It's A Trap | Thebigtip

It’s the business end of the season.

We are all thoroughly analysing the pre-season form to try and find something that every other coach has missed.
 
The diamond in the rough.
 
At the very least a bargain to help you to squeeze the players you desire in your side.
 
Here is a list of players that might appear “too good to be true”, but should be considered HIGH RISK this year:

Chris Knights

Almost too cheap to ignore. Especially as a forward. Sure he has massive upside if he can stay on the park. But this is where he has struggled. In his career (2005-10) he has played the following amount of games per season: 2, 10, 21, 15, 18 and 5. That’s an average of 12 games a year.
 
Patrick Dangerfield

He was too cheap to resist for many last year. A breakout was on the cards according to all the experts. His average went up only 14 pts in DT and 6 pts in SC. And here we are again. A cheap price tag, another breakout expected from the experts. He has all the tools of the trade and there is no doubt he is a special player, but this guy is no ball magnet. Expect another modest increase in production this year.
 
Kurt Tippett

A match-winner. Not a fantasy footballer. His strength is taking a contested mark. He misses too many shots at goal to even capitalise on this strength.
 
Jed Adcock

His cheap price will tempt many as it did at the start of 2009 – but he burnt many coaches that year. Love the way this guy plays his footy. However his courage only puts him in harm’s way. He has only ever completed 2 full seasons. In the last 5 years, he played the following amount of games per season: 8, 22, 21, 15 and 9. That’s an average of 15 games a year.
 
Simon Buckley

It is not the first time that Buckley has looked good in pre-season. But his inability to consistently hit targets has let him down, particularly when the pressure increases with the proper season. Mick is developing his depth and might even give Buckley a few games to encourage or reward Buckley for working hard over the pre-season. But don’t let it make you forget that Mick did not give him one game all last year. That sounds like a coach that has already made up his mind on a footballer.
 
Leroy Jetta

Don’t be fooled ... this guy is a spud. He had 4 big games last year that flattered his average score. Two of these games were against Richmond and the Lions at the end of the season when they were cooked. Take out these games and he averaged 54/59 (DT/SC). Prior to last year, he averaged 43/48. At $305/$379k don’t be fooled by listening to McAvaney and Cometti talking him up during the NAB Cup commentary.
 
Nick Suban

Everybody is expecting this guy to have a break-out. I don’t see it. The Dockers run most of their football through Broughton and Duffield. And during this pre-season, it seemed they preferred to run footy through Lower, Mzungu and other rookies rather than Suban. Remember that getting that easy uncontested mark is like gold. The subsequent disposal means you will get at least 5 or 6 points for each mark. He gets overlooked when the Dockers are chipping the ball around.
 
Zac Smith

Coaches everywhere seem to have thus guy as a lock for one of their rookie ruck positions. So far, the Suns have made their intention clear that Fraser will get the majority of the ruck time. Especially because he links so well around the ground. Smith has been talked up by McKenna, but we are yet to see him play. They have played Gorringe, Nicholls and Thompson in the ruck that suggests they might not be sold on their ruck combination just yet.