DREAM team does strange things to a footy supporter's brain.
Not being a Hawthorn supporter, I have no Buddy love at all.
There I was, though, sitting around this week hoping Lance Franklin would not get suspended for a head-high bump on Swans defender Marty Mattner.
He wasn't deliberately trying to hit the guy in the head, I reasoned. It's not his fault that he is that he is so big, and his shoulder just happens to be the same height as Mattner's face.
What's happening? Making excuses for Franklin? This time last year he was about my least favourite player in brown and gold, with the possible exception of Campbell Brown.
There is a weird phenomenon among dream team coaches, where they find themselves barracking for players from AFL teams they otherwise would loathe.
I was kind of floored, then, when a high-profile local sports identity and former work colleague recently questioned the absence of Chris Judd from the Gavernators, putting it down to a personal anti-Carlton bias.
I am perfectly happy to put my hand up for an anti-Carlton bias any day of the week, thank you very much, but not as a dream team coach.
Rule number five at the start of the year was not to let the heart rule the head, and that works in the opposite direction too. A coach may have no love for Collingwood, or Carlton, or Richmond for that matter, but if there's
value in navy blue, or black and white, you'd be mad not to go for it regardless of personal feelings.
Exhibit A: Alan Didak.
At present, Judd costs $457,500 and, while his average points per round are an impressive 116.71, he is not cheap and I'm not convinced of his durability. There is a glut of high scoring midfielders and only room for six on the park.
If you have him, hold him, but there is value elsewhere.
Franklin, meanwhile, has created a problem, not for the first time this season. Just as injury-prone players are best avoided, so too are those who spend too much time cooling their heels.
Once again there is a temptation to give Buddy the boot, especially when his absence makes such a big hole in a dream team forward line.
With room in the salary cap, money in the bank and another bargain basement Demon on the radar (Jordan Gysberts, who scored 103 points on debut and is a steal at $117,500), there is an opportunity to spend up big on another
blue chip forward. Welcome to the Gavernators, Matthew Pavlich.
There is a danger in using up too many trades and not leaving enough in reserve for finals time. For that to be a factor, though, a team must make finals in the first place.
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to Carlton's Heath Scotland picking up a 40 possessions in a losing side this weekend. Just as long as it is not a losing Gavernators side.
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