@Dreamteam_Guru Value Defender #1 Jeremy Laidler, Carlton $177,300

@Dreamteam_Guru rated 433^rd player in the league

Traded for Freo’s Greg Broughton $371,000

@Dreamteam_Guru rated 55th player in the league

When outlaying $177K for a player the only thing you are looking for is value.

That is why I am picking Laidler.

It is always a good thing to pick up recycled players.  He has been traded for a reason.  For an opportunity at Carlton.

Given that you have to pick one more defender and forward in your team (as opposed to midfielders), its a good move to use this pick to look for value.

Consider: Why did Carlton pick him up?

It can be to play in the reserves as he has been for Geelong for the last few seasons.  It has to be to get Carlton in a position to not just qualify for the finals, but start winning them too.

What does this mean for dreamteamers?  If Carlton have faith in him (as they should – they did trade for him), he should get plenty of game time.  He will then increase in value for sure.  $177K isn’t that much compared to players with lesser experience.  Expect him to increase $100K in no time.

Let’s compare him to other players around him in my ranking.

430. Rohan Bail (121)
431. Cameron Hitchcock (121)
432. Tyson Goldsack (120.667)
433. Jeremy Laidler (120.5)
434. Shaun Hampson (120.333)
435. Mark Nicoski (120)
436. Daniel Merrett (120)

All the other players in this region are more established players.  Yet they aren’t serious dreamteamers.  Laider has only played a handful of games and yet is in the same spot in the list.  With more game time, he can only go up in my ranking scale.

So why the trade?

I freed up some money changing Mumford for Robert Warnock.  He had just kicked 3 goals for Carlton in a half of footy (against GWS), but with Kruezer coming off a knee injury he should get some game time.

This left me with $200K in the bank, where I Could upgrade Laidler without burning a trade.

Broughton plays for Freo, meaning I won’t lose head-to-head competition when Freo has a bye.  He is also nearly 400 places higher in my scale, meaning plenty more dreamteam points for my team.  Lets look at the players around him on my list.

52. Dom Cassissi (210.333)
53. Liam Anthony (209)
54. Ryan O’keefe (207.333)
55. Greg Broughton (206.5)
56. Travis Cloke (206)
57. Jarrad Waite (205.667)
58. Shane Tuck (205.667)

He is mixing it in esteemed midfield company here.  Defenders that can score like mids are hard to find.  Broughton averaged 88 in his first season and improved to 89 last year.  If he stays where he is I’ll be happy. If he improves, I’ll be ecstatic!

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