Supercoach Group Supercoach: Round 7 at selection news

Some surprises at the selection table this week will test fantasy owners depth this week, but there may be several donuts this week. Champions in Gary Ablett and Matthew Richardson are out injured, and are huge losses to cover.

Adelaide

v Western Bulldogs

In: Knights, Maric, Moran, Shirley, Symes
Out: Myke Cook, Jonathon Griffin

Chris Knights is the pick of the returns, having scored 104 points in round 1 just prior to his injury. Myke Cook and Jonathon Griffen are the only omissions so far. Taylor Walker and Jason Porplyzia have both been quiet of late, but may rise to the occasion as the Crows play at home.

Brisbane

@ Richmond

No Change

No changes for Brisbane this week against Richmond. Mitch Clark should be a decent start against the Tigers - he's coming off a nice 94 points last week. Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw could cause some problems for Richmond, but so far this year, Brown has been the only one to really look like scoring big consistently. Jed Adcock will be looking to improve on last week's dismal performance.

Carlton

v Fremantle

In: Austin, Hadley, Hampson, Yarran
Out: Greg Bentley, Andrew Carrazzo (hamstring), Ryan Houlihan, Setanta O'hAilpin

The unexpected omission of Ryan Houlihan will throw out many fantasy coaches this week. Andrew Carrazzo is out with a hamstring injury, but he should be traded out with his shut-down role seriously affecting his fantasy production. Richard Hadley is back this week. He started the year off with a bang, but dropped away. How he fares this week, may well determine the rest of his season. Forward Chris Yarran comes in for his debut.

Collingwood

v St Kilda

In: Shaw, Rocca, Sidebottom, Reid, Stanley
Out: John Anthony (susp), Dayne Beams (groin)

Heath Shaw and Anthony Rocca both return this week. Shaw has been a huge fantasy disappointment so far, and will have a tough time turning it around this week. Rocca looks well past his prime, and has no fantasy value. Rising stars John Anthony and Dayne Beams both miss but should be held onto.

Essendon

v Hawthorn

In: Neagle, Bellchambers, Houli
Out: Dustin Fletcher (leg), Scott Lucas, Leroy Jetta (knee)

The Bombers inject some tall youth into their lineup with Jay Neagle and Tom Bellchambers coming in for the injured Dustin Fletcher and the dropped Scott Lucas. Expect Lucas to be back at some stage of the year, but for now, he is not worth owning. Bachar Houli is the other inclusion, and he has performed well in the past. He tends to favour the handball a lot, which does limit his fantasy potential somewhat.

Fremantle

@ Carlton

In: Pratt
Out: Ryan Crowley (foot)

Luke Pratt comes in for his debut this week, and like most Fremantle rookies, could have great fantasy potential. Monitor his progress, and make the move in defence if he performs well. Ryan Crowley misses, and is out indefinitely with a foot injury. Stephen Hill broke out last week, but may have a tough time following it up this week against the might of Carlton. Matthew Pavlich is another playing well of late, and is a solid start as usual.

Geelong

v Sydney

In: Harley, Ling
Out: Gary Ablett (groin), David Johnson

It's difficult to replace Gary Ablett, but the loss is softened by the return of Tom Harley and Cameron Ling. Ling had been averaging 70 ppg but his value will be limited if he tags Adam Goodes as expected. David Johnson is the player dropped. Corey Enright and Jimmy Bartel should be the big winners in Ablett's absence.

Hawthorn

@ Essendon

In: Birchall, McGlynn, Stokes
Out: Brent Guerra (back), Jarryd Morton, Brent Renouf

Grant Birchall, Ben McGlynn and the useful Cameron Stokes are the inclusions for the Hawks this week. Birchall had been averaging 94.7 ppg prior to his injury, and against Essendon, he is a real chance to put up similar numbers. Brent Guerra is out injured again just a week after returning from a hamstring injury - no word on how serious the injury is, but his injury run makes him a less than ideal fantasy prospect. With Essendon's defence decimated by injury both Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead are excellent fantasy starts this week.

Kangaroos

v Port Adelaide

In: Wells, Campbell, Ross, Goldstein
Out: Pratt (knee), Greenwood, Power, Lower

The injury plagued Kangaroos lose defender Daniel Pratt for a few weeks. Youngster Levi Greenwood has surprisingly been dropped after a solid performance, but what else would you expect from Dean Laidley? Daniel Wells and Matt Campbell make welcome returns. Hopefully Wells is over his injuries and can step up to produce some big scores in the coming weeks. If he does, he'll be a great pickup.

Melbourne

@ West Coast

In: Grimes, Newton, Jetta, Cheney
Out: John Meesen (foot)

Some fantasy favourites have an opportunity to return this week. Jack Grimes and Kyle Cheney were solid fantasy players early in the year, but have been out of the team for a few weeks. John Meesen is out for the year with foot stress fractures, meaning Paul Johnson will shoulder most of the ruck duties. The sheer number of minutes available makes Johnson an intriguing prospect, but his fantasy value is still quite low right now.

Port Adelaide

@ Kangaroos

In: Davenport
Out: Hamish Hartlett (hamstring)

Jason Davenport finally gets his chance to leave his mark on the AFL. A mature aged midfielder, Davenport had a solid pre-season and could be a big earner in three weeks. Hamish Hartlett is out with a hamstring injury, with reports saying its not too serious. There's more value in holding onto him, than trading him out.

Richmond

v Brisbane

In: Brown, Cousins, Simmonds
Out: Matthew Richardson (hamstring), Jordan McMahon, Mitch Morton

The much publicised injury to Matthew Richardson puts him out for most of the year and leaves most fantasy owners pondering who to replace him with. Ben Cousins and Nathan Brown are two lively prospects returning from injury, but both are considerable step downs from Richo. Cousins is still an unknown fantasy quantity, while Brown had been averaging 88 ppg. Goalsneak Mitch Morton has been dropped which will hurt some, but pushes Jack Riewoldt into a more prominent attacking role which should improve his score this week. Troy Simmonds is the other inclusion, and he's been named at full-forward. He had been struggling in the ruck until he was dropped a few weeks ago, a permanent stay up forward still isn't ideal, but for owners, at least he's back scoring points.

St Kilda

@ Collingwood

In: Armitage, McEvoy, R. Clarke
Out: -

No changes so far for the rolling Saints, with David Armitage, Ben McEvoy and Raph Clarke among the possible inclusions. Brendan Goddard and Farren Ray are playing great footy at the moment, and should continue to do so this week.

Sydney

@ Geelong

No Change

The Swans take on Geelong with an unchanged lineup. Jarrad McVeigh will be sighing with relief given Ablett's absence - and the freedom could mean a solid outing from the underrated midfielder. Rhyce Shaw and Marty Mattner are two defenders to watch after some great recent form.

Western Bulldogs

@ Adelaide

In: Ward, Welsh, Williams
Out: -

No changes yet from the Bulldogs with Callan Ward, Scott Welsh and Tom Williams brought into the squad for Sunday's game. Daniel Giansiracusa has been troubled of late but persist with him as he'll come good soon.

West Coast

v Melbourne

In: Kennedy, McNamara, Schofield, S. Selwood, Spangher
Out: Ashley Hansen, Brent Staker (hand)

The Eagles have lost patience with Ashley Hansen this week, while Brent Staker misses with a hand injury. Josh Kennedy gets his chance this week but has no fantasy value just yet. Jamie McNamara is another poised to get his first game of the year. McNamara came on well towards the end of last year, and could be a solid #6 midfielder if given the chance.

How has the round 7 teams affected you? Did you have both Gazza and Richo in your team? Have your say below.