Round 1 PreviewsSorry boys (and girl) a bit late here didn't have time to do the previews during the week.
Halem Hawks (213/2) v Woodys Dropkick (62/1)wycbloods is off to a bit of a flyer here thanks to Marc Murphy and because Woody has five GWS players on the field he couldn't afford Pendlebury to rack up a 62. Halem Hawks looks like he's got this one in the bag. Both players have Gary Ablett as captain and Halem has much better uniques.
Halem Hawks to win this one comfortably.
Q Before You (375/4) v Squeakeroos DTC (328/4)Marc Murphy is again a factor in this match as he is the player that has provided Q with a 47 point advantage so far. Q's uniques are made up of mostly tried and tested SC options such as Goddard, Riewoldt and Chapman while Squeaky has included players such as Rockliff, Jacobs and Suckling. Q won't be a happy man if Broughton suddenly pulls a blinder which happens so often after people jump off a player because Squeaky has resisted the tempatation to trade out the Docker midfielder. Both has Gazza as captain but even though Q leads I have a sneaking suspicion that Broughton will ton up today and get Sqeauky over the line.
My tip is Squeakeroos DTC in a bit of a heartbreaker for Q.
Hawkeye (277/3) v Captain Who? (298/3)The captaincy choice in this match will eventually decide the winner. Strangley enough both teams have Gary Ablett but neither coach has named him as skipper. Hawkeye hasn't done much wrong so far this year and he's got the number one ranked player in SuperCoach this year in Brent Stanton as his skipper. The irony is that Hawkeye will be confronted by a floc of Hawks in the Captain's lineup including captain Sam Mitchell. Brent Stanton looks a monty to continue to score well against the Giants but I suspect that Mitchell might provide the edge.
I reckon the Captain will get the chocolates here but only just.
racing thebarton (277/3) v Ginger Ninjas (212/2)Ginger Ninjas have gotten the jump on racing thebarton thanks to Heath Scotland but this match is a very tough one to predict because of the make up of the racing stable. racing thebarton has included blokes like Rhys Stanley and Tom Hawkins in what could prove to be a pair of inspired signings by finny. For some strange reason the Ninjas this year have gone to the Dogs with four Bulldogs on the field as he has opted for young gun Smith, the inevitable Boyd plus the two discounted Dog defenders in Lake and Hargrave. The uniques look more solid from thebarton here and with the Gazza factor cancelling each other out in the captaincy stakes, I can see thebarton coming back to knock off the ninjas.
racing thebarton to win this one by a nose.
Poon Army (85/1) v Dutchys Dodos (375/4)In yet another match where both teams have Gazza as captain Poon has yet to play one of his trumps as the Dodos have snuck out to an early lead. The 98 from Shaw and the 109 from Swan might not be enough to counter the likes of Fyfe and Deledio but the problem for Hammo is that he has four GWS uniques and they aren't getting a large slice of the 3300 points on offer per game in SuperCoach. Dutchy has an excellent unique in Dal Santo who I haven't seen in all that many teams and his output will be critical for Dutchy most weeks. The flogging factor points to the Army with Hammo having Heppell and Watson while Dutchy has Eagle Luke Shuey in his lineup in another unique selection. Dutchy has clearly thought outside the box but his uniques haven't gotten off to a good start and
I expect the Poon Army to salute.
The Cat Empire (303/4) v Don't Drop Catches (183/2)You can scratch the Cat Empire from this week's list of likely winners thanks to the stellar efforts of Chris Yarran and Dale Thomas. On the week where I got a pass from worrying about Shaw and 'Dontchasin Martin' I get these two spuds peeling off. I can't see how I can make up the difference here and as you can see above CoverKing hasn't missed me LOL. Here's a tip for SuperCoach next year...if Dyson Heppell cuts off his hair next summer don't pick him!
Don't Drop Catches should win this one pretty comfortably. Ouch!
Hondomominators (209/3) v MILLER MOSQUITOES (516/5)Hondo is going even worse than me so far and in worse news the Moquitoes have put the bite on after Carazzo, Murphy and to a lesser extent Sidebottom racked up the points. I really like the look of the MILLER MOSQUITOES side with plenty of unique picks that look like they may deliver. The only way back for Hondo is for a big match from Nick Nat as well as his Geelong and Swannie players. The Mozzies have a few extra Giants on the field but already that average per player score looks too big to make up. Hondo will narrow the gap but
it will be MILLERS MOSQUITOES that get the points.
Darksiders SCE (62/1) v BlueGunners (362/4)It looks like an upset is on the cards here until you take a closer look at the lineups. The Gunners have Aaron Hall, Kieren Harper, Orren Stephenson and Zach Tuohy all as starters on the field and that won't do against the reigning Hogg champion, even if Pendlebury did spud it up last night. I can't believe that Jiskar, a Carlton fan has missed Murphy and Judd as either would have been very handy in this game. As the weekend goes on I expect the BlueGunners' lead to be whittled away by the reigning premier and that
Darksiders SCE will win this match.
Underdogs (103/1) v Cork in the Ocean (360/4)
This looks almost too close to call looking at the uniques here. Gibbo's Underdogs could score a massive score one week and bugger all the next due to the selection of such players as Pearce Hanley, Josh Kennedy (WCE), Brian Lake and the youngsters Milera and Smith. If those blokes all fire then the Underdogs look pretty vicious. This team does not have the same fearsome look as previous Underdogs combinations so Gibbo (sharksta) could prove to be vulnerable early in the year. Corky meanwhile will need to rack up more than ninety points per man to hold on. Looking at the uniques I'm not sure he can as he has Guthrie, Mohr, Stanley, Morris and bloody Dustin Martin. I reckon Jobe Watson and Josh Kennedy are going to run amok and that
Underdogs will open their account.
Good luck to everyone...except CoverKing.
regards,
REB