New Zealanders did well in round one, but stacking your team with All Whites will hurt you in round two.
Well, Round 1 saw The Scout come in with an above average return that certainly would have been helped if Ricki Herbert didn-t play the “maybe I-ll play Fenton” card, which resulted in yours truly benching the real star that was on show at the Cake Tin on Saturday… Alessandro who?
And apparently you mostly agree, with 30 per cent saying Wellington-s whiz-kid was the best A-League debutant on the weekend in our website poll that my no.1 source of news across the Ditch (The New Zealand Herald) referenced.
And once you-ve made the national agenda over there, you-re big news – either that or Maximus Aurelius.
Kiwi jokes aside (and I have plenty), weren-t the Nix impressive? Yep, I hear what you-re saying, “They only beat their bunnies.” True, but their bunnies had ADP and Emo at their disposal, and neither of those guys are shrinking violets.
Problem is for those of you who stacked your team with Kiwis and reaped the benefits in Round 1 you might just get pounded in Round 2. So while I issue a congratulations to Andy, who manages Week One leaders “The Willys” for picking up a $100 Visa Moneycard, I also say beware, because picking five Nix players might hurt you this week.
International duty means no less than six Wellington starters will be unavailable for the match against the impressive Heart, meaning Messer-s Brockie, Bertos, Sigmund, Lochhead, Moss and Paston will be gone, and with Dani Sanchez and Vince Lia out through injury it could be a black day for the Nix. Keep Louis Fenton though; the kid has real skill and his price will skyrocket after Round 3.
As for other Kiwis you need to think about, Shane Smeltz and Michael McGlinchey are the two big-name fantasy guns who might also be MIA after the All Whites take on the titanic power of Tahiti, but neither is worth sacking if you can keep them on your bench. Smeltz is the fourth most picked player in the competition, though, so that means a lot of you have a slight selection headache coming up.
Glory boss Ian Ferguson shouldn-t miss his gun striker against the Mariners, however, as he has the luxury of Billy Mehmet, Travis Dodd and Steve McGarry up his sleeve. That-s some nice firepower there, and if you want a value striker at $167,000, Mehmet might just be your man, assuming he gets the game time he received from Ferguson last season.
Who-s hot? Dario Vidosic (Adelaide United -176,700)
The equal highest-scoring player of Round 1 had a belter, but he also looked the goods for the Reds against Bunyodkor in AFC Champions league action. When Vidosic is at his best he is a dominating force in the Hyundai A-League. It looks like the talented forward has put the injury problems of last year behind him and is pushing for a Socceroos recall. Buy him now before he gets too expensive.
Louis Fenton (Wellington Phoenix – $94,100)
Talented, cheap and expected to get plenty of game time for Ricki Herbert-s side, if his diving header wasn-t enough to convince you then consider this, Fenton tops the MVP value statistic after one week, which means he will go up in value, but sign him as a weapon or someone who you can make money off later.
Who-s not? Mark Birighitti (Newcastle Jets – $121,500)
A red card on debut is not what the Jets keeper would have wanted, especially with the more experienced Ben Kennedy keen on taking back the starting spot in the Hunter and he will get 90 minutes to show Gary van Egmond just why it should be his.
Fantasy team of the round; Formation 4-3-3, Total points: 256
The team is the highest scoring team in a valid formation; if player scores are tied the cheaper player has been chosen in that position. It may not actually be possible to fit this team under your salary cap.
Danny Vukovic (Glory 16), Manny Muscat (Phoenix 30), Scott Jamieson (Glory 22), Dean Heffernan (Glory 14), Cassio (Reds 14), Dario Vidosic (c) (Reds 60), Iain Ramsay (Reds 24), Marco Rojas (Victory 14), Louis Fenton (Phoenix 24,) David Williams (Heart 20), Dylan Macallister (Heart 18)
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