Dream Team Couch – 2008 AFL Dream Team Blog

Having a chat to a bloke the other day about his Dream Team, i asked him what gun players he has. He named them, Corey, Mitchell, Carrazzo, Cox, Buddy, Cross, the list went on. Then i asked him about his backline. As soon as the words left my mouth his head dropped and with a sorrow monotone he said”i dont want to talk about it”.

Yes, it has pretty much been a disastrous year for the backline so far, inconsistent players, form drops, injuries. With so much poor performances there has really only been two guys who can consistently pull the big numbers (Chornes and Shaw) and even know one of them is injured. These melancholy performances must come to an end in the backline, there has been too much pain suffered by Dream Teamers as they see their players scoring terribly. Sure there has been some good single game performances, but these are normally backed up by a bloody 30!

In the backlinethis year, behind Heath Shaw, the biggest scorer has been jake king with 638, a score which sits him in only 22nd position in the mids. 2nd vs 22nd is appalling, what happened to the good old centres who were classed as backliners, those were the days. Some will say Nathan Bock has been good this year, well yes he has been alright, but the inconsistency hurts like a bitch, scoring only two 100’s for a guy ranked 3rd. Same case with Brent Guerra who is ranked 4th, score 161one week, backs it up with 55! Its gone too far, there must be some players out there who are capable of consistently pulling the big numbers, and im here to show you just who they might be…

Some of these guys are commonly found in dream teams, others are seemed to be no go players and others in the past have been Dream Team suicide, but i believe these are the outsiders who are capable of doing it for you.

Tadhg Kennelly- I really see this guy as being able to pull some big scores if he stops getting injured and doesnt get tagged out of it. It will be interesting to see how he goes with malceski’s return, if Kennelly spends most of his time on the wing, get him, he will pull scores such as the 108 and 99 he has this year.

Peter Burgoyne- Once a dream team champion, always a dream team champion. I reckon Burgoyne has enough in his to pull out some consistent big ones, especially after his ball winning performance in the tribute match. His performance proved that he is one of the best in the comp, its not easy playing like that when you are surrounded by the best of the best. Averaged 90 last year, averaging 82 this year and at 340k, i reckon he is worth it, perfect replacement for Symes if you can afford.

Joel Macdonald- Dont know too much about this guy, but his past Dream Team scores have looked alright. In career best form in his 5th year. Already gone up 51k to sit at 326k. Averaging 85 and with two hundreds and a 94 to his name, he looks alright.

Jared Brennan- Yes thats right Brennan, now before you say “But Mr DJ, Brennan is Shithouse” hear me out. He was taken at pick number 3 for the lions (the number which Judd was taken at i might add) so the lions obviously rate him very highly, it was also ]the lions highest pick they have had for 10 years im sure they wouldn’t waste it. He enters his 6th year of AFL this year, andthe reason behind his inconsistency over the years is because the lions are continually trying to find out what position he plays best in. He has shown glimpses in the backline and forward line but hasnt been given a red hot go in the middle, that is until recently. He played the first 5 games of the year mainly down back until at the Gabba against Melbourne two weeks ago they moved him to the middle. He played sensationally, getting 23 touches and 9 marks, receiving 4 votes from the herald sun and scoring 105 DT points, very nice. The week after down at skilled stadium he was again assigned a spot in the middle where he got himself another 23 touches and9 marks on his way to a best on ground by the herald sun and 99 Dream Team points.

Brennan is a good footballer, the only reason by he has been a poor dt’er is because he has been thrown around over the years in all different positions causing inconsistency. If he keeps his spot in the middle, with form like the past two weeks I’m guessing he might, he will be a very good dream teamer. I have him in my side, a side which also scored 2211 and came 5th in Australia a few weeks back (sorry, had to chuck it in) and i see him as a real talent as long as he stays in the midfield. Hes only 310k, maybe hold off one more week to see if he stays in the midfield and then jump on him. He could quite possibly be the DT surprise packet of the year.