CASH cows are the naughty snack food of Fantasy. They're the cheap (and occasionally cheerful) players who you pick up for a song at the start of the year, and offload for a profit a few rounds into the season.
But if you're a bit of a carnivore, and have overindulged in the cash cows, right now your team might look a bit lopsided.
George Hewett (MID/FWD, $259,000), Connor Menadue (FWD/MID, $245,000) and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (DEF/FWD, $290,000) have given us plenty of quick dollars, but the thing they won't give their owners is a score over 100.
So if you've got three or four cash cows on each line, then you'll probably find upgrading all these players quite a chore as minor injuries strike, holes need to be covered, and you put off bringing in serious scorers like Lachie Hunter (MID, $534,000) for just one more week … every week.
To guard against this, it's a good idea to take a bit of a risk on your bench players and put up with the odd donut. If you've got solid scorer with a minor injury (think Rory Laird, DEF, $487,000), don't waste a trade on showing them the door.
Put them on the bench and jump on an upgrade target if their breakeven is low – in the midfield, that's anything under 100.
Use those valuable trades to strengthen your team with high-scorers. Don't go chasing the easy downgrade.
By the time the bye rounds roll around, you should have a fairly settled on-field team with cash cows sitting only on the bench to cover late outs and continuing to make you money.
Tom Papley (FWD, $279,000) has been one of the finds of the season for the Swans but if you're still relying on his 60 points a week to win your head-to-head clashes, you're headed for a lower-table finish.
So don't get too greedy on cash cows – they're delicious in the short-term but they're not very nutritious for your long-term Fantasy health.
Top five price rises
- Josh Smith (MID, Collingwood) +$50,000: $203,000
- Daniel Menzel (FWD, Geelong), +$42,000: $359,000
- Darcy Byrne-Jones (DEF, Port Adelaide), +$38,000: $251,000
- Blake Acres (MID, St Kilda), +$37,000: $300,000
- Josh Wagner (DEF, Melbourne), +$36,000: $259,000
Top five price falls
- Jordan Lewis (MID, Hawthorn), -$43,000: $500,000
- Kane Lambert (MID/FWD, Richmond), -$43,000: $354,000
- Trent McKenzie (DEF, Gold Coast), -$36,000: $241,000
- Luke Hodge (MID, Hawthorn), -$35,000: $500,000
- David Mundy (MID, Fremantle), -$34,000: $502,000
Get 'em in
Josh Smith (MID, $203,000): The buzz man of Fantasy this week. Wins the ball consistently and prefers to kick on most occasions. Breakeven of -39 this week.
Michael Barlow (MID/FWD, $499,000): His early rounds were pretty scrubby, but Barlow looks back in Fantasy form and his 124 against the Power made his sub-$500,000 price tag look like a bargain.
Travis Boak (MID, $462,000): The Power's draw opens up nicely from here and the skipper is at a ridiculous price. Jump on now.
Bye for now
Mathew Stokes (FWD/MID, $409,000): The top-up Don has been serviceable but he could miss a month with a hamstring strain so swap for his former teammate Allen Christensen.
Leigh Montagna (MID/FWD, $559,000): The veteran has a breakeven of 145 this week and looks to have reached his ceiling for the year.
Jack Martin (FWD, $386,000): Far from the only out-of-form Sun but his scores have plummeted as Gold Coast has hit a road bump the size of Aaron Sandilands.
