PRELIMINARY Finals are here! Are you still going? I hope so, if not, don’t despair you still have your national ranking that you can consider.

If you just scraped into the finals don’t worry, with all of the carnage about the game at the moment there is likely to be a chance that your opponent may have two or more of the problems this week. So you might just find a way to win!

Obviously the big issue that we are mostly all facing this week is that of Luke Hodge and his two week suspension. Given we only have two weeks to go there are no reasons to keep him in your lineups. Given his form this year he is thankfully at a good price which means our trading options are well and truly open. One thing that is good about Hodgey is that he has the Mid/Def eligibility so depending on how your teams is set up you could replace him in either location.

So at $580k let’s look at the options down back first:

• David Mundy at $559k is probably the one that most people will look at. I am slightly concerned by him given that if Fremantle win this week there is a huge risk that they may rest some players in round 23 against Port. Mundy has had a niggle of late and if he has any niggles he may just get rested, it may even happen this week vs Melbourne at home.
• Matthew Boyd is $532k and has just had a week off with General Soreness so may not miss in the last couple of weeks as the Dogs are pushing to finish top four. However, there were some whispers that he may have a slight hamstring issue, so certainly keep an eye on the team sheets.
• Liam Picken, $581k missed last week with a back injury, if he is fit and playing he is well worth considering. An average of 104 is certainly something we didn’t predict. The only issue with picking him is you won’t make any cash like you would with the other guys.
• Heath Shaw at $556k is one that I would seriously consider, he has had a great season for the Giants and is the general down back for them and is scoring well.

In the midfield you may want to look at these guys as a replacement:

• Tom Rockliff costs $5k more and he has been on fire lately. He is back to his very best averaging 135 in the last three and 116 in his last five. 
• Patrick Dangerfield is just $2k more than Hodge and has games at home v West Coast and away v Geelong. Averaging 111 over the last three and 112 for the last five. He should put in some solid scores for you despite his tough opposition.
• Scott Pendlebury is a bit cheaper than Hodge and a proven performer. He is well worth putting into your lineup.

To sum things up I would simply be looking at the best player you can bring in based on averages and their upcoming opponent. If you are unsure which way to go, have a look at your opponent’s team and see if there is a unique they have that might hurt you and then perhaps bring that player in to make it a level playing field. Otherwise you can find someone that you think will outscore their unique and ultimately bring you the win.

If you don’t have the Hodge issue or any other major issues to deal with this week then I would be looking to improve your side by trading out guys like Elliot Yeo who has been very disappointing of late. However, one thing I would take into account when looking at improving your teams would be their opponents, particularly this week. Many may be considering moving Ryan Griffen on and it wouldn’t be a poor decision, however, the Giants play Carlton this week and at the moment we don’t know which Carlton will turn up. If it is the Carlton that had been struggling prior to last round then Griffin could score very well. Another guy in this boat is Michael Barlow. Now he did back up his 19 from two weeks ago with a 100 this week. Some may think that they can do better and they probably can, but he plays against Melbourne this week at home and I would expect that as long as he doesn’t get the Vince tag (which should go to Fyfe) then he could be in for a big game.

As I have said during the finals so far, don’t trade for improvements on your bench unless the guys on your field are absolutely perfect (which is unlikely), so do everything you can to improve guys on the field and get the absolute best score you can, because you can’t win the GF next week if you aren’t in it!