Thompson has been in fair nick this season, but has been below his best. He possesses an outstanding record against Hawthorn and has notched up scores of a hundred or more in their last four outings against the Hawks. Definitely The Battler’s tip of the week.

 

Corey is the form player of the competition at the moment, averaging an astonishing 130 points. He is a consistent performer against the Sainst, posting hundreds in their last two meetings. St Kilda vs Geelong promises to be a ball feast in the midfield. Players like Corey should be able to pick up a heap of uncontested footy.

 

Murphy has already shown some pretty good form this season, after missing a bit of footy last year through injury. Of his 8 matches against the Bombers, he has registered scores of 90+ in six of those matches; that’s a decent return by anyone’s standards.

 

Swan just keeps going about his business, keeping many dream team coaches happy. Has averaged 106 this season so far without trying too hard. A solid record against the Blues indicates he may be a safe bet this weekend. His last for outings against Carlton have reaped scores of 114, 136, 123 and 109.

Just putting it out there. No Lucas and now no Lloyd. He’s been named full forward. Who else is gonna kick the goals? However, I’m warning you this one’s pretty smokie. I’ll just highlight the stats: Laycock averages 45.4 and his record against the Bulldogs is fair bit worse than that. C'mon coaches! Be bold!

 

One of the perennial stalwarts of the competition. What he lacks in skill he makes up for in size of name. On 17 occasions throughout his career, the big guy has scored between 29 and 31. At which point he generally finds himself a spot on the ground as far away from the ball to wait out the remainder of the match. An obvious choice for any serious dream team coach. Prediction: Last year his returns against the blues were 32 and 30, so let’s compromise and go with 31.