Game: Adelaide Vs. Geelong (Sunday, July 21st at 3.15pm – Footy Park)
Market: AFL Fantasy Dream Team – Brad Crouch ($1.80) Vs. Bernie Vince ($1.95) at Sportsbet
There has been multiple times this year that Sportsbet has pitted a first-year player against a proven scorer in the head-to-head AFL Fantasy Dream Team markets. While it is always one of the “young guns” who know how to rack up Dream Team points like Tom Mitchell or Oliver Wines, I just don’t think you can bet against the proven players. That is looking to once again be the case here in Round 17.
It’s Adelaide’s young Brad Crouch against Bernie Vince.
I will open this discussion by stating that I do think Brad Crouch is a great player in the making. However, the key term here is “in the making”.
Bernie Vince is already there. He has already proven himself as a great player.
Crouch has only played seven games this year. Sorry, make that… Ever. In that time he has scored 62, 63, 88, 72, 121, 84 and 108. His first three scores were back in round 2 – round 4 and then he had seven weeks off, returning in round 11. Since his return he has really fired up and clearly tried to ensure he keeps his place in the team. The thing is though, we can’t base his future Dream Team scoring on these games. Why? Because he is still wearing training wheels.
Vince on the other hand is a different story.
Having not missed a game all year, Vince’s season average is 81.86. Over the last three rounds that average is 89.3. Vince has also scored over 90 DT points on eight occasions. He is very consistent. That we know and that is something we can’t know with Crouch. In fact, it can be argued that being Crouch is so young and his body has had so little elite game time, he is just simply going to be less consistent than a game-hardened player like Vince.
In addition Vince has also had quite a strong record against Geelong, averaging 93.14 over seven games and having a high score of 127 against them. I also don’t think the old guard at Geelong will let Crouch get away with tearing the game apart like Gold Coast let him do when he scored 121 three rounds back. Vince should do enough to cover the young fella here.
Verdict: Brad Crouch may be a gun in the making, but Bernie Vince is a consistent player who is proven to always put in a solid effort. Happy to take Vince’s experience over the guess work of player who only has seven games of career experience. The fact that Vince is the roughie here is just a little bonus for punters.
Take note: The above tip is simply the author’s opinion, so bet at your own risk and always bet responsibly. Happy punting!
