I know that I can’t take no more
It ain’t no lie
I want to see you out that door
Baby bye bye bye”

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If you’ve never heard those words before then perhaps you missed the great era of boy bands circa late-90s and early 2000s. Those are the lyrics of one of the great boy bands, N’Sync, penned for such a time as this. Yes, that time of bye rounds during the 2021 season. That time when there is a flexible fixture, so much so that a Round 14 game is moved to the weekend prior while in the middle of the round before. That time when no one really knows what the holding the ball rule means. That time when Supercoaches everywhere are given extra trades overall and more to play with during the bye rounds. What a time to be alive. 

The spanner in the works is the movement of the Richmond v West Coast match, now in round 13. But, for many this may become an opportunity to improve their side quicker than previously thought. Now that we are one bye round through we begin to say ‘bye, bye, bye’ to various rookies who’ve reached their cash generation point, and perhaps some mid-pricers not doing much either. And perhaps we’ll say ‘Hello, hello’ (thanks to The Cat Empire) to a few premiums we didn’t think we’d have so early. 

A big in for many this week will be Lachie Whitfield, or perhaps another premium player you wish to finish off your defensive line. It’s certainly a great chance to part ways with Thomas Highmore; oh what could’ve been! This past weekend saw Rory Laird (also a midfielder), Luke Ryan, and Jack Crisp top the defenders. Ryan and Crisp are interesting POD’s if one was to consider how they might perform the rest of the season. There are most likely better options and I suspect most of you are only wanting to fill one more position, so I’d be recommending Whitfield if you don’t already have him.

Darcy Parish had an excellent game and went huge in the Bombers loss to the Tigers. He’s certainly one to consider on the run home. Not many are convinced by him, with only 6% ownership, but he has had a good season so far and could keep going post-bye. Marcus Bontempelli kept his Brownlow kind of year going, again topping the Bulldogs scoring with Jackson Macrae. And Brad Crouch finally delivered, from a Supercoach point-of-view, in the Saints loss to the Swans. 

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In our ruck line no one beats Max Gawn. That continues and well done to those who had the VC on him on Friday night. He won VC toss up between him and Clayton Oliver for the week. With Brodie Grundy out injured many pulled the trigger and traded him. This would’ve aid off if you’d gone one of Reilly O’Brien and or Tom Hickey. They were second and third scoring rucks for the week. O’Brien I find is an enticing prospect if you want to go someone other that the Gawn and Grundy combo. He has come out as saying he wants a more consistent second half and we’ve seen in the past that he can perform well. 

In closing out the weekend Tim Membrey, Liam Ryan, and Kyle Langford were the top scorers for the forwards. All of which have under 2% ownership. None are really relevant in terms of long-termer, but Liam Ryan would be the only unique POD there if one was risky enough. 

Having said that, it is a time to start getting risky, particularly if you’re within a shot for the overall. Then again, if you’re contesting the leagues too and need some uniques then perhaps do some research and try and pick who will be consistent over the coming 10 rounds.

But with all that said, it is time for me to say ‘bye, bye, bye’ for the week.