11 down, 12 to go.

AND here we go. After 11 weeks of footy, the bye rounds have arrived, with a lot of coaches panicking already after being hit by multiple bullets in recent times. Maximising the number of players on our field is going to be crucial over the next few weeks, but the lack of form from Patrick Cripps, Angus Brayshaw and Jack Macrae has owners pulling their hair out. Throw in the injury woes from Tom Rockliff, Lachie Whitfield and Matt Crouch and coaches aren’t exactly hitting the bye rounds full of steam.

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DPP ADDITIONS 2.0

ROUND 12 welcomes a new batch of dual-position players, with 23 dudes adding a new status. Not many of the new DPP’s are relevant for our Classic fantasy sides, with Jack Ziebell (+MID), Jordan Clark (+MID) and Noah Balta (+RUC) the only main noteworthy names on the list. However, players like Hugh Greenwood (+FWD), Sam Lloyd (+FWD), Cameron Guthrie (+MID), Shaun Burgoyne (+DEF) and Sam Powell-Pepper (+FWD) could all help Draft coaches add another string to their bow.

MY TEAM

2060 – The number of losses Carlton suffered in Brend0n Bolton’s tenure.
TRADING Whitfield in and giving him the C on debut was just the start of my woes in the middle of the ground. My other lines were reasonably productive, but Brayshaw, Taranto and Cripps struggling all hurt my chances to move up in rank. I did have 27 blokes playing so hopefully, that puts me in good stead over the byes.

FRY’S FAVOURITE FIVE

Honourable Mentions: Travis Boak (125), Brad Crouch (127), Max Gawn (126)

+5. Stephen Coniglio, Giants (MID, $713K – 192)
THIS one’s easy. A monstrous 36 touches, 13 marks, eight tackles and three goals saw Cogs post the biggest score of any player this season! Granted it did come against the Suns, but the Giants midfielder looks to have shaken off recent injury woes and spoilt the faithful owners with a massive day out.

+4. Josh Kelly, Giants (MID, $806K – 140)
WHILE Cogs was impressive, his teammate Josh Kelly wasn’t far off. His form continues to improve with every outing, culminating in a season-best 140 against Gold Coast last weekend. A trip to Adelaide Oval to face the Crows isn’t as easy a task, but there’s no reason why Kelly can’t say hot in Round 12.

+3. Bachar Houli, Tigers (DEF, $725K – 137)
ARGUABLY the form player of the competition right now, Bachar Houli can’t be stopped! A knock early on in the North/Richmond game was a troubling sign for owners, but he shrugged it off before scoring his fourth straight score over 110 and his second consecutive total of 135+. Legend.

Image from tlaworldwide.com

+2. Jake Lloyd, Swans (DEF, $715K – 129)
LLOYD put together his third straight ton against the Cats, putting some of his recent struggles behind him. His highest score since Round 5 was a welcome sign for over 50% of the competition who will be relying on Lloyd to keep up this production through the bye rounds.

+1. Scott Pendlebury, Magpies (MID, $732K – 130)
GOOD old Scott Dependlebury. En route to his 10th straight season averaging at least 100, Pendles keeps getting it done in emphatic fashion. His latest outing against Freo was the 5th highest score of the weekend, and while he isn’t sitting in a lot of teams, he looks set to be another 105-110 staple.

FRY’S FRUSTRATING FIVE

Dishonourable Mentions: Tim Taranto (75), Alex Witherden (51), Mitch Duncan (82)

-5. Patrick Cripps, Blues (MID, $654K – 63)
IT’S time to sound the alarm bells. Patrick Cripps looks like a shadow of the player that stormed to success to start the season. A three-round average of 65 has nearly half the competition puzzled with how to handle the struggles from the Blues’ skipper. Here’s hoping he goes HAM against the Lions and we aren’t left with an Angus Brayshaw 2.0 scenario.

-4. Lachie Whitfield, Giants (DEF/MID, $786K – 74)
WHITFIELD was lucky to escape the -5 last week after struggling to score in the Giants feeding frenzy. He was well held by Nick Holman, which led to Whitfield scoring just two points in the first quarter. Things didn’t get any better with Whitfield eventually suffering a broken collarbone late in the game that will see him miss at least the next month of footy. Spewing.

Lachie Whitfield has been ruled out until after the bye rounds, suffering a broken collarbone during this bump from David Swallow last weekend 😞 #AFLFantasy #AFL pic.twitter.com/nYzguxmzoj

— SportsbyFry (@sportsbyfry) June 4, 2019

-3. Jack Macrae, Bulldogs (MID, $675K – 69)
THE bad news for uber premium players doesn’t stop there. Jack Macrae cost $890K at the start of the season and after plummeting in value over recent weeks, coaches are faced with a serious dilema moving forward. He has only topped 100 points once in the last six weeks and trading him out now that he’s on his bye is going to be a tempting move.

