown down the gauntlet to the big three this year, convincingly beating a Dogs side that most footy fanatics reckon will go close to the flag this year. And the fact that the Saints and Cats were not so convincing against less than elite sides suggests that the top four will be hotly contested this year. Throw an improving Hawks and Lions into to race and you know it’s gonna be intense.

Living the Dream

Forget about this petty real football business, Dream Team also kicked off this week, and while there are no head to head match ups, it’s good to get a look at where all our starting squads are at. Surprisingly,  Sarge and his heroes lead the league, ahead of me by just 40 points. Obviously been taking my team selection advice. Beno’s dwindling a little. Not looking so hot for him, hanging back in 8th spot in our league of mates, parents and various AFL legends like Browny and Harley (Barry Hall is also in the league). While I did convince him to get Riewoldt into his team, despite his objections, he obviously hasn’t listened hard enough to the rest of my tips and his starting squad is not so hot. You’ll have to trade hard before round 4 to get the Gangstaz up to scratch, Beno.

$100 Betting Challenge

After what I’ve seen in round 1 I’ve decided to make two bets for the challenge. The first is a simple two game multi.

$6 on the Swans to beat the Crows/The Cats to beat the Hawks @ 3.65.

Sydney are underdogs against the Crows which suprises me. I didn’t see their game on Saturday night, but they ran the Saints right to the wire, which is no mean feat. As much as it pains me to say it Sydney aren’t too bad, and while I don’t think they will challenge for the eight, they will surprise teams throughout the year. I do think Adelaide are a better side, but they have been murdered by injuries at this early stage of the year, and they may have a few ins this week, it’s not enough to convince me they’ll turn around from a 9 goal loss to the Dockers.

The Cats started things a bit shaky, but in the last quarter on Friday, looked back at their dominant best. The Hawks are impossible to gauge at this point, because they just had a practice match on Saturday. I think they will improve on last year, but they aren’t as good as the cats.

The other bet’s a little more out of leftfield, and something of a slow burner:

$2 each way on Jared Brennan for the Brownlow @ $51.

I know this is a longshot, but as you can guess from my earlier ramblings, I rate the dude. I used to be a huge critic, but since 08, Brennan has been huge for us. He has the fitness to run all day in the middle, and because we’ve been bummed by injuries, he’s had to play in the ruck and he’s done a decent job for a guy who looks about as suited to rucking as Beno is suited to modelling. This year he’s freed up to play on the floor, and he’ll dominate the clearances. Come round 8 all the media folk will be talking about what a hell of a season he’s having. But you’ll all say you heard it hear first from Matty P.

High five for footy, babies!

Alot has been talked about my Dreamteam capabilities from team selection to how i will do in the comp well i will clean up all this rubbish talk and tell you where i stand on dreamteam.  First my previous attempts at Dreamteam have not been so successful and i have usually tuned out for periods of time over the course of the season so i have no real results to back my claim up that i will smash everyone in my league but you know what i can do it, Matty P has been built up as the Dreamteam master but when he faces me i will make him look like a beginner we have made our deals and when i win the dreamteam comp and he buys me my carton of beer i will enjoy every single on of those beers!!!  As for the other competitors within our comp i will chop them up and show them how its done they are no real challenge for me and to do all this i need the team to do it and I’m sure your all wondering who i will have in my team but at this stage i have no comment as i prefer to tell the whole world who is in my team come round one.

As for the $100 challenge i will be making my first bet come round one and to start the AFL season i will be placing a cracker bet so stay tuned to find out more, next blog find out my thoughts on the opening round of the AFL season and i will keep you updated as to the Dreamteam feud that is sure to bring out lots of passion!!!