-2. Jack Billings, Saints (FWD, $601K – 64)
SPEAKING of trading players out on their bye, Jack Billings will find it tough to survive the axe on the back of some lacklustre performances. Back-to-back 60’s are testing the patience of coaches around the globe and a move to Dusty Martin or Jack Ziebell could be on the cards for a number of owners.

-1. Adam Treloar, Magpies (MID, $748K – 74)
THE elite consistency of Adam Treloar took a hit this weekend, with the star Magpie failing to top 80 for the first time this season. He had recorded six straight 100’s before that, so don’t go rage trading out Treloar, however, he more than deserves his spot in the Frustrating Five this week.

TRADE TACTICS

IN – WHILE a wise tactic for the bye rounds is to trade in players coming off their rest, Round 12 is a tricky one to negotiate. I wouldn’t go trading in those who are having a week off, but there are still plenty of viable targets in the other rounds. Next week we will see the likes of Patrick Dangerfield (MID/FWD, $659K – 108), Lachie Neale (MID, $682K – 97) and Tom Stewart (MID, $625K – 80) rested, but they’re still viable targets to trade in this round. The discounted Stephen Coniglio (MID, $713K –192) is set to be one of the most traded in players with the Round 14 bye along with the likes of Dustin Martin (MID, $648K – 105), Bachar Houli (MID, $725K – 137) and Rory Laird (MID, $680K – 110).

ON the rookie front popular picks like Brett Bewley (MID, $203K – 61) and Dylan Clarke (MID, $291K – 109) will be hard to resist this round, however, we should proceed with caution. Both players are on their bye week right now and while it’s assumed they’ll be there in Round 13 there are no guarantees. Other cash cows who should hold their spot in their respective sides and be downgrade choices include Oskar Baker (MID, $254K – 87) and Isaac Cumming (DEF, $244K – 75).

Image from aflplayers.com.au

OUT –  AN injury to Lachie Whitfield (DEF/MID, $786K – 74) will see him miss 4-6 weeks of football and be traded out of a ton of teams. Considering we are no moving to the best-of-18 rounds, trading Whitfield instantly isn’t a priority and you may instead want to move him along and nab a player off their bye next week instead. It’ll be hard to not pull the trigger on struggling premiums like Jack Macrae (MID, $675K – 69) and Patrick Cripps (MID, $654K – 63) as having every able body during the bye rounds is high priority. It will test your patience, but it might be wise to give them another life.

WHILE trading away players who are still yet to have their bye isn’t ideal, we still need to focus on moving on fattened cash cows. Connor Rozee (DEF/FWD, $481K – 65), Gryan Miers (FWD, $469K – 46) and Tom Atkins (MID/FWD, $356K – 47) are all players who fit that bill and could be moved along if you aren’t facing any other pressing trades.

WAIVER WIRE MOVES

THIS week’s waiver wire targets include some unique characters and a few of the new DPP candidates. Headlining the pack is new MID/FWD duo Hugh Greenwood (MID/FWD, 54% – 86) and Jordan Dawson (MID/FWD, 30% – 75) both of whom are averaging 80+ in their last three. New defender Shaun Burgoyne (MID/FWD, 26% – 91) has passed his prime, however, a 91 on the weekend could make him relevant in the right scenario while Noah Balta‘s (RUC/FWD, 5% – 50) fantasy game seems set to be draft relevant until Toby Nankervis is back in uniform.

HIS Tigers teammate Ivan Soldo (RUC, 18% – 63) might be a more stable source of points and is still up for grabs in plenty of leagues. Single position players including Harry Perryman (DEF, 19% – 87) and Sam Ried (FWD, 22% – 84) continue to produce and should at least be added to your watchlist, while the unlikely target in Chris Mayne (MID, 39% – 88) keeps getting it done and can no longer be ignored.

MY MOVES

I’M in a pretty good space heading into the byes with a lot of players still in uniform. For that reason, I’m opting to move fattened cash cows in my defense and forward lines to give me extra coin to work with next week. I’m not a huge fan of trading Whitfield this week, with my sights set on Zach Merrett following his bye. For now, swapping him for Cogs is a pretty sweet trade, freeing up over $400k for the next two weeks of trades.

My Trades
T.Atkins → I.Cumming
G.Miers → N.Larkey
L.Whitfield → S.Coniglio

Peace ✌